Portrait of a smiling woman with short blonde hair, glasses, wearing a navy blue V-neck shirt, gold jewelry, and hoop earrings, against a plain light background.

This is Christi.

She's a musician, a world traveler, a mother, an exuberant iconoclast, a force for good, and the answer to the professional challenges keeping you up at night.

Cue the greatest hits:

Led the development and launch of the first global employee recognition program at Okta. Transformed employee engagement at Qualcomm. Fostered a culture of appreciation and accountability at Cisco Systems. Thought leader at Awardco's Center of Excellence in Recognition and Employee Experience.

recent events

TRANSFORM 2026

“Rewarding the Work That Doesn’t Show Up in Dashboards”

A promotional graphic featuring a woman with blonde hair and hoop earrings, wearing a navy blue blouse, smiling with arms crossed against a colorful background of pink, orange, and purple gradients. The text identifies her as Christi Gilhoi, Employee Experience Executive at AWARDCO, with event details for Transform 2026, held March 23-25, 2026 in Wynn Las Vegas.

“Over two years at Okta, Christi made a huge impact on culture – articulating and programming on culture, launching a global employee recognition program, moving the needle on our engagement survey scores, and building a global EX team that delivered regional/cultural programming…she’s an incredible collaborator. I’d hire her back in a minute.”

— Steve Naclerio, Vice President, Okta

“Christi has incredible people insights and intuition and is deeply gifted in elevating the employee experience. The implementation of her people-centric strategies and programs has resulted in a tangible shift in workplace culture, fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment among employees and increasing overall engagement. Christi is a rare gem, and any company would be lucky to have her leadership.”

— Brandi Martinez, direct report, Okta 

“Christi was perhaps the best I've seen at analyzing needs and leveraging key executives in the organization to obtain the support, involvement and resources to effectively move forward. Tactically, she was highly skilled at energizing people to drive the initiative daily through her enthusiasm and energy, which were both highly contagious!”

— Dr. Bob Nelson, best-selling author & employee engagement expert

Consulting. Coaching.
Deep expertise in the employee experience.
Proven results.

She's also a world-class listener.