Jenny Wood
NYT Bestselling Author, Former Google Executive, Expert in Driving Transformational Business Change, Influencing Customers, and Improving Team Engagement
Jenny Wood is the New York Times bestselling author of WILD COURAGE: Go After What You Want and Get It. In her book—and sought-after keynotes—she reveals nine unconventional traits that power the world's most resilient and high-performing people.
A former Google executive and Harvard Business School researcher, Jenny spent 18 years rising from entry-level to COO roles across global divisions as the company scaled from 6,000 to 180,000 employees.
She led hybrid, multi-generational teams across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, helping drive billions in annual revenue while navigating hypergrowth, layoffs, and reinvention.
Despite never holding a formal People Operations role, Jenny founded Own Your Career, one of the largest internal career programs in Google’s history. The program reached 56,000 employees in nearly 100 countries—and redefined how Googlers build influence and grow their careers from day one.
Jenny has coached thousands of professionals and executives on leadership, resilience, teamwork, and influence. Her 375+ pieces on those topics, with features in Harvard Business Review, CNBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, and Inc.
Her dynamic keynotes blend bold storytelling, practical strategy, and real-world tools to help teams break the mold and lead with courage, and impact—especially under pressure. That’s why F500 companies like SalesForce, Oracle, Target, Capital One, Royal Caribbean, State Farm, CVS, and Johnson & Johnson invite her back to speak again and again.
Jenny’s a motivator, unstoppable confidence booster, and fierce advocate for unrealized potential. When she’s not on stage, she’s hiking, flying airplanes, singing in the kitchen, or chasing the perfect zucchini bread recipe.