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THE MOST INSPIRING CORPORATE HR PROFESSIONALS IN 2025

www.cioviews.com

DECEMBER 2025

Director of Learning & Organizational Development Pelican Energy TCI

Claudia Been-Munnings Shaping people’s growth through Learning and Development

Visionaries Redeﬁning the Heart of Corporate Culture

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Human Resources (HR) has gone beyond just policy-making and process implementation, to become one of the most significant forces driving change within an organization. Today's leading HR professionals show us the tremendous impact that implementing a strong people-focused leadership model can produce on an organization. Today's HR professionals are no longer simply developing policies and processes for an organization, they are now focused on identifying and leveraging the potential of each human being within an organization, thereby creating a workplace environment that allows each employee to reach their full potential. These HR experts promote a culture of growth, trust, and psychological safety and recognize that high performance starts with the development of real connections among employees and between employees and leadership. Today's leading HR professionals are reinventing the way talent development occurs by examining the best practices of top HR models from the past, applying empathy, leveraging data intelligence, and understanding the needs of today's modern workforce. At CIO Views, we honor these empowering leaders by dedicating this issue titled “The Most Inspiring Corporate HR Professionals in 2025” to them. Featuring as the cover story, we have covered the successful & motivating journey of Claudia Been-Munnings, Director of Learning & Organizational Development at Pelican Energy TCI. We have also included the inspiring stories of Monique D. Jefferson, Chief People Officer at Community Preservation Corp (CPC); Colin McDonald, CHRO at Cross Country Healthcare; Jennifer A. Thomason, CHRO & CIO; Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County; Montserrat Cazorla, Head of Human Resources at CHG-MERIDIAN; Agapol Na Songkhla, Chief People Officer at Thai Beverage PLC; Kedibone Letsika, People & Culture Director at JTI South Africa; Bala V Sathyanarayanan, CHRO at Greif, Inc; Dana Scarcella, VP, Head of Human Resources at NOVONIX; and Amanda Bailey, Vice President for Human Resources at Boston University. CIO Views is a business magazine that mainly focuses on business leaders, their journey, views on current economic states, and all other relevant subjects that refer to the business world. Our goal is to be a leading source of information dedicated to providing our readers with detailed perspectives and views of successful business leaders who are transforming the business outlook and redefining their goals. With exclusive editions on various industries like software, education, healthcare, technology, real estate, and many more, CIO Views is driven to promote excellence in the world of business. Happy Reading!

Mousmi

Mousmi N.

COV E R S TORY

10.

Claudia Been-Munnings

22.

Monique D. Je erson

CON T EN TS

46.

26.

Kedibone Letsika

30.

Bala V Sathyanarayanan

Colin McDonald

Jennifer A. Thomason

36.

Montserrat Cazorla

40.

Agapol Na Songkhla

52. 56.

Dana Scarcella

62.

Amanda Bailey

COVER STORY

Claudia BeenMunnings Director of Learning & Organizational Development Pelican Energy TCI

Shaping people’s growth through Learning and Development

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COVER STORY

Claudia Been-Munnings oozes authenticity, positivity, and a passion for people development. From teaching in high school to inﬂuencing the learning and development at Pelican Energy TCI (PETCI), formerly FortisTCI as Director of Learning and Organizational Development, she has always inspired growth and transformation in others. Claudia typically operates from a perspective of what constitutes success. “I guess that comes from my years of teaching young children in school, where success doesn't have to mean being ﬁrst or second,” she points out. “Success could just be an improvement.” Any kind of positive change or progress in a person associated with her feels like success to her; it can be as simple as a movement toward the goal.

“Success for me has always been the ability to see positive movement in people, the ability to inspire, and to see that what I invest in people actually resonates with them and that they are able to use it to create a positive outcome for themselves.”

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COVER STORY

The path leading to leadership in Learning and Development Claudia credits her career in learning and development to her genetics. She is a part of the Robinson family, pioneers in education in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Her grand-aunts were educators, her father was a teacher, and many of her family members, who she never thought would end up in classrooms, are now university professors. She remembers that as a child, during summer holidays, she would play school; the plants were her students. She would write on the walls to teach everything from Mathematics and English to Science.

After completing her Associate Degree, and having no clear idea of what she wanted to do for her Bachelor's, she ﬁlled in temporarily at the high school in Grand Turk. That brief experience before heading oﬀ to university, awakened a love for teaching and led her to returning to the classroom as a teacher for six years, on completion of her studies. Following her teaching career, Claudia moved to Beaches Turks and Caicos, a part of Sandals Resorts, initially as the Public Relations Manager and shortly after, moving to the then Personnel Department. Under her leadership and guidance,

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supplemented with certifications from Sandals Training and international bodies, the department evolved to a full-fledged Human Resources entity, servicing the resorts approximately thirteen hundred local and regional team members. She credits hotel managers like the late Jeff McKitty and Jeremy Jones for their confidence in her ability to transfer knowledge into building a successful HR culture for Beaches Turks and Caicos. 2008 brought a new employment opportunity at the Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority where she spent the next eight years crafting a Human Resources Department within

COVER STORY

this heavily regulated environment. Here, training and development were a part of the day-to-day duties, and Claudia became a Certiﬁed Airport Security Operations Trainer and a DFT Level Five Aviation Security Instructor for X-ray Operations. She also completed coaching, mentoring and HOP's training and certiﬁcations. In 2016, she joined FortisTCI (now Pelican Energy TCI) as the Human Resources Director, and in 2022, with the restructuring of the department, she stepped into her current role as Director of Learning and Organizational Development.

Factors that make Pelican Energy TCI (formerly FortisTCI) a great place to work Pelican Energy TCI is a leading electricity utility company, providing reliable, least-cost power to homes and businesses across the Turks and Caicos Islands. Claudia calls it one of the most progressive organizations in the country, with a reputation as the “employer of choice.” She also points out that Pelican Energy TCI has a “very family-oriented environment.” Although it is a small organization, the company's 172 team members are professionals to the core. Claudia says that their level of professionalism and

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mastery of work, while remaining true to themselves, is not an experience she could have gotten anywhere else. She was also drawn to Pelican Energy TCI because, even in 2016, it had devoted a significant amount of financial resources to learning and development as well as having significant investment in community ventures across the Turks and Caicos. “That alone indicated to me that this was a company that wanted to see people grow and develop, not just as employees, but as good corporate citizens” she says. “From a work perspective, we want team members to identify with the organization and build a career here, not just say “I work there,” but “I

COVER STORY have a career there. I see growth there. I have a profession there.” All these factors made and continue to make the company very attractive to Claudia. Creating a separate Learning and Development stream The restructuring of the Human Resources department allowed for an in-depth focus on People and Culture and Learning and Organizational Development. The transition, ably led by then Vice President of Corporate Services and CFO Aisha Laporte, focused on enhancing the employee experience, ensuring that every facet of the employee life cycle - from recruitment to onboarding to development and departure - was positively impactful on all team members.

Interestingly, for Claudia, this leadership development also exempliﬁed her “win” as a teacher, as the Vice President of Corporate Services is one of her former students. “I taught her in high school,” she says. “Now, she is leading me as my vice president.” I am so proud and get emotional seeing the success of former students, and having one leading me, even more so” she adds. “For me, that says, well done.” Despite the creation of separate work streams, the workload didn't decrease,” Claudia points out. “We still wear many hats, but now we focus more on our team members' personal and professional development, strategically setting them up with career development plans which encompass short, medium and long-term goals.”

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“In collaboration with a Learning Consultant, our L&D team helps guide the process, build it, and then monitor it, but ultimately, we want each Team Member to create and own their goals,” Claudia says. “We can then work with team members to determine what type of training they would need in order to satisfy those goals.” For some, the training could be done in-house, while for others, it may require enrolling in a certiﬁcate course or placing them on a degree track to gain more formal learning, or in a technical program, where both theoretical and practical learning occurs. This process gave Claudia and her team even more opportunities to interface with team members. Each career development plan was created in-person with a consultant or with an

COVER STORY L&D Team Member. The process began with personality and learning style assessments followed by personalized meetings for plan drafting, sign off and implementation. With the monitoring and assessment now ongoing, one on one meetings are critical. “This also allows us to build rapport with team members who we may not interact with daily and that constant connection is vital to our employee engagement.,” she says. Contribution to Employee Engagement Since joining Pelican Energy TCI, Claudia has led a number of initiatives in employee engagement. When she arrived in 2016, the organization had just received its Investors in People - Standard certification, an internationally recognized people management accreditation ranking organizations in the way they lead, support and improve their people for better business results and a more engaged workforce. Certification is given at four levels, Standard developed, Silver - established, Gold – advanced and Platinum – high performing, rewarding an organization's maturity in the IIP framework. Pelican Energy TCI's journey had just begun and three years later, in 2018, the company recertified at the Silver level completing 7 of the 9 themes. In 2022, Claudia and her team had aimed to achieve a “solid Silver, all 9 themes;” no small feat, as they had just come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and undergone an organizational restructuring exercise. Their employees had worked remotely for a long time,

and the team was only beginning to regroup, but they still succeeded in securing that solid Silver recertification. And this year, in 2025, the Human Resources team led by People & Culture aimed to achieve Gold. According to her, the recertification process saw an impressive 93% employee participation rate, excellent in terms of employee engagement. Pelican Energy TCI achieved Platinum accreditation, indicating that the company's people management was at a high performing level. The key collaborative strategy was to ensure that every team member felt included and was able to express the value of that inclusion. They were invited to all the pre-meetings, they explored the various themes and indicators, they contributed examples of how they felt they were invested in. Additionally, in 2023, led by People and Culture, the company reset its values and came up with the acronym "I CARE," representing Integrity, Community, Agility, Reliability, and Empathy. According to Claudia, those values were also incorporated into their Investors in People recertification process highlighting the importance of why integrity matters, why building our community counts, why having agility is important, why reliability is crucial, and why empathy is absolutely necessary both ways. "I believe that approach carried us a long way and even allowed us to move from Silver, bypassing Gold, to Platinum level,” Claudia says. “Today, we proudly present ourselves as a 'Platinum' organization.”

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COVER STORY

“Transforming Energy in the Turks and Caicos Islands.” CIO VIEWS | 17

COVER STORY Responsibilities of Director of Learning and Organizational Development For Claudia, a typical workday involves strategic work in learning and development and routine administrative tasks related to daily operations. The role calls on her to continuously provide strategic direction to the President & CEO with regard to training, organizational structure, and related matters. She also regularly reviews and monitors succession planning, assisting in the crafting of the policies and procedures which support the process. This according to her, is crucial because the Turks and Caicos Islands rely on expatriate labor especially in the more specialized technical areas. The company focuses on providing regular training and learning programs so established team members are ready to step into key positions, through maintaining a cycle of employee development. For the newer team members, this is facilitated via apprenticeship and internship programs throughout the organization.

connections with students at secondary and tertiary level, encouraging studies in the sciences and technical subjects which support careers in the utility ﬁeld. “We have had success in this approach with students from our summer programs” she says. PETCI also provides scholarships for team members to pursue studies in those critical demand areas. Under Claudia's leadership in the Learning and Organizational Development department, a custom designed Emerging Leaders' Development Program, called “PROPEL – Empowered to Lead.” was created for the company's emerging talent. It cultivates internal talent by creating an environment where potential leaders can explore, grow, and develop leadership and management learning portfolios. According to Claudia, the focus is on building the knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed as they progress through the ranks. “This very innovative program was

Additionally, Pelican Energy TCI has other programs including summer internship and employment programs for high school, college, and university students. “The university students in particular, spend six weeks with us, and they are fully immersed in work along with producing capstone projects on utility and sustainability related topics,” she adds.

enthusiastically received by the first cohort of participants and will be a staple in the L&D calendar of leadership training,” she points out. Claudia and her team monitor executive learning through directorship courses and similar programs as well. Learning and Development is also responsible for guiding performance management. They align performance goals and development plans with career development plans, and ensure they are integrated. This forms part of the day-to-day planning they manage and maintain for the organization. The Post-Retirement Plans Claudia is looking forward to retiring from corporate business and having the opportunity to devote more time to her private businesses. She is currently juggling those responsibilities alongside her role at Pelican Energy TCI. Consulting work is definitely something she intends to focus on after her retirement, given her years of experience in the fields of human resources, staff management, life skills and coaching. Outside her professional zone, Claudia is an active member of the Turks and Caicos Islands National Trust (TCNT) and currently sits as the Chairperson of the Council. The TCNT's mission is to preserve, conserve, and restore the natural heritage and historical landmarks of the Turks and Caicos Islands and increase public awareness and education about the country's rich natural, cultural, and historical legacy. This resonates deeply with her, being a former science teacher and having accompanied many groups of students

Being aware of the existing skills gaps in the Turks and Caicos, Claudia and her team began addressing them at the high school and community college levels. They have built

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COVER STORY to and through environmentally related programs over the years. A highlight of her tenure as Chairperson was attending the 2025 Global Sustainable Tourism Training and Conference, in Fiji. The event brought together international leaders, policymakers, and practitioners in sustainable tourism to exchange knowledge and strategies for balancing heritage conservation with economic development. “Interestingly, the opportunity to use learning and development strategies remain at the forefront of my thinking when attending sessions like these” she says. “Strategic organizational development in and management of our human assets will be critical, as the TCNT begins to apply global best practices in heritage and environmental conservation and builds institutional capacity and community awareness around responsible tourism.” She intends to continue her voluntary contributions to the National Trust for “as long as they will have me” she says laughing. Claudia is passionate about cooking and baking. She plans to dedicate more time to it once she retires. “As long as there are friends and family willing to eat what I make,” she says with a smile. “Otherwise, I will end up having my cake and eating it too.”

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Monique D. Jefferson Delivering Value-Add Human Capital Solutions to C-Suite Executives

xpert in human capital management with an instinct for determining the impact of organizational change, Monique D. Jefferson is the Chief People Officer at The Community Preservation Corporation. With over 20 years of experience in the legal, insurance, media, non-profit, and professional services sectors, she is a results-driven human resources executive with a proven track record.

As an HR leader, Monique is intentional in the decisions she makes and the counselees and guidance she provides senior leaders as she recognizes the impact that it has on the talent of the organization. She believes that with respect to DEI, all organizations need to be intentional if they are going to move the needle and make sustainable progress in addressing institutional racism and dismantling the barriers that exist.

As an auditor for Ernst & Young LLP, Monique began her career in accounting. She worked there for two years before realizing she didn't want to be a CPA. She did, however, find certain aspects of the job enjoyable. She appreciated being a part of an engagement team, attending to a company's financial needs, and providing guidance and advice to leaders facing business issues. She likes the component of the job that involves working with clients. Monique was also involved in the mentoring/buddy programs for new associates and campus recruitment to attract diverse early-career talent to the firm. When she assessed the aspects of the job she enjoyed, she realized it fell under this umbrella called "human resources. She recalls, "My first job in HR was with Coopers & Lybrand now PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers). I couldn't have asked for a smoother transition into the HR filed. I was fortunate in that I understood the business given "I carried the bag" and did that job so I was able to gain trust and creditability with clients very quickly." She shares that as a HR person one always wants strong relationships with employees and senior leaders.

Community Preservation Corp. (CPC) CPC is the largest CDFI solely committed to investing in multifamily housing, having invested more than $11.9 billion to finance the creation and preservation of more than 220,000 units of quality housing in various neighborhoods across the U.S. CPC believes that housing is central to transforming underserved neighborhoods into thriving and vibrant communities. That's what the company is about: providing innovative capital solutions, fresh thinking, and a collaborative approach to the oftencomplex challenges that owners and developers of multifamily housing face. As Chief People Officer, Monique is responsible for setting and driving the human capital strategy of the company, and for designing a future focused, strategic people agenda that will enable CPC to attract, motivate, engage, develop, and retain a diverse, high-performing, collaborative workforce. Her team and Monique advise and influence senior business leaders on all talent

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processes, programs, and initiatives, as well as continuing to build a company culture that is aligned to our values. The changing landscape and role of HR

according to Monique. Employers must recognize their responsibility for fostering a work environment and culture where employees are treated fairly, feel safe and included, and have a sense of belonging.

businesses. Feedback is a Gift If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair. – Shirly Chisholm

Life before Joining CPC The function of HR has evolved since the pandemic. The function is at a crucial point right now. When it comes to returning to the workforce, many HR directors have developed into stronger strategic partners with their top executives. As an HR leader, one has the chance to influence the future of work at a crucial point right now. When it comes to returning to the workforce, many HR directors have developed into stronger strategic partners with their top executives. As an HR leader, one has the chance to influence the future of work. Finding out how individuals perform their occupations and the skills and competences needed, some of which may not exist or be present in the workforce today, is just as important as determining where and when people conduct their jobs. With more businesses doing hybrid or remote work, chro/cpo has had to reconsider its culture. Monique says, "How do you leverage technology to build or maintain the company culture in a hybrid or remote working environment." She anticipates that over the next few years, the chief people officer (CHRO) role will become more dependent on data and talent analytics, require greater accountability for employees' overall well-being at work, and require talent acquisition that involves utilizing larger, non-traditional, or alternative talent pools (i.e., neuro diversity). Work has an effect on an employee's mental health and general welfare,

Prior to joining CPC, Monique served as the CHRO of New York Public Radio, where she was in charge of building a human resources agenda that complemented and enhanced the purpose, strategy, and goals of NYPR. She co-led the Race Equity Action Plan's execution at New York Public Radio with the Chief Diversity Oﬃcer. Outside of work, Monique is very active in two organizations: Ÿ Member for the past 7 years of The Links, IncorporatedBrooklyn, NY Chapter. As cochair of youth facet, I develop and implement STEAM career and College readiness programs to Middle School students in Brooklyn, NY. Ÿ CALIBR Global Leadership Network. Member for over 10 years, past national president and current board member. CALIBR is a leadership development organization dedicated to accelerating the readiness of midlevel Black executives for senior executive roles, through specialized training, coaching, and mentoring that give members access to the best practices that drive business success. The mission is to provide the resources, tools, and networking opportunities to support the career advancement of black leaders, as well as to compliment and support the talent retention eﬀorts of

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Early in her work, Monique learned that the saying "no news is good news" is false. particularly in terms of performance. She discovered that one must be proactive and request both positive and constructive feedback. "Ask for examples so that you can put the feedback into context," she says, "and if the manager only tells you what is wrong, make sure you get the manager to commit to how they are going to develop and support you in addressing the feedback." She believes that many leaders fall short when it comes to giving performance evaluations. It frequently isn't relevant, precise, or practicable. Because of her early-career manager, Monique learned to check in and ask for input. She also learned to be proactive and honest when giving feedback to her team so they could advance and improve. Achievements that Shows Commitment While working at Merrill Lynch, Monique developed and launched the first diversity mentoring program for the institutional business. Internal affinity groups often consist of lawyers, according to the organization of the majority of law firms. She started making places and using her network to connect the staff members with outside resources because she felt excluded and was unable to formally join. She asserts, "I identified and partnered with external

organizations so Hogan Lovells could become a corporate sponsor, which led to leadership development programming for staff and also increased early career diversity recruitment." The Hogan Lovells business services team was also excluded from America's diversity and inclusion action plan. In Monique's opinion, this needed to change for the company to truly have an inclusive culture and a diverse workforce. The International Management Committee formally committed to staff making diversity and inclusion a strategic priority with the firm's leadership transition in 2020. The first Americas Business Services Diversity Committee was created by the new top leadership of the company, thanks in part to her direct efforts. While at New York Public Radio: Monique expanded the parental leave policy to a more inclusive family leave policy of 12 paid weeks. In response to SCOTUS ruling on abortion extended bereavement leave policy to loss of pregnancy. Work Life alignment at Office and Home/ Flexibility Because balance is subjective and appears differently for each person, Monique prefers to refer to it as "work-life integration." Therefore, it is acceptable if she must log off at 3:00 in order to be present for her children's track and field competitions and then log back on at 9:00 to finish some work. She and her team place a high value on adaptability and meeting people where they are.

Monique is a leader who not only works very hard but also plays hard. She asserts that it's crucial to set aside time to express gratitude and rejoice in accomplishments. One of the blessings for Monique as a result of the pandemic is that is forced her to be more present and refocus on her family as well as her self-care and overall wellness.

Goes back to what Monique stated earlier, "try to align your profession with your purpose and passion. Whatever you chose to do, ﬁnd an organization where you feel included and have a sense of belonging. A workplace where you can be your authentic self and not have to fundamentally change who you are to make others feel comfortable or to ﬁt in."

Success in True Means Monique defines success as combining her work with her purpose and passion. She believes she has accomplished this in her current position as CPC's Chief People Officer at this point in her career. Monique is able to use her dedication to the company's vision, its work in the affordable housing market, and its influence on the community in her position. She shares, "I have a direct impact on diversifying our workforce to reflect the communities we serve while creating an inclusive culture where employees have a sense of belonging." If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.- Alexander Hamilton Monique's other measure for defining success is seeing the progress and accomplishments of the people she has developed and/or mentored throughout her career. She takes great pride and pleasure in seeing people who were part of her team advance and grow in their careers. It's one way she knows she is doing something right. Showing Direction to All HR Leaders

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Be open to different career opportunities, take risks, and learn from your own mistakes. Monique feels she was fortunate earlier in her career to have both generalist and specialist roles within HR across different industries. She suggests having a growth mindset and being a curious, continuous learner. She adds, "If you are comfortable and not being challenged, then it's likely time to move on." Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth. Shirly Chisholm An HR executive should lead with inclusivity. According to Monique, a better conclusion and outcome follow from intentionally bringing all voices and people to the table. Monique advises all HR executives to practice servant leadership because she thinks that when one works to help others, one succeeds and flourishes. And always attempt to meet a demand or supply a solution.

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Colin McDonald HELPING SHAPE BUSINESS STRATEGY AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT TO BUILD A WORLD-CLASS, HIGH-PERFORMING WORKFORCE

ith over 20 years of experience in the human resources industry, Colin McDonald has had a significant impact on the business in many areas, assisting in the development of talent and business strategy to create a top-tier, high-performing workforce that underpins the company's competitive advantage. Colin is a member of the executive leadership team and also serves as the organization's diversity and inclusion officer. He belongs to the NAACP of Broward County as well as Kappa Alpha Psi, one of the country's oldest historically black fraternities. He founded Spirit Squad, the organization's committee for employee engagement, and promoted the creation of the online company store. Colin held executive positions at Carnival Cruise Lines, RandCol Staffing, and Citrix before joining Cross Country Healthcare. He received a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York and a master's degree from Mercy College. Inspiration to Take the First Step Colin bases his life on the four words "competition," "adaptability," "achievement," and "courage." He thinks of himself as a competitive person who lives for competition. Being the best, in his opinion, is the only outcome that is acceptable. Regarding adaptability, he explains that constantly redefining his effort as he learns about new

problems and solutions helps him maximize his opportunities when handling desperate situations. He believes that success is important to him because it gives him internal motivation to achieve his personal and professional objectives. Colin's character is heavily influenced by his courage and conviction. He asserts, "By having courage and conviction, you naturally take charge when appropriate and take decisive action when called upon. You must have the courage to stand up for what you believe in and show no hesitation about confronting conflict." His motivation for making the leap of faith comes from the knowledge that Colin isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and to actually change the world. He discovers that many leaders avoid taking risks because they are afraid of failure because they are unsure they can complete the task. He believes that a true leader understands that there will be setbacks along the way, but that failing to take a chance and enter a situation when there is potential for danger will prevent you from ever reaching your full potential. He opines, "Many people may attribute my confidence to cockiness, but true confidence should never be misinterpreted." What Led Colin to Join the HR Sector? Colin did not start out in human resources. He began his career as a social services employee. His OD professor

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advised him to consider a career in HR while pursuing his Master's degree. He had never considered a career in human resources, but after that conversation, he was intrigued. He had a job interview for a recruiter position in Manhattan, New York, a few months later. As Colin recalls, "After my interview, I received a call from the Talent Acquisition Manager oﬀering me the job. She explained that although I did not have any experience, she saw I had the personality and the drive to make a good recruiter. Before beginning my position as a recruiter, I took the next step by spending hours in Barns & Noble reading every book I could ﬁnd on Human Resources." His get acquainted approach with HR books at that time was the Human Resources Kit for Dummies. Colin felt that although he did not have any practical experience in Recruitment, he would supplement his lack of experience with as much book knowledge as possible.

Colin welcomes challenges and sees them as opportunities. One of the largest healthcare organizations in the world, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, offered him a promotion as a recruiter, replacing a white colleague who had left the position but without the same pay. When Colin asked why he would be paid differently, his supervisor offered some much-needed perspective: "If you don't take this job, you'll stay a black recruiter. But if you take the job, you'll be a black manager, one of only a few black leaders in HR in New York City." That was a decisive moment for Colin, not just in his career development but his work as a black executive in healthcare. At Cross Country, Colin leverages that experience and the leadership skills he has cultivated over decades of HR work to keep the organization's people power streamlined and advocate for greater diversity and inclusion.

Healthcare is rated as the top staﬃng and recruiting employer for women by InHerSights. For two consecutive years, it has received the Top Workplaces USA award and was recently recognized as a recipient of the Top Workplaces Award for Innovation and Leadership by Energage. Cross Country Healthcare has a history of investing in diversity, equality, and inclusion as a vital component of the organization's overall corporate social responsibility program. It is closely aligned with its core values to create a better future for its people, communities, and stockholders. Participating in Redeﬁning the Industry Innovation sparks growth, and growth fosters evolution. Cross Country has proven this over the years as it has evolved into a leading force in the industry. Innovation has given it a competitive edge.

Cross Country Healthcare Colin's career in HR began as a recruiter. Seeing that he was directly responsible for bringing new talent into the company became inspirational. Over the past few years, numerous organizations have recognized Colin for his work in HR, including his most recent featured article in the American Healthcare Leader 2020, "What Excellence Looks Like." He believes the most signiﬁcant award was in 2018; he was recognized by the South Florida Business and Wealth Magazine with the Apogee award for SR. HR Executive "The Apogee Awards is a unique awards program created by South Florida Business & Wealth (SFBW) magazine to recognize distinguished C-Suite leaders whose dedication to their industries and communities deserves particular recognition." Seeing Challenges as an Opportunity

With 36 years of experience and insight, Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (Nasdaq: CCRN) is a marketleading workforce solutions, techenabled talent platform, staffing, recruitment, and advisory firm. It offers customers a way to overcome difficult labor-related problems while delivering excellent patient care and high-quality results. As a multipleyear Best of Staffing® award recipient, it is dedicated to providing clients, homecare, educators, and clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals with exceptional service. Colin states, "Our locum tenens line of business, Cross Country Locums, has been certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the leader in healthcare accreditation, since 2001." He further adds, "We are the first publicly traded staffing firm to obtain the Joint Commission Certification, which we still hold with a Letter of Distinction." Cross Country 28 | DECEMBER 2025

Colin shares that his contribution to HR stems from developing young HR leaders who have leveraged the knowledge he provided to assist them in leading medium-to-large HR organizations. Throughout his many years in HR, he has been an active member of various HR organizations, such as the Society for Human Resource Management, the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources, and the Staffing Management Association of South Florida. He considers his legacy in human resources to be defined by how much knowledge he passes on to future HR leaders. He shares, "Watching these young professionals evolve into dynamic HR leaders and knowing I had a hand in their development will be a tremendous legacy and contribute to refining the HR industry.” Success for Colin Colin believes that success is

individualized and something that every person defines and designs for themselves, and it's how people view themselves, without comparison to anyone else. For him, it's all about the journey, the learning, and the growth along the way. He says, "If I can say, I've done my very best, no matter the outcome, I've succeeded." He also attributes success to watching his direct reports grow and develop while becoming leaders in their own right. Knowing that he has provided them with proper mentorship and passing that knowledge on is the true meaning of success. A Vision to Bring Change Colin's vision for Cross Country Healthcare is for CCH to be the industry's most well-balanced company. In defining this, he wishes for his company to continue to be the leader in the industry by maintaining our integrity and honesty and leading the industry by example. The transformation of Cross Country Healthcare over the years to becoming a destination of choice for employees starts with the incredible culture. He states, "Our company has built a culture of inclusivity for all employees, leading to record profitability." He also adds, "From our Board of Directors to our amazing Executive Leadership Team, we have positioned Cross Country to maintain our market leadership for years to come." Colin considers himself fortunate to have the backing of his CEO, John Martins, who has enabled him to advance a number of diversity initiatives for the business. He has promoted a number of diversity groups within Cross Country Healthcare as the CHRO and Chief Diversity Officer. He founded Cross Country Impact (CCI) in 2020. He explains that CCI's vision is to create a respectful and encouraging work environment that enables the

company to recruit and keep a diverse workforce that reﬂects its clients, neighborhood, and beliefs. Colin asserts, "Our purpose is to provide a shared direction and commitment for the organization so we can work together to respect and value our diverse workforce, build a more inclusive workplace, and help the organization achieve our business and human capital goals." Aligning Expertise and Ideas As the Chief Human Resources Oﬃcer for Cross Country Healthcare, Colin reports directly to the CEO with direct responsibility for 27 FTEs. He oversees the company's comprehensive talent and culture strategy for a high-growth, $1 billion, 2,500-associate, publicly traded company. This is accomplished by aligning HR with the company's longterm business goals. He also serves as the primary business partner to all CSuite executives in all facets of HR. Colin's day-to-day function is leading all aspects of the HR function, including Employee Relations, Talent Development, Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, HRIS, Corporate Culture, and Engagement. Keeping Balance Personal and Professional Life In his early career, Colin was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. His wife and daughter were very understanding, but he knew he was missing out on family time. As he advanced in his career, he better understood that family and friends were more important, and spending quality time with them would be paramount if he wanted to have a long career in HR. He shares, "I made the call not to answer my calls on the weekends and instituted a 911 call code. I directed all calls to my direct reports, whom I trusted to handle emergencies. With the added trust in my direct reports, I began sharing the

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after-hours responsibilities with my team members, not just myself. This allowed me the time to spend with my family and friends uninterrupted. This approach has served me well over the years, and I still apply this philosophy today." Colin keeps himself and his team motivated by constantly challenging himself to solve the next big problem. He believes that if one puts their heart and soul into something, nothing is impossible. He asserts, "We are challenging and motivating my team to think outside the box. We are all encouraged to see the company continue to grow, knowing that HR played a hand in its profitability. The motivation comes from knowing we are all in this fight together." Colin has the best and most talented HR team in the industry as everyone trusts each other. Ideas for the Future Colin's plan for Cross Country Healthcare is to continue to lead the company's HR department with honesty and trustworthiness. He aims to foster a culture that encourages collaboration, flexibility, and fairness to enable all employees to contribute to their potential and increase retention. He opines, "We will do this by providing inclusive leadership training for managers and continuing to build on our culture. I have also developed a 10-step action plan for all senior leadership, including leadership development, HR Technology, and HR Accountability." Colin's message to aspiring HR leaders is to "Develop your career goals, seek out good mentors, never take no for an answer, and develop managerial courage.”

Head of Human Resources- CHG-MERIDIAN

30 | DECEMBER 2025

Jennifer A. Thomason Mentoring Multiple Generations to Reach Their Full Potential

pecialists in human resources are trained in all facets of human resources, giving them the knowledge and ability to manage personnel issues inside an organization, ﬁnd and hire new talent, and enable onboarding and training for new employees. They specialize in a particular area of human resources, though, and use their advanced technical knowledge and expertise to the advantage of their organization. Some people are irreplaceable because of their ability and knowledge. Jennifer A. Thomason is equipped with knowledge of both information technology and human resources. Jennifer has extensive expertise in all areas of human resources management, including change management, organizational development, beneﬁts management, and employee relations. She has extensive knowledge of technology and was able to swiftly transition a full company to remote working. She

is the "go to" expert and she does it all with love, humility, and compassion. The Learning Period Jennifer grew up in South Carolina in a close family with Sunday dinners and Friday night football. She learned to cook from her mom and how to work on cars from her dad. She recalls, "My dad served in the Air Force, my grandfather in the Army, and my uncle in the Navy. Values and morals were ingrained in our lives from the beginning." Jennifer has lived in virtually all of the Southeastern states and now calls Florida home. Prior to joining Habitat Jennifer held positions in corporate training and organizational development. She began her business career with notable retail organizations, working in operations and store management. She received coaching from some of the top business mentors and she has applied

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the skills she learned in both her personal and professional life. “It's not your blue blood, your pedigree or your college degree. It's what you do with your life that counts." -- Millard Fuller In 2003, Jennifer came to the realization that she wanted to do something that aﬀected other people's lives. She made a professional move and entered the dentistry sector, where she discovered a love for patient advocacy and assisting others in enhancing their health. This was an instantaneous shift to servant leadership. After a decade in the dental industry, she was recruited to Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County (HFHPBC) to create a fully supported HR infrastructure. HFHPBC Headquartered in West Palm Beach, the HFHPBC is an organization that

is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International that brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope in Palm Beach County by fostering strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter. It is committed to fostering resilience, steadiness, and independence through housing. Before being qualified to purchase a house with a 30-year, no-interest loan, and each Habitat homeowner is obliged to put their own effort into the construction of dwellings. Habitat is dedicated to the concept that everyone should have access to a safe, affordable place to live. To give a "hand-up, never a hand-out," the nonprofit depends upon volunteer labor and tax-deductible donations of money, materials, services, and property to fulfill its mission. HFHPBC has constructed 255 safe, affordable homes and provided (critical) home repairs for another 266. Habitat PBC is a veteran build affiliate and operates three retail stores. Duties at the Workplace Jennifer views her days at work as thrilling roller coaster rides with brand-new scenery around every bend. She is responsible for managing the team's information technology as well as all HR operations, including DEIBA, talent management, workplace safety, employee relations, total rewards, labor compliance, and learning and development. Her team is made up of HR support personnel who volunteer their services; they are the most resourceful individuals she knows. They assist her in achieving team goals and keeping up with the most recent HR requirements, she discovers. Jennifer volunteers her time each month to the military community, helping transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses with job placement. She is a

qualified Veterans-at-Work recruiter and serves as a SHRM Veterans Ambassador. As an ambassador, Jennifer educates employers and hiring managers about the value that skilled veterans and military spouses bring to the civilian workplace. Advancing the future of HR The Pandemic allowed people to remove psychological barriers and embrace a new workplace paradigm. Jennifer would love to see Habitat transition to digital platforms for people's basic tasks, taking the remaining processes from paperdriven to electronic. She says, "Life can pivot at any minute for any of our team members, and I hope to support them to have flexibility, preventing difficult choices between work and family." A top-notch diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and social awareness program is already under Jennifer's belt. HFHPBC is currently a diverse group, but an improved program that promotes inclusion and belonging will foster greater organizational resilience and position the organization to achieve significant, long-term, sustainable growth. A comprehensive training program with fresh curricula and resources for each function will be developed in 2023. As a business leader, Jennifer wants to continue to evolve, learn new leadership skills and become an authority in her field of work. She is now pursuing her MBA. Embracing Challenges to Learn a New Approach Jennifer once tried to disassemble her first rocking chair in order to understand how it worked; she loved intellectual challenges. She continues to function in this manner, which gives her confidence and empathy for the struggles of others. 32 | DECEMBER 2025

For Jennifer, difficulties are what keep life fascinating. One challenge she frequently encounters is having her neurodivergent features misinterpreted. She states, "Neurotypical team members are not always equipped to understand the differences that neurodiversity plays in how we work as a team." She discovered that in order to work more effectively with others around her, she and her team required education. One important thing Jennifer learned was the need to teach leaders that it's okay to rely on their HR support system, especially when it comes to personnel management and employee relations. Human resources are frequently underutilized. Influencing a Change in the Generation Jennifer aims to affect change by giving others the freedom to live out their ideals while striking a balance. She aspires to have an impact on both current and previous generations. According to her, it's critical that mature generations remain valued in the workplace, learn how to use new technologies, and understand the principles and values of the younger generations. She considers it crucial that different generations be respected in the workplace. Jennifer wants to strengthen respect across all age groups. "We advise, we listen, and we teach, we care." Jennifer hopes to encourage more people to enter the human resources field. She says, "HR is no longer just the place you go to change your benefits. It is a living, breathing source of sustainability for the workforce." "We rise by lifting others.”- Robert Ingersoll

The pandemic ended the debate of the value of HR in the enterprise. This solidiﬁed HR's seat at the table. Through the pandemic HR operated in crisis reaction mode, navigating how employees could work from home, providing extra mental and physical health support, and focusing more on C-level strategies for organizational stability. Jennifer believes this new normal for HR is here to stay and is poised at the right hand of the CEO, helping to navigate people-centric obstacles. She further adds, "They hear what your team desires and needs so they can advocate for both sides with a nonbiased approach; this is what we are trained to do." Living Life at its Fullest Having a healthy work-life balance is important to holistic health and wellbeing. Jennifer is known for being organized, and this skill helps her balance both personal and professional life commitments. She loves to research new recipes to improve her health and vitality. Jennifer has taught herself to play guitar and learn another language in her free time. She says, "I am an animal welfare advocate, love cats and adopted a special needs kitty." Staying motivated is not hard, Jennifer loves HR and technology. She opines, "When COVID erupted into our lives I found myself researching daily to stay abreast of the health concerns for the team and the risk for the business. I loved it! I had my student hat on, buried in IT and HR matters to provide the team with everything they needed to pull through the pandemic." Jennifer designed the organization's COVID response protocol, policy and procedures and moved the team to remote work in 3 days. Jennifer's consistent research (which kept her motivated) and her PSAs and memos to the staﬀ helped keep the

team informed. Her memos included everything from safety tips, statistics, and mental health access info to vacation tips.

Coincidence? They taught my brother and I to work on cars, use power tools, harvest a garden, tend to farm animals, save money, and stand up for our beliefs and values."

Success that is meaningful to life Values and Vision Wellness, security and wisdom are measures of success for Jennifer. Success is different for every individual, and that is what is great about it. She says, "On a personal level, no one can truly define your success except you." To Jennifer, success is how she leaves people feeling and what she does to make the world a better place for those who come later. "Some days you may not present your best face and stumble through because you didn't sleep well or that to-do list is immeasurable." As per Jennifer, the important thing is to have the determination to get up and try again; resilience is success. She asserts, "How people remember you or how you feel when you have helped someone: this is success. We are all here to lift others up to evolve as human kind. Defining success to oneself is goal-setting; without goals we just exist. I was once told by a mentor and HR leader in a not-sosuccessful moment, "Do not let this define you. You are greater than this moment." I remember these words every time I stumble, fail or find a way that doesn't work." "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." ― Thomas A. Edison Jennifer credits her success, in part, to her mother and father, who taught her brother and her personal responsibility and self-discipline. She states, "My dad had a career in the military, followed by a career in mechanics. He provided for our family and raised two kids who are determined, disciplined and both now work in the non-profit sector. CIO VIEWS | 33

"Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the ME for the We." – Phil Jackson At HFHPBC, each team member takes part in continual training in their respective ﬁelds of expertise in order to continue serving the organization's objective. Jennifer is a leading advocate for ensuring that everyone has access to training that will keep them proﬁcient in their industry. Words for Aspiring Leaders "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."- Oscar Wilde. Jennifer's thoughts for emerging leaders are: Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is an intentional choice we make each day. Strive to make other's feel seen, feel like they matter and feel like they belong. When you help others reach [their] goals you are also elevated. "Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will become." — Louis Mandylor Never stop learning. Life will continue to pass in time and space so, by continuously learning our perspective evolves in the way we view the world. Let others live in their truth – Allow others to be themselves with no judgement. Judging another person is unless without the ability to walk in their shoes and understand their history.

Head of Human Resources- CHG-MERIDIAN

36 | DECEMBER 2025

MONTSERRAT CAZORLA A HANDS-ON ORGANIZATIONAL AND TALENT DEVELOPER WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN HUMAN RESOURCES

he COVID-19 pandemic has hastened changes in how we work and sparked a number of HR trends to which the human resources function as a whole needs to respond in a coordinated manner. The top HR goals for 2022 are a swift reaction to these HR trends, which are compelling firms to alter their workforce and workplace policies. In order to improve the employee value proposition (EVP) and boost company performance, HR directors must adapt the way they identify, recruit, and retain vital talents as well as rethink work. HR executives have a rare chance to influence the future of work in ways that were not previously thought of as being beneficial to both businesses and employees. All HR professionals will face possibilities and difficulties in 2022 as a result of a few unique HR trends. Montserrat Cazorla, Head of Human

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Resources Mexico, CHG-MERIDIAN, has more than 15 years of practical experience in organizational and talent development, including talent planning and attraction, change management, compensation, and training in a variety of industries, including retail, big 4, technology, manufacturing, and ﬁnance. Montserrat frequently works on projects at CHG-MERIDIAN, so she categorizes the kind of project, its urgency, and the tasks that need to be completed during the day. She then schedules calls, brainstorming sessions, reviews of reports, interviews, meetings, and, most importantly, 1:1 meetings with her team or issues that come up at work. The parts of Montserrat's career that she has always enjoyed the most are the times when she is interviewing potential employees or conducting in-depth conversations with them. It is at these times that a relationship of trust is ﬁrst

established, and Montserrat only needs to ask the right questions and have faith that the people she is speaking with are being honest with her. But very early on, she encountered a situation where she was able to stand by a candidate about a sensitive personal matter that he had brought up in the course of the interview. She recalls, "The person was surprised not only that I remembered what he told me after a few months, but that I came up with a solution that impacted his family and made me understand that I wanted to do that all my life and that was my best recognition." About CHG-MERIDIAN The CHG-MERIDIAN Group is one of the top independent technology developers, financiers, and managers of specialized, cutting-edge lifecycle services for the IT, business, and healthcare industries. It provides its customers with full assistance for their technological infrastructure, ranging from consultancy, financial, and operational services to usedequipment remarketing services, with more than 1,200 personnel working in 28 different locations across the world. The quest for a second-hand mainframe computer marks the start of CHG-history MERIDIAN's in 1979. Since that time, a lot has changed. The close contact with its clients, technological know-how, independence, and flexibility have all remained constant. Its current status as a global technology management and financing specialist is a result of all of these factors.

The circular economy has always been at the center of its business strategy. For more than 40 years, it has managed the technological investments of its clients, handling every stage of the lifecycle from purchase and usage through data erasure, refurbishment, and remarketing. The company manages technology effectively for large and mediumsized businesses. It now manages technological assets worth more than €6 billion and serves more than 11,000 clients globally. Maximum transparency in technology management is offered to more than 15,000 users through the online-based TESMA® Technology and Service Management System. Germany's Weingarten is where it has its headquarters. By incorporating new, complementary business models in 2022, the organization is laying the groundwork for future development and profitability: CHG-MERIDIAN is launching a subsidiary called devicenow GmbH to serve the global market for device-as-a-service ideas. Small and medium-sized businesses may purchase reconditioned IT equipment from the recently established B2B start-up circulation. A True HR Expert The fact that one may have a tremendous impact on business is what motivates Montserrat to pursue a career in HR. The importance of her subject is seen in how expectations, dialogues, decisions, hiring decisions, skill development, and the

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establishment of a culture with regard to what is permitted and what is not give a company a soul. She says, "Putting labels on some people because of my own silly paradigms and thereby limiting their potential, losing that person's trust, and worse, causing damage to their self-esteem, was undoubtedly the greatest learning of my life and career." She further adds, "This may sound obvious, but it is not, so seeing others as human beings, without labels, without judgement, hierarchy makes a completely diﬀerent environment, free of bias, inclusiveness, and trust." Input to Bring More Reﬁnement According to Montserrat, her main contribution to the human resources industry is to have an impact on leaders by working not for them but with them in a personalized way, through routine conversations aimed at developing a relationship of trust, taking into account their overall wellbeing as they work toward goals, and advocating success as a team outcome. She is convinced that creating good leaders is not a matter of an 8- or 24-hour training, but rather, like the torture of the drop, involves counseling on a daily basis, asking the right questions to determine whether people's decisions take into account the big picture, and maintaining relationships to the best of one's ability, regardless of the situation. Therefore, the human resources department must reinvent itself, forget what it was, and focus on the individual, without paradigms or categories, in order to help them feel like they are valued for who they are and that they are a part of the

organization's culture. Effectiveness follows confidence and great results. Montserrat is committed to the organization's vision and believes in bringing on the finest candidates. She shares her enthusiasm with the rest of her team and other executives and works to connect the organization's goals with each individual's own mission. Learning, Living and Coaching Others for the Same In the post-pandemic period, everyone is trying to figure out what the greatest work model will be to draw in talent, nurture it, and keep it, regardless of industry, location, or time of market entry. Montserrat is enthusiastic about each accomplishment, both in her personal and professional lives, and she has very specific goals. She also enjoys having fun while learning, meeting new people, and guiding them. She enjoys challenging others to discover that purpose since, in the absence of it, management cannot inspire employees. Montserrat's Success View Beyond leading a human resources division, Montserrat's primary goal as a person is to influence how people achieve goals in terms of both productivity and economics. She understands that it is important to examine who will do what and for whom, to take into account a healthy atmosphere, to ensure that relationships do not deteriorate with time, and that collaboration entails

responsibility but also beneﬁts. Success is merely the result at that point. Success for Montserrat is the outcome of her choices and deeds. She had to make better judgments throughout the experience, more deliberately and calmly, but the moment where she felt the most accomplished was unquestionably when she saw them manifest in the accomplishments of other individuals or teams. According to her, not everyone wants to aﬀect other people, which is okay, but the absence of objectives or having them just individually makes it impossible for a team or corporation to hold onto one. A Word for Emerging Leaders As Montserrat feels that working in a company in which technology, sustainability, and customized services are part of its DNA, it makes

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it almost impossible not to have innovative ideas in day-to-day life. She says, "Everything we do is innovate, so a healthy environment is undoubtedly the basis for being able to do what we do." Creating a culture focused on people, where the corporate plan is matched with personal goals and that works toward success as a result, she continues, is crucial support. To become a true leader, Montserrat advises anyone who wants to move beyond the boss role to consider how they can serve their team, the business, their clients, and their coworkers and how much conﬁdence they can instill in them so that they believe they can overcome any obstacles they may encounter.

40 | DECEMBER 2025

Agapol Na Songkhla Sustainable growth through Human Capital approach

gapol Na Songkhla is one of the most recognized HR leaders in Southeast Asia with a career journey that resonates with big following from millennials to baby boomers. He currently serves as the Chief People Officer of Thai Beverage, with frequent contributions to the people development community in ASEAN. He is wellversed in three languages—Thai, Japanese, and English—and has excelled in various fields such as broadcasting, management consulting, and banking before transitioning to HR. As the Chief People Officer of Thai Beverage, Agapol is responsible for managing a workforce of 60,000 employees, with about 40,000 based in Thailand. The rest are employed across Southeast Asian countries, working for renowned food and beverage brands like F&N and Sabeco. He has also been royally appointed to serve on the Civil Service Commission of

Thailand. Despite the challenges of overseeing such a vast and diverse workforce, Agapol views strategic planning for business growth as both challenging and exciting. According to Agapol, Thai Beverage has evolved from being a national champion to a global player, with no signs of slowing down. He emphasizes the company's eﬀorts to create regional capabilities and establish trust in new markets. Before his tenure at ThaiBev, Agapol held a position as the Head of Strategy and Transformation at TMB Bank, where he served in several high-level strategic functions for eight years. He also worked as a principal and project lead at the Boston Consulting Group, where he gained valuable business experience that he now brings to ThaiBev. Currently, Agapol is working closely with his team at ThaiBev to take their

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transformation efforts to the next level, recognizing that transformation is a never-ending process. One of Agapol's current priorities is to embrace the multi-generational workforce, which includes not only digital millennials but also baby boomers approaching or already in retirement age. He believes that people are at the center of everything they do at ThaiBev and that the potential of people is what drives their success. He takes pride in being part of a team that helps people realize their full potential and believes that HR can transform people's lives. Agapol's career-defining moment was transforming their HR practice into a Human Capital mission in 2015, which had a significant impact on ThaiBev's growth and success, as well as inspiring a significant number of peers across industries. He is admired by the younger generation for his

coaching and mentoring practices to university students as well has developing the unique ASEAN internship programs. ThaiBev is a role model organization in recognizing talent potentials of all generations. Thai Beverage PLC Thai Beverage aims to become a sustainable and stable leader in the beverage and food industry in the ASEAN region. The company was established in Thailand by its chairman, Mr. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who consolidated various spirits businesses before expanding into the beer sector with its iconic Chang beer. Later, under

“Resilience is key to success.” leadership of the Group CEO Mr.Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, Thai Beverage added a third leg of nonalcoholic beverages, including dairy products, thereby becoming a comprehensive beverage company. To better connect with end consumers and adapt to the changing behavior brought about by changes such as the COVID pandemic, the company added a fourth leg of the food business. Today, Thai Beverage holds leading positions in ﬁve ASEAN countries, 42 | DECEMBER 2025

namely Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, and Vietnam. As an ASEAN company, Thai Beverage has a deep-rooted mission to create and share value through growth. The company is committed to investing in and developing local markets, unlocking sustainable growth potentials of ASEAN countries. Stepping into the Industry with a stand for Human Capital After spending several years working in transformation, Agapol transitioned into the HR industry with a desire to make a signiﬁcant impact by inspiring people. He believes it is crucial to diﬀerentiate between human capital and human resources. As per Agapol's

philosophy, resources are typically utilized and depleted, whereas capital is intended to be grown. Therefore, he and his team focus on growing their people to serve the business, rather than merely utilizing them, in line with their mission as human capital. However, implementing this philosophy has been challenging in the face of competitive pressure, with many business leaders still viewing their employees as resources with a short-term focus on utilization and headcount expenses. Despite this, with the ﬁrm support of their Group CEO, Agapol's team has consistently pursued their human capital philosophy, with a focus on holistic people development and a long-term view of each person's unique life pace and journey.

Agapol acknowledges that they are still early in their journey and cannot claim success yet. However, he has learned two valuable lessons so far. Firstly, it is crucial to have employees be self-motivated about their own development, allowing the company to focus on nudging them. Secondly, it's vital to be consistent in what the company can aﬀord to oﬀer, avoiding unsustainable practices such as what is recently seen in the tech sector. Agapol advocates for a sustainable approach to employee development,

“The secret of success is consistency of purpose.”

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combining a push for individual motivation with a realistic and sustained commitment from the organization. Establishing Culture of Integrity and Innovation Agapol emphasizes the importance of a strong and consistent tone from top management in shaping the culture of an organization. At Thai Beverage, the chairman, vice chairman, and Group CEO have provided such a tone and launched the company's mission statement, which centers around creating and sharing the value of growth and is supported by the three values of collaboration, creating value, and caring for stakeholders. These values were deﬁned and reﬁned

by the company's top 400 leaders and are now ingrained in the company's culture. The company prioritizes sustainability and encourages integrity and innovation. It has been recognized as a world leader for sustainable development in the Beverage industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the past ﬁve years. Thai Beverage conducts mandatory annual training for employees to promote integrity, and it also has a WOW program that encourages process improvement and innovation ideas from employees at all levels. The company has allocated 10% of each employee's KPI to process improvement and people development initiatives, resulting in many cross-team initiatives and inclusive platforms for employees to share their ideas. Leadership Principles Agapol advocates for three principles

“Opportunities often come in disguise. Grab them and grow!” that can be applied by human capital teams. The first principle is having faith in the immense potential of people. Agapol believes that every individual has the ability to achieve great things, and it is essential to trust in oneself and in each other. The second principle is the belief that significant challenges will help individuals become stronger. Agapol encourages individuals to embrace challenges and use them as opportunities to learn and grow. When team members approach their leaders with complaints about the difficulty of their work, applying this principle involves assigning them even more

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challenging tasks. This approach can make their previous work seem easier in comparison. Lastly, Agapol believes that by developing others, individuals can also grow themselves. Leaders and team members have a responsibility to support and mentor those around them. It is important to communicate to the team that when faced with a large challenge, opting to confront it will lead to personal growth. On the other hand, walking away from the challenge will result in shrinking one's abilities. Therefore, it is crucial to encourage and empower employees to confront challenges and continue to grow. Seeing True Success in Empowering Others Agapol's career started at the Boston Consulting Group in 1997. He spent eight years at BCG, where he learned

about the potential to achieve significant impact through the power of ideas and working with a diverse range of decision-makers through effective communication. As a leader in a large organization like ThaiBev, Agapol feels that his best recognition comes from his contribution to inspiring the diverse workforce towards sustained self-development and the company's vision. Through the Dream Big programs, ThaiBev has helped thousands of employees rekindle their personal dreams and find relevance to their work, creating a culture where employees of all ages can strive for their entire long career.

“Believe in human potentials for greatness. Believe in unbounded potentials.”

Agapol takes pride in the belief that there are limitless opportunities

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within ThaiBev and within each individual and the culture that they have built to support this belief. Agapol believes that success is deﬁned by the impact one has on others. He strongly believes that by helping others grow, one can also grow themselves. Therefore, he ﬁnds it empowering and rewarding to help others succeed, even if it means not being in the limelight. This is a context in which he lives both in his professional and personal life.

From Legal Expertise to People Leadership The Journey of Kedibone Letsika at JTI South Africa

address complex HR issues with a comprehensive understanding of legal implications.

avigating a career shift from law to human resources is no small feat, yet Kedibone Letsika has made this transition with remarkable success. As the People and Culture Director at JTI South Africa, Kedibone's journey reﬂects a blend of legal acumen and a deep passion for people management. This article delves into Kedibone's professional evolution, her strategies in leading JTI South Africa's People and Culture team, and her approach to overcoming challenges in a dynamic work environment.

was instrumental when she decided to transition into People & Culture (Human Resources). “What fundamentally drew me to the role was the challenge of entering this function with the business entrusting me to carry our key strategic goals,” Kedibone explains. Her legal expertise and passion for people management naturally converged, making the move to People and Culture a fulﬁlling next step.

Her legal training also enhances her ability to drive JTI South Africa's people agenda in a compliant and strategic manner. “My approach involves not just understanding the legal implications but also applying them in a way that supports business objectives,” Kedibone adds.

Integrating Legal Expertise with People Management

Strategic Human Resource Management in Southern Africa

A Legal Career That Paved the Way

Kedibone's legal background is a distinctive asset in her role at JTI South Africa. Her master's degree in Contracts, with a dissertation focused on Restraint of Trades Clauses, enriches her approach to people management. Her academic credentials include an LL.B, an LL.M in Contracts (Cum Laude), a Postgraduate Diploma in Corporate Law, and the prestigious Senior Executive Program Africa from Harvard. These qualifications reflect her deep expertise in legal and corporate matters, contributing to her effective management and strategic decision-making at JTI South Africa. “The three areas—contract law, commercial law, and labor law—come together to create the unique professional that I am,” she asserts. This integration allows her to

As the People and Culture Director overseeing the Southern Africa region, Kedibone focuses on several key strategic elements to enhance JTI South Africa's HR capabilities. Strengthening internal P&C capabilities, improving leadership skills, and building high-functioning teams are central to her strategy. “Improving our employee-facing pillars—rewards, talent attraction and retention, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)—is essential,” Kedibone explains.

Kedibone Letsika's journey to becoming the People and Culture Director at JTI South Africa is marked by a successful legal career that laid the groundwork for her current role. “My legal professional career has been nothing short of amazing and insightful,” Kedibone reflects. Her extensive experience spans law firms, academia, and inhouse legal roles, where she developed a robust understanding of commercial and labor laws. Kedibone's career in the legal field, particularly within multinational settings, provided her with valuable insights into both commercial and labor-related issues. This experience

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A major component of her strategy involves fostering a positive corporate culture aligned with JTI South Africa's internal “Our Way” behaviors. “We strive to maintain our accolade as a Top Employer by putting our people and their

People & Culture Director | JTI South Africa CIO VIEWS | 47

development first,” she asserts. This commitment to creating an authentic and supportive work environment is integral to her role. Aligning HR Strategy with Business Objectives Kedibone Letsika emphasizes the critical role of aligning HR strategy with JTI South Africa's overall business objectives and values. “Business cannot achieve its objectives without its people, and people cannot have job satisfaction without the achievement of business goals,” she explains. This alignment ensures that HR strategies effectively support JTI South Africa's commercial and strategic goals. Innovation and sustainability are key drivers within JTI South Africa, and Kedibone's approach reflects their importance. “Innovation within the Tobacco industry is a key driver in propelling business sustainability,” she notes. By aligning HR strategies with these goals, Kedibone ensures that JTI South Africa remains competitive and forward-thinking. Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are integral to Kedibone's approach to people management at JTI South Africa. “Embracing diversity is not just a moral imperative but a business necessity,” Kedibone asserts. DEI is deeply embedded in JTI South Africa's culture and strategic initiatives, reflecting a commitment to creating an inclusive work environment. Kedibone Letsika has been a dynamic force in promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within her organization. A few of her notable

achievements are the spearheading of Discovery Wellness Day, tailored uniquely for JTI South Africa employees. This event stands out due to its high level of engagement and the inclusion of team-building activities that foster a sense of unity and collaboration among participants. Kedibone has also involved JTI South Africa employees in community events such as 702 Walk the Talk in addition to internal initiatives to build stronger connections within both the workplace and outside the community while promoting health and wellness. Her efforts have not only enhanced the workplace culture but have also extended JTI South Africa's positive impact beyond the office walls. “Our culture of openness empowers employees to ask questions and engage with leadership,” she explains. These initiatives foster a sense of community and well-being among employees, aligning with JTI South Africa's core values. Moreover, initiatives such as Whacky Wednesdays and Grati Tuesdays add a fun and appreciative element to the workplace. “These activities promote a sense of gratitude and collaboration,” Kedibone notes, emphasizing their role in enhancing employee morale and engagement. Overcoming Challenges with Empathy and Strategy One of the significant challenges Kedibone faced was managing a major organizational restructure. Initially focused on legal compliance, she soon recognized the need for empathy and effective communication. “My role required significant empathy and understanding to guide employees through a process that deeply impacted their lives,” Kedibone recounts. 48 | DECEMBER 2025

By maintaining transparency and engaging openly with employees, Kedibone successfully navigated the restructure. Her approach ensured both legal compliance and a smooth transition for staff, demonstrating her ability to balance strategic and human-centric aspects of leadership. Nurturing and Retaining Top Talent Talent management and development are vital aspects of Kedibone's role at JTI South Africa. “We offer unique opportunities for our talents, including short-term and international assignments,” she highlights. This approach helps to retain top talent and support career development within the organization. Kedibone's strategies include continuous learning opportunities, mentorship programs, and top talent acceleration programs. “Cross-functional moves and exposure are encouraged to help employees achieve their career goals,” she explains. These initiatives contribute to JTI South Africa's low turnover rate and high employee satisfaction. Implementing Impactful Changes Since her appointment, Kedibone Letsika has introduced several impactful changes at JTI South Africa. Reigniting the company's positive corporate culture post-Covid has been a major focus. “I have been intentional in motivating the organization to reconnect with the office environment,” she says. Her efforts include creating platforms for employees to voice their challenges and ensuring that management initiatives align with employee feedback. “Encouraging excom to prioritize employee feedback has been crucial,” Kedibone asserts.

Measuring HR Effectiveness & Staying Updated with HR Trends Effectiveness in human resources is measured through various metrics, including employee engagement surveys, feedback surveys, and analysis of headcount and turnover numbers. “We consider immediate feedback to gauge whether our initiatives resonate with employees,” Kedibone explains. This approach ensures that HR strategies are responsive and relevant. To stay current with HR trends and best practices, she participates in a network of People and Culture Directors and subscribes to HRrelated publications. “Regular meetings and conferences keep me updated with key learnings and insights,” she notes. Advice for Aspiring HR Leaders Kedibone offers valuable advice for aspiring leaders in human resources.

“Show up as your most authentic self,” she says. Authenticity and a genuine passion for people are essential for creating meaningful connections and making an impact. “Maintain your integrity, lead with honesty, and professionally articulate yourself in diﬃcult conversations,” she advises. Kedibone's role as People and Culture Director is marked by a busy and diverse schedule. “My day is busy, ensuring that all tasks align with our quarterly and annual strategic goals,” she describes. Balancing human resource management with broader business objectives requires constant engagement with her team and a focus on maintaining motivation and innovation. Conclusion Kedibone Letsika's transition from a legal career to leading People and Culture at JTI South Africa highlights

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the powerful intersection of legal expertise and people management. Her unique background and strategic approach have significantly shaped JTI South Africa's HR practices, driving innovation, sustainability, and a positive corporate culture. Through her efforts, Kedibone has not only reinforced the company's commitment to employee development but has also fostered an environment where diverse skills are leveraged to achieve organizational success. As the People and Culture Director, Kedibone exemplifies how a blend of legal knowledge, strategic vision, and a genuine passion for people development can lead to impactful leadership and drive the growth of an organization in a dynamic global landscape.

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Bala V. Sathyanarayanan An Impactful Servant Leader

ala V. Sathyanarayanan, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Oﬃcer of Greif, Inc. wants to leave an indelible mark on the people he works with so that the impact of his leadership continues to guide them throughout their career. He believes that success is less about himself and more about helping others achieve their goals. He shares, “Success in a global organization is about alignment. Aligning our global colleagues, roles and responsibilities to our company goals and priorities, toward the organization's purpose of serving our customers, which in turn, working together, helps deliver sustainable success.” His parents, who made a profound impact on him, taught him early in life that service to others is what brings joy. It is good for your mental health, emotional well-being and most importantly your self-esteem. They taught him that if you serve others, the

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beneﬁts will pay itself forward. Thus, his priority is working to help others achieve greater things, rather than focusing strictly on his own career goals. He also says, “My stints as an Eagle Scout during my school days and other leadership roles in school and college reinforced that quality of - always being prepared - so that you can serve people in ways to succeed that they may never have visualized for themselves.” Bala has received many awards and accolades such as Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business (AABDC)(2014), HR Hero Elevating the Strategic Role Of HR (2018), Executive of the Year by Columbus CEO Magazine(2019) and Top Inspiring Business Leaders of the year (2020). However, he feels his greatest accomplishment has been the ability to inspire the next generation, by coaching other diverse individuals to become CXOs

in major global firms and sponsoring future talent as an opportunity to give them hope. Redefining the packaging and containers industry with Greif Inc. Founded in 1877 in Cleveland, Greif Inc. is a world-class global industrial packaging products and services provider. Positioned in more than 44 countries, the brand is fulfilling its vision of delivering the best industrial packaging and customer service in the world. It caters to different packaging

products, from steel, plastic, and ﬁber drums, intermediate bulk containers, reconditioned containers, ﬂexible products, containerboard, uncoated recycled paperboard, coated recycled paperboard, tubes and cores, and many other specialty products.

Greif's core values shape its future and have helped the company stay on top of all competitors. Being Ethical and strong with diverse cultures, Grief stands high owing to its sustainability quotient and

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commitment to consistent improvement. With the Greif HR vision of “to enable a world-class, diverse and engaged workforce to deliver on Greif's global strategic priorities”, the leadership team needs to ensure that the organization has the right workforce with the right mindset to become successful and stay competitive in the market. He knows that this goes beyond hiring diverse talents. It involves retaining and promoting best-performing talents as

well as to ensure that there is a development platform within the organization.

organization's future with the CEO, the Executive Leadership Team, Leadership Council and the Board of Directors.

Life before Greif Inc. Prior to Greif, Bala served as Executive, Vice President for Business Transformation and Human Resources at Xerox Corporation. He also led the human resource function for the America's Enterprise Business at Hewlett-Packard Inc. and have had leadership roles at Avaya Inc., CocaCola Inc., and United Technologies Inc. where he started his career as their Graduate Engineer Trainee working for Otis Elevator company. Moving from Asia to the United States as a non-native English speaker and transitioning from technical roles to leadership roles was quite a challenge for him. However, he made use of strategic thinking and smart execution to bridge the gap between technical capabilities and leadership capabilities. His influential charm and ability to handle conflicts with empathy enabled him to stand apart, and he uses those skills as part of his leadership strategy today. Role at Greif Inc. As the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Greif, his responsibility is to build a global workforce that can execute the business strategy and create value for the customers. He is a strategist who helps in designing new organizations, implement change and predict the

As a leader, he keeps the employees motivated with regular personal recognition which engages them to deliver better customer service and lead to higher business yields. Doing so, he says, “If we take care of our employees, the employees will take care of our customer, and if we take care of our customer, the customer will take care of our company.” He calls himself a “Relator” and is quite comfortable working with everyone. He creates an amicable space so that strong relationships can form. Taking time out of your busy schedule to do small things like, smile, lend a helping hand, ask someone how they are doing helps bring balance in all aspects of your life. It helps build strong relationships and strong teams. We need to be servant leaders to be truly fulﬁlled as a human and as a leader. Balancing personal and professional life Bala says, “My regular day is playing the role of a strategist, an activist inside the organization to shake things up, helping the organization become more innovative. My role as the Global CHRO is to manage the present while laying the foundations to help sustain global success for the future.”

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He feels grateful to have a supportive family who stand by him under all circumstances. There is no balance, only integration of different aspects of life. Being committed to his work as well as family, he tries to engage in both equally. He adds, “It is about managing paradoxes and bridging them, and not balancing them. You always feel guilty that you are missing your son's soccer game! Today, in a virtual world, I am making the most of it. I can spend more time with my family today than I had spent in the last decade when I used to travel 70 percent of my time.” Bright future Goals He expresses, “Greif's the 7th oldest public traded company in the United States with the same stock symbol. Our continuous plan is to make sure that the organization focuses on more market-creating innovations for the organization's future in Industrial Packaging across the globe.” In addition, he also serves as the Director on the board of Balmer Lawrie – Van Leer Limited a publicly traded industrial manufacturer. He also serves as a Director on the board of Columbus Council for World Affairs which is an education-driven, not-for-profit organization.

VP, Head of Human Resources, NOVONIX

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Dana Scarcella Visionary Human Resources Expert

R professionals are talent advisors. Dana Scarcella, VP, Head of Human Resources at NOVONIX, ensures her team members are embedded in the business so that they can understand the value proposition to the customer and how the company wins in the marketplace. She believes, "By understanding the daily challenges each department faces, we can oﬀer advice for how to solve those challenges with our human capital." Dana observes several stagnant and out-of-date HR procedures, even at the most advanced companies. She is encouraging the members of her leadership team to break from tradition and attempt new things. She has incorporated ideas from the agile methodology so that the team can respond quickly to customer requests and shifting business conditions. She opines, "We implement pilots, get feedback quickly, and then adapt as

needed. This requires us to be ﬂexible and move very quickly."

for the next one. It's been a wild ride so far and I'm excited to see where the journey takes me!"

Professional Journey NOVONIX Dana has a wide range of experience because she has worked for eight different organizations in seven different sectors. She has had the chance to work for several incredible companies throughout the course of her career and has incorporated many of the best practices she learned along the way. Dana appreciates having a work-life balance and has made decisions that will allow her to have a family, raise her children in the way she sees fit, and yet have a fulfilling and vibrant career. She wants to lead by example in everything she does, in both her professional and personal life. She shares, "I could never have predicted my career path, but looking back, it's clear how each job helped prepare me

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NOVONIX is a manufacturer of battery materials and technology. Its mission is to develop innovative, sustainable technologies and highperformance materials to service the electric vehicle and energy storage industries. The battery industry has been growing and evolving at a rapid pace, and the demand for electric vehicles and grid-scale energy-storage systems is ﬂourishing. The need for advanced materials and technologies that support long-life, highperformance battery applications has become increasingly more prevalent. Battery cell manufacturing has gained momentum in the United States, but the supply chain is lagging. NOVONIX anticipated this issue, and its Anode Materials division is

with a clean slate and build a company that we are all extremely proud of." Dana feels fortunate that she joined a team that sees the potential of working toward something bigger than any one of them; they are all working toward a cleaner energy future. Talent is a distinct advantage, in Dana's opinion. She is on a mission to cultivate a fantastic workplace culture and an amazing employee experience in order to draw in and keep the best people. Although there is a lot of work to be done to establish the proper structures and governance, Dana is enthusiastic about the opportunities that lie ahead. A Passion for Understanding People and Diﬀerent Cultures Dana excelled in math and science in school. In both subjects, there is a right and wrong response, and if one works hard enough, they will ultimately discover the correct answer. Human psychology is hardly the same – there is never one right answer on how to deal with people. Dana loves the uniqueness of each person, each team, each company, and each industry and is fascinated by diﬀerent cultures around the world. These nuances of human psychology, along with the endless opportunity to contribute value to a business, was what attracted her to HR. onshoring it with plans to bring large volume production of high capacity, long-life synthetic graphite to the US to help meet the demand. The management has very aggressive plans for growth at NOVONIX. Dana asserts, "We are in the early stages of our company's lifecycle, with about 200 employees. We plan to grow our employee population by over 500% in the next 3 years! This is both exciting and challenging, as we are truly

building the plane while we are ﬂying it." She is currently setting up the building blocks of the ﬁrm's HR infrastructure, so that it can scale and grow. At NOVONIX, Dana's personal goal is to create the best company any team member has ever worked for. She says, "We are still early enough in our company's lifecycle that we have a wonderful opportunity to start 58 | DECEMBER 2025

Dana attended college ﬁrst in her family. She was raised by a single mother who held a unionized minimum-wage job. She couldn't understand why there was conﬂict between management and the employees while she was growing up. She thought there had to be a better way. She decided to study Industrial Relations in college because she believed that human resource

management was the key to a positive relationship between the employer and the employee. Dana is still adamantly of the opinion that direct, open, and honest communication between management and staff is the ideal kind of connection. Defining Ideal Leadership A leader must cope with uncertainty and ambiguity, get widespread feedback, and ultimately make difficult decisions. Making everyone happy is not a leader's responsibility since it is just impractical. However, it is their duty to set a vision, articulate the rationale behind a choice, define expectations, communicate and inspire others in the process. A leader helps their team see the wider picture by having a thorough understanding of how the organization functions and how things are done.

A leader's job is not just to give orders and delegate tasks. Dana says, "It's not about telling people what to do, but rather to hold up the mirror and coach their team members so they can be the best version of themselves and bring their most creative problemsolving ideas." Great leaders ask great questions. The most eﬀective bosses Dana has had didn't tell her what to do; instead, they asked great questions to get her to consider options. Dana thinks that a leader's job is to help others. The term "servant leadership" has gained popularity and has several interpretations. For her, it is getting rid of roadblocks so the group can function at its best. It entails recognizing those who go above and beyond by catching them doing the right thing and rewarding them for it.

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Positive reinforcement has long been hailed as beneﬁcial by psychologists, and she has personally found this to be true. She worked as a restaurant waitress while still in college. One day, everyone who was "in perfect uniform" received a $50 gift card from the general manager. Dana had adhered to a tight dress code, down to the color of her shoes, the way her sleeves had to be cuﬀed, and the color of her slacks. However, she was missing one item: a calculator. She says, "There was one thing I didn't have on me which was a calculator, because there were 5 calculators at the restaurant, and we only needed them for approx. 5 minutes at the end of the shift when you had to ‘cash out.’ I was so disappointed that I didn't win that gift card. But guess what? It changed my behavior. I never went to that restaurant ever again without a calculator and a perfect uniform." She further adds that sticks don't change behavior as well as

carrots do, and carrots don't incent behavior as much as a strong mission and purpose. She states that when people believe their work matters and they are working toward something bigger than themselves, then they are capable of achieving amazing things. Focusing on Top Priorities A career is made up of aspirations, capabilities, and sacrifice. Dana makes a concerted effort to know the trade-offs and make decisions ahead of time. Her goal isn't to find balance, her goal is to be intentional. She shares, "Did I keep my commitments and focus on my biggest priorities, or did I fall to peer pressure and fall back on my old habits?" She believes that it takes courage to set boundaries and that success for her is being intentional about what she sets out to do. One of the hardest lessons for Dana to learn was that she couldn't give 100% to everything. Shortly after returning

from maternity leave with her youngest son, she had to get out a pen and paper and break down her priorities into 3 tiers, for her personal life as well as her professional life. She recalls, "I decided that I would go out of my way and give 100% eﬀort to Tier 1. I would do just enough, maybe 70-80% eﬀort for Tier 2, and I would politely decline to participate in everything else that fell into Tier 3." This means saying no to things she genuinely enjoys doing in order to give enough time to the most important things in her life. Getting Perspective from the Toughest Challenges

“The toughest assignments are the ones you learn from the most.”

When proﬁt margins are high and the economy is strong, it is easier to lead others. But when the economic climate is less rosy, things are

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considerably more challenging. It's in these situations where Dana has found the most valuable lessons. She has experienced economic downturns, significant reductions in force, and difficult clients. In order to handle challenging situations and be the steadfast rock that workers can rely on, HR professionals need to have a thick skin. Dana claims that one of the toughest challenges she had in her career was working for a company that had to make significant layoffs. The tension was palpable during the reduction in force, and one of the hardest days of her career was when the company had to announce the closure of an entire manufacturing plant. The lesson was that she needed to meet people where they were. She recalls, "I couldn't sugar coat the situation or try to spin it into something positive. The reality was that hundreds of families had to worry about where their next paycheck was coming from, and to pretend that it wasn't a hardship

would have made the situation worse. So that taught me a lot about the value of good communication and having compassion." Dana has this quote hanging on her wall: "Smooth seas never made a skillful sailor." It's so true! It's easy to get frustrated with the hardships thrown at us. Whenever that happens, she tries to stop and asks her higher power, "What is the lesson in this?" That helps give her perspective and gives her the energy to get through the challenge. Success Occurs by Learning from Failures Dana strives for continuous improvement and makes each iteration better than the last. She ﬁnds that success does not mean avoiding pitfalls, as roadblocks, obstacles, and setbacks are a part of life. Also, success is how one overcomes those obstacles. She always says, "We get paid to solve problems. We shouldn't shy away from problems; our job is to proactively uncover them. We should actively seek out people who disagree with our ideas, as it allows for collaboration and a better end product in the long run. Once you deﬁne the obstacles, you can then create a plan to overcome them. Obstacles are the roadmap to success." Dana doesn't like to see challenges as setbacks, but rather as key learning opportunities. She considers that adversity may be uncomfortable, but discomfort is the currency of one's dreams.

“If I inspire more than I criticize then that's a good day.”

According to Dana, in order to be successful, people need to get good at

failing. By that, she means, "We need to fail fast, through pilots and testing things out and getting feedback from the customer early and often. We also need to fail forward by learning from our mistakes and applying those lessons to future situations, so we do better next time."

facts – make it a goal to learn. Try to understand why they do what they do before trying to change it. Don't go in guns blazing and declaring that things need to change. There is good reason why a process was set up a certain way. Know the history and the context and how they got here before you suggest a new idea."

The Proudest Moments Dana's proudest moments are when people she manages or mentors get promoted and grow in their career. She feels like a proud parent when she sees someone she coached overcome an obstacle. She asserts, "I love to help people become the best version of themselves. The best recognition I've ever received is gratitude from a mentee saying that I helped them achieve a career goal." Advising to Build Support, Buy In, Trust, and Credibility "Don't be afraid to speak up and oﬀer opinions and share perceptions if something's not right," says Dana. She ﬁnds that it's better to ask questions and probe for understanding instead of making a declaration. Her advice for future generations is to "Recognize that your opinion is based on limited information and not all the CIO VIEWS | 61

Dana also suggests that if one is emerging as a team leader, he or she should build a network and build their own tribe - both inside and outside of the organization. She shares, "The tribe members inside your organization will help you implement new ideas. Your network outside the org will help give you a fresh perspective and introduce you to new career opportunities." She also suggests, "Be open to learning new things. Stay abreast of developments in your ﬁeld by reading books, listening to podcasts, and attending industry conferences. Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't, so be prepared to listen and learn. And have some fun along the way!"

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Amanda Bailey A Proven HR Leader with Extensive Work Experience in the Field of Education

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