Donor Spotlight
Posted on December 10, 2014
Damien Georges, a native of Australia, is a technology entrepreneur with a strong interest in international education. The firm he founded, Hipercept, provides consulting, technology, and managed services to the alternative investment industry, and has been a supporter of iEARN-USA since 2013.
Most recently, Damien and Hipercept became a significant donor in iEARN-USA’s fall 2014 campaign to raise $25,000 for scholarships for deserving U.S. teachers to join iEARN’s online Collaboration Centre.
iEARN-USA sat down with Damien to thank him for his support and to learn more about him and his approach to business and philanthropy.
Damien, thank you for your support. You originally hail from Down Under. Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
I was born in Melbourne Australia and went to high school in St. Kilda. I attended university in Warrnambool, where I studied chemistry and aquatic biology. After university, I traveled to Japan to teach English and met my future wife. We moved to Boston in 2000, where we got married. We have two children, ages nine and six. Currently we live in Manhattan.
I understand Hipercept is an international firm, with offices in Canada, Colombia, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, and the U.S. What is the firm’s main focus?
We provide information management solutions to institutional real estate and private equity investors. We focus a lot on improving the operational efficiency of our clients through better technology solutions and process.
How did Hipercept get its name?
We like to think we are a firm of highly perceptive people.
What are the criteria for philanthropic activities at Hipercept? How do you decide which causes to support?
We look at past contributions and ask our employees for ideas on charities we should think about supporting. We have a small committee that selects charities and the associated donations based on the relevance to our ideals and our understanding of their effectiveness.
We are very grateful for your support of iEARN-USA. Why have you chosen iEARN to be among the causes you support?
We have a strong interest in youth, education, global development and technology. iEARN is the perfect charity for our organization and we look forward to a long-term relationship.