Executive Profile

Kristin Sverchek is a highly successful and recognized business leader.  She served most recently as the President of Lyft, Inc, a publicly traded transportation network operating across the United States and Canada. Kristin joined Lyft early on as General Counsel and as a trusted advisor to its founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green.  After nearly a decade in that role, she later moved on to a role as President of Business Affairs and ultimately, President, where partnered closely on strategy and management with Lyft’s CEO David Risher. She is broadly recognized for her thought leadership, her deep industry knowledge and her proven ability to scale big business.

 

Technology Disruptor: Already an experienced attorney and business partner, Kristin joined Lyft as General Counsel in 2012 where she led Lyft’s legal strategy, particularly in California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) transportation regulatory matters. As a result of this engagement, the CPUC published the nation’s first-ever set of rules for transportation network companies which set precedent for the ridesharing industry. She built an exceptional legal team from the ground up, having successfully navigated a multitude of arenas: corporate and commercial transactions, disability, employment, insurance, intellectual property, litigation, personal injury, privacy, and regulatory.

 

Masterful Operator: In November 2021, Kristin was promoted to President of Business Affairs where she was responsible for unifying General and Administrative Central Functions.  In this role she was able to strengthen the company’s operational effectiveness and business enablement, while also overseeing business development, global supply chain, legal, people, infotech, and public policy. She also served as interim Chief People Officer.

 

Strategic Leader: In June 2023, Kristin became President, continuing to oversee Business Affairs, and expanding her scope to lead Lyft in partnership with Lyft’s CEO. Kristin touches all lines of business at Lyft, including the core Rideshare business and Transit, Bikes and Scooters, as she continues to lead strategy, drive execution, and build culture at Lyft. Responding to the complexities of the pandemic and other recent events, Kristin spearheaded key initiatives such as:

 

• Owner of Lyft’s Workplace Strategy (2022-2023): Kristin has owned workplace policy for Lyft, focusing on team member inclusivity, flexibility, and productivity. This effort has involved rolling out a fully flexible, remote-first policy in 2022, and later revising the policy in 2023 to a hybrid structure, enabling most teammates to work in office and at home.

 

• Global Crisis Expert – Aid to Ukraine (2022): As the executive sponsor, Kristin and her teams have supported Ukrainian team members in a variety of ways to ensure their well-being. For example, an expanded partnership with YMCA’s World Service Campaign to allow riders to round up their fare to the nearest dollar and donate the difference to their emergency relief efforts in Ukraine.

 

• Bias towards Action – Texas SB 8 Response (2021): Helped fight for Lyft’s values in connection with Texas SB 8 in 2021, shepherding a legal defense fund for its drivers and $1M donation to Planned Parenthood. Acted as the company spokesperson in national print and tv media in sharing this news publicly.

 

Kristin also played a critical role in guiding the preparation and due diligence of Lyft’s IPO in 2019, and pioneered Lyft’s first maternity leave policy in 2015, wherein she was the first female employee to model and take maternity leave. Since then, Lyft’s maternity/paternity leave evolved to become one of the most competitive policies in the industry.

 

Accomplishments & Board Service

Trusted Spokesperson and Seasoned Speaker: Throughout her work, Kristin has served as Lyft’s external company spokesperson on many occasions in broadcast and print media. She represented the company’s position on Texas Bill SB 8, Ukraine response, and, most recently, on the launch of Women + Connect, a groundbreaking feature to help make Lyft safer for women and non-binary people. She also has extensive public speaking experience, speaking at numerous colleges and universities such as UC Berkeley and Stanford, and at legal industry conferences such as TechGC and the Bar Association of San Francisco.

 

Universal Impact: Kristin leads with empathy and has a passion for building great teams. She is a mentor to countless team members internally and externally. Kristin has served as an executive sponsor for multiple Lyft Employee Resource Groups. In addition, she serves as a board member for Reading Partners SF Bay Area, and chairs the Audit Committee for the National Women’s Law Center Board.  She remains deeply involved with her alma maters, UC Berkeley and UC Law San Francisco.  She is a mother to three incredible children, and an active volunteer at her childrens’ schools.

 

Career History

Kristin began in private practice as a corporate transactional attorney at Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP. Silicon Legal Strategy, P.C. In 2010, while a Partner at Silicon Legal Strategy, Kristin represented the investors for Zimride (Lyft’s predecessor) in its first round of $1M funding, before later joining as the company’s General Counsel in 2012.

 

Education

Her career started with a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She then earned her Juris Doctorate from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings College of Law).