It’s a Chimed Life®: Meet Amanda Delaney, Director of People Experience

Chime’s Director of People Experience on crafting culture, connection, and career moments

Picture this: There is green everywhere—the floors are carpeted in green, the walls lit in the same hue, and everyone is wearing a shade of green, too. The music is uplifting and inspirational, and the smell is of coffee and delicious baked goods to start off the day. Someone walks past you with a Cash Back Cappuccino with the letters ‘CHYM’ printed on the foam, and you wonder how they did that. Everyone is donning their best shade of green and snacks are being handed out with quirky names like the MyPay Panna Cotta or the SpotMe Shakshuka. You see a life-sized version of the Chime®  Card you carry in your wallet. Amanda Delaney Cook, Chime’s Director of People Experience, watches it all unfold—the wide eyes, the gasps of surprise, the spontaneous dance circles—as Chimers enter the celebration for Chime’s recent initial public offering. This is her favorite part of every event: the moment someone walks in and you can see the awe and joy on their face.

“I remember every detail of these moments, from the scents to the sights and the sounds,” she says. “Experiences stay with you and they connect you forever—that’s why it’s so rewarding to design them.”

For Amanda, the purpose of her work is to build connection. Whether it's onboarding a new hire or hosting a 500-person offsite, she sees each experience as a chance to bring people together, deepen their connection to Chime’s members, and reassure them that they are exactly where they’re meant to be.

She’s especially thoughtful about Chimers’ time and energy: “People work hard—how can we help them step away from their desks to laugh, build real relationships, and remember why we’re all here? That’s the magic I want to create.” For Amanda, these moments of connection aren’t just about fun—they’re about reigniting pride in Chime’s mission and deepening employees’ connection to the members they serve. As she shares in Chime’s ‘Finding Your Community’ new hire session, when people trust one another and feel part of something bigger, collaboration and productivity follow—making way for team wins and meaningful impact.

We sat down with Amanda to learn more about her journey to Chime and how she thoughtfully crafts experiences for all Chimers.

Finding her true passion

Amanda’s road to experience design wasn’t a straight line. Her first exposure came while working at a sports agency, where she helped plan a player retreat in Las Vegas. A later role as an office manager at a hedge fund opened the door to full-scale event planning. “I planned everything—investor dinners, offsites, team bonding,” she says. “We did a Gettysburg reenactment in full costume, went bobsledding on the Olympic track in Park City, and flew to the Berkshire Hathaway annual conference. I handled everything from curating the menus and gifts to designing the letterpress invites and sprinkling in moments of surprise and delight. I loved it all.”

It was there, in the world of high-stakes finance, that Amanda realized her true passion: culture. “The analysts I worked with were obsessed with researching companies,” Amanda says. “And I thought, I’m just as passionate about building culture for our team. That’s when it fell into place.”

Amanda followed that passion into roles building culture and engagement at scale—from new hire onboarding, to recognition, to wellness, and of course her first love: internal events. Over time, her focus broadened—from planning experiences for employees to designing systems with employees at the center. She led the shift to remote onboarding during the pandemic, welcoming over 900 new hires with a program that consistently drew praise for its warmth and intentionality. She built company-wide wellness programs, developed peer recognition platforms, produced hackathons that fueled innovation and belonging, and led flagship programs like company-wide kickoffs, sales kickoffs, and President’s Clubs. After helping two companies through IPOs, Amanda knew she wanted to align her skills with a mission that mattered to her. When she interviewed with Chime, she felt something click.

“There are so many ‘little big decisions’ that shape your career,” she explains. “Joining Chime over my other offer was one of mine—and I’m so glad I made it.”

Her personal connection to Chime’s mission has shown up in unexpected ways, too. At a recent leadership offsite, a bartender came up to her and said, “Chime helped me pay off debt, boost my credit score, and get back on my feet.” For Amanda, that was a moment of deep affirmation. “It reminded me why I do this work,” she says.

Designing experiences with heart

Amanda’s days are a mix of big-picture vision and meticulous planning. Her team leads Chime’s marquee events—SpringChime, Bring Your Kid to Work Day, and HolidayChime—while also shaping new Chimer onboarding, recognition, remote-friendly social hours, highly sought-after swag drops, and more.

While she draws creative inspiration from all around her—her art-filled home, gallery visits, immersive dinners, and even Burning Man—her concepts always tie back to themes from Chime’s mission, values, or products. “To make sure every idea is right for us, it goes through this filter: Does this feel connected to our members? Does it reinspire Chimers to drive our mission forward?” she explains. 

From ideation to execution, Amanda centers on surprise and delight. Think: transforming Bring Your Kids to Work Day into a hands-on lesson in financial literacy, where kids completed a scavenger hunt and other activities to earn tokens “Chime Bucks” which they could then spend on stickers, ice cream sundaes, or balloon animals. The kids took it seriously, thoughtfully deciding how to use their earnings. And when the team asked themselves, “Does this connect to our business and mission?”—the answer was a clear yes.

Because she’s designing for all Chimers, inclusion is critical to Amanda’s process. Whether an event is in-person or remote-first, she designs for celebration lovers, introverts, non-drinkers, newcomers, Chimers with kids, Chimers with pets, and everyone in between. The People Experience team also tailors office traditions to reflect local cultures and personalities. For example, a celebration in Chicago might feel different from one in San Francisco—but they all ladder up to a sense of shared identity.

“Every time I plan something, I ask: Who is this for? What will make them feel welcome, safe, excited, and appreciated?” she says. 

Rethinking ROI

Measuring the impact of culture isn’t always straightforward—but for Amanda, it’s essential. As the driving force behind many of Chime’s employee experiences, she partners closely with the People Operations data and analytics team to draw clearer connections between events and employee engagement. This collaboration helps ensure that every program, celebration, and moment of connection serves a purpose beyond the moment itself. By tying her work directly to Chime’s broader talent goals—like retention, satisfaction, and performance—Amanda reinforces the idea that culture isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s a business driver.

“When experiences are thoughtfully designed, they can boost morale, foster belonging, and strengthen trust—outcomes that have real, measurable impact on the business,” Amanda says. “If our team can demonstrate that what we’re doing contributes to engagement, productivity, or even talent attraction, it validates the investment.”

Still, Amanda knows that not everything meaningful can be measured in metrics alone. Because her work centers on creating moments of connection and delight—often intangible by nature—she values anecdotal and qualitative feedback just as much. “A major part of our success—beyond the data—is visible delight,” she says. “It’s seeing people genuinely enjoy themselves, hearing someone say ‘That made my week,’ or reading great written-in feedback after an event. It’s also the trust we earn from stakeholders, and the quiet confirmation that what we did was intentional, thoughtful, and impactful.”

Growth, grounding, and sharing her sparkle

Amanda is proud of the work she’s already done at Chime—from adding a dedicated ‘Finding Your Community’ onboarding session to leading the company’s IPO celebrations. But she’s just as proud of how she’s grown personally.

“I’ve evolved more here than in any other role in my career,” she reflects. As a manager, she’s focused on mentoring with empathy. And through the chaos of planning dozens of events a year, she stays grounded with routines and boundaries. “My own wellness is a non-negotiable for me, which helps me stay focused and inspired” she says.

Amanda’s personal story, which has been partially shaped by loss, has given her a ton of perspective and clarity on the importance of her role—and driven her to want to share her work, too: “At the end of the day, none of this matters unless we’re connecting with each other and creating moments of joy.” She recently launched a Substack where she shares tactical insights, vendor recommendations, and learnings for other culture builders.

“I want to provide tools and resources to open the door for solo culture folks at early-stage startups or small teams, helping them avoid burnout and build great things with limited resources,” she says.

Amanda’s sense of clarity and purpose guides her work, her team, and her legacy. “When I’m 80, I hope I’ll look back and say: I made people feel seen,” she says. “I created moments of joy. I created lasting memories. I helped them belong. And we all had fun along the way.”