Zac Townsend is an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he specializes in business building in financial services and human capital management. With a background split between startups and governments, he was the inaugural Chief Data Officer of California and the Senior Technology and Innovation Advisor to Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker. Townsend co-founded and headed product development at Standard Treasury, which built API platforms for banks and fintech companies. He graduated from Y Combinator, named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for enterprise technology, and holds an AB in applied math-economics and public policy from Brown University and an MPA in public finance and statistical methods from NYU.

Throughout his professional career, Townsend has drawn on his academic background to pursue innovative projects in technology and policy. He has written commentaries on financial services, regulation, and technology for outlets such as the Financial Times, American Banker, and TechCrunch. With a passion for music and social justice, Townsend sits on the Board of Governors at the San Francisco Symphony and has served on the boards of Bayes Impact and Alternative Family Services. He has also been affiliated with educational institutions such as the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, the PRIISM center at NYU, and Social-X at Stanford.