Welcome to Pledgeme!

Anna, our co-founder, sounds American but she's definitely a Kiwi. If pushed, she’ll say she’s technically from Dunedin, but will later admit she grew up in Boston. Having roamed around the world, she’s back to call Aotearoa home. And she completed her Masters with a focus on crowdfunding and has worked for everyone from NZTE to MIT (and all of the acronyms in between).

Claire is a seasoned entrepreneur who has been part of the growth journey of many organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand. With a background in venture capital and finance, a PhD in molecular microbiology, and an MBA, she definitely has her wits about her! Claire's pleasure is reality TV shows, practicing piano, and good coffee. She is the proud owner of Charlie, the sweetest, most heart-breakingly adorable rescue Shitzu / Griffin you will ever meet.

Jody is a seasoned administrator (and most of the seasoning is salt) who loves a good filing system, and the Oxford comma. She keeps us in neat and tidy working order. Well - she tries her best, at least. She's been working in the social enterprise sphere for the last decade, keeping an eye on the antics of PledgeMe along the way.

Vicki is a Chartered Accountant, and makes sure we are humming along, in a responsible and compliant fashion.

Charlotte is the talkative one. She's been working in communications for 20 years, including starting up two solutions focused media services and producing a book or two. Charlotte loves building positive relationships and nurturing healthy communities. She also loves long bike rides with her overly athletic and very needy Hungarian vilza/lab dog Thomas, making music, and hanging out with her family watching Netflix whilst ignoring the dishes.

Cecilia is our Delivery Support Coordinator. She has a wealth of experience in the Startup sector having founded and run her own business for 4 years and supporting other startups to streamline their operations to ensure their long term sustainability. She comes from Bolivia - South America, she is a mum first and foremost, advocate for the environment who firmly believes in Innovation and businesses as a force to do good. She has a Bachelor degree in Production Engineering and a Postgrad in Management. In her free time she loves going for walks while listening to her favorite books and meeting up with friends and family over kai.

Melanie is an experienced senior commercial manager and leader, with a track record of leading the development and implementation of successful business strategies both locally and internationally.She has done everything from running and owning award winning restaurants, to building and launching online banks with RaboDirect.

Terry is one of those dual-career people. After 18 years in the IT industry in a range of sales, management, and general management roles, she made the shift to being the Chief Excitement Officer of the charity Young Enterprise. Terry gets excited watching people develop an entrepreneurial mindset and loves helping businesses to grow.

Steve has a unique and diverse background, from being a member of the New South Wales police force to senior consulting at Deloitte. He is a past member of the Education Board, Governance Institute of Australia and a business mentor for several start-ups. Steve has been awarded the National Medal and received several commendations for bravery and police work and has a Masters of Dispute Resolution (MDR) from the University of Technology and a Masters of Science (Risk) from Leicester University (UK). He is also a Graduate from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Charlie is the sweetest, most heart-breakingly adorable Shitzu/ Griffin (we think) you will ever meet. Adopted at 18 months old by Claire (PledgeMe's CEO), he is the biggest softie, and has since stolen her heart and the heart of many a passer-by. His contribution to the team is invaluable and can't quite be articulated into words (so we won't try).