Like many who have played pivotal roles at noma, Irish-born Lena did not originally dream of working in the restaurant industry. She trained as a classical musician at the?Conservatoire Municipal de Paris, earned a?First Class?Honours Degree?& Masters?from the Sorbonne University and then qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Tax Advisor. In?2020, she assumed the role of Head of Strategy for Northern Europe at Dole plc.
One day out of the blue, a recruiter rang to ask if she might be interested in becoming COO of noma. Even though she was convinced it wasn’t a fit, Lena met René for a coffee anyway. She is now at the helm of both the restaurant as Chief Operating Officer and of Noma Projects as acting Chief Executive Officer at one of the most exciting junctures in the organization’s history.