Introduction
This 20th of May is special as we’re going to celebrate International HR Day 2024. It’s the perfect time to celebrate extraordinary contributions in our professional lives made by all the HR Professionals globally who play a crucial role in our success.
On this special event, we @Recooty would like to bring to light some of the Most Influential Leaders in HR. So, let’s get familiar with them so you can get inspired just like thousands of people whose professional lives were positively influenced by them.
Before we start, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all HR professionals. Your tireless dedication fuels the engine of progress, shaping the very fabric of our professional world!
Powerful Leaders in HR
Jon Ingham
Jon is among the top leaders in HR who holds experience in HR tech, people strategy, and team upskilling, enabling organizations to increase their business impact.
Based out of the UK, he is the Director of the Strategic HR Academy, who provides services as an independent consultant in several regions including Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
He is an expert writer who has authored “Strategic Human Capital Management” and “The Social Organization” along with some valuable contributions to other projects. You will find him sharing actionable insights to help you better shape your organization.
Follow Jon Ingham on LinkedIn.
Johnny C Taylor
Johnny C Taylor, Jr. is a renowned HR leader who is the President & CEO of SHRM, a professional organization, connecting and educating HR professionals with over 325,000 members in 165 countries.
He excels in subjects such as the “future of employment” and “culture & leadership”, including every matter relating to work, workers, and the workplace. Johnny has been recognized among the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” by Savoy Magazine in 2024 and “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” by Washington Magazine.
On LinkedIn, he is regularly sharing knowledge, beneficial for leaders who want to make a positive change in the talent and workplace management landscape.
Follow Johnny C Taylor on LinkedIn.
Perry Timms
Perry Timms is an HR leader with 20+ years of experience in the field of Human Resources. In addition to being a Certified Semco Style Institute Expert in Self-Managed Systems and a Qualified GCOlogist with the Game Changer Index, he has spoken twice at TEDx and served as a conference chair and adviser on the future of work and HR.
Driven by his mission of enabling more people to flourish through work and helping shift organizations into a force for societal good, he is sharing knowledge that is guiding his fellow HR practitioners in the right direction.
You can follow him on LinkedIn to learn his vision and to get insights that will surely make you an expert in navigating the HR landscape.
Follow Perry Timms on LinkedIn.
Tim Sackett
A widely familiar name in the HR community, Tim Sackett is a leading HR expert, who is known for his knowledge of talent attraction and human resources, plus his cheerful personality.
Tim holds over two decades of talent acquisition experience and an extensive background working with Fortune 500 companies in fields like healthcare, retail, dining, and technology.
Serving as the President of the Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals (ATAP), he is committed to advancing the industry. Connecting with him will help you get the right knowledge to build amazing teams and make a workplace where everyone thrives.
Follow Tim Sackett on LinkedIn
Lou Adler
Lou Adler is a prominent figure in the HR industry with more than 3 decades of strong experience in the field. He is the Founder & CEO of a consulting and training firm that helps companies find and hire top talent through his Performance-based Hiring System.
With his impeccable knowledge, he has authored the top-10 Amazon bestseller “Hire With Your Head” and “The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired.” To share his expertise, he has been featured on globally acknowledged platforms like Fox News.
Plus you can always check his contributions in the form of articles and posts on global news outlets like Inc. Magazine, BusinessInsider, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal. He inspires
Follow Lou Adler on LinkedIn.
Stephen Lytle
Stephen is a top HR leader with over 20 years of experience in HR strategy. He is an expert in addressing employee relations, talent acquisition, benefits, and compensation, among other subjects.
Apart from consulting organizations, he also delivers training sessions on AI and ChatGPT to make them future-ready. In his own words, learn what makes him passionate about HR: “To lead and inspire others to reach their full potential, both personally and professionally, so together we can live more impactful lives comprised of gratitude and fulfillment.”
And to serve the same purpose, you will find him guiding his fellow professionals in HR on online platforms, where he tries to share great ideas using impactful storytelling.
Follow Stephen Lytle on LinkedIn.
Randy Carroll
Another top HR leader on the list is Randy Carrol, who has solid expertise in different HR aspects with a main focus on driving employee engagement, employee development, organizational change, DEIB, and so on.
While helping people in HR with his valuable advice, he also is devoted to supporting students and leading them in the right direction.
He is one of the Top Human Resource (HR) Voices on LinkedIn who consistently contributes to crucial HR-related topics on LinkedIn’s collaborative articles. To learn from his hands-on experience in the field, checking out his handle on LinkedIn is a must.
Follow Randy Carroll on LinkedIn.
Bill Schaninger
Bill is a seasoned HR professional, international speaker, author, and pioneering researcher. In addition, Bill has the prestigious title of Top Voice on LinkedIn. He served as a Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey & Company, advising senior executives on ways to improve their performance in business via improved culture, values, and talent.
His thoughts on the “Future of Work” & the role of middle managers in driving change and innovation are considered invaluable by the professionals in the HR & talent landscape. At eminent events like WIRED, Fortune Global Forum, and Chatham House, he shares his multi-dimensional perspectives and findings regularly.
He is driven by his goal of helping companies make a positive impact in a world that’s always changing. He educates HR professionals about important topics that can help them make a workplace successful.
Follow Bill Schaninger on LinkedIn.
Chris Havrilla
When it comes to getting deep knowledge on topics like the Future of Work, Workforce, and Workplace, you can learn a lot from Chris Havarilla 100%.
With her 2 decades of experience in HR in big companies like Deloitte and ADP, she can help you navigate in the HR field with her valuable ideas.
Along with HR, she is also well-versed in technical as well as business and vendor experience. She has been named among HR Executive’s Top 100 HR Tech Influencers, 8X8’s Top 16 Hybrid Work Influencers, and Onalytica’s – Who’s Who in Future of Work.
Follow Chris Havrilla (Top Women Leader in HR) on LinkedIn
Katie Burke
Katie Burke is a top woman people professional with a passion to combine leadership, innovation, culture, and inclusiveness to create a workplace & experiences that are loved by the company people.
Katie is the person behind creating such an employee experience for women which made HubSpot recognized as the Best Place to Work for Women by Fortune Magazine.
She is among the most reputed HR professionals around the world. Follow her on LinkedIn from the link provided below.
Follow Katie Burke (Best Women Leader in HR) on LinkedIn
Amy Schultz
Amy is a leading women HR leader who has worked for start-ups and later-stage MNCs ranging in different fields including Recruitment, Pharma, Tech, and several others.
In the past, she served in key recruiting and talent acquisition positions.
At Canva, Amy leads teams that take care of recruiting, Talent Attraction, and Talent Programs, to name a few across several parts of the world.
With her vast knowledge of human resources, she strives to give her audience valuable content to help them manage their work better and make their companies successful.
Follow Amy Schultz on LinkedIn.
Bonnie Dilber
If you’re eager to get a good amount of knowledge on recruiting, DEI, and many other related topics, Bonnie is there to assist you.
She constantly shares her ideas regarding remote work, recruiting and compensation practices, workplace culture, and other topics which she considers important.
Along with helping her peers in the industry, she tries to provide job seekers assistance in their job search journey by giving helpful content online. Remember to follow her on her social handles.
Follow Bonnie Dilber on LinkedIn.
Kelly (McDonald) Minella
Kelly is working as the Head of Recruiting at Calendly who handles end-to-end hiring strategy, leads a team of Senior and Mid-level Recruiters and Recruiting Coordinators along with the employer brand team.
She has work experience in agencies as well as corporate firms in different positions including Recruiting Manager, HR Specialist & others.
Before becoming an HR professional she also explored the field of media as a news intern and a reporter for 2 years. She is a certified Diversity & Inclusion Recruiter which she achieved from AIRS, an ADP company. Do follow her to get helpful tips and knowledge about recruiting and HR.
Follow Kelly (McDonald) Minella on LinkedIn
Tianna Johnson
Tianna is a top People & Recruiting Leader who has a passion to build diverse teams and high-impact programs that help companies scale.
She has led Talent Ops & Recruiting programs at Notion in recent years and has helped the company scale from 30 to 500+ employees.
Tianna has achieved a thorough understanding of the Human Resources field by working in top companies like Lyft and GitHub in her career. You can find her sharing her viewpoints on social media about various subjects relevant to her field.
Follow Tianna Johnson on LinkedIn.
Jody Simon
Jody is an expert HR leader who can fulfill any kind of staffing needs by using her ability to establish and develop high-performing sourcing functions and teams.
Over and above that, she knows how to take advantage of the latest tech to drive innovation and foster an inclusive culture by championing diversity.
To know her ideas and knowledge about her expertise in her field, do connect with her on her social handles.
Follow Jody Simon on LinkedIn.
Crystal Tomczyk
Crystal is a knowledgeable and well-recognized leader in the HR industry.
She is known for her specialty of scaling businesses quickly by creating employee and candidate experience-focused organizational structures and workforce plans efficiently.
Ms. Tomczyk has work experience in a wide variety of HR positions. Currently, she is on a mission to lead global teams, create equitable opportunities, and also to promote organizational innovation and efficiency.
Follow Crystal Tomczyk on LinkedIn
Julie Turney
Julie Turney is not only a successful HR professional but also an HR Influencer who focuses on assisting HR professionals on different topics.
She believes in sharing such information with the HRs using which they can thrive in their careers.
Julie provided an exceptional talk at TedX where she highlighted several issues HR professionals face and how they can be supported at various organizational levels.
Among other things, she is the host of the HR Sound Off Podcast, and lead organizer of Disrupt HR Organizer in Barbados, Jamaica & Trinidad. You can trust her with your eyes closed if you’re seeking the right guidance as an HR professional yourself.
Follow Julie Turney on LinkedIn
Tatiana Starikova
Tatiana is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Semrush.
She is responsible for all HR-related topics for the Board of Directors (Compensation Committee, NCGC, DEI, and more) at Semrush.
As a part of the executive team, she manages a team of 90 HR professionals globally which are from the People & Culture to Education Team and Global Total Rewards Team and others.
Additionally, being a global HR leader, she assists multicultural and international Tech companies (SaaS, EdTech, IT, etc.) with global HR strategy and execution.
Follow Tatiana Starikova on LinkedIn
Sarah Harvey
Sarah Harvey is currently working as the Senior Employee Recruiter for the Customer Success department at Slack.
As a full-cycle recruiter for 6 years, she focused on quality hiring for sales and customer success roles across companies in different domains like home improvement, SaaS, etc.
We suggest you to connect with her on social media to get the best content relating to HR, recruiting, and other related areas.
Follow Sarah Harvey on LinkedIn
Rachel Book
Rachel is among the best women leaders in HR who specializes in leading virtual teams.
She has worked on various talent acquisition & recruitment-centered roles in reputed organizations including Bloomberg, AT&T, and Stryker.
Along with that, her strong hold on various HR topics like talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion, employment branding, and more is appreciated in the HR industry.
Ms. Book actively shares useful updates, tips, and other helpful info regarding the Human Resources field via her social handles. Make sure you follow her there.
Follow Rachel Book on LinkedIn
Priyanka Singh
Priyanka Singh is stationed as the Senior Executive of Human Resources at Datamatics.
She understands corporate communications, management, Interviewing, HR, and Candidate Selection to a great extent.
Furthermore, she has an overall experience of 4 years of working on core human resources functions. Apart from HR, she is also great at running employee engagement programs, hosting events, and writing blogs.
Follow Priyanka Singh on LinkedIn
Rachel Cupples
Rachel Couples is a dynamic corporate recruiter who has spent more than a decade building and leading top-notch recruiting and sales teams successfully.
In addition, Rachel specializes in diversity corporate recruitment as well.
She has received the Diversity Spirit Achievement award in 2020, for her active support of D&I in recruiting practices by the City Career Fair which is the largest diversity-focused career fair in the US.
Follow Rachel Cupples on LinkedIn
Kate Graham
Kate Graham is a reputed name in the female HR fraternity due to her constant effort for her industry to achieve balance and diversity.
She started the #womeninlearning movement to achieve the same.
Her 10+ years of experience in the L&D and HR industry allows her to have a strong hold on new technologies that surface in the market. Additionally, being her primary profession in content and marketing, she specializes in storytelling, publishing, content strategy, and more.
Follow Kate Graham on LinkedIn
Carmel Galvin
Carmel is a global HR practitioner who has 20+ years of rich experience in strategic HR leadership, consulting, and also in fast-growing global software and financial technology companies such as Stripe, Autodesk, Deloitte, and Glassdoor.
Furthermore, she has worked with several Fortune 500 & 100 companies, so she has a solid idea of what makes these firms successful. She advises executive teams and boards on various organizational and leadership challenges such as leadership development succession planning, cultural transformation initiatives, etc.
Follow Carmel Galvin on LinkedIn.
Lauren Valencia
Lauren is a reputed talent acquisition professional who is currently in the position of Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Airbase.
At Airbase, she is responsible for leading her global TA teams, refining processes, building talent roadmap, providing mentorship to a diverse team, and many such crucial tasks.
She is adept in positively influencing the talent acquisition strategy along with her dynamic teams. Lauren never misses providing important updates on HR & Talent Acquisition to her audience online. Don’t forget to connect with her online.
Follow Lauren Valencia on LinkedIn.
Mandy Mekhail
Mandy Mekhail is an HR practitioner who, in her work, applies the values of inclusion, culturally responsive practices, and holistic development.
She has an ample experience across SaaS, Customer Experience, Higher Education, Instructional Design, and Life Coaching.
Additionally, she’s experienced in other subjects like strategic planning, large & small-scale programming, and people management to name a few. To learn more about this amazing woman leader’s views, do follow her on social channels.
Follow Mandy Mekhail on LinkedIn.
Lisa Fuller
Lisa Fuller is a skillful HR leader with specialization in HR Ops/Total Rewards leading global teams and projects as well as business units, managing implementations, conversions, and taking other global HR strategic initiatives.
She is among the most recognized HR professionals whose insights are making a positive difference for her peers in Human Resources.
She is an enthusiastic people manager who has expertise in interpersonal skills, people management, strategic planning, and so forth. Don’t forget to connect with her on her social media handles.
Follow Lisa Fuller on LinkedIn
Brittany Jones
Brittney is a top women HR professional who carries a passion for helping companies in problem-solving, navigating through change management, succession planning, and organizational effectiveness.
She has a command of developing strong relationships within teams (both internal and external).
Brittany has a proven experience of being the key HR partner who helped in piloting a companywide roll out that required daily HR navigation, development of routines, and also leadership feedback.
Follow Brittney Jones on LinkedIn.
Wishing everyone a Happy International HR Day! Thanks for reading!
Jump To Section
