Irene loves working with founders and investors, but loves connecting the two even more. Which is why she jumped at the opportunity to take over and run Angel Forum in 2018. With great results: membership doubled, 40% of members now are women, events have grown in number and size, but more importantly: more founders got funded.
When she isn’t working on Angel Forum, Irene is either busy as an investor and partner in Women’s Equity Lab or her communication and advisory work which includes such clients as Cornish Metals (AIM TSX-V CUSN) and Winshear (TSX-V WINS).
Prior to coming to Vancouver, Irene was the Executive Director of the Dutch Business Association (now Dutch Chamber of Commerce) in Hong Kong. Before that she held a senior marketing position with Dutch pharmaceutical group Gist-Brocades (now DSM) in Hong Kong and Jakarta, Indonesia. Irene graduated with a Master’s Degree in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics and a Master’s Degree in Social and Economic History at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.