HR Daily Advisor‘s Faces of HR column is a weekly series, profiling the amazing work being done by members throughout the HR community. Not only do we take a closer look at the successes, challenges, aspirations, and opinions of HR professionals, but we also share personal experiences providing a bit more insight into each individual.
This year, our Faces profiles brought invaluable insight from all walks of the industry, from talent management to benefits to DEIB to recruiting, and so much more. As we say goodbye to 2023 and look toward a new year, our team at HR Daily Advisor has gone back through the archives and selected some of our most viewed profiles from 2023.
Faces of HR: Kristen Kenny on Empathy, Building Culture & Instilling Values
Kenny is Chief People Officer at EngageSmart, which offers vertically tailored customer engagement software and integrated payments capabilities to improve mission-critical workflows. Over the course of her 20-plus years in HR, Kenny has prided herself on focusing her efforts on start-up companies to build infrastructure around HR/recruiting operations and business expansion – and EngageSmart is no exception.
Faces of HR: Mona Dine on the Power of a Purposeful Approach to HR
Mona Dine, PCC, SPHR, SCP, ODCP, is an accomplished Human Resources (HR) leader with more than 20 years of experience. She got her start in operations leadership at National Bankcard Corporation and then segued into HR. From there, her career evolved as she took on increasingly complex and broader roles. Today, Dine leads Talent Management and Corporate Human Resources at U. S. Steel Corporation, a leading steel producer. As a talent management leader across a myriad of industries, Dine’s expertise is utilized to develop impactful leaders, create engaging environments, and promote talent practices that drive performance and business results.
Faces of HR: Dipa Homer on Self-Awareness and Servant Leadership
Dipa Homer started her career in the United States, serving at NCR Corporation, and then in 2019, she became VP of HR for Rheem’s water heating division. In her role, she leads the manufacturing company’s global HR department, including benefits, learning and talent development, HR technology, mergers and acquisitions, and total rewards and communications.
Faces of HR: Dean Carter on Positive Cultures, Purpose-Centric Leaders & Pathways
For the last three decades, Dean Carter has served as a change agent. From Fossil Group to Sears Holdings, and most recently at Patagonia, Carter has honed his craft by leading HR transformations. Currently, as CPO at Guild Education, Carter serves with a passion for expanding the impact of Talent, Culture, and Employee Experience teams within the organization.
Faces of HR: How One HR Pro Navigates the Muddy Waters of HR to Create Positive Possibilities
Although Cassandra Margolin has worked in the HR industry for nearly a decade, she didn’t find her true passion for the field until five years ago. At the time, she was working for high growth, quick scaling, start-up tech companies. According to Margolin, her growth was slow and steady until she segued into the tech sector as an HR Generalist – then she suddenly found herself like a sponge, absorbing everything when she understood HR’s impact on a company and its people. The unique skill set that Margolin developed in scaling hybrid/remote tech companies from an HR perspective led her to her current position as the Head of People Operations at Jasper AI, an artificial intelligence content creation tool.
Faces of HR: Susan LaMonica on Balancing People and Business Strategies
Before segueing into HR, LaMonica began her career with Chase Manhattan Bank, holding several leadership roles in retail banking, operations, and risk. She would go on to spend an impressive 23-year tenure at JP Morgan Chase. LaMonica has spent the past 12 years as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Citizens Bank. In her role, she leads a team responsible for leadership and talent development; talent acquisition; organizational development and culture; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and more.
Faces of HR: Allison Allen on the Transformative Power of HR Analytics and Data
Allison Allen has nearly 25 years of experience leading all aspects of the employment experience, starting with talent recruitment at Tek Systems. Throughout her impressive career, Allen has held myriad leadership positions, including serving as chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Orchard Global, where she developed international people programs and service delivery strategies to help drive the business forward.
Faces of HR: Monica Davis on Commitment, Collaboration, and Collective Action
Over the course of her impressive career, Davis has worked with myriad organizations, including the Miami HEAT and CHG Healthcare, where she helped drive cultural transformations and implemented DEIB initiatives that dismantled systemic barriers. Currently, she serves as the Director of Talent Experience, DEIB at software development company EngageSmart, where she leads with unwavering determination and a passion for creating lasting change.
Faces of HR: Donna Flynn on Reimaging Work & the Employee Experience
Flynn has spent the past decade leading research and experience strategy on the future of work as Vice President, Workspace Futures at Steelcase. At the onset of the pandemic, Flynn was tapped as Vice President of Global Talent at the global office design company. In her role, she oversees the efforts to attract, retain, develop, engage, and inspire Steelcase employees around the world. Although this is her first role ever in HR, Flynn says the thread that crosses her career and brought her to this role is creating great experiences for people at work.
Faces of HR: Lorraine Ortiz on Helping People Realize Their ‘Why’
Lorraine Ortiz has nearly 25 years of HR professional and executive coach experience in nonprofit, corporate, health care, and higher education. Currently, Ortiz serves as Chief People Officer at First Internet Bank, a pioneer in the branchless delivery of banking services since 1999. In her role, she’s responsible for myriad HR and talent strategies programs, including overseeing the bank’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, employee experience, and talent acquisition and development efforts.
Faces of HR: Holly Grogan Talks Building Empowered Teams, Positive Workspaces & Leading with Empathy
For more than 20 years, Holly Grogan has worked in a myriad of Human Resources (HR) roles with the goal of driving growth and profitability through strategic employee initiatives. While her first job out of undergrad was in recruiting, Grogan has spent most of her career specializing in creating and building HR and talent strategies for high-growth companies that have helped them grow and succeed. As Chief People Officer of Appspace, a Dallas-based technology company that provides a workplace experience platform for communications and workplace management, Grogan believes that leading with empathy creates connection – no matter what’s happening.
Faces of HR: Don Robertson on Building an Ecosystem of Connectivity, Culture & Talent
Before Don Robertson segued into HR, he launched and spent half his career in accounting, finance, and sales. If you ask him, he’s just a “businessperson that happens to be in HR.” Nearly 38 years later, Robertson’s “strong fundamental business and finance background” laid the foundation for his impressive career as an HR executive.