Upwork is the world’s work marketplace, connecting millions of businesses with independent talent around the globe.

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Brent Pliskow is currently the VP of Customer Support at [Upwork](/org/upwork). Prior to that, they were the Director of Technical Support Engineering at [Samsara](/org/samsara) from July 2021 to April 2022. During their time at [Samsara](/org/samsara), Brent led a team of 50 in the US and Canada to resolve technical issues, product exchanges, and order management concerns for over 20,000 global customers. Brent was also responsible for the Enterprise Customer support experience, Technical Account Management service offering, and Incident and Escalation management. Brent was key in developing and executing the global support strategy.

During their time at [Samsara](/org/samsara), Brent made several accomplishments including directing the adoption of new team metrics that raised the bar for targets on time to resolution, time between updates, and CSAT. This resulted in an increase in team member productivity and higher-quality engagements. Brent also optimized the customer experience by restructuring the team from generalist, customer-segment based teams to specialized, product-based groups. This resulted in opportunities for team member growth and reducing the time to resolution. Lastly, Brent formalized the process for incident and escalation management with input from cross-functional stakeholders. This resulted in faster engagement and a feedback loop for addressing the root cause behind escalations.

Brent Pliskow holds a BA in Computer Science & Judaic Studies from Hiram College. Brent is also certified from The Leadership Consortium (TLC) in the TLC Leaders Program Certificate of Completion, Box in Box Certified Professional, itSMF USA in ITIL Foundations v3, HDI in Help Desk Manager, and [Project Management Institute](/org/project-management-institute) in Project Management Professional.

Brent Pliskow reports to Eric Gilpin, SVP, Sales. They are on a team with Deepak Shadrach - Senior Enterprise Account Executive, Anthony Buffum - VP, HR Client Strategy.

Brent Pliskow

Deepak Shadrach

Melissa Waters is the current Chief Marketing Officer at [Upwork](/org/upwork). Prior to their current position, they served as the Global Vice President of Marketing for Instagram at Meta from June 2020 to December 2021. Waters has also served as the Chief Marketing Officer for hims & hers from April 2019 to May 2020 and as the Vice President of Marketing for [Lyft](/org/lyft) from October 2016 to November 2018. Melissa was also the Vice President of Brand + Product Marketing for Pandora from December 2011 to October 2016 and the Brand Marketing Manager for Flip Video (Cisco Consumer Products) from March 2010 to July 2011. Waters began their career as an Associate Marketing Manager for Diamond Foods, Inc. from July 2008 to January 2010 and then completed an MBA Internship in Online Marketing with [The Home Depot](/org/the-home-depot) from May 2006 to August 2006 before becoming a Development Manager for the Boston Landmarks Orchestra from January 2003 to July 2005.

Melissa Waters has a MBA from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations from [University of Houston](/org/university-of-houston), where they graduated cum laude with a minor in marketing.

Their manager is Hayden Brown, President & CEO. Some of their coworkers include Jeff McCombs - CFO, Eric Gilpin - SVP, Sales, and Tim Sanders - VP, Customer Insights.

Melissa Waters

Patrick Hedren is the VP, Global Head of Public Policy at [Upwork](/org/upwork). Patrick has extensive experience in public policy and law, having worked as Senior Counsel at GE and as a Legal Fellow at the US House of Representatives. Patrick is a graduate of Harvard Law School and has a deep understanding of the legal and regulatory landscape. Patrick is a passionate advocate for the gig economy and the benefits it brings to workers and businesses.

Patrick Hedren's educational career began at Edina High School. Patrick then attended the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities for their undergraduate studies, followed by the University of Minnesota Law School for their Juris Doctorate. After law school, they pursued a career in academia, teaching at [Stanford University](/org/stanford).

Their manager is Brian Levey, Chief Business Affairs & Legal Officer.

Patrick Hedren

Sanders joined UpWork in 2020, in a new role for the company, to help businesses implement better ways of working through the adoption of flexible talent solutions.

Sanders has more than 25 years of experience, spanning from his time as chief solutions officer at Yahoo to an early-stage team member of Mark Cuban’s broadcast.com and at his own research-based consultancy, working with leading global brands such as [Farmers Insurance](/org/farmers-insurance), [Cox Media Group](/org/cox-media-group) and Raytheon. While at Yahoo, Sanders founded the company’s ValueLab, which conducted research and executive briefings to support Yahoo’s most strategic relationships. At broadcast.com, Sanders produced the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show webcast, which gained worldwide attention due to its record-breaking viewership. Sanders is the New York Times bestselling author of five books, including Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends and Dealstorming, which won the 2016 Axiom Book Awards Gold Medal for sales. He has also delivered keynote speeches at over 500 events around the world.

Tim Sanders

Lacey Honaker

Nick Schwartzkopf

Emma Hilder

Katie Zera

Frank McDonald

Megan Micheletti

Allie Jordan

Lindsey Alves

Pamela Marsh

Douglas Shankle

Stephanie Shanahan

Paige Stroud

Woody Garrett

Amanda Leach-Rouvi

Brian oversees [Upwork](/org/upwork)`s legal, regulatory and government affairs functions globally and engages stakeholders to promote [Upwork](/org/upwork)’s reputation through corporate affairs initiatives. Brian has more than 15 years of legal experience focused on the intersection of the Internet and technology. Prior to joining us, Brian served in a global leadership role at [eBay](/org/ebay) Inc. for more than a decade, where he began as [eBay](/org/ebay)`s first corporate attorney and most recently served as its Deputy General Counsel. Before joining [eBay](/org/ebay), Brian served as Vice President, Legal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and as a corporate attorney at [Latham & Watkins](/org/latham-watkins).

In 2017, Brian was named one of the world’s Top 20 General Counsels by The Financial Times. Brian holds a law degree from Stanford Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of the Stanford Law Review, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics, with honors and distinction, from [Stanford University](/org/stanford).

Brian Levey

As CEO of [Upwork](/org/upwork) (UPWK), the leading online talent solution, Hayden is working with her team to transform work. Driven by the company’s mission to create economic opportunities so people have better lives, she became CEO after eight years at the company, four of which she led [Upwork](/org/upwork)’s product, design and marketing teams. She’s passionate about the transformational impact [Upwork](/org/upwork) has by bridging skills gaps caused by traditional time and place-oriented hiring methods that no longer make sense and allowing people to find each other and work together regardless of where they happen to be. Prior to joining [Upwork](/org/upwork), Hayden was the head of corporate development at [LivePerson](/org/liveperson) and previously held strategy roles at Microsoft including Director of Corporate Strategy and M&A. She started her career in the strategy group at [McKinsey & Company](/org/mckinsey-company). Hayden is also a passionate advocate of tech for good, online marketplace and product visionary and a mother of two who helped establish [Upwork](/org/upwork)’s Women’s Group and annual company Women’s Summit. Staffing Industry Analysts' included her in both their 2019 40 under 40 and Global Power 150 – Women in Staffing lists. Hayden holds an A.B. in Politics from [Princeton University](/org/princeton).

Hayden Brown

Zoë leads the talent strategy at [Upwork](/org/upwork). As such, she has guided the growth of the company’s team by more than 50 percent since its merger in spring of 2014. She implements innovative management approaches and focuses on building a mission-driven culture for [Upwork](/org/upwork)’s team of employees and global network of freelancers. Her team includes HR business partnerships, learning and development, workplace management, recruitment, compliance and onboarding, talent innovation and HR operations. Zoë was recently named to SIA's Global Power 150 Women in Staffing List. Learn more about her perspective on Talent Management and HR and HR Daily Advisor.

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Prior to joining [Upwork](/org/upwork), Zoë was Director of Global Initiatives and Senior HR Business Partner at [Yahoo!](/org/yahoo), Director of HRBPs and Director of Recruitment at Rovi, and also led International Customer Care for [Yahoo!](/org/yahoo) Zoë holds an MA in Theology from [University of Exeter](/org/university-of-exeter) and a BA in Religion and Women’s Studies from [Earlham College](/org/earlham-college).

Zoë Harte

Jeff McCombs is Chief Financial Officer of [Upwork](/org/upwork). Jeff is a seasoned finance executive with over a decade of executive-level experience leading financial and business operations on a global scale. Prior to joining [Upwork](/org/upwork), he served as the Chief Financial Officer of several organizations, including Doctor On Demand, [OpenTable](/org/opentable), and [Flipboard](/org/flipboard). Jeff also previously served as the Head of Global Business Operations for Facebook, as well as the Senior Vice President of Business Operations at [Yahoo!](/org/yahoo). He began his career in investment banking, working at both Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers.

Jeff graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics.

Jeff McCombs

Buffum is an accomplished HR professional with more than two decades of experience leading global HR teams as well as driving transformational change in company culture, organizational design, performance management, and employee integration and engagement. He joined Upwork following a series of noteworthy leadership positions including chief human resources officer (CHRO) at FLIR Systems, VP of global human resources at STANLEY Security, VP of human resources at Stanley Black & Decker and others. With robust experience spearheading talent recruitment, training and development efforts, Buffum partners with HR executives to successfully create and execute long-term business strategies for enterprises.

Buffum not only is on the front lines as a change agent and HR advisor to enterprise clients, but also partners closely with sales leaders to set strategies for enlisting HR leaders as champions for talent transformation, hybrid workforces of independent professionals and employees, and Upwork itself.

Anthony Buffum

Bahadur joined Upwork from Amazon, where he spent the last four years as a general manager, most recently leading the team responsible for preventing worldwide fraud and abuse on Amazon.com. Previously, he led the Alexa artificial intelligence group and built the platform on which all of Alexa runs. Prior to Amazon, Bahadur served in multiple engineering leadership positions over a decade spent at Microsoft, most notably in the Windows and Windows Phone business units, and held engineer and manager roles at Intel.

Bahadur has spent the majority of his career on the cusp of significant computing technology paradigm shifts. While at Microsoft, he launched the Nokia Lumia 900, the first LTE phone in the U.S., the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Nokia Lumia 1520. At Intel, Bahadur helped architect the Pentium 4 processor, built and drove standardization of the InfiniBand networking communications standard, and shipped the industry’s first-ever OS virtualization solution.

Bahadur holds an M.S. in computer science from Clemson University, a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science in Pilani, India, and numerous patents in mobile and operating systems.

Saty Bahadur

Anilu is an expert and prominent voice on both human resources and diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. As a Partner and Chief Human Resources Officer of TPG, a leading global alternative asset firm, Anilu oversees the firm’s Human Resources function and provides support and counsel to executives across TPG’s portfolio of more than 200 companies. She is also a member of TPG’s Executive Committee. Prior to joining TPG in 2018, Anilu spent 11 years at the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., serving in a variety of roles, most recently as Chief Diversity Officer and Global Head of Talent. Before Goldman Sachs, she was an associate in the executive compensation and employee benefits group at Shearman & Sterling LLP.

Anilu currently serves on the Boards of Teach for America-Bay Area, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Fordham University School of Law Alumni, and the Vera Institute of Justice. She has been named one of the Most Powerful Latinas in Business by Forbes Magazine and was listed as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Latinas in 2020 by Latino Leaders. The Association of Latino Professionals For America also recently recognized her as one of the best Corporate Culture Developers in their 2020 50 Most Powerful Latinas list. Anilu holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and an A.B. cum laude in History and Latin American studies from Princeton University.

Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri

Sam Bright is Chief Product and Experience Officer at Upwork. Bright leads a globally distributed team across Product Management, Design, User Experience and User Research, Talent Success, Customer Experience, Community Management, New Businesses, Trust and Safety, and Business Development.

As a senior operating executive with over 16 years of extensive experience scaling technology teams, businesses, and transformational customer experiences, Bright’s career reflects a demonstrated track record of growing multi-billion dollar P&Ls, executing complex domestic and global transactions, and leading large teams through inflection points. Prior to joining Upwork, Bright was the Vice President and General Manager of Verticals at eBay and had P&L responsibility for the company’s North America vertical business units.

Bright has been named to Black Enterprise's 2018 List of the Most Influential Blacks in Technology, The Network Journal's 2018 40 Under Forty class, and Savoy Magazine's 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. He is credentialed as an NACD Governance Fellow, and serves on the Board of Directors at Benetech as well as on the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum Advisory Council.

Bright holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a B.A. in Management from Taylor University

Sam Bright

Thomas has a long history of successful web business leadership, having served as CEO at both [OpenTable](/org/opentable) and Metaweb (acquired by Google in 2010) and having co-founded CitySearch, Inc. He is currently a board member for [OpenTable](/org/opentable) and Doxo. A Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, Thomas holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at [Stanford University](/org/stanford) and a BS from the [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill](/org/university-of-north-carolina-at-chapel-hill).

Thomas Layton

Eric leads the sales team at [Upwork](/org/upwork), where he oversees the company`s global sales operations, including enterprise sales, sales engineering, channel development and client success. Prior to joining [Upwork](/org/upwork), he was at [CareerBuilder](/org/cb) for 15 years, where he most recently led the Vertical Sales Group and was responsible for generating over $200 million in global revenue.

Eric holds an MBA from [Southern Methodist University](/org/southern-methodist-university)’s Cox School of Business.

Eric Gilpin

Betsey Nelson

Gary Steele

Greg Gretsch

Kevin Harvey

Leela joined the Upwork Board of Directors in July 2019. She has served as Chief Marketing Officer of SurveyMonkey since April 2018 and leads all marketing functions including brand strategy, growth marketing, product marketing, demand generation, and communications. Previously, she served as Chief Marketing Officer at Lever where she was responsible for all aspects of marketing. Prior to that, Leela served in marketing leadership roles at OpenTable and at LinkedIn within the Talent Solutions business, where she co-founded the Talent Connect conference. She also spent three years in management consulting at Bain & Company, and five years in sales. Leela earned her MBA in general management from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and her MA in history and English literature from the University of Edinburgh in her native Scotland.

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