Meet Catherine Lacavera, Color’s new Chief Legal Officer

We are delighted to welcome Catherine Lacavera to Color as our Chief Legal Officer. 

Prior to joining Color, Catherine was at Google, where she spent 16 years building and leading an industry-leading legal team. During her tenure, she held many positions, including responsibility for global litigation, employment, law enforcement and regulatory investigations. Her work at Google in intellectual property litigation, for example, spanned more than 1,000 patent infringement and other intellectual property matters, including the Waymo trade secret claims, the Viacom, and other copyright litigation against YouTube, and the Apple, Microsoft and Oracle copyright and patent litigation directed at Android. She has also advised on complex licenses and acquisitions, including the acquisitions of Motorola Mobility and Nest. She is a trusted voice on global policy initiatives and negotiations with regulators.

We connected with Catherine to hear about her journey to Color and the role a legal team can have in building an impactful health technology company.

What brought you to Color?

I have followed Color since its founding in 2013 and have been consistently impressed by its positive impact on healthcare, particularly in recent years, as the pandemic has evolved expectations of how we all can and should be able to access essential care.. I’ve known Othman and Elad since our early days at Google, and I also know many other Color team members, all of whom are proud to work here and are dedicated to our mission and culture. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to join the team that is successfully tackling one of the top issues of our time: the challenge of access to essential healthcare.

The health technology landscape is growing at a fast rate, and there are more unique laws and policies to take into account. How does that impact how you’ll lead your team and help Color grow?

I am excited to build a legal team that can support the amazing progress Color is making in improving healthcare outcomes. My entire career has been spent at the intersection of law and emerging technology, and it has always been my mission to shape the law to keep pace with innovation. The evolution of the law supporting innovation is all the more critical here at Color, where we have an immense responsibility to innovate in a way that improves and saves lives, while respecting the communities and populations we serve.

Color is focused on increasing access for our most vulnerable populations. How does the Legal team make an impact on that work?

Our legal team will partner with the entire Color team as we work together to make essential healthcare services more accessible for everyone. I’m building an expert legal team commensurate with the expertise already at Color, supporting the full range of our ambitious goals, including leaders in commercial, privacy, employment, regulatory, health and safety, and all the other legal services necessary to support the business. Color provides the infrastructure and capabilities to monitor, manage, and protect the health of not just individuals, but entire populations. Together, we can reach directly into communities and increase access for everyone by focusing on population-scale healthcare programs and serving the people represented by governments, schools, and employers.

How have your previous experiences prepared you for Color?

I am joining Color after 16 amazing years as VP of Legal at Google, where I worked on all kinds of legal and policy challenges, large and small, all around the world. Having started at Google when it was not much larger than Color is today, I have learned to optimize for speed, efficiency, and enormous scale. I’ve grown, managed, and inherited teams, and worked with counsel and business leaders across a wide range of different product areas and regions. I’m excited to use all of that experience to help Color continue to make a positive impact in healthcare.

What role does a strong legal strategy play in Color’s opportunity?

The legal team is here to provide support for the business, while also helping to clear any barriers. A successful legal strategy is one that helps Color achieve its ambitious and laudable goal of improving access to quality healthcare for all. The legal team I’m building will share in the responsibility and the accountability for achieving that important goal. 

Thank you Catherine, and welcome to Color!