GeoComply employees know they’re making a difference

Part of Robin Alexander’s job involves working with law enforcement and civil society groups to use technology from her employer, GeoComply, to fight child exploitation online. It’s difficult work – but Alexander says she’s motivated by the impact she’s having.

“I’m seeing first-hand that we’re in a position where we can actually help and make a difference,” says Alexander, impact manager at GeoComply, a Vancouver-headquartered company specializing in geolocation, security and fraud detection. “It helps when you know you can fight such a heinous crime in a productive way, and that reverberates throughout the organization.”

She points out that GeoComply’s impact work is a direct result of the engineers on its product and tech teams who develop the company’s solutions. “For them to see it’s being applied in this way and helping a very important social cause close to our hearts is very motivating and makes them feel quite satisfied.”

GeoComply, which has clients in sectors including financial services and cryptocurrency, media and entertainment, gaming, and more, created a specific ‘IMPACT’ division – and Alexander’s role – to consolidate its efforts to fight child exploitation online, promote responsible gaming, engage with communities in the locations where its offices are based, and reduce its environmental impact.

“Any area that we’re touching, we want to make sure we’re making a positive difference and leveraging our technology and resources to make a positive change,” says Alexander.

The company has been a mission-driven business since its early days fighting money laundering and stolen identities, says Anna Sainsbury, its co-founder and CEO. Employees have continually emphasized that they value the opportunity to “build something that means something.”

She says the company’s focus on impact has turned inward, with a commitment to improving its diversity across all levels of the organization and in its offices across the globe. The strategy has focused on scholarships and sponsorships for young women and hiring for potential, further developing key skills.

GeoComply has already started seeing results, says Sainsbury. More than 40 per cent of the organization’s senior leadership is women, and “our teams with real diversity, we’re starting to see them be more successful, more healthy and making better decisions than when they were less diverse.”

GeoComply’s focus on learning and development, which includes an annual professional development allowance of up to $10,000 and time during the workday for learning, has helped it with its diversity goals, she says.

It also grants employees the opportunity to pursue their curiosity within the organization and take useful skills from their previous work to new teams. “GeoComply used to be a small company but now there are hundreds of jobs in different areas that you can grow into, and we want to support that,” Sainsbury says.

Alexander, who’s used her annual allowances for courses on diversity, equity, and inclusion and an online summit on Indigenizing workspaces, says her career trajectory within GeoComply has been a result of the company recognizing her passions.

While working in government relations, Alexander worked closely with Sainsbury on the company’s social responsibility initiatives. Her passion for those projects shone through, and the company offered her the impact manager role.

“I can say I truly found something I want to progress my career in as a result of GeoComply recognizing that passion,” she says.

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's BC’s Top Employers winners, published February 14, 2023 in the Vancouver Sun. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.