Jessica Standish-White

South Africa

Economics for Development (MSc), 2015
Green Templeton College, Oxford

Funding: Louis Dreyfus

Jessica was awarded a  distinction for her  MSc in Economics for Development, which she undertook as a Louis Dreyfus-Weidenfeld Scholar in 2014-15. Prior to this, she graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT), also with Distinction, in 2013.Jessica has worked as a Research Assistant at South African Labour and Development Research Unit in Cape Town. She twice received the Genesis Analytics Prize (2012, 2013) as one of the top Economics Honours students. She worked as the Tutor Coordinator for the School of Economics at UCT. Previously, she interned as a Research Assistant at the Public Affairs Research Institute, where she focused on issues pertinent to the South African economy.

After leaving Oxford, Jessica joined McKinsey & Company as a consultant in their Africa Delivery Hub. She worked in the education, economic development and power sectors across many African countries as a consultant and project manager. In 2019, Jessica joined Discovery Group as the Head of International Health in South Africa where she supported in the establishment of Vitality Health International. Jessica is now working in the education sector where she has started her own well-being education company called well-th, and she has joined various education technology and youth leadership efforts.