Shona Brown

Dr. Shona Brown serves as Googler Emeritus at Google. He also serves as Board Member at ClearStory Data and BridgeSpan. As a member of Google's executive team since 2003, Shona Brown's responsibilities as SVP, Business Operations were to build both the People Operations and Business Operations groups. In 2011, she transitioned to a role leading all of Google's technology for social impact efforts and in January of 2013 she became a Googler Emeritus and moved into an advisory role with the company. In addition to her ongoing role with Google, Dr. Brown is currently serving in an advisory role with a small portfolio of technology start-ups. Prior to joining Google she was a partner at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting company, where her focus was working with consumer technology companies on growth, innovation, and transformation. Dr. Brown is the author of Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos, which introduced a new strategic model for competing in volatile markets. She is a director of the following non-profit organizations: The Bridgespan Group, The Nature Conservancy, Code for America, and The Exploratorium. She also serves on the board of PepsiCo. Dr. Brown has a bachelor's degree in computer systems engineering from Carleton University in Canada, an M.A. in economics and philosophy from Oxford University (which she attended as a Rhodes scholar), and a Ph.D. and postdoctoral degree from Stanford University's Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management.