I advise start-ups, invest in early stage companies and am a board member at Gannett (NYSE: GCI, publisher of USA Today and over 100 local media organizations). I'm currently in the early stages of founding a start-up.
In my operating work, I focus on how technology can even the playing field by democratizing access to data, overcoming challenges, or as a platform for people to connect, communicate and experience the world.
Previously, as VP of Media at Twitter, my team and I were responsible for the quality of Twitter’s content across news, music, TV, sports and government, ensuring Twitter was woven into the traditional and new media landscape, and establishing Twitter as a new kind of media metric that drove value across the media market. I built the company’s media partnerships and strategy from the ground up, and oversaw Twitter’s growth from a few dozen celebrities and journalists to daily participation by many tens of thousands of the world’s most high profile individuals.
I joined Twitter in 2009 when the company was pre-revenue and 40 employees. By 2013, Twitter was integrated on-air in over 60% of primetime programming across top-rated networks. In 2015, Twitter won an Emmy for innovation in TV engagement.
Vijaya Gadde is Twitter’s General Counsel, leading the company’s legal, trust and safety, and public policy teams. She also serves as a Trustee for New York University Law School. Previously, she served as a Legal Director at Twitter, where she managed the international and corporate legal teams. Prior to joining Twitter in 2011, Vijaya was Senior Director, Legal at Juniper Networks; previously, for nearly a decade, she was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. While at WSGR, Vijaya acted as counsel to the New York Stock Exchange’s Proxy Working Group and Committee on Corporate Governance. She earned a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
Jessica Verrilli is a Senior Director of Corporate Development and Strategy at Twitter where she leads the company's consumer focused M&A and strategy efforts. Over her 7 year+ tenure she has led 20+ acquisitions and driven key strategic initiatives for the company. She also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Prior to Twitter Jessica held investment roles at Google Ventures (as a Partner) and Venrock (as an Associate).
Jessica graduated from Stanford University where she was a Mayfield Fellow and Division 1 varsity lacrosse player. She loves the Bay Area although the Pacific Northwest will always feel like home. She is @jess on Twitter.
April Underwood is VP of Product at Slack, where she oversees product strategy and execution. April also drives key growth initiatives including product marketing and developer relations.
Prior to Slack April was at Twitter for nearly five years. During this time, she was part of Twitter’s growth from groundbreaking startup to IPO, and led the development and launch of platform products including the Tweet Button and advertiser products including the Ads API. April held a variety of leadership roles there through Twitter's growth in product management, business development, and product marketing.
Prior to joining Twitter, April was a product manager and software engineer at Travelocity and a senior partner technology manager at Google.
April has an MBA from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at Berkeley and a BBA in Management Information Systems from the The University of Texas at Austin. She was named one Fortune’s “40 Under 40” in 2016, as well as one of the “Most Creative People of 2015” by Fast Company magazine.
Katie Jacobs Stanton is the Chief Marketing Officer of Color, a personal health service that helps people understand their risk for common hereditary cancers. Prior to Color, Katie was the Vice President of Global Media responsible for building media partnerships around the world and across strategic verticals including news, television, sports, fashion and music. Prior to this role, Katie ran the International team at Twitter which established key partnerships and Twitter offices in the UK, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Australia, France and India, among others. Prior to Twitter, Katie worked for the White House, State Department, Google, Yahoo! and Chase Manhattan Bank. Katie is on the Board of Vivendi, a French multinational media company headquartered in Paris. She is @katies on Twitter.
Jana Messerschmidt recently left Twitter in the summer of 2016 where she served as Vice President of Global Business Development and Platform. She was responsible for partnerships at Twitter, including business development, enterprise sales, developer relations, partner engineering, platform operations, as well as platform marketing and strategy. Prior to joining Twitter in 2010, Jana was director of business development at Netflix, where she focused on mobile and consumer electronics partnerships. Earlier in her career, she worked at DivX and AT&T. She has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is @janamal on Twitter.
