Merline Saintil

Merline Saintil is a highly regarded technology executive who has made significant contributions to the tech industry. She has played pivotal roles at renowned Fortune 500 and private companies such as Intuit, Yahoo!, PayPal, Adobe, Joyent, and Sun Microsystems, guiding them through various phases of rapid growth.

Ms. Saintil currently holds the position of Lead Independent Director at Rocket Lab, a pioneering space exploration company. In this role, I have the privilege of guiding and overseeing the strategic direction of the organization, ensuring its growth and success in the dynamic field of outer space exploration.Ms. Saintil holds a unique distinction shared by only a few Black women globally. She also sits on the boards of TD Synnex, a Fortune 100 company, as well as GitLab, Symbotic, and Evolv Technology—three of the six companies for which she has overseen Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) during her career.

Having chaired committees on both public and venture-backed boards, with the exception of audit, Ms. Saintil earned the title of Most Influential Black Corporate Director in 2021. Her leadership extends to guiding product development teams in global digital transformations for B2B and B2C companies, along with executing mergers and acquisitions integrations and divestitures.

Beyond her executive roles, Ms. Saintil is a committed angel investor, contributing to the early success of over 30 innovative startups. She is currently expanding her impact by establishing a fund focused on enterprise technology, the future of work, and health tech.

Originating from Haiti, Ms. Saintil's journey from discovering computer science in college to earning a master's degree from Carnegie Mellon and eventually becoming a Silicon Valley COO reflects an improbable yet inspiring trajectory. She emphasizes the possibility inherent in such accomplishments, stating, "The trajectory of my career and lift in one generation is improbable, but it's not impossible."

In 2020, Ms. Saintil co-founded Black Women on Boards (BWOB), a global organization tackling challenges Black female executives encounter in joining public company boards. With over 200+ executives, BWOB, by March 2023, successfully placed 30 board members, each poised to make a lasting impact for future generations.

In addition to her professional pursuits, Ms. Saintil authors a monthly newsletter, "Lifting As We Climb," engaging in meaningful conversations with leading minds from various sectors, centered around leadership principles. Recognized as one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in Leadership for 2022 and among the Top 10 voices to follow in the U.S., her insights on technology trends, innovation, strategy, cyber risk, and digital transformation have garnered widespread recognition in major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, CIO Journal, CIO Review, CNET, and Business Insider.