Claire Hughes Johnson is a corporate officer and advisor for Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. From 2014 to 2021, Claire served as Stripe’s Chief Operating Officer, responsible for scaling the company’s worldwide operations to meet the needs of its rapidly growing user base. During her tenure as COO, Stripe grew from less than 200 employees to more than 6,000. At various times, she led business operations, sales, marketing, customer support, risk, real estate, and all of the people functions, including recruiting and HR. 

Prior to Stripe, Hughes Johnson served in a variety of leadership roles at Google from 2004 to 2014 that included operations, sales, product, and general management for various products. She managed the business and operational teams behind the launches of Gmail, Google Checkout, and Google Apps. She also served as vice president for Google’s self-driving car project and the Google Offers product. Hughes Johnson began her career at Google working on the advertising sales team. From 2010 to 2012, she was also the co-lead and executive sponsor of the Global Women@Google Network, building the organization to over 4,000 active members during her tenure. Hughes Johnson also spent time in management consulting, and she began her career in Massachusetts state politics, running state and local campaigns. 

Hughes Johnson serves on the boards of the renewable energy company Ameresco, the multi-platform publication The Atlantic, the self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation, and the customer management software company HubSpot. She is also the president of the board of trustees at Milton Academy. 

Hughes Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and an MBA from Yale University. She currently lives outside of Boston with her husband, two children, and two neurotic dachshunds.

This appearance by Claire Hughes Johnson is part of the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series. Join us virtually at youtube.com/ecorner as we bring founders, investors and industry influencers to center stage and invite them to share what it takes to become a disruptor.