"Scaling Belonging: The Power of Story and Scrappy Solutions in a Hybrid World"

---

How do you build an inclusive culture where people really belong when your team is everywhere, and sharing the full human experience often falls through the cracks of virtual life? As Chief Culture Officer at Yelp, Miriam Warren has spent years experimenting, listening, and iterating, tapping both data and deeply human stories to help teams connect, care, and thrive.

​

In this keynote, Miriam illustrates how telling and making space for real stories like welcoming back new parents, supporting colleagues through loss, or celebrating personal wins can spark belonging at every level. She will share scale-ready tactics, scrappy playbooks, and low-cost rituals that brought Yelp’s culture to life. These include mission-drive gatherings, manager toolkits, virtual icebreakers, and leader communications that integrate inclusion in approachable ways.

​

Grounded in data but brought to life through narrative, this session shows how anyone, regardless of resources, can be a culture architect. Miriam shares how small, intentional actions by leaders and teams can ripple out, especially in moments of transition or challenge. Attendees will leave feeling empowered by actionable frameworks, and practical ideas to cultivate connection, measure what matters, and model humanity in remote and hybrid workplaces.

​

Participants will leave ready to:​​

1. Design a people-powered structure that activates culture across teams and functions.

2. Scale grassroots culture initiatives into sustainable organizational systems.

3. Strengthen alignment, connection, and psychological safety through shared ownership.

4. Apply a practical framework for driving measurable culture change.

​

Speaker Bio:

Miriam Warren is the Chief Culture Officer at Yelp and Board Chair of the Yelp Foundation. Miriam joined Yelp in 2007, serving in a variety of marketing and operational roles, including leading the company’s expansion efforts internationally as Vice President of New Markets. As Chief Culture Officer at Yelp, Miriam fosters employee connection to the company's mission and values. She leads Yelp’s Culture team and oversees internal communications, the company’s commitment to sustainability and social impact, and the design and execution of employee experiences that have helped Yelp cultivate an inclusive culture where every employee feels a sense of belonging. 

 

Miriam is a frequent speaker and moderator. She has appeared on CNN, Yahoo! Finance, the BBC, CBS News and spoken at Columbia Business School, Yale School of Management, and UCLA Anderson School of Management. Miriam has been quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, and Good Morning America online, among others. She's previously been published in Stanford Social Innovation Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and Fortune.

 

Miriam currently serves on the board of ETR. Previously, she has served on the boards of Common Future, Joshin, Reading Partners, and YTH.