Named to Time magazine's list of "The 25 Most Influential Americans" early in her career in 1997, Polese built a long record of leadership in Silicon Valley technology and entrepreneurship.
An advocate of public policy to expand America's innovation capacity, Polese was named to President Obama's Innovation Advisory Board in 2011. That board guided the Commerce Department's study of U.S. economic competitiveness and delivered a report with recommendations to Congress in January 2012. She received the National Center for Women & Information Technology Innovator Award in 2010 and was named to the San Francisco Business Journal's list of "Most Influential Women" in 2012.
Polese became Chairwoman of CrowdSmart Inc., joined the board of the Long-term Stock Exchange, and took a role as adjunct faculty member at the University of California. She previously served as chairwoman of ClearStreet Inc., a company whose products help employers and employees reduce healthcare spending. In 2018, she appeared in the documentary "Silicon Valley: The Untold Story."
