2016 04 15 news footprints 883x432 1

An ethical ‘footprint’

21 April 2016

The article at a glance

Cambridge Judge alumna Georgina Hemmingway launches Footprint Cafés, a new chain of sustainable enterprise cafés, with a $150,000 donation from Dr Darrin …

Cambridge Judge alumna Georgina Hemmingway launches Footprint Cafés, a new chain of sustainable enterprise cafés, with a $150,000 donation from Dr Darrin M. Disley.2016-04-15_news_footprints-883x432

Footprint Cafés, a new chain of sustainable enterprise cafés that will re-invest 100 per cent of net profits into local communities, has launched today with a $150,000 donation from Dr Darrin M. Disley, CEO of Horizon Discovery Group.

Footprint is the brainchild of Georgina Hemmingway, a graduate of the Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship at Cambridge Judge Business School who was also supported by the Cambridge Social Ventures programme at the School’s Centre for Social Innovation.

Dr Disley, an Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge Judge, was honoured today in the Queen’s Birthday Honours with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion.

“Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, and it also represents a significant opportunity to connect and empower local communities,” said Georgina, who is president of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the School. “Footprint Cafés will connect the global to the local by harnessing the spending power of tourism as a force for local change and empowerment one amazing café at a time.”

Dr Disley’s donation is the cornerstone of a fundraising campaign that aims to raise $1 million by 2017 for Footprint.

“I am delighted to be supporting such a uniquely pure and socially impactful project,” said Dr Disley, “and it is fantastic to have been part of her journey and see this come to fruition today.”

Footprint aims to appeal to ethically-motivated tourists, giving them an authentic local experience combined with world-class standards. Over the past two years Georgina has already proved the business model works with the success of New Leaf Book Café in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and is now expanding the concept to the cultural city of Battambang, Cambodia.