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Business is an unlikely hero: a force for good working to solve society's most pressing challenges, while boosting bottom line. This is social purpose at work. And it's a dynamic journey. Purpose 360 is a masterclass in unlocking the power of social purpose to ignite business and social impact. Host Carol Cone brings decades of social impact expertise and a 360-degree view of integrating social purpose into an organization into unfiltered conversations that illuminate today's big challenges and bigger ideas.
Carol Cone:
I'm Carol Cone and welcome to Purpose 360, the podcast that unlocks the power of purpose to ignite business and social impact. I'm so excited about the conversation on Purpose 360 today, because it's about a subject I love so much, and that's innovative products to solve social issues. So I want to ask you a question. Have any of you washed your clothes? Sure, yeah. Yeah. You throw it in the washing machine, you press a few buttons and you're done. Well, unfortunately, for over 60% of the world, that is not a reality.
The simple act of washing clothes by hand, hunched over a bucket, scrubbing clothes can take up to 20 hours a week. And this backbreaking task falls primarily on women and girls, robbing them of essential time that could be spent on their education, on income generating activities, or just simply resting. Well, today we're going to talk about the global washing divide with the Washing Machine Project and the Whirlpool Foundation. Joining me is Deb O'Connor, managing director of the Whirlpool Foundation, and Nav, one of the co-founders of the Washing Machine Project. We're going to learn many things in this absolutely stimulating conversation. Besides what is the global washing divide, we're going to learn about the passion of an engineer to solve a problem. We're going to learn about the heart of a company that's always focused on its mission to improve lives at home.
We're going to learn about the synergistic alignment between the two companies to create and then distribute these amazing, flat packable washing machines. So let's get started. So Deb and Nav, welcome to the show.
Deb O'Connor:
Thank you. Thanks for having us.
Nav Sawhney:
Thank you, Carol. Really excited about the conversation.
Carol Cone:
Oh, it's going to be great. So I always like to start for our listeners, which is a brief introduction of yourselves and why do you do the kind of work that you do?
Deb O'Connor:
Actually my early career, I started in nonprofits, so I learned to do a lot of work with volunteers and that kind of thing. And then when it came to Whirlpool, one of the reasons I said yes to the role is because I would be able to participate in some nonprofit organization. I worked for the KitchenAid brand and we had a program with the Coleman Foundation. So that excited me. And as I moved through my career, I am now doing the social responsibility for the company and of course with the foundation role as well. I feel like that's the stuff that I'm attracted to. I like to see things get better for people. It seems crazy that in this world there are people who don't have as much as many others and how can we make that a little bit more equal? So just helping people is my answer.
Carol Cone:
And you've been with Whirlpool how many years?
Deb O'Connor:
20 years.
Carol Cone:
20 years. And you've done some amazing work prior to this relationship and we might get into that a bit later. Nav, how about your background and why do you do what you do?
Nav Sawhney:
Yeah, it's a really good question and I rarely get to sit down and reflect on the why element. I think we're just doing all the time, so thank you for the opportunity. I'm from a Indian background and I used to go to India every summer and see poverty as a kid. And it didn't sit well with me that as an engineer I could help or hinder the planet. I'm so glad that it happened to me young because I now get to wake up every single day and work on something more purposeful in life and I'm so privileged to do that.
Carol Cone:
That's a beautiful thing. And I also know that you were mostly, during your upbringing, you were raised by your mom.
Nav Sawhney:
Yeah, my mom and my two older sisters single-handedly raised me. These are really powerful independent women that navigate society on their own in the UK. I witnessed firsthand my mom working all hours of the day just to get by and how difficult it was for women in particular to navigate society. And I think that really stuck with me throughout my whole life, seeing that struggle and that stress and that strain. That passion to create products and solutions that affect women has followed me throughout my life.
Carol Cone:
So let's bridge right to, what is it the Washing Machine Project?
Nav Sawhney:
You could tell by the name we wanted to make it as obvious as possible. But in summary, it's a problem that probably will never affect you and me and touch with, that's something that I hope for everyone in the world. The problem is that 60% of the world handwash clothes, they have to travel to lakes, [inaudible 00:06:27] streams to do this backbreaking work of handwashing clothes.
And unfortunately, the burden of handwashing clothes is disproportionately placed on women and girls who take up a lot of the unpaid labor in the household. And at the Washing Machine Project, we think that's so, so, so unfair. So we're doing something about that. We create these manual washing machines that save time, water, and effort compared to handwashing clothes.
Carol Cone:
And we'll get to more of the beautiful detail about that. But Deb, I know that Whirlpool has this incredible mission and it's to be the best kitchen and laundry company and to constantly improve life at home. So I want to ask you, when you first learned about the Washing Machine Project, what were you thinking?
Deb O'Connor:
Actually it was I would call it serendipitous. Turns out we also had a manual washing machine that we had been working on for 10 years. And the machine was working great. It looks very different than the one that Nav and team created, but we were trying to figure out how to get it distributed. So we were working with Habitat for Humanity on a research project trying to help just map the market in Southern Mexico. And as they were coming back with their results, we still had to look at each other and say, "Gosh, we still can't distribute this. I can't go to countries and distribute it. We just don't have... We don't work in that market." So we were at a standpoint.
Then suddenly one of my colleagues got a phone call from Nav and he called me and connected me and Nav. And then as we started talking, it was actually funny because he presented this deck, he was going to present to this company and see if we would help. And the pages at his deck are the same pages that we've been using for 10 years because talking about 60% of the globe still washes by hand, up to 20 hours a week these women are doing handwashing. So we connected very quickly over those statistics. And as we talked more and more, he needed scale and we need the distribution. So when you talk about one plus one equals three, that is the perfect definition of that.
Nav Sawhney:
That meeting was probably one of the best meetings I've ever had, and I've had thousands of meetings. I can't believe that we found each other and we were introduced to the Whirlpool Foundation. And so the energy in the room was really, really beautiful. I wish everyone was there.
Deb O'Connor:
I think we both figured out that we had solved our problem with each other, each other resolving our problems. It was great.
Nav Sawhney:
Yeah.
Carol Cone:
Can you both talk about the global washing divide because that's what you're trying to help solve?
Nav Sawhney:
The issue, the crux of it is that handwashing clothes is so time-intensive. As we said, the burden of handwashing clothes is placed on women and girls, and that's not fair. And it takes so much time. Our research has shown that it takes up to 20 hours a week in some instances, and it's not 20 hours of passive time. This is 20 hours on your hands and knees scrubbing each piece of cloth. That denies women and girls opportunities to work, to study, or rest. And that's where the divide is created. Bridging that divide would unlock and has unlocked opportunities to income generate, to realign their ambitions to something that they want to do or spend time with family and rest. And I think it's just bridging that gap.
Deb O'Connor:
In fact, when we see our employees come in and they start to help build machines and we say 60%, we hear that echoed throughout the day, "Are you kidding me, 60% of people still are washing by hand?" It's shocking.
Carol Cone:
You talk about being the world's first flat packable machine because these machines have to go to lots of places. So can you explain why it is important that it's flat and packable and then because you want to get these to ultimately hundreds of thousands of families and communities and such around the globe?
Nav Sawhney:
Yeah. When we started the design process, we needed something that was compact, that was robust, that would be able to... I think in our design discussions we were saying could fit on the back of a motorcycle essentially, because last mile distribution and getting it to the most remote places in the world, you're going to have to operate around the modes of transport that people do, donkeys and little scooters and stuff. So with that in mind, having something that was compact but also had the capacity for the families that we were trying to serve.
And we also knew that the machine had to have a reduced water consumption, so it needed to be beneficial for people that had limited or no access to water. So the reduction of water is 50%. And then the time benefit is something that we really wanted to bridge, that lost time on this relatively unproductive task that people have so much pride towards actually, and I don't want to undermine that. So 75% reduction in time.
It's gone through a lot iteration. But over the last year in collaboration with Whirlpool Foundation and Whirlpool Corporation employees, we really accelerated a design but also the manufacture. So we're now able to manufacture one of these machines around three and a half minutes, which is something that used to take us one day.
Carol Cone:
That's amazing. I also know that it is on a frame, so women do not have to bend over. And I know that originally when women's washing just in a tub, it is backbreaking on the back, on the knees, on the hands. So why is it called the Divya?
Nav Sawhney:
The first ever inspiration of the machine was a lady called Divya, who was my next door neighbor in India at the time while I was frustrated with my career here in the UK as an engineer for an engineering company. And I wanted to help the planet, not end of the planet. So I met Divya and I promised her a machine and I also named the machine after her. I made sure that everyone knows Divya's story.
And actually, I was lucky enough to go back to Divya after that six, seven-year-long promise. I took Deb, Rosa, and some of the other Whirlpool employees. And for me that was a massive moment, personal journey. A lot of people have put their careers on their line for this moment where people challenged whether this happened. And for me that was just a wow.
Carol Cone:
So Deb, what was it like to take that trip? And I also know that you're global head of sustainability Pam Klyn went with you too, and the pictures are just... There's joyful...
Deb O'Connor:
I knew it was India, I knew it was going to be a remote village, and difficult situation because these are people who are spending a lot of time washing by hand. But to go into that community and see the conditions that they live in, it's hard, but they're very proud. The houses that we went into were extremely clean and they all offered us something to drink and something to eat. And it was like I have so much and I go in and see that they appreciate what they have. It was was really touching. And then the moment that we delivered Divya her machine, I could see Nav very, very proud. Divya very happy. Divya's family was there, they were happy. And Divya's daughter helped put the legs on the machine. So actually I think Divya's daughter is soon going to be an engineer at Whirlpool in Pondicherry because she was amazing. She knew how to use the tools, et cetera.
And then after Divya though, we distributed 10 machines out of that trip, and we would walk through that village a couple times a day or day after day. And we were there for like four days I think. And to see the women who just got done washing and the smiles on their faces.
Another woman, when we distributed, she put all her saris in there and put the water in and turned the dial a few times, and then she walked away and we looked at each other like, "Where'd she go?" And somebody went over and she was already doing other chores. She figured out she was going to be able to save time just like that. It was really, really amazing to watch. And they were so appreciative. And then to hear results three months later where they truly are still using it, they're appreciative and saving them time, all of the things that we had hoped and dreamed of for this trip really just came true. And to think that we're building more and more and more of them, to have a lot more Divya's in the world is pretty amazing.
Nav Sawhney:
I think that balance between sympathy and empathy is really important. The people that we're just [inaudible 00:25:38] these machines to, they're so proud. That they don't want handouts, they want opportunity. And I think that ability for Deb and the team to show the empathy rather than sympathy is so important and it's so beautiful to see and they got it straight away. And I think that's so powerful. [inaudible 00:25:57] a partnership perspective where partners just get it and it's very rare that happens. And just the engagement from [inaudible 00:26:14] of welcoming these people that are trying to help into their society with the culture and the food and music and the dancing, the murals was just fantastic to see.
Carol Cone:
Yeah, I'd love you to talk a little bit about the murals because those were... It's part of the culture and they're called Kolams?
Nav Sawhney:
Correct, yeah.
Carol Cone:
So can you explain a little bit about that because some of them were just amazing?
Deb O'Connor:
So basically every single morning these women go out on their front porch and they use a rice powder, and it looks like chalk. They draw a design out on their front porch and it's in the dirt that's on the front porch. And as the day goes, it gets messed up, but it's basically like an art with a lot of lines and dots, and sometimes they'll draw pictures. But the art just showed the intelligence of these women and the ability to do everything for their family and their desire to do everything for their family. I wish I could show you these images on the podcast, but I can't.
Carol Cone:
I love it. What are two or three other insights that were absolutely critical to make this relationship powerful and also built to last?
Nav Sawhney:
Different countries, different regions do different things and understanding that's really, really challenging. I think that's where the Washing Machine Project can add value to a partnership like Whirlpool where they're amazing. They're amazing at building products. And just in the last year alone with having these dedicated skill-based volunteers who work around the clock so passionately, so invested with this partnership to do what they do above their day jobs with young families is something that I will never forget in my life. And they have really moved the needle in our product development and our manufacturing. We wouldn't be able to distribute at the scale that we're doing now and in the future if it wasn't because those people.
Carol Cone:
Deb, talk about what have you learned because you've had other partnerships in the past which have been great, but this one seems to be so extra special and I know your employees are really, really excited about it.
Deb O'Connor:
Yeah, our employees are really excited. When Nav talks about the engineers who helped just refine the machine a bit, I didn't even know all of them were working on it. I recently added up the number of people who were involved and it's 35 people have touched the refinement of the machine. And as Nav said, that's on their own time. And they also built an entire assembly line. It probably has maybe 12 stations at it. The assembly of it goes from table to table, and they built it so that any employee could work on it. And the heart that it takes to do that, the values of respect and just thinking about other people helping each other get through the job.
Carol Cone:
Deb, talk about your commitment because... A lot of foundations will only do a one-year commitment, which is very difficult for the partner. So talk about your commitment, the numbers, but also the length of it.
Deb O'Connor:
Yeah, I think we saw that it was going to take more than one year to really truly make an impact. It took a year to build up to this and be able to have our assembly line and figure out how we are going to bring volunteers in and make it a good experience for them and how are we going to get... Once we built those machines here in little Benton Harbor, Michigan, how are we going to get them out of here into the people who need them?
So we went with a three-year grant, although we have goals for five years, I will say. That's what we decided to do. But I think even more importantly, the employees that have jumped in, I mentioned the core team, but also we've had over 200 employees volunteer to build machines and they have to take an entire day off of their work in order to do it. So it's pretty impactful to see how people have jumped in. And we survey everybody when it's done and they love it. They love it. We have return volunteers. Sometimes we have to ask the return volunteers to back up a little just so that we can get the new people in because everybody wants to build.
Carol Cone:
I also want you to just mention briefly about how you introduce this to employees because there's an experiential part of this and I've talked about it like when we started doing brainstorming, you and Rosa took us down to a pond at your headquarters and we toted the water, the basin, the clothes, the detergent. That's very telling. So how was your introduction received and why did you do it the way you did it?
Deb O'Connor:
Yeah, we went to four of our buildings, I believe, and we [inaudible 00:41:11] people. When you're in a company and people are moving around all the time, it's hard to book time with people. So we went right outside the cafeteria during lunchtime and Nav came in and we sat them down to give them a proper conversation about all the statistics that we've already talked about. But then before they could go, they to move over into the area when they had to wash clothes by hand. And it was really fun because people were shocked like, "You want me to do what?" And we took those water jugs, we put them at the other side of the building. So they had to go get water and think about what women have to do every day to go get water. We made it easy, they were indoors, the water was in jugs, easy to carry.
And then we brought them back and told them to pour that into those wash bins, take the clothes and wash clothes. They were on their hands and knees washing clothes. And we make them do it for three minutes and then we say, "Think about that. Think about three hours of this at a... [inaudible 00:42:19] three hours of this and tell me how you feel right now." And they're talking about how their hands hurt and how their back hurts and their knees. "I have knee problems." I'm like, "So do they." It was really a huge shocking thing for them to see. And then they got to see Divya, so they got to see what the solution was as well. People started signing up for builds immediately. We didn't have enough machines to build at first because so many people wanted to build.
Carol Cone:
And how many machines have you made a commitment to build over the next three years?
Nav Sawhney:
Yeah. In the region of about 4,000 machines in the next three years and in the next five years about 10,000 machines, so.
Carol Cone:
And you're going to touch how many people and families with that because there's an exponential number, it's not just a one person, one machine, it's families, large families?
Deb O'Connor:
Yeah, it's 150,000 people we expect to touch in five years. That's a lot of laundry and a lot of time saved.
Carol Cone:
A lot of times saved. I think it's important again to reiterate that up to 20 hours a week of time is saved for women and girls mostly.
Nav Sawhney:
Yeah. And we see this as the tip of the iceberg. So some of our distributions are showcasing that there's a gender role reversal where men see this as a tech product, something new that they want to try and I engage with because they get to put on the legs of the machine and they're now washing clothes, which is, for us, it's the tip of the iceberg.
Carol Cone:
I'm very curious of your point of view, what is the role of purpose, giving back, having these social relationships and collaborations in an AI-driven world?
Deb O'Connor:
I just feel like AI has helped make things easier, the day-to-day things that we have to do. And I hope that AI will make it easier for us to follow all of our volunteers throughout these journeys and maybe make it easier to collect the metrics and easier to tell the stories even. Purpose will always have a role in companies and in some companies anyway. And I look forward to it. Make my life easier.
Carol Cone:
Okay, Nav?
Nav Sawhney:
I always go rogue a bit, which is the people that we support are people that their lives are not going to be touched by AI for a long, long time to come. And I think in an age where a billion people are going to go hungry today and 5 billion people have to travel to the river or the stream or the lake and handwash clothes, I think more people focusing on solutions that have positive impact on the world is the way forward. And if AI can help with that, then that would be great.
Carol Cone:
Super. I love that. I always give the last word to my guests. Anything we've left out, anything you want to punctuate again?
Nav Sawhney:
Yeah, and I think I just want to say a massive thank you to you Carol for being on this journey, but also Whirlpool Foundation for trusting us and believing in us, and we want to do more. We collectively want to do more. We want a purposeful and purpose-led partnerships that collaborate and complement each other, not compete each other. There's so much space here and so much room to create impact together and come along this journey. I think there's so much that we could do together. Our website has a contact form with prospective partners that they can sign up and we can have a conversation. And we want to bring Whirlpool along the journey with us and complement and really accelerate the impact that they're creating for millions of lives around the world.
Carol Cone:
Deb?
Deb O'Connor:
I'd say join us. I think Nav and I are saying the same thing. We need help. There's 60%, that's a giant number, of people who are still washing by hand, and they live in areas where we can't provide washing machines. They live in areas where there's unstable electricity and unstable water sources. So we need help. And we look at each other when we talk about the funding, we're funding the Washing Machine Project right now, but we look at each other and say, "We need more machines. We need more machines." So we invite other companies to come please join us and see how you can help.
Carol Cone:
So I want to thank both of you. I would hope that if any of our corporations that are listening that truly want to learn how to do this really well, that you could contact any one of our guests.
Deb O'Connor:
Thank you.
Nav Sawhney:
Thank you so much.
Carol Cone:
This podcast was brought to you by some amazing people and I'd love to thank them. Anne Hundertmark and Kristin Kenney at Carol Cone on Purpose. Pete Wright and Andy Nelson, our [inaudible 00:53:07] production team at TruStory FM. And you, our listener. Please rate and rank us because we really want to be as high as possible as one of the top business podcasts available so that we can continue exploring together the importance and the activation of authentic purpose. Thanks so much for listening.
This transcript was exported on Aug 29, 2024 - view latest version here.
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