Lily Sarafan, a Stanford graduate who co-founded and serves as executive chair of the senior in-home care provider TheKey, has been elected as chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees.

Sarafan, who was elected to the board of trustees in 2020, begins her two-year term on July 1. She will succeed Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder and venture capitalist, who has served as chair since 2021. Yang will continue to serve on the board.

“It’s the honor of a lifetime to be asked to serve the university and community I love in this capacity,” Sarafan said. “I look forward to building on the phenomenal foundation laid by Jerry and all of our past chairs and to have the opportunity to work more closely with two dynamic leaders in President Jon Levin and Provost Jenny Martinez.”

Yang described Sarafan as “an exceptional choice to lead the board as Stanford navigates the changing landscape of higher education.”

“She is a person of intellectual curiosity, wide-ranging expertise, deep principles, and personal dynamism,” he continued. “She’s also a proud alum who is deeply involved in a cross-section of university life, from the life sciences to the undergraduate education cabinet. I know Lily will lead the board with great energy and vision.”

Sarafan said she looks forward to collaborating with Levin and Martinez as they strengthen Stanford’s fundamental purpose of discovery and learning and amplify its culture of inquiry and possibility.

“They bring fresh perspectives to leadership in higher education, and I am excited to work alongside them on advancing our priorities,” she said. “For the board itself, I hope to continue the spirit of collegiality and devotion to mission that has characterized Jerry’s inspired leadership in recent years. I also aim to build stronger connections between our board and all the key constituencies at Stanford, with a particular focus on our faculty and students.”

Lifelong Cardinal

Sarafan was born in Tehran and grew up in San Jose after immigrating to the United States at the age of 2. In 2003, Sarafan earned both a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, and society – an interdisciplinary program in the School of Humanities and Sciences – and a master’s degree in management science and engineering in the School of Engineering at Stanford.

“Stanford has played a pivotal role in my life,” Sarafan said. “It was the first place where I experienced systems-level thinking and curiosity-driven scholarship being celebrated. In considering the governance and leadership of an institution that has the breadth of disciplinary strength and impact that Stanford does, a wide generalist perspective is important.”

Sarafan has held numerous leadership roles at Stanford, including serving as co-chair of the Stanford Presidential Search Committee that led to the appointment of Levin. She currently serves on the Stanford Undergraduate Cabinet, where she is co-chair, the Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) Council, where she is vice chair, and the LEAD Council (Lifelong Engagement and Advocacy for Development). Sarafan also has served on the Stanford Alumni Association Board of Directors and on various task forces and committees for university initiatives.

Sarafan is also a founding partner of Project BIG: The Stanford Brain Immune Gut Initiative, led by Jeffrey Dunn, the Lily Sarafan Director of Neuroimmunology, and in 2020, she joined the university’s Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Council, helping to advise the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford Bio-X, and Sarafan ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering, and Medicine for Human Health).

“I’ve had significant interactions with our world-class faculty and programs, and I hope to draw on those experiences as board chair,” Sarafan said. “With intellectual rigor, optimism, irreverence, and courage, we can meet today’s challenges while creating tomorrow’s possibilities. It’s the Stanford way.”

Sarafan has contributed to a wide range of areas at the university, including a 2022 foundational gift to Sarafan ChEM-H, which accelerates transformative molecular research in benefit of human health. She also supports the Sarafan Fellows as part of the Chemistry/Biology Interface Training Program, and other areas of support include FSI, the Stanford Democracy Hub, Ethics, Society, and Technology Initiatives, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford Impact Labs, and Stanford Medicine.

Sarafan co-founded TheKey nearly 20 years ago and served as its CEO through 2020, taking it from a startup to a company with more than 10,000 employees. She serves as a board member with Instacart, Serve Robotics, and Thumbtack.

Her accolades include being named to Fortune’s “40 Under 40” list of influential leaders and as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and Woman of the Year by Women Health Care Executives.