Our leadership

Chris Wanstrath is GitHub’s Cofounder and CEO. He fell in love with software as a child and began working in technology when he was 14, doing part time customer support for a dial-up ISP in his hometown of Cincinnati. After being introduced to the power of open source software, he moved to San Francisco in 2005 to work on GameSpot and Chow at CNET Networks. In 2007, Chris left CNET to focus on making developers more productive. Soon after, in April 2008, GitHub officially launched.

Chris has created and contributed to dozens of open source projects in the last decade.

Merritt Q. Anderson is GitHub’s Vice President of Employee Experience and Engagement. She oversees our Learning and Development, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Workplace Operations, and Employee Experience Teams. She has led the way toward more inclusive internal policies for GitHub’s globally-distributed teams including launching our first employee handbook built collaboratively with employees using GitHub.

Prior to joining GitHub in 2014, Merritt was a Director of Human Resources and Compliance and Privacy Officer at Kaiser Permanente.

When she’s not creating a community of belonging at GitHub, you can find Merritt serving her community with family and friends or cheering on her three kids at sporting events.

Julio Avalos is GitHub’s Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel. He oversees our Legal, Policy, People, Social Impact, Strategic Partnerships, Communications, and Marketing Teams—in addition to partnering with GitHub’s Executive Team and Board of Directors to define our vision and manage our business and operations. Beginning with a legal team of one, Julio has also championed the use of GitHub for technical and non-technical teams alike, making the company’s work more open and iterative.

Prior to joining GitHub, Julio worked as Corporate Counsel for Yelp. Before Yelp, he was an attorney at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he primarily represented Facebook on issues related to cyber-governance, intellectual property, online privacy, and security.

Julio creates and advocates for policy that connects technology and humanism, furthers technological innovation, and promotes software as an integral part of our collective future.

Laura Heisman is GitHub’s Vice President of Communications, where she oversees the company’s Global Communications Team, including Public Relations, Internal Communications, and Industry Analyst Relations. In addition to leading GitHub’s communications programs, Laura has been integral in building out GitHub’s global communications strategy and sharing the company’s storyline to showcase the company’s platform, community and new developer opportunities.

Prior to joining GitHub in 2017, Laura spent more than a decade at Citrix as Vice President of Communications leading the worldwide team. Before Citrix, Laura led corporate communications at Interwoven and was with leading PR agencies representing startup and global companies.

Laura is passionate about human-centered storytelling and raising awareness about how GitHub is changing people’s lives and the future of software, including the impact it will have on her own children’s future.

Paul St. John is GitHub’s Vice President of Sales, where he oversees our Global Sales, Channel Sales, Pre-Sales, Customer Success, and Professional Services Teams. From small startups to Fortune 50 companies, Paul helps teams of all sizes reach their business goals with GitHub.

Prior to joining GitHub in 2014, Paul led Global Sales for Alfresco. Before Alfresco, he spent a decade in Europe running sales in more than 30 countries for for Dell EMC and Riverbed.

When Paul isn’t talking to companies about GitHub, you can find him cooking or outdoors with his family and dogs.

Mike is GitHub’s Chief Financial Officer. He oversees our Strategic Finance, Accounting, Deal Desk, Tax and Treasury, and Business Systems Teams. Mike is passionate about growing both GitHub’s business and impact on the world.

Prior to joining GitHub in 2017, Mike spent nine years at Tesla in a number of executive roles including Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. Mike raised over $8 billion and helped expand Tesla’s operations around the world. Before Tesla, Mike served as CFO at both Tropos Networks and Benchmark Capital.

On the weekends, you can find Mike testing how many miles he can hike vertically with his wife and two sons.

Jason Warner is GitHub’s Senior Vice President of Technology, where he oversees our Engineering, Product, Product Design, and Security Teams. Jason has played an integral role in building GitHub’s product roadmap to fit the needs of developers around the world.

Prior to joining GitHub in 2017, Jason was Vice President of Engineering at Heroku. Before Heroku, Jason oversaw product engineering for Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Phone at Canonical.

Jason is passionate about building technologies that bring people together, and he’s an active speaker, writer, and advisor.