This post was originally produced for Forbes.
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Cody Nystrom, 35, is a venture capitalist who makes healthcare investments for SJF Ventures where she is a Managing Director. For her, it was important for her work to align with her values.
“I was raised by two hippie parents in a remote area of Alaska about 45 minutes from Fairbanks. They would have probably died at the time if they had been told I would end up in a career in finance,” Nystrom says.
She graduated at the top of her high school class and then from her engineering class at the University of Virginia. Still, she says, “I was a first-generation college student with no idea about professional jobs in the real world.”
Modestly, she says, “I certainly had not been groomed for a career in the financial industry and was pretty rough around the edges, probably still am. Walking and talking a certain way to please others has never been a strong suit and I have…