GECA Strengthens Asia-Pacific Leadership with Appointment of Renowned Finance and Crowdfunding Expert
Former Big 4 Partner, Early UK Crowdfunding Pioneer, and Ocean Climate Finance Leader Brings Institutional Rigor and Entrepreneurial Insight to Global Harmonization Mission
The Global Equity Crowdfunding Alliance (GECA) today announced the appointment of Jill Storey as Strategic Advisor for Australia to its Steering Committee, marking a significant expansion of the organization’s Asia-Pacific expertise and regulatory insight.
Jill brings over 25 years of global financial expertise spanning four continents, pioneering crowdfunding experience from the sector’s earliest days, and proven impact investing leadership at the intersection of finance, innovation, and climate solutions.
From Big 4 Partnership to Crowdfunding Pioneer
Jill’s career foundation was built through partnerships at three of the world’s most prestigious professional services firms – Andersen, KPMG, and Deloitte – across the UK, Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia. In these roles, she advised global financial institutions and multinationals in energy and resources sectors on complex cross-border tax strategy, risk management, and governance issues for global workforces.
“The expertise required to navigate multi-jurisdictional regulatory frameworks, manage cross-border compliance, and advise institutions on strategic risk is exactly what GECA needs as we work toward harmonized global crowdfunding standards,” said Andy Field, GECA Steering Committee Executive Lead. “Jill doesn’t just understand regulatory complexity theoretically – she’s lived it at the highest institutional level across four continents and multiple regulatory regimes.”
But what sets Jill apart is her rare combination of institutional rigor and entrepreneurial agility. In 2012, following the London Olympics, she recognized crowdfunding’s potential to democratize access to finance and founded a donation-based crowdfunding platform in the UK called Inspire a Star, designed to help children and young people realize their sporting dreams.
This wasn’t a side project – it was a fundamental shift from advising institutions to building infrastructure that served underrepresented communities directly.
Building Australia’s Equity Crowdfunding Framework
After relocating to Australia, Jill acquired and developed ReadyFundGo, an Australian reward-based crowdfunding platform focused on social entrepreneurs, innovators, and startups. Her hands-on platform experience provided invaluable insight into what makes crowdfunding work in practice – not just in regulatory theory.
Building on this experience, Jill worked closely with several Australian crowdfunding platforms during a critical period: the early implementation of Australia’s regulated equity crowdfunding framework. She supported two Australian platforms in obtaining their ASIC crowd-sourced equity funding licenses – navigating one of the world’s most progressive regulatory environments for retail equity investment.
Her work across donation, reward, and equity-based crowdfunding models provides a comprehensive perspective on alternative finance evolution that few practitioners can match.
Governance, Policy Leadership, and Industry Development
Since 2017, Jill has served as Non-Executive Board Member of the Crowdfunding Institute of Australia, contributing to industry development and dialogue around crowdfunding and emerging forms of digital finance. Her governance experience spans corporate organizations, not-for-profits, and early-stage ventures – bringing practical insight into building sustainable, well-governed crowdfunding platforms and markets.
“GECA isn’t just about platforms – it’s about building trustworthy, well-governed ecosystems that regulators, investors, and issuers can rely on,” Field emphasized. “Jill’s board-level governance experience across multiple organizational types gives her the systems-level perspective we need to help platforms professionalize while maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit that makes crowdfunding powerful.”
Impact Investing and Climate Finance Leadership
Currently serving as Ocean CO2 Removal Advisor to the World Ocean Council, Jill exemplifies the intersection of finance, innovation, and impact investing. She works across the global marine carbon dioxide removal (CDR) ecosystem on commercialization, policy alignment, and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) integrity – advancing high-integrity, ocean-based carbon removal solutions while maintaining rigorous standards for commercialization and governance.
Her focus on ocean-based climate solutions addresses one of the most critical challenges facing global climate strategy. As equity crowdfunding increasingly channels capital toward sustainable innovation, climate tech, and impact ventures, Jill’s expertise in structuring high-integrity impact markets becomes directly relevant.
Jill’s credentials reflect her commitment to combining theoretical rigor with practical application. She holds an MBA, a Master’s in Environmental Science, and is both a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Taxation Specialist.
Why This Appointment Matters for GECA
Jill’s unique combination positions her perfectly to advance GECA’s mission of creating transparent, credible, borderless equity crowdfunding markets. Her institutional finance expertise – twenty-five years advising global institutions across four continents – provides deep understanding of how institutions evaluate regulatory complexity. Her hands-on experience supporting platforms through ASIC licensing offers practical insight into operationalizing progressive regulation. Her multi-model crowdfunding experience and climate finance leadership demonstrate ability to structure high-integrity markets that balance innovation with credibility.
“I’m honored to join GECA’s Steering Committee at such a pivotal moment for global crowdfunding,” Jill said. “Throughout my career – from advising multinational institutions on cross-border governance to founding platforms that help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life – I’ve seen firsthand how fragmentation creates friction and how coordination unlocks potential. Equity crowdfunding has proven it can democratize access to capital, support underrepresented founders, and channel investment toward innovation that matters. But for it to reach its full potential globally, we need the kind of regulatory clarity, platform interoperability, and trust infrastructure that GECA is building.”
Australia’s equity crowdfunding framework, regulated by ASIC, represents one of the more progressive approaches globally. The crowd-sourced equity funding (CSEF) regime allows eligible companies to raise up to AUD 5 million per year from retail and wholesale investors through licensed intermediaries. Jill’s direct experience helping platforms navigate ASIC licensing during this framework’s early implementation provides GECA with valuable insights into what works when translating regulatory intent into operational reality.
“Jill’s appointment represents exactly the kind of expertise GECA needs as we move from dialogue to infrastructure-building,” Field noted. “She brings the rare combination of Big 4 institutional rigor and hands-on crowdfunding platform experience. Her work supporting Australian platforms through ASIC equity crowdfunding licensing is particularly valuable -Australia’s framework is one of the most progressive globally, and Jill’s direct experience gives her insight into what works, what doesn’t, and how to translate regulatory intent into platform practice.”
Looking Ahead
Jill’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for GECA and the global equity crowdfunding ecosystem. As regulatory frameworks mature, technology enablers like tokenization and AI emerge, and cross-border activity increases, the need for coordinated standards, interoperable infrastructure, and trust architecture becomes more urgent.
GECA’s work focuses on creating practical pathways for cross-border collaboration by addressing regulatory fragmentation, advancing interoperable platforms and data standards, and building the evidence base that helps regulators, platforms, and policymakers make informed decisions.
Jill’s appointment strengthens GECA’s ability to deliver on this mission by bringing direct regulatory licensing experience, multi-stakeholder governance expertise, impact investing rigor, entrepreneurial insight, and climate finance leadership that connects crowdfunding to broader sustainable finance trends.
Australia’s representation on GECA’s Steering Committee strengthens the organization’s Asia-Pacific presence at a critical time, enabling cross-jurisdictional learning from one of the world’s most advanced equity crowdfunding regulatory frameworks.
About Jill Storey
Jill Storey is a finance and crowdfunding expert with over 25 years of global experience spanning institutional finance, entrepreneurship, governance, and impact investing. A former Partner with Andersen, KPMG, and Deloitte across the UK, Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia, she advised global financial institutions and multinationals on complex cross-border strategy, risk management, and governance.
An early crowdfunding pioneer, Jill founded a donation-based platform in the UK in 2012 and later owned and developed an Australian reward-based platform. She has worked closely with crowdfunding platforms across donation, reward, and equity models, including supporting two Australian platforms in obtaining ASIC crowd-sourced equity funding licenses.
Since 2017, Jill has served as Non-Executive Board Member of the Crowdfunding Institute of Australia. Currently Ocean CO2 Removal Advisor to the World Ocean Council, she advances high-integrity ocean-based carbon removal and climate markets. Jill holds an MBA, Master’s in Environmental Science, and is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Taxation Specialist.
About GECA
The Global Equity Crowdfunding Alliance (GECA) is a neutral, industry-led network bringing together equity crowdfunding platforms, national associations, regulators, policymakers, and technology providers to build transparent, credible, borderless equity crowdfunding markets.
GECA’s mission is to foster dialogue, alignment, and practical pathways for cross-border collaboration – addressing regulatory fragmentation, advancing interoperable infrastructure, and creating the standards and trust architecture that enable equity crowdfunding to fulfill its global potential.
Learn more: https://thegeca.org
Join GECA: https://thegeca.org/join
