The Syndio Story

We were founded on the belief that organizations must do more than say employees are their most valuable asset. Using our technology to empower, data to inform, and expertise to inspire, we help some of the world's leading companies prove it — to employees, regulators, investors, and themselves.

Welcome to Syndio — the home of workplace equity.

At Syndio, we help modern companies embed workplace equity into their core business so they can achieve enduring success. We identify pay gaps in seconds and constantly measure employee opportunity and representation so you can build diverse and dynamic teams throughout your entire organization. With a dedicated staff of proven leaders, data scientists, legal experts, and customer advocates by your side, we will help you promote, retain, and compensate your employees. Without bias.

The only way to achieve equity in the workplace is to do it together. So come join us, and start building your future workplace today.

Our Mission

We are on a mission to build expert-backed technology that helps companies measure, achieve, and sustain workplace equity.

Meet the Leaders

Maria Colacurcio

Maria Colacurcio

Chief Executive Officer

Maria Colacurcio

Chief Executive Officer


Maria Colacurcio is passionate about helping companies build equitable workplaces where every worker is valued for who they are and their contributions.

Colacurcio is CEO of Syndio, a SaaS startup helping companies around the world create an equitable workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. Prior to Syndio, she co-founded Smartsheet.com, which went public in 2018, and spent four years at Starbucks, one of the first Fortune 50 companies to go public with pay equity results. Having started her career working on congressional campaigns, she has a long history of mission-driven work, and a compassionate and competitive attitude to spur change.

Colacurcio serves on the alliance of experts of Fair Pay Workplace and has been named one of the 100 most exceptional entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs Builders + Innovators Summit for two consecutive years. A total shoo-in for Hamilton, she holds a BA in History and Political Science from Whitworth University, where she minored in music and studied vocal opera.

As a CEO, Colacurcio is walking the walk on eradicating workplace inequities. In our Zoom-centric world, she was able to raise a $17.1 million Series B investment in January 2021 while 8 months pregnant. Today, you can find her working from home, with her husband and seven kids.

Katie Bardaro

Katie Bardaro

Chief Customer Officer

Katie Bardaro

Chief Customer Officer

Katie Bardaro is one of the country’s leading experts on the intersection of pay equity, data analytics, and labor economics. As Syndio’s Chief Customer Officer, Katie possesses a decade of experience in compensation data, statistical analytics, and public speaking. She has provided pay equity analyses and commentary for the nation’s top business and financial outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Economist, CNBC, CNNMoney, USA Today, Forbes, and Business Insider. She reads these publications voraciously over coffee whenever she’s not traveling to be a featured speaker at international events such as Montreal’s C2, multiple World at Work Pay Equity Symposiums, and the 100% Talent Wage Gap Summit.

Prior to her tenure at Syndio, Katie was the Vice President of Data Analytics at Payscale where she provided groundbreaking thought leadership and research on compensation to media, customers, consumers and research outlets all across the country. Before that, she took it easy and taught macro and microeconomics at the University of Washington.

A passionate economist, data nerd, and mom, Katie is willing to travel far and wide in the pursuit of improving equity in the workplace. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the College of Holy Cross and a Masters of Science in Economics from the University of Washington.

Doug Aspland, CFO, Syndio

Doug Aspland

Chief Revenue Officer

Doug Aspland

Chief Revenue Officer

As Syndio’s Chief Revenue Officer, Doug Aspland brings more than two decades of experience developing sales strategy, scaling teams, and establishing new revenue streams.

Prior to joining Syndio, Doug was Global Vice President for Calm Business, an industry-leading solution for employee mental health, and built a career scaling sales organizations for leading SaaS platforms including Udemy, Box, Workday, and Salesforce.

An avid outdoor adventurer, Doug recharges by playing with his two sons and challenging himself on runs, bike rides, and hikes.

He holds a Bachelor's Degree in History and Philosophy and completed the Gateway to Business program at Georgetown University.

Milan Parikh

Milan Parikh

Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer

Milan Parikh

Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer

As Syndio’s Chief Financial Officer, Milan Parikh brings three decades of private and public company finance and operations experience and an expertise and passion for helping mission-driven, category-creating companies scale and grow.

Prior to joining Syndio, Milan Parikh was Chief Financial Officer at MATRIXX, a global telecommunications software company. Over the course of his career, Milan has served as CFO at leading technology companies at various stages in the entertainment, wireless communications, digital media, and enterprise software industries, managing over $400 million in public and private financings and M&A transactions.

When Milan’s not ensuring companies take a fair and balanced approach to compensation, you can find him spending time with his wife and two daughters, playing tennis, and experiencing live music.

Milan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from University of California, Berkeley.

Mitali Pattnaik

Mitali Pattnaik

Chief Product Officer

Mitali Pattnaik

Chief Product Officer

Mitali has spent more than 20 years building large-scale consumer and enterprise products at some of the most innovative and successful tech companies including LinkedIn, Google, Twitter, Yahoo, and Microsoft.

Most recently, as Senior Director and Head of Product Management for LinkedIn’s Sales Solutions business, she drove a complete transformation of LinkedIn Sales Navigator into a #DeepSales engine that leverages AI and the power of LinkedIn's proprietary data to enable sellers to reach the right buyers at the right time. Mitali is also an angel investor and advisor to startups, with a particular focus on female and underrepresented founders.

She lives in San Francisco and takes full advantage of everything the Bay Area has to offer – long hikes, bike rides, live music, and wine tasting. Mitali holds a BA in Computer Science and Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College and an MBA from London Business School.

Rob PORCARELLI

Rob Porcarelli

Chief Legal Officer &
Chief Strategy Officer

Rob Porcarelli

Chief Legal Officer & Chief Strategy Officer

Rob is the Chief Legal Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Syndio, and a career-long advocate for workplace fairness. Prior to joining Syndio, Rob served as the VP Assistant General Counsel at Starbucks where he led teams responsible for all labor, employment, and EEO issues, as well as general litigation.

Rob directed and oversaw Starbuck's equal pay efforts since 2005, and was frequently frustrated by the methods of obtaining and analyzing data around pay disparities. He came to Syndio to be a part of the solution.

Prior to Starbucks, Rob was a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP. He also served in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps, and while on active duty served as a special assistant to the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Law School.

Rob knows Syndio's software is a better way to address pay equity, and wants you to know the same.

Rebecca Scully

Rebecca Scully

VP of Marketing

Rebecca Scully

Vice President of Marketing

Rebecca Scully has spent the last 10 years helping companies find, understand, and adopt technology solutions that use data, machine learning, and advanced analytics to solve strategic business challenges. At Syndio, she regularly leads research efforts across organizations to understand human capital management issues as they relate to workplace equity and how they can be solved through innovative approaches.

Christine

Christine Hendrickson

VP of Strategic Initiatives

Christine Hendrickson

Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Christine Hendrickson is a leading expert on corporate pay equity and international pay reporting laws. As Syndio's Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Christine works at the intersection of HR analytics and law, partnering with employers to drive strategic, practical, and cutting edge practices on pay equity, diversity, equity, and inclusion analysis.

Prior to joining Syndio, Christine was a partner at Seyfarth Shaw, an international law firm with nearly 900 attorneys worldwide. There, Christine was a core member of the firm's Labor & Employment People Analytics Practice Group and co-chaired Seyfarth's Global Pay Equity Group, which was named the "Best Firm for Keeping the Glass Ceiling Off" by Above the Law.

Christine is passionate about leveraging data to help organizations revamp their personnel practices to build efficient and practical processes for pay equity, diversity and inclusion, and affirmative action compliance. Christine has worked with employers ranging from startups to global Fortune 100 technology, retail, financial services, professional services, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing organizations on pay equity projects and investigations.

Christine received her JD from University of Michigan Law where she graduated Cum Laude and was executive editor of the Journal of Law Reform.  Prior to her law firm experience, Christine was a Skadden Fellow, which has been referred to as the public-interest world's equivalent of a Rhodes Scholarship. Christine has been recognized by Legal 500 for the past three years as a Next Generation Lawyer for Workplace and Employment Counseling.

Meet the Board

3

Byron Deeter

Bessemer Venture Partners

Byron Deeter

Bessemer Venture Partners

 

Byron Deeter is a leading investor in SaaS and Cloud. He’s authored iconic laws on the state of cloud computing, and works closely with many of the best founders in the cloud and mobile worlds. To date, fourteen of Byron’s investments are valued above one $1 billion, including eight IPOs and counting.

Byron first raised a Series A with Bessemer Venture Partners back in 2000, as CEO and founder of Trigo Technologies. His company grew to be one of the first global SaaS companies, reaching profitability and was successfully sold to IBM. Byron foresaw that cloud computing would not only change the way people built new technologies but also how The Cloud would systematically run the world. In 2005, Byron returned to Bessemer, this time to lead the fund’s global cloud practice.

He graduated with honors from The University of California, Berkeley, where he met his then
college sweetheart and now wife. Although he’s a four-time Rugby Collegiate National
Champion and Ironman finisher, nothing competes with being a father of three children.

Talia

Talia Goldberg

Bessemer Venture Partners

Talia Goldberg

Bessemer Venture Partners

 

Talia Goldberg is a partner in Bessemer’s San Francisco office and invests across early and growth stage software and internet.

Talia joined Bessemer in 2013 and has since become the youngest elected partner in firm history. She has partnered with ServiceTitan, Shippo, Papaya Global, Discord, Dashlane, Toss (Viva Republica), Newfront Insurance, Pinterest, and Stubhub/Viagogo among others. She was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital and recognized on Business Insider’s Rising Stars list.
Prior to joining Bessemer, Talia worked at Foursquare and Simple Finance. Talia graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. She grew up in Portland, Oregon and will forever be a Blazers fan.

Fern Mandelbaum

Fern Mandelbaum

Managing Director of Venture Investments, Emerson Collective

Fern Mandelbaum

Managing Director of Venture Investments, Emerson Collective

 

Mandelbaum is an entrepreneur, coach, investor, and educator and currently serves as a Managing Director at Emerson Collective, where she leads early-stage investing in mission-driven startups. In addition, she is a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she created and teaches courses such as “Entrepreneurship from Diverse Perspectives,” “POWer—Building the Entrepreneurial Mindset,” and “Equity by Design—Building Diverse and Inclusive Organizations.” Prior to Emerson Collective, Mandelbaum was the co-founder of Vista Venture Partners, an early stage venture firm, and of Skyline Products, a toy invention firm that was acquired by IDEO.

For over 25 years, Mandelbaum has worked with CEOs to help them be inclusive leaders, refine their business concepts, recruit and develop their management teams, and build more diverse and inclusive organizations.

Robert

Bob Perille

Cavello Investments

Bob Perille

Cavello Investments

Bob Perille currently invests in private companies through Calvello Investments, LLC and he is an advisor to LA based Frontier Venture Capital. Bob spent 23 years with Bank of America in commercial and investment banking and was co-managing partner of a $700 million private equity and mezzanine investments fund.

Today, Bob serves on the boards of three private companies, Lawrence University and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Bob graduated from Lawrence University in 1980 with a degree in biology and earned an MBA in finance from Babson College.

5

Diane Fraiman

Voyager Capital

Diane Fraiman

Voyager Capital

Diane Fraiman is a Managing Director at Voyager Capital and invests in early stage enterprise software companies in the Pacific Northwest. Diane has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry in operational roles leading sales, marketing, strategy and business development, and as a venture investor since 2007.

Orlando Ashford

Orlando Ashford

Member Board of Directors

Orlando Ashford

Member Board of Directors

Orlando Ashford is a board director, strategic advisor, investor and author. He serves as Board Chairman for Perrigo Company and also serves on the boards of directors for Amerant Bank, Azamara Cruises, Array Technologies, Inc., as chair of the compensation committee, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, as chair of the compensation committee, ClubCorp (Invited, Inc) and State Farm, as a member of the fire and life advisory boards. He also served on the Board of ITT, Inc from 2012 to 2022 and was chair of the compensation committee. In addition, Ashford volunteers on the board of Streetwise Partners and in 2022 he joined the Orange Bowl Committee of South Florida.

Prior to his numerous board roles, Ashford served as president of Holland America Line, leading the award-winning cruise line's brand and business, including its fleet of 14 premium vessels carrying more than 900,000 guests annually to all seven continents. Ashford oversaw Holland America Line’s sales and marketing, revenue management, deployment and itinerary planning, public relations, hotel operations and strategy. Ashford was widely credited in the industry for re-energizing the brand, innovating the guest experience and transforming the corporate culture to embrace inclusion, diversity and creativity.

Meet the Strategic Investors & Advisors

Strategic Investors

Ryan Nece

Ryan Nece

Managing Partner, Next Play Capital

Steph Curry

Steph Curry

NBA Athlete, Entrepreneur, Investor, Producer

Sean Mendy

Sean Mendy

Partner, Concrete Rose Capital

Candace Parker

Candace Parker

WNBA player, Las Vegas Aces

Alexi Robichaux

Alexi Robichaux

CEO & Co-Founder, BetterUp

Rachel Romer Carlson

Rachel Romer Carlson

CEO, Guild

Mallun Yen

Mallun Yen

Founder, Operator Collective

Anita Lynch

Anita Lynch

Board Member and Angel Investor

Mike Gamson

Mike Gamson

CEO, Relativity

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff

Co-founder & Chair of Pacaso, Recon Food, Queue, Path, dot.LA, 75 & Sunny Ventures

Bruce Chizen

Bruce Chizen

Board Member, Nexthink

Qiana Patterson

Qiana Patterson

Managing Partner, NAYAH

Jeff Epstein

Jeff Epstein

Operating Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

Bryant Barr

Bryant Barr

Managing Partner, Penny Jar Capital

Rich Scudellari

Rich Scudellari

Managing Partner, Penny Jar Capital

Strategic Advisors

Zev-Color

Zev Eigen

Founder; Advisor

Laura Dholakia

Laura Dholakia

Executive In Residence, Bessemer Venture Partners

Christina Hall

Christina Hall

Chief Human Resources Officer, Instacart

Daniel Kramer

Daniel G. Kramer

CEO, Opsmatix Systems Limited

Arik Armstead

Arik Armstead

Professional Athlete, Jacksonville Jaguars

Marc Maloy

Marc Maloy

President of Field Operations, BetterUp

Jennifer Aaker

Jennifer Aaker

General Atlantic Professor & Coulter Family Fellow, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Tama Smith

Tama Smith

Head of Women Living a Richer Life, Brighton Jones

Cindy Guerra Robbins

Cindy Guerra Robbins

Board Member of YearUp, ActiveCampaign, Appfire, Path Forward.ORG

Frits Dirk van Paasschen - Strategic Advisor, Syndio

Frits Dirk van Paasschen

Former CEO and Author of The Disruptors’ Feast

Suzi LeVine

Suzi LeVine

Former US Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein; Sr Fellow, Brown University

Kevin Susman

Kevin Susman

Strategy & Innovation Advisor, GTM Consulting

Anita Lettink

Anita Lettink

Future of Work speaker and Partner at Strategic Management Centre

Birgit Neu

Birgit Neu

Senior DEI Advisor

Angela Grady

Angela Grady

Board and Executive Advisor

Matthew Guss

Matthew Guss

Growth Company Talent Builder, Investor and Advisor

Lucy Hur

Lucy Hur

Advisor, Board Member, Former Chief People Officer & HR Executive

Liat Ben-zur

Liat Ben-Zur

Board Member, Advisor, Former CVP, Microsoft

Meg Bear

Meg Bear

Board Member, Investor, Advisor, Ex-President, SAP SuccessFactors

Guillermo Miranda

Guillermo Miranda

AI Adoption & Digital Transformation Leader

Erik_Darby

Erik Darby

Vice President, BetterUp

Beth Simonetti

Beth Simonetti

Executive Advisor and retired Chief Human Resources Officer

Joe Militello

Joe Militello

Chief People Officer, Advisor, and Investor

Corey duBrowa

Corey duBrowa

CEO, Burson

WHY JOIN OUR TEAM?

We are a fast-growing software startup with ambition. We're passionate about workplace equity and we are devoted to each other, our company, and our customers. We value transparency, hustle, clarity, truth, and vulnerability.

Check out our open roles

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