Yvette is a perfect addition to Novo Advisors’ Value Creation practice, helping companies restructure and realize transformation plans by first diagnosing how work is accomplished and the critical capabilities needed to support growth within an organization. With her data analytics expertise, she can accurately diagnose strategic opportunities that demonstrate improved workplace capabilities and business outcomes. Outlining a growth strategy is just the start. Execution is where Yvette’s skills are key to long-term success as she partners with investors, boards, and executive teams to assess current structures, capacity, and capabilities required to implement the outlined strategy. She is skilled at supporting organizations through leadership transitions by serving in interim or embedded executive advisory roles, including within the Office of the CHRO.

Prior to Novo Advisors, Yvette founded Kennedy Talent Strategies, an advisory practice that specialized in talent management, organizational transformation, and strategic HR initiatives, where she drove a portfolio of successful transformation and change management projects for public and private clients. She recently served as interim CHRO during a financial restructuring where she redesigned the talent pipeline and sales-aligned recruiting model resulting in improved time-to-fill by 50%, supporting $125M in revenue coverage.

Yvette also recently served as an organizational design consultant to a multibillion-dollar construction supply company. Working with the company’s CIO, she helped realign the technology organization to the key corporate priorities and build innovation, data, and analytics capabilities. This resulted in reduced delivery cycle time by 50% as well as clarified ownership across product, data governance, and engineering.

Another recent project included acting as the transformation and organizational design lead for a food service retailer. Yvette led a team that was stuck designing structures for specific stakeholders and lacked a globalized approach. Yvette led collaboration efforts between functions that resulted in better integration of both onshore and offshore teams. The result was increased scalability, more efficient use of resources allocation and increased capabilities.

Yvette has held various positions both internally and client-serving. Before launching her own consulting firm, Yvette served as Vice President of Employee Experience Consulting at Explorance, a feedback technology company, where she led a consulting team focused on helping clients transform their talent initiatives. She also led the Americas Operations HR team for Equinix, a global data center operator, supporting more than 5,000 data center technicians and operators.

Her introduction to human resources came when she stepped into the role of Chief People Officer for an options trading firm. That opportunity helped shape her path as a leader, advisor, and builder of high-performing teams. Whether creating structures from the ground up or improving existing organizations, Yvette is driven by partnering with leaders to develop talent strategies that integrate technology, improve processes, and strengthen business performance.

Yvette credits much of her success to her humble beginnings and the example set by her father, an entrepreneur and Polish immigrant who woke before dawn each day to open his coin-operated laundromats located on Chicago’s North and Southwest sides. She grew up above one location (it still exists) in Jefferson Park and worked summers as the laundromat attendant responsible for dispensing change, filling soap, candy, and laundry bags — a job that she says not only prepared her to always work hard but also taught her to show empathy towards others. As the first in her family to attend college, Yvette developed an early appreciation for the resilience and realities of running a business. Working alongside her father gave Yvette the perspective of a business owner and a deep understanding of what it takes to build, lead, and sustain success.

Yvette is also active in her community. She has served on several boards, including Chicago SHRM, Emerald City Children’s Theatre Company, Chicago TEDx, and the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls Leader Council. Additionally, she also hosts CHRO roundtables as a guest speaker with Chicago SHRM and is a founding member of the People Collective, a community for executives of all levels.

She has also attended the Women’s Senior Leadership Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Developed by the Kellogg Center for Executive Women and the Allstate Foundation, the program seeks to help talented women executives break through barriers that have historically impeded women’s career development and to empower those who participate to become respected and highly effective leaders.

Yvette holds a MA in Multicultural and Organizational Communications from DePaul University as well as a BS in Management and a BA in Art History from Northern Illinois University. She is also an ICF-credentialed executive coach (ACC), holds SHRM-SCP and PROSCI Change Management practitioner credentials.

Outside of work, Yvette enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and doing the occasional DIY project on her historic home.