LEADERS TO WATCH · 2026
The People & Culture Power List
The people function has moved to the center of how companies compete, and these fourteen sitting Chief People and HR Officers are shaping both the work and the public conversation about it. Ranked by their LinkedIn presence, a balance of audience size and active, original posting, they are the People & Culture leaders Counsel Collective is watching in 2026, each one a feature waiting to happen.
01
Donna Morris
EVP & Chief People Officer · Walmart
119K followersLinkedIn
As chief people officer of the world’s largest private employer, Donna Morris shapes the working lives of more than two million people. A widely followed voice on the future of work, she is known for translating immense scale into human-centered policy, from flexible work to frontline opportunity. Her perspective on leading people through constant change is exactly the operating wisdom this list exists to spotlight, with a fuller conversation still to come.
02
Melanie Naranjo
Chief People Officer · Ethena
77.2K followersLinkedIn
Melanie Naranjo has become one of the most trusted voices for business-forward people leaders, sharing the real decisions behind building culture at a fast-scaling company. As chief people officer at Ethena, she pairs candid, widely shared insight with the operating rigor of someone who has to make the call, not merely comment on it. Her gift for turning HR principle into practical action marks her as a leader to watch closely.
03
Hebba Youssef
Chief People Officer · Workweek
70.4K followersLinkedIn
Hebba Youssef does two hard jobs at once: she runs people at Workweek and writes “I Hate it Here,” one of the most-read voices in HR. That rare blend of practitioner and chronicler gives her an unusually honest read on what actually builds, and breaks, workplace culture. She has earned a devoted community by saying the quiet parts out loud, and her operating perspective deserves a longer look.
04
Pat Wadors
Chief Human Resources Officer · Intuitive
69.9K followersLinkedIn
Few people leaders carry a résumé like Pat Wadors, who has led HR at LinkedIn, ServiceNow, Procore and now Intuitive. A longtime champion of belonging and dyslexic thinking, she writes with warmth about the human side of leadership while operating at the highest levels of technology. Her decades building teams through hypergrowth make her a foundational voice, and a leader whose full story is well worth telling.
05
Christy Pambianchi
Chief Human Resources Officer · Caterpillar
62.4K followersLinkedIn
Christy Pambianchi has shaped talent strategy at some of the largest enterprises in the world, from Corning to Verizon to Intel, and now Caterpillar. Operating at true Fortune 100 scale, she is known for connecting workforce strategy directly to business transformation. Her grounded, systems-level view of how great companies build and keep talent makes her a standout on any watch list, with a great deal more to explore.
06
Q Hamirani
Chief People Officer · HighLevel
28.5K followersLinkedIn
Q Hamirani built his reputation helping Airbnb reimagine work, and now leads people at HighLevel while shaping the conversation on AI and the future of jobs. An engineer turned five-time founder turned CPO, he brings a builder’s instinct to talent, asking how teams actually adapt when the tools change underneath them. His cross-disciplinary lens on humanizing AI at work makes him one of the more original people leaders to watch.
07
Alim A. Dhanji
Chief HR Officer · TD SYNNEX
27.2K followersLinkedIn
Alim Dhanji leads human resources at TD SYNNEX, bringing a board-level, business-first view to the people function. Known for sharp commentary on high performance and AI enablement, he frames talent strategy as a direct driver of enterprise growth rather than a support role. His externally aware, globally informed perspective on where work is heading marks him as a CHRO whose full thinking deserves a dedicated feature.
08
Brandon Sammut
Chief People & AI Transformation Officer · Zapier
25.1K followersLinkedIn
As chief people and AI transformation officer at Zapier, Brandon Sammut sits at the exact intersection reshaping work: people and automation. He has become one of the clearest thinkers on what AI means for how teams are built, measured and led, favoring first-principles depth over hot takes. Leading talent at a fully distributed company, his quiet, considered voice is one this list is glad to spotlight.
09
David Hanrahan
Chief People Officer · SolarWinds
22.4K followersLinkedIn
David Hanrahan is a chief people officer who thinks out loud, regularly unpacking the thorny, current questions of HR for a large practitioner following. At SolarWinds he leads talent through scaling and transformation, with a particular interest in AI, high-performing teams and unlocking human potential. His willingness to engage hard topics directly, rather than retreat to platitudes, makes him a people leader well worth watching.
10
Yolanda Seals-Coffield
Chief People & Inclusion Officer · PwC US
19.4K followersLinkedIn
Yolanda Seals-Coffield leads people and inclusion for PwC’s US business, one of the largest professional-services workforces in the country. A values-forward, intentional communicator, she connects culture and inclusion to the everyday experience of tens of thousands of employees. Her narrative-driven take on building trust at scale, inside an organization where talent is the product, makes her a compelling leader to watch and to feature.
11
Issa Eid
Global People Head, Cloud & Network Services · Nokia
12.6K followersLinkedIn
A LinkedIn, Issa Eid leads people for Nokia’s Cloud and Network Services and has built a following through storytelling-first, people-first leadership. He writes with rare warmth about building strong teams across cultures and geographies, turning HR into human moments rather than policy memos. His global, deeply personal approach to the craft of people leadership makes him a standout voice worth a fuller spotlight.
12
Stephen Childs
Chief Human Resources Officer · Panasonic Automotive
14.7K followersLinkedIn
Three-time HR Executive of the Year, Stephen Childs leads people at Panasonic Automotive with a values-and-results philosophy that has earned a loyal following. A keynote speaker and author, he blends personal reflection with hard operating discipline, and is generous in sharing what he has learned building and developing teams. His grounded, people-first leadership and consistent voice make him a natural fit for a watch list, and a future feature.
13
L. David Kingsley
Chief People Officer · Illumio
12.4K followersLinkedIn
L. David Kingsley frames people strategy in the language of the business, a discipline honed across senior roles at Salesforce, MuleSoft and now Illumio. He is known for direct, leader-oriented commentary that treats talent as a driver of company performance, not an afterthought. His clarity on aligning people decisions with business value makes him a chief people officer whose full perspective is worth exploring in depth.
14
Kaleen Love, PhD
Chief People & Culture Officer, US · Philip Morris International
8.4K followersLinkedIn
Kaleen Love brings an unusual pedigree to the people function, a McKinsey and Capital One background and an Oxford PhD, now as chief people and culture officer for PMI’s US business. She writes with nuance about enterprise transformation, capability and execution, favoring reflection over noise. Her analytical, perspective-led voice on building culture through major change makes her a leader to watch, with a richer story to tell.
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