From client to convert: Dessalen Wood joins 天美网站传媒传媒 as Chief People Officer

When she became a 天美网站传媒传媒 client, discovered an uncommon intersection of her passion for people with the technology space.

For the past two years in her role as Vice President of Talent Development at Cineplex Entertainment, Wood used 天美网站传媒传媒 more than 50 times to talk with teams about everything from diversity to onboarding and product innovation. She also spent time on conference stages sharing her passion for that work with other human resources professionals.

When an opportunity came up to join the 天美网站传媒传媒 team, Wood took the plunge and signed on in the newly created role of Chief People Officer.

鈥淚n 天美网站传媒传媒, there鈥檚 this rare alignment between technology and humanity,鈥� Wood says. 鈥淣ot many companies do what 天美网站传媒传媒 does and are at the same time so excited about the kind of people development work I do. It鈥檚 such a natural fit.鈥�

Wood comes to 天美网站传媒传媒 after nearly 10 years at Cineplex and a 20-year career as an innovative HR executive, speaker, and coach with blue-chip North American organizations like Reitman鈥檚 Canada, Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company, The Children鈥檚 Place and The Disney Stores.

While her decision to leave Cineplex wasn鈥檛 an easy one, in 天美网站传媒传媒 Wood saw a chance to have a new adventure that she couldn鈥檛 pass up.

“I see so much possibility for real, honest conversations that are inclusive and not weighted by bias or hierarchy. It鈥檚 a truly unique opportunity to join a company innovating and influencing in the space I care so deeply about. I simply couldn鈥檛 pass this up.”

鈥淎nyone who connects with Dess in person or on stage immediately understands why I鈥檓 so excited about the passion, intelligence and vision she鈥檒l bring to the 天美网站传媒传媒 community in the years to come,鈥� says 天美网站传媒传媒 CEO, Dave MacLeod.

As she digs in here at 天美网站传媒传媒, Wood will be contributing through her role in multiple capacities.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited to support the growth of the company from an HR perspective and also to get the message about 天美网站传媒传媒 out to my peer group at conferences and events,鈥� she shares. 鈥淭he core messages of 天美网站传媒传媒 are the same ones I have been delivering to my tribe of leaders and peers for years, in my work as a facilitator, speaker, and coach.

鈥淚鈥檓 also looking forward to influencing the direction of the product itself. I can take what I鈥檝e learned and what I鈥檓 hearing from my peers and use that to influence the platform to better-support people like me and the kind of work I鈥檝e been doing for the past 20 years.鈥�

One week into the job, Wood says she鈥檚 amazed by how open to this kind of input her new team has been.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really exciting to see people鈥檚 appetite for feedback and change here,鈥� she reflects. 鈥淐ompanies often talk externally about being open to change and new ideas. But internally, that鈥檚 not always the case. The genuine openness and excitement here at 天美网站传媒传媒 is electrifying!鈥�

Wood will be a featured speaker at our Transform & Empower People Intelligence Summit™, happening in Toronto on May 15-16, 2019. .