Lara O'Connor Hodgson

Lara serves as President & CEO of NOW Corp, a company she co-founded to free small businesses from the burden of being a free bank to their customers. Now® Corp is the first payment system that enables B2B businesses to get paid immediately in a way that feels like taking a credit card for payment (not a loan or factoring) even when terms are offered. Now Corp is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study and Lara serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Harvard Business School. Lara received an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Lara currently serves as a Trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation and as President of the Board of Atlanta Heights Charter School, which she co-founded. She also serves on the boards of CTE (formerly known as Carolina Tractor & Equipment Company), Patterson Real Estate Group, and Georgia Tech’s Alexander Tharpe Fund. Amongst many other accolades, Lara was a 2018 Southeast US Finalist for E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year and was named one of twelve 2019 E&Y Entrepreneurial Winning Women.