Tell us about your role as a Global Environmental, Social Impact and Governance Lead 

I lead our environmental, social impact and governance programmes. My role is diverse, from building our social impact partnerships and carbon removal programmes with our partners, to measuring our carbon footprint, monitoring our climate risks and managing and complying with our ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) regulatory requirements.

What did you do before joining, and what ultimately drew you to Wise?

Before joining Wise in January 2023, I was a sustainability consultant, advising global companies on how to integrate sustainability as part of their supply chain. It was really interesting to get a front view on the complexity of global supply chains. This experience taught me that sustainability is systemic and touches every part of business; success requires understanding the best business levers to drive initiatives. However, consultancy meant I rarely saw implementations after delivering recommendations. I wanted hands-on implementation experience, on how to build a global ESG programme for a growing business. This was what made Wise’s role perfect for me. 

I have also been a Wise customer since 2012, when I was an international university student in Montreal (back then, it was very hard and expensive to transfer CAD to EUR), and I have always admired the mission.

How do you see the core Wise mission connecting back to ESG?

We recently released our first Impact report, which shows how sustainability and social impact tie directly into what Wise does.

Wise was founded to make international money transfers affordable, fair, and simple. Our vision of money without borders is about improving people's lives through better financial access. Every year, hidden fees drain billions of dollars from people sending money abroad—often as remittances to support families. For us, being a responsible financial provider means understanding the broader challenges these communities face, including financial exclusion and the impact of climate change.

Our strategy is built around three Impact Pillars: transparency, convenience, and making a change.

We look at these pillars when designing our projects. For example, in India—a key region for us—we invest in carbon removal projects that focus on building both environmental impact and local climate resilience. The report highlights similar projects across Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines, showing how we keep people at the centre of our sustainability work.

Let’s talk about our physical footprint. How are we incorporating sustainability into our offices?

With offices in locations like London, Tallinn, Budapest, Singapore, Austin, Hyderabad, São Paulo (and more), our footprint is genuinely global. Because we are growing, we focus on practical ways to integrate sustainability into both our daily office operations and our major events.

Just like our customers, our Wisers are from every part of the globe, so they reflect the diverse communities we serve every day. Our commitment to sustainability is integrated into all levels of our Workplace operations, from global to local. 

Beyond daily habits, we actively choose, design, and manage spaces that meet rigorous international environmental and operational benchmarks. A few key frameworks we align with include:

• BREEAM (Budapest, London, Tallinn): Evaluates overall environmental performance—from sustainable materials and waste management to water usage and ecological impact

• WELL (London, Singapore, Austin, Tallinn): Focuses directly on Wisers' health and wellbeing by optimising indoor air quality, thermal comfort, natural lighting, and movement within the workplace

Outside of this, we prioritise working with local vendors and caterers for our daily office needs. Sourcing locally helps us reduce the transit emissions associated with everyday goods while supporting the economies of the cities we operate in.

We work to minimise the environmental impact of our company events, such as our bi-annual Mission Days by focusing on waste reduction:

• Materials & setup: We avoid single-use materials, opting for reusable alternatives for everything from the stage setup (like reusable carpet tiles) to the tableware

• Catering & waste: We work with local, responsibly sourced caterers. Any leftover food from the events is donated, and all remaining waste is sorted on-site for recycling and composting.

We partner with Ocean Bottle to give new joiners a reusable bottle when they start. For every bottle we purchase, Ocean Bottle funds the collection of 11.4 kg (25 lbs) of ocean-bound plastic. The bottles themselves are made from recycled stainless steel and ocean-bound plastic.

Outside of the office footprint, what are some other initiatives you’ve been working on recently?

It’s been a massive year for community engagement and learning. Since 2025, we have partnered with the International Rescue Committee, coming at a moment when the global aid system is under unprecedented strain. With over 300 million people globally requiring humanitarian assistance, the IRC’s work is incredibly vital. We support their Crisis Response Fund (CRF)—a flexible, rapid-funding mechanism that allows the IRC to respond to both high-profile emergencies and underfunded crises within hours.

A few highlights include:

• Scaling our commitment: This year, we doubled our financial commitment to the CRF to $1.3 million to help scale their immediate disaster relief efforts

• Bringing the partnership to life for Wisers: We want our teams to understand the real-world impact of this work. Recently, we hosted David Miliband (CEO of the IRC) at our London office for an in-person fireside chat with Isabel Naidoo (our Chief People Officer). The event gave Wisers a chance to ask David questions directly and learn firsthand how the IRC delivers critical aid in high-pressure situations.

Looking ahead, our goal is to keep building on this momentum. Whether it’s expanding our carbon removal projects, finding new ways to make our global offices more sustainable, or scaling our partnership with the IRC, we want to ensure our growth is responsible. For us, ESG isn’t a separate project, it’s a part of how we build a global product and support the people behind it.