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 programmes 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 programme design, strategy and execution, building and optimising 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 programme strategy with business needs through thoughtful design, change management and executive engagement—making her a key player in shaping scalable, effective client programmes.

 
Laura Shanley
Employee Experience Advisor
Laura Shanley

A trusted expert in programme implementation and optimization, Laura Shanley has led Awardco initiatives from the client side and now consults for multiple organisations 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 Centre 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

As Awardco’s Global COE Lead, Sarah Marrs combines academic insight with real-world experience to help clients create high-impact, evidence-based programmes. With nine years at Qualtrics leading EX strategy for global enterprises and a doctorate in Evidence-Based HR in progress, Sarah brings both credibility and creativity to every initiative. Her passion for organisational psychology and hands-on collaboration makes her a driving force behind the COE’s mission to elevate the employee experience at every stage.

 
ShaNae McCleskey
Director, Technical Account Services
ShaNae McCleskey

As Director of Technical Account Services, ShaNae McCleskey brings cross-functional expertise in technical implementation, client management and operational delivery. With a background spanning enterprise rollouts, emergency services, education and wellbeing industries, ShaNae is uniquely equipped to manage complexity with precision and care. Her ability to lead with clarity and anticipate client needs makes her an invaluable resource to the COE—bridging strategy and execution for seamless, scalable outcomes.

 

Centre of Excellence services

Providing tailored guidance on rewards budgeting, programme 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 programmes, 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 programmes
  • Deep product knowledge paired with benchmark-driven insights
  • Focused solutions that deliver measurable business impact
Tailored programme advisory and business consultation
Every organisation 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 modelling, 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 organisations. Through research, community and client collaboration, we help build programmes 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
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
Hertz
 
 
We think a lot about our frontline employees. They're the ones that make us who we are and drive our business, and we wanted to make sure they knew we appreciated them. Awardco does that.
Annasuela Fritz
HR Projects and Recognition Manager
TaylorMade
 
 
When you have employees working hard from home juggling family responsibilities, and yet still being physically separate from their team, a simple birthday message and gift they get to pick out creates a meaningful touchpoint, and allows them to take a moment for themselves.
Rosie Scannell
Global HR
Aptive Environmental
 
 
With Awardco we now have more visibility into our incentive budgets than ever, and can be more judicious about our incentive spend.
Lacy Andersen
Project Manager
PMG
 
 
When employees feel seen and appreciated, they’re more engaged and engagement drives performance. Using Awardco helps leaders and managers recognise impact in real time and that momentum drives continued and lasting success.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Senior Associate
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
Americare Senior Living
 
 
Thanks to Christi and the Awardco Center of Excellence, we now have a strong thought partner that shares new and different strategies to help us further elevate the Americare recognition experience. We have tested the market, and this collaborative consultation and creative problem solving from recognition practitioners differentiates Awardco. In practice, it has built our confidence that we have business partners who are sincerely invested in helping us take recognition from being a perk to a powerful strategic driver that delivers tangible impact.
Sarah Mazzocco
Chief People Officer
Cinemark
 
 
Awardco significantly enhances employee engagement and helps our employees feel valued and appreciated, leading to higher morale. Offering customizable recognition programmes for Cinemark and a wide range of awards helps align with our employees' interests and ensures that all employees, from theatre staff to management, feel valued and appreciated.
Ann O'Keefe
Director of Benefits
Southwest Gas Corporation
 
 
Awardco has offered customisability that allows us to cater to our employees' needs and recognise what they are doing and change it as the environment changes as well.
Eric Crow
Administrator, Risk Management and Safety
Beckman Coulter
 
 
Change management was a concern when exploring new vendors. However, our leadership, HR, and associates have smoothly transitioned to Awardco, and they appreciate its straightforward and intuitive design, which surpasses the complexities of previous platforms.
Kerie Rogers
HR Operations Leader
TaylorMade
 
 
Awardco is the perfect platform for our employee recognition programme. It supports our unique employee culture and community.
Rosie Scannell
Global HR
Alera Group
 
 
Awardco is central to our strategy around helping people feel connected across the organisation 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 recognise 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 organisation.
Kristie White
Organisational Development
MagnaFlow
 
 
Our turnover definitely went down after implementing Awardco, especially compared to the previous year. We've noticed that recognition, along with rewards like Amazon items and prepaid Visa cards, has had a big impact on retention without being a huge cost to the company.
Sonia Magdaleno
Talent and Engagement Specialist
Texas Roadhouse
 
 
We needed something to unify our recognition programmes for all our different locations, and we found that and more with Awardco.
Storey O'Barr
Recognition and Communications Specialist
Velsera
 
 
What I love most is the reporting aspect. It's something that reinforces the impact of Awardco, and it shows that the work we're doing is paying off.
Marko Zecevic
Employee Experience Manager

Personalised 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.