Dive Brief:
- Risilience, a United Kingdom-based climate and nature data firm, announced Wednesday that it has elevated Chief Product Officer Angela Brown to the role of CEO.
- Brown, a former product executive for S&P Global and Moody’s, will take over the position from Risilience Founder Andrew Coburn. Coburn — who is also the chief scientific advisor for University of Cambridge’s Centre for Risk Studies — will transition into a new role as company chairman, according to a press release.
- Risilience, which spun out of Cambridge’s risk studies center, said the leadership transition reflects a “deliberate pairing” of Brown’s product experience in financial services with Coburn’s scientific knowledge. Coburn will remain “closely involved in shaping the company’s long-term direction,” Resilience said in the release.
Dive Insight:
Risilience offers sustainability advisory services in addition to its data platform, and counts companies including Burberry and Barclays among its customers. Brown served as chief product officer for 18 months prior to her CEO appointment, and Risilience said in the release that it has doubled its client base under her leadership.
Serving as chief product officer gave Brown a “front-row seat to how [Risilience’s] technology, science and client needs intersect,” and allowed her to see “how powerful it is for organizations when we translate complex risks into financial insights,” she said in exclusive comments to ESG Dive on Wednesday.
“Stepping into the CEO role feels like a natural progression, but also a meaningful shift in perspective,” Brown said in response to emailed questions. “I’ve been deeply embedded in our product and client work, so I’m excited to scale that impact across the entire business.”
Prior to joining Risilience, Brown served as Moody’s head of ESG products for over four years in senior vice president and managing director roles, according to her LinkedIn profile. That followed seven years at S&P Global Market Intelligence, where Brown served as a technical product manager for company fundamentals data before becoming a product lead for global risk solutions.
Brown’s resume also includes stints freelancing as a strategy advisor for sustainability startups, and working as a marketing director for a fintech and in finance at Reuters Breakingviews.
Risilience said Brown has played a “pivotal role” in developing the company’s product and technology strategy, and oversaw the introduction of artificial intelligence initiatives at the company. For Risilience, the “transition is about sharpening [its] focus and increasing [its] pace,” Coburn said in the release.
“[Brown] brings a deep understanding of both our technology and our clients’ needs and is uniquely positioned to lead the business forward,” Coburn said.
Investors and consumers are increasingly looking for companies with “a credible, data-backed plan for navigating future uncertainty,” and the leadership transition “represents a deliberate step toward [Risilience’s] next phase of growth,” Brown told ESG Dive. She will now work to broaden her focus, including balancing the company’s strategic growth, operations and culture.
Brown said Risilience will now look to increase its scale and plans to continue investing in AI-driven analytics and modeling. She said her product-led mindset will help ensure the company’s strategy is “aligned to delivering clarity, impact and measurable value.”
“Clients consistently tell us that the challenge is knowing how to strategically act on climate and nature risks with confidence,” she said. “They’re navigating uncertainty, fragmented data and increasing pressure to make financially sound decisions, and my focus as CEO is to make those decisions clearer.”
