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28 Influential HR Leaders in Atlanta Worth Knowing

  • Writer: Jonno White
    Jonno White
  • Aug 4
  • 7 min read

Atlanta is home to people, culture, talent, and human resources leaders working across airlines, universities, hospitals, public services, sport, construction, financial services, media, and major employers.

 

This practical guide introduces 28 people worth knowing. It is not a ranking, and it does not claim that one role is more important than another. The common thread is visible responsibility for people, culture, talent, employee experience, or the systems that help organisations do good work.

 

For a wider HR lens, you can also browse Consult Clarity's 25 HR thought leaders to follow and its 2026 HR thought leadership guide.

 

What makes a leader worth knowing?

 

The strongest HR leaders make the work of leadership clearer. They connect the employee experience to the choices an organisation is making, explain what good looks like, and help people move from values on a wall to behaviour in the day-to-day work.

 

That is why this list includes commissioners, chief people officers, CHROs, senior HR executives, and people and culture leaders. A current title matters, but so does the work attached to it. Each short profile focuses on that work.

 

The people to know.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Delta Air Lines.

 

Allison Ausband is Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Delta Air Lines. Delta says she leads global talent management, total rewards, and human resources service delivery, making her a useful person to know if you are interested in how people strategy supports a large, complex workforce.

 

 

Commissioner, City of Atlanta.

 

Calvin W. Blackburn III is Commissioner of the City of Atlanta Department of Human Resources. His role is a reminder that HR leadership is also public leadership, with responsibility for the systems, standards, and employee experience that help a city serve its community.

 

 

Deputy Commissioner for HR Operations, City of Atlanta.

 

Jennifer Hicks is Deputy Commissioner for HR Operations at the City of Atlanta. She is worth knowing for the operational side of people leadership, where reliable processes and clear ownership make it easier for employees and managers to get the help they need.

 

 

Deputy Commissioner for Employee Experience, City of Atlanta.

 

Kimberly J. Finley is Deputy Commissioner for Employee Experience at the City of Atlanta. Her remit puts the employee experience in the centre of the conversation, which is useful for leaders trying to connect everyday moments at work with trust in the organisation.

 

 

Deputy Commissioner for Compliance and Regulation, City of Atlanta.

 

Michael D. Kirkwood is Deputy Commissioner for Compliance and Regulation at the City of Atlanta. He represents an important part of HR leadership that can be easy to overlook: good people practice needs sound rules, visible standards, and fair processes.

 

 

Interim Chief Human Resources Officer, Heidrick & Struggles.

 

Melody Jones is Interim Chief Human Resources Officer at Heidrick & Struggles and is listed with an Atlanta location. Her work includes global talent strategy and the hiring and onboarding of senior leaders, making her especially relevant to CHRO and executive leadership conversations.

 

 

Chief Human Resources Officer, YMCA of Metro Atlanta.

 

Anu Kothari is Chief Human Resources Officer at the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. Her role sits inside a large community organisation, which makes her a useful person to know if you care about how culture, talent, and service come together in a mission-led workplace.

 

 

Chief Human Resources Officer, Emory Healthcare.

 

Lilicia Bailey is Chief Human Resources Officer at Emory Healthcare. Emory describes a broad people remit covering people strategy, benefits and compensation, employee relations, leader and staff development, talent acquisition, and internal communications.

 

 

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Emory University.

 

Kevin Moody is Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Emory University. His role description spans recruitment, employee relations, compensation, benefits, people data, wellness, learning, and organisational development, a useful example of the breadth of modern university HR.

 

 

Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Georgia Tech.

 

Skye Duckett is Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Georgia Tech. Her role is worth watching because it connects HR practice with a large, changing education and research environment, including staffing, employee support, and organisation-wide transformation.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Southern Company.

 

Sloane Drake is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Southern Company. Her leadership remit includes talent acquisition and management, total rewards, labour relations, HR technology, wellbeing, and the wider people agenda.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, PulteGroup.

 

Kevin Henry is Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at PulteGroup. He is worth knowing for his focus on building teams and cultures where inclusion and excellence are treated as ongoing work rather than a finished project.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, NCR Voyix.

 

Jane Elliott is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at NCR Voyix. Her role gives Atlanta's HR community another example of people leadership inside a technology and services business that is managing change at scale.

 

 

Chief People, Culture & Change Officer, Global Payments.

 

Nichole Viviani is Chief People, Culture & Change Officer at Global Payments. Her remit brings talent, employee experience, leadership, and change management into one conversation, which is exactly where many organisations now need their people work to sit.

 

 

Chief People & ESG Officer, Crawford & Company.

 

Nidhi Verma is Chief People & ESG Officer at Crawford & Company. She is worth knowing for the way her remit links global HR, culture, employee experience, and HR technology with the organisation's wider ESG work.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Vestis.

 

Rod Wedemeier is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Vestis. The role covers talent, organisational development, culture, learning, total rewards, labour relations, and communications, a useful picture of HR as an operating system for the business.

 

 

Chief People Officer, Employbridge.

 

Whitney Woodward is Chief People Officer at Employbridge. Her role is worth knowing if you are interested in the connection between people leadership and workforce compliance, a practical issue for any organisation that employs at scale.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Allen Media Group.

 

Melody Smalls is listed as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Allen Media Group. Her remit includes leading HR across its divisions, which makes her a relevant example of people leadership in a multi-business media environment.

 

 

Chief Human Resources Officer, Atlanta Public Schools.

 

Felecia Lester is Chief Human Resources Officer at Atlanta Public Schools. The role includes talent management, employee services, career development, and employee relations inside her area, making her relevant to anyone studying HR in a large public education system.

 

 

Chief People Officer, Habitat for Humanity International.

 

Valerie Norton is Chief People Officer at Habitat for Humanity International. She leads the global people function and supporting strategic initiatives across staff and affiliate work, a useful example of people leadership across a distributed mission-led organisation.

 

 

Chief People Officer, Salesloft.

 

Sara Cohen is Chief People Officer at Salesloft. Her work spans human resources and talent functions across global teams, with a clear focus on culture and development during change and growth.

 

 

Chief People Officer, Inspire Brands.

 

Kelly McCulloch is Chief People Officer at Inspire Brands. She leads the company's global People function, including talent strategy, organisational effectiveness, total rewards, and culture initiatives across its brand portfolio. Her role is worth knowing because it shows how people strategy can connect support centre and frontline team member experience across a complex, multi-brand business.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Cox Communications.

 

Kia Painter is Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Cox Communications. Her work connects talent strategy with employee experience, organisation design, engagement, and inclusion, which makes her work relevant to leaders who want people systems to support growth.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief People & Culture Officer, Atlanta Braves.

 

DeRetta Rhodes is Executive Vice President and Chief People & Culture Officer at the Atlanta Braves. Her remit includes people capital, communications, and community affairs across the Braves and The Battery Atlanta, showing how culture can shape both employee and community experience.

 

 

Executive Vice President and Chief People, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena.

 

Camye Mackey is Executive Vice President and Chief People, Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena. Her work connects leadership development, employee culture, inclusion, engagement, and guest experience, making her a useful person to know in service-led organisations.

 

 

Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Georgia-Pacific.

 

Megan Sirna is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Georgia-Pacific. Her work advances a principle-based culture and helping supervisors empower employees, a practical example of turning values into everyday leadership choices.

 

 

Chief Human Resource Officer, Brasfield & Gorrie.

 

Jodi Taylor is Chief Human Resource Officer at Brasfield & Gorrie. Her role brings people leadership into a major construction business, where workforce capability, safety, development, and retention have to work together in a practical way.

 

 

Chief Human Resources Officer, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.

 

Dawn Gehring is Chief Human Resources Officer at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. The role covers talent acquisition, talent management, learning and development, compensation, benefits, and HR operations, making her a strong example of broad people leadership in a financial institution.

 

A practical next step.

 

You do not need to follow every person on this list. Pick one leader whose work matches the question in front of you, read the linked profile, and write down one practice you could test in your own organisation this week.

 

If your next question is how to turn a people idea into a useful team conversation, Consult Clarity also has a guide to Working Genius facilitators in Atlanta. The aim is the same: practical rather than performative, with something you can use on Monday morning.

 
 
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