Meet Jeanette Jackson: National Director, Cleantech

Explain what you do, streeter-style.

My passion is connecting innovation with customers and capital so that Canada becomes the most competitive economy in the world. At RBCx, this means supporting promising cleantech companies in bringing their solutions to market and serving as a champion for cleantech.

What are the pivotal moments in your career?

• First fundraise: Raising my first $1MM investment as a cleantech entrepreneur.
• Growing a platform: Scaling Foresight Canada to be the largest cleantech platform in the country – all supported and enabled by an incredible team and network of partners.
• Joining RBCx: Exploring key opportunities in capital deployment for cleantech innovation by leveraging my experience and knowledge.

Quick, what’s a hot take you have on investing in tech and innovation in Canada?

Today, investment in tech and innovation is about two things. One, investors have the opportunity to meet the market where it’s really at in terms of business models and unique capital strategies required to scale. And two, it’s important to make sure that the cleantech innovation ecosystem offers more clarity on the quantifiable value propositions of their technologies and solutions if they want to accelerate customer traction and attract capital.

What excites you about tech and innovation in Canada?

When I think about our future economy, I think about a technology and innovation economy. These are the key differentiators to unlock Canada’s true economic potential and competitiveness, being at the critical intersection of productivity, profitability and, in my case, sustainability. One example is Canada being at the forefront of green cement with innovators like CarbonCure who help concrete producers around the world decarbonize and improve profitability. Canadian innovators are committed to making traditional industries better across key sectors such as energy, resources, buildings and transportation – let’s leverage this innovation excellence to our advantage globally.

Why RBCx?

RBCx is doing something that appealed to me – ensuring innovation is front and center across the senior level of the bank (which also happens to be the largest bank in Canada). This mandate combined with an incredible team and culture, willingness to invest in non-traditional roles and industry leaders, and collaborate across RBC’s lines of business and the various climate, sustainability, ESG and capital groups across the bank, gave me confidence that I was in the right room to champion the future of cleantech banking.

If you were invited to do a podcast, what would you be talking about?

Well, funny story – I do have a podcast call Cleantech Forward, which you can find listed on most streaming services. These conversations are all about what’s happening in cleantech across ley sectors like mining, transportation, clean energy and construction, and how can we accelerate adoption of cleantech across the public and private sector.

What’s the latest tech-related story or company you’re keeping an eye on?

Great question! There are three tech-related stories I am monitoring. The first is around Canada’s new housing mandate and the role innovation will play in helping communities deploy sustainable homes and infrastructure more quickly. The second is around Canada’s broader defense mandate and how those investments will help scale technology supply chains around energy storage, fresh water management and clean transportation. And finally, with AI being the next technology frontier, how will cleantech play in a role in decarbonizing all of the infrastructure and computer processing required for AI.

What do you do in the wild (i.e. outside of work)?

This is funny because I do love to work! But outside of work, I am a mom first. At least – I was for 18 years before my girl left for university in July. Beyond that, I do a lot of walking with my two labradoodles, hanging out with family and friends, travelling, and finding a movie I haven’t seen from the ‘80s to early 2000’s because those movies are what movies should be to me.

Share your current recommendations (podcast, book, show, movie).

Let’s go to few more whimsical, out-of-the-box recommendations – things beyond climate and leadership books.  The most surprising movie for me this year was Death of a Unicorn (adults only) because it’s different, to say the least. And an old-school book I like is The World According to Garp. There is a movie adaptation with Robin Williams, but I think the book was better.

Where can people connect with you?

The best place to connect with me is on LinkedIn or at my RBC email (jeanette.jackson@rbc.com). I may take a few days to respond with all of the excitement around this role and outreach so far, but I will respond and look forward to hearing from stakeholders across the ecosystem on how I can support.