Sandra O’Sullivan of Curriculum Associates On How to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture That Attracts Top Talent
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Find the right people for your company. This comes down to recruiting and retaining the right people. These people embrace your mission and have an entrepreneurial mindset to build, solve problems, and grow alongside the company.
Purpose has become the new currency of success in today’s workplace, and leaders who prioritize mission-driven cultures are standing out in the war for talent. To explore this important topic, we are interviewing Sandra O’Sullivan.
Sandra O’Sullivan is the Chief People and Operations Officer at Curriculum Associates, a leading edtech company with over 2,500 employees globally. The company is based in the Greater Boston Area with offices across the U.S. and Dublin, Ireland, and Bangalore, India. With over a decade of experience leading people teams, Sandra is an expert in building and fostering purpose-driven cultures.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
My career in high-growth tech companies involved leading rapidly scaling functions or building them from the ground up. Initially, I worked in customer-centric roles, closely collaborating with the people team, which made me appreciate their role in shaping individual and company success. The HR business partners were strategic advisors, helping me create high-performing teams, and deeply influencing my career trajectory.
This realization deepened when the Head of People I admired asked me to be her successor. She noted how my experience in guiding customer journeys could apply to employee journeys. Her confidence prompted me to consider a broader impact. While I focused on building strong teams, I aimed to extend my influence across the organization, developing talent, shaping culture, and fostering an environment for growth.
Assuming this role has reinforced my belief: a company’s success lies in its people, and cultivating a culture that attracts, retains, and empowers them is my most significant contribution.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began working in leadership, culture building, or purpose-driven organizations?
Throughout my career, I’ve worked in fast-paced environments where urgency was a natural byproduct of rapid growth and innovation. At Curriculum Associates, that sense of urgency about growing, building our teams, and meeting customers’ needs is still there, but it’s directly tied to our mission.
When I was hired, our CEO at the time said something that has stuck with me ever since. He said, “We have to act with urgency, because the students we serve will only be in third grade once; we can’t take two years to figure out how to help them. Today’s third grader who can’t read will soon be a fourth grader who still can’t.”
That statement reframed urgency for me — not as a response to growth or competition, but as a responsibility to the students who depend on us. This imperative isn’t just something I carry with me — it’s one that everyone at Curriculum Associates feels. It serves as a constant reminder that our work isn’t just about building a company; it’s about improving outcomes for all students.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Shoulder-to-Shoulder Leadership: I work alongside my team, building trust and staying connected to our work. This often looks like being willing to get in the weeds with my team, never being above anything that needs to be done.
Humility: I rely on my team’s expertise and focus on developing the right experts. I’ve never done the same job twice, so when I take on new roles, I know that the team’s success will require me to embrace what I don’t know and the expertise of those around me.
Service Mindset: I approach leadership with a service-first mentality. Whether it’s supporting employees, customers, or other stakeholders, my focus is on understanding their needs to deliver the most tailored, thoughtful support for the best possible outcome.
Let’s now jump into the focus of our interview. What does a “purpose-driven culture” mean to you personally, and why do you think it’s critical for attracting top talent?
To me, a purpose-driven culture means that every employee, regardless of role, understands how their work contributes to a larger mission. At Curriculum Associates, our purpose is clear: to make classrooms better places for teachers and students. This shared sense of purpose and urgency drives our decisions, strengthens our collaboration, and fuels our innovation.
In my experience, the best candidates want more than just a job — they want to feel connected to work that matters. When purpose drives decisions, employees feel their impact is valued and are motivated to do their best work and stay with you. Our 2024 employee engagement survey showed that more than 85% of employees responded favorably and felt inspired by the work they do. More than 37% of our staff has been with us for over five years, and nearly 10% have been here for more than a decade. That kind of retention doesn’t happen by accident; it’s a result of building a culture where people feel aligned with the mission, valued in their contributions, and trusted in how they work.
How did you identify and define the mission or purpose for your organization? Was it inspired by a particular event, challenge, or insight?
Curriculum Associates’ mission has been clear since it was founded over 50 years ago by four educators — to make classrooms a better place for students and teachers. The company’s long-held purpose, combined with its long-term orientation to improve student outcomes, has attracted passionate employees, which includes many former educators, and strengthened our impact.
What are the key steps leaders can take to embed purpose into the day-to-day operations and decision-making of their companies?
A purpose-driven culture starts at the top. Purpose isn’t just a message — it has to be woven into decisions, team support, and daily operations from the executive team to the most junior staff.
Leaders must build systems that “walk the talk,” turning purpose into action. That means aligning policies with core values, fostering trust instead of control, and creating meaningful opportunities for collaboration. Employees should clearly see how their work contributes to a larger impact, and managers should be trained to help their direct reports see these connections. When purpose is consistently reinforced in how a company operates, it moves beyond words — it becomes a driving force that shapes the culture and inspires employees to fully engage in their work.
What role does leadership play in championing and modeling a purpose-driven culture?
Leadership sets the tone for a purpose-driven culture; employees won’t see them as authentic if they don’t consistently model the company’s mission and values. It’s also not enough to just talk about purpose — leaders need to demonstrate it in their actions, decisions, how they support their teams, and ensuring employees understand how their work connects to the bigger picture.
Leaders play a crucial role in creating structures that reinforce purpose. When leaders genuinely embody purpose, it becomes part of the company’s DNA and inspires employees to do the same.
Can you share an example of how you or another leader helped reinforce your organization’s purpose?
There’s a popular sentiment that says, “People don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.” Research backs this up — if employees feel their managers didn’t receive sufficient training to support them, it can leave them feeling disconnected from their work and purpose.
To address this, my team launched an internal management development training program that provides common tools and language to align all managers on how to successfully lead at Curriculum Associates. By equipping our managers with the right skills, we ensure employees feel supported and can focus on the impactful work they do for our educator partners and their classrooms.
How do you handle skepticism or resistance from team members or stakeholders who may not immediately understand the value of focusing on purpose?
Resistance often comes from past experiences where “purpose” was just a corporate buzzword, or was seen as secondary — or even contradictory — to business goals. To make our purpose feel relevant and integral to our success, we emphasize how it directly influences our mission and aligns with business outcomes: how we build products, support schools, and ultimately achieve long-term success. We embrace the pillars of Conscious Capitalism, which shows that organizations can operate a successful business with a strong social impact. Our employees can also show others their lived experiences reflect working for a purpose-driven organization. While there may not always be immediate buy-in, we let the success of our work and team speak for itself.
Ok, let’s talk strategy. Based on your experience, can you share “5 Steps to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture That Attracts Top Talent”? If possible, please include examples or stories for each.
Find the right people for your company
This comes down to recruiting and retaining the right people. These people embrace your mission and have an entrepreneurial mindset to build, solve problems, and grow alongside the company.
Get your customers in front of your employees
Connecting people to customers connects them to purpose and should be a vital component of a purpose-driven culture. The easiest way for our employees to feel connected to our mission is to show them the people their work impacts directly. This is especially important for employees that are not frequently, if ever, customer-facing. For us, these are the students and teachers across the country use our products. One of the programs that helps us do this is Extraordinary Educators, a recognition program that highlights the best teachers across the country. We also have an internal Slack channel that highlights social media posts from educators using our products so employees can see their work at work in classrooms. Reinforcing this connection keeps purpose at the core of our work and reminds employees why we do what we do.
Listen to feedback
Employees will not find purpose in their work if they don’t feel like they have a stake in decision-making — they need to be heard and shown that their feedback matters. At Curriculum Associates, we have a very high percentage of our company that takes our survey every year, and from those responses, we make an action plan for the following year. When we present it, our employees know that we consider their feedback and that their voice matters.
Fund the right programs
The talent that comes to a purpose-driven company wants to continue to grow. By supporting programs that facilitate this, it, in turn, creates more skilled employees that can achieve better results for the organization. It also attracts talent because they know they will be coming to an organization that will actually invest in their development.
Going back to my previous point, this doesn’t work to its fullest unless employers are willing to adapt these programs based on employee feedback. By using this data to decide where to invest and explaining to employees the why behind these decisions, employees will feel heard and supported in their development.
Values that live in your decision-making processes — and not on a poster on the wall
Not only do you have to have organizational values that support the purpose, these values can’t just live on a poster that hangs in your headquarters. They have to be integral to your decision-making processes across the company. When leadership especially lives with these values, it really shows the benefits of what a purpose-driven company can offer.
Although these five steps are key to building a purpose-driven culture, none of these really mean anything unless leadership is approachable and willing to work side-by-side with their employees. Our employees need to feel comfortable coming to us with questions or feedback. They need to have a line of sight into how we live our values. Once the culture is built, it’s on us to ensure it’s maintained.
Can you share a specific example of how embracing a purpose-driven culture helped your company attract exceptional talent or achieve a significant business goal?
Post-COVID, the demand for high performers who want meaningful work has increased, and we’ve been able to find highly motivated, diverse-minded individuals who want to contribute to purpose-driven work. Because of this, we’ve been able to attract better talent on a different level than other organizations that aren’t as mission-driven.
When you have better talent, you also get better business; it takes exceptional talent to deliver your business goals, and exceptional talent will get you there a lot faster. When you do the right thing, the right people and outcomes will come to you.
What advice would you give to leaders of smaller companies or startups who want to build a purpose-driven culture but don’t know where to start?
Start with your mission and let it guide everything you do. Ensure every employee understands how their work contributes to a larger goal.
As your company grows, ensure that your company’s values and mission remain at the core of decision-making. These cultures don’t happen by accident — they’re built through consistent, thoughtful leadership that prioritizes people, purpose, and product.
What are some common mistakes leaders make when trying to create a purpose-driven culture, and how can they avoid them?
One common mistake leaders make is treating purpose as a slogan rather than a guiding principle. A mission statement on a website or poster isn’t enough — employees need to see purpose embedded in daily work, decision-making, and leadership actions. Too often, companies articulate a strong mission but fail to connect it to employees’ day-to-day experiences, leading to disengagement and skepticism. To avoid this, leaders should regularly communicate how each role contributes to the broader mission and create structures that reinforce this alignment, like leadership development programs. Managers play a key role here — when they are equipped to lead with purpose, they help employees see the impact of their work, strengthening overall engagement and retention.
Another critical element is ensuring purpose isn’t static — as companies grow and industries evolve, purpose should be a living part of company culture, not something set in stone. This means consistently gathering feedback, staying responsive to employee and customer needs, and being willing to adapt while staying true to core values. At Curriculum Associates, we continuously refine how we support educators, ensuring our work remains relevant in an ever-changing education landscape. By making purpose an active, evolving part of the organization, leaders can build a culture that remains strong and meaningful over time.
How do you ensure that your organization’s purpose evolves and remains relevant as your company grows and the world changes?
We stay deeply connected to the needs of the educators and students we serve. As the world of education shifts, we listen — through direct conversations with teachers, data-driven insights, and ongoing feedback — so we can adapt while staying true to our mission. We also know that classrooms vary on so many levels — by state, county, and even within a school — so we work with our partners to ensure that the work we do meets their needs and that we are still working toward our mission.
What trends or shifts are you seeing in the workplace regarding purpose, and how do you think these will shape the future of business?
Right now, many companies enforce rigid return-to-office (RTO) mandates, requiring employees to be in the office a set number of days — often without a clear connection to productivity or purpose. While some in-person collaboration is valuable, forcing people into an office just for it can create frustration, erode trust, and shift focus away from meaningful work. Instead of feeling connected to their company’s mission, employees spend more energy complying with policies than driving impact. Research shows that strict mandates disproportionately impact certain demographics, affecting the type of talent you can attract and overall inclusiveness.
With that in mind, we don’t mandate RTO because we believe trust fuels engagement. Our employees can focus on their work, helping teachers and students, without unnecessary distractions. When we do come together in person, it’s intentional and meaningful. By prioritizing purpose over physical presence, companies can create a culture where employees feel valued, motivated, and connected to the mission — no matter where they work.
In your opinion, how does having a purpose-driven culture impact not just employees, but customers, clients, and the broader community?
A purpose-driven culture doesn’t just benefit employees — it creates a ripple effect that extends to customers, clients, and the broader community. When employees are deeply connected to their organization’s mission, their passion and commitment show up in their work, leading to better products, stronger relationships, and a more significant overall impact.
Our employees’ passion for their work translates into a better product for our customers. This alignment builds trust and loyalty with our customers, who see us as true partners in education. When a company stays true to its mission, everyone benefits.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people by building purpose-driven workplaces, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would start a movement that encourages purpose alignment amongst all employees at an organization. This initiative would encourage employees to reflect on their personal purpose and align it with their organization’s mission. By doing so, individuals can self-identify deeper meaning in their work, leading to greater satisfaction and productivity. If employees struggle to find this alignment, it may prompt them to reconsider their role or inspire the organization to rethink its approach.
Leaders would also play a crucial role in this movement. CEOs and senior leaders would lead by example, sharing their own purpose at specific times of the year, much like how organizations share other annual updates about benefits or business goals. This transparency and commitment from leadership can inspire employees, creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, motivated, and connected to the mission.
How can our readers further follow you online?
You can stay up-to-date with Curriculum Associates on our website, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
This was great. Thank you so much for the time you spent sharing with us.
Sandra O’Sullivan of Curriculum Associates On How to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture That Attracts… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.