Our authorsThe Top HR and Government experts

Sarah Hollenbeck is a writer for rentspree, a homeowner, yoga teacher and marketing expert. When she isn't writing content, you can often find her catching up on the latest marketing videos, taking her dog for a walk or practicing yoga. Sarah prides herself on helping brands and small businesses in a variety of industries expand their audience and improve their marketing strategy.

My name is Sarah Miller and you're catching me at the start of my HR career, writing in some thoughtful way on my blog Whipper Snapper HR and with little thought on my twitter account. Apart from my Social Media shenanigans, I'm a South Australian living and working in Singapore. Previous career aspirations included being a plumber, and being a ferry driver who sang to my passengers on the morning commute. Thankfully, HR seems to be working out well for me.

Sarah Wilson is the community manager for TheLadders. TheLadders is a career resource dedicated to helping to professionals at all stages in their career market, move up, and manage. A New York native, Sarah spends most of her time outside of work pursuing hobbies such as cooking, photography and hiking.

Diversity and inclusion strategist, renowned for her visionary work in culture competence, nationally recognized speaker, and best-selling author Sara Taylor is dedicated to changing the world through the workplace by making organizations across the globe more effective and inclusive and their leaders more culturally competent. She founded deepSEE Consulting in 2002 to provide insightful consulting and strategic diversity training, paired with measurement tools to build individual and organizational cultural competence. In her deepSEE Consulting role as President, Sara has worked with hundreds of national and global companies and their executives, including Chief Diversity Officers, Organizational Development and HR leaders as well as staff at all levels throughout the organization. She helps them to understand the full complexities of today's diverse workforce and to build the competencies necessary to create inclusion and equity. Her clients over the years have included reputable companies such as Walmart, 3M Company, AARP, Cleveland Foundation, Coca-Cola, Marriott International, General Mills, United Way Worldwide, National Credit Union Administration, Ingersol-Rand, Seagate Technologies, Thompson Reuters, Thrivent Financial, among others. Prior to deepSEE Consulting, Sara was the Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Ramsey County, Minnesota, where she established a new department to lead D&I efforts for 5,000 employees. She began her career as a Leadership and Diversity Specialist at the University of Minnesota, where she developed state-wide diversity and leadership programs, created and managed a grant program to fund community-based diversity initiatives, and directed the activities of diversity and leadership educators. On July 9, 2024, Sara will launch Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters (Berrett-Koehler) to help individuals tackle their unconscious bias and empower organizations to scale cultural competence to transform their structural and systematic landscapes to become more effective and equitable. She previously authored the 2017 best-selling book Filter Shift: How Effective People See the World, which is used by numerous individuals and organizations across the globe to increase success and create greater effectiveness. She has been an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management, Twin Cities Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioners, Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota, Minnesota Society for Human Resource Management, Twin Cities Human Resources Association, Association of Talent Development, and Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research. She’s been featured in and quoted as an expert in Upsize, Twin Cities Business, and HR Magazine and has had several articles published in Forbes and Diversity Woman magazine. Sara earned a master’s degree in Diversity and Organizational Development from the University of Minnesota. She and her husband, Miguel, split their time between their home in the Dominican Republic, close to Miguel’s family, and their home in Minneapolis, closer to their children and grandchild.

Scott is a graduate of St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and a Certified Human Resources Professional. (CHRP). His HR experience has come within the fields of marine engineering, contact centre, gaming and hospitality, retail and information technology. Scott has had the opportunity to provide HR solutions to organizations ranging in size from 50 to 5000 employees (including start-ups), all of which gives him a unique perspective on what it is like to manage in a myriad of environments and organizational structures. He has also held roles recruiting in the agency world, working as a sole HR practitioner and as the Manager of a large HR department – all of which has allowed him to experience the challenges and lessons learned that each of these roles presents! When he isn’t spending time being a Human Resources Manager or blogging, Scott enjoys coaching his daughter's basketball team, mountain biking and traveling to warm places with his family. You can find Scott on Twitter at @HR_ScottBoulton, or on his leadership and HR blog - The Armchair HR Manager.

Scott Mautz is a passionate expert on employee engagement/motivation/inspiration, workplace fulfillment, and others-oriented leadership. Scott is the CEO of Profound Performance – a keynote, workshop, coaching, and online training company that helps you “Work, Lead, & Live Fulfilled.” He is also a Procter & Gamble veteran who ran several of the company’s largest multi-billion-dollar businesses, including its single largest, a $3 Billion Dollar division. At P&G, Scott consistently transformed business results and organizational/cultural health scores along with it. Scott is also an award-winning keynote speaker, and author of Find the Fire: Ignite Your Inspiration and Make Work Exciting Again (October 2017), as well as Make it Matter: How Managers Can Motivate by Creating Meaning, a book that was named “The 2016 Leadership Book of the Year – First Runner Up” by Leadership & Management Books and a “Best 30 Book of the Year” by Soundview Business Books. Scott’s been named a “CEO Thought-leader” by the CEO Executive Guild and a “Top 50 Leadership Innovator” by Inc. Magazine, where he writes a weekly column for the national publication on topics such as employee engagement, others-orientated leadership, meaning in and at work, workplace culture, the how tos of motivation/inspiration, success, and entrepreneurship. Scott also teaches leadership and employee engagement/motivation at Indiana University. He’s appeared in Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur and many other national publications and podcasts. Scott was born in Central New York and has an undergraduate degree from Binghamton University (1991) and an MBA from Indiana University (1994). He lives in Cincinnati with his wife and daughter.

Salena James works a senior website designer and she is from Melbourne, Australia and graduated from the Victoria University. Her passion is to write about digital marketing technologies and latest educational trends. She provides eLearning consultancy services to various organizations.

Shakena Warren was born and raised in New Jersey. She started pushing at an early age raising her younger sisters. Her mother got swept up into the drug scene in the 1980’s and continues to struggle with her addiction today. Shakena believed young girls without guidance could be lost to the streets. She took the responsibility for her younger sisters and became their role model. In 1994, Shakena graduated from high school and started her freshman year of college. By this time she had 3 sisters, ages 12, 2 and a 1 month old baby. Shakena intentions were to complete a four year degree in Communications but she only completed two and joined the workforce. At this time Shakena placed her focus on ways to stay employable to provide for her sisters. Shakena always had amazing talent for doing hair! She comes from a female dominated family which gave her all the practice she needed. Shakena enrolled in Cosmetology school part-time at night and worked temporary administrative jobs during the day. In 1998, Shakena obtained a NJ State Cosmetology license and worked full time in the salon for a few years. Her income as a hairstylist was profitable but she wanted to become computer savvy to create more opportunities. She was interested in applying for jobs in beauty companies where she could blend her administrative and cosmetology backgrounds. She completed a four month computer applications course. Two years later, she enlisted in United States Navy and provided administrative, personnel and human resource services to military personnel. While stationed overseas, she performed hair services for military and civilian women on the weekends. Shakena met her husband, married and had two children while they were in the Navy. In August of 2008 they opened a beauty supply store/salon in Hagerstown, MD where they resided. A year later, she decided to leave the Navy with an honorable discharge to focus on her family and business. In 2012, Shakena closed the store/salon and completed her Bachelors degree and started pursuing her Masters in Public Relations. As an administrative and beauty professional, Shakena had the opportunity to interact with diverse groups of women. Shakena and many other women had the same story of sacrifice; they put their families first and struggled to rekindle their own personal and professional growth. Shakena motivated and encouraged women because she knew the impact a woman can make on her family and community when she value and love herself. Throughout her travels and interactions in life, she realized women faced the same issues regardless of their ethnic, financial or social status. Shakena started redoing her family and friends resumes to help them get back into the workforce or acquire a better paying job. Not only did they get the job, they regained their confidence and self esteem! Ladies, you can do anything and be anybody you want to be, just keep pushing!

Shannon Burns is a community manager by day and aspiring writer by afternoon, evening, and night. As much as she loves discovering and publishing pieces about unique brands doing worthwhile things while changing the business industry one idea at a time, she also loves binge watching Netflix series with her two dogs even more.

Sharon McCoy is currently a writer for GovLoop. It's mission is simple: connect government to improve government. GovLoop aims to inspire public sector professionals to better service by acting as the knowledge network for government. Sharon graduated from the University of Georgia with a BA in International affairs. As an undergraduate, she studied in Chile and worked as an intern at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. With its ideal location near the U.S.-Mexican border, regionally-based curriculum and numerous opportunities for research and internships, IR/PS was an “excellent choice” for Sharon to prepare for her professional ambitions. After her first year at IR/PS, Sharon accepted a 3-month internship from the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. serving the Front Office of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA). The staff advises the WHA Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretaries on regional policy and management considerations and is responsible for managing the flow of information within the Bureau. Sharon’s was one of the few State Department internships to require a Top Secret security clearance due to the level of exposure this position has to a higher level of personnel and information.

Shaun Conrad is a CPA, author, and finance instructor. When he’s not helping students, you can find him thrill seeking on his longboard or motorcycle.

Shelly Harrington is an expert in public policy with a focus on raising awareness around public health and societal issues. She works with numerous government agencies to help bring positive change to America.