Her biggest investment last year resulted from bringing together a syndicate that invested $8 million in Inimex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

As director of the Business Development Bank of Canada's venture capital division, Irwin chairs Neurostream Technologies Inc. and is currently on a mix of compensation, audit and corporate governance committees for six different corporate boards, including the public company Xillix Technologies Corp.

Irwin helped found the Vancouver Biotech Angel Forum and was instrumental getting BDC to sponsor the event. She is also a frequent speaker at biotech industry events.

BDC recruited Irwin while she was completing her MBA from the University of British Columbia. Before moving to B.C., she was a middle school science teacher in Ontario.

Through it all, she has kept her desire to inspire young minds. Irwin has mentored between three and seven students each year for the past four years as part of her involvement in the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, the Vancouver Board of Trade and UBC's Sauder School of Business.

She has also started volunteering at John Oliver Secondary School, teaching basic entrepreneurship and small business skills in the classroom as part of a program targeting youth at risk. She is also a director in the school's Take a Hike program.

Her busy schedule allows her time to be a member of BC Biotech's finance committee and a committee member for Mary McDonald's IT and Biotech Financing Forum.

Outside work, she likes cycling, keeping in shape and what would appear to most people to be insurmountable challenges. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in December 2002 and has her sights on completing an Ironman competition.

Profession you would like to try: Adventure travel co-ordinator

Where do you feel most comfortable? Kicking back in Kelowna with good friends

Currently reading: The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo by Irving Stone

Toughest decision: Changing careers and leaving education

Car: I use bike and TransLink services

Would most like to meet: Condoleeza Rice

Birthplace: Woodstock, Ontario

Last CD bought: Only You, by Harry Connick Jr.

Education: MBA from UBC

What's left to do: Commit to training for, and enter my first Ironman competition