18 Employees Share How They’ve Benefitted From Working for a Company With Strong …

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If you are worried about AI taking your job, you are definitely not the only one — but showing that AI is directly contributing to the employment rate is incredibly difficult. 

While there is a fair amount of research out there that points to the limitations of generative AI models and even talks of being in an AI bubble, the field is developing so rapidly that measuring the likely impact is a bit like racing a bike against a Formula One car. Take the 2025 focus point of numerous AI companies — agentic AI. The software-based AI agents promise AI assistants in the very near future. And when AI agents are working as a cohesive unit — the goal of most AI companies working in the space — they have the potential to reasonably do the work of many remote employees. 

Trying to predict how AI will impact the job market is a constant challenge; which is why the employers that are standing out right now are ones that take workers’ concerns seriously and offer paths for professional development and upskilling to meet the changing needs of the job market. It’s estimated that 89 percent of workers are worried about AI impacting their job security, with 44 percent expecting AI to take over at least some of their tasks in the next five years, according to a 1,000-participant survey by Resume Now, published in the 2025 AI Disruption Report. The survey also asked what kind of training employers are offering their teams to help adapt or even stay ahead of the shift in work; 56 percent of respondents are actively getting AI-related training on the job. The problem is that only 38 percent feel supported in adapting to an AI-driven workplace. 

Companies that take the time to train, upskill and support employees offer the kind of job security that many are searching for. 

Built In spoke with 18 employees who all recently had a promotion or learned a new skill thanks to the internal mobility at their company.

 

General Motors Company is an automotive, robotics, big data and manufacturing company.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I was recently promoted to lead HR technology strategy and operations, covering areas of talent acquisition, onboarding, offboarding and performance management. Moving internally within GM has allowed me to work in three different business functions at GM — IT, HR and identity and access management — and has helped me develop the skills needed to support a diverse group of stakeholders in my current role. 

Over the past 10 years at GM, my work assignments led me to develop an “enterprise thinking” approach — connecting people, processes and technology to deliver various key initiatives and technology projects. My initial roles were more technical — working with data and system architecture. I was able to leverage this technical experience during human capital management implementations and add-on consulting and strategic orientation to my skill set. I embraced opportunities to engage in strategic discussions with leadership and drive innovative solutions to real business challenges.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

These experiences with various functions at GM have naturally prepared me to take on broader leadership responsibilities. I leverage my technology background, consulting skills and strategic orientation to work on adopting new technologies like AI that will shift the way we do work and deliver efficiencies at the enterprise level.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling? 

At GM, there’s a strong focus on career development, where leaders are encouraged to have regular career conversations to help employees align their goals with the skills needed for future roles. I’ve benefited from this growth-focused culture myself and have also supported my team members in transitioning to roles like field HR and change management. It all starts with honest conversations about career aspirations and creating opportunities that support their journey.

Celonis is an analytics company that created Celonis Process Intelligence Platform, which uses process mining and AI to give customers a living digital twin of their business operation.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

At the beginning of the year, I went from being a solution engineer to an applied AI engineer.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

In the new role, we act as a bridge between our product and engineering and go-to-market organizations. We develop innovative AI-powered solutions with customers as well as support the development of our platform’s cutting-edge AI capabilities.

“We develop innovative AI-powered solutions with customers as well as support the development of our platform’s cutting-edge AI capabilities.”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?   

Due to its fast-paced growth, Celonis often operates as a startup within a big company, which creates plenty of exciting opportunities to learn new things or kickstart new career challenges. Celonis actively promotes internal innovation (like the exploration of new domains, technologies), which in turn generates plenty of exciting opportunities to learn new things or kickstart new career challenges. If you’re willing to put your weight on it, they’re up for grabs.

Rapid7 is a cybersecurity company. 

 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change.

Last year, I was excited to be given the opportunity to transfer internally from my role as a product data analyst to the IT department, where I transitioned into the position of IT project manager.

What will this new role or skill let you do?

In this new role as an IT project manager, I have the ability to leverage the analytical experience I developed during my time as a product data analyst, and to expand my project management capabilities by leading high-priority IT initiatives with a structured approach, using standardized methodologies and tools to ensure consistent, on-time delivery. 

I am eager to specialize in project management and further develop the skills required for the role, including the delivery of complex projects, working cross functionally with different teams at Rapid7 and communicating with key stakeholders. 

This transition has been a significant growth opportunity for me, and I am grateful for the support of both my former and new team as I pivot into project management.

“This transition has been a significant growth opportunity for me.”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

Throughout my career at Rapid7, I’ve experienced first hand the company’s strong commitment to internal mobility and professional growth.

I began in the growth strategy rotation program, which gave me a broad view of various business areas, including customer adoption, user experience and support operations. After completing the program, I spent two years honing my analytical skills and product knowledge as a product business analyst.

Most recently, I transitioned into the IT department as a project manager, which has further diversified my career by broadening my understanding of Rapid7’s operations and expanding my project management capabilities.

A key example of Rapid7’s dedication to internal mobility is my transfer in 2022 from the Boston headquarters to the Belfast office. Coming from an Irish-American background, this opportunity to work closer to family was both a personal and professional milestone. I’m grateful to Rapid7 for not only supporting my career development across different roles, but also for giving me the chance to establish a new life in Belfast and further my understanding of the global business landscape.

CSC provides business, legal, tax and digital brand services to companies around the world. 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change.

My role changed in October 2024 — the leadership team was confident I could take on an additional role with the existing global organization and payroll implementation across all regions. This gave me the opportunity to adapt to the new role by enhancing cross-functional knowledge, critical and strategic thinking, collaboration, effective communication and engaging with different leadership and vendors across the APAC region.

What will this new role or skill let you do?

The new role lets me be more flexible and agile and thrive while handling complex situations, acclimating quickly and staying productive.

“The new role lets me be more flexible and agile and thrive while handling complex situations, acclimating quickly and staying productive.”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

CSC has a good internal mobility process and believes employees matter most. The company is committed to fostering a culture of continuous learning and talent mobility, which has helped employees take on global roles. This allows employees to advance their careers within the organization and develop new skills. I’ve seen a few examples of people moving from regional to global roles and doing exceptionally well. The leadership team identifies the skills in employees, provides opportunities to take on new or additional responsibilities, and mentors them to be successful in their new roles while creating a sense of feeling valued and motivated.

iManage develops an intelligent, cloud-enabled, secure knowledge work platform

Tell us about the recent promotion or role change on your team. 

Victor recently transitioned into product management, continuing his career progression within iManage. Having started his iManage journey in customer support in 2017 and making his first internal transfer 2.5 years later into a technical consultant role within our professional services team, Victor has been able to mix his customer-facing experience with his extensive iManage product knowledge to prop himself up for his next interest in product management. 

Although feeling accomplished as a manager of a technical consulting team, the support he received from his manager and the department’s leadership and the affirmation that this mobility remained focused on his development eased his concern about exploring a new role within the company. In his new role as a product manager, Victor has learned more deeply about the art of negotiation. 

“In his new role as a product manager, Victor has learned more deeply about the art of negotiation.”

His skills within support and professional services were focused on enabling our customers. As a product manager, Victor is responsible for fulfilling iManage’s strategy while balancing out the expectations from many external and internal stakeholders: customers and users, engineering, sales, support and more.

What will this new role or skill let Victor do? 

Victor’s new role as a product manager will allow him to drive his vision for the iManage desktop and mobile experience. He will better foster internal relationships and master their dynamics in order to create better products. His work will allow him to develop his negotiation skills to represent company strategy, customer needs and internal teams’ bandwidth to achieve compromised solutions.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

Victor described iManage as having a strong and healthy culture of supporting internal mobility and upskilling. A prime example is his own career progression, starting in customer support eight years ago where he quickly recognized the development opportunities available. 

As he moved from support to professional services, the focus was on building transferable skills and he was able to rise from a technical consultant to manager in just three years. When an internal product manager opportunity arose, he wasn’t actively looking to move but his current manager fully supported the transition, recognizing it aligned with his development and career goals. The PM role was posted internally as a rotation program, so the temporary nature of this role made it an appealing way to explore a new career path. 

Throughout this process, his former manager provided invaluable guidance and encouraged him to keep some managerial responsibilities, allowing him to maintain connections while gaining experience in product management. This level of support and openness from leadership demonstrates the company’s commitment to employee growth and fostering a culture where internal mobility is encouraged and facilitated.

DRW brings sophisticated technology and exceptional people together to solve complex problems in markets around the world. 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I started at DRW in 2020 as a talent acquisition operations specialist, and with the support and mentorship of my colleagues, I advanced to talent acquisition operations lead and later to talent acquisition operations manager, where I led our global talent acquisition operations team. My most recent transition has been an exciting shift from HR to tech as a technical product manager.

Upon transitioning into the technical product manager role, my manager played a crucial role in preparing me for success by guiding me on key areas to study and develop expertise in. Recognizing the importance of training, she also advocated for me to pursue my certified Scrum product owner certification. With the company’s support, I successfully obtained my CSPO certification, which has already been incredibly valuable in my role. It has equipped me with the knowledge and skills to effectively manage product development cycles, prioritize tasks and collaborate with cross-functional teams.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

This transition has opened up endless possibilities for my career, allowing me to explore an entirely new direction for the first time. Having graduated from Indiana University with a degree in human resource management, I have spent my career directly applying that knowledge — until now. Stepping into this role is both exciting and invigorating, as it marks a significant shift in my professional journey. I’m eager to see how my education and experience at DRW will help propel my career forward, and I’m excited to deepen my knowledge of product management, agile methodologies, ServiceNow and other areas. These new skills and experiences will enable me to contribute to projects in ways I hadn’t previously imagined, expanding my professional horizons and creating opportunities for continued growth and discovery.

“This transition has opened up endless possibilities for my career, allowing me to explore an entirely new direction for the first time.” 

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

At DRW, the culture surrounding internal mobility and upskilling is highly supportive and encouraging. Employees are empowered to explore new roles and develop skills aligned with their interests, all within an environment that values continuous learning and career growth. A great example of this is my own transition into the technical product manager role. This opportunity was made possible by various colleagues across the firm who took the time to teach me and believed in my ability to learn something entirely new.

My transition from HR to tech exemplifies DRW’s commitment to fostering internal mobility and professional development. The company not only encourages employees to seek out new opportunities but also provides the resources and guidance needed to succeed, making career growth both possible and actively supported.

Yext is a digital presence platform that allows brands to seamlessly deliver consistent, accurate and engaging experiences and meaningfully connect with customers. 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

Recently, I transitioned from being an individual contributor to managing our solutions engineering team. My previous role focused heavily on technical problem solving, but as a manager, my responsibilities have expanded to include leadership, mentorship and strategic decision making. Now, I guide my team through complex projects, foster collaboration and make sure we’re aligned on both technical and business goals. This shift has challenged me to think beyond individual contributions and focus on empowering my team to grow and succeed.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

Stepping into a management role has strengthened my communication, delegation and leadership skills. I’ve learned how to facilitate clear, open communication among my team and stakeholders, increasing alignment and transparency. Delegation has been a crucial skill — trusting my team with key tasks has boosted efficiency while also fostering their professional development. Most importantly, I’ve developed a deeper sense of empathy, helping me better understand and support my team’s needs, challenges and career aspirations.

“Stepping into a management role has strengthened my communication, delegation and leadership skills.”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

Yext strongly supports internal mobility and upskilling, which has been evident throughout my career here. I’ve transitioned through five different roles across four teams, including a major pivot from an account executive to a solutions engineer. When I expressed an interest in the technical side of sales, Yext provided the training and resources to make that shift possible. Now, as a manager, I prioritize internal talent when hiring, making sure my team continues to grow from within — just as I did.

Immersive provides visibility into an organization’s cyber resilience. 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

In July of 2023 I moved into the role of product manager after having previously worked as a senior human resource business partner for four years with Immersive. I also held  other HR roles for eight years prior to joining the business. In my role as HRBP at Immersive, I worked closely with our technical teams: delivery, product, engineering and the cyber team. I became very interested in their ways of working and the transparency and accountability that they encouraged. I expressed an interest in learning more about what a role in the product team might look like, both to the head of that team and my manager at the time, and they were both incredibly supportive of me exploring this avenue to see if it would be a good fit for me and the existing delivery team. I undertook the Scrum Master qualification and my manager on the people team was incredibly supportive of me developing my project management skills (which I had a natural affinity for) and implementing working processes such as elements of Scrum in the people teams’ workflow, which are traditionally used in technical teams.

“I expressed an interest in learning more about what a role in the product team might look like, both to the head of that team and my manager at the time, and they were both incredibly supportive.”

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

With my Scrum master qualification, my manager’s support has allowed me to transition more easily into a product management role, focusing on elements of product operations, whilst developing product management-specific skills by learning from more senior team members and coaches in the business. I’ve continued to develop my product management skills over the last 18 months, getting more involved with our customer-facing teams to understand customer pain points and how our product can be improved to solve them and add value for customers. 

Relationship-building across the business was a critical part of my role as an HRBP and so set me up well for this element of my new role, as I was able to leverage existing relationships and trust that I had built over the years in my previous role. I’ve spent much of the last 18 months getting to know the product at a granular level, taking on product management responsibility for our BAU team to increase my understanding in as many areas as possible and dedicating time to completing labs on the platform to experience it as a user. This has culminated in delivering my first customer-facing feature: an uplift of our Crisis Sim product’s UI.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

I have had nothing but support when it came to my desire to upskill in areas and subjects that I found particularly interesting and that were naturally suited to my skills, and again nothing but support when that progressed into a desire to change roles within the business. Throughout the process, I felt I was able to be open with my manager at the time and felt that they genuinely wanted me to stay in the business because they saw the impact I could have in my new role. Being on the people team and supporting others in the business through their own role changes was incredibly helpful. I knew it to be completely true that Immersive was supportive of internal mobility and keeping talented individuals in the business regardless of what role they might be in.

Flywire is a global payments enablement and software company. 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I was recently promoted to team lead, global client experience at Flywire. In this role, I am fortunate to manage a passionate global team of specialists and associates. Our team is based in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Singapore and Japan. Together we provide support and training to a global client base. My team is responsible for serving clients across Flywire’s education, travel, healthcare and B2B verticals. This role was a homecoming as I started my Flywire career on the client experience team.

I joined Flywire as a client experience specialist in 2022 after spending a decade in higher education. Within a year, I was promoted to a senior client experience specialist and assisted with escalations and developing new SOPs. In Fall 2023 I was promoted to payment experience team lead for the Americas. In this role I was able to develop strong people management skills, oversee support for key products and collaborate with all aspects of our business.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

The Flywire client experience team supports clients using Flywire’s SaaS products, ensuring a positive user experience through training and support.

In this new role, I will lead our transformation from customer support to customer experience, introducing self-service and AI features to enhance support options, scale efficiently and maintain high service standards.

Key priorities include improving client contact reasons for better data quality, refining contact procedures to engage the right stakeholders and enhancing messaging to improve communication while reducing manual effort.

Additionally, I am privileged to manage and develop a talented team of client experience FlyMates, helping them set goals for both company success and personal career growth. With their deep product knowledge, we will continue to deliver high-quality, effective service to our clients.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

At Flywire, growth and internal promotion are infused within our culture. I joined Flywire with a limited background in customer support. Regardless, Flywire helped me develop critical skills to advance my career. I was fortunate to be promoted within a year of starting with the company. Within two years, I was promoted to a management position, entrusted to manage a talented team and make key decisions. I received extensive support from our Managers Taking Flight program for new managers.

“At Flywire, growth and internal promotion are infused within our culture.”

I feel incredibly fortunate to have made such progress in such a relatively short period of time. From day one, our leadership made it clear that FlyMate development and internal promotion were key parts of our culture. Our OneFlywire internal advancement program is open to all FlyMates who have been with the company for at least a year. The program is very effective at matching existing talent with new opportunities for growth. Several of my team members have also benefited from the program. They advanced to new opportunities throughout the company. The program also serves as a beneficial recruitment incentive that allows us to attract top talent.

HopSkipDrive is a technology company that solves complex transportation challenges through the HopSkipDrive marketplace, which supplements school buses and existing transportation options by connecting kids to highly vetted caregivers on wheels.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I discovered HopSkipDrive while researching safe transportation options for my children, and I immediately knew I wanted to be part of the company’s mission. My journey with HopSkipDrive began in a CareDriver support role. Over the past 2.5 years, I have taken on several positions. As a monitor program senior specialist on the safe ride support team, I managed the workflow for accounts requiring monitors for their students. In my role as implementation associate, I onboarded clients and closely monitored their accounts to ensure their success. As implementation manager, I focused on the success of high-performing accounts, providing 90 days of support and monitoring to ensure the successful completion of the implementation phase.

I recently transitioned into the position of metro service manager. This position uniquely combines responsibilities that bridge implementation, customer success and ongoing operations. My focus is on streamlining service delivery to ensure we consistently offer a top-tier experience for our clients. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to HopSkipDrive’s continued success in this new capacity!

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

This role is new to me and our company, making it an exciting opportunity to help shape its development. I’ll have the chance to establish clear guidelines and expectations defining the role moving forward. Specifically, the metro service manager role will allow me to build strong, trusting relationships with clients, enabling me to understand their needs better and provide tailored solutions. By forming these deeper connections, I can ensure a more personalized and responsive service, ultimately helping our clients achieve their goals more effectively.

“By forming these deeper connections, I can ensure a more personalized and responsive service, ultimately helping our clients achieve their goals more effectively.” 

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

HopSkipDrive’s focus on internal mobility is something I had never experienced before. Coming from a background in the public sector, where growth opportunities were pretty limited, I was really impressed by how much the company invests in its people. From learning stipends to career coaching, HopSkipDrive really supports professional growth. I started in an entry-level role, and within just two years — thanks to hard work and the support of my managers — I’ve had the chance to take on several different positions. I’m super grateful for all the opportunities HopSkipDrive has given me to grow and move forward in my career.

 

Firsthand helps individuals with serious mental illness engage with behavioral health, social support and healthcare.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I started out as a health guide in our organization. A health guide is a nurse practitioner that sees individuals and assesses, diagnoses and treats medical conditions. I was then promoted to director of community operations and started overseeing the day-to-day operations of our community teams, member engagement and achieving goals by managing programs and initiatives. I also fostered a culture that built values, beliefs and behaviors that define the organization work environment. The company recognized my skills in building culture and offered me a role as acting cultural ambassador so that I can help build that culture company-wide.

“The company recognized my skills in building culture and offered me a role as acting cultural ambassador so that I can help build that culture company-wide.”

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

This new role as acting cultural ambassador will allow me to assess employee engagement, loyalty and tolerance for change. It will allow me to have a positive impact on employee retention as I identify and improve toxic workplace practices. It will also allow me to collaborate with other leaders to develop new strategies to continue fostering a work culture that firsthand collectively wishes to achieve.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling? 

Firsthand encourages internal mobility and upskilling. When they recognize an employee has a skill set they attempt to move that person in that position to enhances that skill set. An example: I supervised a firsthand guide who is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. She was excellent at teaching her coworkers the skills they needed to do the job. Once this skill was identified, firsthand created a role for her as a training specialist where she is thriving and doing a fantastic job at training on a more district level.

Upside is a technology company that increases the financial power of people and businesses in the real world. 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I started at Upside in 2020 as a chief of staff for Wayne Lin, a role that gave me broad visibility into the company’s strategy, product and cross-functional teams. I learned about the unique challenge of growing a two-sided marketplace business and collaborated with teammates across product, operations, sales and marketing to drive forward complex initiatives.

After 2.5 years, I transitioned to a product manager role, where I had the opportunity to go deep rather than broad and have a more direct hand in delivering value for consumers and retailers.

And over the last 1.5 years, I’ve worked on the technical integrations and UX to power our Pay with Upside feature, as well as a major redesign that gives users more choice in how they earn their cash back. This work led to my recent promotion to senior product manager focusing on our entire discovery experience.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

My transition to product management has been full of learning — how to ensure the products we build support our company strategy, the technology we use (and its limitations) in order to work effectively with engineering and how to rigorously prioritize based on goals, capacity and projected impact.

Stepping into a senior PM role means I’ll have a bigger playground on which to play! I’ll rely on the collaboration, communication and execution skills I’ve already developed to begin influencing the strategic direction of our discovery experience and our consumer app overall. I’m particularly excited by the challenge of building discovery features capable of adapting to each user’s unique situation: their preferences, their habits and the specific offers around them.

“I’m particularly excited by the challenge of building discovery features capable of adapting to each user’s unique situation.”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

My career at Upside is a testament to its strong culture of supporting internal mobility. When I first expressed interest in transitioning out of chief of staff, my former manager suggested product management to me! Despite my hesitation (read: imposter syndrome), he assured me that if it wasn’t the right fit, we would find something else. That gave me all the confidence I needed to take the leap knowing I’d be supported every step of the way — and I was! I am endlessly grateful to my former manager, my fellow PMs and my engineering and design partners, all of whom had a hand in showing me what it looks like to be a great PM.

If you earn the trust of those around you through high performance, the sky’s the limit! I’ve seen coworkers transition from sales to accounts, from analytics to product, from strategy to marketing and more. In some cases, we have even created brand new roles to facilitate an internal transition. Upside genuinely invests in helping people grow, whether that’s through internal training, mentorship programs or simply fostering an environment where people feel empowered to explore new career paths.

LogicGate is a cloud IT company that develops solutions for risk management and compliance. 

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I recently transitioned from a role in professional services to solutions engineering at LogicGate. In my previous role, I led projects to implement, update and scale applications for our existing customers. Now, I focus on demonstrating our platform’s capabilities to prospective customers to help win deals and drive expansion. Leveraging my hands-on experience in the platform, I now provide tailored recommendations and act as a trusted advisor to those exploring our solution.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

This role change has given me a new perspective by shifting my focus to the pre-sales component of the customer journey. I’ve gained valuable insights into what motivates customers to invest in our solution and how we can best demonstrate its value to meet their needs. Being in a sales role has been both exciting and challenging, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the direct impact of my work on our company’s growth.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling? 

LogicGate fosters a culture of internal mobility by providing employees with the tools and support they need to grow and transition into new roles. One of our core values, “embrace curiosity,” has always been a personal favorite because it encourages employees to continuously learn and explore new opportunities.

LogicGate also provides formal development opportunities such as our internal mentorship program. My involvement in this program allowed me to connect with a mentor on the solutions engineering team after I expressed interest in transitioning into that role. This early exposure helped me gain insights and first-hand knowledge before a position even became available. When an opportunity on the team eventually opened up, I felt well prepared to step into the role of associate solutions engineer this past fall.

AirDNA is a provider of data and business intelligence for the billion-dollar travel and vacation rental industry.

Tell us about a new skill you have learned with the support of your company. 

One of the most valuable skills I’ve developed with the support of my company is leading a remote team. When the company acquired another business, I had the opportunity to take on leadership of their customer support team. The team is fully remote, which was a completely new challenge for me!

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

This experience has made me a more versatile leader, pushing me to develop new strategies to engage, motivate and support a team entirely online. It’s strengthened my ability to foster connection and productivity without in-person interactions.

“This experience has made me a more versatile leader, pushing me to develop new strategies to engage, motivate and support a team entirely online.”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

Our company has a great culture when it comes to internal growth and skill development. I’ve been able to grow naturally within the company, thanks to the support of my manager and the People Operations team. Many of the colleagues I started with have also advanced or been promoted within the company. I’m passionate about encouraging career growth within my own team as well and I actively facilitate upskilling opportunities. This is something that is also reinforced by our company’s professional development budget and ongoing learning opportunities.

InStride is a human capital management company that delivers workforce education solutions.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I came to InStride as a way to change careers. I spent almost a decade in K-12 education as a teacher, reading specialist and leadership development coach. Joining InStride as a workforce solutions manager, I had one goal: learn how to transfer my leadership skills into a new sector.

I’ve sometimes struggled with imposter syndrome as a woman of color in the workplace, particularly since leaving the world of K-12 education. My recent promotion to senior manager of Workforce Solutions and Learning Strategy is the validation and reminder that leadership isn’t one dimensional and industry bound. The skills I honed as a teacher and leadership coach — strategic thinking, data-informed decision making, relationship building, systems thinking, effective communication — are the same skills I needed to be successful at InStride. My promotion has positioned me to develop them further. It has also helped me lean into my strengths in individualization, relationship building and empathy to help our organization build a refined learning strategy that addresses the unique business needs of our corporate partners and the evolving needs of our employee learners.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

I’m so excited for the new role I’ll be taking on as the senior manager of workforce solutions and learning strategy because it allows me to strategically build a vision and roadmap for our learning catalog and innovative workforce education solutions, such as Career Education Paths and Skill Paths. The role also provides me an opportunity to manage a direct report, our learning operations analyst, who oversees ongoing maintenance and day-to-day operations of that catalog.

She and I complement each other nicely, and as our operations expert, she brings technical expertise and has an eye for building documentation with a strong UX design focus. One of the first things we did collaboratively was audit our internal team documentation and job descriptions to structure our work in a way that plays to our strengths and allows us to learn from each other’s skill sets. I look forward to continuing to find ways to both grow my skill sets and find ways for my direct report to strengthen and highlight hers.

“I look forward to continuing to find ways to both grow my skill sets and find ways for my direct report to strengthen and highlight hers.”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

Early in my time at InStride, our chief strategy and solutions officer shared her outlook on internal mobility. She said, “the beauty of a startup is you can build your own roles. If you see a need that the company has and tell us what you want to do, we can build a pathway.”

I took that to heart and began connecting with my manager about developing my long-term interest in L&D. After this, she sought out opportunities for me to get involved. For example, I recently spent 14 weeks working on a leadership development program for one of our healthcare partners. This wouldn’t normally fall under my purview but gave me hands-on experience conducting client interviews and constructing a competency model for their program.

The challenge (and opportunity) of internal mobility and upskilling is that you must be clear about your career goals and ask for the support you need to achieve them. My manager and my broader team are approachable and highly invested in my growth and they take a flexible, innovative approach to developing talent. In my new role, I intend to pay this forward and apply my five years of leadership development coaching experience to unlock career mobility for others.

Flatfile helps developers to build the ideal file import user experience and turn “flat” files into API-ready data.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

My recent promotion to producer means I am responsible for all sales communications and the entire prospect experience, ensuring every prospect is managed correctly.

In this role, we embody extreme communication. Even if we have 100-plus prospects to email daily, we do it. Process building is of the essence; no matter the volume of interest in Flatfile, we are situated to handle every prospect effectively. We optimize for training and coaching, ensuring that each team member has clear responsibilities and is fully supported. And lastly, leadership, we identify areas where we can improve on how we do things today and build the system around this to support new initiatives.

“In this role, we embody extreme communication. Even if we have 100-plus prospects to email daily, we do it.”

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

With each new skill, there are two key measurable outcomes.

The first is how much my team feels supported, with clarity on what they do. The second is how prospects feel from beginning to end when working with us, regardless of whether they convert.

People are any business’s primary asset and stress primarily comes from uncertainty. Therefore, my team feels they know what they need to do, so they can articulate additional initiatives around existing ways of doing things. In addition, as we work with many prospects daily, we collect feedback on where to improve the experience.

Combining these two measurable outcomes allows us to establish a supportive process toward prospects and motivates the team to follow and improve regularly.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

Opportunities for upskilling in Flatfile are easy to find and genuinely are limitless.

As a fast-growing company, we are always in a good position to have more work to do than people to do it. With that, there are many opportunities to identify where additional ownership can be assumed and do the work to ace it. With new responsibilities come new skills that are outside of our primary work. Taking the initiative at Flatfile is a core value; improving existing skills and developing new ones is easy.

As a producer, I am not responsible for leading demo calls but rather for ensuring that throughout the sales process, all internal teams have the information they need to complete their part during the sales cycle. As a result, a prospect has a wholesome experience. However, as our CEO was taking all demo calls, I realized that the best way for me to understand how to support prospects is to own the first calls with them and fully grasp their needs and use cases. That way, I can train additional people on my team to do so. Today, I own up to 16 demo calls daily, and I understand how we can support prospects better than ever.

NinjaHoldings is a fintech and automation company that develops solutions for the consumer finance industry.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I had the opportunity to transition from the finance department to becoming the head of growth strategy working alongside the president of NinjaLending.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

My focus in this new role is driving high-impact growth initiatives, leveraging skills from my background in growth equity investing and investment  banking, while continuing to develop new skills.

skills.

“My focus in this new role is driving high-impact growth initiatives”

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling?  

NinjaHoldings is very supportive of internal mobility and upskilling. Managers and leadership work with you to provide opportunities and work you’re most interested in.

Ingage software enables every team to create engaging on-brand content, share it with the people who need it and measure the impact so they can win.

Tell us about your recent promotion or role change. 

I was promoted to content marketing manager after spending two years at Ingage as a digital marketing manager. Over that time, I had the opportunity to expand my skill set — diving deeper into content strategy, HubSpot and brand messaging — all of which have prepared me for this next step. It’s exciting to see how impactful content can be in shaping a brand’s voice and driving engagement, and I’m excited to take on a more strategic role in leading that direction.

What will this new role or skill let you do? 

In this role, I’ll be overseeing the entire content strategy for Ingage, ensuring that everything — from our sales materials to social media ads — aligns with our brand’s voice and messaging. It’s a big responsibility but also an exciting opportunity to shape how we communicate with our audience. Whether it’s crafting compelling stories, refining our messaging or developing resources that empower our sales team, I get to make sure that every piece of content works together to drive engagement and growth.

How would you describe the culture of internal mobility and upskilling? 

Ingage strongly values upskilling and internal mobility, encouraging team members to continuously grow and explore new opportunities within the company. As a startup, we sometimes encounter gaps that need to be filled, and what’s great is that our team is often able to step up, take on new challenges and advance their careers in the process.

“As a startup, we sometimes encounter gaps that need to be filled, and what’s great is that our team is often able to step up, take on new challenges and advance their careers in the process.”

For example, I’ve seen colleagues transition into new roles that better align with their evolving skills and interests. In my own experience, I was able to expand my expertise in content strategy and marketing automation before stepping into my current role as content marketing manager.

Beyond role transitions, Ingage actively supports professional development — whether it’s attending industry-specific conferences, participating in webinars or pursuing certifications in tools like HubSpot and project management. The company not only encourages learning but also ensures we have the time and resources to invest in our growth. It’s a culture that truly prioritizes learning, adaptability and career progression.