Kristin Wood, PhD

Kristin Wood is CEO and Founding Partner of III Ventures, an institutional investment platform and Illuminate Consult, which includes the advisory | studio for the platform. Kristin designed the platform to raise capital, back innovative companies, and help them scale with structure and discipline. She partners closely with long-term institutional investors to deploy capital into a focused portfolio of high-conviction businesses, combining rigorous underwriting with active governance and operating support. 

Kristin works directly with founders to build the financial architecture, reporting discipline, and leadership infrastructure required for durable growth. Her philosophy is straightforward: capital performs best when it is aligned with execution, accountability, and long-term ownership. 

In addition to leading III Ventures and affiliates, Kristin serves as Board Chair of a global data and generative AI company focused on values-based analytics. She serves as a strategic board member for multiple for-profit and non-profit companies focused on strategy, enterprise design, and multi-asset growth.

With more than 25 years of cross-sector leadership experience, Kristin has led complex transformation initiatives across finance, technology, healthcare, real estate, and retail. She has held senior leadership roles at Blue Shield of California, Balyasny Asset Management, Conversus Capital (Bank of America + Oak Hill Investments), FinanSure, and Williams-Sonoma Inc., guiding organizations through high-growth and high-complexity environments. Her work centers on aligning capital with people, operations, and technology to create resilient, high-performing enterprises. 

Kristin holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership, an executive certification from Wharton, and a Master's in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is a published author and frequent speaker on leadership, strategy, business growth, AI-driven transformation, and board development. 

Outside of her professional life, Kristin is a super proud mom of two sons, one a college athlete and one finishing elementary school. She is a dancer, and an avid adventurer who loves live music, travel, hiking, painting, boating, skiing, and is learning to play guitar. 

Key Wins & Highlights

8x CEO/President 

25+ years cross-sector leadership 

15+ launches to scale and exit 

Board Chair

5x Board Member 

PhD, Organizational Leadership 

Executive Certificate, Wharton 

Published Author & Speaker