Centre of excellence

Your trusted partner in strategy design

Awardco’s Centre of Excellence brings together industry-leading experts, strategic advisors, and hands-on practitioners to elevate recognition programs and drive client success at scale.

meet our team

Leaders in strategy,
partners in success

With decades of global experience, the COE delivers tailored support in program design, strategy, and execution, building and optimizing proven solutions that drive real results.

Cali Hyde
Head of Strategic Accounts
Cali Hyde

With over nine years of experience in SaaS and professional services, Cali Hyde brings strategic depth and business acumen to the Centre of Excellence. Currently Awardco’s Head of Strategic Sales, Cali has led enterprise sales, proposal strategy, and global development across markets in both the U.S. and Europe. Her cross-functional leadership and passion for scalable, strategic solutions make her an essential voice in aligning COE initiatives with client needs and business growth.

 
Chantale Callingham
VP of Client Success
Chantale Callingham

Chantale Callingham is Vice President of Client Success and leads Awardco’s Centre of Excellence, bringing 15+ years of experience in SaaS and enterprise strategy. A certified PMP and MBA, she’s known for people-first leadership, building inclusive global teams, and driving measurable impact. Chantale’s career includes roles at Fortune 500s and leading tech firms, always focused on transforming customer experiences. Passionate about equity, belonging, and innovation, she challenges the status quo and fosters strategic partnerships to scale meaningful workplace recognition and culture.

 
Christi Gilhoi
Corp. Integration - Emp. Experience
Christi Gilhoi

Christi is an Employee Experience executive with leadership roles at Qualcomm, Okta, and Cisco, bringing deep expertise in building and scaling global recognition programs for organizations of 40,000+ employees. With hands-on experience across the full program lifecycle—from business case development and securing executive buy-in to change management and successful launches—she understands the client perspective inside and out. Now consulting with Team Awardco, Christi serves as a practitioner resource, helping clients drive meaningful employee engagement and operational excellence through strategic recognition initiatives.

 
Katie Bundy
Rewards & Recognition Leader
Katie Bundy

Katie Bundy brings deep strategic expertise to the Centre of Excellence after 17 years at J.P. Morgan, where she led initiatives across Sales, Finance, and Employee Experience. She co-led the rollout of Awardco’s platform to 290,000+ global employees, boosting recognition satisfaction by 17%. Katie’s strength lies in aligning program strategy with business needs through thoughtful design, change management, and executive engagement—making her a key player in shaping scalable, effective client programs.

 
Laura Shanley
Employee Experience Advisor
Laura Shanley

A trusted expert in program implementation and optimization, Laura Shanley has led Awardco initiatives from the client side and now consults for multiple organizations navigating complex launches. With hands-on experience from Okta, DocuSign, and Qualcomm, Laura brings unmatched insight into the nuances of R&R vendors and platform design. Her ability to build scalable, efficient programmes on tight timelines makes her an essential partner in delivering client success through the COE.

 
Nick Frazier
Senior Director of CS & Ops
Nick Frazier

Nick Frazier serves as Senior Director of Client Success and Operations for Awardco EMEA, bringing years of operational expertise and global leadership to the Center of Excellence. With a background in human resource management, data analytics, and a tenure of over seven years at Awardco, Nick has played a pivotal role in scaling service operations across regions. His strategic oversight and cross-functional insight into client success operations help the COE deliver scalable, sustainable processes that meet the evolving needs of a global customer base.

 
Sarah Marrs
Centre of Excellence Global Lead
Sarah Marrs

Sarah is a global lead on Awardco’s Centre of Excellence, advising organizations on reward and recognition strategy while researching its impact on employee behavior. An organizational psychologist with 15+ years’ experience, she is completing a doctorate in Evidence-Based HR at Birkbeck University, London. Sarah spent nine years at Qualtrics, guiding EX solution design for major global clients, and earlier held employee-insight roles at Tesco, Hay Group, and Kenexa. A member of the British Psychological Society, she also holds a master’s in Work and Organizational Behavior from Dublin City University.

 
ShaNae McCleskey
Director, Technical Account Services
ShaNae McCleskey

ShaNae is Director of Technical Account Services at Awardco, where she builds and leads high-performing technical teams that support the company’s largest global clients. A Six Sigma–certified leader with a BS from UVU, she is also a key contributor to Awardco’s Centre of Excellence, driving process optimization, innovation, and strategic insights. ShaNae specializes in crafting sustainable technology solutions that elevate employee satisfaction while championing people-first initiatives. Committed to psychological safety, she cultivates workplaces where employees can challenge ideas openly, bring their authentic selves to work, and fuel a culture of continuous innovation.

 

Centre of Excellence services

Providing tailored guidance on rewards budgeting, program deployment, implementation, and much more to ensure impactful employee experiences.

Strategic expertise rooted in real-world success
Backed by real-world experience leading global recognition programs, our team pairs deep product expertise with benchmark-driven insights to deliver strategic guidance that drives measurable results.
You receive:
  • Strategic guidance backed by experience leading global recognition programs
  • Deep product knowledge paired with benchmark-driven insights
  • Focused solutions that deliver measurable business impact
Tailored program advisory and business consultation
Every organization is at a different stage in its recognition journey, which is why we offer tailored consultation, including ROI strategies, business case development, governance and budget modeling, communication planning, and global stakeholder alignment.
You receive:
  • Support for every stage of the recognition journey
  • Custom strategies aligned to business goals and scale
  • Guidance across ROI, governance, communication, and adoption
Research-backed strategy
Recognition transforms organizations. Through research, community, and client collaboration, we help build programs that inspire, connect, and grow with the business.
You receive:
  • Insights driven by industry research and client collaboration
  • Program design rooted in connection, growth, and evolution
  • Access to a community of practitioners and proven best practices
PMG
 
 
Companies that invest in recognition are seen as people-centric. When people feel appreciated for their contributions and are truly engaged, they’re more innovative, more creative, and more willing to think beyond the status quo. This elevates work, fuels stronger business outcomes and can foster deeper customer relationships.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead
PMG
 
 
Since joining, I’ve found myKudos [Awardco] posts to be a great way to learn what others are doing across the agency. I’ve even picked up ideas from shoutouts that I’ve been able to implement on my own accounts. It’s more than recognition—it’s a source of inspiration.
Colby Green
Paid Social Senior Associate
PMG
 
 
When employees feel seen and appreciated, they’re more engaged and engagement drives performance. Using Awardco helps leaders and managers recognize impact in real time and that momentum drives continued and lasting success.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead
Southwest Gas Corporation
 
 
Awardco has offered customizability that allows us to cater to our employees' needs and recognize what they are doing and change it as the environment changes as well.
Eric Crow
Administrator, Risk Management and Safety
Amur Equipment Finance
 
 
We recently pulled an in-platform report to check on usage, and then we reached out to people individually to improve adoption—especially managers. Since then, engagement has been significantly higher, and our culture of recognition is growing—even our executives are recognizing.
Hannah Fagan
Human Resource Leader
CloudFit Software
 
 
Awardco has provided significant time savings. Our previous program was clunky, manual, and time consuming. Now, with the automation capabilities available through Awardco, my team saves 5-8 hours a week!
Kymberlee Stephens
Director of Employee Experience and Wellness
TaylorMade
 
 
Awardco is the perfect platform for our employee recognition program. It supports our unique employee culture and community.
Rosie Scannell
Global HR
Ultradent Products
 
 
Modern recognition with Awardco has created an ecosystem of appreciation. What we've found, as employees have recognized each other, is that they're motivated long term. Employees want to enjoy their work and be successful, and if we recognize them for their success, they'll know they're doing a great job and can improve every single day.
David Alsop
CHRO
Quick Quack Car Wash
 
 
Awardco has made employees' lives easier. Working outside in the elements with the customers can be tough, but being recognized, seen, heard, and valued makes it easier.
Christina Castro
Training Leader
Texas Roadhouse
 
 
We needed something to unify our recognition programs for all our different locations, and we found that and more with Awardco.
Storey O'Barr
Recognition and Communications Specialist
SEF Energy
 
 
Awardco allows everything to support our core values and our mission, which is very important to us because that strengthens our culture.
Lauren Long
HR Operations Manager
Alera Group
 
 
Awardco is central to our strategy around helping people feel connected across the organization in the work that they do. Our strength is that we have diversity across all our offices. So collaboration may be the soul of a layer group, that tie that binds our unique cultures together. But we really want to celebrate and recognize the diversity across our offices, and that is our strength. Awardco helps us create that visible platform for everybody to see the good work and the unique ways that people are solving problems around the organization.
Kristie White
Organizational Development
All Access Staging and Productions
 
 
We wanted to make recognition easy and exciting for our blue collar workers to participate in, and Awardco's capabilities have made that possible.
Mason Ongarato
HR Software & Employee Benefits Expert
Children's Nebraska
 
 
[Awardco] was something that was easy to use. I knew that healthcare provider's first priority is their patient, so how do we make it so easy that they can participate and still make sure that they're still taking care of the patient.
Madeline Quinn
Employee Experience Manager
Children's Nebraska
 
 
Some of the great stories that we've read are how impactful all of the team members have been to help the children feel better, it's showing our team members how impactful they are.
Jill Kudron
Patient Experience

Personalized advice from experts in the field

Awardco’s Centre of Excellence is designed to provide you with the guidance you need from experts you trust.