Payson E. Johnston is the CEO and co-founder of Crowdz, a B2B payments company in Silicon Valley, focused on helping SMEs get paid faster, and access invoice finance. Payson has worked for 25+ years in diverse areas, including value chains and supply chain management, building data analytic platforms, supply chain and commerce systems, demand management, technology, and designing from zero to one, the company he co-founded. This, coupled with his work, teaching, and research in areas such as sustainability, business & robotic ethics, and philosophical theology, brings to the table a unique combination of skills and leadership that drives innovation, helps form strategic and lasting partnerships with very diverse groups and delivers real results. Payson also has an understanding of hardware and software applications & platforms and how they can transform and improve our business and personal lives.

Over the last several years, Payson has taught at the University of San Francisco as an Adjunct Professor and as an Instructor at the University of California, Berkeley Extension. He has lectured on the topics of sustainability, ethics, entrepreneurship, supply chains, operations, risk management, fintech, and distribution channels.

Payson’s most important calling and vocation is being a father to 3 kids and spending time with his wife while enjoying hobbies of travel, visiting old bookstores, participating in his faith community, watching movies, raising children, and living life together.

Payson holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco and a MA in Philosophical Theology from the University of Nottingham. Payson started work on a PhD at the Graduate Theological Union in Ethics with a focus on business ethics and AI/robotic ethics but put the academic work on hold to start his current company, Crowdz.