Skills | Education | Experience | Interests
I love re-imagining what the future could look like; what the future should look like. That's always my starting point, and then I like to work backwards to understand what innovations are going to get us there.
Over the past six years, I have spent a lot of time learning, thinking and doing across three thematic areas that I find wonderfully interesting:
- Economic systems and the allocation of capital
- Sustainable solutions to creating social impact
- Innovative technology that can be used to deliver democratic, scalable solutions
I am now looking to join a dynamic and ambitious organisation that gives me the opportunity to harness my skill set across finance, social impact, and tech and to help build something that I believe is the absolute bees knees.
I like challenging the status quo, I like innovating, I like start-ups.
That's why I took the leap to leave a successful career and learn how to code at Makers Academy, a 16-week, supercharged, coding bootcamp. For me, programming is problem solving at its absolute best. Continuous iterations of decomposition, debugging, pattern recognition with heaps of room for creativity and thoughtful design. The last three months have affirmed three self-truths: I love learning, I really enjoy making things and I'm becoming ever more comfortable being outside of my comfort zone.
I enjoy understanding different people's motivators and aligning a team around a shared goal.
I have worked in both large and small organisations; developed strategy within purely commercial businesses and purely impact-driven businesses; spent significant time understanding communities in both the developed and emerging worlds. I believe that this variety of experience equips me with a unique lens to be able to connect and engage a multitude of stakeholders from different walks of life, with different motivations towards a common purpose.
I'm good at joining the dots - be it people, networks, or ideas. I believe the most exciting things happen at the intersection of different disciplines.
Over the years, I have been lucky enough to both work with and learn from some really bright and talented folks across finance, social enterprise and now tech and I continue to actively contribute to those networks. My 'match-making' has sown the seeds of some interesting collaborations, including a social enterprise venture co-founded by two friends, a new board member for a classmate's startup, a marriage, a fashion show that raised £30K for charity and most importantly, a multitude of unlikely friendships.
I'm adept at both big picture strategy and detail-oriented execution.
Five years of investing in capital markets taught me the fine art of continuously balancing tactical and strategic thinking.
(In case you were wondering, porpoises are aquatic marine mammals that swim through the water with undulatory locomotion.)
Web Developer Bootcamp, Makers Academy | 2016
Europe's leading full stack, 16-week, web developer bootcamp. Strong focus on software craftsmanship, test driven development, object-oriented design and agile/XP methodologies.
Projects I'm most proud of...
| Project Title | Description | Technologies | Testing |
|---|---|---|---|
| CrowdCode | A web app that enables non-technical founders to crowdsource their MVP | Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JQuery, PostgreSQL | RSpec, Capybara |
| Code Fish | A web app that enables anyone learning to code to get 1:1 live help from coders across the globe | Javascript, Node.js, Express, Socket.io, MongoDB | Mocha, Chai, Zombie |
Checkout out my GitHub for more...
Social Enterprise Leadership Programme, On Purpose | 2015-2016
One year programme designed to develop the next generation of leaders in the social enterprise space in order to harness the power of business for good.
MSc Investment Management, Cass Business School | 2008-2009
First class distinction, Vipin Sareen scholar
BA Economics, Queens' College, University of Cambridge | 2005-2008
First Class
Business Development Manager, Do Nation | Sep 2015 - Mar 2016
Do Nation is a social tech startup that combines the best behavioural science with user-friendly technology to help people form simple, sustainable habits. Engaged the team in co-creating a 3-year Business Roadmap outlining the strategy towards achieving financial sustainability, focussing on product evolution, distribution channels and partnership opportunities. Worked closely with the CEO on a seed/Series A round of financing.
Community Programmes Manager, RBS | Mar 2015 - Sep 2015
Led the delivery of RBS Inspiring Social Enterprise, an initiative that aims to support social enterprises by working in partnership with the sector to improve access to expertise, markets and finance.
Currencies & Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, Wellington Management | Aug 2012 - Jan 2015
Macroeconomic investor for institutional clients. Focussed on the monetary, fiscal and structural policy landscape for various economies, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Scandinavia.
Currency Trading Associate, JPMorgan | Aug 2009 - Jun 2012
- Team sports & board games.
- All types of yoga (vinyasa, hatha, Bikram, paddleboard, antigravity...).
- Teaching kids new tricks - from music to maths. Through various voluntary projects, I've worked with some amazing kids in Brazil, India & China in addition to my small platoon of cousins, nieces & nephews.
- Raw cooking, particularly desserts.