Marcello is Head of Trading at EDF Trading. For the last two years EDF Trading has sponsored him to be a Pilotlighter on the Pilotlight 360. Over that time he’s worked with two charities based in Swansea: Swansea Women’s Aid and Swansea Young Single Homeless Project.
What is your greatest professional achievement?
I’d say being in the rough and tumble energy trading business for over 25 years and managing to consistently perform and evolve to stay at the forefront of the business.
What does success mean to you?
To me, success means doing my best and sometimes surprising myself with what I can achieve.
Who’s most influenced you in your career and why?
I’m generally influenced by people with courage, whether that be a sportsman like Mohammed Ali or an icon like St Francis of Assisi. People with courage remind me that I should do the right thing, the thing that I believe to be true, as opposed to the thing that I’m expected to do.
Why did you become a Pilotlighter?
Because I want to make a difference and I felt my experience could be helpful to others.
What keeps you working with us?
The diversity of charities, and the diversity of challenges charities face.
Tell us one thing you’ve learnt through working with us.
That people’s passion and talent doesn’t directly correlate to how they’re rewarded.
I’ve worked with CEOs of charities that are more competent and passionate than many high profile business leaders. Seeing and understanding this has helped me look to a broader hiring pool when recruiting for roles back at EDF Trading.
What’s been your biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge is not being able to change things directly. As a Pilotlighter, the goal is to support charity leaders to make it happen for themselves.
What’s been your biggest surprise?
The biggest surprise has been the difficulties some of the charities face. The charities I’ve worked with all deal with some very emotive and sensitive issues that change people’s lives. It’s a big challenge for them to keep going in the current environment.
Has working with charities inspired you in any way?
Working with charities has helped me put things in perspective and makes me feel that I need to do more.
Has being a Pilotlighter influenced you in any other area of your life?
As a father of two daughters, working with Swansea Women’s Aid opened my eyes to how widespread domestic abuse is, and has made me more aware of the world that my daughters are growing up in.
Describe the Pilotlight Effect.
We give charity CEOs the confidence to do more.
What skills did you think you were bringing to the Pilotlight table and did this prove to be the case in practice?
I thought I was bringing financial skills and my strategic view, and I do think that this has been the case. Understanding the financial situation within a charity is essential when working with charities.
