Human Resources Leaders Embedding Human Centered Practices Into Organizational Performance, 2026
Leadership has always been measured by results, but the most enduring results begin with people. In this edition, we are proud to feature Katrina Lancaster, a leader whose journey reminds us that organizational success is built through empathy, trust, resilience, and authentic human connection. Her experiences have shaped a philosophy that places people at the…
On Cover
Katrina Lancaster
Human Resources Leader and Executive Coach
But before she could answer that question with clarity, she had to live it. She had to experience what it feels like to be on the other side of organizational decisions. She had to rebuild after loss. She had to choose authenticity over convenience. And through each of these moments, she discovered something that could never have come from business school or HR textbooks: what it truly means to support people during their most vulnerable transitions.
Dawn Stastny
Chief of Human Resource
In an era where organizations are navigating unprecedented change, few leaders understand the intricate relationship between people, culture, governance, and performance as profoundly as Dawn Stastny. With more than three decades of experience spanning human capital, compliance, enterprise risk management, Environmental Health and Safety, organizational transformation, mergers and acquisitions, and operational integration, she has established herself as a visionary leader whose influence extends far beyond traditional human resources.
Larissa Murmann
Digital CHRO | Unilever International
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, few leaders have mastered the delicate art of balancing technological innovation with human connection quite like Larissa Murmann. As Digital CHRO at Unilever International, Murmann has pioneered an approach to human resources that transcends traditional boundaries—one that places artificial intelligence, emotional intelligence, and what she calls “subconscious intelligence” at the heart of organizational strategy.
Jermaine Williamson
Fractional Talent Acquisition Leader & Author
In government contracting, the distance between winning a proposal and watching it collapse is often measured not in strategy documents or pricing models, but in people. The right person with the right clearance, available at the right moment, is the difference between a contract that delivers and a cure notice that damages. Few professionals understand this with the kind of visceral clarity that comes from having lived it and fewer still have built an entire methodology around it. Jermaine Williamson is one of those professionals.
Jennifer Smith
Career Coach, HR Consultant & Podcast Host, Flourish Careers
In the quiet hours between midnight and dawn, while most of the world sleeps, Jennifer Smith was learning the fundamentals of business leadership in the most unexpected classroom imaginable: a potato chip factory in upstate New York. Fresh out of college, running the graveyard shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. at Frito-Lay/PepsiCo, she faced a daily gauntlet of high-stakes decisions about safety, staffing, productivity, quality, and cost.
Dirusha Ganapathy Juta
Founder and Managing Director
The intersection of human psychology and organizational transformation rarely produces leaders who can navigate both the depths of individual potential and the complexities of multinational business operations. Yet this unique convergence defines the extraordinary journey of one South African professional who has redefined what it means to lead HR transformation on a global scale—not just as a business imperative, but as a calling to serve humanity itself.
Christopher McCormick
CEO | Visionary Consulting
As CEO of Visionary Consulting, launched in April 2025 in San Francisco, McCormick brings a refreshing philosophy to organizational leadership—one that places human development at the center of business strategy. His approach isn’t merely about implementing new HR systems or restructuring organizational charts. It’s about fundamentally transforming how businesses view their most valuable asset: their people.
Layal Abou Ghanem
Co-Founder & COO , Solutions for Training and Consultancy (STC) Middle East
In the evolving landscape of workforce management, where artificial intelligence meets human potential and hybrid models reshape traditional boundaries, Layal Abou Ghanem stands as a beacon of strategic transformation. Her journey from witnessing organizational change to orchestrating it spans over 15 years across heavy industry, construction, and healthcare sectors, culminating in her role as Co-Founder and COO of Solutions for Training and Consultancy (STC) Middle East.
