Mayur Gupta (he/him) is the CEO and Founder of Career Accelerator and has been featured on the Outstanding Top 100 LGBT+ Future Leaders list. We sat down with Mayur to discuss why he is passionate about supporting LGBTQI human rights and how running led him to find his own tribe.
Why are you passionate about LGBTQI rights and equality?
Like many LGBT+ people, I had a tough time at school, facing a combination of homophobic bullying (leading me to drop out of my secondary school) and fear over my sexuality and what it would mean for my future. According to the Stonewall, 45% of young people are bullied for being LGBT+ at school and half of bullied LGBT+ pupils feel that bullying has had a negative effect on their plans for future education.
Motivated by my negative experiences at school, and driven by the conviction that no young person should feel excluded, I decided to start an education social enterprise called Career Accelerator supporting underserved and disadvantaged young people, such as LGBT+ youth, to get access to 1:1 business mentoring. The mentoring is provided by relatable role models at top corporates including LinkedIn, Vodafone, Just Eat Takeaway, Microsoft and Snapchat, help young people prepare for successful personal and professional futures.
I was determined to try and do something to prevent what happened to me – and so many of my LGBT+ peers my age – from happening to the next generation of LGBT+ young people. I feel now that I’m a lot happier and stable in my own personal life and my business works with over 30 schools across England and 20 corporates, I finally have the platform to try and make the process of growing up LGBT+ easier for others through the power of mentoring and community.
Why do you run?
I lost a lot of my friends when I came out at school and University which really affected my self-esteem and wellbeing. When I got to my 20s, I craved having an LGBT+ tribe of friends I could belong to. Fortunately I discovered London Frontrunners – a great LGBT+ running club in London which I’ve been part of over the last 3 years and where I’ve made some of my best friends. Whilst I love my work running my business, I do find it refreshing from time to time to do something which doesn’t necessarily centre around productivity and achievement, but more around joy and fun. Running has been a great way for me to help address some of my anxiety and stress. It helps give me a break and much needed and valuable headspace.
Why have you chosen to fundraise to support LGBTQI activism through GiveOut?
During my time interning with the Bisi Alimi Foundation, an LGBT+ human rights charity working in Nigeria, I became aware of the scale of LGBT+ prejudice and discrimination and danger in other parts of the world. I was always so focused on being LGBT+ in the UK that I didn’t spend much time and energy thinking about what it must be like for those outside the relatively tolerant UK. That’s one of the reasons I love GiveOut’s internationally focused work and I was so keen on fundraising to support this.
I love the rational and systematic approach that GiveOut employs to help their donors provide grant funding to those LGBT+ people and LGBT+ groups which need it the most, and where it can add the most value. This contrasts with just randomly donating some money to a charity and not really being sure how impactful it will be and how it would be spent.
I was a bit apprehensive about reaching out to the GiveOut team at the start as a young and early-stage entrepreneur, and was scared I wouldn’t be able to contribute or add as much value as others who were more senior in their careers. However, I was made to feel super welcome and valued by the GiveOut team, encouraged throughout my fundraising and training over 6 months, and even invited to one of their flagship events in London recently. I’ve had the best time volunteering with GiveOut and would jump at the chance to continue contributing to GiveOut’s amazing work over the next few years as well.