Leila Mengesha is Vice President of Product Development and Impact at Illumen Capital, where she leads the firm’s product strategy and develops research-informed tools that help investors reduce bias and make better investment decisions. She works with more than 30 venture capital and private equity fund managers representing over $14 billion in assets to embed evidence-based decision-making and measure impact.
Leila’s work sits at the intersection of research, product development, and systems change. She led the development of IllumenIQ, Illumen’s proprietary learning platform, designed longitudinal research on bias and decision-making, and translated behavioral science into practical tools for investors.
Prior to Illumen Capital, Leila worked across technology and social impact. As a Product Manager at tiphub.co, she built fundraising tools supporting humanitarian relief efforts, including communities affected by the Tigray Genocide. She also established research practices at Grammarly and contributed to transportation equity initiatives in Cape Town, South Africa.
Leila earned her BA in Urban Studies, with honors and distinction, from Stanford University, with additional fields of study in Earth Systems and African and African American Studies. She is passionate about applying research, data, and product thinking to build more equitable systems.