Of all the initiatives Carolyn Paganoni leads at Upbring, she is most proud of nurturing a culture characterized by a drive for results, purpose and caring.
As Senior Vice President of People & Culture, Carolyn oversees organizational development and effectiveness, change management, talent acquisition and management, performance management, leadership and employee development, workforce planning, succession management, diversity and inclusion, and culture. She has leveraged her more than 27 years of experience to deliver a best-in-class employee engagement program and transform the organizational culture at Upbring.
Upon joining Upbring in 2013 as Vice President of Human Resources, Carolyn re-engineered the department to streamline infrastructure and transition to a fully integrated strategic people operations model. Her people-first philosophy has resulted in a decrease in annual insurance and healthcare costs, an increase in annual employee retention and more positive leadership-employee relations.
Carolyn’s heart for service dates to before her time at Upbring, and across both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. As a pro bono consultant at the Taproot Foundation, she addressed talent management challenges through the analysis of HR needs. She also worked as the Director of Human Resources for Streamwood Behavioral Healthcare System and for BHS Consulting Corporation, as well as a Regional Human Resources Manager at Magellan Behavioral Health.
Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Illinois Wesleyan University, and both a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Management and Organizational Behavior from Illinois Benedictine College. She holds four human resources certifications: SPHR, SHRM-SCP, SWP and LDSS. She is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management, SHRM’s Executive Network and the Austin Human Resources Management Association.
