Dreamscape Finds New Directors for Brex, Robinhood, and AppLovin Corp.

January 6, 2022 – Daversa Partners’ Dreamscape business unit has recently helped to place Thasunda Brown Duckett of TIAA, Dara Treseder of Peloton, and Alyssa Harvey Dawson of Gusto to fill key director roles for Brex, Robinhood and Applovin Corp., respectively.

Dreamscape, which was launched in November, is dedicated to advancing black representation on the boards and executive teams of companies and investing firms in technology. The business is led by partner Clinton Browning.

San Francisco-based Brex appointed Ms. Duckett to its board effective Jan 1. Ms. Duckett, a strong financial services leader with valuable corporate governance experience, serves as an independent director. At TIAA, a leading provider of secure retirements, she is president and chief executive officer.

“Thasunda’s experience in leading large-scale organizations to deliver valuable and innovative financial services products and services is incredibly unique and will be hugely valuable as Brex continues to expand and scale,” said Henrique Dubugras, co-CEO of Brex. “She is a visionary leader and is driven to empower financial inclusion, which aligns with our mission of serving new and growing business.”

Join Daversa Partners on NEXT WED JANUARY 12 for an interactive webinar supported by Hunt Scanlon Media. The session will focus on Dreamscape, a newly launched business unit of Daversa Partners dedicated to advancing Black representation on the boards and executive teams of companies and investing firms in technology.

Black executives have largely not been afforded the same opportunities in tech startups and venture capital, according to Daversa. Dreamscape addresses this by focusing on industry-wide equity and transformation. By working in partnership with CEOs, founders and investors who are committed to making sure there is Black representation at the leadership level, Dreamscape is serving as a catalyst for change. 

“Dreamscape was built on the premise that the tech community does not, in fact, have a pipeline or scarcity issue – but rather it suffers from an access problem to diverse leaders,” said Clinton Browning, head of Dreamscape. Click here to sign up!

Prior to her role at TIAA, Ms. Duckett served as the CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, where she oversaw a banking network with more than $600 billion in deposits and 50,000 employees, and as the CEO of Chase Auto Finance.

Brex launched in 2018 with a corporate card specifically designed to help start-ups that have historically had trouble accessing credit cards from industry incumbents. The company has continued to aggressively scale by providing customers with software that serves a broader range of financial needs, such as business accounts, expense management, and more recently, venture debt financing. Brex’s customer base includes tens of thousands of companies across the U.S.

Leveling the Playing Field

Menlo Park, CA-based Robinhood named Ms. Treseder, Peleton’s chief marketing and communications officer, to her director role effective late last year. “Very few people have Dara’s deep understanding of what it takes to build a brand that both delights its customers and speaks its values,” said Vlad Tenev, CEO and co-founder of the company.

“Robinhood has levelled the playing field, allowing for a younger, more diverse generation of investors to participate in the financial markets for the very first time,” said Ms. Treseder. “I’m delighted to join Robinhood’s board of directors as the company continues to evolve its unique brand identity as the most transformative force in finance.”

AppLovin, a leading marketing software company, announced Ms. Harvey Dawson’s appointment late last year. She joins the business with more than 20 years of legal and business experience, and she currently serves as the chief legal officer of Gusto, an HR software provider. Previously, she was general counsel at Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs where she led all legal and compliance teams and strategies, including the development of Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs Responsible Data Use principles and policy.

Invaluable Expertise

“As we continue to pursue the tremendous opportunities ahead of us to help app developers grow their businesses, Alyssa’s deep expertise and track record of success helping companies achieve scale and advising on complex transactions, operational excellence, corporate governance, compliance, intellectual property, risk and data privacy will be invaluable,” said Adam Foroughi, co-founder and CEO of AppLovin.

“I’m thrilled to join AppLovin’s board and look forward to partnering with Adam and the rest of the team as they continue to expand the business and disrupt the ever-changing mobile app ecosystem and marketing tech landscape,” said Ms. Harvey Dawson. “We are very much aligned in our pursuit of supporting businesses and helping them be more successful as AppLovin leads the industry in fostering growth through scale, monetization, brand safety, and analytics and attribution.”

Daversa Partners Launches Unit to Advance Black Leadership
Daversa Partners has launched Dreamscape, a business unit dedicated to advancing black representation on the boards and executive teams of companies and investing firms in technology. To lead the business, Daversa has named industry veteran Clinton Browning as its newest partner and head of Dreamscape.

AppLovin’s marketing software provides developers with a powerful, integrated set of solutions to grow their businesses. AppLovin enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first party content includes over 200-plus popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. with several offices globally.

Board-Ready Black Talent

Dreamscape connects well-established members of start-ups and venture capital firms that are looking for executives or board directors with accomplished, proven, board-ready black talent. Dreamscape’s network consists of more than 3,000 connections and its early partners include mission driven companies such as Brex, Robinhood, AppLovin, and venture capital firms such as Venrock and Greylock Partners, all of whom have hired board members or executives through Dreamscape.

Mr. Browning, who has more than 25 years’ experience in search started at Korn Ferry where he helped develop and scale the diversity practice on a global scale. In addition, he is an entrepreneur, a builder, and an advocate, having founded two boutique search firms dedicated to placing diverse talent.

Related: Daversa Partners Recruits Chief People Officer for H1

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media