# Lauren Lee

Head of Employee Experience at Cognition (Devin, Windsurf); former Head of Events at Neo; ex-Dropbox, Plaid; AMFT  
Cognition  
San Francisco Bay Area

## At Cognition

- Role: Head of Employee Experience (Recruiting/People)
- Joined: Jan 2026
- How they joined: Directly
- Before Cognition: Associate Therapist, Lauren Lee Psychotherapy & Coaching
- Overlapped before Cognition with other Cognition people at: Neo; Dropbox (https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/worked-together)

## Identity
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo
- Domain: cognition.ai

## Notes
- Became Head of Employee Experience at Cognition (maker of Devin and, since its July 2025 acquisition, Windsurf) in January 2026, after almost seven years running events at Neo; she joined roughly six months after the Windsurf deal closed. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- In Ali Partovi's 'The Cursor prehistory' on Neo News, Lauren Lee recalls Cursor co-founder Michael Truell as a Neo Scholar: 'Lauren Lee remembers the mischievous confidence. At one Neo group competition, Michael named his team: “Winning Team.”'. (https://neo.substack.com/p/the-cursor-prehistory)
- Cognition engineer/exec Asmar Ghafoor publicly credited 'our world class Employee Experience team, particularly Lauren Lee and Rusty Pierce' for a surprise welcome package (hoodies, denim overshirt, blanket, Owala bottle) timed to arrive while he was in the UK. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/azzyg_devin-cognitionai-companyculture-activity-7480534942029058049-_Zcf)
- At Neo (Ali Partovi's early-stage fund and community for young engineers) she was Head of Events from May 2019 to January 2026, and is now listed as an Advisor to Neo (2026); her LinkedIn slug 'laurenleeneo' reflects how closely her identity was tied to Neo. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- At Dropbox she project-managed Hack Week, the cross-functional bi-annual hackathon touching Recruiting, Legal, IT, Facilities and Engineering, and worked with the Creative Director on the weekly all-hands; that is the clearest precedent for running engineering-culture events at Cognition. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- She joined Dropbox in April 2013 as a Front Desk Coordinator, was managing the Front Desk Team within about three months, and from 2014 to 2017 was Manager of Events & Experiences, overseeing 7 direct reports in Dropbox's 'Black Ops' organisation (Internal Comms, Front Desk and Events). (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- In parallel with Neo she trained as a therapist: an MA-track in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling at Pepperdine University (2019 - Dec 2022), Associate Therapist at Liberation Institute (2022-2023) and her own practice, Lauren Lee Psychotherapy & Coaching (2022-); the 'AMFT' (Associate Marriage and Family Therapist) in her headline signals that clinical lens on employee wellbeing. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- She authored the Dropbox blog post 'Hack Week is here' (August 17, 2015), which notes that 'With 1,200 employees across 12 offices, this year’s Hack Week is the biggest we’ve had yet' and that products such as Dropbox for Business and file requests began as Hack Week projects. (https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/company/hack-week-2015)
- Public headline says "Cognition | Neo | AMFT". (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- Neo's team was listed as Ali Partovi (CEO), Suzanne Xie (Partner), Emily Cohen (Partner), Lauren Lee (Head of Events) and Vincent Po (Head of Scholars Program), the core group she worked alongside. (https://venturecapitalarchive.com/venture-funds/neo-neo-com)
- Mentor Anna Marie Wagner thanked 'Emily Cohen, Pavla Bobosikova, and Lauren Lee for organizing' a Neo founder weekend, praising Neo's Scholars program; Pavla Bobosikova and Emily Cohen were her event co-organisers at Neo. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/annamariewagner_im-lucky-enough-to-be-a-mentor-for-neo-and-activity-7353066644920848385-1GoK)
- Founder Ian Patterson thanked Pavla Bobosikova, Emily Cohen, Ali Partovi, Suzanne Xie, Shriya Bhatt and Lauren Lee after a Neo trip, another record of her running Neo's founder programming. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ian-remark_just-got-back-from-a-quick-trip-to-meet-some-activity-7355609037209583618-L102)
- Between Plaid and Neo she freelanced as a Workplace Operations consultant (Sep 2018 - May 2019). (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- Previous roles include Head of Events at Neo; Associate Therapist at Liberation Institute; Freelance Consultant, Workplace Operations at Lauren Lee; Manager of Places & Employee Experience  at Plaid; Manager of Events & Experiences at Dropbox; Office Team Lead - Front Desk Manager at Dropbox; Front Desk Coordinator at Dropbox; Operations Manager (Recruiting, Executive Assistant, & Office Manager all rolled into one) at Fanhood. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- Education history includes Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling, Pepperdine University; BA, Psychology & Social Behavior, UC Irvine. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- Before Dropbox she was Operations Manager at Fanhood, covering recruiting, executive assistance and office management ('all rolled into one'). (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- She holds a BA in Psychology & Social Behavior from UC Irvine. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)
- Lauren Lee was tagged again alongside Emily Cohen in a later Top Shelf community announcement that mentions Cognition, showing ongoing ties to her former Neo colleagues. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jenniferortegon_our-last-exciting-announcement-of-the-week-activity-7506555294798249984-DB0e)
- Pierre Martin's post on the Neo Safe and fundraising tags Lauren Lee alongside Claire Blood-Cheney and credits what 'Ali Partovi and the team at Neo have built over the years'. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pnmartin7_neo-startup-fundraising-activity-7213964693005062144-YvJb)
- Location is San Francisco Bay Area. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo)

## Experience
- Head of Employee Experience at Cognition (Jan 2026 - Present)
- Advisor at Neo (Jan 2026 - Present)
- Associate Therapist at Lauren Lee Psychotherapy & Coaching (Jan 2022 - Present)
- Head of Events at Neo (May 2019 - Jan 2026): Neo identifies awesome young engineers, includes them in a community of tech veterans, and invests in companies they start or join.
- Associate Therapist at Liberation Institute (Jan 2022 - Dec 2023)
- Freelance Consultant, Workplace Operations at Lauren Lee - San Francisco Bay Area (Sep 2018 - May 2019)
- Manager of Places & Employee Experience at Plaid (Aug 2017 - Aug 2018)
- Manager of Events & Experiences at Dropbox (Mar 2014 - May 2017): I joined the Office Team at Dropbox in April 2013 as a Front Desk Coordinator and within 3 months started transitioning into a management role, overseeing the Front Desk Team. After 1 year at Dropbox, I began leading our internal Events Team as well.

Specific responsibilities and accomplishments include:

• Oversee 7 direct reports in the Black Ops Organization. I’m responsible for performance management, mentorship, and development of my teams.
• Day-to-day management of Dropbox reception areas, internal talks, company-wide events, and our perks and wellness programs.
• Manage our global events budget which includes: internal talks, company-wide events and holiday parties.
• Assist with recruiting efforts for Office (Facilities and Real Estate), Black Ops (Internal Comms, Front Desk and Events) and Security Teams. 
• Project management of Dropbox Hack Week, a cross-functional bi-annual event which includes (but is not limited to): company-wide communications, budgeting/allocation, design and space planning production, PR & social media, large-scale event planning and interaction with Recruiting, Legal, IT, Facilities, and Engineering Teams. 
• Work with our Creative Director to transform our weekly company-wide presentation into a really relevant, informative, creative and entertaining experience for Dropboxers.
- Office Team Lead - Front Desk Manager at Dropbox (Jun 2013 - Feb 2014)
- Front Desk Coordinator at Dropbox (Apr 2013 - Jun 2013)
- Operations Manager (Recruiting, Executive Assistant, & Office Manager all rolled into one) at Fanhood - San Francisco Bay Area (Jun 2012 - Apr 2013)
- Admissions Representative at Academy of Art University - San Francisco Bay Area (Dec 2011 - May 2012)

## Education
- Pepperdine University - Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling - (Jan 2019 - Dec 2022)
- UC Irvine - BA, Psychology & Social Behavior

## Sources
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenleeneo
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/azzyg_devin-cognitionai-companyculture-activity-7480534942029058049-_Zcf
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/azzyg_devin-cognitionai-ai-activity-7485729844123852801-oTzJ
- https://devin.ai/blog/windsurfs-next-chapter
- https://venturecapitalarchive.com/venture-funds/neo-neo-com
- https://neo.substack.com/p/the-cursor-prehistory
- https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/company/hack-week-2015
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/annamariewagner_im-lucky-enough-to-be-a-mentor-for-neo-and-activity-7353066644920848385-1GoK
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ian-remark_just-got-back-from-a-quick-trip-to-meet-some-activity-7355609037209583618-L102
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pnmartin7_neo-startup-fundraising-activity-7213964693005062144-YvJb
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jenniferortegon_top-shelf-fall-retreat-october-16-18-2026-activity-7485705391691939840--9Lt
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jenniferortegon_our-last-exciting-announcement-of-the-week-activity-7506555294798249984-DB0e
- https://github.com/laurenwylee


Researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-04. Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people/lauren-lee · Everyone at Cognition: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people