Karyn Smith

Karyn Smith has spent her career working with and for high growth companies, helping companies to grow and scale from a few hundred to several thousand employees, and from under $100M to multiple billions in revenue.  At Twilio, where she served as General Counsel for over seven years, she led the company’s initial public offering as well as its commitment to Pledge 1%, setting aside 1% of its equity in the establishment and support of Twilio.org, Twilio’s social impact arm. 

Prior to Twilio, Karyn was Deputy General Counsel at Zynga, an online game company, where she oversaw all corporate matters and led Zynga through its $1B IPO in 2011. Prior to Zynga, Karyn was a partner of Cooley, where she represented emerging growth companies at all stages of growth, from formation through liquidity event and beyond, with a particular specialty in IPOs, guiding dozens of companies through public offerings.

Karyn sits on the Board of Halcyon House, an incubator whose mission is to accelerate the impact-driven future of business in the areas of health, climate and equity tech. She is also a Founding Member and Chair of the Board of the House at 1229, a community created by and for women with different backgrounds and experiences who share the same core beliefs, including the belief that every time women come together, the opportunity to grow is elevated.

Karyn earned her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and her JD cum laude from Santa Clara University School of Law.  She has two grown daughters and lives in Washington, D.C. with the family dog.