# Parker Mitchell

> Parker Mitchell is the co-founder and CEO of Valence, the New York company behind Nadia, billed as the world's first enterprise AI coach. He spent two decades before that building Engineers Without Borders Canada, the charity he co-founded out of the University of Waterloo in 2000, and advising Fortune 500 leaders at McKinsey. In 2025 Valence raised a $50M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with Nadia deployed across companies like Delta, Experian, Kraft Heinz and General Mills, having logged more than a million coaching conversations.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Valence
- **Organizations:** Valence, Engineers Without Borders Canada, McKinsey & Company
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** B.A.Sc. Mechanical Engineering; B.A. with Cognitive Science minor, University of Waterloo, Master's in Development Studies, University of Cambridge, Honorary Doctor of Engineering, University of Waterloo
- **Known for:** Co-founded Engineers Without Borders Canada, a national charity focused on extreme poverty in rural Africa, Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Selected for Canada's Top 40 Under 40 (2004)

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Co-founds Engineers Without Borders Canada with George Roter, fresh out of the University of Waterloo
- **2004** — Named to Canada's Top 40 Under 40
- **2018** — Founds Valence; first product is a SaaS tool for boosting team productivity
- **2022** — Begins building Nadia in December after recognizing LLMs could democratize personalized coaching
- **2023** — Launches Nadia, billed as the first AI coach for work
- **2025** — Valence raises $50M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners; Nadia surpasses one million coaching conversations

## Achievements

- Co-founded Engineers Without Borders Canada, a national charity focused on extreme poverty in rural Africa
- Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
- Selected for Canada's Top 40 Under 40 (2004)
- Received two Honorary Doctorates of Engineering
- Built Nadia, the first enterprise AI coach, deployed across 50+ global organizations with a 90+ NPS
- Raised a $50M Series B for Valence led by Bessemer Venture Partners in 2025
- Featured on leadership and AI in the Financial Times, TIME, and at Davos

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Valence announced a $50M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners; Sameer Dholakia joined the board.
- **2026-01** — Hosted Valence's AI & The Workforce Summit, interviewing Geoffrey Hinton, Reid Hoffman, Ethan Mollick, Gillian Tett and others.

## Links

- Website: https://valence.co
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/parkerbmitchell

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/parker-mitchell
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-10