Jessica Nordlander recently moved to the West Kootenays, bringing with her an impressive array of experience in Sweden’s tech industry including Head of Business Development at Google in the Nordic Countries. She’s now the Vice President of Operations for Thoughtexchange, a company based in Rossland.
“People have been absolutely amazing, I must say, the people here are really cool,” said Nordlander. “For example, I participated the other day in a meet up for Nelson tech and knowledge workers and got the opportunity to talk to some amazing people there. It’s incredible to me how a community of this size can have fantastic brains.”
Nordlander, who was also deemed Sweden’s Most Innovative Leader, now calls Nelson home. After living in North Vancouver, she knew she wanted to come back to Canada, but this time find something a bit smaller where her and her husband could enjoy the outdoor lifestyle as well.
“I’ve been out testing the mountain biking trails in Nelson now for the last couple weeks and I’m really enjoying it,” she said.
While Nordlander doesn’t believe in fate, she finds herself amazed by how everything came together. She learned about Thoughtexchange while her and her husband were looking for properties in the area. They were having a coffee at the Alpine Grind in Rossland when she noticed the office.
It turned out to be a company that really resonated with some of the work she’s been passionate about for the past five or six years.
“It’s a part of my quest to improve how we lead and how do we make leadership ready for the new century that we’re in now.”
Thoughtexchange is a software company that looks to improve input and engagement strategies for companies and local government. It “digitizes” the town hall meetings and provides the opportunity to hear thoughts from the community or employees in a more effective and neutral way than, for example, through a survey.
Thoughtexchange CEO, Dave MacLeod is very excited to have Nordlander on board and issued an apology to “the entire country of Sweden and to Google for stealing this absolute gem of a human.”