Hayley Nelson has served in executive leadership roles for over two decades, operating at global scale across both high-growth startups and Fortune 500 companies. Her expertise spans integrated marketing and communications leadership including brand strategy, narrative development, content creation, customer insights and cross-functional team building—all with a focus on driving measurable business impact. She has successfully led through multiple business transformations, including product-led growth scaling, enterprise market entry, and AI adoption, always balancing innovation with operational excellence.

As a marketing and communications executive at Salesforce, Airbnb, and Logitech, Hayley helped fuel brand growth and cultural relevance through breakthrough narrative frameworks, developing Logitech’s first brand narrative for enterprise and Salesforce’s pivot from product-led growth to brand building during the shift to remote work. Under her leadership, teams consistently delivered integrated campaigns that strengthened brand positioning, deepened customer trust, and drove pipeline growth across markets.

Today, Hayley is the motivating force behind forward-thinking leaders, helping them lead with intention and drive impact. Hayley helps brands build market leadership and deepen customer engagement through authentic storytelling and agile, ecosystem thinking. 

Beyond her executive roles, Hayley teaches marketing innovation at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Passionate about the role of media in society, Hayley serves as the vice president of the board of directors for the Geneva-based publication, The New Humanitarian and is an active advisor to tech and media startups, with a focus on female founders. As a cohort leader for the women’s executive leadership group, HiPower, and through her 1-1 mentoring practice, Hayley is an active force behind women’s leadership in the workplace and the world.

Nelson holds degrees from the Wharton School (MBA), Johns Hopkins University (MA in International Affairs), and Northwestern University (BA).