We are incredibly proud to introduce Grace Graham, founder of workplace wellbeing business WorkSpa, dedicated to helping organisations enhance productivity, employee satisfaction, and holistic wellbeing. She is also a passionate advocate for entrepreneurial empowerment and is co-chairing the Maple Review, alongside Michelle Ovens CBE, founder of Small Business Britain, and Minister for Small Business Gareth Thomas.
Grace's journey is a testament to resilience, innovation, and a deep commitment to levelling the playing field for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Grace's entrepreneurial path began with invaluable support from organisations like The King’s Trust, whose Enterprise Programme provides crucial assistance to young people launching and growing their businesses. She understands first-hand the challenges of navigating the business world, especially without established networks or mentorship. This personal experience fuels her dedication to ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background, can choose business ownership and has access to all the resources that takes in the long term.
As a Black woman and entrepreneur, Grace has also navigated the unique funding landscape for people from under-represented backgrounds. Access to finance is one of the primary challenges in setting up a business, even more so for women, Disabled entrepreneurs, people from ethnic minorities, among others, and intersections of those identities, who often end up having to rely on self-funding for the ventures at the start, and as the business grows. Grace champions the idea that financial literacy, pitching skills, and comprehensive business education should be embedded much earlier in the entrepreneurial journey, empowering founders with the tools they need to succeed, which they often do not have inherited access to.
Grace's involvement with the Maple Review stems from her unwavering belief in its mission. She sees the review as a vital tool for identifying and dismantling the structural barriers that hinder entrepreneurial progress. She highlights how the Maple Review offers practical insights into making policy, education, and funding systems more inclusive. For Grace, having such guidance and advocacy readily available from the outset could have significantly boosted her confidence and direction during her own early entrepreneurial days.
Grace is particularly passionate about the Maple Review's deliberate approach to inclusivity. She recognises that poverty disproportionately affects people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, carers, Disabled individuals, and those from working class or rural areas. The Maple Review, through extensive interviews, consultations, and data collection, will work to ensure that the voices of these communities are central to the recommendations for policy makers, Government, and the private sector it will develop as part of its final report, earmarked for Spring 2026.
Grace’s message to aspiring entrepreneurs is one of powerful encouragement: "the barriers are real, but they’re not a reflection of your worth or potential." She acknowledges that access to capital, mentorship, and professional networks often favour a privileged few, but this only underscores the importance of diverse voices and innovative ideas. Grace believes we need more founders who have lived through the problems they are solving. She urges entrepreneurs, and those with dreams of owning a business, to "keep going, keep asking questions, and know that efforts like the Maple Review exist to push for a more equitable ecosystem that recognises your value from day one."
Grace Graham's leadership as co-chair of the Maple Review is instrumental in driving forward a more inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial landscape for all young people. Her experience, advocacy, and dedication are truly inspiring, and we are thrilled to have her at the helm of the Review.
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