Grace Kraaijvanger

Founder, The Hivery

San Francisco

Grace Kraaijvanger is a visionary entrepreneur, artist, and community-maker who created The Hivery as a realization of her longstanding dream to bring a community of women together in a beautiful space that would inspire and empower them to reach their fullest potential. From the beginning, The Hivery has been a metaphor for so much more than just a physical space; it represents a movement and an elevation of women.

Before launching The Hivery in 2014 and after a decade-long career as a professional ballet and modern dancer in San Francisco, Grace entered into motherhood and began working as a marketing executive for Fortune 500 technology companies. But the unexpected loss of her mother catalyzed her to search for something deeper; her life’s true purpose. On that search she realized there were women, just like her, in pursuit of their next chapter: women who wanted to switch careers, start businesses, go back to work, or change direction to pursue a passion. Coupled with the realization that there was no "space", both literally and metaphorically, for women to find and create meaningful work outside of "work" norms, she decided to go after her dream and The Hivery was born.

Over the years as The Hivery continues to grow, Grace has discovered much of what she knows to be true about starting and running a business is rooted in dance and artistic expression: the importance of showing up everyday and doing the work; surrounding yourself with people who believe in your unique purpose; and leveraging setbacks as invaluable learning tools. "Entrepreneurs are artists of life," according to Grace.

Grace is a go-to speaker and business mentor who has spoken at high-profile events such as Watermark, The Girls Lounge at Dreamforce, Listen to Your Mother, Woven Women’s Conference, as well as countless Hivery events and gatherings. The Hivery was awarded "Best Office Space in the U.S. and Canada" by Wayfair, Inc. in 2017, and Grace and The Hivery have been featured in outlets such as Domino, San Francisco Chronicle, Marin Independent Journal, Huffington Post and Entrepreneur. She is on the board for the SF Dance Film Festival and the Nasdaq YeX Advisory Board. Grace currently resides in Mill Valley with her husband and two teenage children.