Meredith Ogilvie-Thompson
Writer || Impact Consultant
"Stories constitute the single most
powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.”
Professor, Harvard University
Who
Born and raised in New York, Meredith started her career at Time, Inc. packaging stories from the company’s flagship titles for use by television news affiliates, before leaving for South Africa where she worked as a financial reporter for Business Day in Johannesburg.
True to her lifelong interest in conservation, she soon began filing feature stories about the environment, and over the years has become known for her in-depth knowledge of and reporting on issues associated with conservation, wildlife and sustainable rural development.
In addition to continuing to write freelance, Meredith has served in both executive and non-executive capacities, helping both businesses and non-profits tell their stories and raise awareness and funding. Her expertise covering business, combined with extensive knowledge of political and regulatory environments across the African continent, eventually led to her recruitment to head up the Africa team at Aldwych Capital Partners, a boutique investment bank focused on Latin America and Africa.
In 2021, she became a venture partner at Constant Ventures, an African-founded, African-led VC fund, strategically focused on catalysing growth in Africa's biggest economy. As the only Africa-focused VC fund with an in-house venture studio, Constant Ventures builds and invests in companies that address real needs, modelled on businesses that have proved successful in other geographies, refined and optimised for Africa.
Meredith's work has been published in the Financial Times, The Telegraph, VOGUE, Porter, Stella, Horizon (with the Wall Street Journal), SNOW (writer and editor-in-chief), Good Housekeeping, and The Lady, among others. She has also written for both documentary and feature film.
Meredith holds a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University, and a Graduate Diploma in Modern Art Studies from the University of Cambridge. She is a Board Director of Halo Invest and Halo Microfinance Bank (Nigeria), a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, serves on the advisory board of Big Life Foundation, and is a Trustee of ERuDeF (Cameroon).
"Effective stories are powerful because they drive action:
spurring donations, mobilizing supporters and more."
Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies
Social Impact Storytelling
What
Where
EPI Activation, Hong Kong
Crisis Group panel, Council on Foreign Relations
Tusk Trust 25th Anniversary
Kiang West National Park, The Gambia
Big Life Foundation, Kenya
US-Islamic World Forum, Doha
Studio189, Africa House
UN General Assembly 2018
Woburn Safari Park
Tusk USA launch
On assignment for SNOW, Portes du Soleil
Africa House
UN General Assembly 2018
Heading 2
"If history were told in the form of stories,
it would never be forgotten."
Rudyard Kipling
“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust.
Trust drives revenue.”
Andrew M. David, Brandscaping
Unleashing the Power of Partnerships