Steve Pemberton is the Chief Human Experience Officer at Workhuman, the world’s fastest-growing integrated Social Recognition® and continuous performance management platform. Steve works with HR leaders and senior management executives worldwide to help build workplaces where every employee feels recognized, respected, and appreciated for who they are and what they do. Before joining Workhuman, Steve served in senior HR executive roles for Walgreens Boots Alliance and Monster.com. Steve holds multiple degrees from Boston College and serves on several nonprofit boards, including UCAN (Chicago), Academy for Urban School Leadership and Loyola Academy.
A passionate human rights champion, Steve has made equality, access, and opportunity the foundation of his personal and professional life. A frequent presenter on Capitol Hill, in 2015, he was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to serve on the Advisory Committee for the Competitive Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities. He is the author of two critically-acclaimed books, “The Lighthouse Effect”, which highlights the goodness of humanity and empowers readers to be a lighthouse to others, and the USA Today best-selling memoir and subject of the film, “A Chance in the World,” in which Steve chronicled the extraordinary journey of his search for family. His tireless advocacy for the disenfranchised has also earned him multiple honorary doctorates and the prestigious Horizon Award presented by Congress, given to private sector individuals who have expanded opportunities for all Americans through their own personal contributions.