Rachel Payne is Managing Director of Business Innovation, Climate and Policy at X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory. She originally joined Google in January 2005 as Senior Program Officer on the founding team of Google.org. She also co-founded Google Africa, where the team localized core platforms (YouTube, Search) and built mobile, energy and internet infrastructure across the continent. She was a leader in the Global Alliances team, forging and deepening strategic relationships with Google’s top partners globally. Rachel serves as a founding member of the Rockefeller Foundation-led Emerging Technology Coalition, a technology advisory council focused on low and middle income countries.

Rachel has a MBA from Stanford, attended Doshisha University in Japan, and received her BA from Smith College. She currently serves on the board of directors for EarthGrid and previously served on the board of BRAC, a global NGO focused on economic empowerment for vulnerable communities.