WHY
We believe the only way to tackle climate breakdown and inequality is to quickly transition to a fair, sustainable and regenerative system. To achieve this, we want to help like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders scale their solutions and transform their businesses for net positive impact and resilience.
HOW
At the moment, while a vast majority of Europeans say they want to consume more ethically and sustainably, the market shares of sustainable products and services are still below 10%. We believe one of the reasons for this Attitude – Behaviour Gap is the poor customer experience of sustainable options compared to mainstream ones.
Sustainability is not enough, people and planet-friendly solutions need to up their game if they want to battle against incumbent non sustainable options.
That’s what we’re about at the C Collective. Putting our expertise at the service of entrepreneurs to create outstanding user experiences that will help grow and mainstream their solutions. As a company, we strive to be true to our ethos by putting ethics and regeneration at the heart of our business model.
OUR STORY
The C Collective was formed following the encounter of 3 people who are passionate about dedicating their lives to bringing about a truly sustainable society by helping commercial solutions scale and promoting systemic change.
Alessandro Mele, an experienced banker who redefined his life path and career to bring back ethics in the financial world, founded Ethicalfin with his wife Alexandra Mele who also had a successful career in investment banking. Alessandro was quite disappointed by past experiences of working with traditional marketing and communication agencies and looked for a partner with strong expertise and a shared values.
Marie Geneste, after working for years for blue-chip brands on their marketing, digital transformation and customer experience, had moved on to become an independent marketing and customer experience advisor to sustainable and circular entrepreneurs.
Alessandro, Alexandra and Marie launched the C Collective in October 2019 to bring together their expertise and vision.
MEET THE TEAM
Marie Geneste
CEO & Founder
After writing her business school thesis on Sustainable Business in 2004, Marie started working in global tech companies. Working in Sales, Marketing and Strategy, she then discovered the power of human-centered design to transform behaviours and organisations.
Marie is also a Climate Science and Biodiversity trainer and has facilitated environmental education workshops for hundreds of people.
Mark Jones
Experience Director
A senior leader and digital innovator delivering provably brilliant experiences for consumers. Mark's a UX enthusiast who drives Lean, Agile & Design Thinking practices by focusing on what really matters to users.
By evangelising continuous improvement through experimentation, Mark enjoys scaling people and planet-friendly technologies by creating outstanding experiences for users. Mark is also a Climate Science workshop facilitator.
Alessandro Mele
Partner
After a career in investment banking, Alessandro founded Ethicalfin, a pioneer financial advisory aiming to bring back ethics in finance. Alessandro is on a mission to catalyse the impact entrepreneurs - investors ecosystem by channelling resources and ethical practices towards game-changing sustainable solutions.
Jovana Vieira
Brand consultant
Jovana is a product designer and architect addicted to improving user experience, whether of a product, an environment, or a city.
She seeks to optimize services, believing that design is way more than visual, but the key to strategy.
She has always been obsessed with sustainability and using technology, creativity, and innovation to solve big problems and scale impact.
Jovana speaks English and Portuguese.
Joe Collingwood
Operations Director
Joe is a Lead Product Designer with a multi-faceted background, having collaborated with both corporate teams, small startups and visionary solo entrepreneurs. His proficiency extends to guiding team using Design Sprints, workshops through to delivery planning. All anchored in his commitment to using design as a force for positive social transformation. As a UX evangelist, Joe excels in driving user-centered design through meticulous research and robust Design Thinking practices, focusing on what is truly important to users.
Florença Fantinel
UI/UX designer
Florenca is a Lead Product Designer and manages our regenerative design practice. She excels in collaborating with corporate teams and visionary solo entrepreneurs alike to craft innovative products and services. Proficient in guiding Design Sprints, Doughnut Economics, and Climate Fresk workshops, her commitment lies in harnessing design as a force for positive transformation. With a firm belief in design's potential to drive positive change, she is keen to connect with like-minded individuals and organisations.
Fiona Hamilton
Brand consultant
With a degree in Communication Design and 2 diplomas from UAL, Fiona has spent most of her creative career in agencies, working on some amazing projects from rebrands and digital strategy to retail interiors and augmented reality. She is a passionate environmentalist and volunteer of green initiatives, and a zero waste expert.
Alexandra Mele
Operations Director
Following a successful career in equity derivatives markets at large Banks, Alexandra co-founded Ethicafin and acts as its COO. Alexandra is passionate about sustainability and design in her private and profesional lives.
Greta Anderson
UI/UX designer
Greta is an end-to-end UX/UI practitioner. She has worked across a large range of industries from Fintech and Fashion to IoT and Social Media and is passionate about the whole product lifecycle. Her expertise ranges from UX research and rapid prototyping to UI design systems and the asset handover with development.
PARTNERS AND NETWORKS
Climate Fresk
Climate Fresk is a nonprofit organization raising awareness on climate change. Through a collaborative serious game based on 42 cards based on IPCC science, participants can learn the causes and consequences of Climate Change and think about solutions.
