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.

Kate is our delivery support extraordinaire. Kate has a wealth of experience working in the startup and investment space. Working with over-ambitious founders is her secret passion and she loves wheeling (and dealing). By that we mean she spends every spare minute cycling about on two wheels!

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.

Emma is our Digital Marketing 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!

Morgahna is the Design Lead on the PledgeMe team. She loves design so much that she cuts illustrations into her toast. Morgahna loathes the word '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."

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. 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.

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.

Rachel provides support to PledgeMe on the legal stuff - she has specialised in intellectual property law and governance for more than 20 years and loves to be as creative as her clients. Rachel is based in Christchurch where she is an amateur wife, a trainee mum and dreams of the day their young puppy Marley (short for Bob) is as chilled as his namesake.

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).