Sabine VanderLinden

Activate Innovation Ecosystems | Tech Ambassador | Founder of Alchemy Crew Ventures + Scouting for Growth | Chair, Board Member, Advisor | Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow-Bayes Business School

I don't just talk about innovation, AI, workforce or digital transformation— I build the bridges that make things real.

As Founder & Venture-Client Partner of Alchemy Crew Ventures, I run global R&D + Adoption Labs that connect Fortune 500 insurers and corporates with the most brilliant tech ventures on the planet. Think of us as the “fast lane” between startup brilliance and enterprise adoption. My themes include FinTech/ InsurTech and deploying AI at scale responsibly. 

What this looks like in numbers:
📍 Accelerated 160+ ventures and sourced 55,000+ startups worldwide
📍 Invested in 35+ early stage startups
📍 Delivered exits like FitSense → Zurich (2018), MyFutureNow → L&G (2019), and Tia Tech → Sapiens (2020)
📍 Created Insurer-led Acceleration and Scaleup programs that turned pilot purgatory into scalable commercial success

But the real story? I help founders land their first million-dollar client, build authentic personal brands, and help corporates cut through the noise to adopt tech that drives real growth.

My world revolves around:
📍 Venture Clienting 2.0 & Corporate Innovation Frameworks
📍 AI (ethics, adoption, emerging risks)
📍 Climate Resilience, Risk Futures & Sustainability Transformation
📍 The Future of Work (where humans + tech thrive together)

Beyond Alchemy Crew:
📍 Co-editor of the bestselling INSURTECH Book
📍 Wrote forewords for the Future of Insurance and Momentum
📍 Lecturer on Corporate Venturing at Bayes Business School
📍 Board + advisory roles across VCs, Scaleups (The CareVoice), foundations (Women to Watch), standards (ACORD Solutions) & global insurers
📍 Top 10 Business Podcast "Scouting for Growth" 
📍 Recognized with 10+ awards, including Most Influential CEO – Insurance Corporate Ventures (2024/2025)

My channels beyond LinkedIn:
x.com: @SabineVdL
instagram: @sabinevdlofficial
Medium: @sabine_vdl
Podcast: Scouting for Growth and Beyond Tech Frontiers
Newsletter: alchemycrew.ventures

What drives me?
Creating value where others see friction.
Turning hype into measurable outcomes.
And making sure technology becomes a force for good, not just another buzzword.

Award List (10+): Insurance Times-Tech & Innovation Awards Winner (2018), Grant Thornton-Face of a Vibrant Economy (2018), Business Insurance-Women to Watch Honoree (2019), Corporate Vision-Venture Validation Firm of the Year (2021), Finalist Women in Insurance Perseverance Award (2021), Awarded Perseverant Company to Watch in (2021), ACORD Awards (2020/2023), Most Influential CEO-Insurance Corporate Ventures (2024/2025).

Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer & Venture Partner

Delivering venture labs that accelerate, industrialize and democratize the way tech ventures engage with corporations. These labs apply acceleration, co-creation, and commercialization techniques to de-risk the way insurers and financial institutions collaborate, grow, and scale their venture-led growth initiatives.

Also, systematizing for a select group of growth ventures the way their engagement with corporations.

You can find out more 👉🏽 https://alchemycrew.com/

Jim Woods

Seattle Consulting Group

I work with CHROs, CEOs, and Heads of People who’ve done everything they were told: leadership training, engagement strategies, DEI rollouts—yet they’re still losing the right people.

Why?
Because their systems weren’t designed to hold performance when pressure hits.

As CEO of Seattle Consulting Group, I’ve spent the past two decades helping organizations across North America do one thing:

Replace cultural aspiration with execution infrastructure.

I’m the architect of:

The Woods HR Power Model™, used to replace Ulrich’s outdated structure

The Enterprise Execution Map™, now used by Fortune 500s and governments to enforce leadership standards

The Trust Imperative™ and Burn It Theory™, designed to help leaders make decisions that hold under pressure

I’ve advised national banks, energy giants, government agencies, and scaling tech firms—each of them facing the same problem:
Too much leadership theatre. Not enough operational enforcement.

We don’t teach values.
We build the systems that turn them into behavior.

CEO & Enterprise System Architect

Woods Kovalova Group

Co-Founder & CEO – Woods Kovalova Group
June 1998 – August 2022 | Global | Full-time

Jim Woods co-founded Woods Kovalova Group, a global consulting and training firm focused on leadership development, diversity strategy, and organizational culture transformation. For over two decades, he led strategic engagements for Fortune 500s, government agencies, and mission-driven organizations across more than 50 countries.

Under his leadership, the firm delivered executive coaching, DEI programs, and large-scale training initiatives that helped organizations build inclusive, high-accountability cultures aligned with performance goals. His work supported clients through mergers, leadership transitions, and systemic culture change—moving beyond performative efforts to measurable impact.

In 2022, Jim transitioned operations to Canada and launched Seattle Consulting Group Canada, expanding the firm’s capabilities with proprietary leadership frameworks designed for today’s volatile and high-pressure business environment.

Co-Founder & CEO (WKG)

Villanova University

As an adjunct professor at Villanova University, Jim Woods integrates over 25 years of executive leadership and global consulting experience into a curriculum focused on leadership development, organizational culture, and strategic change. His teaching bridges theory and practice—equipping students to lead with clarity, resilience, and real-world credibility.

Drawing from his experience at Woods Kovalova Group and the principles behind The Kindness Paradox™, Jim challenges students to navigate the tension between empathy and accountability in today’s high-stakes business environments. His courses are built to foster critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and the leadership agility required in complex, rapidly evolving organizations.

Students gain actionable frameworks and tools that extend far beyond the classroom—preparing them to lead change, build trust, and drive performance with integrity.

Adjunct Professor

Colorado Technical University

At Colorado Technical University, Jim Woods served as adjunct faculty, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in leadership, organizational behavior, and management strategy. Drawing from his global consulting experience, Jim focused on bridging academic theory with real-world leadership application—equipping students to lead effectively in complex, high-pressure environments.

His teaching emphasized practical decision-making, ethical leadership, and the behavioral dynamics that shape high-performing teams. Through case-based learning and executive-level insights, Jim helped students develop the mindset and skills required to lead organizational change with clarity and confidence.

Leadership hasn’t just broken — it’s outsourced its accountability. HR paid the price.
Jim Woods, CEO of Seattle Consulting Group and bestselling author of HR Unchained, created the Woods HR Power Model™ to re-engineer HR into the operating core of the business.
Clients include Whirlpool, the U.S. Army, the Government of Canada, MITRE, and Disney.

Leadership hasn’t just broken — it has outsourced its accountability. HR paid the price.

Most companies are still trying to solve 2025 problems with a 1995 HR playbook. In too many boardrooms, CHROs are hired to lead without power, fix behavior without systems, and take the blame when strategy stalls.

For CEOs, this is the hidden execution risk. Without structural authority and enforcement systems, even the best CHRO will fail — and the cost of replacing them is measured in millions.

Jim Woods, CEO of Seattle Consulting Group and bestselling author of HR Unchained, created the Woods HR Power Model™ to solve that risk. His enterprise framework re-engineers HR into the operating core of the business — restoring control over execution, enforcement, and results.

Seattle Consulting Group works with CEOs who want to protect their CHRO investment, close authority gaps, and end performance drift. And for CHROs, the goal is clear: stop being blamed for cultural breakdowns they didn’t cause, and gain the system-level authority to make execution permanent.

While most consultants recycle influence models, Woods builds enforcement systems. Where others promise alignment, he diagnoses authority gaps — and closes them fast.

Through tactical intensives, advisory, and executive briefings, his team helps leadership:

End the blame cycle by aligning authority with accountability

Install structural power where performance depends on it

Embed execution systems that survive leadership changes

Clients include Whirlpool, the U.S. Army, the Government of Canada, MITRE, and Disney.

Woods doesn’t quote Covey. He writes what comes after Ulrich — and delivers it in enforceable enterprise design.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant

Unlock Potential: Canada's Pinnacle DEI & Sexual Harassment Consultation Firm

In a society where unity is born from individual strengths, it's vital that every voice is honored and uplifted. Beyond routine diversity metrics, true progress lies in cultivating a space where all perspectives thrive. This authentic approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is the cornerstone of transformative businesses.

Woods Kovalova Group represents Canada’s zenith in DEI and sexual harassment consulting. Our devotion isn't fleeting; it's foundational. The recognition we've gained and our commendable culture attest to our mastery. True DEI-rooted businesses don't just meet an ethical benchmark – they redefine success.

Visionary Engagement
Together with your leaders, we architect a DEI strategy that harmonizes with your core values.

Leading Authentically
We emphasize marginalized voices, cultivating a united, purposeful front. Our focus ensures leadership is aligned and transformative in action.

Informed by Insights
Our data-driven approach charts your DEI journey, transforming aspirations into concrete outcomes.

Wisdom & Lasting Principles
Our guidance merges scholarly knowledge with real-world experiences, offering insights rooted in time-tested truths.

Enabling Transformation
More than strategies, we equip you with comprehensive tools that infuse DEI into every facet of your organization.

Join Woods Kovalova Group, where we see potential not as a static trait but as a force to elevate. Together, let’s sculpt an inclusive horizon.

taplio

The Battle

Sabine VanderLinden

Jim Woods

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?