Loni Mahanta

Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer, HopSkipDrive

Loni Mahanta is a Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer, COO, and board member recognized for guiding organizations through complex transitions at the intersection of technology, policy, and innovation. She brings deep expertise in operations, legal, compliance, government relations, and AI transformation, with a track record of delivering sustainable growth for companies from $10M to $3.2B across highly regulated markets. A practitioner of AI-enabled organizational change, Loni currently leads company-wide AI transformation at HopSkipDrive, driving adoption and enablement across every function of the organization, including teams not traditionally viewed as AI-native. Her work spans workflow redesign and transformation, change management, learning and development, and building the internal culture and capabilities required for AI to take root in complex, mission-driven environments. As Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer at HopSkipDrive, she leads the legal, policy, communications, marketing, and safety departments, and moved into executive leadership from the board to expand the organization's presence in regulated markets and solidify its position as a trusted leader in safe student transportation. Prior to HopSkipDrive, she served as COO and General Counsel at The AI Education Project (aiEDU), where she implemented a multi-year strategic plan, matured core organizational functions, and launched advocacy initiatives advancing AI literacy and readiness. She serves on the aiEDU advisory board, connecting her policy work to her on-the-ground experience building AI-capable teams. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership roles at OpenSea, Zillow Group, and Lyft, where she led the company's Future of Work initiatives and navigated regulatory constraints to advance next-generation platform strategies. She recently completed a term as a Nonresident Fellow at the Brookings Institution, researching technology policy, labor, and the future of work. Loni also serves on the board of Marin Primary and Middle School as Board Secretary and former Governance Chair, and previously served as an Independent Board Member at HopSkipDrive, where she chaired the Compensation and Safety Committees. She also served as a Board Member for the Family Violence Appellate Project.