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Have you been keeping an eye out for the HR experts who've been making waves in the industry?

Being pretty involved in the continuously evolving human resources community, we're fortunate to connect with many of the movers and shakers.

Below lies a list of professionals who have made some sort of impact in our community that we feel should be recognized for their efforts.

This is a diverse list of HR experts that includes CEOs and founders, TED Talkers, LinkedIn Influencers, inspirational speakers, writers, and podcasters. Whether they have 5k followers or 500k, we selected them because they bring something unique and interesting to the table. 

Follow them to gain valuable insights into the latest trends and best practices in the HR and leadership world.

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Anthony Clay

Describes his HR career as non-traditional. Anthony is the co-founder of Microsoft’s BlackLight program and CEO of Indi, a diversity-focused career development and advancement platform. Anthony is an effervescent character with an infectious enthusiasm. Listen to his podcast ep here.

Suzanne Lucas

Suzanne is a writer, speaker and hosts workshops and founder of The Evil HR Lady. You can rely on her to give excellent HR advice and answer any questions!

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Dave Ulrich

Lauded as ‘The Godfather of HR’ you’re probably aware of his famous model of structuring HR teams.
He’s one of HR’s eminent thought leaders and we were delighted to have him on the podcast a while back.

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Enrique Rubio

Enrique Rubio didn’t start off in a career of human resources. His first focus was on engineering. Now he spends his days as a founder of a global movement called Hacking HR with global chapters around the world and a massive online community. Listen to his podcast ep here.

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Rob Chesnut

Rob Chesnut, author of Intentional Integrity, is currently the Chief Ethics Officer at Airbnb. He spent his early career at the U.S. Justice Department and then moved over to eBay, where jhe was responsible for overseeing all site rules and policies for the eBay global community of over 150 million users. He joined Airbnb in 2016 and has helped lead and guide the organization to drive ethics throughout Airbnb. Listen to his podcast ep here.

John Doerr

Author of “Measure What Matters”, John shares his keen observations and insights on featured TED Talk and within the community telling stories of ambitious leaders and teams.

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Sharlyn Lauby

Writer, speaker, consultant, and author of the HR Bartender blog. Sharlyn focuses her work within companies to retain and engage talent.

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Steve Browne

Expert in employee relations, networking, and company culture, Steve Brown is a strategic HR Professional. He is also author of “HR on Purpose!”

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Joe Gerstandt

Joe is an advocate for Inclusive Culture and Inclusive Employee Experience. He has been a keynote speaker at many HR and Leadership events. Joe works with Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, government entities and everything in between.

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David Green

David is a globally respected and award-winning writer, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR, and the future of work. #HROS Volunteer 

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Steve Boese

Steve Boese is Co-host of the weekly HR Happy Hour Show and Podcast, Co-Chair of the HR Technology Conference and writer of Human Resources Executive Magazine. He has over 20 years of experience implementing enterprise technologies for Human Resources. 

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Erik Van Vulpen

Erik is a writer and speaker on HR analytics. He is a Top global Influencer in HR Tech of 2018 and is making HR more Data-Driven

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Jim Stroud

Producer of the “It’s All Recruiting” Podcast and  Youtuber of “Jim Stroud Show”. Jim Stroud has created and sold five online properties, managed an award-winning blog, published a weekly newsletter for jobseekers, a recruiter training magazine and co-hosted a popular technology podcast. 

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Jon Thurmond

“I’m one of those HR people that didn’t plan for a career in it.” Jon took a job as an HR manager at a utility construction firm. He produces the HR Social Hour Half Hour podcast and hosts the #HRSocialHour chat on Twitter.

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Jeanne C. Meister

Contributor to Forbes, Financial Times and Fast Company to name a few. Jeanne C. Meister, founder of Future Workplace Network is an activist of driving her clients to think differently about work. Jeanne is a keynote speaker and co-author of The 2020 Workplace & THe Future Workplace Experience.

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Jennifer McClure

CEO of Unbridled Talent & DisruptHR. Jennifer is Keynote Speaker that excels at sharing her best practices and strategic discussions based on her 25 years of experience leading hr and talent acquisition efforts. Jennifer is also a Podcaster and helps leaders build careers that they love & lives that matter.

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Wendy Dailey

With over 20 years of HR experience, specialties in strategic planning, compensation, and talent acquisition to name a few. Wendy is an advocate of responsible social media engagement and interaction as an HR blogger and co-host of the #HRSocialHour twitter chat and podcast. 

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Jazmine Wilkes

Speaker, Blog Writer (HRJazzy.Blog), Contributor, HR Professional, and Connector. Jazmine has a passion for creating an environment that’s welcoming to both emerging and established professionals.

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Laurie Ruettimann

Writer, speaker, and entrepreneur⁣ helping companies and leaders rethink HR⁣⁣⁣⁣. Laurie is an HR leader and known for her commonsense style and straightforward approach. Laurie keynotes events all around the world and hosts a podcast called “Let’s Fix Work”. 

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J.T. O’Donnell

J.T. has 18+ years of experience in the development and delivery of HR, employment, recruiting, job search, and career development tools and resources. J.T. O’Donnell is the CEO and founder of Work It Daily. She helps with professional development and is a career counselor & coach. 

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Karen Azulai

Passionate about the future of recruitment and am motivated by raising awareness to the upcoming changes in our industry. Karen Azulai is the co-founder of HRTechnation.com and advisor of HR Tech startups, as well as a keynote speaker.

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Barry Flack

Season Global HR Executive, leader, and strategist. Barry is Keen to help businesses to adapt to the changing world of work. He does this through his writing, speaking, advisory, training, consultancy, blogging and being a keynote speaker.

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Susan P. Joyce

Job search expert, and publisher of Job-Hunt.org where hundreds of articles are written by experts and organized into guides on various topics.  Susan is passionate about helping job seekers understand how to quickly and successfully find new jobs.

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Bill Boorman

“I never wear a suit and I always wear a hat. I have a simple vision to make recruitment better for everyone.” Bill is a specialist in social recruiting integration and infrastructure and a keynote speaker. Bill is a standup comedian that covers life spent in recruiting and HR if you are looking for a laugh! 

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Jeanne Achille

Passionate about creating communities and supporting workforce diversity and inclusion, Jeanne is a frequently quoted spokesperson, speaker, and content contributor. 

Jeanne is the program chair for the Select HR Tech Conference and the Women in HR Tech Summit

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Alan Walker

With 15 years of experience in Talent, Recruitment and HR, Alan is Founder and SEO of Udder – Talent Tech Consulting where he helps vendors grow into their businesses. Alan is also a blogger, webinar and podcast host and editor of #ChatTalent.

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Meghan M. Biro

Meghan M. Biro is a globally recognized Talent Management and HR Tech brand strategist, analyst, digital catalyst, author and speaker. Founder and CEO of TalentCulture and Founder of the #WorkTrends Community, Meghan is also an Author and Podcaster!

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Adam Grant

Author of three New York Times bestsellers, Give and Take, Originals, and Option B. Adam also hosts a Podcast called WorkLife and has multiple TED talks. Adam is successful in helping other succeed.

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Laszlo Bock

Author of “Work Rules!” and Founder of Humu, Laszlo is passionate about making work better for everyone. Past SVP of People Operations at Google for 10 years where he was named “Human Resource Executive of the Year” by HR Executive Magazine. LinkedInInfluencer

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Sarah Brennan

Founder of Accelir Insights, Sarah Brennan is a seasoned executive and HR analyst focused on shaping the future of work through insight driven consulting & speaking. Sarah’s focus is on revenue and growth, research and insights, product, sales and customer success to name a few.

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Matt Charney

Matt is the Executive Editor for Recruiting Daily the #1 online media resource for the recruiting world.

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Liz Ryan

Liz, CEO of Human Workplace is a former Fortune 500 HR SVP and the world’s most widely-read career authority. Liz is the author of “Reinvention Roadmap: Break the Rules to Get the Job You Want and Career You Deserve” and an electrifying public speaker.

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Sabrina Baker

Founder of Acacia HR Solutions, and co-founder of DISRUPTHR Los Angeles, Sabrina is eager to empower people in the HR field as a small business people developer.

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Kevin W. Grossman

Kevin is the President and Board Member of Talent Board HR and #TheCandEs are focused on the elevation and promotion of a quality candidate experience. 

Kevin is a blog writer and podcaster.

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Hristina Lozanoska

Executive Coach/ Founder & CEO@VITA INSTITUT/ HR Mentor / Author of “Intergrated HRM Model”

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Kris Dunn

VP of HR, dad, hoops junkie. Founder of HRC and FOT, CHRO at Kinetix. Author of THE 9 FACES OF HR

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Jonathan Ferrar

People Analytics and HR Strategy, Jonathan is CEO of Insight222 Limited, insight222.com & myHRfuture.com.  Jonathan is the co-author of The Power of People: Learn How Successful Organisations Use Workforce Analytics to Improve Performance.

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Jackye Clayton

With acclaimed expertise in diversity and inclusion, recruitment technology, and a global network of non-profit, human resource, and recruiting professionals, Jackye Clayton is a servant leader, uniquely inspirational speaker, and a revered thought leader.

Jackye is a speaker, trainer, and diversity advocate.

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Glen Cathey

Leader in sourcing, recruiting, strategy, HR Tech, innovation, ethical AI, diversity & inclusion. Keynoter, Blogger, INTJ

Passionate about people, social engineering, AI/machine learning, data & analytics, leadership, performance, process (lean), excellence. Glen is a Keynote speaker and blogger with specialties in Talent Acquisition Strategy, Recruiting, Sourcing to name a few.

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Jörgen Sundberg

CEO of Link Humans, Jörgen Sundberg is the founder & CEO of Link Humans, an employer branding agency based in London & Paris.

He managed hiring campaigns for giants like IBM, Accenture, SAP, and Deloitte.

Today he hosts the weekly Employer Branding Podcast, featuring innovators from companies like GE, Walmart, Virgin Media, HSBC, Zurich Insurance & Kellogg’s.

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Andy Headworth

Deputy Director, Resourcing & Apprenticeships, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Andy Headworth is the author of two books on social media recruitment strategies including the bestseller, Social Media Recruitment. He also a multi-award-winning recruitment/HR blogger and global keynote speaker.

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Katrina Collier

Keynote speaker & facilitator on candidate engagement & experience, Author of The Robot-Proof Recruiter, & founder of DisruptHR London, Cambridge, Newcastle & York. I believe in human first, technology second, and champion #BeHuman! Co-host of The #SocialRecruiting Show – every Friday, interviewing recruiters & sourcers. Founder of DisruptHR London

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Hung Lee

Founder & CEO at Workshape.io

Curator of Recruiting Brainfood Hung Lee is CEO of an award-winning online recruiting platform, WorkShape.io and runs a popular weekly newsletter for the talent industry called Recruiting Brainfood.

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Jacob Morgan

Keynote & TED Speaker, 4x Best-Selling Author, & Futurist. Founder of The Future of Work University. Jacob is 4x best-selling author, and frequently speaks at conferences and events all over the world on leadership, employee experience, and the future of work.

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John Sumser

John Sumser is the founder, principal author, and editor of HRExaminer, an online magazine that explores the technology, ideas, and careers of senior leaders in Human Resources and Human Capital Management. He advises HR groups, recruiting departments, and talent management teams with product analysis, positioning, branding, and strategy.

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Josh Bersin

Josh Bersin is a keynote speaker and advise HR teams and vendors in the HR space, and also serve as an educator, thought leader, and personal coach to HR and business leaders around the world.

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Ward Christman

With 20+ years experience creating & selling e-recruiting technology and services, with special expertise in ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems), employee referral, and job marketing (via job boards and social media). Ward’s passions remain in advising #HRTech vendors how to grow sales via Partnership and Alliances with other vendors in the HCM & HR Software Industry.

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Josh Linker

Co-Founder and Chairman of Platypus Labs,  Best-Selling Author, and Keynote Speaker. Josh Linker has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million.

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Soumyasant Sen

HR Tech Leader, Advisor for People and Companies on Transformations and Strategy.

Soumyasant is an HR Technology, Transformation & People Analytics Leader and an Advisor for People & Organization across the Globe. Soumyasant is a well-known Keynote Speaker & Writer and a Strategist for Future of Work.

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Mark Razzolini

Vice President, People, Wellness and Innovation, Alberta Blue Cross

With over 25 years experience in human resources, Mark Razzolini has always been a purpose-driven leader who believes people are the foundation of any successful workplace.

As vice-president of People, Wellness and Innovation, Mark leads human resources, facilities, learning and development, wellness, and innovation at Alberta Blue Cross. He has spoke at the HR Leaders Summit 2019.

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Mark Porter

Mark Porter joined WestJet on October 26, 2015 as Executive Vice-President, People, and Culture. While he has many high-level professional accomplishments – which gives credit to the people surrounding him – Mark is proud to sit on the volunteer board for STARS Ambulance. He has spoken at the HR Leaders Summit 2019.

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Joze Piranian

Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Simon’s WHY is to inspire people to do what inspires them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better.

With a vision to change the way businesses think, act, and operate, Simon and his team work with leaders and organizations in nearly every industry to help transform company culture and create a better working world.

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Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Simon’s WHY is to inspire people to do what inspires them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better.

With a vision to change the way businesses think, act, and operate, Simon and his team work with leaders and organizations in nearly every industry to help transform company culture and create a better working world.

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John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker who has sold more than 26 million books in fifty languages. In 2014 he was identified as the #1 leader in business by the American Management Association® and the most influential leadership expert in the world by Business Insider and Inc. magazine.

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Jon Gordon

Bestselling Author, speaker and positive leader Jon Gordon’s best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and non-profits.

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Lolly Daskal

Leadership Coach, consultant, facilitator, speaker, and author.

Lolly Daskal is the founder of Lead from Within: a successful leadership firm that offers custom-made programs in leadership and organizational development. As a leadership coach: Lolly Daskal is an advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs and boards. She is one of the top executive coaches in the world.

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Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins is a #1 New York Times best-selling author, life and business strategist, philanthropist, entrepreneur.  Tony has helped over 50 million people from more than 100 countries transform their lives and their businesses through my live events, books, audio programs, health products and personal coaching.

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Patrick Lencioni

Recognized as a true pioneer in leadership and business, Patrick Lencioni is a New York Times best-selling author and thought leader. In 2008, he was named by Fortune magazine as “one of the new gurus you should know.”​

Lencioni is the architect of organizational health, a concept that he calls the last competitive advantage in business today.

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Eric Meyer

Eric Meyer is an outspoken employment lawyer who’ll help you proactively solve compliance issues before they become a problem.

Follow him on LinkedIn and his blog to cut through the noise and keep abreast of all the major developments in employment law.

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Bonnie Dilber

Bonnie is a super-experienced recruiter at one of the world’s top tech companies.


We admire her commitment to equitable hiring practices and her drive to create more inclusive workplaces that work for everyone.

Follow her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her newsletter for regular pearls of wisdom on recruitment and retention.

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Jessica Zwaan

Jessica’s career path is an interesting one. She began as an HR officer and has since crossed over into operations to become COO.

We admire her for her experimental and data-driven approach to people operations that takes its influence from product management.

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Madison Butler

Madison is lots of fun but don’t let her quirky disposition fool you, she’s serious about what she does.

Her work focuses on creating cultures of psychological safety, she’s an outspoken advocate for mental health, removing the stigma around trauma, DEI, and the ability to be "human at work".

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Alison Green

Alison is the curator of the super popular, and at times wildly entertaining, AskAManager blog. 

She takes questions from people across industries and professions on how to best deal with certain work situations. Sometimes funny, sometimes downright alarming, there’s a lot you can pick up.

weronika niemczyk

Weronika Niemczyk

Weronika is a vastly experienced HR leader who’s headed up programs at some of the world’s top tech companies including Google and Expedia.

We admire her commercially-minded approach to HR and there’s little she doesn’t know about talent management.

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Edie Goldberg

HR consultant highly experienced in high-level strategy covering workforce planning, performance management, and development.

If you’re looking to make the step up in your career, she’s worth following and maybe connecting with (she’s super nice).

david james

David James

David is one of the most experienced learning and development professionals we know of and is super passionate about his job.

David’s mission is to elevate the learning and development function to greater heights with regards to contributing to organizational success. His podcast always features innovators in the learning and development space.

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Melani Naranjo

A human resources leader we all wish we could work with, although still relatively new to the profession, Melani is surely going places.

Her down-to-earth, empathetic attitude is refreshing and she does a great job at simplifying difficult concepts.

Katie Zink

Katie is a DEI expert who really gets what it takes to create and sustain DEI initiatives.

A regular contributor for us, she’s brimming with passion and ideas about how we can create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces.

Following (and interacting with) the above list of HR experts will help put you in good stead for building your career in HR and people management. Further resources to help you in your HR journey:

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By Finn Bartram

Finn is an editor at People Managing People. He's passionate about growing organizations where people are empowered to continuously improve and genuinely enjoy coming to work. If not at his desk, you can find him playing sports or enjoying the great outdoors.