Judge: Jennifer Pelling

Jennifer Pelling is a founding member of the Tsuha Foundation, a nonprofit board member, a film producer, and an impact-focused investor. She is particularly interested in opportunities that promote equity, poverty reduction, connection, and empathy.

Through the Tsuha Foundation, she developed the Tsuha Global Fellows program with the University of Western Australia to support emerging leaders from countries in the Global South as they develop high-priority research and policy solutions directly related to UN Sustainable Development Goals in their home communities.       

Jennifer serves on multiple nonprofit boards, including Circles USA, a social-capital based anti-poverty organization with 80+ locations across North America; the Ideos Institute, which promotes empathy through dialogue and civic engagement; and Bread for the World, an inclusive Christian organization based in Washington, D.C. that advocates for policy changes to end hunger.

Jennifer has produced and invested in numerous films, including six that premiered at Sundance or SXSW. Current projects include a documentary short about a nonbinary seminary student, a feature-length narrative film about teen poverty, and an animated short about public assistance for low wage workers. She is a member of Impact Partners (NYC), Sundance Catalyst, and Chicken & Egg.

Jennifer is a private equity investor in opportunities ranging from affordable housing to job pathways for underemployed populations. She is also a limited partner in two impact/socially responsible venture funds.

Before shifting to the nonprofit world, Jennifer worked at Accenture, homeschooled her children, and taught math in a charter school. She graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science.