Carla L. Adams
Carla L. Adams is a seasoned Human Resources professional with over 20 years of experience, specializing in employee relations, workplace investigations, compliance, and training. She has dedicated 31 years to the City of Baltimore’s Department of Public Works, progressing from recruitment and payroll operations to classification and compensation, ultimately finding her calling in employee relations. In her current role as an Employee Relations Specialist, Carla provides guidance on disciplinary matters, termination appeals, grievances, and civil service compliance, while also conducting training sessions and supporting managers with HR processes and accountability initiatives.
Throughout her career, Carla has built a reputation for strategic thinking, integrity, and empathy. She is committed to ensuring fairness and transparency in the workplace, handling complex investigations and sensitive employee matters with discretion. Carla is particularly passionate about mentoring new team members, delivering “Accountability in the Workplace” training, and fostering an environment where employees and management can navigate HR policies effectively and ethically. Her focus on honesty and open communication has been central to her success and her ability to make meaningful contributions to the City of Baltimore’s workforce.
Carla attributes her success to the unwavering support and encouragement of her mentors and colleagues, who celebrated her achievements and guided her throughout her professional journey. She believes in the importance of staying true to oneself, maintaining integrity, and continuously building both practical experience and formal knowledge through education and professional certifications. Carla advises aspiring HR professionals to pursue their passion, invest in credentials such as SHRM or PHR, and combine book knowledge with real-world experience to achieve long-term career growth.
• Working toward SHRM Certification
• University of Baltimore — Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Business/Human Resources Management
• Community College of Baltimore County — Associate of Arts (AA)
• Influential Women 2026
• Influential Women Network
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the support and encouragement I received from my managers and colleagues throughout my career. When I first went back to school, the managers I was working with at the time were very encouraging, telling me they were proud of me. What really touched me was that they actually came to my graduation. Since my dad had passed away and wasn't there to see me accomplish this, having these people show up and support me made me feel like I still had people who believed in me. That support from people who were older than me, especially with my parents not being here, really helped me keep pushing forward. It made me want to go further and do better in everything. I don't have any family left aside from my daughter who doesn't live here anymore, so having that support from colleagues and managers who actually looked out for the people that worked with them made all the difference. I think I needed that support that a lot of people actually do not get, and that's what helped me out a lot. It gave me the confidence to keep going and to believe that I could accomplish what I set out to do.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is don't change who you are. Don't change how you are or who you are. I've had people tell me several times that one of the things they like about me in employee relations is that I don't hold back. I actually speak my mind, and I'm not afraid to say, hey, no, that's not right, or okay, no, you should probably do it this way. So I don't change who I am when I'm actually helping someone. The advice was to never change who you are or your process, or how you do things. I've seen people actually be scared to say something to a manager when something is wrong, but I speak up. I'm not going to let you do something the wrong way when I know for a fact it's not right, so I do speak up. That authenticity and willingness to be direct has been key to my success in this field.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If you're going to enter this industry, you have to be passionate about what you do, about what you want to do. If you're not passionate about it, then it's not going to work out. You need to be sure that this is something that you want to do, because it is a lot and it can be taxing. If you're not passionate about it, you're not going to be able to move forward with it, because you've got to be passionate about whatever it is that you do. The other thing I wish I had known sooner is to go to school. Definitely go get the degree for human resources if you're going into this field, get certificates, and definitely get your SHRM certification. That is very important. I'm working on getting mine, and I wish I had known this when I first started, because at this point I would have already had it. I fell into HR, it wasn't something that I planned on doing. It was something that was passed on to me, and then it actually ended up being my career. So I'm glad I'm doing it, and you have to be passionate about whatever it is. If you're going to do it, be passionate about it, and do everything to always make sure that you get knowledge. There's nothing wrong with getting more and more knowledge of what you're doing, because HR is always changing.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Where I'm at with the City of Baltimore government, unfortunately there aren't really a lot of opportunities. There isn't pretty much anywhere else to really go where I'm at. I know I could go further if I left the City of Baltimore government. So there's always great opportunities out there based on keeping that knowledge going. There's always another opportunity out there if you have the right credentials. It's about knowledge, and it's not just experience. You've got to have the knowledge also. You've got to have the book smarts as well as the experience, and if you have both of them, you can actually move a lot further on in your career. Mine started a little late because I didn't plan it, so at this point I'm just trying to get to where I can actually be. I'm still working on trying to get to where I can actually be, because I don't have all of the knowledge that I need. I don't have that certification yet. Any kind of professional certification actually helps you, because a lot of people are looking for people to have whether it's a PHR or a SHRM. They want you to have that type of certification. So if you have it, as well as a college degree and the experience, you can go anywhere. Sky's the limit if you have everything that you need, and that's what people are looking for.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important value to me is honesty, and that applies to both work and my personal life. I cannot function without honesty. First of all, I don't lie, so I don't want anyone else to lie. You can't function on not being honest. Honesty is very important to me, very important. I think that's the most important thing to me in my life, work, and with my personal life. Either way, it doesn't matter. I need people to be honest. I've had issues where managers were not honest. My own manager was not honest about something, and I called him on it, because I knew it wasn't true. I knew he was lying, and I wasn't going to let that slide. Honesty is absolutely essential to how I operate in every aspect of my life.