Alumni Spotlight: Sherrie Brown

Nov 5, 2018

Xavier alumna Sherrie Brown is a millennial who is getting noticed-at least within the world of human resource management.

Brown was included in the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) newest "30 Under 30" list of next generation "HR rock stars...who are leading HR into the future." These are emerging leaders who demonstrate creativity, accomplishment, diversity, innovation, service and leadership in their field.

Brown, who graduated in 2013, says she owes her early success to Xavier's Human Resource Development program and her professors, Brenda Levy-Gardner, pictured above left, and Sharon Korth. The skills she learned in the program are the foundation of her success, but the cohort style of the program provided a lifelong network of friends and colleagues.

"I can truly say that I would not be where I am today if it had not been for the HRD program at Xavier University," she says.

Brown worked part time in the admissions office at Xavier during the entire two years of her weekend degree program while also working for a local staffing and management firm. She believes that higher education is vital, but that the value of a master's degree lies in what you do with it.

"Working in human resources, it is our job to recognize and promote achievements, so I am grateful to (the Society) for taking time to acknowledge the contributions that a new generation of HR professionals make every single day," she says.

Her accomplishments since graduation affirm that belief. Her work with the Office of the Missouri State Auditor, where she started an HR department from scratch and is now HR director, is what caught the attention of the folks at the Society for Human Resource Management. She says it has been a humbling experience.

"Working in public service teaches you servant leadership, where you can focus more on people than on profits," she told HR Magazine.