Become an HRA Ambassador & Get Involved

Melody started her career building a solid background in People Leadership within the aviation industry, steadily growing from a compliance-focused specialist to a well-rounded HR professional who is passionate about supporting people and creating a positive experience and sense of belonging for employees. She's always excited to learn from other people, leverage her broad HR experience to offer guidance and feedback, and contribute to an engaging and diverse community of HR practitioners. Whenever time allows, Melody enjoys spoiling her three cats and one dog with attention, casually gaming on any platform, and planning her next travel adventure.

Jennifer is a dynamic HR leader with over 14 years of experience in both operational and strategic HR practices. She is the Director of HR for Blockskye, an Enterprise SaaS company for consumer-facing travel procurement. Previously, she led the HR function for a global business unit within Fluor Corporation, a major EPC. Jennifer is passionate about building strategies and initiatives focused on solving business and people challenges, while driving a positive and inclusive culture. She is SHRM-Certified and holds her Bachelor of Business Administration with a minor in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.

My entire career has been dedicated to People Operations, with experience spanning both large corporations and startup environments. Since 2012, I have specialized in the SaaS industry with early stage companies, bringing a deep understanding of its unique challenges and opportunities. I firmly believe that every organization can be more intentional about the employee experience.

I am passionate about the role People Operations plays as a strategic partner in driving business growth. My experience and relationship-focused approach have enabled me to build organizations with infrastructures that engage and empower people to perform their best work. I think strategically about aligning an organization's culture and talent brand to attract and retain top talent, support business growth, and minimize bureaucracy.

Hi there! I'm Hannah Thomas, currently serving as Sr. Manager, HR Operations at Cart.com. I have a deep passion for people and technology and love exploring how these two elements can be harmonized to propel the workforce forward. Before diving into the world of HR, I spent a significant part of my career in the hospitality industry. This background instilled in me a special appreciation for organizations with large hourly workforces, as I spent many years immersed in that space. I was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, not far from Penn State University (We Are!). These days, I call the vibrant city of Austin, Texas, my home. When I'm not working, I love spending time with my dog (or any animal for that matter!) or at coffee shops with a good book in hand. Whether it's connecting with people, enjoying a delicious meal, cheering on my favorite sports teams, or getting lost in a novel, I'm always eager to embrace life's simple pleasures.

Hailing from New York City, Kenya Scott has over twelve years of experience in the HR/ People field in tech, nonprofits, and retail. His passions and experience are in Employee Engagement, DEI, team building, Event Planning, Social Impact, and Workplace Wellness. When he's not working, his passions include reading, photography, making art, playing video games, traveling, and trying new restaurants.

Allison Lopour is the Chief People Officer at Collegewise. She originally planned a career in education, but stumbled into HR and found her happy place. She’s spent the last 20 years helping people (both students and professionals) find their path. She cares deeply about access to higher education, finding balance and joy in your work, and convincing her kids that she’s “a cool mom”.

Taliah Bermudez, SPHR, holds over 20 years of Human Resources knowledge and experience. Her professional strengths include developing processes, training managers, and gaining executive buy-in; continuous improvement to keep employees engaged; and building lasting relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Erica is the co-founder of HumanTech Consulting, which uses mindfulness to help organizations cultivate cultures that nurture employee well-being, enhance engagement, and ignite productivity. She uses her nearly 30 years of experience in people operations/human resources management and transformational coaching to feed her passion for creating and implementing humanistic and forward-thinking strategies and initiatives that align with global business visions, missions, and goals, and that foster a culture of collaboration, empowerment, and excellence. She feels very fortunate to continuously work with diverse and globally distributed teams across various industries, countries, and sectors, including technology, healthcare, advertising, and social impact. She is also the incredibly proud mom of 3 fabulous young men, and the grandma of twin humans, 4 cats, and a dog.

As the Vice President of People for Gardant Management Solutions, Lisa is responsible for leading the company’s Strategic Human Resources initiatives with a focus on talent management and acquisitions, while enhancing employee engagement. She is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and is also certified through the Society of Human Resources program, earning the senior certified professional (SHRM-SCP) certification. She was also a member of the Argentum HR Roundtable and held a position on the HR Advisory Board for SHINE, to enhance Human Resources position in the Seniors Housing industry. 

Joe deeply believes that for people to be happy with life, they need to be happy at work. There is no other domain in life where we spend more time. His mission is to ensure that all the HR systems with the support of strong leaders create an environment where everyone can thrive.

He is a seasoned, executive leader with a deliberate focus on bringing out the best in people and solving hard business problems through process and persistence.

Currently he serves as VP of People at Crisp. He has also held roles as a c-suite advisor, executive talent management consultant and head of learning & development.

He has experience leading teams to solve people, learning & operational challenges. During his career he has worked with organizations and their senior executives across a variety of industries including technology, healthcare, hospitality, logistics, finance and energy.

Willie has been in HR for over 15 years, in various different industries and work environments and holds an active SHRM-SCP certification.  Specializing in Employee Relations and Leadership Coaching & Development, Willie currently serves as Director of People Operations for Tacombi and Vista Hermosa Products.  Although leading Tacombi's People team and initiatives across 20+ locations, in 6 different states, for over 750 employees keeps Willie busy he has not missed an Annual HR Advisory meeting since his first, over 3 years ago!  Willie is a huge Bennie and HR Advisory fan and member and looking forward to serving as an HRA Ambassador.

Allison (she/her) specializes in building and scaling People Operations practices, particularly for rapidly-growing startups and international teams. Currently, she serves as the VP of People for NewGlobe, an international education company providing innovative curriculum and transformative technical services to public schools. Recently leading the People & Talent function at connectRN, she led the organization through COVID-19 and the transition to remote-supportive work. There, Allison developed and executed the HR strategy as the company grew 4x YoY. Prior to connectRN, Allison served as the Head of People at CozyKin, a tech-enabled childcare service, and talent acquisition teams at EF Education First and Cengage, hiring globally and nationally respectively.

Being a very mission-driven professional, Allison has worked predominantly for companies which make a societal impact (edtech, healthtech, famtech). She believes in a human-first approach, advocating for employee wellbeing and amplifying voices from underrepresented groups.

Nurcin is the Senior Director of Human Resources at the Museum of Science in Boston.

Kelly Loudermilk, Talent Innovator with BuildHR, is a passionate HR leader known for transforming HR into a strategic partner that drives business growth and employee engagement. With 15 years of experience in transforming workplaces, she’s worked with organizations from 3 to 15,000 employees, helping CEOs, leaders, managers, and peers reimagine how they engage with and support their people by combining strategic vision with hands-on expertise to drive growth, enhance compliance, and build a people-centered culture that supports sustainable success. A leader in People Operations, she works to inspire HR professionals to elevate their impact within modern organizations.

Daron Moore is an influential thought leader and advocate for maximizing individual potential. With a rich background spanning over ten years in talent development and strategic leadership, Daron has been at the forefront of advancing human capabilities in a tech-enabled world. As the visionary behind his talent/organizational development consultancy, The Re:Connect, he has adeptly helped numerous enterprises mobilize strategy, catalyze change and realize growth.

His tenure as a senior executive and talent development strategist across multinational corporations has endowed him with extensive expertise and a distinctive approach to modern work dynamics. Daron champions the innovative philosophy of prioritizing ‘organisms’ over ‘organizations,’ a testament to his commitment to creating spaces where individuals can flourish. Beyond his professional endeavors, Daron is a certified coach and a dedicated father to three adult children, embodying the delicate art of harmonizing ambitious career goals with a fulfilling family life.

As a global People Operations leader with experience across start-ups, high-growth environments, M&A, and consulting, I specialize in aligning talent strategy with business goals to achieve operational excellence and foster high-performance cultures. My strategic approach to HR encompasses talent acquisition, people operations, talent management, employee engagement, DEIB, payroll, compliance, and change management. By integrating culture, innovation, and inclusivity, I drive organizational success and help businesses achieve high-growth goals. Outside work, I’m passionate about travel and exploring new destinations with my husband. Our adventures have taken us to various parts of the world, and I’m always excited to share and hear travel recommendations.

Kanu Chaudhary is the Chief People Officer at Datassential, where she brings over 20 years of HR leadership experience across startups, high-growth companies, and large corporations. As a trusted and empathetic advisor to CEOs, C-suite leaders, and employees, Kanu is passionate about driving business success by transforming people practices, fostering high-performance and building inclusive workplaces. Kanu holds an MBA in HR and prior to moving to the US, she held diverse HR roles in UK, Germany and India.

Lisa Hickey, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is a dynamic and seasoned HR professional who thrives in collaborative environments. As the Sr. HR Business Partner at CompTIA, she leverages her extensive background to align HR initiatives with business outcomes. Lisa holds a Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from NYU and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Boston University, and she is certified by SHRM, HRCI, and Coach Training Alliance. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and continuously learning new things.

Award-winning television personality Liza Wisner is a talent development expert and the curator of change agent training, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion thought leadership. Professionally trained with degrees in computer science and educational technology, Liza has built an incredible career and has turned her love of automation into a fulfilling life, strategizing, and managing learning, diversity, inclusion, and automation initiatives. Liza is also the founder of social organizations including the non-profit, ‘PowerUp.org’ on a mission to end “Technology Poverty” by bridging the digital divide. For more information about Liza, visit her website: www.lizawisner.com

Natasha Ubaldo is a certified HR/People professional who's currently the Director of People Experience and Development at Bond Vet. Natasha began her career in healthcare management then pivoted to tech, an industry she absolutely fell in love with. She's fueled by a deep passion to positively impact the people and communities she's a part of, both personally and professionally. By combining her background in psychology and business with her fundamental belief that people strategy is business strategy, she's able to build, support, and empower teams to achieve desired outcomes.

Stacey is currently the Global VP of People for Smartcat, a high-growth AI-powered language translation platform that is on a mission to connect the world by eliminating communication barriers. For over 20 years Stacey has built teams for international tech companies. Stacey takes a data-driven and heart-led approach to people operations that balances rapid scaling with retention. Prior to Smartcat, Stacey created and implemented people operations best practices for 30+ global software companies in the Vista portfolio along with companies such as Google, LogicMonitor, 8th Light and Corvus. Stacey is a graduate of Purdue University and currently splits her time between Indianapolis and Boston. She is actively involved with the HR community and in 2022 was named #10 on the Top Women Leaders in Massachusetts. Outside of work, Stacey is a mentor through the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, M.o.R.E for Kids in Rush County and enjoys the outdoors.