“I decided to join Halcyon because I had such fantastic memories of being a volunteer working with Deloitte as the lead for our pro bono relationship. I always held a special place in my heart for Halcyon after that first experience. I moved back to New York to pursue other opportunities, but I was ready to move on to something different. When I thought about leaving the corporate sector, I really wanted to support businesses that had impact at the core of what they did. Naturally, Halcyon was the place that I came back to.  

The nature of businesses that start off with impact as the reason for being is really unique. I’ve been in a number of amazing companies that had to reverse-engineer that—they had to figure out, ok, we’re doing our business thing, and then how do we create impact? It’s really different for companies that are starting off in that place and designing every part of their product, every part of the way they engage with customers, with the idea of creating a more positive impact. Halcyon and its community are unique in that we are able to bring people from across the world who do share this common bond. I think this is what drives the difference for us. 

I often talk about Halcyon and working here as being the antidote for all of the craziness in the world. It’s so easy to slip into pessimism and cynicism because the news is so bad—there’s so many things that are broken, so many historic institutions that are just not serving us anymore. Being able to come to a place every day where founders are thinking about how we can break these systems and reimagine the world for good—it’s really refreshing. I feel privileged to be able to be in a space where we get to acknowledge all of the news happening and the problems, but work with people who are coming up with the solutions. Our founders run up against the wall and do it again and again until they break through it. That takes a really unique kind of person. 

The world needs Halcyon because we know the status quo isn’t working. So, we need to support those founders who are taking big risks and bringing bold ideas. The only way to do that is to be in direct work with those fellows, to understand their needs, to be part and parcel to their journey, and to bring all the resources we can to remove obstacles so that they can be successful. The only way that we’re going to be collectively successful as a human race is we’re able to innovate, and our founders are key to that. 

The ways to connect with our founders are as limitless as their designs for the world. If you’ve got half an hour, we can find a way for you to connect with entrepreneurs, if you’ve got a week, we can find a way. If you’ve got resources to bring, whether that’s your network or your financial resources, we can find a way to connect. You get to be part of that spark; you get to be part of the solution. In the face of the intractable problems and in the face of institutions that aren’t working for us, by investing in Halcyon and Halcyon fellows, you get to contribute to the vision that we all want to see: a more sustainable, more prosperous, more equitable world.  

My vision for the future is that we are able to deepen and scale our commitment to our fellows. So, as we emerge into these areas of new focus — climate, health, and EquityTech — being able to deepen our expertise, deepen the value we’re able to bring to fellows in a way that allows them to take on the world, to grow the number of people that they serve, to get access to capital… It’s really a continuation of the great work and the foundation that has been established and taking it to the next level to support our founders. 

Halcyon fellows are the kind of people that can see beyond the way the world is and imagine what the future could be. I’m incredibly optimistic for this future.”