Gab Santa-Donato
Gabrielle Santa-Donato designs learning experiences that help people find direction—and build the skills to move forward.
She is currently Head of Learning & Development at Headway, a mental health startup working to make care more accessible. Gabrielle was brought on to establish the company’s L&D function, with an initial focus on manager development.
Her work lives at the intersection of design thinking, human development, and education. At Stanford University, Gabrielle spent six years as a lecturer and fellow in the Life Design Lab, where she created and led the Life Design Studio—a global training initiative that has helped over 600 universities integrate life design into their curricula. She later joined Airbnb to build its global Manager Onboarding program, designing learning experiences that placed belonging at the center of leadership.
As a consultant, Gabrielle has partnered with IDEO, the United Nations, Deloitte University, LinkedIn, NASA, and academic institutions including Harvard, MIT, Cornell Tech, NYU Stern, and Columbia Teachers College. Across settings, her focus remains the same: helping people connect the dots between how they grow and how they lead.
She holds a BA from Dartmouth and an M.Ed. from Harvard.
A proud Italian New Yorker turned San Franciscan, Gabrielle finds joy biking coastal trails, swimming in cold water (she’s escaped from Alcatraz!), writing poetry, and dancing to hip hop in her kitchen. She is honored to serve on the board of NYU’s Institute on Purpose and Flourishing, and to contribute her perspective on how purpose can be lived—not just defined—in the everyday.