In a digital age where the workplace is no longer confined by walls, how can companies stay human-centric while scaling? Katherine Johnson, Chief Governance Officer at Storj and Executive Chair of the Storj Institute, offers a perspective rooted in experience, responsibility, and vision. In her conversation with me, Johnson pulls back the curtain on the governance of distributed teams and why inclusivity is not just a value—but a strategic imperative.
Building Inclusive Systems from the Ground Up
Johnson’s journey with Storj began before she officially joined the company in 2019. After getting to know the company as an advisor, she stepped into the role of General Counsel and Head of People and Compliance, helping guide the globally distributed company through its evolution from a nimble startup into a more mature, structured organization with formal policies and programs rooted in its values. “We’ve been remote since our inception,” she notes, reflecting on how the company’s DNA is intertwined with flexibility and appreciation for the different perspectives that geo-diversity brings. That foundation allowed Storj to lean into the distributed model rather than struggle against it.
Yet remote work is not without its frictions. “In a distributed environment, we don’t get the benefit of casual conversations,” Johnson explains. Without impromptu chats over coffee or spontaneous hallway discussions, information must be intentionally structured. This creates both a challenge and an opportunity: while communication can easily falter, especially cross-culturally, intentional processes can bring clarity and cohesion to globally diverse teams.
Crucially, Johnson emphasizes the cultural complexities of such work. With team members spanning continents—from the U.S. to Ukraine to Ghana—differences in communication styles can easily lead to misinterpretation. “One person’s directness can be seen as rudeness by another,” she says. Without shared context or tone, even a well-meant email can cause confusion. It’s a common challenge in distributed teams, and a reminder that in a world reliant on the written word, empathy and cultural awareness are core competencies.
Governance as the Backbone of Success
Shifting from legal and people operations into governance might seem like a pivot, but for Johnson, it was a natural evolution. Her new role is an extension of her prior work, aligning structure with strategy, ensuring that as Storj and Storj Institute grow, they do so responsibly and equitably.
She is clear: the governance challenges of remote work mirror those of traditional workplaces—but with magnified stakes. Without intentional frameworks, things fall apart faster. “It’s through structure that we build policies, procedures, and approaches to decision-making,” she explains. These frameworks become especially crucial in distributed organizations, where informal mechanisms of accountability may be absent or overlooked as an organization develops.
Johnson’s approach is grounded in experience. She spent years working in regulatory compliance at major banks and law firms, environments where the cost of poor communication or unasked questions was often high. “A lot of financial frauds were missed because people didn’t feel safe asking questions.”. According to her, that same principle applies in tech: when individuals don’t feel empowered to speak up, errors go unchecked and innovation suffers.
Governance, then, becomes more than risk mitigation—it’s a driver of trust within a company and greater productivity. She notes that trust is essential when teams aren’t sharing a physical space. It’s what allows a software engineer in Accra and a project manager in California to stay aligned on values, objectives, and standards.
Inclusion as a Competitive Advantage
Johnson is especially passionate about inclusivity, and not as a vague corporate virtue. For her, inclusion is essential to building technology that actually works for everyone. Storj’s platform, rooted in distributed cloud storage, may be highly technical, but its success depends on understanding and serving a diverse set of users.
“Much of Web2’s failure came from homogenous teams,” she points out. When technologies are built by people from similar backgrounds, blind spots emerge. Input data lacks variety. User assumptions become narrow. Accessibility features are neglected. At best, this results in minor usability issues. At worst, it disenfranchises entire groups of people.
This is where distributed teams shine—if they’re managed well. Storj has employees in regions facing vastly different challenges. Some colleagues work from war-affected Ukraine. Others may have to navigate intermittent internet in parts of Africa. Johnson herself is a single mother in Minneapolis, part of the sandwich generation, supporting both her child and her mother. Crucially, she sees these varied lived experiences not as obstacles—they’re assets.
The different experiences of team members around the world shape the questions employees ask, the use cases they anticipate, and how a company’s representatives relate to customers. That diversity becomes an engine for building more resilient, relevant, and ethical technology, and helps others understand its value proposition – but only so long as every voice is heard and welcomed, even if decisions ultimately rest with leadership. “Inclusion isn’t just a nice-to-have,” Johnson said. “It’s a requirement for doing business well.”
Navigating a Backlash Against Inclusion
The conversation around inclusion naturally turns to a timely and hot-rod issue: backlash. In an era where inclusivity is sometimes politicized, companies face a dilemma—especially if they work with governments or clients under pressure to downplay such commitments.
Johnson’s response to this is pragmatic. “No one is really against inclusion,” she said. “It’s the label that’s become tainted.” The solution? Focus on the fundamentals. She implores companies to look past the politics to see what matters: “Inclusion means people feel safe, productive, and heard. That’s not controversial. That’s just good business.”
She encourages companies to root their inclusion efforts in operational necessity, not ideology. When framed as a driver of performance, innovation, and risk management, inclusion becomes less of a flashpoint and more of a framework. “If someone doesn’t feel safe saying, ‘I don’t understand this,’ you’re at risk,” she warned. The goal isn’t to check a box—it’s to build systems where people can raise concerns and ideas without fear.
The Future of Governance Is Human
Looking ahead, Johnson sees governance taking center stage—not just as a compliance measure, but as a cultural blueprint. As societies and organizations face rapid change, strong governance becomes the guardrail that keeps innovation safe and sustainable.
“In a remote environment, governance ties people to the company’s mission and values,” she said. That connection is no longer incidental—it’s engineered through structure, rituals, policies, and practices. As distributed work continues to grow, so too will the need for thoughtful governance that aligns global teams and fosters a sense of belonging.
Ultimately, Johnson’s message is clear: the future of work is distributed, and inclusivity is not optional. It is the key to resilience, creativity, and long-term success. And with the right governance, companies can turn that key into a lasting competitive advantage.
About the Author
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, called the “Office Whisperer” by The New York Times, helps SME leaders in professional and financial services transform AI hype into real-world results. He serves as the CEO of the future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote seven best-selling books, and his two most recent ones are Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams and ChatGPT for Leaders and Content Creators: Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI. His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles and 550 interviews in Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, Time, Business Insider, Fortune, The New York Times, and elsewhere. His writing was translated into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Korean, French, Vietnamese, German, and other languages. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox. It also comes from over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist, with 8 years as a lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill and 7 years as a professor at Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio.
