Speaker Bio

Long Bio

As a pioneering force in the tech landscape, Jennifer Turliuk’s passion for technology has shaped her entrepreneurial journey, leading her to become an acclaimed CEO, angel investor, author, and keynote speaker whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Wired, and more.

She is currently Practice Leader, Climate and Energy AI at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, where she is building AI tools for climate innovators - and is also an MIT Sloan Fellow. Recently, she spoke at New York Climate Week on AI for Climate Action, including forward-looking topics in climate resilience and adaptation, addressing critical questions about AI’s role in climate solutions and how it can drive innovation for a sustainable future. She also delivered a talk on Leveraging AI for Climate Solutions in MIT's Climate and Energy Ventures class, which has had 60+ spinout companies and $1B+ raised.

At just 12 years old, she coded her very first website for a school book report on Harry Potter. The website went viral, garnering hundreds of thousands of page views, and was even featured in a major children’s magazine. Experiencing that level of success at an early age was empowering, says Jennifer.

Jennifer took that passion and continued to create. She attended business school at Queen’s University and the prestigious Singularity University (based at NASA) – ‘tech’s most coveted community’- where she learned about exponential technologies like robotics and 3D printing, and how to apply those technologies to make a positive impact on global grand challenges such as education.

After this experience, Jennifer decided to pioneer MakerKids to empower other young people to reach their potential through technology. Through her leadership, Jennifer led its growth trajectory, securing venture capital, major media coverage, and ultimately, acquisition. She spearheaded product development and marketing, and formed strategic partnerships with companies like Twitter and Intel.

With her background as an AI software developer and prompt engineer, Jennifer has built various AI applications using AI models, prompt engineering, and natural language processing techniques.

In addition to leading MakerKids and her work in AI, Jennifer has achieved notable success as an angel investor into AI companies. She has invested alongside top VC firms such as Founders Fund, 8VC, Softbank, SV Angel, and others through SPVs and her portfolio includes three unicorns, one of which is Loom. Her acumen in identifying promising startups led to a successful exit after just two years of angel investing.

She led and co-instructed Climate Angels, an educational program on climate tech angel investing with speakers and mentors from Lowercarbon Capital, 500 Global, and more. Additionally, she was a Partner with Climate Capital Syndicate, one of the original and most active climate tech funders globally. In this role, she sourced, conducted due diligence on, and led investments into climate tech companies. Climate Capital has invested in breakouts like Mosaic, Span and Remora; has had exits including Amply and Blueprint Power; co-invests with YCombinator, Lowercarbon Capital, Khosla and others; and has a large network of climate funders, founders, etc.

She has also made significant contributions in the field of marketing in her work at Procter & Gamble, where she led commercial efforts for P&G’s largest brand and reversed a 10-year decline in household penetration, and through doing marketing & PR consulting for tech startups. At Procter & Gamble, she led a multi-functional team and a $10M budget to deliver the biggest launch in 25+ years.

Jennifer’s contributions to society have been recognized with an honorary degree from Humber College. She also serves on the Professional Advisory Committee for the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and was on the Board of Directors of the Geneva Centre for Autism.

Jennifer’s dynamic career has not only been focused on the creative development of innovative technologies and education but also on the art of storytelling. Her articles have been published in Forbes, Business Insider, Strategy, and numerous newspapers. As an accomplished author, Jennifer’s book, “How to Figure Out What to Do With Your Life (Next)”, has received accolades from notable personalities like Deepak Chopra, who called it “a brilliant instruction manual”.

Beyond work, she has a penchant for musicals, dancing, and wind sports, and even spun tracks as a DJ for Red Bull.