Her Story
About Ambika
My background spans multiple disciplines. I have a degree in neuroscience and spent a portion of my career in bioengineering, device engineering, and UX engineering. I earned my MBA and Master's in Design Innovation, and I've now spent this current chapter in climate tech. Climate tech became a passion of mine while I was working in my first company where I volunteered for sustainability initiatives and found them to be really fulfilling and impactful, so I wanted to pivot my career to be dedicated to working on that. I've been in the carbon dioxide removal and climate tech space for almost 4 years now, and in corporate venture capital for 7 months. My work involves networking and creating relationships across different stakeholders in my industry, learning about funding opportunities, doing due diligence on venture capital deals and startups through research and forming opinions and interviewing people, and managing our current investments by providing business development and partnership support to the companies we've already invested in.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ambika
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to really being passionate about the area. I think if you want to really have success in your role, you've got to be passionate about it. It's not necessary for being successful in general, but I believe that passion is what drives real success and has continued my trajectory in this field.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Apart from networking being everything, I think don't be afraid to ask for help. The only other thing that comes to mind is that your story is really important and how you tell your story is really important.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Broadly speaking, I would say that network is everything. Folks want to help each other, and that's the easiest way to learn about trends and job opportunities. More specifically, there are certain communities within the climate tech space that I think are exceptional. One is Professionals in Energy, another one is My Climate Journey. This particular industry is quite engineering and infrastructure heavy, which are typically sectors that don't have gender parity. So I would say for a younger woman who's looking to get into the field, don't let that stop you. There are lots of different roles to fulfill in this industry that aren't necessarily engineering or infrastructure related, and there's a lot of skills that are still needed.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I value community across both my work and personal life. I value balance and moderation across both. I value science-driven decision-making across both, or perhaps a balance between theoretical and practical decision making. I think balance is true for a lot of different things, certainly work-life balance as well, but I like keeping it broad.
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