Francis Davidson Co-Founder and CEO Sonder Board Member since: 2014 Francis Davidson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sonder. Mr. Davidson attended McGill University where he studied Philosophy and Economics. In the summer of 2012, after his first year at McGill University, Mr. Davidson sublet his college apartment to vacationers in Montreal. Over the next two years, he went on to manage the empty apartments of other students in many different cities, ultimately leaving McGill to pursue Sonder full-time with a vision to redefine hospitality by bringing exceptional stays everywhere. Francis was nominated to Forbes’ “30 under 30” list for Consumer Technology. Martin Picard Co-Founder and Global Head of Real Estate Martin Picard is Sonder's Co-Founder and Global Head of Real Estate. He was previously CEO of Adzura, and prior to that held the roles of Finance Manager at Ned Davis Research and Senior Financial Auditor at Deloitte. Martin is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Concordia University. Dominique Bourgault Chief Financial Officer Dominique Bourgault is the Chief Financial Officer at Sonder, overseeing all finance functions of the company including Accounting, FP&A, Treasury, IR, Internal Audit, Financial Operations, Tax, and Procurement. Dom brings 30 years of experience from a variety of roles and functions in organizations ranging from public accounting to technology startups, to growth oriented global ecommerce enterprises. Prior to Sonder, Dom was CFO at Blue Nile, Inc., a pioneer retailer in online diamonds and fine jewelry, where he was instrumental in rebuilding the finance function and systems, steering the capital allocation process through the ups and downs of COVID, preparing the company to go public via SPAC, and ultimately leading the strategic sale of the company to Signet Jewelers. Before Blue Nile, Dom spent 18 years with Expedia Group, serving as CFO of Hotels.com, SVP of Corporate Finance, and CFO of the Retail group, the largest division by revenue and profitability within Expedia Group. Dom received his BBA from École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Montreal, Canada and is a Chartered Professional Accountant in Canada. Deeksha Hebbar Chief Operating Officer Deeksha leads all operations functions including market teams in North America and EMEA, as well as central teams such as supply chain, new project openings, design and development, guest experience, and hospitality. She started at Sonder in 2017 as a Regional General Manager before moving into her current role. Prior to Sonder, she spent several years at Luxe, an on demand parking and valet service acquired by Volvo, in several roles -- including Vice President of Business. She also spent several years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in their technology/media practice and as a product marketer at Google. She holds a B.S. in Economics and B.S.E in Engineering from Wharton and the School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Shruti Challa Chief Revenue Officer Shruti Challa is Chief Revenue Officer at Sonder. Shruti has played a pivotal role both in the company’s growth and approach to weathering the pandemic, which has hit the travel industry especially hard. Shruti spearheaded Sonder's strategy to weather the height of travel restrictions through an Extended Stay initiative, which allowed the company to maintain RevPAR outperformance of over 2x traditional hotels through 2020. As the future of travel relies on tech more than ever, Sonder has been an early leader in creating a digital guest experience since day one. In addition to her role at Sonder, Shruti is also an avid investor in tech startups boasting investments like SpaceX and Robinhood, a published author in publications like Forbes and TechCrunch, and an advocate for disenfranchised populations. Before landing at Sonder, Shruti was on the leadership teams at two companies that were acquired; one by Booking.com and the other by Groupon. She has a degree in economics from Stanford and (almost) finished her masters in predictive analytics at Northwestern. Chris Berry Chief Accounting Officer Chris Berry is Chief Accounting Officer at Sonder. He oversees all accounting functions as well as procurement. Before Sonder, Chris served as Chief Accounting Officer at Alaska Air Group where he scaled the accounting function, implemented new systems, led a large team, and successfully managed the balance sheet during the Covid-19 pandemic. Chris has 25 years of professional experience, 17 of which were at Alaska Air Group, with prior roles at KPMG and Arthur Andersen. He received a BBA in Accounting from the University of Louisiana Monroe, and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Washington. Phil Rothenberg General Counsel Phil Rothenberg is General Counsel of Sonder. He was previously Vice President, Legal with Tesla, Inc. in Fremont, CA. Prior to Tesla, he worked as an Attorney-Advisor for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Division of Corporation Finance. While at the SEC, Phil also served as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown law school where he co-taught two classes to JD and LLM students in the Securities and Financial Regulation program. Prior to the SEC, Phil worked at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Washington, DC and Sydney, Australia, and for Sullivan and Cromwell LLP in Tokyo, Japan and New York, NY. Phil received a B.A. in Economics and Foreign Affairs from The University of Virginia, a Masters in International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina and a J.D. from Georgetown law school. Arthur Chang Chief of Staff & Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Arthur is a hotel ops leader turned entrepreneur and startup generalist. After launching Sonder in Vancouver in 2015, Arthur led Sonder's global expansion into over 30 markets and now oversees the company's strategic initiatives. Prior to Sonder, Arthur invented and co-founded Soarigami, the most innovative travel product in the world as deemed by IATA and over 1,000 global publications in 50+ countries. Prior to that, Arthur was a Vice President at Coyle Hospitality, overseeing business development, operations, and client care. He has personally helped hundreds of major hotel, restaurant, and travel brands improve their guest experience. While he was pursuing his B.Sc. in Hotel Administration at Cornell, he put himself through school by managing the world-renowned Statler Hotel. Arthur was born in Hong Kong; has lived in multiple international cities, and is now based in Montreal with his family. He is a connoisseur of the violin, Wing Chun Kung Fu, and rocambolesque adventures. Mèlika Carroll Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Mèlika Carroll is Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Sonder. She leads the team responsible for the company’s global strategy for sustainability, corporate communications and public policy. Prior to Sonder, Mèlika worked for several Fortune 500 technology companies. In these roles, she has helped position companies, CEOs and other C-level executives before policymakers in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. In addition to her experience in the private sector, Mèlika has worked for national elected officials in Canada and the U.S.; has guest lectured at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University and The Washington Campus; and co-founded the Global Women’s Innovation Network, www.globalwin.org. Mèlika holds a Bachelor in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Ottawa in Canada and a Masters of European Affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. Bonnie Samuels Vice President of Human Resources Bonnie Samuels is responsible for all people strategies and operations, quality of leadership, and organizational design at Sonder. She started her HR career in publishing before moving to the digital industry, where she specialized in the technology and communications space, working internationally with teams across brands such as Apple, Samsung, Adidas, Starbucks, Amazon and eBay. Bonnie joined Sonder in 2019 and is passionate about organizational behavior, and shaping cultures in dynamic human systems. She received her M.A. in Human Resources Management from the University of West London, and her B.A. in Business Studies and Finance from the University of South Wales. Mac Golonka Vice President of Product Mac Golonka is responsible for all product management across technology. His areas of focus include defining Sonder’s overall product strategy, maximizing the impact of tech investments and leading the delivery of product roadmaps. He brings nearly two decades of experience in product leadership, engineering and data science, at USAA, Microsoft and Amazon. Prior to Sonder he was a tech executive at Amazon Video division, responsible for customer growth and monetization. Mac received an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Texas A&M University. Washington Leon - Jordan VP of Engineering Prior to joining Sonder as VP of Engineering, Washington was the VP of Engineering for innRoad, creating and overseeing a team of 350 developers, quality assurance and DevOps engineers. With over 20 years of experience, Washington specializes in creating software engineering operations that deliver tangible business results while maximizing market advantages in the software industry around the world. Prior to InnRoad, Washington was a Senior Manager and Northeast USA Cloud Practice Lead for Accenture. He led engineering teams for AIG, Nimbo, Travelguard, and B&N. In his free time, he loves to cook complex meals from scratch and tends to his organic garden.
Francis Davidson Co-Founder and CEO Sonder Board Member since: 2014 Francis Davidson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sonder. Mr. Davidson attended McGill University where he studied Philosophy and Economics. In the summer of 2012, after his first year at McGill University, Mr. Davidson sublet his college apartment to vacationers in Montreal. Over the next two years, he went on to manage the empty apartments of other students in many different cities, ultimately leaving McGill to pursue Sonder full-time with a vision to redefine hospitality by bringing exceptional stays everywhere. Francis was nominated to Forbes’ “30 under 30” list for Consumer Technology.
Martin Picard Co-Founder and Global Head of Real Estate Martin Picard is Sonder's Co-Founder and Global Head of Real Estate. He was previously CEO of Adzura, and prior to that held the roles of Finance Manager at Ned Davis Research and Senior Financial Auditor at Deloitte. Martin is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Concordia University.
Dominique Bourgault Chief Financial Officer Dominique Bourgault is the Chief Financial Officer at Sonder, overseeing all finance functions of the company including Accounting, FP&A, Treasury, IR, Internal Audit, Financial Operations, Tax, and Procurement. Dom brings 30 years of experience from a variety of roles and functions in organizations ranging from public accounting to technology startups, to growth oriented global ecommerce enterprises. Prior to Sonder, Dom was CFO at Blue Nile, Inc., a pioneer retailer in online diamonds and fine jewelry, where he was instrumental in rebuilding the finance function and systems, steering the capital allocation process through the ups and downs of COVID, preparing the company to go public via SPAC, and ultimately leading the strategic sale of the company to Signet Jewelers. Before Blue Nile, Dom spent 18 years with Expedia Group, serving as CFO of Hotels.com, SVP of Corporate Finance, and CFO of the Retail group, the largest division by revenue and profitability within Expedia Group. Dom received his BBA from École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Montreal, Canada and is a Chartered Professional Accountant in Canada.
Deeksha Hebbar Chief Operating Officer Deeksha leads all operations functions including market teams in North America and EMEA, as well as central teams such as supply chain, new project openings, design and development, guest experience, and hospitality. She started at Sonder in 2017 as a Regional General Manager before moving into her current role. Prior to Sonder, she spent several years at Luxe, an on demand parking and valet service acquired by Volvo, in several roles -- including Vice President of Business. She also spent several years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in their technology/media practice and as a product marketer at Google. She holds a B.S. in Economics and B.S.E in Engineering from Wharton and the School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Shruti Challa Chief Revenue Officer Shruti Challa is Chief Revenue Officer at Sonder. Shruti has played a pivotal role both in the company’s growth and approach to weathering the pandemic, which has hit the travel industry especially hard. Shruti spearheaded Sonder's strategy to weather the height of travel restrictions through an Extended Stay initiative, which allowed the company to maintain RevPAR outperformance of over 2x traditional hotels through 2020. As the future of travel relies on tech more than ever, Sonder has been an early leader in creating a digital guest experience since day one. In addition to her role at Sonder, Shruti is also an avid investor in tech startups boasting investments like SpaceX and Robinhood, a published author in publications like Forbes and TechCrunch, and an advocate for disenfranchised populations. Before landing at Sonder, Shruti was on the leadership teams at two companies that were acquired; one by Booking.com and the other by Groupon. She has a degree in economics from Stanford and (almost) finished her masters in predictive analytics at Northwestern.
Chris Berry Chief Accounting Officer Chris Berry is Chief Accounting Officer at Sonder. He oversees all accounting functions as well as procurement. Before Sonder, Chris served as Chief Accounting Officer at Alaska Air Group where he scaled the accounting function, implemented new systems, led a large team, and successfully managed the balance sheet during the Covid-19 pandemic. Chris has 25 years of professional experience, 17 of which were at Alaska Air Group, with prior roles at KPMG and Arthur Andersen. He received a BBA in Accounting from the University of Louisiana Monroe, and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Washington.
Phil Rothenberg General Counsel Phil Rothenberg is General Counsel of Sonder. He was previously Vice President, Legal with Tesla, Inc. in Fremont, CA. Prior to Tesla, he worked as an Attorney-Advisor for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Division of Corporation Finance. While at the SEC, Phil also served as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown law school where he co-taught two classes to JD and LLM students in the Securities and Financial Regulation program. Prior to the SEC, Phil worked at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Washington, DC and Sydney, Australia, and for Sullivan and Cromwell LLP in Tokyo, Japan and New York, NY. Phil received a B.A. in Economics and Foreign Affairs from The University of Virginia, a Masters in International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina and a J.D. from Georgetown law school.
Arthur Chang Chief of Staff & Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Arthur is a hotel ops leader turned entrepreneur and startup generalist. After launching Sonder in Vancouver in 2015, Arthur led Sonder's global expansion into over 30 markets and now oversees the company's strategic initiatives. Prior to Sonder, Arthur invented and co-founded Soarigami, the most innovative travel product in the world as deemed by IATA and over 1,000 global publications in 50+ countries. Prior to that, Arthur was a Vice President at Coyle Hospitality, overseeing business development, operations, and client care. He has personally helped hundreds of major hotel, restaurant, and travel brands improve their guest experience. While he was pursuing his B.Sc. in Hotel Administration at Cornell, he put himself through school by managing the world-renowned Statler Hotel. Arthur was born in Hong Kong; has lived in multiple international cities, and is now based in Montreal with his family. He is a connoisseur of the violin, Wing Chun Kung Fu, and rocambolesque adventures.
Mèlika Carroll Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Mèlika Carroll is Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Sonder. She leads the team responsible for the company’s global strategy for sustainability, corporate communications and public policy. Prior to Sonder, Mèlika worked for several Fortune 500 technology companies. In these roles, she has helped position companies, CEOs and other C-level executives before policymakers in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. In addition to her experience in the private sector, Mèlika has worked for national elected officials in Canada and the U.S.; has guest lectured at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University and The Washington Campus; and co-founded the Global Women’s Innovation Network, www.globalwin.org. Mèlika holds a Bachelor in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Ottawa in Canada and a Masters of European Affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
Bonnie Samuels Vice President of Human Resources Bonnie Samuels is responsible for all people strategies and operations, quality of leadership, and organizational design at Sonder. She started her HR career in publishing before moving to the digital industry, where she specialized in the technology and communications space, working internationally with teams across brands such as Apple, Samsung, Adidas, Starbucks, Amazon and eBay. Bonnie joined Sonder in 2019 and is passionate about organizational behavior, and shaping cultures in dynamic human systems. She received her M.A. in Human Resources Management from the University of West London, and her B.A. in Business Studies and Finance from the University of South Wales.
Mac Golonka Vice President of Product Mac Golonka is responsible for all product management across technology. His areas of focus include defining Sonder’s overall product strategy, maximizing the impact of tech investments and leading the delivery of product roadmaps. He brings nearly two decades of experience in product leadership, engineering and data science, at USAA, Microsoft and Amazon. Prior to Sonder he was a tech executive at Amazon Video division, responsible for customer growth and monetization. Mac received an MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Texas A&M University.
Washington Leon - Jordan VP of Engineering Prior to joining Sonder as VP of Engineering, Washington was the VP of Engineering for innRoad, creating and overseeing a team of 350 developers, quality assurance and DevOps engineers. With over 20 years of experience, Washington specializes in creating software engineering operations that deliver tangible business results while maximizing market advantages in the software industry around the world. Prior to InnRoad, Washington was a Senior Manager and Northeast USA Cloud Practice Lead for Accenture. He led engineering teams for AIG, Nimbo, Travelguard, and B&N. In his free time, he loves to cook complex meals from scratch and tends to his organic garden.