Welcome to Pledgeme!

Anna, our CEO and 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 Wellington 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 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.

Janna holds the keys to the PledgeMe pocketbook. She keeps our accounts on an even keel and ensures we mind our Ps and Qs with various regulatory bodies. Clever and kind with a quick smile, we tell ourselves Janna *wants* to approve the funds for all our ideas, but she’s thankfully too pragmatic to indulge our shenanigans as often as she’d like.

Jess is our chief community wrangling, puppy-patting, cheese eating, all-round mercenary. She helps you get your project up and running, spreads the good news of crowdfunding, and reps PledgeMe at events and things around town. When she’s not at PledgeMe, she enjoys knitting, sewing, feminism, dinner parties, urban gardening, and plotting elaborate schemes.

Kelsey is our designer extraordinaire. She's in charge of creating stunning new designs, taking fabulous photos and pulling her hair out when she gets asked to make things “pop”.

Liz is a magical combination of spreadsheet master, your favourite aunty, and a super sleuth. She makes sure all the pledges are tracked down, processed, accounted for, and not the solicitation of a mysterious Nigerian prince. A lover of all things bright and colourful, Liz brings joy and mirth to the PledgeMe team. She also makes a mean flourless chocolate cake with margarita whip cream and berries.

Emma is our Digital Content Manager (read 'Queen') and loves all things content and communications. Her background is in Marketing and Operations, having acquired experience in both startup and more corporate environments. Having lived around, she's a bit of a globe trotter and moved most recently from Amsterdam, The Netherlands to the PledgeMe Brisbane office. Emma loves to collaborate on content, so reach out to her if you'd like to join forces!

No stranger to the startup world, Paula brings considerable expertise and lessons learned to her role seeing companies through their equity offer. And with a background in producing advertising and marketing campaigns across the globe, she is an expert at devising a clear plan with well-defined actions. When not at PledgeMe, you can find her geeking out with books learning something new, mentoring, or attempting to do something creative. Although not for public consumption. Purely self-indulgent.

Sarah is a champion of clear communication, good data, and authenticity. She manages our marketing activities and helps with product management. A practitioner of what she calls “deep craft” she knows how to make a great many things from scratch without the use of modern tools. Sarah can be found in her workshop making elaborate costumes when she’s not managing the marketing for PledgeMe.

Tan brings home the bacon for amazing kiwi businesses (faking bacon for our vegan friends). His background is in tech, business development and raising capability. He has an MBA, however found out too late that it didn’t mean Master of Beer Appreciation. Tan loves travelling to far-flung parts of the world, bringing back a love of scotch whisky, craft beer and food. He is also Vietnam’s tallest man (a fact) and fluent in Vietnamese.

Jody is the rocket launcher that keeps our Chief Bubble Blower in the air, and supports our Australian campaigners. She comes from an operations background, with a particular love for plucky little startups and social enterprises full of heart. When she's not crossing the t-s and dotting the i-s, she's writing eclectic short stories and singing songs of love to her two cats.

Morgahna is the Design Lead on the PledgeMe team. She loves design so much that she cuts illustrations into her toast. Morgahna loathes the words 'font' (if it's a body of letters it's a typeface!). She also believes that design thinking can change the world. In the words of Steve Jobs, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

Breccan manages all things tech for us, with the help of the awesome Rabid team. He's also passionate about what the next level of crowdfunding could be, and has a beautifully analytical brain.

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.

Rachel has spent over 25 years in marketing, branding and customer experience, including working in both the Australian market and Māori / Pasifika engagement. From 1995-1999 Rachel started, grew, and sold a professional services business in Australia. Recently appointed as the Chief Executive of Diversity Works NZ, Rachel was part of the Senior Leadership Team of Competenz from early 2013. She has also held roles as Marketing Director for The Icehouse and Minter Ellison Rudd Watts and as Marketing Manager for The University of Auckland Business School. Rachel spent seven years as a director of Ocean (a branding agency) and, as part of the Future Directors programme, sat on the board of NZX-listed AWF Madison Group for 18 months. She currently sits on the Ministry for Youth Development’s Partnership Fund Board and on the Establishment Board of the Auckland Foundation’s Women’s Fund.

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) four years ago, 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).

Sir Miles Butler-White Guenther (Miles Butt-Gun for short) is the Chief of Humans at PledgeMe. Miles' main human is our Chief Bubble Blower and Founder, Anna. He likes to keep her on her toes, and he enjoys consuming information in the form of post-it notes and attending all her meetings while she works from home. Miles keeps the PledgeMe team entertained with his antics, and he ensures it's never a dull day when he's around!