Olly Belcher (Donnelly): Founder & CEO
Olly founded Shivia in 2008 and was appointed CEO in September 2010. She drives Shivia’s overall strategy and fundraises to support the operations in India. Olly has an MSc (Distinction) and MA Geography (First Class Honours) both from Oxford University. She based her Undergraduate and Masters theses on issues affecting the poor of West Bengal, India. She travelled extensively in India and Nepal before joining the World Bank in Washington DC where she was awarded the World Bank Youth Innovation Fund. She returned to London to work for Accenture Strategy and started on her plan to launch Shivia.
Olly sits on the board of the charity MAITS and is President of St Edmund Hall (Oxford) Association, representing 10,000 alumni and relations with the college. She previously sat on the committees for Leonard Cheshire International, St Mary’s Ascot School Alumnae and the board of Moonpig Foundation. She was the UK Ambassador for the NGO, BASE, working with very poor communities in West Nepal and remains heavily involved with the foster home, Familia, in West Bengal.
Awards
2009: selected as one of Management Todays ‘35 women under 35’
2014: ‘Women of the Future, Community Spirits’ award
2015: selected for Financial News Extra Mile 40 List
2016: selected for St Edmund Hall Oxford 35 ‘Women Inspire’ Collection.
2018: in recognition of the National Year of Women, Olly was selected as one of 12 women to be displayed at the School of Geography and the Environment representing diversity of achievements among female alumnae.