Hi, I’m LaFawn.
I operate at the intersection of human strategy and AI-enabled transformation, designing operating models that allow both people and intelligent systems to perform at their best.
LaFawn Davis operates at the intersection of human strategy and AI-enabled transformation — designing enterprise operating models that allow both people and intelligent systems to perform at their best.
As the former Chief People & Sustainability Officer at Indeed, she led global teams spanning Responsible AI, HR, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, Accessibility, Social Impact, and Environmental Sustainability. Her work has consistently sat at the convergence of workforce modernization, responsible technology governance, and organizational design.
With more than 20 years of leadership experience across Google, Yahoo, PayPal, Twilio, and Indeed, LaFawn has helped organizations transform not just their talent practices — but how they operate at an enterprise level. She brings a systems thinker's perspective to the question every leadership team is now asking: What needs to be driven by AI, and what needs to remain uniquely human?
She advises mission-driven organizations on future-ready workforce strategy, responsible AI adoption, and building the internal operating engines that make scale and succession possible.
LaFawn has been named to Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Women of Impact, Fast Company's Queer50 (five consecutive years), San Francisco Business Times' Most Influential Women in Business, and Fortune's Most Powerful Women. She serves as a Board Director of the World Wellbeing Movement, a Limited Partner in Operator Collective, an angel investor, and a Fellow of the Black Venture Institute.
Belief in Alternative Pathways
My career is itself a testament to skills-based hiring. I hold a deep belief in the power of alternative pathways to unlock human potential and drive durable systems change. My work centers on a core principle: talent is universal, but opportunity is not.
Through partnerships with mission-driven organizations, I advocate for employer practices that expand economic mobility for workers skilled through alternative routes (STARs = Skilled Through Alternative Routes). I challenge traditional hiring barriers and champion the systems change needed to create truly equitable access to opportunity.
Current Engagements
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
BrightDavis Partners
Board Director
World Wellbeing Movement
Limited Partner
Operator Collective
Fellow
Black Venture Institute
Angel Investor
I am available for select board opportunities and advisory engagements with mission-driven organizations navigating the intersection of people, technology, and transformation.
Recognition
2025
Chief’s New Era of Leadership Awards
2024
Fast Company’s 5th Annual Queer 50
2023
Fast Company’s 4th Annual Queer 50
San Francisco Business Times Business of Pride OUTstanding Voices
2022
Fast Company’s 3rd Annual Queer 50
2021
Indeed Senior Leadership Promotion
(First Black member of the senior leadership team)
Fast Company’s 2nd Annual Queer 50
Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Women of Impact
2020
Fast Company’s Inaugural Queer 50
LaFawn has been counted among Fortune's Most Powerful Women.