Tonya Patton, PGDip, MBA

Human Resources Business Partner, Human Resources

Washington, DC 20020

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Kaplan University - MBA

Her Story

About Tonya

Tonya Patton, PGDip, MBA, is a seasoned Human Resources Business Partner with over 20 years of progressive experience spanning education, federal government service, government contracting, and the private sector. Based in Washington, District of Columbia, she brings a strong background in employee relations, compliance, benefits administration, labor relations, and workforce development. Her career reflects a steady advancement from teaching roles into human resources leadership, where she has supported large, multi-state employee populations and contributed to organizational transformation efforts.

She began her professional journey as an elementary and special needs educator, later transitioning into federal service in 2002 with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focusing on grant administration. She subsequently moved into the Department of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) office, where she gained foundational HR experience. From there, she expanded into contracting roles and the private sector, steadily progressing through HR administrative, generalist, and business partner positions while broadening her expertise in HR systems, compliance frameworks, and employee engagement strategies.

Throughout her career, she has emphasized a people-centered approach to human resources, grounded in empathy, trust, and organizational partnership. She has led HR initiatives involving employee relations, ADA and FMLA administration, compliance management (including HIPAA and OSHA), learning and development, and change management. Currently open to new opportunities, she is seeking HR leadership roles where she can continue aligning people strategies with business goals while supporting employee growth, retention, and organizational success.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Tonya

01What do you attribute your success to?

I attribute my success to my youth and being raised by my grandparents. At an early age, I became older than what I needed to be. My grandparents were up in age and sick, so I had to be the one to get myself up for school, make breakfast, cook them breakfast, and go to school. My grandmother was on dialysis, and I remember at a young age having to literally pick her up and bring her up the steps to the car because she couldn't walk from dialysis. She had a transplant because of me and lived another 20 years with that. My mom had a transplant too. If it wasn't for having that responsibility put on me at an early age, I would not have been able to bring that to my profession now because it plays a big part. I deal with a lot of FMLAs and ADAs, and when people come to me with issues like needing to take a parent to dialysis three times a week, I can relate. I tell them my story and they're like, wow, I didn't know that about you. I bring a lot of my life experience to my job, and I think that plays a big part in my success. I have over 20 years as an HR Business Partner, and my success in HR is not just about managing resources, it's about inspiring and unleashing the full potential of individuals. A partnership based on trust is a force that no competitor can undermine.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

It's okay to not be okay. I've come to that realization. Through our life, especially as women, we have to manage so many different balls every day. We don't know what color we're juggling, we don't know which one is going to come our way the next day that we have to get ready for. But it's okay to not be okay. We've come a long way, but we're still growing and climbing that ladder, and we still have our obstacles. It's okay to be uncomfortable. That uncomfortability is what we bring to the table, and it's important that we bring it, but also that we let other women know that it's okay not to be okay.

Keep Exploring