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 Austin SHRM Board of Directors


President
Jennifer Charles

Jennifer Charles, MLS, SPHR, is the Human Resource Director at St. Edward’s University, 17 years of experience in Human resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  She has worked across business industries in both the public and private sectors. She is a trainer, thought leader, and DEI implementer. Jennifer has trained on various HR and DEI topics to include but limited to Harassment and Discrimination, Cultural Awareness, Unconscious Bias, and Respect and Diversity in the Workplace. She has also supported and lead successful DEI programs and Initiates.

Jennifer dedicates herself to business transformation and culture change.  She has a customized approach in working with leaders and organizations. Jennifer currently has her Bachelor of Science degree in Business with a minor in Human Resources from Concordia University. She is currently in pursuit of her Master’s of Jurisprudence Degree from Texas A&M University. Jennifer has a love for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, HR, and talent acquisition. 

Click here to learn more about volunteering with the D&I Committee.


Past President
Brian Hayes

Brian Hayes has been heavily involved with the HR community in the State of Texas for many years, having served on the Board of Directors for The HRSouthwest Conference for the past 6 years, and he has been a volunteer for the conference for a total of 8 years.  Brian was selected as a finalist for DallasHR’s “HR Stars Awards” as the HR Southwest Conference’s Volunteer Leader of the Year for 2019. Prior to moving to Austin in January 2019 to join the team at Disability Rights Texas as HR Director, Brian lived in the Galveston, Texas area and served as the Chapter President for Texas Bay Area SHRM in Clear Lake for 4 years.  He was sworn in as AHRMA Chapter President for 2021 in December 2020. AHRMA is the third (3rd) largest HR professional association in the state of Texas. In his role as President, Brian will be responsible for leading the premiere HR association in Central Texas.

Brian brings more than 25 years of Human Resources management experience in both for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a Bachelors of Arts in Communication/Public Relations, and holds professional certifications from the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), as well as, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).


President-Elect
Billie Wright

Billie is an accomplished HR and operations strategic leader with 20+ years’ progressive people operations and executive leadership experience scaling and leading teams, coaching for greatness, driving culture and change transformation, and strategy execution at all levels in order to achieve business results. Billie currently serves as the VP of People Operations for Nava, a public benefits corporation. Additionally, Billie also serves as a Leadership Consultant and Performance Coach with the leadership consulting firm, The Leneker Team. She previously worked for the WA State Employment Security Department (ESD) as the Assistant Commissioner/Chief Human Resource Officer where she led a division of 65 staff across multiple HR disciplines.

She also held a previous role as ESD’s Leadership Development, Engagement and Chief Learning Officer where she led and directed the agency’s employee engagement initiatives, training program, leadership development and executive coaching program. Additionally, Billie also served as the Director of Human Resources for the WA State Department of Labor and Industries (LNI). Billie is a Master Certified Engagement Curriculum Facilitator, nationally certified Crucial Conversations® instructor, certified change management practitioner, DEI practitioner and certified leadership and management coach. She is also a skilled facilitator who brings a sense of fun and curiosity into her presentations! Billie hails from Texas by way of Louisiana, enjoys traveling and spending time with her family. She is a graduate of Western Governor’s University, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management and a Master’s Degree in Management and Leadership.


Co-VP of Conference
Odette Perez

P. Odette Perez is an accomplished Business Development Manager for the Austin branch of L.K. Jordan & Associates. She is responsible for developing new business and managing sales by prospecting, gaining, and maintaining clientele. She successfully connects with existing clients to maintain business relationships by identifying current needs. Odette is experienced in identifying recruitment needs of companies in multiple industries, such as Office Administration, Accounting & Finance, Manufacturing, Construction and Engineering. She has a long history of excelling at sales, is a 4-time L.K. Jordan President’s Club Winner and has won the Quarterly Top Sales award for the company 10 times. Odette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Apparel Design from the University of Texas at Austin.

Odette has been a part of the AHRMA organization since 2014. She is an “adopted Austinite” having lived in Austin since 1999 while attending UT. Outside of her profession, Odette enjoys traveling the world, immersing herself in Astrophysics documentaries, and loves to enjoy the culinary delights of Austin.  


Treasurer
Arlaine Decrevel

Arlaine Decrevel, MBA, PHR, SHRM-CP, PHR, is the Chief Executive Officer for Evins Group, LLC the largest privately owned and operated full-service human resource consulting, recruiting, and staffing company in Austin, Texas. She is a SHRM Certified Professional an HRCI Professional in Human Resources and a TMCA Credentialed Advanced Mediator. She also holds several certificates from The University of Texas at Austin in Transformational Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Communication and the City of Austin’s Success Skills for Small Business. For over 25 years, Arlaine has led, coached, influenced and mentored others during her career with Fortune 500 companies, small to medium sized businesses, governmental agencies, and not-for-profit associations. She is the founder and owner of A.D. Collaborative Solutions, a strategic management, human resources, marketing, and mediation consulting business. She holds three degrees in Business Administration and a Certificate of Human Resource Management from The University of Texas at Austin. 

Arlaine is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Austin Human Resource Management Association (AHRMA) since 2013. She is a member of the 2022 Texas SHRM State Council, 2019 Austin SHRM Past President, 2018 Austin SHRM President, 2021 WilcoHR Keynote Speaker, 2021 HR Southwest Conference Ed Sessions Committee Volunteer, 2021 Austin SHRM Conference Speaker, Volunteer Mediator for the Dispute Resolution Center, and former Board Member/Social Media Chair for the Texas Association of Mediators. Her passion is helping others, advancing the HR profession, promoting mediation services, caregiving for her Mom and spending quality time with her Austin Pets Alive! rescue pup LaceyLooLoo.

Click here to learn more about volunteering with the Finance Committee.


VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 
Kenyetta Smith 

Kenyetta Smith is a Program Manager at CapMetro, the public transportation provider for Central Texas, which operates bus, rail and paratransit services. 

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management with an emphasis on Business Law from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Keller Graduate School of Business Management. 

She has 20+ years of experience as a Human Resource professional in various industries, including travel hospitality, an e-commerce company, an international tobacco manufacturing company, and an American electrical equipment manufacturer. Kenyetta specializes in shaping and maintaining organizational culture, developing HR policies and procedures, and maintaining and creating team member engagement programs within an organization.

Kenyetta has previously served as a passionate member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team in 2020-2021 and is stepping in as the interim VP of DEI for 2022.



VP of Legal & Legislation
Sarah Glaser

Sarah is an employment attorney at Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C. who specializes in assisting employers with federal and state employment law compliance and prides herself on providing efficient, cost-effective representation rooted in an understanding of the business. Sarah also defends employers when they are sued or under investigation by governmental agencies, litigating matters in state and federal court and before various governmental agencies. Sarah was named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star for the years 2019 through 2021 in the area of Employment Litigation: Defense and was named a Top Austin Attorney by Austin Monthly Magazine in Labor and Employment in 2020.

Sarah has long believed that it is important to love your job, enjoy your colleagues, and give back to your community. To that end, she serves as Chair of the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Foundation, immediate Past-President of the Travis County Women Lawyers' Association, and is an Associate member of the Robert W. Calvert Inn of Court. On the weekends, she is usually running after two little kids and trying to catch up on sleep.


Co-VP of Conference
Mya Kelly

With a resume that ranges from teaching English in South Korea to 15+ years' experience in Human Resources, working in a variety of industries; Mya is a multi-faceted HR leader who always maintains a "people-first" mindset.

Mya is a graduate of Texas Southern University, where she received her B.A. in General Studies and minored in Business Administration. She also currently holds her HR certifications with SHRM and HRCI.

In 2018, Mya joined Holtzman Partners, where she currently leads the HR function overseeing the firm's Total Rewards Program, Employee Engagement Initiatives, Training & Development, Recruitment, Workforce Planning and Compliance. Mya has a passion for developing others and implementing initiatives that have a hyper-focus on employee growth.

In her spare time, Mya can be found with family and friends, training for her next 10k, or simply at home reading and watching movies.


VP of Communication
Michelle O'Neil



Michelle O’Neil, SHRM-CP is a Human Resources Consultant with 25+ years of experience in several industries including EMS, finance, manufacturing, property management, and technology. Her experience includes employee relations, change management, conflict management, organizational development as well as payroll, benefits administration, recruiting, and labor and employment law. 

Michelle specializes in partnering with small businesses and start-ups to establish, develop, and implement HR best practices.  She is a member of AHRMA’s Certification Committee and a 2020 graduate of the Stepping Stones to Enhanced Leadership program.  In 2019, Michelle and her family escaped the New England winters and relocated to the Austin area where she currently lives with her husband and daughter.


VP of Certification
Anthony Donato


Anthony Donato is a recent transplant from Atlanta, Georgia with over 20 years of Human Resources management experience in best-in-class organizations in the professional sports, live & filmed entertainment, technology, start-up, and media industries. He is passionate about building people-first cultures to create great places to work. Anthony is a strong advocate for professional development and has held Human Resources certifications since 1999. He is currently is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). In addition, he is actively involved in The PEER 150 and Culture LabX.


As Founder of PeopleSherpa, Anthony helps start-ups and other small businesses build highly effective people operations to save time and money while mitigating costly risks. Anthony lives on the East Side of Austin with his four-legged best friend, Sydney, and enjoys traveling, reading, writing, music, and cars.


Click here to learn more about volunteering with the Career Development Committee.



VP of Programs
Marie Carroll

 Marie Carroll is VP of People and Culture at Social Factor. A social media moderation agency based in Ft Worth with distributed employees across the nation and the globe. She has 20+

years’ experience as a HR Professional in a variety of industries including advertising agencies and software start ups. Marie specializes in building human resource practices and teams in growing organizations.

Marie has served as a member or the Programs committee since March of 2020 and is currently

the interim VP of Programs. She has a passion for sharing her knowledge of the human resource practice with others and creating worthwhile programs for our membership. 

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Co-VP of Membership
Tracy Letulle

Tracy holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling psychology and is a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and is currently working as an HR Manager. She has been working in human resources for over 15 years, and the “human” part of the profession is her favorite part. She and her family live in Austin. When she is not helping to develop teams, you can most likely find her begging her labradoodle to jump on her paddleboard on Lake Austin. 

Co-VP of Membership
Jennifer Elliott

Jennifer Elliott, SHRM-SCP, has over twenty years of HR experience.  Jen has been the Payroll Manager for Harper Corporate Service for the last five years.

Jen has been volunteering with SHRM chapters and Texas SHRM for several years.  Jen has recently relocated to the Austin area with her dog Hercules to be closer to her son.

Co-VP of Career Dev.
Kara Kelley

Kara is a Dental HR Consultant who loves sharing her knowledge of the business side of dentistry. She is the founder and CEO of Clinical HR LLC, an advisory firm for dental and medical practices. Kara focuses on cultivating leadership skills, managing employee relations issues, and implementing competitive total rewards systems. She also works with practices to develop employee policies and establishing compliant HR systems.

Her love of working with dentists began in 2012 at a Dental CPA Firm in Central Texas. There, she worked with dental and medical practices, primarily focusing on business development and human resources advisory to helped practice owners become practice leaders while also managing internal HR and marketing for the firm. Kara developed a passion for all things HR. She worked with clients to set strategic goals, draft employee handbooks, develop pay structures, and integrate the financial side of dentistry with the leadership side. She also drafted business plans and helped clients understand how the non-financial side of a practice can impact their bottom line.

Kara has a Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Human Resource Management. She is a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and holds Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation from the HR Certification Institute (HRCI). She is also a Wiley Certified Everything DiSC Workplace ® Facilitator.

A life-long learner who is never content with the status quo, Kara serves on several professional boards and committees. She is the Co-Chair of the Mentorship Committee and member of the Legal & Legislative committee for Austin SHRM. Kara is also the current Program Chair for the National Speakers Association Austin chapter, and Immediate Past President of T-werx Toastmasters of Cedar Park. She stays current on federal and state employment regulations through extensive continuing education.


Co-VP of Career Dev.
Karen Nieft


Karen Nieft retired after a wonderful career in HR worldwide working in international transportation with a steamship line, finishing the last few years in HR with an Austin tech company.

She volunteers with Austin SHRM co-chairing the Mentorship Program and has 3 amazing Mentees. She also serves with the SHRM Advocacy Team working with legislation on HR issues nationally.

Karen enjoys traveling, gardening and white water rafting.


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