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ShaperTalk with Privahini Bradoo (CEO, BlueOak)

On July 26, San Francisco Global Shapers hosted Privahini Bradoo for a ShaperTalk at 414 Brannan.

Priv Bradoo is CEO & Co-Founder of BlueOak. Priv founded BlueOak in 2011, and has raised $50M from reputable investors including KPCB and Arkansas Teachers Pension Fund towards the vision of sustainably recovering the billions of dollars worth of valuable metals such as gold, silver and copper that are present in the 50 million tons of electronic waste (e-waste) generated every year. BlueOak's first commercial mini-refinery is located in Arkansas and the company's business model is based on the pioneering steel mini-mills of the 20th century.

Prior to BlueOak, Priv was VP of Business Development and the first commercial hire at Lanzatech, a company focused on creating high value chemicals from steel mill flue gases, where she led commercialization, fundraising and international growth activities. Prior to Lanzatech, Priv worked as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group. She was the Founding CEO at Spark, a not for profit initiative aimed at fostering an innovation economy in New Zealand that has successfully helped start over 110 companies in the last 12 years, and also co-founded Chiasma, a venture focused on promoting biotech entrepreneurship in NZ.

Priv has an MBA from Harvard Business School where she was a Fulbright Platinum Fellow. She also has a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Auckland where her thesis focused on the discovery and characterization of a new gene for brain repair.

Priv is a board member and advisor to various startups across healthcare, AI and technology sectors. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Council on Advanced Materials and an Advisor to the WEF Mining and Metals Initiative. She was recognized by WEF as a Young Global Leader in 2012 and a Technology Pioneer in 2015. She was also recognized as one of ~30 innovative entrepreneurs by the White House in 2015. She received the Harvard Alumni New Venture Award and the Distinguished Young Alumni Award by University of Auckland in 2012. She has been named as one of New Zealand's top 10 business influencers, and received the World Class New Zealander Award in 2017.