Sally Thornton

CEO of Forshay, Founder of Flexperience, TEDx Speaker

Travels From Travels From:
Lafayette, CA, USA
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Sally Thornton Biography

An instigator on how to thrive in the future of work, Sally Thornton is the CEO and Founder of Forshay, a San Francisco-based firm that focuses on how people can do their best work through executive recruiting, interim experts, and optimizing teams through increased inclusion, diversity, and belonging. Forshay is recognized as a B Corporation, committed to using business as a force for good.

Forshay was awarded #290 on the Inc. 5000 "Fastest-Growing Private Companies" list for 2015, and made the list again in 2019 at #3377. Prior to founding Forshay, Thornton co-founded and was CEO of Flexperience, which grew into a nationally acclaimed firm under her leadership, and was awarded “Top 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies” in 2010 by the San Francisco Business Times. Thornton has delivered TEDx talks including "Hire Like a Rocket Scientist" at TEDxDavisStWomen, "The Science Behind Work-Life Blend" at WIP 2018, and "Re-imagining the Future of Work" at TEDxLosGatosHighSchool, exemplifying her expertise and innovative approach to the future of work.

In addition to her business acumen, Thornton is a frequent keynote speaker on topics including the future of work, women in leadership, and talent recruitment strategies. She has been featured in various media including the Wall Street Journal, BBC, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes. Thornton launched WorkLabAccelerator in 2015, a community committed to using design thinking to make work better. She lectures regularly at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business as well as UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, sharing her insights and experiences. Furthermore, Thornton served for six years on the Advisory Council of Stanford’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, the educational partner of LeanIn.org, contributing significantly to gender research and advocacy.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 06/19/2024.

Sally Thornton Speaking Topics

  • Building Your Talent Pipeline

    Designed for startups or companies in high growth, how do we hire using the science of performance? Both individuals and teams need certain environments to do their best work, and this talk (or workshop) addresses the key questions around scaling for quality outcomes, and is tailored to your specific industry, geography, challenges, and goals.

  • Navigating Your Career

    How do you navigate your career in the future of work? Navigating your career first involves taking into consideration what is meaningful to you now and anticipating how that may change over your life's course. It also involves building your brand in ways that matter to you. Leveraging insights on the future of work gained through her work at Stanford on the science of redesigning work, Sally shares a practical framework for how to the find the four-way intersection of doing the work where you learn, the work you excel in doing, with the work the world will pay for, and the work the world needs (purpose!).

  • Women in Leadership

    Depending on the audience goals, this talk is modular and can include: 1) the economics for gender balanced leadership teams, 2) the data around women at different levels of an organization and in various industries depending on which industries are most relevant to the audience, 3) strategies and tactics for increasing the percentage of women in an organization, 4) stories that highlight the science of overcoming bias and working toward a true meritocracy at work where everyone benefits.

  • Design Thinking, Applied to How We Work

    This interactive session will discuss and apply design thinking, lean start up methodology, and storytelling skills in fresh ways that you can use to align the employee experience with the customer experience. Oh, and it’s a lot of fun. Because work can be delicious, if we design it to be. Learn why Airbnb, Mozilla, Deloitte, PlumOrganics, Modsy and others (some we can’t mention – you know how it goes) are leveraging this framework not only in how they develop fantastic products for their customers, but how they build better work experiences for their own teams. (And Sally gives out chocolates.)

  • The Future of Inclusion & Diversity & Belonging

    The science is clear that collaborative working relationships with diverse teams propel innovative, impactful work where all employees thrive and drive the bottom line. Sally will share the scientific research on the variety of unconscious bias based on both neuroscience and social science, practical strategies for how to mitigate bias, and stories of her experience working with big companies like Airbnb to small startups in optimizing teams to do their best work.

  • Optimizing the Multi-Generational Workforce

    The word “Millennial” can create a reaction in each of us that is quite different, and is often based on more media impressions than science. In this talk (or workshop if desired), Sally separates the fiction from the science on generational differences, as well as human-centered truths that bind all generations. Mostly importantly, once we know the science, how do we apply it with smart strategies, language, and tactics that work to build more effective teams?

Sally Thornton Videos

  • Forshay CEO & Founder Sally Thornton - YouTube
    Sally explains the misguided nature of the "ideal worker", some key takeaways from her research on the future of work, as well as what a ...
  • The Science of Individual and Team Wellbeing with Sally Thornton ...
    About Sally ThorntonAn instigator on how to thrive in the future of work, Sally is the CEO of Forshay, a firm that focuses on how people can ...
  • Sally Thornton, Founder & CEO at Forshay, about her upcoming talk ...
    An instigator on how to thrive in the future of work, Sally founded Forshay in 2011 to connect the Bay Area's most innovative companies with ...

FAQs on booking Sally Thornton

  • How do I book Sally Thornton to speak at my event?

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  • What are the speaker fees for Sally Thornton

    Speaking fees for Sally Thornton, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Sally Thornton are for live events and for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Sally Thornton, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does Sally Thornton speak about?

    Sally Thornton is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Belonging, Business, Business Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Executive Leadership, Female Leadership, Future of Work, Futurism, Human Resources, Women, Women in Business.
  • Where does Sally Thornton travel from?

    Sally Thornton generally travels from Lafayette, CA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Sally Thornton’s agent?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Sally Thornton for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Sally Thornton for your next private or corporate function.
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Sally Thornton is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Building Your Talent Pipeline, Navigating Your Career, Women in Leadership, Design Thinking, Applied to How We Work, The Future of Inclusion & Diversity & Belonging and Optimizing the Multi-Generational Workforce. The estimated speaking fee range to book Sally Thornton for your event is $20,000 - $30,000. Sally Thornton generally travels from Lafayette, CA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Erica Dhawan, Heather McGowan, Cheryl Cran, Seth Mattison and Natalie Nixon. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Sally Thornton for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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