Henry G. (Hank) Jackson is the president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world's largest HR professional Society. He previously served as the Society’s interim president and CEO, and as chief global finance and business affairs officer.

Under Jackson’s leadership, the Society has grown to a record 290,000 members and hosted its largest-ever Annual Conference and Exposition. To better serve a diverse and more complex HR profession, the Society expanded its global reach and impact, formed partnerships with the Council for Global Immigration and SHRM’s Executive Network, HR People and Strategy, and opened its first state office in California, home to the largest concentration of HR professionals in the U.S.

During Jackson’s tenure, the Society developed and launched its competency-based certification—the accredited SHRM-Senior Certified Professional and SHRM-Certified Professional—to further advance the HR profession. Within two years, the number of SHRM-certified professionals grew to more than 100,000 worldwide.      

At the helm of SHRM during the economic downturn, Jackson spearheaded the Society’s initiatives on pressing HR and employment issues such as workforce readiness, veterans’ employment, and long-term unemployment. The Society has also strengthened its position as a highly sought-after voice on workplace public policy, as HR and workplace issues have increasingly been part of national discussions and public policy debates.

Jackson believes that the HR profession is at an exciting and pivotal moment, calling it the “Decade of Human Capital.” Businesses are beginning to better understand and embrace human resource management as the most critical contributor to the strategic direction of their organizations, and the HR profession is being propelled into a key business leadership position.

A long-tenured SHRM employee, Jackson has ensured as CEO that the organization remains an employer of choice and invests in a world-class workplace and work environment. In 2013, Washingtonian magazine recognized SHRM as a Great Place to Work in the Washington, D.C. area. 

Jackson came to SHRM from Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he was senior vice president/chief financial officer and treasurer of the university. In this role, he oversaw the financial well-being of the university’s 11 schools and colleges, hospital, public television station, and commercial radio station. He served in several previous positions at Howard University, including comptroller, deputy comptroller, and systems accountant, before becoming senior vice president.

Prior to joining Howard University, Jackson worked in public accounting with Hurdman Main and KMPG as senior auditor and a computer audit specialist. For several years, he was a consultant for the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers.

Jackson earned his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Stonehill College in Massachusetts. He is a certified public accountant.

Nancy Taylor has advised clients on health and FDA related matters for more than two decades. She has broad experience in areas relating to the Affordable Care Act provisions, CMS reimbursement and policy issues relating to providers and plans, and she has done a significant amount of FDA regulatory work. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Nancy served 10 years as Health Policy Director for the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and worked on a number of significant health and FDA laws, including NLEA, Safe Medical Device Act, Hatch-Waxman, COBRA and ADA. She also served as CEO of a start-up medical device company, where she obtained eight product clearances, including securing reimbursement coverage for each product.

Nicole Hedrick is the CHRO for the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), the world’s largest Academic Research Organization (ARO), with more than 1,200 faculty and staff.  In this role, Nicole is a member of the Executive Team, Executive Operations Team, Co-commander of the Crisis Management Team, and has responsibility for developing strategy and leading Human Resources, Organizational Learning and Business Continuity/Organizational Resilience. 

Prior to joining the DCRI in 2014, Nicole was the Executive Director of Global Mobility Immigration in IBM’s Global Talent Organization where she led and was responsible for the company’s global immigration strategy, policies, programs and operational execution.  Previous roles included U.S. Recruitment Immigration Operations Manager, Global Talent Partner, U.S. Search Firm/Agency Manager and Recruitment and Staffing Manager for global and U.S. firms. 

Nicole has served on the Board of Directors for Council for Global Immigration, a SHRM affiliate, where she was the Chair of the Nominating Committee as well as the co-chair of the Human Relations Advisory Council. 

Nicole lives in Wake Forest, North Carolina with her husband and family where she passionately pursues opportunities for personal and professional growth.