Shaping Tomorrow: Christie Pruyn on Evolving the Illinois Venture Capital Association for Continued Success
April 16, 2025
In my third year as Executive Director, I am proud to build upon IVCA’s strong foundation with members recognized as leaders in the Private Equity and Venture Capital community. Chicago’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship inspires me to ensure IVCA remains vital and poised for continued success. My focus has been to build upon IVCA’s strong history while developing new forward-looking strategic priorities that will guide the organization into the future.
Commitment to Advocacy: Advocacy is a founding principle of IVCA, and I am committed to ensuring that our work continues to strengthen Illinois as a great place for business and innovation. Looking forward, I am focused on promoting our advocacy work more effectively within both the industry and the association.
Generating robust data to showcase the impact of our industry in Illinois will be a priority, alongside effectively sharing this data with members, legislators, and other business leaders. Showcasing the strength of member firms, portfolio companies and the jobs they bring to their communities will ensure IVCA remains a trusted leader and voice for our industry while driving meaningful connections that support a thriving business climate in Illinois.
Improving Member Engagement and Elevating Our Value Proposition:
Looking ahead, I am focused on advancing efforts that will strengthen member engagement and reinforce IVCA’s impact. A priority will be elevating our marketing and communications materials to more professionally and effectively tell our story, ensuring members and stakeholders fully understand the value we provide.
Feedback from our strategic plan focus groups and member surveys has made it clear: there is a strong desire among our members for more opportunities for peer-to-peer engagement. In response, we are developing peer-to-peer learning and networking opportunities tailored to sub-groups within our membership as an example.
Building Collaborative Relationships: An important part of our new strategic plan is centered around expanding relationships. I am working to expand IVCA’s reach by cultivating relationships with institutional and family investors. These efforts have included developing programming to educate investors about Venture Capital and Private Equity opportunities while facilitating introductions to our members. One successful event has already demonstrated the impact of this work, linking new LPs to IVCA and showcasing the important initiatives of the IVCA Scholars Program and the IVCA Foundation.
Evolving the IVCA Scholars Program and Inclusion Initiatives: A key focus during my tenure has been the continued growth of the IVCA Scholars Program to increase diversity, participation, and industry awareness. In 2025, we’ve already achieved significant milestones: the program has grown to a record size, and we received a record number of applications, reflecting its increasing impact and appeal. I’ve also actively worked to expand awareness of the program and developed partnerships with other initiatives that benefit Illinois students, further strengthening the program’s reach and effectiveness. Additionally, the creation of the Scholar Advisory Board has been influential, bringing valuable insight and direction to the program while enhancing the support system for our Scholars.
Let’s keep evolving together … Christie
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