Marcelle Speller is the founder of both Localgiving and the Localgiving Foundation. She graduated with a BSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia, before going on to gain more than ten years’ experience at leading advertising agencies in London and Amsterdam. Marcelle has an MBA from INSEAD and has held director and board-level marketing positions with several multinational companies, including Heineken, American Express and Avis.
In 1996, Marcelle co-founded Holiday-Rentals.com, Europe’s first website for advertising private holiday homes. After the company was sold to HomeAway in 2005, she attended a workshop at the Institute for Philanthropy, and was inspired to found Localgiving which has since raised over £25m for over 5,000 local charities also providing them with digital skills training.
In 2011, Marcelle was awarded an OBE for her services to the voluntary sector. Encourage by Linda Holmes, Marcelle followed the Oxford University Said Business School Online Blockchain Strategy course and is now working on a DLT solution to reduce the inefficiencies in the UK grant-making sector.