Aine Stapleton, MPA Social Impact 2021 alumna describes the journey that has led her to working as Head of Operations at Intrigue Media, who publish International Intrigue, a daily email bulletin that explores the intersection of geopolitics, business and technology.

I started my career in Financial Consulting, where I discovered that reforming internal bank operations was not my passion. I did however enjoy many parts of the job that involved critical thinking and creating connections: understanding the landscape of different countries’ operating systems, analysing and preparing for new sanction releases and understanding how countries interact with each other.

I realised what I truly enjoy is being able to use history to better understand outcomes today, something that was at the core of my undergraduate degree in International Relations and Economics and what led me to apply for the LSE Master of Public Administration. As part of my course, I took the Marshall Institute Social Impact Stream, where my classes highlighted the opportunities to contribute to what the Institute calls ‘private action for public benefit’.

During this time, I realised that I wanted to work at the intersection of the public and private sectors. I admire the efficiencies and innovation of the private sector, but inherently believe that through greater accessibility and understanding we can achieve much more as a global society. Being surrounded by peers from all over the world and different careers allowed me to think more critically about global problems and solutions.  

Getting Intrigued

Through friends at LSE, I was introduced to Intrigue Media co-founder and CEO John Fowler. He, as a former diplomat, and I, as an international relations nerd, shared in the dismay that the world of geopolitics can be completely inaccessible to those outside academia or the foreign service.  Decisions are made behind locked doors in rooms beyond the reach of many. We know this happens for a multitude of reasons but is often boiled down to people not having the “right” level of education or expertise. Intrigue wants to flip this on its head, and get more people into the conversation.  

Amidst the background of an ongoing Brexit, rising nationalism globally, the spread of Covid-19, and a meme-famous boat stuck in the Suez Canal, it became even more apparent than ever that the world is changing, fast, and we need to be better prepared to react as a society.

Intrigue Media was founded to create an accessible, non-snooze-worthy way for people to understand their world. To do that, our first product is a daily 5-minute briefing that combines geopolitical analysis with light-hearted humour. Keeping in line with “public benefit”, the newsletter is free – ensuring all levels of society have access to quality information. 

The time for big thinking is now

Our small team at Intrigue is not shy of ambition in the name of greater impact, which is why we’re currently raising a seed round to grow Intrigue to the next level. We want to not only help business leaders and policymakers make better decisions but also help prepare the leaders of tomorrow. Currently, too many high-impact decisions are based on predictions made by analysts in comfy chairs in Washington or London. That analysis too often misses what’s really happening on the ground. With the funding provided by our seed round, we will help expose the “causes of things” to key decision-makers and help them act in a more informed manner for the global public. 

How to get involved

If you are reading this and want to know more about our vision, or help us achieve it, reach out soon as our seed round is filling up faster than expected! Email me at aine@internationalintrigue.io