Jenny do Forno

Worth knowing

She knows what a venture-backed company should hire for at each stage, having run talent for more than 90 portfolio companies at OMERS Ventures and built the people function at TouchBistro through funding rounds, debt financings and acquisitions. Founders hiring their first executives, or sizing up a Toronto-to-New York team build, will get a direct answer from her.

Story

Jenny began in executive search in Toronto, as an Associate at The Caldwell Partners and a Senior Consultant at Ray & Berndtson, then moved in-house to HR leadership at Moneris Solutions and Info-Tech Research Group. Startups followed: people and customer experience at Nest Wealth, then talent at OMERS Ventures, then TouchBistro, where she joined early and stayed through the company's rise to $319.6M raised. She now leads people at Mecka, the AI company working on human motion data with 40 to 60 employees across New York and Toronto, and teaches the next wave of venture talent leaders at Schulich.

Highlights

• Head of People, Mecka AI (New York/Toronto)
• Former Chief People Officer, TouchBistro
• Former Partner and Head of Talent, OMERS Ventures ($1.8B AUM)
• Program Director, Venture Talent, Schulich Venture Academy, York University
• BAH, Political Studies, Queen's University