Stella is an official Forbes HR Council member, COLOR Most Influential Women POWERLIST & 40 Under 40 POWERLIST honoree, and NJBIZ Best 50 Women in Business & Forty Under 40 recipient. She embodies modern leadership with a deep dedication to driving localization through strategic talent, learning, and organizational investments. As a 1.5-generation Korean American, she is passionate about bridging cultures and generations through organic appreciation, awareness, and acclimation, and firmly believes in the power of community-building for lasting social impact and collective development. Stella is the CEO & President of HRCap, a Global HR Intelligence Partner and the largest Asian Global Executive Search firm in the world, offering premium recruiting services, talent intelligence, and HR consulting to Global SMBs, startups, venture capital and private equity firms, and Fortune 500 clients. Previously, as Global CMO, she led HRCap’s global client experience and enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives, overseeing data-driven strategy, process optimization, and employee engagement. She also served as Head of Americas, overseeing all North American operations, and founded the Executive Search Practice, specializing in executive and critical hire placements with a 90%+ close rate. Under her leadership, HRCap was recognized as a Top 10 Executive Search Firm in North America (2022–2025), Top 10 Executive Search Firm in Asia Pacific, and Top 5 Executive Search Firm in South Korea by Manage HR Magazine. Prior to HRCap, Stella specialized in workforce management and talent analytics at IBM’s Professional Development Center of Excellence at headquarters, where she delivered data-driven talent strategies that enhanced enterprise-wide engagement, advanced learning and reskilling initiatives, and supported business growth through pioneering the concept of “Skills as a Currency.” She previously served as a Senior Strategy & Analytics Consultant at IBM Global Business Services, focusing on organizational change strategy and data implementation projects for both internal stakeholders and global clients. As a recognized thought leadership expert in the future of work, talent intelligence, and organizational transformation, Stella actively shapes industry dialogue through research-backed insights, executive advisory, and public discourse at the intersection of people, technology, and business strategy. Her education in organizational psychology and econometric analysis, combined with her experience in business strategy and talent management, drives her ability to unlock value at the intersection of technology, talent, and transformation. Her core expertise lies in identifying capability gaps and underlying opportunities that empower individuals, organizations, and communities. She serves on advisory boards, supports nonprofit initiatives, contributes as an HR expert columnist for The Korea Daily, and regularly speaks for professional associations and government institutions. Stella is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR®) and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Princeton University and Master’s Degree in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. She has also completed executive programs in Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania and Human Resources Management at Villanova University.

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