Florence Kollie Raja
Name: Florence Kollie Raja
Website: http://www.ethicalera.co.uk
Instagram: @buqalife and @ethicalera
Florence Kollie Raja is the founder and director of Ethical Era. Kollie Raja is the creator of the 2030 Positive Planet Agenda: “mapping sustainability” concept and “sustainability metrics standardisation proposal”. Kollie Raja came to the sustainability sector via her public sector work where she worked with the UK Parliament, European Parliament and Local Government for a decade. Kollie Raja has a deep knowledge of the political landscape (national and international) and extensive experience working with policymakers. Kollie Raja has in the past been shortlisted for Red Magazine Women of the year award – Political Category. Kollie Raja additionally spent a decade plus working in Business Development in the Finance & Consulting Sector working for companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Goldman Sachs and M&G Real Estate specialising in Alternative Assets within Asset Management. Kollie Raja also has experience in strategy and leadership of external and internal restructuring projects, rebranding and repositioning strategy and change management strategy. Having originally trained as a ballet dancer before university studies, Kollie Raja has a strong passion for the Arts Sector and sits on various arts and creative industries related boards with a deep understanding of performing arts. Kollie Raja to date has worked across five industries during the tenure of her career and has first hand international experience having lived in Africa, Eastern Europe (Russia/Ukraine) and the UK.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?: Nature and Art
Which living person do you most admire?: Lara Feigel- Author of Free Woman. Women like Celeste Barber and Rebel Wilson, Neri Oxman- Bio Architect and Cross Sector Specialist
What is your greatest extravagance?: Self Care
What is your current state of mind?: Planet focused
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?: Perfection- its sterile- stifles creativity and unoriginal
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?: Actually/per se/ in regards to
Which talent would you most like to have?: To play the cello
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?: To be more strict with boundaries around generosity
What do you consider your greatest achievement? :Running for UK/European Parliament- Dancing with Ballet Black- Working in Asset Management- Having my kids - All before 30. Wonder what the next 30 years hold! Hoping it will be a little more restful.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?: A cat
Where would you most like to live?: French Alps- somewhere with real snow in the winter.
What is your most treasured possession?: My children
What is your favorite occupation?: Dancing/Ballet
What is your most marked characteristic?: Passionate vision
What do you most value in your friends?: Authenticity and loyalty
Who are your favorite writers?: Jessie Burton, Elizabeth Gilbert, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Chinua Achebe - I read a book a week so I have many...
Who is your hero of fiction?: The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary documents to have emerged from the Soviet Union and confirms Solzhenitsyn's stature as "a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dosotevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy
Which historical figure do you most identify with?: Frida Kahlo
Who are your heroes in real life?: Every day Women like Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
What is it that you most dislike?: Injustice
What is your greatest regret?: I don't have regrets because we cannot see into the future and looking backwards is sitting with pain. Also all of my lessons brought me closer to knowledge and dare I say a little wisdom so it would eradicate all I know. I like to focus on the present.
What is your motto?: Life Calls the Tunes - We Dance