Celebrating 10 powerful Women in talent

6 mins, 29 secs read time

We’ve been excited to celebrate Women’s History Month here on the Greenhouse Blog with a lineup of female authors, a post dedicated to inspiring women from history, and interviews with some of the women who will be gracing the stage at Greenhouse Open this April, like Ginger Hardage and Jennifer Turner.

But before the month is over, we want to celebrate some of the women who are making history in our industry — the movers and shakers of the talent world. They’re leading the charge with innovative people practices and proving just how much is possible, both on an individual and company level.

1. Candice Morgan, Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Pinterest

As Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Pinterest, Candice Morgan builds inclusive talent strategies that include everything from recruiting and retention to product customization. Pinterest has often been a trailblazer among tech companies by openly sharing its inclusion and diversity goals and progress, and Candice was the first person to take on the Head of I&D role there. It hasn’t always been easy, though. In an interview on the MM.LaFleur Blog, she said, “By nature, my role can be like pushing a rock uphill, not only because part of the work is helping people understand the necessity of it, but also because you have to disrupt certain things to be effective.”

2. Isa Notermans, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Spotify

In her role as Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Spotify, Isa Notermans is focused on improving the company’s inclusion index through initiatives like the Inclusion Summit (an annual event for Spotify employees who want to move the needle on inclusion), fostering a network of inclusion ambassadors, and offering emotional wellbeing support for all employees. Check out the Spotify HR Blog to learn more about Isa’s projects and how she’s approaching her role.

3. Jacqui Canney, Executive Vice President, Global People Division at Walmart

As Executive Vice President, Global People Division at Walmart, Jacqui Canney is responsible for attracting, retaining, and developing talent, which is no easy feat at a company with more than 2 million associates worldwide. In addition to overseeing the company’s total rewards and performance programs, Jacqui aims to put sustainability, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of hiring. Learn more about Jacqui’s approach to HR and some of her key initiatives in this profile from Human Resources Executive.

4. Jayne Parker, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at The Walt Disney Company

As Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at The Walt Disney Company, Jayne Parker is responsible for leading Disney’s human resources strategy, global talent acquisition, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, and much more. Some of Jayne’s accomplishments in her role as CHRO include streamlining talent acquisition practices, launching initiatives to improve diversity at the executive level, and creating comprehensive talent management and development programs. Realizing the importance of fostering dialogue between Disney and its employees, she launched a bi-annual employee engagement survey. Jayne also reorganized the HR structure to include centers of excellence to improve accountability and efficiency.

5. Jennifer Mann, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at Coca-Cola

As Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at Coca-Cola, Jennifer Mann focuses on developing Coca-Cola’s people and strengthening its talent pipeline. The company has over 700,000 associates worldwide and a number of programs to develop and grow employees from within the company. In fact, Jennifer herself can attest to that—she started at Coca-Cola 20 years ago as a Manager in the Customer Support division and held a number of roles before taking on her current position.

6. Leena Nair, Chief HR Officer at Unilever

Leena Nair is the first female and youngest ever Chief HR Officer at Unilever. Unilever is comprised of more than 400 consumer brands and 170,000 employees, but Leena still looks for ways to empower employees at all levels with initiatives focused on learning and innovation. Leena was previously the head of diversity and inclusion, and D&I efforts continue to be a focus of her work as CHRO. Read more about Leena’s approach to talent management in this interview on the McKinsey blog.

7. Lucia Guillory, Head of People at Patreon

Lucia Guillory takes a holistic approach to People Operations in her role as Head of People at Patreon. “My goal is to coordinate across all the functions that touch an employee’s experience at Patreon, so that we can support and nurture every employee in a way that equips them to be as happy and productive as possible,” said Lucia in an interview with First Round Review. Some of her initiatives as Head of People include aligning various teams around a central theme, automating various tasks required to onboard new hires, and taking a more data-driven approach to measuring employee engagement.

8. Pratiksha Patel, Organizational Design & Engagement at McKinsey & Company

Before taking on her current role in Organizational Design & Engagement at McKinsey & Company, Pratiksha Patel held several senior leadership roles at companies including Verve, Centric Digital, and Gilt. Pratiksha also currently serves as an advisor with PeopleTech Partners. Check out her talk, “HR Tech as a Force for Good, Not Evil,” from DisruptHR here.

9. Rhonda J. Morris, Vice President, Human Resources at Chevron

Rhonda J. Morris, Vice President, Human Resources at Chevron oversees human resources, diversity and ombuds, and global health and medical groups worldwide. Rhonda joined Chevron in 1991 as part of its Human Resources Development Program. In 2014, she received the Industry Leader Award from the Professional Businesswomen in California recognizing her work to advance gender equality in the workplace.

10. Susan Lee, VP of People at Warby Parker

Susan Lee brings a refreshing sense of authenticity to her work as VP of People at Warby Parker. In a Fast Company profile, she shared an anecdote about her interview for the role. When CEO Neil Blumenthal asked her what she’d been reading lately, she told him the truth: She spends her free time reading romance novels. Reading habits aside, under Susan’s watch, Warby Parker has also launched a diversity and inclusion program and expanded its health benefits to be more inclusive of transgender employees. Check out a recent talk Susan gave about her career history—and romance novel obsession—at the 2X event here.

We’re impressed with these women and their accomplishments, whether it was rising up through the ranks at a large corporation, taking the lead on innovative projects at a smaller startup, or being recognized for their service to the greater community. They prove that women are powerful, innovative, and successful—but of course, we already knew that!

Even though Women’s History Month is coming to a close, we still want to continue the conversation. Do you have a favorite female CHRO, Head of People, or other talent leader? Leave us a comment to let us know!