Strategic Consulting, Elevated

Michelle Esser, MA, SPHR-SCP and PCC is a seasoned Senior Human Resources Executive with more than two decades of executive leadership experience across family owned businesses, real estate development, financial services, higher education, and senior living. Known for her ability to align HR strategy with organizational goals, Michelle brings a rare combination of business acumen, legal fluency, and people-centered leadership to every role she holds.

Most recently, Michelle served as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Lewis Management Corp., where she led a team of twelve HR professionals and oversaw the full spectrum of human resources for approximately 800 employees across two states. Her work there spanned succession planning for C-suite executives (including the CEO role), executive and leadership coaching at varying levels, learning and development program design, and facilitation of company-wide meetings.

Prior to that, Michelle served as Vice President of Talent Management and HR at HumanGood, where she transformed the HR function from reactive to proactive, aligning people strategies with business performance and launching organization-wide process improvements. She also served as Director of Employee and Organizational Development at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where she managed HR for a workforce that included more than 10,000 employees across Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Earlier in her career, Michelle held Vice President roles at Wescom Credit Union and WesCorp, where she directed large-scale HR operations, launched leadership development programs in partnership with USC's Marshall School of Business and guided executive teams through complex organizational change.

Michelle holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Management from Azusa Pacific University and a Bachelor of Science in Business from Woodbury University. She is also accredited as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Active in her professional community, Michelle served as a past board member for the Pasadena chapter of the Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA) and contributed as an Exam Writer for the HR Certification Institute (HRCI).