Vera Solutions’ Fellowship offers impact-driven professionals the opportunity to join an innovative, global team using technology to transform the way the social sector engages with data. Learn more about the Fellowship here.
We are delighted to introduce the 2020-21 Vera Solutions Fellowship cohort. These 14 fellows – from Brazil, India, Italy, South Africa, the United States – bring a variety of unique passions and skill sets, including technology, social entrepreneurship, consulting, education, finance, and business administration. They will play key roles across our marketing, operations, consulting, and product development teams, and benefit from ongoing learning opportunities, leadership development, and mentorship from leaders within Vera Solutions.
Every year since 2014, the Fellowship has kicked off with a week-long, in-person training to lay a foundational understanding of the company and of basic technical concepts. This year, in light of COVID-19, we made the decision to proceed with remote onboarding and transformed the one-week curriculum into four weeks of in-depth training, learning, and development. The onboarding process will continue over the next two months with continued learning and engagement.
“The facilitators did an excellent job of making our onboarding happen despite the global pandemic,” says DC-based Fellow Garrett Ruley. “It has really been special getting to work together with the other fellows and learn more about each other, even virtually.”
A Shift to Virtual Onboarding and Training
Over the course of one month, fellows participated in four hours of daily onboarding sessions that immersed them in all aspects of the organization. Virtual training provided the ability for fellows to gain a holistic understanding of Vera’s work, meet with teammates around the globe, and work in groups to apply their learnings through an intensive case study exercise. Fellows bonded through sharing personal histories, participating in virtual energizers, and competing in trivia and dancing games.
“Platforms like Slack were huge in making the remote part of training feel a little less remote and disconnected,” Vera Solutions COO Sam Gordon notes. “The in-person element of our onboarding has always been vital to welcoming new staff and inculcating them to our culture – the daily video calls and commitment to team-building from the fellows proved that with the right tools and perspective, we can build community remotely.”
“Despite the fact that we didn’t get to spend time together in person, there has been nothing but pure commitment this year,” says Wilmarié Moreland, who designed and managed the fellows’ onboarding. “With fellows joining remotely from around the world, we had to accommodate a significant time difference with a mix of pre-recorded and live sessions. I’m inspired to see how everyone powered through the month of introductions, technical training, and onboarding sessions, and I’m excited to see what this next class of fellows will bring to their full-time roles at Vera Solutions.”
Introducing the 2020-2021 Fellowship Class
Bryce Lindsey (Product Associate) has extensive internship experience working on the ground with various US-based nonprofits and South Asia-based NGOs. In her last role, Bryce worked as a Senior Business Analyst and led the company’s IT department overseeing all system implementations, rollouts, and integrations. She received a BA in Global Development and Anthropology from the University of Virginia and is a proud Posse Foundation scholar.
Caitlin Graaf (Associate Consultant) has spent the past few years working remotely with a South African grassroots youth engagement program and consulting in the sustainable tourism sector. Most recently, she designed and lectured a course in Social Economic Development for the University of California Riverside. Caitlin completed her Master’s degree at King’s College London, where she researched social equity in protected areas.
Caroline Deignan (Associate Consultant) is originally from Boston, Massachusetts and has been living in Cape Town since 2016. Caroline has always had an interest in preventative health initiatives and has become involved in public health projects on tuberculosis, climate change, and vaccination research. Caroline holds a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor’s in Public Health from Elon University in North Carolina.
Cassio Roman (Associate Consultant) brings hands-on experience with non-formal education in urban poor communities in Brazil, and also in rural and underserved communities in Malaysia. He has spent the past few years as the project manager of an award-winning project which provides English, IT, and personal development to low-income households from different communities all over Malaysia. He holds a BA in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais.
Garrett Ruley (Associate Consultant) has experience with business operations, company culture-building, and math education. Before joining Vera Solutions, Garrett worked as Director of Operations for an eco-conscious restaurant group, maintaining standard operating procedures and growing workplace systems and culture. Garrett studied Sociology, Mathematics, and Education at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Hasti Sawla (Associate Consultant) comes with consulting experience as a Decision Analytics Associate at ZS Associates, a data-driven consulting firm focused largely in the pharmaceutical sector. She has worked for pharmaceutical clients primarily in the US market, helping them estimate the right deployment plans for face-to-face promotion of their brands. She holds a B.Tech in Computer Engineering from Mumbai University.
Isabella Hamilton Russell (Business Development Representative) is passionate about social entrepreneurship and started a student social enterprise last year aimed at addressing the problem of poverty. She has an undergraduate degree from Stellenbosch University specializing in Sociology, Media Studies, and English Literature, and a postgraduate degree from University of Cape Town specializing in Entrepreneurship Management. Isabella is particularly interested in early childhood development.
Kanishk Shekhar (Associate Consultant) has experience building and implementing technology-enabled monitoring & evaluation systems for early childhood development projects across low-income households in urban India. He also served as a Teach for India Fellow in Pune, India, teaching English, mathematics and science to middle school students. He holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Delhi.
Karina Coetzee (Operations Associate) is passionate about people and education – especially the impact it can have within the South African context. For most of her career she worked in the education sector, supporting different business units to fulfill their roles well. She holds a degree in Applied Social Sciences, a diploma in Counselling and Communication and an advanced diploma in Business Analysis.
Kristi Chon (Marketing Associate) has worked with global social enterprises for the past two years. She consulted with a Uganda-based coffee social enterprise called NUCAFE to help scale their organization and served as a Program Assistant for an accelerator program with Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. She graduated from Santa Clara University with degrees in Economics and Sustainability.
Pratibha Sharma (HR Manager) is a self-motivated Human Resources professional passionate about building capabilities and accelerating HR practices to foster a work culture that promotes employee engagement and organizational growth. She holds a Master’s degree in HR and has worked across a diverse range of industries over the last 9 years.
Rory Mc Lean (Account Manager) has over 10 years in the digital and information technology sector, working for one of South Africa’s leading software development houses as a Head of Business Development. He holds various certifications ranging from Theology, Business Management, Business Analysis, Data Science, and Web Development.
Sofia Guerrieri (Associate Consultant) has experience in CRM and database management, having worked in this field for the last 2.5 years in Bangalore, India. She has a MSc in International Crimes and Criminology (Amsterdam), and a BA in Women’s Studies and Religion Studies (Montréal). An Italian citizen, Sofia has lived in 3 continents, 4 states, and 5 cities in the last decade.
Vikram Thomas (Product Associate) has cross-functional experience in the technology industry working as a backend developer, product growth lead, and a customer success manager across startups and companies that operate at scale. He completed an undergraduate degree in computer engineering from Model Engineering College (Cochin, India).