Vanessa Matibag
I have been in the human resources field for more than two decades, and my journey has been one of growth, resilience, and meaningful impact. For 17 years, I worked with a nonprofit organization called Turnaround for Children, joining them when they were just a startup and growing alongside the organization as I developed my focus on human resources. When that organization unfortunately had to close at the end of 2022, I found myself at a crossroads. I had to decide whether to pursue another full-time job or take a different path. After reflecting on what I truly wanted, I decided to go out on my own and founded Outside Lead HR Solutions at the beginning of 2023. I provide HR consulting services specifically to small to medium-sized nonprofits and social impact, mission-driven organizations, because that's the field I come from and where my passion lies. My work includes both project-based services like employee handbook audits and job description updates, as well as fractional HR support where I come in as a strategic partner to build solid HR infrastructure from the ground up. I'm most proud when I can leave an organization with a strong foundation they can continue to build on even after I'm gone. One example is working with an organization that has been around since the 1980s but never had full-time HR support beyond payroll and benefits coordination. When a new CEO came on board wanting to establish a solid HR infrastructure, I came in as their fractional HR partner to look at the whole employee life cycle and set up systems that would serve them long-term. Despite the challenges, disappointments, and rejections that come with running your own business, this has been one of the best career decisions I've ever made. The rewards have far outweighed the ups and downs.
• Fractional People People
• BIPOC Consultants
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say always be open to learning and be curious. Don't be afraid to fail. When you're young, you always strive for perfection, but as you grow older and meet all of these challenges, you realize that perfection is not really the goal. It's really about continuing to learn and learning from your mistakes. I've had so many disappointments, even now while I'm enjoying what I'm doing, like rejections on proposals and all of that. But being able to overcome that and acknowledging that disappointments, challenges, and rejections will come is important because it's part of everything. The key is learning from those experiences. So, like I said, never stop striving to improve yourself, but perfection should not be the goal.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think AI is really the trend nowadays, and I see it both as a challenge and as a blessing. In fact, I was just a panelist on a summit that focused on AI within the HR space. The challenge is figuring out how we can maximize the use of AI without losing the humanity of running organizations. It can be a powerful tool, but we need to use it to augment decisions within the organization, not rely fully on it to do the decisions for us. If we can use AI to augment people's decisions rather than having it take over, then I see that as a very beneficial road for where the future is going. AI technology is here to stay whether we like it or not, so there's a lot to be said about it. There's the fear of it taking over jobs, but I don't really see it that way if we are able to really understand its functionality and how we can use it instead of it using us.
Locations
Outside Lead HR Solutions
Haledon, NJ