Ellie Bertani is President and CEO of GitLab Foundation, a private foundation established in September 2022 with the mission of improving lifetime earnings and economic mobility of individuals worldwide. With a background in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors, she brings a cross-sectoral approach to driving impact.
A former frontline service worker herself, Ellie’s experience has informed her career advancing worker economic stability and mobility. Most recently, she held workforce strategy, innovation, and product development roles at Wells Fargo and Walmart. She led efforts that delivered instant access to earned pay, scheduling predictability, hiring barrier removal, and industry-leading learning and career pathing programs. In 2020, Ellie was awarded Walmart’s highest recognition, the Sam Walton Entrepreneurship Award, for the development of LiveBetterU, the largest free educational benefits program in the U.S., and Walmart’s most successful socioeconomic advancement program.
Earlier in her career, Ellie spent nearly ten years in the nonprofit and public sector, including positions with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. State Department, Third Sector Capital Partners, and Rotary International. She received her Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. She loves comedy, karaoke, and being kept on her toes by her husband and three crazy boys.
- In addition to comedy and karaoke, I also love hot air balloons, driving classic cars, science fiction books, trees, philosophy, and party games
- I have weird aversions to halibut, asparagus, and sports where my feet are strapped in (roller skating, skiing, etc)
- I relate better to older kids and adults than young kids, so am enjoying my kids more and more as they age
- I sometimes get migraines, which is a bummer
- I have had the great fortune to live abroad and can speak English, French, Thai, and Italian well, and have studied (and forgotten most of) Russian, German, and Mandarin
