Erica Young, MPS, SHRM-SCP

Like many millennials, Erica entered the workforce when there were less jobs than there were graduates. Erica accepted the challenge and creatively carved a career that engaged her skill set. She worked in the nonprofit community, conducting training, and managing staff and projects. By the time she was 24, she was managing a team of three to organize 85+ events and over 2000 volunteers per year.

After a while, she discovered her calling: Arming organizations with the capability to transform.

Erica started her career in Washington, DC with two terms of AmeriCorps National Service. This led her to manage volunteer talent, which inspired a career pivot. She then spent 2.5 years attending master’s courses, while working full-time. During the first half of graduate school, she worked as an instructional designer on a burgeoning people development team. Since joining SHRM, Erica has held three roles. She started off building research-based products, then moved onto the founding SHRMLabs team. SHRMLabs explores the intersections of work and technology. Because of her work on SHRMLabs, she came across hundreds of budding workplace technology solutions and speaks to the HR and talent community about talent tech trends. Now, Erica connects enterprise organizations with solutions that impact the people and the business.

She has a master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, with a focus on instructional systems design. She earned her SHRM-SCP in July 2020, and is a co-host on the podcast, Career Compass. Outside of work, you can find Erica tending to her 200 houseplants, studying acting, and giving her cat, Suki, more attention than she wants.