Carolyn has expertise in private equity and impact investing. Until 2020, she served as Partner and COO at Next Wave Partners, a UK-based private equity firm investing growth capital in the business and consumer services sectors.

Prior to this, Carolyn was an executive director of Bridges Ventures, now Bridges Fund Management – a pioneering and specialist fund manager dedicated to sustainable, and impact investing. While there from its inception in 2002, she helped grow the firm and led investments in the consumer, business services, education and training and environmental sectors. She was also a Trustee of the Bridges Charitable Trust.

She started her career as a strategy consultant with the LEK Partnership and then moved to 3i Group and later became a Director of Causeway Capital and ABN Amro Private Equity (UK).

Carolyn has a longstanding relationship with Leaders’ Quest and has been an Associate co-leading programmes for large corporates in India, China, the US and the UK. She is passionate about the ability of business to have a positive impact in society and about using capital to build more inclusive and sustainable economies.

Since 2020, Carolyn has been advising FSD Africa Investments on various projects, including climate related investments in Africa. She joined the board of a venture builder, Africa Climate Ventures, in September 2023.

Carolyn is an Adviser to Love Ventures, a venture capital firm in the UK. She also chairs Count Us In, which is building a global community to tackle climate change.

Carolyn is a graduate of Cambridge University with an MA in History. She lives in London with her partner, Alan and their son, William.