Christine Tao is the co-founder and CEO for Sounding Board, the first Leader Development Platform designed to bridge the leadership gap. She has enjoyed several roles in Silicon Valley at Google and YouTube, but her inspiration to launch Sounding Board began while she worked at TapJoy, a leading, venture-backed mobile advertising and publishing network. As Senior Vice President of Developer Relations, she led growth for Tapjoy’s publisher advertising business from zero to more than $100 million in revenues in less than three years. While at the company, she was promoted several times, and it brought to light a need for leadership development. To aid her career transitions, the company gave her a leadership coach, Lori Mazan, who eventually became her Sounding Board co-founder.

In addition to advising several startups, Christine is an angel investor and a fellow at the Tory Burch Foundation, a foundation dedicated to investing in women entrepreneurs’ success and sustainability. She was named to the EY Winning Women Class of 2021, and won the 2021 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Committed to mentoring and supporting other underrepresented founders, Christine spoke at the 2021 Haas Women in Leadership Summit, Xoogler Women’s Network, Leanin, Tory Burch Fellows #EmbraceAmbition and All Raise. She also regularly takes time to meet with founders – often women and POC – to help with their fundraising efforts, and provide any support they need to develop their business.