SARA ELMSTROM
Partner & CEO CXO2
Sara is an experienced executive with 25 years of international experience and a diverse industry background. She is an intuitive and values-driven leader with a commercial and decisive approach. Sara chairs Bridge to Good, The Bridge International’s foundation and is an Advocate of Lifeline’s Unify Help Project.
Drawing from her 25-year career working with and for iconic brands, Sara connects with people throughout the organisation from the boardroom to frontline to provide an impactful external perspective. Sara takes a digital where-it-makes-sense approach to experience design leveraging the power of human to human to create meaningful connections of mutual value.
High performing, connected teams
Sara’s extensive repertoire includes working with large corporates, start-ups, and not-for-profits with multi-national organisations. Sara builds and enables high performing teams that deliver across the Triple Play. She has held multi-disciplinary leadership roles of over 2,000 staff, leading functions such as CX design, digital, distribution economics, sales, service, claims, first line risk, training, people & culture, and workforce planning, and continuous improvement.
Design thinking for long term change
Sara’s expertise is leading transformation through a focus on culture, customer and commercials using Human Centred Design principles in her work. This passion for solving problems on a broader scale led her to leave corporate and move into consulting where she continues to help businesses transform and optimise performance by working with their best asset – their people. Customer obsessed, Sara helps executives build deeper relationships with their customers.
Purpose driven, commercial leader
Sara is an intuitive and values-based leader with a commercial and decisive approach as is evidenced by her role as Chair of The Bridge’s foundation, Bridge to Good.
She believes in ‘progress, not perfection’ and works with businesses to create pragmatic, achievable plans that deliver real value. Sara is an active coach and mentor and a passionate advocate for diversity, inclusion and belonging in all aspects of life and work.
Sara has a broad international experience in Europe, ANZ, Africa, Asia and the US with a diverse industry background including financial services, insurtech, health, mental health, utilities, and travel with iconic brands such as Virgin Holidays, TalkTalk, Wesfarmers, EDF Energy, Lifeline, IAG, Coles, NRMA, icare, AXA, AIG, RAA, RACQ, Wesley Mission, Tokio Marine, Guild Insurance, Beyond Bank, Maxxia, and American Express.