ACG SV Women's Leadership Circle, July 2026

Christine has led transformative change at some of the world’s top organizations. Having benefited from world-class leadership development herself, she’s now on a mission to democratize access, so everyone has the opportunity to reach their highest potential. Christine’s vision powers Xapa’s commitment to making leadership skills available to all.

Christine Heckart is the founder and CEO of Xapa World and has experience on both sides of the board table. She brings over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, having held a variety of leadership roles, including CEO, GM, president, and CMO, across entertainment, SaaS, data analytics, security, networking, and storage. She has worked in B2C and B2B business models at companies ranging in size from one person to over one hundred thousand at iconic brands such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and NetApp. Having begun in new product development, Heckart's passion is for forging wholly new markets, and she has launched three new categories that have reached several billion in annual revenue. She has also created disruptive business models and navigated major market downturns and inflection points. 

Heckart founded Xapa with the intent of using the science of play to help leaders drive transformation at scale. As an interactive engagement platform, Xapa gives each leader their own Xavatar to welcome employees/partners, explain vision, shape culture, and drive change. It takes just 5 minutes of play a day to align, upskill, and activate people at all levels of the org. Xapa provides off-the-shelf quests to help leaders create cultures of high performance, accountability, innovation, and collaboration. Each company has its own tenant -- for employees, partners, or customers. 

Heckart is known for her strategic vision and understanding of market transitions. She has experience in high-growth environments where scale challenges predominate, and is also familiar with the challenges of leading major transformational change. Recently named one of the Fifty Most Powerful Women in Technology by the National Diversity Council and a 2016 Woman of Influence by Silicon Valley Business Journal, she is passionate about helping people and companies achieve more than they ever thought possible.

Heckart serves on the board of directors for SiTime and Contentful, and previously for Lam Research, Scalyr, and 6Sense. She teaches board governance and sits on the board for Berkeley's Next Gen Directors' Academy.

Married for 35 years with three grown children, Christine writes, paints, and has followed and studied quantum mechanics, cosmology, and archaeology for the past 30 years. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Connect with her on LinkedIn here.