CAHRS Advisory Board Additions

CAHRS is pleased to announce the addition of Bala Purushothaman (pictured left), Procter & Gamble Chief Human Resources Officer to its Advisory Board; Cindy Ryan (pictured middle), MassMutual Head of Human Resources; and Chris Scalia (pictured right), Hershey Chief Transformation Officer & Chief Human Resources Officer.

Bala joined P&G as a Management Trainee in Human Resources in Mumbai, India in 1992. He went on to work in several of P&G’s business units – including Global Beauty and Grooming – and has held positions of increasing responsibility at the Country, Region and Global levels, while living and working across North America, Europe and Asia.

He has a BE, MBA in Electronics & Communications Engineering, General Management from University of Madrast; MHRM, Human Resources Management from Rutgers University; and AMP, Advanced Management from Harvard University.

Cindy joins MassMutual after spending nearly 25 years in various leadership roles of growing responsibility at Cigna, where she most recently served as the company’s chief human resources officer (CHRO). In this role, she led Cigna’s worldwide enterprise talent strategy and pandemic response, built their award-winning DEI approach and enriched their engaged culture.

Prior to her CHRO role, Ryan also served as senior vice president of HR for Cigna’s United States business lines. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from the State University of New York at Geneseo and Master of Industrial and Labor Relations degree from Cornell University.

Chris has been part of The Hershey Company for nearly 19 years and has held many leadership roles across HR, law, and several large growth enabling programs.

Earlier in his career, Chris was Hershey’s lead labor and employment lawyer and practiced law with Morgan Lewis, an internationally renowned law firm. He earned an Executive Masters in HR from Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations, a Juris Doctorate from Penn State, and Bachelor of Arts from Juniata College. He is an attorney and active in professional organizations, including the board of Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Gartner’s CHRO advisory board.

“Bala, Cindy and Chris are not only highly respected HR Leaders but also long-time supporters of CAHRS and the ILR School,” says Brad Bell, CAHRS Academic Director and William J. Conaty Professor of Strategic Human Resources. “We are very excited to have them join the CAHRS Advisory Board and know that their deep experience and innovative approach to HR will be instrumental in helping to guide the strategy and programming of CAHRS in the years ahead.”

Bala, Chris and Cindy join the following CAHRS Advisory Board members:

• Brad Bell, ILR William J. Conaty Professor of Strategic Human Resources and CAHRS Academic Director
• Diane Burton, ILR Joseph R. Rich ’80 Professor and ICS Director
• Heidi Capozzi, Executive Vice President & Global People Officer, McDonald’s
• Christopher Collins, ILR Professor and Graduate Programs Director
• Elizabeth Flynn-Ferry, CAHRS Executive Director
• Ashley Goldsmith, Chief People Officer and CAHRS Advisory Board Chair, Workday
• Kim Hauer, Executive Vice President and Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, SC Johnson
• John Hausknecht, ILR Professor and Chairperson
• Rebecca Kehoe, ILR Professor
• Pamela Kimmet , Chief Human Resources Officer, Manulife
• Nickle LaMoreaux, Chief Human Resources Officer, IBM
• Abbe Luersman, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Otis Worldwide
• Sally Massey, Chief Human Resources Officer, Colgate-Palmolive
• Michael O'Hare, Executive Vice President, Global Human Resources, The Estée Lauder Companies
• Christine Pambianchi, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Intel
• Marlon Sullivan, Chief Human Resources Officer, Johnson Controls