Fellows

Lorryn has been working in the social science research field for the past 7 years. Her previous research experience lies in the higher education sector, financial services sector as well as the South African non-profit sector.Lorryn has been working in the social science research field for the past 7 years.  Her previous research  experience lies in the higher education sector, financial  services sector as well  as the South African non-profit sector. She has conducted institutional  transformation research at  Stellenbosch  University related to promoting a healthy institutional culture and the promotion of gender equality in the career progress of female staff. In 2017 she started her career as a research analyst in the financial services sector  where she worked as part of an in-house research team at  MMI Holdings (MomentumMetropolitan) studying financial advisor productivity, conducting product  landing evaluations and competitor research. She is currently conducting a doctoral research study on the emergence of the social  enterprise model in South  Africa with a strong focus on impact measurement for social  enterprises. She has a burning passion for the non-profit sector and  has been voluntarily serving  on the management committee of George Child and Family Welfare for the past  two years. Lorryn is a very  curious researcher who has accrued experience in a variety of research methods including both qualitative and quantitative analysis.  She also enjoys teaching social theory to university students who  are interested in pursuing a career in the social  sciences. She currently holds a MA (Sociology) from Stellenbosch  University.

Mila is a sophomore at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is an interdisciplinary artist and is passionate about the implementation of creative thinking in day to day interactions.

Simbarashe holds a Bachelor of Business Science in Economics from Monash University. He has interests in finance, poverty and inequality studies, competition policy, informal economies, labour economics, agrarian transformation, and in grassroots, ground up - localised economic development.

Previously, he has worked as an analyst and consultant in economic transformation, impact investment and social business support where he gained extensive experience in data collection, data evaluation, and in structuring solutions for clients across various sectors of the economy. He fully subscribes to IA's mission and mandate.

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Sandra has an in-depth understanding of challenges faced by entrepreneurs and SMMEs given her extensive experience in Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment “B-BBEE” and Corporate Social Investment “CSI” consulting. She engaged with entrepreneurs/SMMEs, evaluated various SMME programmes, and advised clients on how best to grow and develop their beneficiaries. As part of her MBA programme, Sandra did a consultancy project whereby she helped devise an appropriate strategy for a UK firm seeking to support SMMEs in South Africa. She is also currently enrolled in the final level of the CFA programme (i.e. level 3 CFA candidate) and looking to facilitate impactful SMME investments and support  by leveraging learnings from her consulting and academic experiences; particularly critical, technical, and economic thinking in a way that adds value to entrepreneurs & SMMEs.

Patricia Chirwa holds a masters degree in Applied Economics from the University of Cape Town and is currently enrolled as a PhD student within the School of Economics. Her research focus is on understanding the role of social and psychological dynamics in affecting progress of land reform programmes. Other research interests are in development microeconomics, social network analysis and behavioral economics.  

Patricia has worked as a research and data consultant on several projects, including working for the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights. She has held positions in various technical and advisory committees from her time working on the Land Restitution Impact Evaluation study since 2016. Patricia has experience in developing and designing administrative data processes and survey instruments. Through her extensive work with large datasets, she has become highly skilled in various data analysis and visualization tools.

She is motivated by ideas of inclusive, sustainable and home-grown African development.

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Anna is a current MBA candidate at HEC Paris specializing in Sustainability and Disruptive Innovation. She is the current president of the HEC Impact Club, a student-led organization that is responsible for organizing events that empower students to pursue a career with a positive impact on society. Before her MBA, Anna has spent five years in Johnson and Johnson, in UK and Belgium, working in various roles in Finance in commercial, supply chain, and financial planning departments.

At Impact Amplifier, she works on social enterprises acceleration projects and on companies’ impact assessments.

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Originally from Nigeria, Vera studied Political Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder and holds a Master's Degree from University Francisco Vitoria and an MBA from IE Business School. Vera is passionate about impact investing and socioeconomic development, she has over 11 years of business development experience with social enterprises.

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Thato is an entrepreneur based in Sweden, he has strong expertise in technology-based businesses, Intellectual property, Innovation, and business development which he has gained from working in multiple roles. He holds a Masters's from the Chalmers University of Technology and is passionate about entrepreneurship and technology. Thato is determined to use his knowledge to create a positive social impact.

In recent years, he has worked on entrepreneurial initiatives that support the best Impact startups in the world. He has also worked with space-tech startups to help them gain Investments by connecting them with Investors. Thato truly believes African entrepreneurs have the potential to solve many societal challenges and over the years has dedicated a lot of his time to working with early-stage entrepreneurs through Umnandi social enterprise.

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Alex has a master’s degree in Economics from Stellenbosch University, where he focused on econometric applications of machine learning algorithms to solve development-based problems. He has spent several years in academia and published in a variety of fields including economics, education, psychology, and health research. Alex is passionate about South African economic development and after several years of focusing on the education system, has turned his attention to local enterprise development eco-systems. He believes that this field has the most potential to change the development path of African economies. He has previous experience in the Impact Investing space with an engagement at Heart Capital in Stellenbosch where he focused on sustainable entrepreneurship training programs, and UNICEF where he worked on the Yoma project, a start-up eco-system that assists young Africans gain and apply the skills most desired in emerging industries.

Tiago’s career began as a financial planning analyst in the medical industry in Brazil. He then worked for Standard Charted Bank for five years, primarily in project finance specialising in the oil, gas and infrastructure sectors across America, Asia and Africa. His expertise lies in risk analysis, financial analysis and financial modelling. In 2017, he began his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

After graduating with a Masters from University of Cambridge in 2011, Andreas joined a UNDP team in Shanghai developing a framework to assess social and environmental impact of south-south business ventures, mainly involving China and countries in Africa. He then joined H&M in 2012 seeking a fast-paced career in an industry with the potential of creating employment opportunities and revenue for developing countries. He now runs Fair Frank, an ethical shoe company.

Salma is pursuing a Masters in Sustainable Development in Egypt, which allows her to understand the innovations required to facilitate impact investing. Joining Impact Amplifier has been an eye-opening experience for Salma on both impact investment and the African continent.

Hannah was awarded a Masters of Science in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and is currently broadening her understanding of the social impact spectrum by entering the Corporate Social Responsibility space in New York City. Originally from Washington, DC, she studied Political Science as an undergraduate and recently worked with the United Nations Foundation’s political advocacy efforts.

Omar is currently undergoing an Msc. in Management Engineering with Diploma in Sustainable Operations and Social Innovation at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. As part of Impact Amplifiers advisory services, Omar’s role is to design and develop a mobile agriculture solution to support ethical supply chains.

Felix obtained a double MSc in International Management and Sustainable Business and is currently a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the Graduate School of Business researching leader’s roles in the emergence of Shared Values. Felix was part of the Health Tech Accelerator Programme where he drives the curriculum and programme development to scale high potential enterprises. Felix now works for Impact Amplifier.

Manuel graduated with a BSc. In International Relations at BUAP, Mexico. Currently he is reading an Msc. in Public Policy with a Diploma in International Affairs and International Political Economy at the Willy Brandt School of Governance in Germany. Manuel’s current role at Impact Amplifier is researching potential grant funding for smallholder farmers to support a sustainable agricultural supply chain project in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi.

Jo has 10 years experience in the environment and development sectors, working in Africa and Europe in social policy, strategy and finance. At Impact Amplifier, Jo co-ordinated the Green Pioneer Accelerator programme which aimed to help 12 impact entrepreneurs to secure investment. She read an M.A in Biological Sciences at Cambridge University (UK), and worked as a Sustainability Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Tessa obtained a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) in Cape Town and following that, she worked for a year in communications, with environmental or social impact business clients. She studied further and graduated with a PG Dip (cum laude) in Sustainable Development from Stellenbosch University.

Trace completed his MBA at Columbia Business School in 2017. He began his career in Investment Management, focusing on due diligence across asset classes, portfolio construction, and security valuation; he is also a CFA and CAIA Charterholder. Before joining Impact Amplifier, Trace led a consulting project for an international nonprofit mapping innovation ecosystems in Emerging Markets, served as a Fellow at the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, and advised a mobile startup based in Kenya as it raised venture capital funding.

Anny holds a double Msc in Finance, Financial Engineering & Risk Management at Bocconi University in Milan and Imperial College Business School in London. She worked previously at Citigroup Hong Kong as Pan-Asia Equity Sales & Corporate Access analyst and International Refugees Tokyo as fundraising strategy volunteer. Currently she is involved in acceleration process of clean energy and social retail startups and the seed funding launch strategy.