Samuel R. Bright

Currently, Bright serves as Chief Product and Experience Officer at Upwork, the world's work marketplace serving everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Previously, Bright was the Vice President and General Manager of Verticals at eBay, the world's second-largest ecommerce marketplace. Prior to eBay, he advised on merger & acquisition deal processes at Merrill Lynch. Before both eBay and Merrill Lynch, he became the youngest industry analyst at Forrester Research. Among his many achievements, Bright was recognized on Black Enterprise's 2018 List of the Most Influential Blacks in Technology, as one of Savoy Magazine's 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America and, most recently, in the "Born Digital" category of Products That Count's inaugural Global CPO 20 list of the top Chief Product Officers in the world. Bright was raised in Peoria, IL, and currently resides in the Bay Area. He attended Taylor University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.