Helen was deeply honoured and extremely proud to have been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List 2025. The citation is for “Voluntary Service and services to Gender Equality in Business” and recognises her voluntary work and passion to improve gender diversity and increase the opportunities for women in Engineering, Business and Financial Services.
Helen began her private equity career in 1989, investing directly in small companies on behalf of a major Canadian bank in Montréal. She then joined the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a Canadian pension fund manager, before moving to Paris to head up Russell Investment Group’s European private equity investment activities. In 2004, Helen moved to Pantheon, a global private equity fund investor, where she is head of European Primary Investment and a member of the International Investment Committee. In addition to her responsibilities at Pantheon, Helen is a member of Invest Europe’s LP Council, and represents LPs on Invest Europe’s Board, and she is a past chair of the BVCA.
Helen originally trained as an engineer in the UK, completed an apprenticeship with GEC-Marconi and worked in industry before hanging up her arc-welding gear. She holds a BA and MA in Engineering from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.
Her Canadian experience has led to a passion for skiing, hiking and cycling, all of which she enjoys with her husband and three children, while her time in France resulted in an appreciation for great food. Fortunately one balances out the other!
View on LinkedIn