Introducing Edweena Stratton, our new Chief People Officer

When your whole company is centered on the idea of being “culture first” and your mission is to create a better world of work, hiring a CPO was never going to be easy. I can honestly say that we have found a leader in Edweena Stratton, or Ed as she likes to be called. I believe Ed won’t just accelerate us towards where we want to be, but take us even further.

Ed joins us from Salesforce, where she oversaw significant growth both in terms of scale and in growing her own team of 5 to over 100. During Ed’s time at Salesforce, the company was recognised as a Best Place to Work for consecutive years. But it’s the how she did it that makes Ed so special– with incredible heart, great instinct, and her trademark kindness. Ed is a true Culture First architect, a long-time Culture Amp customer, and someone we are proud to have to help us write the blueprint on what it means to be Culture First, both now and moving towards the future.

I could think of no better way to introduce Ed than through a conversation with Anna Binder, our board member and Asana’s Head of People and fellow Culture First architect.

Anna: What made you decide to join Culture Amp? Was there something in particular or was there a moment when you just knew you had to accept the offer?

Ed: Well, I have been a customer for a long time, both at Salesforce and prior to that at Oracle, so I know the product well. More importantly, I have seen the heart of the company in action. I always felt very valued as a customer, and had the sense that Campers love their jobs and want HR leaders to succeed.

So I guess you could say that throughout my career, I have been a long-time fan and advocate of Culture Amp and what the company stands for more broadly.

Culture Amp’s mission and vision are so closely aligned to my personal north star as a people and culture leader that when the opportunity came up I knew this was something I could not say no to!

Anna: You are now a couple of weeks into the role at Culture Amp. What have been your early observations?

Ed: What I have noticed is that there is incredible alignment across the organization, and belief in and dedication to the vision. Every Camper I have spoken with so far has shown up living the values and I have this feeling that it’s an awesome place for all of us to be.

Anna: Which is your favorite of the Culture Amp values?

Ed: “Amplify others” is my personal favorite, because it aligns so well with my view of leadership. The values at Culture Amp are so clearly lived, they show up everywhere.

Anna: What are you going to do in your first 90 days in the role?

Ed: If I were to sum it up, I would say listen and learn. The great benefit of working at Culture Amp is that strategy is so informed by data and insights, and so I will spend these first few months absorbing this data. I will also focus on nurturing and building the people experience team and knuckling down to deliver on our key result areas.

Anna: What do you believe creates a Culture First environment?

Ed: Well it’s cliched, but I think it’s cliched for a reason – being Culture First requires leaders to be the role models. Without this, nothing else can really work. Also, empowered self-leadership at all levels of the organization, and leading with values first. I also think today’s Culture First organizations must provide more flexibility for people in ways of working, which requires great role design. And to round it out, programs that accelerate talent, like rotations and thinking through how we can ensure our people understand our customers.

We’re so excited to have Ed join us on our mission to build a better world of work.