The entrepreneurship blueprint doesn’t exist

The 2024 Catalyst for Change Award, in partnership with Bank of Ireland, was awarded to Leeann Monk-Özgül, Co-Founder of Access Elemental, during the INVENT Awards Night 2024. This award recognises and celebrates individuals who are driving positive change within the entrepreneurial ecosystem by offering pro bono support.

Meeting obstacles head on, finding creative solutions and ultimately placing those who need support the most at the centre of problem solving are the attributes that saw Leeann Monk-Özgül and Jennifer Neff create the first ever cloud based social prescribing business.

Going back to 2013, both Jennifer and Leeann were working in the heart of their communities as community development workers.  Whilst they loved working in the sector, they were both really frustrated that despite seeing everyone trying their best to support their communities, the people that needed the help most were still slipping through the cracks.

In 2013, Derry City was awarded the first ever UK City of Culture.  Due to this there was a whole new lease of life in the city and one element being promoted was new innovations around digital and health.

Jennifer and Leeann wondered if digital technology could play a part in better connecting communities by bringing everyone involved in the health and social care ecosystem onto a digital platform. Most importantly, they envisioned putting the person at the centre of it all, giving them the best possible chance at life.At the time, they didn’t realise that what they were describing as a digital platform was actually a well-established model known as social prescribing. However, no digital platform existed to support it.

Leeann and Jennifer decided to take action and with a donation of £500 to kickstart the business, created Access Elemental in 2013.

Leeann said: “Although we were helping a lot of people, I was getting so frustrated knowing there were so many vulnerable people falling through the gap and not accessing our resources. I thought to myself surely if we place the person most in need at the centre of our problem, we can come up with a solution to access them and better their lives.”

With nothing more than a donation of £500, Leeann and Jennifer set up the tech-for-good company, Access Elemental (formerly Elemental) in their home city of Derry, creating  over 40 jobs. “We launched our social prescribing platform in 2015, at the NHS Expo in Manchester. The feedback from health and social carte commissioners was really positive and as a result we got our first three customers. One contract was secured with  Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust, for their Life Rooms programme. They still remain a customer to this day.” Leeann continued.

Fast forward to 2024 and Access Elemental is the market leader for digital social prescribing. Their customers include over 2000 GP practices NHS Integrated Care Systems, Councils, third sector organisations, Universities and housing associations across the UK, Ireland and more recently Australia.

Revolutionising the social prescribing and wider health and social care landscape, Leeann’s dedication to supporting communities has paved the way for better access to health and social care and addresses the health inequalities present in our community. Access Elemental showcases the City of Derry, and Northern Ireland as a place in which technology companies can flourish, especially with the support of forward thinking and empathetic people.

Announced as one of the UK’s most influential women in tech for six years running, Leeann understands the importance of representation as a female entrepreneur and supporting others with a similar mindset in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Leeann said: “I have volunteered as a mentor for over six years at Catalyst, representing the Northwest, Derry, tech for good, female entrepreneurship and founders. I didn’t grow up thinking about entrepreneurship but rather that I’d work for a corporate business and fly around the world as a businesswoman. Although when my circumstances changed and I found myself completing final year of university whilst becoming a mother for the first time, my priorities shifted and that was no longer the plan.

“I experienced first-hand the support of good people around me and I have always had a drive in me to give back and support the community that has looked after me so well. If there is an opportunity for me to support people in need, I am more than happy to do all within my power to help them better themselves and that’s why having access to these resources is so important.”

Leeann often shares her experience, supports start-ups and has inspired a new generation of entrepreneurs. Well-known in the local, regional and national entrepreneurial ecosystem across Northern Ireland, she is an advocate for helping others to believe they can start and scale a successful business like Jennifer, and she did.

With a natural connection to communities, Leeann has spent much of her career supporting and empowering citizens to improve their health and wellbeing in one of Northern Ireland’s most socially deprived areas. Leeann has a natural ability to connect with those who are hardly reached and hardly heard, making her a much-loved mentor on various Catalyst programmes such as Co-Founders and Role Models, which places a huge focus on penetrating through to those hardly reached areas.

Leeann said: “I have received a lot of support throughout my career, but it wasn’t without its challenges and naysayers. I was told that it would be impossible to build an impactful technology company without technical experience, but I did. I was strongly encouraged to move my business to Belfast, for it to survive but adamant that it remained in Derry, we continued to watch it thrive. There are ways and means around the hurdles you’ll meet in setting up and running a business but ultimately, I believe when you put the human at the centre is when you can begin to do work that really matters and grow your business.

I’ve watched my business grow from the ground up. Jennifer and I started with nothing apart from a problem that needed solving. A problem that was negatively affecting the people within our  community. I could have continued to float along and not put my head above the water, but I had a burning passion to make this space a better one for those within it.

Entrepreneurs aren’t built in a boardroom; they could be anyone around us. Entrepreneurs are from Derry, they didn’t go to university, they did go to university, they are the people who had a head start in life and they are the people a few steps behind who haven’t had equal opportunities. There is no blueprint for entrepreneurship, and that is why I am so passionate about providing access to all.” Leeann said.

In 2016, Leeann started Access Elemental in Derry, growing it to over 40 employees and experienced huge success. In 2021, it was acquired by the Access Group and now operates as the Northern Ireland headquarter for the group, where it has over 10,000 employees across the world.