Ernestine Fu Mak

Bio

Dr. Ernestine Fu Mak is Co-Director of Frontier Technology Lab, an initiative of the Stanford School of Engineering and Doerr School of Sustainability. She has taught interdisciplinary courses across engineering and medicine: Frontier Technology - Understanding and Preparing for Technology in the Next Economy, Design and Innovation for the Circular Economy, Autonomous Vehicles Studio, Entrepreneurship Through the Lens of Venture Capital, and Silicon Valley and the U.S. Government.

She is Managing Partner of Brave Capital. Over the past decade, she has worked across the startup ecosystem, negotiating mergers and acquisitions, organizing SPVs for later-stage companies, angel investing in and advising startups that have since been acquired, and advising banks on venture debt. Alongside her role at Brave Capital, she is a Venture Partner at Alsop Louie Partners, where she began her career and has guided founders as they navigate the journey to product-market fit and scale their businesses and teams. She was recognized on the inaugural Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 list, Vanity Fair Next Establishment list, and Business Insider Silicon Valley 100 list. She is a Kauffman Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow.

She is a strong advocate for active citizen participation in our democracy. She co-authored “Civic Work, Civic Lessons” with former Stanford Law School Dean Thomas Ehrlich to encourage civic engagement. She also co-authored “Renewed Energy” with IPCC major contributor John Weyant to guide government policy and investment strategies for a sustainable future. She has served as a board director and advisor to nonprofits such as Ad Council, California 100, and Presidio Institute.

She completed her B.S., M.S., MBA, Ph.D., and postdoc at Stanford University. Graduating with Tau Beta Pi and Phi Beta Kappa honors, she was awarded the Kennedy Prize for the top undergraduate thesis in engineering and the Terman Award as one of the top thirty graduating seniors in engineering. Her doctoral thesis focused on human operator and autonomous vehicle interactions with system bias and transitions of control. She is an inventor on numerous granted or in-process technology patents.

She is a proud part of a military family.