People’s Champion finalist 2017: Digital Mums Does the social media training provider helping upskill mums and support them back into employment get your Startups Awards People’s Champion vote? Written by Henry Williams Published on October 9, 2017 Our experts We are a team of writers, experimenters and researchers providing you with the best advice with zero bias or partiality. Written and reviewed by: Henry Williams Start-up name: Digital MumsFounders: Nikki Cochrane and Kathryn TylerStarted in: 2013 (launched in 2014)Based in: LondonBusiness description: Social media training provider for mumsShortlisted categories:Women in Business Award, The Founders Pledge Social Impact AwardThe Digital Mums story:Digital Mums was started to address “two enormous problems”: maternal unemployment and the digital skills gap.Founded by Nikki Cochrane and Kathryn Tyler, two-time Startups 100-featured Digital Mums equips mums with the digital skills necessary to embark on freelance careers whilst they look after their children.It also helps businesses by training them to better recruit and train women, training current staff, and giving them access to skilled part-time workers.Since launching in 2014, Digital Mums has sold more than 1,000 training places to students and has worked with over 600 businesses.As well as charging for its courses, Digital Mums derives revenue from businesses who pay to be matched with one of its suitable students, effectively acting as a digital work placement.And for mums on low incomes, Digital Mums locks in 10% of its net profit for a bursary scheme to help fund them through training. It also intends to work with third sector partner organisations who work specifically to progress mums most in need towards education, training and employment.Being a company that understands the importance of flexible working, Digital Mums has a completely flexible and remote working policy: just 14% of its employees are full-time and office based, 86% work part-time and remotely, and 17% are entirely home-based.Why Digital Mums made our shortlist:An estimated 54,000 mums lose their jobs each year due to maternity discrimination – according to a 2015 study from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – while the digital skills gap costing the UK economy £63bn a year.With these statistics in mind, social enterprise Digital Mums is providing an essential service that doesn’t just benefit the mums it helps find employment for, but is also contributing to the wider economy by supporting the businesses that hire them.Where to find out more about Digital Mums:Website: www.digitalmums.comTwitter: @DigitalMumsHQ Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Written by: Henry Williams