Denise Haselhorst is Chief People Officer at Blackboard where she leads the company’s Global Human Resources team, planning, developing and implementing innovative talent acquisition and talent management programs aligned with Blackboard’s strategic objectives, values and mission.
Denise joined Blackboard in 2004 and has helped drive the company’s growth from 300 employees to over 3,000 employees globally. She has played a key role in 30+ M&A transactions and has been a critical part of the company’s domestic and international business expansion.
Denise has led human resources teams at both public and privately-held high-growth technology companies. Prior to joining Blackboard, she served in multiple leadership roles at American Management Systems and CGI, both Information Technology consulting firms. She began her career at the University of Michigan working in Residential Life, Student Affairs and Leadership Development.
Denise holds a Master of Arts in Personnel Management from American University’s Kogod School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Michigan. She’s active in the education community and serves as the Vice-Chair on the Board of Trustees at The Langley School in Virginia
Industry experience:
- IT Consulting for Federal & Commercial Clients
- Software Development for Federal, Commercial and Education Institutions
- Education Technology (K12, Higher Education, Professional Education)
Functional experience:
- Global Human Resources for a 740M software company
Key business transactional experience:
- Lead HR portion of 25+ strategic acquisition and divestitures both domestically and globally
- Public & Private Company Management experience
- International Expansion
What is the most important skill you bring to a corporate board?
- Private Equity Experience
- Public Company Experience
- CEO & Management Team transitions
- Compensation Programs
- Business Effectiveness and Efficiency
- Organizational Design
- Talent Management
