Biography
Board Member, Sunnova Energy
As a C-Suite executive and senior leader, Mary Yang has focused on growth acceleration and business model innovation for publicly traded global companies and emerging growth organizations. With over twenty-five years of leadership experience, Yang has created and scaled new business models for technology and data across multiple industries including Autonomous Driving, Cybersecurity and Cloud Infrastructure.
As Chief Strategy Officer and Sr. Vice President at Ciena Corporation, a networking systems, services and software company, Yang identified $1B+ in new business opportunities with cloud service providers (AWS, GCP and Azure) in cloud infrastructure edge and automation software.
Previously, Yang was Vice President of Corporate and Business Development and General Manager, Americas at NIO Inc. a leader in premium, smart electric vehicles. As a founding U.S. executive, Yang led business development, strategic partnerships, corporate development, strategic planning, and business operations as the company launched its first electric vehicle, delivered $1B+ revenue, and expanded to more than 7,000 people globally in just over four years.
Earlier as Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategic Alliances at Fortinet, a global cybersecurity leader, Yang initiated the IBM alliance with an innovative business model for hybrid cloud security and led the acquisition of Meru Networks. While at Cisco, as the global lead for Security Corporate Development, she led the acquisition of Cognitive Security, which provided AI based network behavior analysis and the $2.7B acquisition of Sourcefire. In addition, Yang has advised and launched multiple venture backed global startups.
In 2021, Yang was appointed to the board of directors for Sunnova Energy, a publicly traded leading energy services company, and serves as a member of the Audit Committee.
Yang is a graduate of Stanford University where she received a JD/MBA degree, an M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems and A.B. in Quantitative Economics. She serves on the Executive Leadership Team for Stanford Women on Boards and she is a member of the California State Bar Association.
