## **Approach** **How can leaders navigate the tensions between who they are and how they are evaluated?** To address this challenge, I've intentionally layered and aligned my work across academia, policy, and entrepreneurship. **In academic research,** I examine how actors make consequential decisions when their identities create competing demands and audiences disagree on what counts as legitimate. The first stream investigates how identity and inequality shape the evaluation of ventures and the actors who lead them. The second examines how technologies and institutional structures reshape the foundations of legitimacy, accountability, and decision-making. **In board roles,** I contribute to strategic oversight and public accountability by challenging assumptions, surfacing unstated risks, and holding executives accountable. **In entrepreneurship,** I build organizations and design governance frameworks—from leadership programmes for diaspora communities to decentralised systems for emerging technology communities. ## **Academic Roles** - **(2022-Present)** **Lecturer in Strategy**, University of Edinburgh Business School (UEBS). Investigate how actors navigate competing evaluations under conditions of uncertainty, cultural conflict, and moral tension. Three Best Conference Paper Awards from the European and American Academies of Management. - **(2022-Present)** **UEBS Course Organiser.** ESG-focused teaching reaching 200+ students annually. Recipient of three Excellence in Teaching Awards since joining the School in 2022. - **(2023-Present)** **UEBS Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability Committee Member.** Driving sustainability through curriculum, research, operations, and accreditation. - **(2025-Present)** **Improving Policy Leadership Co-Lead.** Awarded £41,499 from the Wellcome Trust-funded InFrame Project for capacity building to help academics contribute expertise to public sector governance. ## **Policy Roles** - **(2024-Present)** **Non-Executive Board Member**, Student Awards Agency Scotland. Oversight of £1B+ in funding for 180,000+ students. - **(2024-Present)** **Non-Executive Board Member**, Historic Environment Scotland (£100M+ public body). Oversight for 300+ properties including Edinburgh Castle, which attracts 4.5M+ visitors annually. Chair of the People Committee. Member of Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee. Board Champion for the Climate Action Plan. - **(2019-2022) Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council Member**, Queensland Government. Advised the Minister for a $2.3B AUD portfolio on state-wide social cohesion strategies and co-led the Council's submission to a Parliamentary Inquiry into Hate Crimes. - **(2017-2021) Advisory Council Member**, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Provided ESG guidance for a $1B AUD public media organisation. - **(2017-2020) Chairperson**, Global Shapers Australia Charity. Led the rollout of a nationwide financial governance framework supporting 7 city hubs and 250+ members. ## **Entrepreneurial Work** - **(2021-2022) Consultant**, Inclusive Blockchain Governance & Sustainability. Designed decentralised governance models that reached 2,000+ users and supported $1M+ USD in sales. - **(2015-2018) Founder & Managing Director**, CYALA (Council for Young Africans Living Abroad). Led leadership programmes for 800+ youth from 20+ countries. Built a volunteer team of 30+ to support scalable, multi-city operations. - **(2014-2015) Co-Founder & CEO**, Funetics. Raised $40K AUD in seed funding from Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company. Laid foundations for a subsequent startup that raised $1.5M+ AUD.