Social impact startup Beam has hired Twilio’s Helena Horsburgh as its second chief of staff following a period of rapid growth.
In the past 12 months, Beam has doubled its headcount to 90 people and expanded to major cities including Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
Horsburgh joins Beam on April 3rd and will report to co-founder and COO, Seb Barker.
She will initially focus on scaling Beam’s government partnerships, enabling thousands more disadvantaged people across the UK to access Beam’s employment, skills and housing services.
She will also support Beam’s growth across new markets, while opening the door to other disadvantaged groups including people leaving prison.
Horsburgh joins Beam from tech unicorn Twilio, where she was chief of staff to the senior vice president of international.
While there, she was responsible for strategic projects focused on organisational design and regulatory compliance, as well as running operations and internal communications for Twilio’s EMEA, APAC and LATAM regions.
Prior to Twilio, Horsburgh held senior sales, partnerships and operations roles at tech giants Stripe and Dropbox.
Horsburgh is the latest senior female leader to join Beam, following the recent appointment of former Bumble director Claire Samson as director of people and talent. Rachel Astall, who joined from GoCardless’ leadership last year, remains chief of staff to the CEO.
Horsburgh said: “I’ve worked for ambitious, high-growth tech companies my whole career, and Beam is no different. I’m excited to roll up my sleeves again while working on a mission that’s close to my heart.”
Alex Stephany, founder and CEO of Beam, said: “Helena brings exceptional sales and operations experience from three iconic listed tech businesses, which will be invaluable as we grow Beam.
“Beam is transforming how government teams all around the UK support those left behind and I’m excited for her to lead the charge on these crucial relationships.”
Since launching in London in 2017, Beam has supported more than 1,400 homeless people and refugees through its partnerships with government.
In 2022, Beam launched Beam for Refugees to support newly arrived Afghan and Ukrainian refugees. Beam is also a certified B Corp and was named one of LinkedIn’s Top 15 UK Startups in 2022.
Beam works in partnership with more than 70 local and central government departments, who refer people to its service, as well as forward-thinking employers and landlords who hire and house Beam’s beneficiaries.