About
Dr. Shonna Waters is an award-winning organizational psychologist and entrepreneur who transforms how companies leverage their human capital to drive business success. As a founding scientist and Vice President at BetterUp, she built and led inter-disciplinary GTM and R&D teams including behavioral science, strategic partnerships and alliances, and executive advisory. She combined her expertise in psychology, business, and technology to help the company achieve $4.7B valuation during her 7 year tenure and form partnerships with some of the largest companies in the world (e.g., Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP, Accenture).
Currently, as Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fractional Insights, Dr. Waters helps enterprise organizations quantify and optimize their human capital investments to achieve measurable financial outcomes. Her firm also partners with work technology startups to develop evidence-based impact metrics that strengthen their market position and accelerate growth.
Dr. Waters is also an award-winning university professor, leadership and executive coach, and speaker. As a former non-profit and government executive with over 100 publications, Dr. Waters is recognized as a thought leader in organizational psychology and analytics and a frequent speaker at industry conferences, corporate events, and podcasts, where she shares her insights with audiences worldwide. She is the author of two award-winning books on HR analytics and coaching, and her insights are frequently featured in outlets like CNBC, Fast Company, and Forbes.
Shonna earned her Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Statistics from the University of Minnesota and holds an executive coaching certification from Georgetown University. She lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and three daughters. She is passionate about creating work systems that align with human nature, believing that when people are truly seen and heard at work, it unlocks unprecedented organizational success and individual thriving.