Erika Linford

Erika has been a Girlstart supporter since 2011, and she’s looking forward to partnering more directly with this impactful organization as a member of the Girlstart National Board.

Most recently, Erika worked at Zoox – an autonomous vehicle company backed by Amazon. She served as their Chief People Officer and before that, Vice President, Commercial Development. Prior to Zoox, Erika spent eight years at Southwest Airlines, where she held multiple leadership roles in their Technology Department including Vice President, Commercial Technology. In this role, she provided technical solutions and support to the Commercial leaders and their teams across Network Planning, Revenue Management, Corporate Sales, and Marketing.

Before Southwest, she worked in consulting at McKinsey & Company. During her five-year tenure, Erika served clients in the travel and logistics industry sector, including airlines, hotels, and railroad. Prior to McKinsey, Erika worked in the pharmaceutical industry for start-up to mid-size companies. Erika earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and her Masters of Science in Organic Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).