Brandee Barker

Activist, Advisor, Investor, Board Member, Founder and Former Tech Exec
Menlo Park, California

For more than two decades, Brandee Barker has helped build some of the biggest global brands in the technology industry. Barker served as Facebook’s first Head of Global Communications and Public Policy helping the company grow from 100 employees and five million college users into an Internet phenomenon with more than 2,000 employees and 500 million users worldwide. She leveraged that unique expertise to co-found The Pramana Collective, a communications strategy firm where she remains as an advisor with past clients including AirBnB, Dropbox, Groupon, Nextdoor, RelateIQ, Spotify, Square, Uber, Quip and Quora.

Brandee was behind the launch of two bestselling, award-winning books: Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, which ignited a global conversation on gender equality in business, and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen’s Giving 2.0, which empowers people of all backgrounds and ages to make their philanthropic giving matter more.

Brandee is a passionate activist for local and global human rights and serves on the Silicon Valley Executive Committee of Humans Rights Watch. In her role as a board member of Build.org and the Tony Hawk Foundation, she works to empower youth in underserved communities in the United States. The New York Times wrote that Brandee “has become perhaps the most sought-after image consultant in the start-up world.” She concedes that “image” is a small part, preferring to apply her professional aptitude and bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder to develop stories and strategic campaigns that shift perception, incite action and create lasting impact.

Her favorite pastime is doing humanitarian work in developing countries alongside her son and local hikes with their dog, Donut.