Maria supported Operations as an HR business partner for a couple of years as we were still dealing with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. We leveraged Maria for support to rebuild our front line leadership development programs which were stagnated due to social distancing. Maria has such a strong business sense of working on the right things that really matter both to business outcomes and the needs of our people. The work she facilitated with our leadership team enabled us to focus more on the health and wellbeing needs of our people during a challenging time. Maria also presents with a very positive outlook and has a strong commitment towards the team members. I would highly recommend Maria for business roles and people leadership roles in addition to her specialization in Human Resources

It is my pleasure to recommend Maria to all her current and prospective managers and associates. I was fortunate to be entrusted to lead Maria both when she was an Intern at PepsiCo and again a few years later when she was in a manager role. Maria is a phenomenal talent. Even as an Intern she had an excellent grasp of Human Resources from her excellent education at the University of Illinois. With that said however, it’s her professional skills and personal attributes that really set her apart.

Maria was able to assess situations and performance and identify the best approach to solving problems and improving results, whether that was teaching and coaching the managers and frontline employees she supported or developing new processes to enable improved HR results. She has a friendly yet professional approach to dealing with people that helped her be effective across many types of employee interactions. Maria is a very quick learner and she could always be counted on to add value to everything she did. She constantly looked for opportunities to get involved and make a difference. PepsiCo has a very strong people-oriented culture and Maria became a leader in many of the initiatives that were central to further improving that culture and the organization’s business results. She also has a great eye for talent. She was responsible for bringing many very talented young sales managers into the company, including leading college recruiting for our Region.

In the too-short time that I got to work with Maria I saw tremendous professional growth, the kind of growth very high-potential professionals demonstrate. I believe Maria has the potential to be a CHRO had she stayed at PepsiCo, or wherever she chooses to work.

Maria is such a pleasure to work with. Her balance of strategic agility and pragmatic execution is second to none! I truly appreciated her commitment toward building professional relationships with stakeholders, optimizing their potential while helping to deliver the company objectives. Maria raises the bar, challenges status quo and makes everyone around her feel valued

Maria and I were colleagues at E .& J. Gallo Winery. Maria is one of the most caring, driven and inspiring HR leaders I have worked with. She is a strong relationship builder and coach which makes her extremely effective at developing people- not only her direct reports, but everyone she interacts with. Maria is an extremely detail-oriented HR professional with the ability to be strategic yet also execute with excellence. She has a passion for world-class HR, driving best practice and continuous improvement. Maria makes any team stronger.

Maria is an incredible thought partner, coach, and decision maker. She’s thorough yet efficient, and constantly learning / gathering information to drive the team or accelerate change in a sustainable way. On top of this, she’s authentically a wonderful human being to work with and for!