The Lendahand Team

Part of the Investments Team, Pietro’s always working hard to bring people together: he hosts activities for the team such as The Walking Challenge and is always ready for a debate on important topics. Pietro is Italian and studied at Saint Gallen University in Switzerland and Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden. He also spent brief periods abroad in Thailand and Mexico before joining Lendahand.

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Our Legal Creative from South Africa, Melissa has a heart for a greener world. Before joining Lendahand, she studied at the University of Pretoria and worked in private legal practice and as an in-house legal advisor. She has a passion for renewable energy and sustainability as a whole. Melissa moved her family to the Netherlands in 2018 and has shown to be a true entertainer whenever we go out.

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Our newest addition to our Development team comes all the way from New Zealand. Dutch born Timo moved to Christchurch, New Zealand for his Master’s Degree. There he found a reason to stay a little longer, which resulted in a marriage and staying for 8 years before moving back last year since they couldn’t live without stroopwafels and hagelslag any longer. Timo also enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and coffee.

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Judith is the freelancer who never left. With a background in consultancy for social and financial conclusion and healthcare access in developing countries, she is our guidance in executing our impact framework. Judith loves dancing, especially capoeira. Due to her Brabantse roots, she is also a carnaval lover!

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Rounding up the Catalyst and Knowledge Team is Irena from Cape Verde. As an Operations and Financial Admin manager, she contributes to our operational excellence ambition and assists our CFO. She earned her stripes in the banking industry, working for both Rabobank and ING bank. Irena is the first Lendahand Walking Challenge champion, with a record of over 40.000 steps in one day!

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Nicknamed the “Friendly Face of Investments,” Thomas is a Portfolio Manager on the Investments Team. He studied Econometrics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam and is passionate about learning and providing equal opportunities. One of his favorite hobbies is reading, therefore Thomas is quite knowledgeable about various topics. He lived in Ecuador for two years and is fluent in Spanish.

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Born and raised in Singapore, Michelle is Lendahand’s Senior Investment Manager. A graduate with honors from the University of Sheffield, she spent four years in London as an Associate at Barclays. In her free time, she enjoys exploring her creativity by taking on new hobbies, such as ceramics, and has proven to have quite the green thumb with an impressive collection of house plants.

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The investment analyst who’s always up for a challenge, Adriaan went to the California Institute of Technology to learn about experimental physics and joined Lendahand in 2020. Apart from hosting fun work activities, he spends most of the day puzzling with data, investments, and technology.

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A self-proclaimed “reformed banker,” Koen is a former Executive Director at Goldman Sachs and Assistant VP at Barclays Capital, now putting his extensive financial knowledge and background to work fighting poverty as the CEO of Lendahand. A proud alumnus of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam with a degree in Econometrics and an MBA from Cal Berkeley, Koen has overseen the growth of Lendahand from a small team of 4 employees to a buzzing group of 20. Our CEO is committed to helping Lendahand fulfill its potential as the world’s leading crowdfunding platform for impact investing.

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As part of our Catalyst and Knowledge Team, Jorge is responsible for problem-solving in daily activities. He has a heart for solar energy projects and is originally from Portugal. Our only certified Apple Genius, Jorge also used to do comic strips and even short animation videos before working at Lendahand.

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The person making sure Lendahand always keeps impact at the forefront of our focus, Peter is a former Manager of Corporate Strategy at T-Mobile and Manager of Microfinance at Cordaid. He is our COO and is dedicated to helping Lendahand maintain operational excellence throughout his various responsibilities. Proud alumnus of Erasmus University & Radboud University Nijmegen, Peter lives in Rotterdam with his family, where he is an avid footballer and enthusiastic Feyenoord supporter.

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The only American in the office, Lucas is our Head of Growth and therefore oversees all things marketing. He studied Business Administration and History at Texas A&M University and spends his free time hosting podcasts, going to the gym, gardening, or trying some strange new craze, such as mushroom coffee.

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After working at Mindshare and Unilever, Lily wanted to use her experience in media and marketing for a cause closer to her heart. In the Growth Team, she does a little bit of everything, taking strategic plans to execution. After earning her Master’s Degree at Erasmus University, she found her home in Rotterdam. As opposed to (almost) everybody else in the office, Lily doesn’t drink coffee, which is a bit ironic considering our office location.

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Making sure Lendahand’s numbers add up is Daniel. His background ranges from Portfolio Manager at APG Asset Management to CFO of Aircrete Europe, an international technology company in the construction sector. He joined our team in December of 2019 as CFO with the desire to make social impact a central focus of his career. Graduate of the University of Tilburg, Daniel lives in Utrecht, with his family.

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As our Growth Coordinator, Lynn creates content to inspire and inform our investors about Lendahand. She has a background in journalism and communication, has a Flemish accent, and lived in Brazil for two years. When this happy camper is unreachable, she’s probably on the water.

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Clarisse, our designer, creates all of our visual content. From new web pages to infographics, if you follow Lendahand, you’re likely familiar with her work. This française is a mastermind in making beautiful illustrations out of original ideas. Clarisse moved to the Netherlands especially to work for Lendahand.

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Started from the bottom now he’s here: Tobias (Tobi) started as an intern with Lendahand back when it was just the co-founders and eventually grew to become the Head of Investments. Another proud graduate of Erasmus University, Tobias once spent five months in the African bush in a conservation team at a wildlife reserve. Fun fact: In 30 years, all in all, he’s had the privilege of taking care of 19 dogs. And no, not because the mortality rate is that high!

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Lendahand's intern Femke supports the Growth Team managing our social media. She will soon graduate in International Business at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and lived in Aruba most of her life. In her free time, she enjoys drinking cappuccinos or going for a swim.

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Vini (short for Vinícius) is one of our Full Stack Developers. He’s originally from Brazil and very tech-savvy; he learned to program when he was only 11 years old and initially studied game development. He’s in charge of developing, fixing or improving any feature or functionality related to the tech side of Lendahand.

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The person ensuring that everything runs smoothly at the office is our Operational and Office Manager, Eke. Her creative spirit and happy energy bring many lovely and thoughtful surprises. Eke lived and worked in the UK and Spain for a few years, and even though she’s warm-hearted, she swims in the North Sea every week to feel refreshed - even in winter!

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