When she was a teenager, Kathleen Bacon used to argue with her father, a venture capitalist with seven children, over whether women could have a career and a family and do both things well. “My father was adamant that you couldn’t,” she recalls. “You can be a mum and be a very good mum, or you can have a job and be very good at your job. But if you do both, you’re probably not going to be really good at one or the other.”

Bacon has spent her life trying to prove her father wrong, and successfully. Now a mother of three teenagers, she is also a London-based managing director of HarbourVest Partners, one of the world's most influential private equity fund of fund managers, where she manages investments in European and emerging markets funds. In February she celebrated her 20th year at the Boston-based firm, where she has carved out a niche for herself as one of Europe's most respected investors.