Lisa Partridge

Worth knowing

Lisa sets up the people operations, hiring and internal systems that early companies need before they have anyone to run them. For 15 years she has brought founders, investors and operators together, from co-creating the Startup Train to building community and operations at Highline Beta. She has seen how a fund works from the inside at OMERS Ventures and how a venture studio spins companies out. Write to her if you're hiring your first operations person, or if you're trying to gather the Canadian startup community.

Story

Lisa's career began in the front office of the Kitchener Rangers Jr. A hockey team, where she wore many hats on a small team and fell for the energy of game day and a room full of people rallying around something they care about. She took that into tech, running events at BlackBerry and Bell, then co-created the Startup Train, which carried founders and investors from Toronto to Startup Fest in Montréal. After seeing a fund from the inside at OMERS Ventures and leading community and operations at Workplace One, she spent six years at Highline Beta, a venture studio, building the people operations and systems its companies needed before leading community and operations across the portfolio. Wearing many hats has been the constant, and it's why she's at home building in startup mode alongside Ray on Constellation and Flint.

In Lisa's words

Lisa grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo and now lives in Toronto. She has spent 15+ years building operational infrastructure and community across the Canadian startup ecosystem, at Highline Beta, OMERS Ventures, the Startup Train and more. She has worked alongside founders at every stage, from zero to one through growth, and knows firsthand what they need to scale. What keeps her connected is the ecosystem itself: she brings systems thinking and founder empathy to supporting Canadian tech.

Highlights

• Executive Director, Constellation
• Head of Operations and Community, Highline Beta
• Head of Community, Workplace One
• Co-creator, Startup Train
• Event Specialist, BlackBerry
• Program Manager, National Events and Sponsorship, Bell