Ella Björnsdóttir

Ella Björnsdóttir is an executive leadership advisor, keynote speaker, and former Chief Human Resources Officer who has spent more than twenty years helping leaders navigate growth, change, and the human side of performance. She has worked with organizations in nearly fifty countries, advised more than one hundred companies, and trained over 80,000 leaders in the principles of leadership, trust, strategy execution, and organizational effectiveness. Her career spans every level of leadership, from teacher and manager to executive, board member, and trusted advisor to CEOs and executive teams, giving her a rare perspective on what it truly takes to lead.

As Chief Human Resources Officer at Controlant, Ella helped scale the global technology company from 110 to 550 employees across five countries during the worldwide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. Earlier, she built Marel's first globally aligned leadership development program and later served as a senior consultant, international keynote speaker, and Managing Director of Education for EMEA at FranklinCovey, where she coached leaders across both the public and private sectors, including executive teams at organizations such as LEGO. She currently serves on the board of WISE and leads her own leadership practice, Valhalla.

What distinguishes Ella's work is her ability to translate complex leadership challenges into simple, deeply human insights that create lasting change. Drawing on two decades spent inside boardrooms, executive teams, and organizations around the world, she speaks about courageous leadership, authenticity, trust, and the inner work that transforms both people and performance. Her audiences leave with more than practical tools. They leave with a renewed understanding that the strongest leaders are those who lead with clarity, humanity, and the courage to be fully themselves.