Charity Work and Community Involvement at SWIM

At Swim Recruiting, our values are more than just abstract ideas — they’re an integral part of how we work. Our company culture centres empowerment, teamwork, connection and flexibility, and those principles shape everything from the professionals on our team, to the clients we serve, to the causes we donate our time and resources to support. 

Our Firm

Diversity and inclusion isn’t just a corporate goal we champion for our clients – it’s one we passionately prioritize on our own team. Our workforce is made up of 50% people of colour, 60% people born outside Canada, and 70% women, and our leadership team also consists of 80% women. It’s our hope that the SWIM team reflects the progressive, diverse, and talented Vancouver community it is part of.”

Our COO and co-founder, Bodil Geyer, brought her own history with activism and community organizing to the table when building our firm together with co-founder and President Simon Wood, himself a community advocate and donor. Bodil helped to organize the 2017 Vancouver Women’s March, which drew 15,000 people together in the streets of Downtown Vancouver, and its 2018 successor, March On. She also co-chairs the Vancouver chapter of Democrats Abroad Canada. 

Our Clients 

“When QMUNITY needed to find our next Co-Executive Director, we needed to partner with an organization with the expertise to find us great candidates, as well as one that matched our organization’s values. Swim Recruiting was a slam dunk on both. The SWIM team went really over and above in their approach.”

Anthony Azar, Director on QMUNITY’s Board of Directors

Our values are also reflected in our roster of exceptional clients. We have placed candidates at a wide variety of nonprofit organizations, to whom we offer a discounted contingency rate. We feel very fortunate to have played a role in connecting them with talented employees who can support their missions of making our community a safer, happier, and healthier place to live. 

One exciting nonprofit placement included finding a new Co-Executive Director for QMUNITY, a Queer, Trans, and Two-Spirit resource center located in Davie Village, the heart of Vancouver’s queer community.

Our Projects

“Swim Recruiting’s genuine care for our work and the women we serve truly means the world. As long-time supporters and sponsors, SWIM’s direct support for our meals program has helped ensure the provision of over 500 meals per day for women and children in the Downtown Eastside. We are grateful for Swim Recruiting’s continued generosity, especially during what has been an unprecedented time of need.”

Ali Omelaniec (she/her), Communications & Fundraising Coordinator at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.

The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre is SWIM’s major beneficiary, and a key focus of our community support work to date. As an organization in Downtown Vancouver proudly staffed and led by many talented women, we are located close to the Downtown Eastside community that the DEWC serves. Their work providing safety, comfort and camaraderie to vulnerable women and children in this area has become near and dear to our heart. 

We have supported the DEWC by volunteering, donating funds, and organizing clothing drives; for the last several years, we have also sponsored Herstory in Focus, the centre’s annual gala event which raises funds to support its programming, and awareness about the importance of its mission. 

SWIM and our employees also support a number of other causes, many of which have directly affected the lives of our team, clients, and candidates.

These have included:

• Muslim Food Bank and Community Services
• BC Lupus Society
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)
• COVID-19 relief in India; a May 2021 initiative raised $2700 from SWIM staff, including a 50% matching fund from SWIM corporate.  

Our Values

At SWIM, we see charitable work and community involvement as an opportunity to live our values holistically, both within our work as recruiters, and outside of our professional lives as active members of our community. 

As recruiters, we connect individuals with workplaces that bring them fulfillment and growth, personally and professionally. We see our guiding principles of teamwork, connection, empowerment and flexibility as naturally aligned with this mission. 

By living in close alignment with our values, we hope to bring this empowerment and cooperative spirit not just to our clients and candidates, but to everyone in our community. 

“SWIM believes that we must be rooted at the community level by supporting organizations that provide innovative medical research and safe and secure living for all.”

Bodil Geyer, COO & Co-Founder at Swim Recruiting