By The Editors
Nancy Hauge
Chief People Experience Officer
Automation Anywhere
Nancy Gauge joined Automation Anywhere in 2017 and began asking: “how can I get digital workers programmed for HR?” She describes her own HR department as a combination of human workers and machine learning-driven digital workers that do a significant amount of the everyday administrative processing. This team has overhauled employee engagement and career planning and has added thousands of employees as the company has grown.
Camye Mackey
EVP, Chief People, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena
When Camye Mackey joined the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena in 2018, she was hired to change the company culture and by working with executive leadership, the HR team has done exactly that. Some game-changers including boosting engagement through internal career development, promoting mental and emotional wellness, and demonstrating purpose through community volunteering and support. The company even had candidates interview for a management role while riding on a ferris wheel. Their motto for company culture is “True to You” and is the basis for everything that the HR team strives to do.
Alex Kweskin
EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer
Banc of California
Alex Kweskin took over a department that needed much upgrading at Banc of California. So the CHRO brought in new leaders, launched a culture program called "Together We Win,” and experienced many measurable results. Some of the most notable include reducing high performance turnover by 30%; decreasing branch turnover by more than 16%; increasing internal mobility with promotions by 43%; driving employee referrals up by 85%; and boosting diversity hiring by 13%.
Tracy Layney
SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer
Levi Strauss & Co.
Tracy Layney joined Levi Strauss at the start of the pandemic and had to work through many issues. She has overhauled benefits and compensation and improved both physical and emotional wellness resources. She also very publicly supported a program at Levi’s that provided benefits to women’s reproductive rights as well as extended family leave support and increased diversity and partner rights. These initiatives and others have produced increases in engagement measures across the company.
Kathleen Federico
Senior Vice President, Chief People, Brand & Communications Officer
The MITRE Corporation
When Kathleen Federico joined MITRE in 2018, she embarked on a multi-year journey to rebuild talent career paths and establish a new end-to-end human capital management platform with both people and technology in the center. Her team has had a great impact on diversity statistics with significant improvement. New learning and development programming and training has provided a platform to help grow and retain valuable employees.
Sarah Fass
Chief Human Resources Officer
Bridgewater Associates
One of Bridgewater’s most important guiding principles is “Meaningful work and meaningful relationships are mutually reinforcing.” Through the help of Sarah Fass’s leadership, the company now mandates minimum vacations per year, offers flexible and hybrid work arrangements, provides considerable support for physical and emotional wellness, and has expanded inclusion and belonging programming. Its “Work Away” program allows employees to experience other locations and cultures while working to drive engagement and increase productivity and manage stress-related burnout.
Melissa Werneck
EVP and Global Chief People Officer
The Kraft Heinz Company
Melissa Werneck is the driving force behind Kraft Heinz’s “People with Purpose” culture. HR implemented an employee experience program called “Moments That Matter” and tied this to DEI, plus drove employee growth through career path programs and a leadership development course. This has lead to a 25% increase in manager performance with employees now highly recommending their managers to others.