Founder and Managing Partner at Impact First Investments
Cecile is the Founder and Managing Partner at Impact First Investments, Israel's first impact venture fund. Impact First is exclusively focused on technology for social innovation generating market rate returns. Cecile is passionate about addressing global social challenges through new ideas, technologies and business models. She specializes in creating the meeting place between technology, profit and social impact and is a pioneer of the impact investing industry in Israel.
Prior to founding Impact First, Cecile managed the Noaber Foundation's Israeli investments for over 14 years, and has earned extensive hands-on management experience with high-tech start-ups. Additionally, Cecile held executive positions and led several companies as a CEO and served as a chairperson and board member on many more. She was one of the initiators of the Al-Bawader private equity fund, established to invest in businesses in the Arab community in Israel. Cecile volunteers as a mentor and loan committee member at the Keren Shemesh Foundation for the Encouragement of Young Entrepreneurs. She is a board member and observer of Impact First’s portfolio companies and treasurer of the Business Ethics Center in Jerusalem. Prior to beginning her professional career, Cecile served as an intelligence officer in the Israel Defense Forces. Cecile is also an alumnus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she studied political science and international relations, and is an avid practitioner and trainer of Tai-Chi.
