Who Gives a Crap CEO to speak at CfG event

THE co-founder and chief executive officer of Who Gives a Crap will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Committee for Geelong (CfG) Annual Dinner.

Simon Griffiths will speak at next month’s event, which will also be the graduation for this year’s Leaders for Geelong program.

Mr Griffiths co-founded the toilet paper, tissue and paper towel company with friends Danny Alexander and Jehan Ratnatunga after learning 2.4 billion people – about 40 per cent of the global population – do not have access to a toilet and about 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation.

Spurred into action, the trio launched Who Gives A Crap with a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo in July 2012, with Mr Griffiths sitting on a toilet in a draughty warehouse and refusing to move until enough money in pre-orders had been raised to start production.

The $50,000 USD (equivalent to more than $77,000 AUD today) target was reached about 50 hours later, and the crowdfunding eventually pulled in $66,548 (more than $103,000 AUD today).

Who Gives a Crap delivered its first product in March 2013 and has been shipping out toilet paper and its signature brand of toilet-related puns since then and continues to donate 50 per cent of its profits to help build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world.

Since launching, Who Gives A Crap has tripled in size year-on-year, primarily relying on word-of-mouth to fuel its growth.

In five years, Who Gives A Crap donated more than $1 million, reaching a milestone in 2020 of $8.3 million, fuelled by enormous sales during the toilet paper shortages at the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The CfG Annual Dinner and Leadership Graduation will be held at the Presidents’ Room, GMHBA Stadium on December 7 from 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

For tickets and more information, head to committeeforgeelong.com.au