Before taking on the role of CFO at OpenAI, Sarah Friar was chief executive officer of Nextdoor, the neighborhood network that connects neighborhood stakeholders, including neighbors, businesses, and public services, online and in real life to build stronger, more vibrant, and resilient neighborhoods. She helped take the company public in 2021 under the ticker NYSE:KIND.
Before Nextdoor, Sarah served as chief financial officer at Square (now known as Block, Inc.). Under her leadership, the company launched its initial public offering in 2015 and added $30 billion in market capitalization. Before her tenure at Square, Sarah served as senior vice president of finance and strategy at Salesforce. Sarah also held executive roles at Goldman Sachs and leadership positions at McKinsey in London and South Africa.
Sarah currently also serves on the boards of Walmart and of Consensys, a private company in the Web3 arena, and she previously served on the boards of Slack Technologies (from 2017 to 2021), Dragonneer Growth Opportunities Corp. (from 2020 to 2021), Dragonneer Growth Opportunities Corp. II (from 2020 to 2021), Dragonneer Growth Opportunities Corp. III (from 2021 to 2023), and New Relic (from 2013 to 2018). She is a fellow of the inaugural class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She serves on the advisory boards of Operation HOPE, the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford and The Stanford Digital Economy Lab. She is co-founder of Ladies Who Launch, a network that mentors and inspires women entrepreneurs and business owners. She was named to the 2023 NACD Directorship 100 selection, an annual recognition of the leading corporate directors, corporate governance experts, policymakers, and influencers who significantly impact boardroom practices and performance.
Sarah grew up in Northern Ireland and earned her MEng in Metallurgy, Economics, and Management from the University of Oxford and her MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where she graduated as an Arjay Miller scholar. In 2019 she was granted an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship.
In her spare time, she loves to hike, read, and travel.
