Hello Canopy

For my People people and event organisers. It’s nearly the end of 2024 (unbelievable) which means it’s time for end of the year celebrations 🎉 I’ve been there 😵💫 Finding venues within budget, wrangling dietary requirements, chasing people for RSVPs - it’s a lot. Additionally, employee events, especially parties and kick-ons, are often environments where socialising and drinking happens. Sometimes, behaviour and actions, intentional or not, can make others feel unwelcome or unsafe. This is where Canopy can help. We’ll help employees speak up through our reporting platform and make sure businesses have the right information and recommendations to resolve issues. So, at the start of December we’re kicking off our end of year pilot program! 🎁 What provided - Canopy's reporting platform for employees or event attendees - Reports and recommended next steps should an incident occur - Tailored communication plan including pre and post company event comms - Support from Canopy's co-founders throughout the pilot 🤝🏼 Who it's for - Businesses who have end of year workplace celebrations and want to ensure their employees can speak up about concerns - Event organisers running in person networking events - Professional memberships having end of the year celebrations - Event venues and spaces who want to offer their clients and attendees a way to raise concerns 🙋🏼♀️ We’re a small team so spaces are limited. Jump into the comments for a link to our expression of interest, or drop me a note here on LinkedIn for more details!

#SXSWSydney has been packed full of amazing speakers, thoughtful conversations, and ideas that challenge us. But, at the heart of it, #SXSW is still just an event. And like any event, things can go wrong. An interaction can leave you feeling uncomfortable, somebody might make you feel unsafe, you might see an inappropriate interaction, or hear something that doesn’t sit right with you. It happens. We’re all people coming together for a week full interactions, networking with people who are total strangers, pulling long hours of events and afterparties - sometimes mixed with alcohol, and then waking up and doing it all over again. The likelihood is that something will go wrong. You may have noticed QR codes taped up in certain venues and at afterparties. They’re a link directly to Canopy to help anybody who feels unsafe, uncomfortable, unsettled, or wants to just talk through something they saw or heard. This can be anything from sexual harassment, down to an inappropriate passing comment. Nothing is ever too trivial. But QR codes on doors only reach a handful of people. So if you experience, see, or hear something, you can say something here. https://lnkd.in/gprSQC-J Making a report to Canopy is about about giving you a space to have a conversation about what happened. We’re here to listen, offer advice, or guide you through the next steps that feel right for you. It’s free, safe, and confidential to use. So save this post, share it with a friend, or offer it up if somebody needs it.

I’m officially adding “Co” to my title. I couldn’t be more excited to share that 🍇 Emma Earley is coming out of stealth mode as a Co-founder of Canopy! Incoming ‘meet cute’ ... I first met Emma in November last year when the Grapevine team came together over WhatsApp. If I can be totally honest, when she introduced herself to the group I thought she was quite possibly the coolest person I’d ever met. She was working with algae tech start-ups and the science girly in me was obsessed. We started working closely on Grapevine initiatives and it was clear that we worked well together - we’re driven by similar values and often came to the same conclusions but took different routes to get there. We both had confided in our partners that if we ever started a business, it would be with each other. Fast forward to today, and we’re doing just that. Building something that’s bigger than ourselves. Something that will have an outsized impact and help others feel empowered and safer in the workplace. Something that we wished we both had in our early careers. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting Emma, you’ll know that she’s the perfect person to build Canopy with. While she’s still working with the incredible Remarkable Tech, she will be helping guide Canopy on its journey by asking thought provoking questions (that I don’t often have the answers to) and ensuring we’re building a company that’s thoughtful, inclusive, and for everyone. Side note: We realised we've never taken a picture together, so here's us between meetings, coffee top ups, and life chaos this morning (aka working async) 👋

I’ve been sitting on this post for a while, but I’ve decided to tell the (LinkedIn) world that I’m actively looking for a technical co-founder to help me build Canopy. This feels really scary for some reason - I feel really exposed. But a technical co-founder is a must when building a technical product…go figure 🤷♀️ So. That’s where you, my network, will hopefully come in on this lovely Friday afternoon. I’ll keep it simple. I’m looking for a technical co-founder who: 🌴 Is deeply passionate about solving the problem of misconduct and psychological safety in workplaces 🌴 Is motivated by impact and led by their values 🌴 Understands the need to build Canopy in a way that is secure, safe, and scalable 🌴 Knows how to leverage AI and can imagine the future use cases of it (while keeping in mind the point above) In order for Canopy to succeed, the people who build it need to be representative of the people who use it. For that reason, I’m especially interested to speak with anybody who has first-hand experience with the impacts of sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination. While I’m active in my search for somebody, I’m not in a rush. If things go right for Canopy (which I’m optimistic they will), this will be a very long term relationship. I want whoever is reading this to keep this in mind. Lastly, I want to be up-front with the fact this is an early stage start-up and I’m currently bootstrapped. This may change in the future, but right now it’s important to consider. For that reason, I don’t need somebody to commit full time (yet). I understand bills need to be paid and families need to be fed. And yes, I understand the missed opportunity of not making a video to the the ‘I'm looking for a man in finance’ song for this post... Reach out to me to chat here on LinkedIn or sam@hellocanopy.ai #startup #womenfounder #womenintech #AI

We're Canopy 🌴 We're removing the barriers to reporting misconduct and psychosocial hazards. Because everyone deserves to feel safe, respected, and heard in the workplace. Join us on our journey as we build a platform that enables employees and businesses to create cultures of trust. #startup #safeworkplaces #reporting #GenAI