Diana Carrillo is a people-first HR leader who blends expertise with empathy to help teams grow and thrive. With 13+ years in talent acquisition, performance management, professional learning, and retention, she focuses on building inclusive environments where people can do their best work. She currently serves as a Human Resources Business Partner at Cooper Norman, applying a development mindset to everyday HR practice.

Her foundation was shaped by INROADS, where she interned with the Puget Sound office in Seattle as a Project Management Intern in 2004 and 2005. Those summers gave her more than experience—they gave her community. “INROADS has truly blessed my life by providing me with the opportunity to make lifelong friends,” she explains. She credits leader-turned-mentor Tanisha Roberts with modeling care and advocacy, and with teaching her to step into new opportunities with gratitude. Over time, that support grew into a friendship Diana now describes as sisterhood.

Proudly first-generation, Diana earned a Master of Science in Human Resource Management—an accomplishment she highlights as a milestone for her family and a platform for her work. Her aspirations are deeply personal: to be the best mother, sister, daughter, and friend she can be— and to make her loved ones proud. That same purpose animates her approach to HR, where she sees culture-building as an act of service. For students following behind her, Diana’s guidance is simple and powerful: ask questions, be grateful, enjoy the learning opportunities, and give back. It’s the same ethos that has guided her since her INROADS days—community, gratitude, and growth—now carried forward in the way she champions people at work and at home.