Announcing our new Honorary Practice Fellow: Simone Ishikawa

The Gandhi Centre is delighted to announce our formal association with Simone Koo Ishikawa, who joins us as Honorary Practice Fellow!

Simone is an angel investor and advisor to a number of impact start-ups globally, with a wide network across angels, VCs, investment banks, asset management, private banks, institutional investors and corporates, through years of experience in financial services. She is passionate about changing the banking industry through education, diversity and creativity and look for founders who can deliver this mission.

She is also a champion of female-led enterprises and initiatives, and regularly speaks on women in leadership, diversity, fintech, banking, and women’s circles.

Her professional career is varied, most recently as Director of Customer Success at OakNorth, and before that spending 15 years in asset management and investment banking trading floors at JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. 

Simone is also currently tutoring for ‘The Entrepreneurship Project’ at Oxford Saïd Business School, in charge of 8 teams, consisting of 4 - 6 members per team.

Before this, she spent 15 years in asset management and investment banking trading floors at JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. She worked as an ETF Sales Strategist, Chief Operating Officer in charge of divisions with over 2000+ people and +$10bn of revenues, Head of Strategy, Structurer and Trader. She has Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Economics from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Simone has made significant contributions to the Gandhi Centre (and wider Business School) for three years already, through her involvement in our Social Impact Day and Ideas to Impact Challenge events, sourcing and chairing panel discussions, seeking investment opportunities, and establishing new relationships within industry, and as the centre now focuses on developing our strategic capabilities we're really excited to see where this new association takes us over the coming years.