LONDON Nat Whalley launched her startup after seeing two friends get made redundant at their jobs when they were pregnant.

I thought, That happened to my mum 30 years ago. I didnt think it would happen to people our age today, but it did, she told HuffPost.

One of her friends, in her late 20s, had lost her job at a university. Questioning the legality of the move, Whalley who has worked for activism groups 38 Degrees and Avaaz used her campaigning knowhow to try to reverse the decision. She turned to online crowdfunding to help, pleading for donations to mount a court challenge.

It was the threat of that alone that was enough for the university to offer my friend a new job, with all the benefits, Whalley said. The power of the crowd is something that I experienced then, and I knew there was something there.

As employment issues at companies like Deliveroo and Uber increasingly hit the headlines, her startup, Organise , hopes to help workers take concerns from the office, shop floor or workshop all the way to the boardroom. It has 20,000 users on its online platform and has managed to make big companies like fashion chain River Island clarify their policies for staff.

I dont think theres ever a right time to step out and do it, the 28-year-old said of giving up a salaried job to start her company in the hope of revolutionizing the fight for workers rights.