Kim Polese

Kim Polese is a leading Silicon Valley entrepreneur and innovator. She is currently Chairman of ClearStreet Inc., a social finance startup focused on helping people eliminate debt and achieve long-term financial health. She also serves as an advisor, board member and investor to early stage companies, helping to found and scale a new generation of startups. Previously, Kim served as CEO of software company SpikeSource Inc., a pioneer in the automation of open source application management which was acquired by software company Black Duck in November 2010. Prior to SpikeSource, Kim co-founded Marimba Inc., a leader in the first generation of systems-management software for the Internet age, which automated the management of software and computing resources. Kim served as President, CEO and Chairman of Marimba, leading the company to profitability and a successful public offering. Marimba was acquired by BMC Corporation in 2004. Earlier, Kim worked at Sun Microsystems where she was the founding product manager for Java and led its launch in 1995. Prior to joining Sun, Kim worked on expert systems at IntelliCorp Inc., helping Fortune 500 companies apply artificial intelligence to solving complex business challenges. Kim earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley and studied Computer Science at the University of Washington, Seattle and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business and Economics from California State University. Kim is the recipient of the 2010 National Center for Women and Information Technology Innovator Award and is a leading voice in advocating public policy to increase America's innovation capacity. In 2011 she was named to President Obama's Innovation Advisory Board which guided the Commerce Department's study of US economic competitiveness, delivering a report with recommendations to Congress in January 2012. In May 2012 Kim was named to the San Francisco Business Journal's list of "Most Influential Women". Kim serves on several boards including the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, TechNet, the University of California President’s Board on Science and Innovation, UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering, the Long Now Foundation, the Public Policy Institute of California and the Global Security Institute. Kim is a member of the 2001 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.