By Scott Watkins, Board Chair, Pollinate Group
As we announced earlier this year, Alexie Seller has now completed her role as Pollinate Group CEO. At this time, it is appropriate to thank Alexie for her enormous contribution and to reflect upon her impact on everyone involved with, and assisted by, the work of Pollinate Group.
As a Co-Founder of what was then Pollinate Energy, Alexie played an integral role in establishing the organisation in both India and Australia. In the early years, Alexie was based mainly in Australia and established many of our early partnerships. Alexie also raised funds, organised events and convinced many of our early supporters to join a fellowship program. Indeed that was my first interaction with Alexie; I’d arranged to meet her to talk about the solar cells I was working on but, as she does, Alexie rapidly managed to turn the conversation to what she was working on.
“Come to India and join a fellowship program,” she said, “it will change your life”. I did and it did.
In 2015 Alexie moved to India and took on the role of the inaugural CEO. This was a major step for the organisation. Alexie led the transformation from a boot-strapped startup managed by co-founder consensus to a fully functioning social enterprise with a CEO, board and a growing number of employees. Throughout this I’ve been privileged to see Alexie’s growth as a leader, which in turn facilitated incredible growth in the company and our impact in neglected communities.
Alexie has managed to maintain and benefit from an extraordinary number of relationships. She has mentors from all around the world and has always made the time to check in with them, whatever crazy time of day that required her to jump on a call.
Armed with advice, Alexie was always resolute in making her own decisions and resolutely following through. Try, try and try again has been one of Alexie’s mantras.
In 2018 Alexie managed and executed the merger between Pollinate Energy and Empower Generation, which formed Pollinate Group. This was an extraordinary achievement that is rare in the for-good sector. Alexie saw like-minded leaders in Co-Founders Anya Cherneff (Empower Generation) and Sita Adhikari (Empower Generation and Kalpavriksha), and together they could make our impact even greater.
From the early days the business model in India was to enable local people to sell quality household products to those who need them the most. However, the merger provided an opportunity to refine the business model and make an impact on people selling the products of equal importance to the people buying them. This has been achieved by sharing knowledge from Nepal, and establishing an organisation-wide commitment to developing women entrepreneurs and leaders.
Over the past two years as CEO Alexie has developed and delivered the merged strategy and refined business model. Alexie has led the vision and the execution. This has been a remarkable achievement.
Where once we struggled to grow the number of women working for us we now have hundreds of women entrepreneurs actively working across India and Nepal. The key change has been to look within the communities we serve for women entrepreneurs, what we call Suryamukhis. By showing women who live in neglected communities that they can become leaders we are essentially doubling the impact of our work.
The products including solar lights, water filters, cookstoves and mosquito nets continue to change the lives of those who buy them. But we’re now creating a cohort of women who are also transforming their own lives by being the ones who sell the products.
This enhanced approach is even further away from a traditional charity model where well-meaning foreigners give gifts to the poor. Instead, we’re empowering women to lead themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.
Alexie has led this transformation and she leaves the organisation in a position of incredible strength. In the short-term our organisation will be led by our interim Co-CEOs, Sita Adhikari and Biheng Zhang—two leaders who have developed with Alexie’s influence.
We have seen women around the world seek to bring change by sharing the phrase #MeToo. When I think about Alexie the phrase that comes to mind is #BeLikeMe. Alexie has inspired collective aspiration, and a message to women and men who work with her that they can change the world. It is a powerful message of hope.
Alexie has been an outstanding and inspiring leader of Pollinate Group and all of us thank her and wish her all the very best in her next adventure back in Australia.