Laura Waitz is a strategic business executive who uses her deep human capital management experience and relationship building expertise to impact the culture and growth of organizations while ensuring a best-in-class employee experience. A transformative leader, she drives organizational success by aligning teams behind a common vision as a critical step to create shareholder value.Laura’s career has centered on human capital effectiveness in the financial services sector. Regarded as a solutions-focused HR negotiator, she is skilled in M&A integration, crisis resolution, global regulatory & compliance management, and mitigating financial risk. Most recently and for nine years at Blackstone, the world's largest independent alternative asset manager, Laura held key roles including Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Human Resources. Working with the CEO and President/COO as an advisor and partner to the businesses, she was responsible for all aspects of the firm's human capital strategy, including recruiting, performance assessment, talent development, succession planning, employee relations, mobility, reward, retention, and culture. Before joining, Blackstone, Laura held leadership roles at Citi Alternative Investments as Managing Director & Global Head of Compensation. Prior to that, she worked for Deutsche Bank as Head of Compensation for the Americas Region as well as Global Compensation Manager for Private Equity and the Investment Bank. She has also held HR roles at Societe Generale and Paribas.Ms. Waitz holds a BS from Penn State University. She is a Board member of the African Leadership Foundation and serves as an Advisory Board member of Summus Global.