Merline Saintil

Lead Director, Rocket Lab; Director, Gitlab, Symbotic, Evolv Technology, and TD Synnex

Merline Saintil – a software engineer turned Silicon Valley COO and investor who has taken six companies through their IPOs – is an active investor in dozens of companies that are shaping enterprise technology, healthcare tech, and the future of work.

She is a Fortune 500 board director and was recently named Lead Independent Director of Rocket Lab, a space exploration company. Her role as lead director of this public company is a distinction that only a small number of Black women hold in the world. In addition to her business interests, she is the co-founder of Black Women on Boards, a global organization of 200 executives at market-leading companies who help prepare, place and propel top Black female talent into boardrooms of the most innovative companies.

Her Carnegie Mellon master’s degree serves her well as an advisor and public board director of several leading technology companies such as GitLab (GTLB), Symbotic (SYM), Evolv Technology (EVLV), and TD Synnex (SNX).

Prior to her board roles, she was an executive with a proven track record in award-winning products in Fortune 500 and privately held companies, including Intuit, Yahoo, PayPal, Adobe, Joyent, and Sun Microsystems. Merline enjoys advising CEOs, has led and scaled product development teams in global digital transformations for B2B and B2C companies, and executed M&A integrations and divestitures.

Recognitions, certifications and contributions include:

– 2022 Worth Magazine’s Worthy 100
– 2022 LinkedIn Top Voices in Leadership: The 10 creators to follow in the U.S.
– 2022 NACD Directorship 100™
– 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Director by Savoy Magazine,
– 2019 Most Influential Corporate Board Directors by Women’s Inc.,
– Women of Influence 2017 by Silicon Valley Business Journal,
– Business Insider: #6 of the 22 Most Powerful Women Engineers in the World,
– Lifetime Achievement Award by Girls in Tech,
– Contributing writer for the Governance in the Digital Age book published by Diligent Corporation,
– Board Cybersecurity Oversight by NACD and the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute.

Outside of her business interests, Merline is passionate about supporting the next generation! She is also a fan of the Stanford Women’s Soccer team, which conveniently plays near her home and includes her daughter, an equally ardent computer science student.

Related Sessions

Board Refreshment, Boardroom Culture, and Director Performance Location: RM 180, Classroom Building, Stanford Law School Date: June 28, 2023 Time: 11:35 am - 12:35 pm View session

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