Why I Co-founded Humanity Direct

Why I Co-founded Humanity Direct, Marc Shalam

I’ve always had an active interest in charity and volunteering. I’ve helped build homes in South Africa with Habitat for Humanity and also taught in secondary schools there. More recently, I volunteered here in London for Open Age, helping elderly people with tech/computer skills. All of these experiences were amazing, and they fed my desire to try and help others, but on a bigger scale. 

When Nick, Katrina and I started Humanity Direct, it was generally a reaction to two main feelings. The first was that charitable giving could be improved upon. In an age when technology has done so much to bring people together (whether it’s buying or selling, dating etc), we felt it was weird that when we donated to various charities, we had no idea who specifically we were helping. It felt so impersonal. The second feeling was due to Katrina and my wife Natalie both having difficult births, and we take for granted the medical care we have access to on a regular basis. We started researching and quickly realised that unfortunately, that’s the exception and not the norm – over 5 billion people worldwide have no access to safe and affordable surgery, which is crazy. Not only does this obviously lead to increased loss of life and suffering, but also to things like worse educational outcomes and decreased economic productivity. We decided to start Humanity Direct to try and put at least a small dent into this huge problem. 

The Inspiration Behind Humanity Direct’s Mission

Seeing the difference we make in the lives of the children and families that we help. Whenever Dickson and the team report back after successful surgeries, or seeing the photos of children smiling with their new glasses – that’s the best and it just motivates us to want to do more. The other thing I really enjoy is the face-to-face contact that working in the charity allows. Whether it’s visiting Tanzania or Uganda to meet the children and families we help, or meeting and talking to the inspiring runners and fundraisers who turn up to our Humanity Direct/XNRG events, these interactions always give us a huge boost and make all the hard work worthwhile. 

One other aspect I really enjoy about Humanity Direct is that all of us involved are open to new ideas and the charity isn’t tied down by strict parameters. If someone comes to us with a new suggestion we have the ability and free rein to make it happen, and that’s a great environment to be involved with. 

What are The Biggest Challenges Humanity Direct Faces?

Given the scale of the problem we’re trying to address, there’s unfortunately no shortage of children that we can help, and Dickson and the team are amazing in being able to take on whatever comes their way. The challenge for Humanity Direct is that the charity world is a crowded space, so building awareness of Humanity Direct and increasing revenue/donation streams is the hardest part. We have a really unique model in that 100% of all donations received go straight to fund medical care for the children we help, and donors can see who they’re helping. Everyone who learns about Humanity Direct really loves the concept and what we do, so it’s just a matter of getting more people to know us. If we can generate more donations, then we can help more children!

Future Goals for Humanity Direct

The overall goal is to help as many children as possible, so to do that I’d like to increase the amount of donations but also the diversity of donations that we receive. A lot of our donations come from the awesome virtual and in-person events we run with XNRG. That’s amazing, but I’d also like to generate more donations from different sources, as well as tap into corporate giving and grant possibilities. Ideally, we can grow Humanity Direct into a big charity and improve the lives of tens of thousands of children! 

How I Spend My Time Outside of Humanity Direct

I love travelling, golf and skiing, particularly when it’s with my wife Natalie and son Jacob. Along with Dickson, I’m a big Arsenal supporter so if anything the unofficial Humanity Direct colours are red and white!