I’m delighted to tell everyone that we have hired our first Chief People Officer to join the exec team. 

HR leader and professional coach Akiko Mumford joins Equal Experts after a year long search to find the right fit to help nurture our nonconformist culture while throwing away the HR book. This journey helped us to really get to the bottom of what we need from a CPO. 

The CPO’s task is to support and enhance our ethos of autonomy and trust by default, which enables both our people and our customers to foster the mutually beneficial and genuine relationships that we’re known for. The skill lies in balancing our business constraints and the overall network cohesion with how each member of the network gets the best possible individual experience.

Akiko’s career has spanned over 25 years as HR leader of global companies, as well as independent consultancy services coaching execs and their teams in a variety of industry sectors. Akiko combines an inquisitive and thoughtful approach with a genuine drive to shape a business and community that will inspire not only the current team, but future generations of EE people as well.

I feel Akiko’s experience and personal values are a great match for the EE network, and I can’t wait to start working with her. Akiko is clearly looking forward to it too! Here’s what she has to say about joining Equal Experts:

“I knew from the interview process that Equal Experts would prove to be a very special place. Over my 25+ years of working with organisations I’ve experienced hundreds of interviews. The process with Equal Experts truly stood out. The warmth, authenticity and transparency that everyone showed up with made me realise just how unique a company I was joining. This has proven only more true as I begin in my role here. It’s with tremendous enthusiasm that I join as Chief People Officer. What could be better than serving a values driven company where you get to work together to amplify the balance of autonomy and mutuality in order to drive freedom and collaboration.”