Presenter Details

'01, Lecturing Fellow, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Duke University

Sima Sistani has more than 20 years of experience innovating human-centric platforms for connection. She has started, operated, and scaled companies from startups to multinational corporations. Sima most recently served as the CEO of WeightWatchers where she architected and led its successful transformation from waning consumer retail company to leading digital health platform. In 2023, CNN Business honored Sima in their annual list of 11 leaders making big bets to move global business forward. In 2024 she was recognized by CNBC as a "Changemaker." Sima currently serves on the board of Best Buy and is an adjunct Professor at Duke University teaching Women's Leadership Lab. Prior to her joining WW in March 2022, Sima was the Co-Founder and CEO of Houseparty, a communication app. Houseparty, which grew to over 100M users under her leadership, challenged the incumbent social media giants with its innovative approach to synchronous chat. Epic Games acquired the company in 2019. At Epic, Sima joined the senior leadership team where she was responsible for products across Epic Games: including Fortnite, the world's most popular game with over 650 million players. Sima is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow. She holds a BA from Duke University and an MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Sima is a first generation American and lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband and two children.