I started my professional career in the Mental Health/Behavioral Health Field working with adults with severe and persistent mental illness. I decided I wanted a different challenge and received my Masters Degree in Human Resources Management. During my 8-year tenure as Human Resources Manager at Hazeltine Nurseries Inc, I honed my skills in developing effective HR solutions tailored to a diverse workforce of over 160 employees. My bilingual abilities in English and Spanish have been instrumental in cultivating an inclusive environment and enhancing employee relations. We created a multifaceted recruiting program and were able to grow the workforce from 110 employees to 170 employees in a few short years. By completing needs assessments based on crew inefficiencies, we were able to create a hands on training program that taught basic landscape maintenance skills to employees with no experience. My new adventure has taken me into the world of employee ownership, where I have learned about what it takes to work for and run a 100% Employee Owned company. Working at EarthBalance has taught me how to reflect a strong commitment to the company's core values of Excellence, respect and Teamwork and being able to tie those values to all avenues of work and services we provide. I look forward to continue to grow and develop my Human Resources related skills!