Transformational People & Culture Director

LENIA SEGURA LEWIS

M B A • P H R • S I X S I G M A

Director of People & Culture HR Executive Workforce Transformation Strategist Gonzales, LA • 504-***-**** • *****.******@*****.*** • LinkedIn.com/in/leniasegura Open to: Louisiana Texas Georgia Remote

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Transformational People & Culture executive with 16+ years of progressive HR leadership across healthcare, education, nonprofit, and public sector environments. Trusted advisor to Boards and C-suite leaders — designing the workforce strategy, talent systems, and culture infrastructure that allow mission-driven organizations to scale. Track record of measurable outcomes: ~18% voluntary turnover reduction, 15% faster time-to-hire, and $150K+ in litigation exposure avoided through rigorous compliance architecture. Two-time consecutive SHRM National Conference featured speaker (2025, 2026). Creator of the ReCiPe Framework (Recognition, Communication, Personalization, Engagement) and forthcoming author of A Gumbo Culture. SIGNATURE OUTCOMES

~18%

Turnover Reduction

$150K+

Litigation Exposure Avoided

15%

Faster Time-to-Hire

3

Entities Unified, One HR Model

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Strategic Workforce

Planning

Employee Experience (EX) HRIS & Workforce

Analytics

Talent Acquisition & ATS

Change Management Total Rewards Strategy Employee Relations & Investigations

Leadership Development

DEI & Inclusive Culture HR Business Partnership

(HRBP)

EEOC, FMLA, ADA, Title VII,

HIPAA

Board & C-Suite Advisory

Succession & Talent

Pipeline

Multi-Entity / Shared-

Services HR

Performance Management AI-Augmented HR

Operations

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Live to See Cancer Cured Foundation, Inc. (L2SCC) 501(c)(3) Nonprofit • New Orleans, LA Sr. Director of Human Resources (Volunteer Leadership) 2024 – Present Founding HR executive for a mission-driven cancer support nonprofit — building complete people and governance infrastructure from inception, including board design, compliance framework, and organizational culture strategy in parallel with full-time employment.

Infrastructure & Governance: Architected the organization's full HR governance model — board role charters, volunteer lifecycle management, and policy documentation aligned with 501(c)(3) regulatory requirements.

Strategic Workforce Planning: Designed people strategy spanning five program areas (Financial Assistance, Support Services, Nutrition & Dietary, Geaux Gold Award, Micah Roshell Scholarship) — ensuring each is staffed, governed, and mission-aligned.

Executive Advisory: Serve as senior advisor to executive leadership on organizational design, culture, and scaling strategy as the Foundation moves toward full community program delivery.

Compliance Leadership: Produced comprehensive FY2026–FY2027 business plan with NAICS classifications, strengthening compliance posture and positioning the organization for grant eligibility and institutional partnership. The Emerge Center / The Emerge School for Autism Multi-Entity Clinical, Educational & Nonprofit • Baton Rouge, LA

Director of Human Resources Aug 2023 – Dec 2025

Sole HR executive across three legally distinct, operationally complex entities: a multi-disciplinary autism clinical center, a K–12 charter school, and a nonprofit foundation. Operated as a true HR Department of One — functioning at strategic, managerial, and transactional levels simultaneously while maintaining Board-level advisory relationships.

Culture Transformation: Designed and executed the inaugural “Leadership in Action” all-staff conference — creating a cross-entity shared identity event that aligned three workforces around common growth priorities and contributed to a

~18% reduction in voluntary turnover within 12 months.

Organizational Architecture: Built a shared-services HR model from the ground up — standardizing policy, performance management, and employee lifecycle practices across three entities with distinct regulatory environments — reducing managerial escalations by ~40% and eliminating inconsistent employee experiences.

Board & Executive Partnership: Served as primary HR advisor to the Board and Executive Team — providing workforce planning, headcount budgeting, and people strategy counsel that shaped organizational growth decisions across all three entities.

Compliance & Risk Governance: Overhauled employee relations documentation, investigation protocols, and compliance infrastructure — achieving full EEOC, FMLA, ADA, and Title VII compliance and protecting the organization from an estimated $150K+ in litigation and regulatory exposure over three years.

Leadership Development: Developed and delivered manager enablement programming in performance feedback and conflict resolution — measurably improving engagement indicators and reducing informal complaint volume by building front-line leadership capability.

LCMC Health Multi-Hospital Health System • New Orleans, LA Human Resources Generalist Oct 2022 – Aug 2023

Embedded HR generalist within a complex, multi-facility health system — driving recruiting efficiency, onboarding transformation, and manager capability in a high-volume, highly regulated clinical environment.

Talent Acquisition Optimization: Reduced average time-to-hire by 15% across clinical and support functions through workflow redesign and structured hiring manager communication protocols — improving both speed and quality of hire in a competitive healthcare talent market.

Retention Architecture: Redesigned the new hire onboarding experience using personalized, structured feedback loops — improving early-stage retention by 10% and generating an estimated $80K annually in avoided first-year turnover costs.

Manager Capability Development: Elevated team engagement scores across participating departments by designing and delivering practical, people-first training in performance management and conflict resolution for clinical and operational managers.

Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans Public Utility, 1,200+ Employees • New Orleans, LA Human Resources Specialist Oct 2019 – Sep 2022

HR specialist for a large, unionized public utility — managing full-cycle talent operations, regulatory compliance, and employee relations for a workforce of 1,200+ across critical municipal infrastructure.

Regulatory Excellence: Maintained 100% compliance with city, state, and federal personnel and payroll regulations for three consecutive years — achieving zero audit findings and protecting the organization from material financial penalties.

Full-Cycle Talent Operations: Managed end-to-end recruitment across multiple departments simultaneously for critical infrastructure roles — reducing vacancy-driven operational gaps and improving candidate throughput in a highly regulated hiring environment.

Employee Relations & Investigations: Conducted and thoroughly documented complex, sensitive employee relations investigations — ensuring equitable policy application and reducing organizational liability through rigorous, compassionate process management.

Self Storage Management 7-Property Regional Portfolio • New Orleans, LA Operations & HR Specialist Oct 2009 – Oct 2019

Applied Six Sigma process discipline to drive a 45% regional sales increase, grow occupancy from 62.3% to 94.8%, and reduce bad debt write-offs to 0.15% across a 7-property portfolio.

Built and managed full-cycle talent operations across 7 sites — recruitment, onboarding, performance accountability, and team coaching.

SPEAKING & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

2026 Featured Speaker — SHRM National Conference & Expo Orlando, FL

“Gumbo Culture 101: From Roux to Results in Employee Engagement” 2025 Featured Speaker — SHRM National Conference San Diego, CA

“Keeping the Spark Alive: How to Engage and Retain Employees Without Losing Your Sanity” 2026 Forthcoming Author — A Gumbo Culture

In final refinement; beta reader testing complete. Connects New Orleans community values to transformational workplace culture principles.

Active Creator — The ReCiPe Framework

Recognition, Communication, Personalization, Engagement — a practitioner engagement model applied across healthcare, nonprofit, and corporate environments. HR TECHNOLOGY & SYSTEMS

HRIS: Workday, BambooHR, ADP Workforce Now, isolved, Rippling, Highflyer HR, TriNet, Lawson (Infor), Microsoft Dynamics

ATS: iCIMS, Greenhouse

Performance & Engagement: Lattice, KnowBe4

Analytics & AI: Workforce Reporting, Predictive Turnover Modeling, ChatGPT / Copilot for HR Operations, LinkedIn Talent Insights

Productivity: Microsoft 365, DocuSign, AdobeSign, Expensify, Zoom, Teams, Slack EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

Master of Business Administration (MBA), Health Administration Strayer University Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Human Resource Management Strayer University Professional in Human Resources (PHR) — HRCI Active HRCI Six Sigma White Belt — Process Excellence Certified

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