HopSkipDrive Announces Three Key Executive Hires

HopSkipDrive today announced three new additions to its executive team. Jen Brandenburger joins as Senior Vice President of Safety, Richa Mehta as Vice President of Finance and Strategy, and Lacey Plache as Vice President of Data Science and Analytics. These new executives strengthen the leadership team at HopSkipDrive, bringing proven and seasoned expertise from world-class organizations and industry leaders including Airbnb, TikTok, Lyft, Age of Learning, Deloitte, and more. 

HopSkipDrive supports more than 10,000 schools across 13 states to optimize school transportation despite chronic bus driver shortages, budget cuts, and rising absenteeism rates. The proven experience of these three accomplished executives will bolster HopSkipDrive’s leadership in business operations, product development, and the company’s top priority, safety. These women join the rapidly growing team that understands the importance of getting kids where they need to go. HopSkipDrive is women-founded and woman-led: 65% of hires this year and over half of the leadership team are women.

“HopSkipDrive has grown tremendously in recent years, and we’re focused on adding leaders with expertise to continue our trajectory and momentum,” said Joanna McFarland, CEO and Co-founder of HopSkipDrive. “Each of these women brings a passion for our mission and a wealth of knowledge to help us address the opportunities in our business and the challenges the company is solving for student transportation.” 

As Senior Vice President of Safety, Jen Brandenburger leads the company’s safety strategy and execution, building on HopSkipDrive’s industry leadership across products, policies, and procedures. HopSkipDrive was the first company in the industry to roll out numerous safety initiatives and offerings, including real-time ride monitoring by a dedicated Safe Ride Support team, publishing a Safety Report, and the industry’s first and only real-time, proactive safety solution, Proactive Ride Intervention, which enables HopSkipDrive to detect risky driving behavior using mobile telematics and intervene before a ride begins.

Brandenburger will continue championing this industry leadership, raising the bar for all student transportation. She recently served as Head of Product Policy, U.S. Data Security at TikTok. Before that, Brandenburger spent a total of eight years at Lyft in various roles, including building and scaling Lyft’s first Trust & Safety organization, and ultimately serving as the company’s Head of Policy Development and Research, where she played a critical role in translating business objectives into actionable policy at the local, state, and national levels. She holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law. 

Joining as Vice President of Finance and Strategy, Richa Mehta oversees the FP&A and Strategic Finance teams and drives high-priority initiatives to deliver continued strong performance and growth for HopSkipDrive. Focusing on both short- and long-term results for the company, Mehta aims to continue fortifying the company’s position in the market and support its scaling efforts. She will also be expanding and growing the finance function, and play a key role in guiding the company’s priorities and accomplishments.

Mehta has extensive experience in strategy, operations consulting, and investment banking. She brings a wealth of technology investment expertise across various companies, including a six-year tenure at Airbnb, where she worked in Strategic Finance, FP&A, and Corporate Development/M&A, and most recently led Finance for Airbnb Experiences, a key growth vertical for the company. Prior to Airbnb, she was in Corporate Development/M&A at FireEye, which was since acquired by Google. She holds a B.A. from New York University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Lacey Plache is joining as Vice President of Data Science & Analytics, where she will continue building HopSkipDrive’s industry-leading approach to leveraging data, artificial intelligence, and analytics tools to solve the biggest challenges facing schools and school districts. Her focus area will be on accelerating the company’s use of data to make decisions, spearheading first- and third-party research initiatives that advance understanding of transportation’s impact on learning outcomes, and enhancing how HopSkipDrive uses data to make an impact on the communities it serves. In addition, Plache will play a key role in integrating AI and machine learning models into the business, including in RouteWise AI™, the company’s flagship software and advisory product.

Her prior experience includes building and growing the data teams at Age of Learning, an education technology innovator, and PatientPop, a healthcare technology start-up. Her teams produced data-driven insights that improved customer acquisition and retention and enhanced product development. Plache also served as Chief Economist at Edmunds, where she was a nationally recognized thought leader in automotive economics and spearheaded the use of data science to optimize online car-buying. She earned a Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA and a B.A. in Political Science from Tulane University. She has a passion for education, and her volunteer efforts include co-founding a successful public middle school.