Faye Walsh Drouillard
Chair, CSP North America, Founder and General Partner, WakeUp Capital
Faye Walsh Drouillard is Founder & General Partner of WakeUp Capital, an impact VC fund investing in innovative sustainable and inclusive early-stage B2B technologies. A former social entrepreneur unwilling to accept the status quo, she backs visionary founders in Ireland and Europe tackling complex social and climate related challenges with significant market opportunity and measurable impact. Focus areas include sustainable agriculture, circularity, renewable energy systems, health equity and inclusive education and financial services.
Following work in a law firm and in politics in California, she led and scaled Freedom Writers Foundation, an education enterprise, through its feature film release “Freedom Writers” by Paramount Pictures starring Hilary Swank. With a long track record as a consultant, ecosystem builder and investor in numerous start-ups, funds, and organizations in the US and Europe, Faye promotes collaborative no trade-off impact investing and increased diversity in finance and entrepreneurship.
Chair of Ireland’s 1st Impact Angel Syndicate; Boards: Magrowtec, The Community Foundation for Ireland and ChangeX. Founder of two collective venture philanthropy groups: The Giving Circles of Amsterdam and Ireland. B.A.: University of Washington; MBA: UCLA Anderson School of Management. Faye, along with her husband and their 3 French-American children, are based in Dublin.