Clara Shih facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Clara Shih
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Shih in 2010
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| Born | January 11, 1982 |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (B.S., M.Sc.) University of Oxford (M.Sc.) |
| Occupation | CEO of Hearsay Social |
| Board member of | Starbucks Ad Council |
| Spouse(s) |
Daniel Chao
(m. 2011) |
| Clara Shih | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 史宗瑋 | ||||||
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Clara Chung-wai Shih, born on January 11, 1982, is a successful American businesswoman. She helped start a company called Hearsay Social in 2009. She was the CEO of Hearsay Social and is now its chairperson. Since November 2024, Clara Shih has been leading the Business AI group at Meta Platforms.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Moving to the United States
Clara Shih was born in Hong Kong. Her father was a math professor there. Later, he became an electrical engineer in the United States. Clara's mother was an artist who became a teacher. She taught both English as a second language and special education.
When Clara was four years old, her family moved to Akron, Ohio. At first, she was placed in special classes. This was because the school did not have a program for students learning English. Later, her family moved to Chicago. In eighth grade, Clara scored very high on the SAT test.
High School Achievements
Clara Shih attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. She was very active in many groups. She played on the women's tennis team and was in the orchestra. She also wrote for the student newspaper and joined the debate team. Clara was part of the Mu Alpha Theta Mathematics Honor Society.
She spent time volunteering as an English tutor for children who had recently moved to the U.S. When she was 15, she helped create learning materials. These materials were for physics education for students from kindergarten to 12th grade at Fermilab. Clara was named a Presidential Scholar and finished high school in 2000.
University Studies and Projects
Clara went to Stanford University. There, she helped create the Stanford engineering public service center. She was also the president of the campus group for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She was an officer in the Stanford Society of Women Engineers. Clara was also chosen for the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.
Beyond her school activities, Clara started a nonprofit group. It was called Camp Amelia Technology Literacy Group. This group created software to help improve basic education. They focused on communities in the U.S. and other countries that needed more support. Clara was recognized as a Microsoft Women's Scholar. She also worked as an intern at Microsoft. There, she developed a tool to gather news for Outlook.
In her free time, Clara volunteered in East Palo Alto, California. She taught elementary students from low-income families. She wanted them to be excited about math, science, and technology. She received several other scholarships and honors during her time at Stanford. Clara studied computer science. She earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in computer science from Stanford in 2005.
Studying at Oxford
In 2005, Clara Shih received the Marshall Scholarship. This allowed her to study at the University of Oxford in England. She earned a master's degree in Internet studies. She studied at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute.
Career Journey
Starting at Google and Salesforce
After finishing her studies at Oxford, Clara stayed in England. She worked in corporate strategy at Google. In 2006, she joined Salesforce.com. She was a founding product marketer for their AppExchange. As a side project, she built a business application on Facebook. This application was called "Faceforce."
The "Faceforce" application became very successful. Because of this, Clara asked her former classmate, Steve Garrity, to join her. Together, they developed Hearsay Social.
Leading Hearsay Social
Clara Shih has been the chief executive officer and co-founder of Hearsay Social since 2009. In December 2011, she was also chosen to join the board of directors for Starbucks. She took the place of Sheryl Sandberg, who was the chief operating officer of Facebook. In 2020, Clara moved into the role of executive chairperson for Hearsay.
Clara Shih has received many awards for her achievements. In 2024, Gold House recognized her as one of the most impactful Asian leaders. The World Economic Forum named her a Young Global Leader. She was also listed in Fortune 40 Under 40 in 2012. Ad Age also included her in their 40 Under 40 list in 2012.
Return to Salesforce and Meta Platforms
In February 2021, Clara Shih rejoined Salesforce.com. This was after an 11-year break. Salesforce is a company that provides software for managing customer relationships. Clara became the CEO of Salesforce's Service Cloud CRM software business. In May 2023, she was appointed as CEO of Salesforce AI.
Clara left Salesforce in November 2024. She then joined Meta Platforms. At Meta, she now leads their new Business AI group.
Personal Life
Clara Shih is married to Daniel Chao. He is an entrepreneur in health technology. They live in San Francisco, California.
