Tekedra Mawakana

Tekedra Mawakana is an American businesswoman and lawyer who currently serves as co-chief executive officer of Waymo. Previously, she was the company's chief operating officer, and prior employers have included Steptoe & Johnson, AOL, Yahoo!, and eBay. Mawakana has served on the boards of the Consumer Technology Association, the Global Network Initiative, the Internet Association, Boom Supersonic, Operator Collective, and Intuit.

Tekedra Mawakana
Mawakana in 2014
Born
Mississippi, U.S.
Alma mater
TitleCo-CEO of Waymo

Early life and education

Tekedra Mawakana was born in the U.S. state of Mississippi and later resided in Georgia, Texas, and Virginia.[1]

Mawakana is a Doctor of Law.[2] She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Trinity Washington University in 1993,[3] before earning her Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.[4]

Career

Mawakana began her career at Steptoe & Johnson, an international law firm based in Washington, D.C., where she focused on intellectual property and telecommunication. She then held a corporate counsel position at the "mid-size Washington-area" telecommunications company Startec Global Communications.[5] Mawakana later held policy roles in legal departments at AOL and Yahoo![6][7] She worked at AOL for approximately twelve years before becoming Yahoo!'s deputy general counsel in 2013,[8][9] where she led the Washington, D.C. office and efforts to combat mass surveillance.[5] She then served as eBay's head of global government relations for 14 months,[10] starting in 2016.[8]

Mawakana joined Waymo as vice president of public policy and government affairs in 2017.[10] In this role, she focused on expanding autonomous driving testing, regulation, and competition with traditional automobile manufacturers.[7][11] Mawakana was promoted to chief operating officer in 2019,[12][13] overseeing the company's communications and marketing, business development and operations, corporate social responsibility, and public relations and policy.[14] Mawakana has served as co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Waymo since April 2021.[15] Her role focuses on business, while co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov concentrates on technology.[16] In 2021, Pete Bigelow of Automotive News said the duo have a "somewhat unusual power-sharing arrangement", and have "developed a close working relationship and have been heavily involved in Waymo's most high-profile milestones".[1] She is the second Black woman to head a self-driving technology company.[17]

Board service and recognition

Mawakana serves on the Consumer Technology Association's board of industry leaders,[14] on Boom Supersonic's advisory council, and Intuit's board of directors.[18][19] She is also on the advisory board of the investment company Operator Collective,[20][21] as well as the board of advocacy group Saving Promise, which works to prevent domestic violence.[22] Mawakana has also served as chairperson of the Internet Association and on the board of the Global Network Initiative.[14][23][24]

In 2015, Mawakana was included in Washingtonian magazine's list of "100 Top Tech Leaders", in which she was noted for her work at Yahoo! to "protect the privacy of users" against surveillance by the National Security Agency.[25] She was included in Automotive News' 2020 list of "100 leading women" in the North American automotive industry for her work at Waymo.[4]

Personal life

Mawakana lives in California.[4] She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and son.[26]

See also

References
  1. "Dmitri Dolgov, Tekedra Mawakana to mesh skills at Waymo as co-CEOs". Automotive News. April 10, 2021. ISSN 0005-1551. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021. Mawakana was born in Mississippi but lived in Texas, Georgia and Virginia.
  2. Dickson, Ben (April 24, 2021). "Waymo's leadership shift spotlights self-driving car challenges". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  3. "Tekedra Mawakana '93". Trinity Washington University. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  4. "100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry: Tekedra Mawakana, 49". Automotive News. Crain Communications. 2020. ISSN 0005-1551. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  5. Schatz, Amy (May 20, 2015). "Silicon Valley's Army of Advocates in Washington". Vox. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  6. Wakabayashi, Daisuke (April 2, 2021). "The C.E.O. of the self-driving car company Waymo will step down after more than 5 years". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  7. Stangel, Luke (March 21, 2017). "Google's Waymo poaches eBay exec to help guide self-driving car policy". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  8. Swisher, Kara (January 14, 2016). "The Drip of the Departing VPs at Yahoo Keeps Dripping, Including Head of Global Public Policy". Vox. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  9. Romm, Tony (March 20, 2021). "Alphabet nabbed a new VP as it gears up for government battles over self-driving car regulation". Vox. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  10. della Cava, Marco (March 20, 2017). "Waymo hails eBay exec to head self-driving policy team". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  11. Fingas, J. (March 21, 2017). "Alphabet's new VP will grapple with self-driving car regulation". Engadget. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  12. "Head of Alphabet's self-driving car company Waymo steps down". The National. April 3, 2021. Archived from the original on April 3, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021 – via Bloomberg News.
  13. Schubarth, Cromwell (April 30, 2021). "Waymo's new co-CEOs seek more funding outside of its parent Alphabet". Silicon Valley Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  14. Stevens, Cindy Loffler (July 22, 2020). "Waymo Chief Operating Officer Tekedra Mawakana". I3. Consumer Technology Association. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  15. Matousek, Mark (April 9, 2021). "Meet the Way power players who will replace John Krafcik as the co-CEOs of Google's $30 billion self-driving unit". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  16. "US car sales were up 11% for the quarter; Suez Canal traffic jam starting to free up". The Post and Courier. Evening Post Industries. April 2, 2021. Archived from the original on April 3, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  17. Muller, Joann (April 2, 2021). "Waymo chief steps down". Axios. Archived from the original on April 3, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  18. "Company". Boom Supersonic. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  19. Schubarth, Cromwell (April 2, 2021). "Waymo names co-CEOs to replace departing CEO John Krafcik". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  20. Bellstrom, Kristen; Hinchliffe, Emma (April 7, 2021). "Women are playing a growing role in leading the global economy". Fortune. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  21. Seka, Leyla (April 7, 2021). "Operator Collective Announces New Board of Advisors". Operator Collective. Archived from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  22. "Meet Our Board". Saving Promise. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  23. "Star Profile – Tekedra N. Mawakana". PanAtlantic Journal. March 15, 2015. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  24. "The GNI Board". Global Network Initiative. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  25. Gaynor, Michael J. (May 4, 2014). "Washington's 100 Top Tech Leaders". Washingtonian. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  26. blackentrepreneurprofile.com. "Tekedra N. Mawakana". Black Entrepreneur & Executives Profiles. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
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