Catherine Lenson

Catherine is an investor, board director and executive coach. She is based in London and works globally. She is an experienced international C-suite executive with a strong track record in the People, DE&I and ESG fields. Together with Jonathan Lenson. she invests in exceptional early-stage tech companies across the UK, US and Israel, and brings in-depth previous board experience as both an executive and non-executive director. She writes and speaks on topics including the future of work, corporate culture and purpose, diversity and inclusion, and work/life integration. As part of her coaching practice, she is the first UK-based facilitator to be certified in the Fair Play method. Catherine was the first female Managing Partner appointed at SoftBank Investment Advisers, the world’s largest technology investment firm with $175 billion under management in the two SoftBank Vision Funds and SoftBank Latin America Funds. As the founding Chief People Officer for five years (2017-2022), she led the HR, ESG and Real Estate teams globally. An experienced and trusted executive coach at C-suite level, she worked with companies within the Vision Fund portfolio on leadership, talent, DE&I, ESG, and operating challenges, including as a Board Director. Catherine built SBIA’s ESG practice and designed its strategy for Social Impact. She led SoftBank’s early stage venture funds focused on diverse founders, including the $100m+ SB Opportunity Fund (US) and Emerge (EMEA), including as an Investment Committee member. Catherine is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (Class of 2021) and a founding member of Sustainability30 (which brings together Chief Sustainability Officers from 30 of the world’s leading companies). She spent the formative years of her career at UBS AG, Switzerland’s leading financial services firm, and is proud to have progressed from intern to Managing Director in the same firm. In her final role there, she led Reward for UBS across the UK and EMEA region.