Kara Zarnoch Email & Phone Number

In collaboration with talented, dedicated colleagues, I co-lead the People Team. Together, we lay the foundation to maximize our organization's impact on K-12 education equity. Hiring the "right" people into the "right" seats on the bus is the first step. This requires the development and execution of an inclusive recruitment strategy and the facilitation of a meaningful candidate experience that minimizes bias. Next, we create a strong organizational culture rooted in trust, belonging, and our core values of service, impact, learning, teamwork, and people first. Via policies, innovative professional learning opportunities, a formal coaching program, and routines rooted in inclusive excellence, we aspire to create a workplace that is meaningful, challenging, and rewarding for all.

Boston, Ma

Boston, Ma

I recruited and hired 50+ talented professionals with diverse skills, identities, experiences, and perspectives to maximize the impact of our organizational mission. Utilizing innovative, identity-conscious strategies, I led the development and implementation of high-impact, full-cycle recruiting initiatives. Resultantly, our talent team increased the racial and gender diversity of our candidate pipelines to ensure our team better reflected the K-12 school districts we support.

Oversee the human resource functions for a department of more than 220 employees. This includes strategic recruitment and selection practices to maximize talent, diversify the team, and reduce bias. I transformed the department's talent acquisition process into an experience that best reflects the values, skills, and strengths of the organization. Resultantly, we more effectively hire staff members that meet the needs of our clients. To enhance employee satisfaction, retention, and results, I develop comprehensive, curricular in-person training experiences, online synchronous workshops, and asynchronous training modules reflective of andragogy and adult learning theory.In response to evolving organizational demands, I revamped the evaluation process for 180+ employees. Now, evaluations more directly align with new positional responsibilities. This new process reduces bias, increases accountability of staff, and better supports ongoing staff development.

Pioneered and defined the purpose of this new position by leading strategic planning efforts to prepare for the launch of the university's two-year live-on requirement.In collaboration with departmental, campus, and academic partners, I planned and executed research-informed initiatives to enhance the success of the least retained cohort, second-year students. This included interventions to enhance the career preparedness and cultural competency of this student population.I supervised three full-time, master’s level staff to coach them about tools and strategies to align Learning Community goals with the mission of the university and various academic units. Key deliverables and positional responsibilities included:- Created and facilitated trainings to educate 200 professionals within the Office of Student Life about the unique needs of second-year students, including actionable support strategies. - Developed and assessed sustainable learning outcomes for second-year residential students.- Collaborated with key campus partners to support centralized recruitment, application, and staff placement processes for 16 Learning Communities (LCs). - Facilitated ongoing training of 15 professional staff about best practices and research to support the successful implementation of LCs across campus. - Assessed LC outcomes by facilitating formal focus groups and implementing changes based on data collected. - Launched First-Year Foundations, a series of peer-facilitated workshops hosted in 20+ residential communities to support the academic success of 6,000 first-year students.

Selected to open the university's first residential college. Led a community of 300 students and 14 supervisees to actualize the Commonwealth Honors College's mission of academic, inclusive excellence and trailblazing scholarship. To support the persistence of "at-risk" students, I collaborated with academic departments to launch retention-based initiatives rooted in campus connections, social justice learning, and career preparation. Key deliverables and positional responsibilities included:- Collaborated with the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Campus Life to develop an engaging active bystander training for all university faculty and staff, and 4000 incoming first-year students. This included the implementation of a train-the-trainer workshop for 50+ professional facilitators. - Re-launched the SophoMORE Innovations and Entrepreneurship program to establish a retention-based learning community for 300 participants in conjunction with the College of Engineering and the School of Management.- Revamped departmental Living Learning Plan to support the gradual transition to a residential curriculum, including the development of measurable learning outcomes.- Managed $125K operations and programming budget to ensure responsible spending of student fees. - Authored a 50+ page community development workbook to establish consistent expectations, serve as a supervision tool for 30 professionals, and support the ongoing professional development of 400 para-professionals.

Macomb, Illinois, United States

While earning a Master of Science, I collaborated with three colleagues to lead a community of 800 students, including direct supervision of 9 para-professionals and indirect supervision of 20 para-professionals. In this role, I translated theory into practice by realigning the department's interview and selection process with organizational mission and values. I served on a committee to hire 75+ para-professionals. In partnership with faculty and staff, I redesigned the First-Year Experience curriculum in response to campus climate and retention data. Completed coursework and research about:- Group dynamics- Supervision - Counseling and coaching skills - Organizational theory and development - Higher education administration - Legal issues and risk management in higher education

Key deliverables and positional responsibilities included: - Co-authored a 400 page digital training manual issued to newly hired academic advisors to support their on-boarding. - Assisted in the planning and implementation of Parent Orientation, including an inaugural session for Spanish-speaking parents.- Designed and implemented workshops focused on career exploration and self-awareness for 100+ undergraduate students. - Coached students placed on academic probation by empowering these students to create personalized plans for improvement, including connections with campus resources.

Master Of Science - Ms, Higher Education/Higher Education Administration

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Psychology