How Culture & Talent Can Drive ROI | Episode #2
Upwork x Diversio
Explore how Upwork‘s Chief People Officer Sunita Solao is redefining innovation through people strategy—innovations that earned recognition as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025.
In How Culture and Talent Can Drive ROI, we invite leaders from Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025 to talk purpose, people, and performance.
In this inspiring episode, Diversio CEO Laura McGee sits down with Sunita Solao, Chief People Officer at Upwork, to discuss how bold leadership philosophy and innovative culture drive the breakthroughs that land companies on Fast Company’s prestigious list. With 75% of Upwork’s workforce drawn from its own marketplace, discover how they’re pioneering new approaches to inclusion, compensation, and culture.
Key takeaways
- Designing the Impossible: Sunita shares how her leadership philosophy starting with the boldest possible vision drives Upwork’s innovation culture
- Cross-Functional Collaboration at its Best: Learn how Upwork’s HR and engineering teams co-created a compensation model that’s both AI-powered and nearly bias-free
- Inclusion Beyond FTEs: With 75% of Upwork’s workforce drawn from its own marketplace, discover how they foster clarity, ownership, and belonging among independent professionals
- Culture as the Competitive Edge: Why culture, not strategy, is the real differentiator in the age of AI, and how leaders can role-model behaviors that scale innovation
Featured speakers
Sunita Solao brings a transformative approach to people strategy at Upwork, combining bold vision with practical innovation. Her work demonstrates how forward-thinking CHPOs can drive both cultural transformation and the measurable business impact that earns Fast Company recognition.
Laura McGee is the Founder and CEO of Diversio, leveraging data and AI to help organizations build inclusive workplaces. A former McKinsey consultant and leading voice in people culture and tech ethics.
Transform your culture to drive innovation. Explore Diversio’s Culture Analytics or Contact our team to learn how data-driven insights can enhance your people strategy and innovation pipeline.
FAQ
Who is Diversio?
Diversio is a leading people and culture analytics platform designed to measure, track, and improve workplace culture, inclusion, and learning. By combining advanced artificial intelligence (AI), robust data analytics, and insights from experienced subject matter experts, Diversio identifies key challenges, benchmarks your organization against peers, and delivers actionable strategies to achieve your people and culture goals. With a presence in over 51 countries, Diversio drives meaningful impact by empowering organizations to create thriving, inclusive workplace cultures.
Making workplaces more inclusive
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