Meet Maddie Day
What led you to work in sustainable finance?
My first role out of university was researching and summarising shareholder votes at Tumelo, a pass-through voting start-up. I was reading AGM notices and distilling the votes down to their key elements so pension members could stay informed and have a say on what was happening in their investments. This opened my eyes to the power that investments can have, how much companies impact our daily lives and, in turn, how much our investment in them gives us the ability to influence.
Why Tribe?
When I was looking for roles, I knew I wanted to work in stewardship, but I was also conscious that I wanted to be at a company where I could work in line with my values. When the opportunity at Tribe came along, it felt like a perfect fit.
What’s your most memorable work milestone?
I think I’m most proud of successfully pivoting my career over the past 12 months. I did so many interviews, and at times it could feel tough, but every conversation I had along the way made me surer that this is what I wanted to do.
What did you want to be growing up?
A musical theatre performer. I was a triple-threat kid (singing, acting and dancing) and loved watching and being in musicals. I thought if I could be on stage every night, that would be a dream come true.
If anyone knows of any good amdram clubs in London, please let me know…
What’s your earliest memory?
Being left at a ski resort daycare in New Zealand. My parents and sister – who’s only 1 year older than me! – went off skiing on the bigger slopes while I was stuck going up and down a pathetic mound in a courtyard. I could see them ski past now and then, which just made me further outraged about the situation. When they came to pick me up, I gave them a very serious talking to, which led to me saying with all the fury a toddler can muster: “I’m not a baby, I’m four!”
My whole family still quote it to this day.
If you had to pick, which of the 17 SDGs means the most to you and why?
SDG 12 – Responsible Production and Consumption.
I recently gained possession of my late grandfather’s film camera. It’s from the 1950s, and it’s still as good as new. It was made with the intention of being used for a lifetime – or beyond, as in this case.
We don’t make things like this anymore – with longevity, quality and repairability in mind. Planned obsolescence has become the status quo, and that means we have more and more stuff being created only to be tossed aside to make way for new things. But the truth is that there is no such thing as “away”. Things you throw in the bin don’t disappear. Instead, they end up in landfills, waterways, the air and, as we have recently discovered, back inside our own bodies.
I think we need to change the way we produce things so that they last as long as possible, can be reused as much as they can, and at the end of their life cycle, make minimal impact on the environment. And I think if we do, it will go a long way to solving many other issues too.
If you could have dinner with two people, who would they be? What would you discuss/ask them?
Eleanor of Aquitaine and Queen Elizabeth I. Two women who both had very long and eventful stints as Queens of England in explicitly patriarchal cultures and incredibly volatile times. I would ask them all about their lives, what they were thinking and feeling throughout all of their trials and tribulations. I think they would enjoy talking to each other too.
If you weren’t a stewardship analyst at Tribe, what would you be?
I think I would be doing law.
What have you read, listened to, or watched recently that you’ve enjoyed?
I always recommend reading Exercised by Daniel Liberman. It looks at exercise from an evolutionary point of view and concludes that exercise in the modern sense is inherently unnatural. We were never meant to force ourselves to be active, but we are designed to be moving constantly. It’s a contradiction that explains so much – why you hate to exercise but also why it’s so important to do it anyway. As well as being informative, it’s excellently written and, on many occasions, hilarious – there is truly no reason not to read this book.
What’s something you’ve always wanted to do but never have?
Learn a language. I am doing my best with Spanish, but it’s so hard to find the time.
Give us an exclusive, what’s something no one knows about you?
I have one rule for London: avoid Leicester Square at all costs. It’s never let me down.
Picture this: a moment from Maddie’s camera roll
