Tekedra Mawakana is an American businesswoman and lawyer, currently serving as the co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Waymo, the autonomous driving technology company. With a career spanning multiple prestigious organizations, Mawakana has held various leadership roles, including chief operating officer (COO) at Waymo before being appointed co-CEO in April 2021. In her role, she oversees business operations, while her co-CEO, Dmitri Dolgov, focuses on technology.
Mawakana's career began at Steptoe & Johnson, where she specialized in intellectual property and telecommunications law. She later held key positions in corporate counsel and policy at major companies such as AOL, Yahoo!, and eBay. At AOL, she spent approximately twelve years before becoming Yahoo!'s deputy general counsel, where she led efforts to combat mass surveillance. Mawakana also worked as eBay's head of global government relations before joining Waymo in 2017 as vice president of public policy and government affairs. Her focus at Waymo included expanding autonomous driving testing, regulation, and competing with traditional automobile manufacturers.