Draft:Merline Saintil

Merline Saintil is an American businesswoman, corporate board member, former COO of Change Healthcare, executive producer of On Board film documentary (winner of Jury Award: Social Impact Stories during the 2023 Essence Film Festival), and co-founder of Black Women on Boards, a global nonprofit seeking to prepare, place and propel top Black female talent into board member positions. She has held executive positions for technology companies including Intuit, Yahoo and PayPal.

Early life
Born in Haiti, at the age of 5, Saintil moved to South Florida in the United States. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, Saintil attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), an HBCU, and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in computer science. She went on to receive her Master of Science in Software Engineering Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

== Career == Saintil began her career as a software engineer at Sun Microsystems. Most recently, Saintil served as the Chief Operating Officer of Change Healthcare, which was taken public during her tenure leading to an eventual acquisition by United Health for $13B.

She now serves as a board member of cutting edge technology organizations, including Rocket Lab, TD Synnex, GitLab, Inc, Symbotic Inc, Evolv Technology, and member of CNBC Changemakers Advisory Board. Saintil was named Lead Director of Rocket Lab, a space exploration company, becoming one of a small number of Black women who hold this high-profile role. She has previously held board director roles at Lightspeed Commerce and Banner Bank.

Awards

 * 2022 LinkedIn Top Voices in Leadership: The Top 10 Creators to Follow
 * 2022 NACD Directorship 100™
 * 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Director by Savoy magazine
 * 2019 Most Influential Corporate Board Directors by Women’s, Inc.
 * 2018 Return on Education Award from Carnegie Mellon University
 * 2017 Women of Influence by Silicon Valley Business Journal
 * Business Insider: #6 of the 22 Most Powerful Women Engineers in the World