Melissa Morrow
Partner and Chief People Officer
Calcium
As Partner and Chief People Officer at Calcium, Melissa Morrow has been intentional with the initiatives and programs that she’s put in place to best support company employees. Some of the most successful programs that she's been instrumental in include the “I Don’t Have a Box†campaign, created to bring attention to the racial and ethnic blind spots that are found on a variety of institutional data collection forms; “Herd You,†monthly conversations surrounding relevant topics like healthcare, DEI, mental health, and community culture; and “Pharmer’s Market,†community groups created to strengthen sub-communities within the larger company network that offer a safe space for employees to connect beyond their daily work activities.
Sheena Ponnappan
Chief People Officer
Everise
With more than 20 years of HR experience, Sheen Ponnappan drives Everise’s continued growth by creating and managing effective people strategies. An advocate for learning and development, Ponnappan made it her mission to upskill her workforce, most namely through “Everise Accelerator,†a program that quickly advances employees into supervisory and managerial positions through an immersive instructor-led training program; “Everise Career Development,†which pairs employees with department leaders who provide career coaching and skills development; “Everise University,†a digital learning platform that gives employees 24/7 access to a knowledge database; and “EverAI,†an advanced analytics tool developed to simplify complex data into easy-to-use, insightful dashboards.
Diane Psaras
Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
VITAS Healthcare
Appointed as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer in 2018, Diane Psaras is responsible for the entire HR function for VITAS Healthcare’s more than 12,000 employees in 14 states and the District of Columbia. As a member of the senior executive leadership team, Psaras brings VITAS’ vision and mission to life through its people. Charged with setting the strategic direction for the HR function, she is a champion for VITAS talent and culture, both of which are critical for a successful healthcare services business.
Suzanne Sanchez
Chief Human Resources Officer
Empower
Suzanne M. Sanchez is responsible for all HR functions at Empower and leads the company’s efforts to attract, engage, and retain top talent. Sanchez joined the organization in 2005 and also served as assistant vice president of talent management and corporate social responsibility before becoming the company's chief human resources officer. Now, she provides the workforce with attractive benefits, competitive compensation, and leading-edge training. She is also a member of the executive team and sits on the company’s diversity and inclusion council.
Kevin Silva
Voya Financial
Under Chief Human Resources Officer Kevin Silva’s direction, Voya Financial underwent a total company transformation in 18 months. By reorganizing headcount, talent allocation and organizational structure, the company experienced an enterprise-wise expense reduction of nearly $500 million. Silva’s efforts have advanced the company’s strategy and strengthened its performance-driven culture. Now Voya boasts a higher-than-industry-average engagement rate and has received many accolades, including Ethisphere’s "World’s Most Ethical Company;" being one of Fortune’s "Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance™ 2022;" and being on Newsweek’s “America’s Greatest Workplaces 2023 for Diversity†list.
Caroline Stockdale
Chief People and Communications Officer
First Solar
As Chief People and Communications Officer for First Solar, Caroline Stockdale has brought tremendous value to the business by creating a unique approach to talent, changing the way the organization thinks about its people. Stockdale began much of the company’s recruitment in the community by launching a high school initiative that introduced 350 students to job opportunities. She also created part-time positions for students to gain production experience while finishing their senior year, leading to seven graduates becoming full-time associates. The company also reported record low attrition in 2022.
Betty Thompson
Booz Allen Hamilton
Betty Thompson has been the chief people officer at Booz Allen Hamilton for more than 15 years. She leads more than 31,000 employees worldwide, and during the volatility and uncertainty of last year, she directed the design, development, and implementation of a talent strategy to attract, grow, connect, and deploy top performers to meet the organization’s long-term vision. One way she did this was through the creation and implementation of the “Integrated Technical Talent System,†which unified five traditionally separate components into one comprehensive platform to create the workforce of the future. The system empowers employees, advances innovation, cultivates equity, supports career development, and evolves as the firm grows.
Janine Walter
Galway/EPIC Brokers
Janine Walter, chief human resources officer at Galway/EPIC Brokers, is the force behind the company’s staggering growth. In the last three years, employee headcount has gone from 800 to 3,500 and the organization is on track to doubling its global revenue to $2 billion in the next five years. This was all made possible by the strides Walter took including implementing a new human resources information system, compiling DEI metrics for senior leader and executives to properly execute talent strategies, creating new employee resource groups, and redesigning the offboarding process to collect and utilize impactful data for future improvement.
Melissa Werneck
Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer
The Kraft Heinz Company
As Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer, Melissa Werneck works under the mantra that “employees are the company’s most important resource, charged with bringing the strategy to life.†With this in mind, many of her initiatives catered to the workforce, like developing the skills of managers, leaders, and employees for career advancement; defining the career journey for everyone; creating and implementing performance management systems that align employee performance with the organization's goals and objectives; and more. Because of this, 82% of employees surveyed said that they would recommend their manager to others.
