Sarah Friar — CEO
Most recently, Sarah Friar was chief executive officer of Nextdoor, the neighborhood network that connects neighborhood stakeholders, including neighbors, businesses, and public services, online and in real life to build stronger, more vibrant, and resilient neighborhoods. She helped take the company public in 2021 under the ticker NYSE:KIND. Prior to Nextdoor, Sarah served as chief financial officer at Square (now known as Block, Inc.). Under Sarah’s leadership, the company launched its initial public offering in 2015 and added $30 billion in market capitalization. Before her tenure at Square, Sarah served as senior vice president of finance & strategy at Salesforce. Sarah also held executive roles at Goldman Sachs, as well as leadership positions at McKinsey in both London and South Africa. Sarah currently also serves on the boards of Walmart and of Consensys, a private company in the Web3 arena, and she previously served on the boards of Slack Technologies (from 2017 to 2021), Dragonneer Growth Opportunities Corp. (from 2020 to 2021), Dragonneer Growth Opportunities Corp. II (from 2020 to 2021), Dragonneer Growth Opportunities Corp. III (from 2021 to 2023), and New Relic (from 2013 to 2018). She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and serves on the advisory boards of Operation HOPE, the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford and The Stanford Digital Economy Lab. She is co-founder of Ladies Who Launch, a network that mentors and inspires women entrepreneurs and business owners. She was named to the 2023 NACD Directorship 100 selection, an annual recognition of the leading corporate directors, corporate governance experts, policymakers, and influencers who significantly impact boardroom practices and performance. Sarah grew up in Northern Ireland and earned her MEng in Metallurgy, Economics, and Management from the University of Oxford and her MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where she graduated as an Arjay Miller scholar. In 2019 she was granted an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship. In her spare time she loves to hike, read and travel.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic leader in the tech and finance sectors with a focus on governance and entrepreneurship.
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Experience: 29 yrs 5 mos
Career Highlights
- Led Square's IPO, adding $30 billion market cap.
- CEO of Nextdoor, taking it public in 2021.
- Co-founder of Ladies Who Launch, empowering women entrepreneurs.
Work Experience
Stanford University
Member Board of Trustees (4 mos)
OpenAI
Chief Financial Officer (1 yr 11 mos)
Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Member of the Board of Advisors (3 yrs 6 mos)
ConsenSys
Member Board Of Directors (4 yrs 2 mos)
Stanford Digital Economy Lab
Member of the Board of Advisors (4 yrs 1 mo)
Operation HOPE
Member of the Board of Advisors (5 yrs 2 mos)
Nextdoor
Chief Executive Officer (5 yrs 5 mos)
Walmart
Member Board Of Directors (8 yrs 2 mos)
Slack
Member Board Of Directors (4 yrs 4 mos)
New Relic, Inc.
Member Board Of Directors (3 yrs 10 mos)
Ladies Who Launch
Co-launcher (13 yrs 2 mos)
Square
CFO (6 yrs 5 mos)
Salesforce.com
Senior Vice President, Finance & Strategy (1 yr 3 mos)
Goldman Sachs
Managing Director - Business Unit Leader for Technology (11 yrs 3 mos)
McKinsey & Company
Business Analyst (2 yrs)
Arthur Andersen
Scholar (1 yr)
Education
MBA at Stanford University Graduate School of Business
MEng at University of Oxford