Desiree' Salvant, MBA, SHRM-CP
Desiree’ Salvant, MBA, SHRM-CP, is a Leadership and People Strategy Executive based in New Orleans, Louisiana, with deep expertise in employee experience, organizational development, and data-informed leadership strategy. She is currently a PhD scholar in Organization and Management with a leadership focus at Liberty University, where she continues to advance her work in trust-centered leadership, organizational effectiveness, and sustainable performance. Throughout her career, she has focused on aligning people strategy with business outcomes, helping organizations strengthen leadership capability, improve engagement, and build high-performing cultures grounded in trust, clarity, and accountability.
Desiree’ began her career in mental health therapy after earning a Master of Social Work, where she worked in child psychopathology supporting vulnerable youth and families. After five years in clinical practice, she recognized that while she remained deeply committed to people-centered work, she wanted to impact systems at a broader organizational level. This led her to return to school for her MBA and transition into human resources, where she found the intersection of psychology, business, and human behavior. She began as an HR specialist focused on onboarding and learning and development, and steadily progressed through HR Business Partner, Manager, Executive Director, and HR Director roles, expanding her scope from individual employee support to enterprise-wide people strategy, succession planning, and leadership development.
Across her career, Desiree’ has led complex HR and transformation initiatives across healthcare, education, logistics, and analytics-driven environments, including roles at Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey during a major organizational transformation involving AI implementation and regulatory change, where she rebuilt trust through transparency and capability development. She also serves as Executive Director of HR at KD Express Logistics, supporting workforce stability and operational alignment. In addition, she applies advanced analytics and workforce data insights through her work with AMDARI, and she leads The Coding Executive™, her personal brand focused on coaching and developing leaders. Her expertise sits at the intersection of employee experience, leadership development, and strategic decision-making powered by data, with a mission to build trust-centered organizations where people and performance thrive together.
• AI for Business and Leadership
• Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate
• SHRM - Certified Professional (SHRM-CP)
• Leadership Development and Corporate Training
• Human Resources Management: HR for People Managers
• University of Phoenix - MBA
• Tulane University - MSW
• Dillard University - BA, Psych
• Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM)
• Angel Warriors
• Ladies Auxiliary for the Knights of Peter Claver
• Psi Chi Honor Society
• Relay for Life fundraising through Angel Warriors
• National Domestic Violence organization support through Ladies Auxiliary of Knights of Peter Claver
• Teaching religious education at church
• Big Sister program for youth at church
• Support for homeless school-age children in New Orleans
• Pro bono mental health counseling for domestic violence survivors
• Providing clothes
• Job assistance
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my parents, because they sent me to the best schools. I went to a college preparatory high school where you got put out if you got anything below a 3.5 average, and our valedictorian had a 4.5. From day one in 9th grade, they were already talking about college preparation and what I needed to do to get into a good college. It wasn't a discussion of are you going to college, it was which college are you going to go to and how can we help you get there. I didn't want to go to that school at first, but when I looked at what the kids in my neighborhood were doing in high school, I was doing something totally on another level. So when I got to college, when they said you have to write a 20-page paper, it was a breeze for me. We took trigonometry and calculus in high school while other kids stopped at algebra. I think I was always destined to go, because there was no other option. Everybody around me were succeeding, so that pushed me to succeed even more. I'm a firm believer in surrounding yourself with a circle of people that are aspiring to keep succeeding even further and further, because that energy is going to give you the will to keep going as well. I've never stopped, and I'm probably not gonna stop after this either.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was from Dr. Wismar, a white professor who was head of the department at the HBCU I attended. He pushed me like no other, and the best advice he gave me was to always think I can do it and never stop. He told me, 'You have everything you need. You ace every test, you can apply the information, you can write, you can do everything, but the only thing that can stop you is you.' He said to never limit myself and to always go after the big opportunities, because the big opportunities are not going to find me. I have to find them, and I have to believe that I can do it for anybody else to believe I can do it. That stuck with me really bad. He was also the one who gave me the courage to be able to get up in front of everybody, because I was a quiet kid. He made me his teaching assistant even though we didn't have TAs in undergrad, and he would make me get up and actually do some lectures. I was scared, so scared, but I think that was the beginning of me being able to speak in front of a group of people. He also told me, 'This is not your last degree,' and I said, well, okay, I guess I better start applying to graduate schools then.