Management Team

Caryn Seidman Becker has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2010. Over the past 14 years, she has grown CLEAR into a global, customer-obsessed brand serving 56 airports, over 20 million members and a growing list of B2B partners across the travel, health and sports industries. From day one as Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Seidman Becker has pursued her vision of using identity to create a more frictionless world, with an obsession to deliver amazing customer experience. Today, CLEAR is a trusted brand using their platform across industries from travel to sports to health care. With over 3,000 full time employees across the United States, CLEAR is shaping the future of how we work, live and travel. Prior to CLEAR, from 2002 to 2009, she started and was the Managing Partner of Arience Capital, an over $1 billion value-oriented asset management firm focused on investing in companies across a broad spectrum of industries including consumer, technology, aerospace and defense and turnarounds. Prior to Arience Capital, she served as Managing Director at Iridian Asset Management, an investment advisor firm, and Assistant Vice President at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, an investment bank. Ms. Seidman Becker has served as a director of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD), a home improvement retailer, since 2022. She previously served as a director of Lemonade, Inc. (NYSE: LMND), an insurance company, from 2018 to 2022, and a director and member of the audit committee of CME Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CME), a public financial market company, from 2009 to 2012. Ms. Seidman Becker is an active member of the community and sits on the Board of Trustees for the Partnership for New York City and is a Board Member of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and The School for Ethics and Global Leadership. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan. 

Kenneth Cornick has served as our President since 2010 and Chief Financial Officer since 2020 and from our inception to 2017. In addition, Mr. Cornick serves as a member of our Board. Mr. Cornick co-founded CLEAR with Ms. Seidman Becker in 2010. Prior to CLEAR, he was a Partner at Arience Capital from 2003 to 2009. Mr. Cornick holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College and serves on the Board of Trustees of LREI, a progressive independent school in New York City, and Center ID Corp., an expense management software company. 

Nicholas Peddy has served as our Chief Technology Officer since August 2022. Before joining CLEAR, Mr. Peddy served as Managing Director, Chief Technology Officer, Payments, Consumer and Community Banking of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company, from November 2020 to August 2022. Prior to that, he served as Director, Software Engineering, of Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER), a mobility service provider, from July 2019 to November 2020. From 2017 to July 2019, Mr. Peddy served in multiple roles at Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF), a bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts. Mr. Peddy has served on the Board of Directors of the Diversity Center of Seattle since January 2020.

Richard N. Patterson Jr. has served as our Chief Information Security Officer since December 2020. Prior to joining CLEAR, Mr. Patterson was the Head of Security Operations, Head of Risk at Bridgewater Associates, an investment management firm, from 2014 to 2020. Prior to that, he served as the Director of Information Security, Compliance and Privacy at PetSmart, a pet superstore, from 2011 to 2014 and Director of Security for Sidley Austin, a law firm, from 2006 to 2011. He also previously served as a special agent for the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division. Mr. Patterson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton, and a Masters in Computer, Network and Information Security from DePaul University.

Derek Gottfrid has served as our Chief Product Officer since September 2023. He joined CLEAR in May 2021 and served in various positions of increasing responsibility, including SVP roles in both Engineering and Product. Prior to joining CLEAR, he co-founded Caission in 2018, a SaaS startup focused on the identity verification market. In 2016, Mr. Gottfrid co-founded Umi Kitchen, a home-cooked meal delivery startup. He also served as Tumblr's VP of Product and Engineering from 2010 to 2014, playing a pivotal role in its growth and its notable $1.1 billion acquisition by Yahoo in 2013. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gottfrid was a Senior Software Architect at The New York Times. A Boston University graduate, Derek has advised several NYC-based startups including Bonobos, Timehop, and Paxos.

Lynn Haaland, has served as our General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer since July 2024. Prior to joining CLEAR, Ms. Haaland was Deputy General Counsel, Chief Privacy Officer at Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM), a communications technology company, from 2020 to 2024. She also served as Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that, she was SVP, Deputy General Counsel, Global Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer and Chief Counsel, Cybersecurity at PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP), a multinational food, snack and beverage corporation, from 2016 to 2019. From 2003 through 2016, she was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia ("EDVA") and Washington, D.C. At EDVA, Ms. Haaland served as Deputy Chief of the National Security and International Crime Unit, where she supervised and prosecuted terrorism, international drug trafficking, export and sanctions, cybersecurity, and other national security cases. Prior to becoming a prosecutor, she worked at the United Nations in New York, the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Zurich, Switzerland, and large law firms in Paris, New York and Washington, D.C. Ms. Haaland holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School.

Jimmy Hahn has served as our Executive Vice President, People & Performance since February 2024 and has been with the company since 2017 in varying roles of increasing responsibility. Before joining CLEAR, Jimmy was a Consulting Associate at Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, where he led external client engagements focused on improving the employee and customer experience. Prior to that, Jimmy spent 5 years working in various federal government agencies in different capacities. Mr. Hahn holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Richmond. 

Kyle McLaughlin has served as our Executive Vice President, Aviation since August 2023, having previously served as our Senior Vice President, Operations since May 2022. From 2018 to 2022, he served as Senior Vice President and then global Chief Executive Officer of Tough Mudder, the adventure entertainment brand where he led teams across four continents and guided the company through a strategic acquisition and post-pandemic recovery. Prior to that, Mr. McLaughlin served in various leadership roles in the entertainment, sports and live events industry, including as a senior operations leader at New York Road Runners, the producer of the New York City Marathon, where he oversaw all safety, security and emergency management for the largest and most complex marathon in the world. During his time in the endurance sports industry, he served as a board director and Vice President for industry association Running USA. Mr. McLaughlin holds a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from the Whitehead School of Diplomacy at Seton Hall University.

Jon Schlegel has served as our Chief Security Officer since September 2024. Prior to joining CLEAR, Mr. Schlegel was the Global Chief Information Security Officer at Dupont, a premier multi-industrial company, from 2022 to 2024. Prior to that, he served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Delaware Air National Guard and Military Deputy Commander and Director of Operations for the Cyber National Mission Force from 2017 to 2022. Between 2009 and 2017, Mr. Schlegel served in various positions at the National Security Agency, including as Cyber Security Director of Operations. Mr. Schlegel started his career serving in the US Navy and US Air Force. Since 2010, Mr. Schlegel has been an Adjunct Professor at Wilmington University, teaching courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels on cybersecurity and sitting on the curriculum development board advising on cyber course development. Mr. Schlegel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Delaware, and a Masters in Administration of Justice from Wilmington University.