Former Calm and Ginger Executive Joins the Global Leader in Coaching to Lead the Company’s Integrated Mental Health Offering
SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 20, 2021 – BetterUp, the inventor of virtual professional coaching and global leader in mental fitness and whole person transformation for the enterprise, has appointed Omar Dawood MD, MPH, MBA as President of BetterUp Care™.
Dawood brings more than 25 years of senior management, medical research, and clinical experience, most recently serving as the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Sales for Calm. Prior to that, Dr. Dawood served as President and Chief Medical Officer of Ginger and Ginger Medical Corporation, now Headspace Health, where he helped to grow the company for six years. In his role, Dawood will oversee the BetterUp Care™ sales, marketing, clinical, and product teams to bring hyper-personalized mental fitness and science-backed preventive solutions, including 1:1 and group coaching, to employers globally.
“At the core of BetterUp is our focus on infusing research and scientific rigor into the tools that support individuals in becoming their best selves,” said Alexi Robichaux, CEO and co-founder of BetterUp. “Omar has built his career at the forefront of behavioral health and been a key player in pushing the industry further to make the science of peak performance more available to all through digital experiences. We are incredibly excited to bring his expertise to BetterUp Care™.”
Dawood will continue BetterUp’s existing work innovating the next wave of digital human-centered solutions – leveraging the powerful combination of AI and machine learning with world-class specialists to redefine workplace mental health, and enable people and organizations to thrive.
Launched in February 2021, BetterUp Care™ is the company’s integrated mental health offering that provides guidance and support on a personalized level that has never been seen before. The offering provides enterprise-wide access to 1:1 coaching with behavioral health specialists and on-demand support on topics like parenting, nutrition, and sleep, along with curated content, group coaching and digital learning. BetterUp Care™ supports thousands of employees at global organizations like Hilton, AB InBev, and Salesforce. Most recently, the company announced Tom Van Gilder as its first Chief Medical Officer, formerly Chief Medical Officer at Walmart.
“I’m thrilled to join BetterUp at a time when the need for whole-person care has never been greater,” said Omar Dawood, President of BetterUp Care™. “We have a real opportunity to take behavioral healthcare, which has historically been very reactive, and reframe the industry to be centered around proactive prevention. The last year has shown us in stark regard how mental health can deteriorate when we’re caught flat-footed by uncertainty. It’s clear that building resilience and mental fitness is the best way to prepare for the inevitable challenges that life throws at us. With a world-class leadership team, cutting-edge AI technology, and evidence-based solutions, BetterUp has been an undoubted leader in this space. I’m incredibly proud to lead the team’s continued work in personalized care at scale and to be able to extend the amazing BetterUp experience to even more people and organizations.”
In his most recent role at Calm, Dawood led B2B employer and health plan sales. Prior to that, he led the clinical and sales organizations at Ginger, now Headspace Health. Over the past two decades, Dawood has held senior executive and advisory positions with a spectrum of healthcare companies, including Accuray, Kona Medical, AliveCor and Samsung, leading transformative change and disruptive innovation across a number of healthcare segments.
Omar holds a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.P.H. with concentration in cancer epidemiology from Yale University, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He went onto residency training in surgery and radiology and a fellowship in interventional radiology at the University of California San Francisco. Omar has been honored as both a Howard Hughes and a National Cancer Institute Research Scholar and was named the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 2010 Silicon Valley Man of the Year for his leadership of national fundraising efforts supporting cancer research.
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About BetterUp
Founded in 2013, BetterUp is the inventor of virtual professional coaching, and the global leader in 1:1 and group coaching, counseling, and mentorship at scale. BetterUp combines world-class coaching with AI technology and behavioral science to deliver personalized behavior change and improve the well-being, adaptability, and effectiveness of the workforce. With the world’s largest network of over 2,500 coaches, BetterUp offers coaching in 46 languages across over 90 countries, along with interactive professional development content, analytics and real-time insights to track employee progress. Used by more than 380 companies, including leading Fortune 1,000 companies, BetterUp drives transformational and lasting behavior change, resulting in improved business outcomes across organizations and inspiring professionals everywhere to pursue their lives with greater clarity, purpose, and passion. Investors include ICONIQ Growth, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Threshold Ventures, Plus Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Freestyle Capital, Crosslink Capital, and Tenaya Capital. BetterUp’s Science Board is composed of leading researchers in the fields of positive psychology and human performance including Martin Seligman, Adam Grant, Shawn Achor, and Quinetta Roberson. BetterUp has been recognized in the Inc. 5000, Fortune’s Great Places to Work, and People Magazine’s Companies that Care. To learn more, visit www.betterup.com.