Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Lipscomb University, where she graduated cum laude and was awarded the Murray J. Martin award for top business management major.
Stephanie became president of MT|SHRM in January 2020 after serving as president-elect for two years. While president-elect, she championed a member survey by partnering with an HR analytics professor at Lipscomb University. The survey results gave MT|SHRM actionable data that is currently being used to improve the member and prospective member experience. Prior to that, Stephanie served as programs director for the chapter and programs chair for the 2017 Tennessee SHRM state conference. Stephanie believes in the power of HR education and works to ensure that members have information to bring to their jobs that day and also be prepared for the future of how we work. In addition, Stephanie organized the CapABILITY Career Expo in 2015 and 2016, a job fair for people with disabilities.
Stephanie decided to pursue a career in HR after a brief stint in banking. She had quickly realized that she would like to be the one at career fairs doing the recruiting. Through the years, she progressed through various HR generalist and HR leadership roles in the manufacturing and healthcare industries. Most notably, Stephanie worked at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee for seven years.
In 2011, she began her career at Gallagher, a business consulting, risk management, and insurance firm. She worked as an HR consultant from 2011 until 2017 where she supported clients with organizational structure reviews, performance management and compensation projects, employee relations consulting, and affirmative action plans.
In 2018, Stephanie was asked to move into a benefits consulting role so that her vast HR experience could be utilized to design an ideal benefits and rewards package. Today, she is area vice president of HR and benefits consulting with Gallagher. She supports both fully insured and self-funded clients in managing their benefits plan. She believes it is important to communicate a company’s benefits package in a way that meets employees where they are; she is passionate about viewing benefits in the context of her clients’ culture and entire rewards package.
Stephanie invites you to connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniehawkinssphr/.