Kaba<\/a>, the world’s largest key manufacturer.<\/p>\nThe Giving Keys was founded in 2008 by Caitlin Crosby, a musician, actress and entrepreneur. While on tour in NYC she stayed at a hotel where the room keys were real keys, in an effort to not lose the key, she wore it as a necklace. She began re-purposing old keys into necklaces that were hand-stamped with inspirational words and selling them as merchandise at concerts. As the keys began to sell out, Caitlin encouraged others to pass the keys along to those who needed them. Caitlin always wanted The Giving Keys to give back and one night she found the missing link on Hollywood Blvd.<\/p>\n
After walking out of a film screening, Caitlin saw a couple experiencing homelessness sitting with a sign that said ugly, broke and hungry. She was moved with compassion and took the couple to dinner to get to know them. Over the course of the dinner Caitlin learned that the girl made jewelry, this was the \u2018a-ha\u2019 moment \u2014 the next day the couple joined The Giving Keys team and began stamping keys.<\/p>\n
Brit met Caitlin through mutual friends in Los Angeles in the early days of The Giving Keys. Brit was working for another fashion company at the time, but believed in the mission of The Giving Keys and told Caitlin she would love to volunteer her time any way she could. One fateful day in August 2012, Brits employer laid off over half the staff. Within a couple hours of receiving the news, her cell phone buzzed and it was a text message from Caitlin saying she was in need of a Production Manager.<\/p>\n
This was the moment in Brit\u2019s life when everything came together, her years in the fashion industry and her deep desire to do impact driven work were finally merging. She took the job and never looked back. “I believed in the concept and loved what Caitlin was doing. I always knew I was going to end up working in an area that fused fashion and philanthropy. That\u2019s where I wanted to land,” Brit says.<\/p>\n
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Brit Gilmore with coworker Michael Taylor, a Production Associate from The Giving Keys. <\/p>\n
As President, Brit Gilmore has helped take The Giving Keys to the next level and been a key reason for the company’s rapid growth. She\u2019s scaled both the business and impact work by adding a deeper level of organization to the company. <\/p>\n
‘Transitioning\u2019 is the key to The Giving Key’s mission statement, and people there are never referred to as homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur company is committed to separating the label from the identity of a person,\u201d Brit says. \u201cHe or she is not a homeless person, but a person who is homeless. And that is not an identity. This is just a temporary part of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Out of 80 people working in the headquarters, 35 are currently transitioning out of homelessness, and about 70 jobs have been created total for people transitioning out of homelessness since the start of The Giving Keys.<\/p>\n
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At The Giving Keys, this sentiment from Mother Teresa rings true: \u201cDo not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.\u201d This is what rolling up our sleeves looks like at The Giving Keys. Acting on feelings of compassion, knowing that anyone may hold the key to inspire or meet the needs of another person.<\/p>\n
“Rolling up our sleeves is being present to the needs of those around us and using the resources we have to create change,” Brit says.<\/p>\n
The Giving Keys’ culture is built on three Core Values. “Dream: who we’ll be tomorrow is not defined by who we were yesterday. Create: the space between intention and greatness is filled with hard work. Inspire: paying it forward is the ripple effect that will change the world,” Brit says.<\/p>\n
The team and culture is at the heart of the company and derived from the DNA of the founder and the company’s origin story. <\/p>\n