Ashleigh is Sustainability Manager at Atomico, where she splits her time between supporting the portfolio in their Conscious Scaling efforts and building out Atomico’s practices as a responsible investor. She works in partnership with founders to help them harness the power of sustainable growth.
Ashleigh Brown
Ashleigh is Sustainability Manager at Atomico, where she splits her time between supporting the portfolio in their Conscious Scaling efforts and building out Atomico’s practices as a responsible investor. She works in partnership with founders to help them harness the power of sustainable growth.
I have a young son. I spend a lot of time thinking about what kind of world he’s growing up in
Whilst this at times can be scary I believe that through technology we have the opportunity to rewire the world in favour of something better. Entrepreneurs are the ultimate agents of positive change within society and I hope to play a small part in spurring that progress forward.
I have an unconventional background for a sustainability professional
I started my career in fashion and luxury before pivoting into VC working within internal operations. My first exposure to sustainability was when I was tasked with setting up Atomico's climate programme over 8 years ago. In that time, I've upskilled, and learnt that background and education should never stand in the way of pursuing a career in something you are passionate about.
My experience has taught me a commercial mindset
Sustainability is not a one size fits all concept and we have to apply a commercial and material lens. Not all companies have an impact mission but all companies need to be able to attract capital, talent and customers. Sustainability is a positive contributor to all those factors and helps generate superior long-term performance.
Sustainability is a vast and complex concept. Making it practical is a challenge
I have experience doing this, taking the original concept of Atomico’s ‘Conscious Scaling’ and evolving it into a strategic programme that supports founders with practical help, tools and resources as part of our Growth Acceleration offering.
It’s much easier to start life as a sustainable business than to pivot once at scale
Sustainability is a journey not a sprint and how we think about it must constantly adapt and evolve. My role is all about helping founders navigate the day to day challenges of finding opportunity and protecting value through environmental, social and good governance factors.
If I'm not learning, I'm bored
I love navigating new concepts and challenging the status quo. I like to crack on and get things done. Patience is not my forte.
My happy place is under water
I once went travelling for 2 months and came back a year later having spent months working as a dive master on a tiny island off the coast of Bali. The calmness that comes from being under water is like meditation. And I'm a sucker for sunshine.
