Our Team
Danya Hakeem
Chief Operating Officer
Danya helps to set Elemental’s strategic direction and rigorous implementation of Elemental’s mission, while ensuring we maintain a thriving organizational culture.
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As Chief Operating Officer, Danya shapes Elemental’s strategic growth and ensures disciplined execution of our mission as the organization scales. She brings rigor to how we deploy capital, build partnerships, and support founders—while cultivating the systems, culture, and governance that enable Elemental to deliver durable environmental and local impact. In this role, she leads Elemental’s portfolio, partnerships, legal, and people functions.
In her previous role as Vice President of Portfolio & Investments, Danya led Elemental’s investment sourcing, diligence, deal execution, and portfolio services for five years, supporting the long-term success of our companies and the deep local and environmental impact of the projects we invest in.
She is obsessed with supporting Elemental’s growing portfolio of over 160 technology companies representing over $100M in investments deployed. She has directed more than 100 new and follow-on investments into companies like Fervo Energy, Nitricity, and Nth Cycle. She has helped to co-design and manage more than 80 first-of-a-kind and early commercial projects in communities across the globe.
Danya drives Elemental’s financial innovation and founder support—co-creating tools like the Development-SAFE and facilitating thousands of hours of targeted coaching in project execution, community engagement, and sales and growth. She also serves as a trusted partner and board observer, helping portfolio companies build diverse capital stacks, strengthen workforce strategies, and develop long-term partnerships.
Prior to Elemental
Danya understands how to drive systemic change having previously worked in policy and community organizing, advocating for a clean and resilient food system and in documentary film production for National Geographic and Discovery Channel, inspiring broad audiences to care about the planet. She has also served as an independent consultant, supporting fundraising, strategic partnerships, and digital content for non-profit and for-profit clients, Kunoa Cattle.
She is the recipient of Pacific Business News 40 Under 40, Hawaii Business Magazine’s 20 for the Next 20 and Edible Hawaiian Islands Local Heroes Award, among other honors. She holds an M.S. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University, where she focused on land and natural resource conflict and B.A. in Communications and Business Management – Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology from Virginia Tech University.
Outside of the office
Outside of the office, you can find her roaming the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters or attempting to perfect her favorite Syrian recipes.