Lisa Ashford is CEO of Ethex, the not-for-profit, positive investment online platform that makes positive investing easy to do. Ethex helps social impact businesses access the finance they need to grow and has so far raised close to £50m from investors seeking a home for their money which aligns with their personal values.

Lisa has over 20 years’ experience in energy and environmental markets. Following an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College specialising in Energy Policy, Lisa worked for a financial exchange and clearing-house, now part of NasdaqOMX, analysing the deregulation of the UK energy markets. She was instrumental in setting up the most advanced market in the world for trading electricity at OMX and went on to hold senior positions with the UK Power Exchange and Amsterdam Power Exchange.

In addition, Lisa worked for EcoSecurities, one of the largest carbon project developers in the world as Head of Commercialisation, Europe. EcoSecurities (acquired by JP Morgan) provided carbon finance to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects across the world as part of the UN-approved Clean Development Mechanism.

As well as her MSc from Imperial College, Lisa has a BSc in Environmental Geology from RHBNC (University of London) and a Postgraduate diploma (Dip) in Financial Strategy from Said Business School, University of Oxford.