Maria Scarzella Thorpe

Maria Scarzella Thorpe is a Fractional Culture & People Experience Lead with more than a decade of international experience helping organizations build cultures that connect people, purpose, and performance. Through Nomad Pass, her culture strategy and retreat consultancy, she partners with founders, executives, and People teams across multiple organizations to shape culture strategy, elevate the employee experience, and design team retreats that bring distributed teams together.

Previously, as Head of Community & Hybrid Work Culture at a fintech scale-up, she led the company's transition to hybrid work, shaping its culture strategy and launching global initiatives that strengthened belonging, trust, and engagement. Her work sits at the intersection of culture strategy, community-building, and experience design, with a focus on distributed and hybrid environments. After 15 years in San Francisco, she is now based in Milan, where she leads the Culture First Italy Chapter, championing more human, inclusive, and connected workplaces. She is included in Startup Italia's Unstoppable Women 2026.