Jen has served on the board since 2012. She was drawn to Mission Graduates by her passion for ideas and organizations that promote social justice. She recently served as a fellow with the Tipping Point Community’s Innovation lab where she was focused on the challenge of bringing the benefits of preschool education to low income communities. This experience inspired her to launch the Room to Breathe Project, which is focused on empowering kids to achieve lifelong success through social emotional learning.

Jen began her career as an entrepreneur, co-founding the Perth Bagel Company while pursuing her Bachelor of Commerce at Queen’s University in Canada. She then worked as an investment banker (DLJ, Credit Suisse, UBS) before obtaining her MBA from INSEAD (France & Singapore). This led her to found On The Road Travel, an online resource for independent travelers in Latin America. She subsequently joined Kiva, where she served as its Chief Financial Officer.

Jen immigrated to the US in 2000 and has called the Bay Area home ever since. Her kids now go to school in the Mission and when she’s not chasing them around, she loves to frequent neighborhood parks with her husband and their big, shaggy dog.