Vesterheim is excited to pair the Innovators & Inventors exhibit with a free lecture series that will bring together some of the most creative and inspiring Norwegian-American leaders, thinkers, and artists working today.

The lecture series will be kicked off by Sonja Hoel Perkins, a venture capitalist from San Francisco who is paving the way for women in both the tech and finance industries. In 2015, Worth magazine included Perkins in their list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Finance in the World. She has over 30 years of experience investing in the technology sector and has gone on to launch two investment funds – The Perkins Fund, which invests in people and companies that matter, and Broadway Angels, an angel investment group made up of women who are world-class investors and business executives. In addition to her groundbreaking work in the venture capital industry, Perkins is also the founder of Project Glimmer, a non-profit serving at-risk teenage girls and whose mission is to inspire every girl to envision and realize an empowered future. Perkins lives in San Francisco, California, with her family.

Sonja’s mother Unni Sonja Blegen wrote an inspiring first-person narrative for Vesterheim magazine that details her story of growing up in Nazi-occupied Norway, immigrating to the United States, and raising her family. Learn about Sonja’s family history by reading the article here.

Innovators & Inventors exhibition and lecture series is sponsored by the Tomson Family Foundation. Find out more about the exhibit here.