Coaching leaders for a changing world

Heather brings over 15 years of experience and served as the COO of Torch for 2 years prior to taking on the CEO role. She is deeply passionate about great leadership and how coaching can change leaders and organizations. Prior to Torch, she spent 9 years at Salesforce in product leadership roles, most recently serving as senior vice president and general manager of the Trailhead business. There she focused on skilling and enablement and helped develop and grow the Salesforce ecosystem. She also created and led Salesforce’s Associate Product Manager program to build new product management talent into great future leaders.

Meena Bhatia is the Chief Technology Officer at Torch, where she leads the company’s technology vision and strategy. She is committed to advancing Torch’s mission by leveraging cutting-edge technologies to enhance coaching and leadership development.

With nearly 20 years of industry experience, Meena has a proven track record in developing scalable, enterprise-grade platforms across the FinTech, Health Care, Sales, and other SaaS sectors. Prior to joining Torch, Meena held senior positions at Headspace, Highspot, and Silicon Valley Bank, where she developed innovative consumer and enterprise products, led digital transformations, and built high-performing engineering teams.

Jeff brings 15+ years of experience and financial expertise to his role as CFO at Torch where he oversees Torch’s financial initiatives, strategy, performance, and growth. Jeff is passionate about scaling businesses and building high-functioning teams. Most recently, Jeff served as CFO of UJET, an award-winning cloud contact center platform. Prior to UJET, Jeff spent 6+ years at Glassdoor where he helped guide the company through a period of accelerated growth and a successful acquisition by Recruit Holdings.

Lauren brings nearly 20 years of experience in education, international development, and both nonprofit and enterprise technology. During her twelve years at Salesforce, she helped launch and grow Trailhead, a free online learning platform for tech skills, infused with heart and committed to equity. She has led diverse teams across product, engineering, data, and marketing, bringing together different ways of thinking and working to solve problems that matter. Now, as CMO at Torch, she brings this cross-disciplinary experience to leadership development at a time when the world urgently needs different ways of leading – ones that put humans first and help create sustainable change.

Mark is an experienced and strategic sales/revenue leader with a strong track record of driving revenue growth and scaling businesses in SaaS, HR-tech, and fintech organizations. Mark excels in expanding into new markets, fostering strong client relationships, and delivering innovative talent development solutions. His passion lies in building high-performing teams and crafting go-to-market strategies that achieve impactful results.

Cameron is a Co-founder of Torch and now serves as Executive Chairman on the board of directors, following 7 years leading the company as CEO. Prior to Torch, Cameron worked at Stanford GSB as an interpersonal dynamics facilitator and built a successful executive coaching practice working with high profile executives. He brings 20 years of clinical and operational experience along with an extensive background in mindfulness and psychotherapy.

Dr. Keegan Walden is a Co-founder of Torch and now serves on the board of directors. At Torch, he led behavioral science and the development of assessments to help leaders understand their strengths and areas of improvement. Prior to founding Torch, Keegan ran the outcomes research team at a national provider of behavioral health services. As a biracial co-founder, he is committed to the work of antiracism and leads courses on the subject. Keegan has an M.S. and a Ph.D. in psychology from Northwestern University, and a BA in psychology from Yale University.

Cynthia Burks has spent more than twenty years helping people and organizations thrive, most recently as the Chief People and Culture Officer for biotechnology company Genentech. In addition to her role with Torch, she sits on two non profit boards that help young people realize their potential. She also advises a number of companies across a variety of industries

James is Co-founder & Managing Director of Obvious Ventures and works with creative founders to define new categories across food, consumer goods, and modern work. James has invested in a wide range of mission-driven startups including Beyond Meat (IPO), Welly (acquired by Unilever), Incredible Health, Gusto, Opower (IPO), and Seventh Generation (acquired by Unilever). Prior to investing, James served as President and CEO of Xoom.com (IPO), Ofoto (acquired by Kodak), and When.com (acquired by AOL).

Ed joined Norwest in 2012 to partner with founders who are building the next generation of companies in the consumer internet space. As a partner, he makes seed, early, and late-stage investments in a range of areas including commerce, marketplaces, hardware-enabled services, and fintech. Prior to Norwest, Ed was the co-founder and President of Spree Network Inc., an early social commerce network where he led sales and marketing. Ed is actively involved in the Bay Area startup community.