When I joined CloudBees as Culture and Employee Experience Manager in October, I knew I was taking a big leap. I had just come from Zappos where I had spent over 19 years working at a company that was world-famous for its culture and dedication to its customers. I knew it was time for a new challenge, and from my first conversations with people at CloudBees, I could sense this company had something special. What stood out wasn’t just the ambition, it was the intentionality. CloudBees is a company in transformation: AI-first, globally distributed and scaling, and yet, deeply committed to building a Hive that is connected and engaged. The opportunity to harness and scale that energy and care at such a pivotal time was what truly excited me.
That commitment to culture is one of the reasons CloudBees was recently recognized as one of Inc’s Best Workplaces, a validation not just of our benefits but of how our people show up to each other.
In February, as we kick off our fiscal year, we bring together remote Bees across sales, product, and marketing for our annual SKO. This year’s theme took inspiration from the World Cup: “The Pitch is Ours”. The agenda is packed—product deep dives, fireside chats, customer stories, employee recognition. It’s energizing and intense in the best way. Like any great team preparing for a championship season, we aligned on strategy and our playbook and committed to playing as one team.
Outside of shared meals and evening events, we had a small timeslot dedicated to a team-building activity.
That slot was mine to fill.
As someone who thinks about culture every day, I didn’t want to fill it with something that felt transactional or forgettable. I wanted it to reflect who we are. I wanted it to matter.
Performance and purpose are not separate conversations here. When Bees volunteer, we’re not stepping away from work. We’re stepping into our values. We believe giving back to the communities we represent across the globe makes us stronger, not just as a company, but as people.
That belief is the foundation of BeeGiving, our Days of Giving program. Every CloudBees employee receives two paid days each year (on top of our flexible vacation policy) to volunteer with an organization they care about. It’s a simple investment with meaningful impact. In a remote-first, globally distributed company, this is how we build cohesion beyond Google Meet screens and dashboards.
There’s strong evidence behind why this matters. Research from organizations like UCHealth and the Mayo Clinic links volunteering with lower stress, improved mood, and greater overall life satisfaction. Workplace studies like this one from Deloitte show that employees who participate in company-supported volunteer programs report higher engagement and a deeper sense of purpose. You’ll often see the Bees in Slack sharing how they’ve spent their Days of Giving, from caring for abandoned tortoises at a local tortoise shelter, to distributing food hampers to families in need, and volunteering at a local school supporting children with disabilities. It’s culture in motion, not culture on a slide.
So for SKO, we knew the most meaningful way to bring the Bees together was in service of others. We purchased 20 ready-to-build bikes from Bikes for Goodness Sake, a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to share the goodness of bicycles with underprivileged youth through sponsored corporate charity bike build events.
At the end of a long day of SKO content, nearly 100 Bees gathered on a sunny rooftop in San Diego to make it happen. With help from Bikes del Pueblo—a San Diego based charity that empowers marginalized and under-supported communities through bicycle maintenance and access to bicycle tools and parts—we split into teams and got to work assembling bikes and ensuring they met safety standards.
We added a little friendly competition into the mix, awarding the team who built their bike fastest a $5,000 donation to a charity of their choice (they selected the Ronald McDonald House, an organization close to their team member’s heart). Teams spread out with tools and parts, assembling frames, aligning brakes, fastening pedals, adjusting seats. There was laughter. There were brows furrowed in confusion. There was problem-solving. There were moments of intense focus and moments of celebration when a bike was finally complete.
Executives, sellers, marketers, product leaders—all working side by side, using their minds and their hands to build something tangible.
It felt a lot like what SKO is meant to represent: alignment, urgency, collaboration, and shared wins.
And then came my favorite moment.
Seeing the bikes lined up in bright rows across the rooftop as the sun set behind the palm trees.
It’s one thing to talk about collaboration and culture in a conference room. It’s another to see it in action, and to know those bikes are headed to kids at Harriet Tubman Village Charter School who will experience that first ride, that freedom, that confidence. To know that we left San Diego, in our small way, a little better than we found it.
That’s what investing in wellbeing looks like to me.
It’s not just about benefits packages or time off policies. It’s about creating space for purpose. It’s about fostering connection. It’s about giving our people the opportunity to contribute to something bigger than themselves.
If you’re looking for a place where culture is intentional, where giving back is supported, and where you can help scale something special, I’d love for you to check out our careers page.
Because at CloudBees, the Pitch is Ours - and we’re building something worth playing for.