Whitni Thomas, Head of Corporate Finance, Triodos Bank UK

About this episode

Whitni Thomas discusses her journey from traditional banking to a role at Triodos Bank UK, focusing on social and environmental values.

How do you land a job at a bank that creates positive social, environmental and cultural change? And how do you get to hear about banks like Triodos in the first place? Whitni Thomas, the daughter of missionaries (her father is a vicar), says that she never meant to go into banking. Yet she landed a plum (and highly sought-after) graduate role at JP Morgan, despite telling her careers advisor at university that she did not want a corporate career and she didn't want to work in New York. But one day, stopping and pausing, she realised her job wasn't fulfilling and Whitni set about finding something that aligned with her values - the values she was brought up with. She pivoted, thinking her future lay in development work, took on a role in Mexico with two grassroots organisations that provided microcredit to marginalised women and from there went on to work with fair trade organisations. From there, she went to study for a masters in development studies at London School of Economics and Political Science, gaining a distinction. So what's different about Triodos and why has Whitni been there for two decades? At the time, it was a small organisation, based in the Netherlands. Though…

People in this episode

Host: Sandra F

Guest: Whitni Thomas

Topics covered

• banking
• career transition
• social impact
• sustainability
• microcredit

Keywords

• banking career
• Triodos Bank
• social change
• environmental impact
• microcredit

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Triodos Bank UK, JP Morgan, London School of Economics and Political Science

Places: Mexico

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