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About Us

    Chapter Awards

     

    Our Vision

    We are the premier professional organization providing South Sound Human Resource practitioners with best practices to optimize business results.
     

    Our Mission

    We develop and connect South Sound Human Resource professionals by providing strategic and practical tools and resources. We actively engage our members to ensure our services are timely, innovative, and relevant.
     

    The History of SPS SHRM

    Our chapter was established in 1954, and we became affiliated with SHRM in 1972.

    Before we became the South Puget Sound Chapter we were known as the Tacoma/Olympia Chapter. The name change occurred in 1998, under our president Pat Wright. The name was changed because we serve more than just the cities of Tacoma and Olympia. At this time we changed our logo, letterhead, and paper used for our newsletters.

    In 2004, under our President Carrie Utic, we helped form the Olympia Chapter to better serve HR Professionals in the South Sound area. Olympia became a recognized SHRM chapter in 2005.

    In 2022, under our President Cheyanne Schaefer, we celebrated our 50th anniversary of being affiliated with SHRM National. We rebranded our logo, developed our Chapter slogan, and began focusing on the strategic structure of our board.

    The South Puget Sound chapter is an affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). SHRM is the world's largest association devoted to human resource management with more than 285,000 members. The Society serves the needs of HR professionals by providing the most essential and comprehensive set of resources available www.shrm.org.

    Our chapter is growing with over 300 members. Our members come from the greater Pierce County area. Practitioners at all levels and those in service to the profession who share our vision and mission are invited to join the South Puget Sound chapter.

    We hope to see you in person soon!

    Past Presidents of the SPS SHRM Chapter

    • 2022 - 2023 Cheyanne Schaefer, SHRM-CP, MS
    • 2021 Wendi Modarelli, SPHR
    • 2020 Katie Layton, SHRM-SCP
    • 2019 Sarah Pedersen, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
    • 2017-2018 Daniel Smith
    • 2016 Todd Mitchell, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
    • 2015 Sharon Cavanaugh, SPHR
    • 2014 Nicole Davis, PHR
    • 2013 Sabrina Steinback
    • 2012 Kim O'Neil,
    • 2011 Nancy Slotnick, SPHR, GPHR
    • 2010 Mike Nelson, PHR
    • 2009 Lorraine Viers, SPHR
    • 2008 Janice Tuman, SPHR/Lorraine Viers, SPHR
    • 2007 Janice Tuman, SPHR
    • 2005-2006 Renee Larsen, PHR
    • 2004 Carrie Utic, SPHR
    • 2003 Tanya Richardson, PHR
    • 2002 Cynthia Winder, PHR
    • 2001 Carol Larsen, PHR
    • 2000 Jill Faughender, SPHR
    • 1999 Dennis Stevenson, Ph.D., SPHR, DEBS
    • 1998 Pat Wright, SPHR
    • 1997 Pam Ward, PHR
    • 1996 Norma Carolyn
    • 1995 Fred Richardson
    • 1994 Le Perry
    • 1993 Rik Lerbakken
    • 1992 Jane Lawson, PHR
    • 1991 Ruth Fenchel, PHR
    • 1990 Sue Cook, SPHR
    • 1989 Thad Barnowe, Ph.D.
    • 1988 Ann Camp
    • 1987 Jan Miller
    • 1986 Tex Whitney
    • 1985 John Tullis