Hayden Brown is president and CEO of Upwork, the world’s work marketplace, where small businesses through Fortune 100 companies and highly skilled independent professionals from 180 countries connect and work together. Hayden joined Upwork in 2011 as a product manager and held roles running Upwork’s marketplace business, as CPO and as CMO before being named CEO in January 2020.

Hayden is driven by her passion for delivering Upwork’s mission to create economic opportunities so that people have better lives. Under her leadership, Upwork has vastly expanded its product portfolio, and today, she is animated about leveraging cutting-edge technology, including AI, to make work easier and more delightful for professionals and businesses alike. Most recently she oversaw the introduction of Uma, Upwork's Mindful AI, a powerful AI companion designed to help businesses and freelancers every step of the way across the Upwork experience.

During her time with the company, Upwork has grown from $10 million to more than $700 million in annual revenues, and from $100 million in Gross Services Volume to more than $4 billion in Gross Services Volume annually. Upwork’s workforce, now numbering more than 2500 team members, has always been made up of ~75% freelancers working remotely from around the world on the Upwork platform.

After receiving an AB in politics at Princeton, Hayden started her career at McKinsey and Company as a business analyst, where she fell in love with tech. She joined Microsoft’s online strategy team and then the company’s corporate strategy group, before starting the corporate development function at LivePerson prior to joining Upwork (then oDesk). She has been named to Forbes’ Future of Work 50, SIA's Staffing 100 North America and Global Power 150 Women in Staffing lists, and was at the helm when Upwork was named one of TIME’s Most Influential Companies. When she’s not working remotely from somewhere new, she resides in the Bay Area with her 2 children.

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At this year’s Zoomtopia, we are celebrating. Why? Because we finally have the tools that will empower everyone. On September 17, we will come together to celebrate our connection. We will remind ourselves that we create these tools to build our happiness. Come meet the disrupters, dreamers and builders who are putting people first and rewriting the Rules of Work, Connection & Culture. Zoomtopia ‘25: For the People.