Sabrina Venegas

Human Resources executive with 20+ years of experience leading and scaling HR functions in multi-state, regulated, and professional services environments. Trusted advisor to executive leadership, known for strengthening leadership capability, managing risk, and building practical, compliant people systems that support high-performance, client-driven organizations. Deep expertise across employee relations, talent management, compensation, and HR operations.

Hands-on leader with strong business acumen, experienced in aligning people strategies to organizational priorities, supporting complex decision-making, and ensuring consistent, sound people practices across distributed and international teams.

Senior HR Director at Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) (2023-05 – Present)

Retained through acquisition (acquired by Morningstar, February 2026). Senior-most HR leader responsible for the full HR function in a regulated, professional services environment during a period of growth and acquisition.

• Partnered closely with executive leadership to navigate complex organizational decisions, balancing business needs with risk, compliance, and employee impact.
• Built and led the HR function as the de facto Head of HR, defining team structure, roles, and priorities while developing the HR team and ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery of people practices.
• Served as escalation point for complex and sensitive employee relations matters, including investigations, performance issues, accommodations, and terminations, ensuring consistent documentation, sound judgment, and alignment with employment law.
• Redesigned recruiting strategy and employer branding, reducing external agency spend by $400K+ while improving quality of hire, time-to-hire, and long-term workforce stability.
• Overhauled performance management to strengthen accountability, clarify expectations, and improve manager effectiveness, contributing to a reduction in turnover from 12% to 5% and $500K+ in annual cost savings.
• Led talent planning and succession efforts, strengthening leadership pipeline readiness for critical roles by identifying risks, guiding development plans, and supporting targeted talent decisions
• Designed and implemented a career architecture and job leveling framework utilizing AI, improving role clarity, compensation equity, and internal mobility across the organization.
• Owned and managed the full HR operating budget across talent acquisition, learning and development, engagement, benefits and compliance, and people systems, aligning investments with growth and business outcomes.
• Led enterprise benefits, leave, and compliance programs (FMLA, ADA, health and workforce policies), ensuring accurate administration, regulatory alignment, and a supportive employee experience while advising leaders on complex cases.
• Participated in cross-functional efforts to evaluate AI tools and establish governance guidelines for responsible use.
• Partnered with Morningstar HR Centers of Excellence on compensation, talent acquisition, leadership development, and compliance initiatives following acquisition.

HR Director at Deerpath Capital Management, LP (2021-01 – 2023-05)

First HR leader for a fast-growing, global firm, with full ownership of building the People function, including employee relations, HR operations, and executive advisory support in a client-driven, performance-oriented professional services environment.

• Served as a trusted advisor to the executive team on people strategy, organizational design, leadership effectiveness, and workforce planning during a period of rapid growth.
• Supported a distributed workforce across U.S. states and international entities (Australia, South Korea, UK), leading end-to-end employee relations and advising leaders on performance management, policy interpretation, and complex employee issues.
• Built and implemented core HR infrastructure, policies, and practices from the ground up, supporting a distributed workforce while ensuring consistent execution and scalable operations.
• Designed, evolved, and operated People infrastructure across international employment, compensation, performance management, and core HR policies, supporting scale across the U.S., and three international entities.
• Designed and implemented practical, streamlined people processes that improved consistency and enabled leaders and teams to operate efficiently without creating additional process burden.
• Partnered with leadership on talent acquisition strategy, building in-house recruiting capability to improve quality and consistency of hire, bringing 65% of first-year hires in-house while maintaining effective collaboration with external partners.
• Set and managed the People Operations budget across benefits, vendors, and systems, making pragmatic investment decisions to support growth and efficiency.

HR Director at The Claro Group (2018 – 2021)

Acquired by Stout. Led and scaled the HR function for a national consulting firm across 15 states, ensuring consistent, compliant people practices in a distributed, client-driven environment.

• Experienced working with executive leadership teams and boards during periods of growth, change, and organizational evolution.
• Owned and evolved the HR ecosystem, including HRIS, benefits, compliance, and performance programs, while managing the HR operating budget and vendor relationships.
• Managed the end-to-end HR operating budget across benefits, compliance, systems, talent acquisition costs, engagement initiatives, and development programs.
• Partnered with the chairman to realign internal communications, increasing transparency and employee trust.
• Designed and launched the firm's first diversity and inclusion strategy, embedding inclusive practices into leadership and talent systems.
• Designed and implemented leadership development programs to strengthen manager capability, support internal growth, and address skill gaps across the organization.
• Managed complex employee relations matters, including investigations and disciplinary actions, balancing legal compliance with cultural values.
• Reimagined campus hiring and recruiting strategies to support remote and diverse talent pipelines.
• Applied workforce analytics to identify skill gaps and implement targeted development programs aligned to business needs.
• Ensured compliance with federal and multi-state employment laws, partnering with legal counsel on interpretation and risk mitigation.
• Owned employment-based immigration administration, partnering with outside counsel to ensure compliance and a consistent employee experience.

HR Manager at The Claro Group (2014 – 2018)

Senior HR Representative at Relativity (2013-01 – 2014-09)

Strategic HR partner to 400+ employees across the U.S. and U.K.

• Led an enterprise compensation redesign, advising executives on pay strategy, role structure, and implementation.
• Managed large-scale restructuring, including strategy development, stakeholder analysis, and multi-phase communications.
• Ensured compliance with U.S. and U.K. employment laws, partnering with legal counsel on interpretation and risk mitigation.
• Coached managers on performance management, employee relations, and leadership effectiveness.
• Applied HR analytics to inform retention strategies and workforce planning.
• Reduced benefits spend by $240K annually through transition to a self-funded medical plan.

Head of HR / HR Manager / HR Generalist at Cohen Financial (now part of SitusAMC)

Benefits Manager / HR Generalist at Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights

Staffing Coordinator at Motorola, Inc.

Bachelor of Science in Management and Administration (Human Resources concentration) – Bradley University