Masha Gordon

Masha Gordon in a female explorer who is currently undertaking a world-record breaking challenge to complete the Explorers’ Grand Slam: the ultimate adventure challenge of climbing the highest mountains of each of the seven continents and trekking to the geographic North and South poles.

Masha did not take up climbing until her thirties. In fact, Masha failed in PE at school and at the age of 31 was unable to run without being out of breath. She took up mountaineering when a friend invited her on a climb while she was on maternity leave.

After studying at Moscow University, Masha started her career as a fixer, then junior reporter, with the Moscow bureau of the Washington Post. She later studied in the United States, gaining a BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters in law and diplomacy from Tufts University.

Masha spent the next 16 years of her career working in finance and navigating the world’s capital markets. She was Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and most recently led the emerging markets porXolio management team at PIMCO.

She moved to a porfoolio career of non-executive board roles in 2014 and currently serves as a non-executive director of Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond company, member of the investment committee of the Enterprise Development Programme of Oxfam UK, and the Council of the Girls Day School Trust.

As a mother-of-two, Freya (8) and Theo (6), Masha wants to inspire other women to take up challenges that were unimaginable to them before and for the girls to take up the practice of outdoor activities to build their self confidence and mental resilience.

She is in the process of setting up the charity Grit & Rock to encourage teenage girls in deprived areas to take up mountaineering as a way to build grit and other leadership qualities.