An avid traveler and people-person, Rachel Hawkes is the co-founder and COO of ViaHero, a platform that connects travelers with locals to plan their trips based off of their personal travel style. 

Her passion for travel and cross-cultural connections stems from her background in linguistics, and her experience doing field research in Cameroon on the relationship between language and society. In her role at ViaHero, Rachel oversees the company’s team of engineers and the development of product.

Prior to ViaHero, Rachel was responsible for scaling and streamlining Morningside Translation's operational processes across their global offices. 

She holds a Master of Arts in Linguistics and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Boston University. She lives in Beacon, New York with her husband, and enjoys yoga and cooking in her free time.