We work to put humans at the center of, well, work.
Think of us as a marketing agency for the employees in your organization. We champion the people wins that make the business wins a reality by reimagining work to build inclusive cultures, optimize talent, and humanize experiences.
In this tight knit community, we encounter a lot of people fighting to better the modern workplace and we wanted to highlight some of the people we feel are influencing this amazing movement.
We didn't put just anyone on this list, oh no. They have to really walk the talk.
Our criteria:
- Authentically, internally and externally advocating for humans.
- Doing good beyond profit in business.
- Creating a new dynamic between the workforce and the workplace.
- Actively doing work to create inclusion, belonging equality and access to opportunities for marginalized groups and identities. Anti-“ism”.
- Innovating and ideation around concepts, programs, products and solutions that will revolutionize work to benefit people.
This isn’t the list of people who we (all) already follow but we do tip our hats to them. You know who they are; Eric Mosley from Work Human, Jacob Morgan, Daniel Goleman, Adam Grant, Josh Bersin, Laurie Ruettimann, Megan Biro, Torin Ellis, Steve Boese and Dave Ulrich...to name a few...these are the people who you may not know yet but trust us, you want to.
Why put this list together?
We are on a mission to humanize work and we are not alone. The louder our Voice is, collectively, the more people we will reach. The more lives will be enriched, the more people will feel a sense of purpose, connection and meaning and the more the world will be better for it. Please help us share these Voices.
Here are the 24 Influencers Humanizing Work that you should 100% be following:
Alexander McCobin, Conscious Capitalism
Alexander is the CEO of Conscious Capitalism, Inc. A non-profit dedicated to building and supporting a global network of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and intrapreneurs dedicated to growth through conscious leadership with convenings, learning & development offerings, and PR opportunities.
WHY: Because he defines our statement of business wins, powered by people wins by advocating that profitable, successful businesses are led with human intelligent leadership, purpose beyond profit, and work culture created for the employees. He lives it, breathes it, works it and walks it.
Amber Cabral, Cabral Co.
Amber is the founder and Principal Consultant at Cabral Co., a D.C. firm offering tailored Inclusion solutions to help organizations achieve measurable and sustainable outcomes.
WHY: She wrote the highly acclaimed and transformational book Allies and Advocates: Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Culture, which shows readers how to move away from discriminatory and unjust behaviors to supporting and building meaningful connections with people across our diverse backgrounds and identities. We felt so strongly about this book, we sent a copy to everyone who works within in our organization, it is THAT awakening.
David Cancel, Drift
David is the CEO and founder of Drift (as well as many other software companies) a Revenue Acceleration Platform that brings your go-to-market teams together to deliver real-time, personalized customer experiences and help your entire team generate revenue faster across the full customer lifecycle.
WHY: Because this multimillionaire has never lost touch to who he is and what drives his success, his people, as demonstrated in his letter: Reflections on 2020. He lives and breathes a humanized workplace. We don’t even work for him (but would love to!) and we felt seen.
Haley Sudbury, WERKIN
Hayley is the founder and CEO of WERKIN, an analytics platform that uses behavioral science to improve diversity in company hiring practices. Their “nudge” technology makes diverse talent more visible, and turns mentoring programs into sponsorships, partnering with companies for whom equality is a core value.
WHY: Because she is committed to creating a fundamental shift for the female, LGBT+ and BAME talent pipeline and uses her technology to support mentoring programs for a number of LGBT+ organizations, including Lesbian and Bisexual professional women, and OUTstanding. And because FINALLY, she is scaling WERKIN to the US!
Jana Morrin, Speakfully
Jana is the founder and CEO of Speakfully, a platform that offers a safe and private space for employees to journal harassment experiences they are having within the workplace, and when ready can submit these entries through the platform, enabled by their employers.
WHY: Because her platform was born from the strength she found after breaking free from her own workplace harassment and because through that ugliness she found a desperately needed lift of voice to thousands.
Jennifer Locklear, ConnectWise
Jennifer is the Chief People Officer at ConnectWise, a global market-leading software platform for technology solutions providers with over 3,000 employees.
WHY: She really lives out and gives voice to every decision, no matter how difficult it is. She embodies the belief that we must take care of the psychological safety of our people and offer them our grace, always. Her empathetic leadership is truly awe inspiring.
Joy Buolamwini, Algorithmic Justice League
Joy, also known as the Poet of Code, is the founder of The Justice League, an organization that uses art and research to illuminate the social implications and harms of artificial intelligence, raises public awareness about the impacts of AI, equip advocates with empirical research to bolster campaigns, build the voice and choice of most impacted communities, and galvanize researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners to mitigate AI bias and harms.
WHY: Because this Rhodes Scholar and Fullbright Fellow’s MIT thesis methodology uncovered large racial and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. Her research has been covered in over 40 countries, and as a renowned international speaker she has championed the need for algorithmic justice at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. Just to name few.
Kyle Lagunas, General Motors
Kyle is the Head of Talent Attraction, Sourcing & Insight at General Motors. He has spent the last several years offering a fresh take on the role of technology as part of an integrated talent strategy, and focus on providing actionable insights to keep leading organizations a step ahead.
WHY: Because he launched a research initiative of over 400 organizations across the US and the UK to dig deep into diversity, equity and inclusion barriers and then he made it all –the good, the bad and the ugly- open for discussion. We feel it will be viewed as a pivotal moment in the history of reaching true diversity, equity and inclusion awakening.
Lindsay Schutte Crittendon, Headspace for Work
https://www.headspace.com/work
Lindsay is the Head of Headspace for Work, a mediation & wellbeing platform from parent company; Headspace, that affords organizations wellbeing tools for their workforces.
WHY: She is an advocate for digital health, mental health, employee experience, and advocacy for underserved populations.
Lynne Oldham, Zoom
Lynne is the Chief People Officer at Zoom, a cloud-based operation helping businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment with easy, reliable cloud platform for video, voice, content sharing, and chat runs across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems.
WHY: Because she is a tireless advocate for all organizations, no matter small or big, fostering workplace cultures that live and breathe diversity, purpose, inclusion, equity, development and wellbeing and she ensures Zoom follows this culture throughout its levels of organization.
Mandy Price, Kanarys
Mandy is the CEO and co-founder of Kanarys, which is using modern technology tools to help businesses improve diversity, equity and inclusion in their workplaces.
WHY: Because Kanarys is truly revolutionary, a first of its kind. It is based on data and analysis so employees can talk to you anonymously. You can see exactly what your weaknesses and your strengths are.
Mariah Driver, Webflow
Mariah is the head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Webflow, a SaaS that empowers designers to build professional, custom websites in a completely visual canvas with no code.
WHY: Because she has spearheaded her organizations fight against racial inequality, including launching Blackflow; Webflow’s black affinity group, mandatory anti-Black racism allyship workshops, and “black time off”, which include Black Trauma/ Healing sessions due to horrid social injustices committed around the country. Could you imagine this type of program development in every organization? We will get there!
Marianne Cooper, Stanford University
https://www.mariannecooper.com/
Marianne is a sociologist, author, speaker and advisor. She is a core team member at the Standford VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab for their Voice & Influence online curriculum designed to empower women and men to realize their professional potential, and help them create organizations where workers can excel, belong and thrive.
WHY: Because she translates research into action for women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion, the future of work, financial insecurity, and economic inequality. In 2017 she blew the whistle on 3 specific things that make organizations more prone to sexual harassment, before anyone was talking about this.
Rachel Cargle, The Great Unlearn, The Loveland Foundation & Elizabeth’s Bookshop
Rachel is a speaker, activist, educator, and the founder and president of The Loveland Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to providing therapy services to communities of color, especially to black women and girls, as well as founder & president of The Great Unlearn and to Elizabeth’s Books, an innovative literary center designed to amplify and celebrate marginalized voices.
WHY: Because she is dedicated to intersectionality, especially intersectional feminism and because she created The Great Unlearn, a self-paced and self-priced learning collective that dives deep into the truths behind race, America’s birth story, and how to organize for movement and how to unlearn everything you thought was ever true.
Rosanna Durruthy, LinkedIn
Rosanna is the Vice President of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at LinkedIn, which we feel is safe to say, needs no introduction.
WHY: Because she is a member of the Business Advisory Council of the Human Rights campaign, providing her expertise and counsel on LGBTQIA+ workplace issues. She has been recognized as one of the United States’ leading professional Hispanic women and an influential mind in the diversity & inclusion space. She’s basically a super hero.
Ryan Wong, Visier
Ryan is the co-founder and CEO of Visier, a cloud-based pre-built people analytics solution that asks questions and promptly identifies opportunities and risks within your organization, empowering leaders to make immediate, informed decisions.
WHY: Because his platform was born from the desire to help organizations understand how their workforce impacts business outcomes, from the recruiting aspect all the way to the performance management aspect. He lets the data talk and the humans walk.
Shereen Daniels, HR Rewired
Shereen is Vice Chair of the Black Business Association for London Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Founder + Managing Director of HR rewired. She is a sought-after activist, speaker and advisor for anti-racism.
WHY: Because she is fearlessly honest in the defense of all people but especially the black voice within the workplace. She not only shares her personal knowledge but lifts those voices whom more often than not, have none. She is a true hero to all those in the working world.
Stacia Sherman Garr, Red Thread Research
Stacia is the co-founder and principal analyst at Red Thread Research, a human capital analysts firm focusing on talent-related areas of diversity & inclusion, HR technology, learning & career, people analytics, performance, and employee engagement/experience.
WHY: Because of her inspiring essay in Reworked; Build Organizational Purpose Into Your Talent System where she beautifully wrote why purpose driven profit is essential to the future of work. People want to find that meaning and purpose in the work they do, this is never going away and we are here for it.
Tony Prophet, Salesforce
Tony is the Chief Equity and Recruiter Officer at Salesforce, Salesforce, a cloud-based software company that unites your marketing, sales, commerce, service, and IT teams from anywhere with an integrated CRM platform.
WHY: Because he stated “Our goal is to build a workplace that looks like society” and has made great strides to do so as demonstrated in the Salesforce annual Equality report by increasing black leadership by more than 50% and women leadership by 25.5%. He’s literally walking the talk, right alongside every one of his leaders, making it a part of his business model rather than just something to strive for.
Tope Awotona, Calendly
Tope is the CEO and founder of Calendly, a scheduling automation company, serving millions with simple, yet powerful software to schedule meetings without the back-and-forth emails.
WHY: Because this rarely interviewed, rarely public spoken leader created a tool for the administration force, small business owner and start up entrepreneur that saves invaluable time allowing them (us) to work on those projects that gives them (us) purpose and meaning. And because he is an amazing example of how success can be achieved by leading with empathy and human intelligence. His teams straight up adore him and so do we.
Zaina Orbai, The RealReal
Zaina is the Chief People Officer for The RealReal, an online and brick-and-mortar marketplace for authenticated luxury consignment.
WHY: Because of her inspirational Forbes essay; Leading Into 2021, Four Core Principles gave voice to what empathetic leadership should strive for and how it is the only option of leadership moving forward in the future of work. The. Only. Option.
Lily Zheng, Diversity Consultant
Lily Zheng (they/them) is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategist and independent consultant. A dedicated change-maker and advocate named a Forbes D&I Trailblazer, Lily writes for many publications and speaks on topics including, building bias-awareness, effective allyship, entering the age of corporate social justice, and more.
WHY: Because Lily has built a strong community on LinkedIn of over 40,000 engaged followers. They are the definition of “practicing what you preach” and is actively transforming organizations at their core.
Stephanie Lampkin, Blendoor
https://www.blendoor.com/
LinkedIn Profile
Stephanie is the Founder + CEO of Blendoor, a diversity analytics and hiring software company providing solutions to impact investors, executive talent, and corporate boards where DEI is top of mind to manage risk, branding, and compliance.
WHY: Because she is an Internationally acclaimed data scientist and thought leader in the DEI and people analytics space. Part time, she’s a board member for Fair Pay Workplace & and advisor for the Equity Alliance.
Charlotte Dales, Inclusively
Charlotte is the Co-Founder & CEO of Inclusively, a technology-centered inclusion solution and employment platform for job seekers with disabilities, mental health conditions, and chronic illnesses.
WHY: Because Charlotte has created a platform that serves a community that has been historically underrepresented in the workforce. Through Inclusively, she is actively working to increase the percentage of disabled Americans who participate in the workforce (29%).
Who didn’t make the cut?
You know the old saying, “It Takes a Village”, we really feel that in everything we do. Our community is small but it is mighty and we grow together and change together. With that said, we most certainly left an important name off of this list because we are still meeting and learning all of the new faces making purposeful and impactful changes in the world of People & Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Remote Work Solutions, Work Wellbeing, Leadership Development and Human Resources.
Let’s Meet!
If you are making impact in the future of work or you know someone who is, we would like to know you (them)! Let us know at media@livinghr.com.
