The Spotlight
Sarah Jordan
Angel Investor
In this edition of The Spotlight, in partnership with The Scotiabank Women Initiative™, we sit down with Sarah Jordan, a transformational leader and former private equity CEO. Sarah aims to amplify women’s presence at the investment table, believing that when women deploy capital, they strengthen the entire innovation ecosystem.
Sarah's investment thesis prioritizes founder resilience, curiosity, and lived experience. She seeks disruptive, purpose-driven ventures where she can act as a "connector" and "activator."
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About Sarah Jordan
Sarah Jordan is a purpose-driven leader, board director, and angel investor with a passion for building high-performance teams and creating possibilities for the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs.
Sarah has held senior leadership roles across retail, consumer & financials services brands, leading large teams through growth, transformation, and innovation. Known for her courageous leadership style and ability to connect strategy with culture, she has consistently focused on building organizations that combine strong performance with meaningful impact, tapping into an athlete mindset and her love of team sports.
Alongside her executive career, Sarah has become an active supporter of entrepreneurs and emerging leaders. She believes leadership is ultimately about uplifting others—creating environments where people and ideas can thrive.
Connect on LinkedIn: Sarah Jordan
Investment & Impact Snapshot
Investment Focus: Early-stage companies disrupting in their category through innovation or building new industries, particularly ventures led by women founders.
Investment Philosophy: Invest in courageous people first—founders with grit, resilience, clarity of vision, and the ability to learn and adapt as their companies grow. With high-performance teams and an athlete’s mindset.
Unique Edge: CEO and board leadership experience building high-performing teams and memorable, distinctive brands, offering founders practical guidance beyond capital.
Committed to: Expanding opportunity for women entrepreneurs and strengthening the next generation of diverse founders.
The Spotlight: A Conversation with Sarah Jordan
Interviewed by Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, Co-founder & CEO, Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW).
Published May 24th, 2026
Sherry: We’re excited to welcome Sarah Jordan as our featured funder for The Spotlight, presented by Women Funding Women in partnership with The Scotiabank Women Initiative (SWI™). Sarah, thank you for speaking with me today. Your journey to becoming an active angel investor is incredibly inspiring. Tell us what prompted your interest in angel investment?
Sarah: My interest in angel investing grew naturally from my career as a transformational leader, especially from my time as a CEO in private equity. Throughout my career working in large organizations, both public and private, I was affectionately called an intrapreneur: a change agent, an innovator, a corporate leader with an entrepreneurial mindset and spirit.
Over the years I had the opportunity to collaborate with small and large investors to see how innovative ideas grow into businesses and brands of the future. I unfortunately also saw how limited the access to capital can be for women entrepreneurs: women receive less than 4 percent of capital.
Working with and mentoring many entrepreneurs, I saw firsthand how transformative the right support can be in the early stages of building a company.
What struck me most was how many talented founders, particularly women, had strong ideas and clear vision but often lacked access to capital or networks. Specifically, they created disruptive products and services that were often bought by women consumers. Starting my career in angel investing became a way for me to help close that gap.
For me, investing is not just about financial return. It’s about helping founders navigate the critical early stages of growth, sharing lessons learned from building teams and purpose-driven brands and connecting them with the right people and communities.
I also believe deeply in the multiplier effect of women investing in women. When women deploy capital, we expand opportunity, increase representation, and ultimately strengthen the innovation ecosystem.
Angel investing allows me to combine my experience as a leader with my commitment to supporting the next generation of founders.
Investment Thesis
Sherry: As an angel investor, what’s your core investment thesis, and what types of ventures specifically capture your attention, especially those led by women?
Sarah: My investment thesis starts with the founder: their passion, their drive, their resilience and their big idea. Early-stage companies are often defined less by the initial idea and more by the resilience, curiosity, and adaptability of the team building them.
I look for founders with conviction on the value or impact of their product or service. They’re not afraid to think outside the box, and they’re disrupting a category with bold, innovative offerings. Real value is often created at the intersection of two industries.
When I learn about these investment opportunities, I often meet founders who are deeply connected to the problems they are addressing. That lived experience can be incredibly powerful in identifying unmet needs and building solutions that resonate with real customers.
Ultimately, I am drawn to founders who combine ambition with humility - leaders who are bold enough to pursue big ideas but curious enough to keep learning as they grow. And they have the courage to build incredible brands in the face of uncertainty.
Advice to Founders
Sherry: Drawing on your professional experience, what advice do you often share with founders preparing their first pitch or seeking angel investment?
Sarah: The most common pieces of advice I give founders preparing their first pitch are rooted in bringing their passion, their purpose and their founder story into the spotlight and include the following:
1. Be clear about the purpose of your brand and the customer problem you are solving.
2. Showcase the passion you have for uniquely being positioned to deliver on this idea.
3. Share your origin story. Human connection in the age of tech is a meaningful hook.
Many early pitches spend too much time describing the product and not enough time explaining why the problem matters and who experiences it. And how big the market for that product can be. Clarity and conviction matter more than perfection.
I also encourage founders to view early conversations with investors as the beginning of a relationship, not just a transaction.
Relationship with Potential Investors
Sherry: Let’s drill down on the relationship with potential investors. Why is it so important to establish a longer-term relationship instead of a transactional one with investors?
Sarah: The best investors are partners who can help you navigate difficult decisions and unexpected challenges. As an investor, I describe my leadership style and what they can expect from me: connector, cheerleader, bold ideas and an always-on offer to be a phone-a-friend.
Due Diligence
Sherry: Given your operational background, how do you approach due diligence?
Sarah: As a CEO who navigated a retailer through a pandemic, my leadership style has forever been changed to embrace and expect uncertainty but also to lead with courage and compassion.
I look for founders that are unafraid to share how they have built their own resilience and grit. How have they embraced failures in the past and reframed these as possibilities and opportunities?
I also look for disruptive ideas that perhaps other investors are afraid of believing in. I am often first or early cheque into a women-led business. And my due diligence also starts with my views and insights on where the market is headed. To see around corners and be in communities where these founders are showing up.
Research also shows that women founders are asked more about the risks versus the opportunities. Women founders when presenting their financials are often more realistic or conservative. I coach founders to dream bigger, act bolder and be braver.
I am known as a customer-obsessed leader. As part of my due diligence, I try the product or service, visit stores, attend trade shows and go to the manufacturing and distribution sites.
Early-stage companies inevitably face obstacles. What matters most is whether the team has the capability and mindset to navigate those challenges.
The Non-Negotiables
Sherry: What are your non-negotiables when evaluating a potential investment?
Sarah: My non-negotiables are founders who are customer obsessed, purpose-driven and courageous. I expect as a foundation that they act with integrity, and they are transparent, trustworthy and coachable.
Investing in Women's Sports
Sherry: You were an early investor in women’s professional sports in Canada, including AFC Toronto, the city's first professional women's soccer team as part of the Northern Super League. This is an area that I too, am quite passionate about. What drew you to investing in women’s sports, and why do you believe this moment is so important?
Sarah: Investing in women’s sports felt like a natural extension of the work I’ve been passionate about for much of my career, expanding opportunity and visibility for women.
For many years, women’s sports have had extraordinary athletes, passionate fans, and strong community support, yet the level of investment has not always reflected that potential. What we are seeing now is a significant shift. Investors, brands, and fans are recognizing that women’s sports represent both a powerful cultural movement and a compelling business opportunity.
I invested in AFC Toronto early days, before any professional league existed in Canada for women’s sports. The launch of the Northern Super League represents an important milestone for professional women’s soccer in Canada. It’s an opportunity to build a league that gives Canadian players a professional pathway at home while also creating a new platform for fans and communities to engage with the sport.
Sports has an incredible ability to inspire the next generation. When young girls see professional athletes competing at the highest level in their own country, it expands their sense of what is possible.
For me, investing in women’s sports is about both impact and opportunity. It’s about helping build something that will create lasting value - economically, culturally, and for the next generation of athletes and leaders. And there is a strong connection between sport and women CEOs: over 96% of women CEOs played sports.
In many ways, building a company resembles high-performance sports. There are moments of momentum and moments of adversity, but long-term success often comes down to the mindset of the person leading the team.
Mobilization of Women to become Angel Investors
Sherry: Given your experience with angel investing and your role as a Women Funding Women Advisory Council member, how can we mobilize more women to step into angel investing roles, and what role do organizations like WFW play in that?
Sarah: One of the most powerful ways to expand opportunity in the startup ecosystem is to increase the number of women deploying capital. And I believe this starts with awareness and spotlighting women angels. We know visibility and representation matter.
We need to amplify the impact message. When women invest, we diversify the perspectives shaping which companies get funded and which ideas move forward.
However, many women still perceive angel investing as something reserved for a small group of experienced investors.
Organizations like Women Funding Women, I Am Unbreakable® and The Power of the Pitch® play a critical role in changing that narrative. They create communities where women can learn together, share insights, and build confidence as investors. They also provide access to deal flow and mentorship that might otherwise be difficult to find. Just as importantly, they normalize the idea that women belong at the investment table.
The more women who step into these roles, the more we create a cycle of opportunity - supporting founders today while helping shape a more inclusive innovation ecosystem for the future.
Wrap Up
Sherry: Sarah, thank you for this conversation and for your continued leadership with Women Funding Women. I know the readers of The Spotlight have enjoyed learning about your journey.
Sarah: Thank you. I’m excited to be on this journey with you and so many others who are amplifying women founders and funders.
Key Learnings from Sarah Jordan
For the movement
"Investors, brands, and fans are recognizing that women's sports represents both a powerful cultural movement and a compelling business opportunity."
Establishing your community
"I believe deeply in the multiplier effect of women investing in women. When women deploy capital, we expand opportunity, increase representation, and ultimately strengthen the innovation ecosystem."
Ready to Empower More Women-Led Ventures?
The Spotlight | Women Who Fund & Found initiative aims to inspire, educate, and connect our Collective by showcasing remarkable Canadian women founders and the pioneering women investors who champion them.
Join the WFW Collective! At Women Funding Women, our mission is to accelerate the flow of angel capital to Canadian women entrepreneurs, one purposeful investment at a time.
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