Christiana Lewis

Christiana Lewis - October 2020 Fellow

Can you tell me about your background and your career prior to On Purpose?

I worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management within the fixed income product and portfolio management teams. In my final year I was trading fixed income (debt) private wealth portfolios. While I enjoyed the analytical and intellectual part of the job, when life turned upside down during the pandemic, it gave me the opportunity to focus on what I really wanted to do. I had thought I would go into sustainable or impact investing, however I felt I wasn’t 100% sure investing was really the right path for me. So when I found the On Purpose’s Associate Programme, I felt it was a great opportunity to try out a couple  completely different things. 

What are you doing now?

I am taking 3 months out. It’s always been on my bucket list to learn Spanish, so I’m going to Spain to give it a go! In the new year, I will then start a full-time role with SYSTEMIQ, which was my first placement organisation.  

How did you feel in your work before you decided to make a change?

I felt like I was being given opportunities to grow but couldn’t find the motivation to grasp them with both hands. I was finding myself using the time to learn about environmental sustainability topics, such as the circular economy and net zero, instead. While I wasn’t sure investing was quite the right path for me, I didn’t know where else my interests and skills would be best suited. This meant that I didn’t know where to start when it came to finding a new job!

At what moment did you decide to make the change?

I came across the Associate Programme one week before the programme’s deadline. A friend of mine had completed the Year Here programme (a postgrad course in social innovation) and knew someone who was on the Associate Programme. I got in touch with them, was really inspired by what I heard and just applied. I hadn't actually made the decision to leave my job until I got offered a place on the programme. I knew it was an amazing opportunity to meet like minded people and gain the variety of experiences that I was looking for. There didn’t seem to be a downside, as, if I wanted to, I could always go back to investing after the programme with greater confidence it was the right choice for me. I knew I would have regretted not accepting my place on the programme. So I did. 

What was the most difficult thing about making this change?

Leaving my team and the people at my old job. While I knew it was something I needed to do for myself, I was worried about letting my team down. That said, everyone was nothing but supportive throughout the transition.

Can you tell me more about your placements?

My first placement was with SYSTEMIQ, a sustainability consultancy looking for ways to catalyse systems change by collaborating with a diverse set of stakeholders to make economic systems sustainable. For part of my placement, I worked within the sustainable finance team. I then moved to a plastics project, which entailed building a model to analyse the outcomes of different plastic policy packages. The aim was to help policy makers understand which policies would be most effective to reduce plastic pollution. 

I spent my second placement with The Modern Milkman. Here, as sustainability manager, I worked on the organisation’s B-Corp project, which meant managing improvement programmes to help the company achieve the minimum required standards. I was also part of the operations team where I built a dashboard to help distribution centres analyse and improve their operational and sustainability performance.

What’s the most important thing you learnt during your year as an Associate?

It’s impossible to single out one thing – but I’ve really valued seeing the power of making time to reflect and have someone holding you accountable to do so. The programme builds this in so well, with coaches and mentors as well as your peers, so keeping it up is my next challenge. 

What support did you get along the way?

I received masses of support; it is really built into the Associate Programme, through your coaches, mentors, the core team, and from your cohort itself. My cohort formed a cultural habit of creating different groups to discuss a range of issues and themes, which meant being able to collaborate with different people to figure things out.

I also received lots of support from those I worked with during my placements. They were super generous with their time, wanting you to succeed and have as much impact as you could in the short 6-month placement. 

How did your year with On Purpose set you up for your new career?

The short answer is my year with On Purpose helped me find a new job that I’m really excited about. But the longer answer goes beyond the job at the end. The programme helped me develop a broader range of skills, by doing something completely different and putting me into new situations which helped me grow and built my confidence. My time on the programme also opened my eyes to so many different ideas, techniques and opportunities in the impact space; not just through my placements but also the incredible variety of people I’ve met and the training sessions each Friday afternoon.

What advice would you give to others in a similar situation?

Go for it. I’m so glad I made the jump. It’s not just about the job at the end or figuring out what you actually want to do. I’ve taken so much more from the programme – inspiring people and ideas to name a couple! 

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

The past year, I’ve loved working in organisations that have a purpose beyond profit. Learning about how businesses can help drive sustainable change, really inspires me and each day I’ve been able to see that in placement in the most practical sense as well as dive into them in training and at the pub after with my cohort!