The founder in 2017 and CEO of the AvantFaire Group, Catherine Chen leads a group of finance professionals who both make impact investments and guide professional investors who want to get involved in impact investing. She has particular personal expertise in areas ranging from decentralised finance to sustainable fashion, and is also a passionate advocate for ESG and sustainability, in particular environmental protection in mainland China, as well as for green finance. AvantFaire is a signatory to the Principles of Responsible Investment and the Operating Principles for Impact Management, a member of the Global Impact Investing Network and a B Corporation.

Before founding the company, she worked for her family business XianXing Real Estate Development on a variety of belt and road projects, as well as in financial institutions in China and Canada, including Noah Holdings and Royal Bank of Canada.