Wanted: A Leader of the Future

Earlier this year, we announced the appointment of an interim CEO. Now, we’re ready to go to the next stage and announce the search for our new leader of the good ship PledgeMe.

What does that mean?

We’re on the hunt for someone who truly believes that we can create systemic change with impact-led enterprises. We want someone who loves leading growing organisations, who can create plans to deliver to a big strategy, and make their team feel supported in the roller coaster ride that is a fast growing social enterprise.

We’re looking for someone who has experience managing a growing organisation with a knack for doing things differently. We need someone who’s not afraid to question the status quo and then create plans to deliver true change. We’re looking for someone who gets the financial markets, but is open to improving them. 

We’re looking for someone who lives up to our purpose of helping people fund the things they care about, and helps us take that purpose to the next level. 

I’m personally extremely excited to be bringing someone into PledgeMe, to help us grow. I’ll still remain in the company as your favourite Chief Bubble Blowing founder, with a focus on helping our campaigners raise the funds they need. However, I know that my skills are best focussed on supporting campaigners and creating new ideas, not maintaining growth. This is where you (might) come in. Our motley crew of doers, makers, and optimists needs a leader. 

The process

We’re launching the search today! If you’re interested, complete your application here. You can view our job description and get in touch if you have any questions. 

Applications will be open until 17 October 2019, and we will shortlist the following week. Our goal is to have the appointment process completed by November, so our new CEO can hit the ground running in 2020. 

Who is PledgeMe?!?

I started PledgeMe in 2012 as New Zealand’s first project based crowdfunding platform. While PledgeMe may have begun life as my Master’s thesis, it quickly turned into the platform that helped hundreds of musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and activists fund their creations through their crowds. 

Crowdfunding for us is about the people: he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. We’re proud to have supported over 1,400 successful campaigners, from companies to community groups, to activate their crowds and fund the things they care about. To date, we’ve had over $40 million pledged through the platform, over half of that in the last 24 months.

We believe raising money can be simpler and more equitable. That it can be inclusive. That it can replace the single-gatekeeper model of our traditional financial systems. That it can be built from a transparent and trust-infused foundation from the existing relationships that campaigners have cultivated with their crowds. It can also go further than that, and activate a wider crowd of support that want to do good and do well at the same time.

In 2014 we became the first licenced equity crowdfunding platform in Aotearoa. We didn’t stop there, launching our Lend product in 2016, our collaborative indigenous crowdfunding programme in 2017, and as one of the first licenced equity platforms in Australia in 2018, which is where I’m based, along with our growing team over here. 🙂

We are growing fast and helping other organisations grow too. We are leaders in crowdfunding in New Zealand and becoming a star in Australia, known for funding impact-led, female-led, and indigenous businesses, ranging from Ocho to Eat My Lunch to Ethique. 

PledgeMe has built a strong brand and a successful business in New Zealand. We’ve done this by relentlessly focusing on our core purpose, developing products to help our users, and advocating tirelessly for a more humane way of doing business, impact enterprise. 

Our values

• Do good and do well: having a positive impact, socially and financially. Supporting our people and our campaigners to be successful. 
• Be constantly evolving: learning from what has worked, and what hasn’t, and be accountable.
• Support transparency and trust: cultivating an environment of trust, transparency and adherence to values with supportive communication, both within our company and our community. 
• He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata: wellbeing, contribution and positive engagement. It is all about our people, our team and our community.

Interested?

If you’d like to lead our exciting social enterprise, please go to our job ad on Seek and pop through your application. We’d love to hear about what excites you about this role, and what you could bring to the leadership table. 

If you have any questions about the role, you can email Mel (our interim CEO) on mel@pledgeme.co.nz.