HR Consultants in Chicago to Watch for in 2025

Chicago Area HR Experts to Know in 2025

There’s something unique about Chicago.

It’s a city that builds things—quietly, steadily, and with grit. Whether you’re walking through the corporate campuses of Naperville, the industrial corridors of Elgin, or the startup scene on the Near West Side, you’ll find one common thread: people who know how to work. And behind that work? HR consultants who help teams scale, rebuild, and adapt with real strategy—not just policy.

In the Chicago metro area, HR isn’t just administrative—it’s transformative. And the consultants on this list are proving it every day. Some run solo shops, others operate boutique firms, and a few are embedded experts in growing companies. What they share is a commitment to making people systems smarter, more inclusive, and more aligned with the real lives of the teams they serve.

We’re excited to highlight the Chicago-area HR pros who are designing the future of work—from legal compliance and people analytics to leadership coaching and trauma-informed org design.

How We Built This List

At Digital Reference, we’re not in the business of guesswork. Our process for selecting consultants is rooted in deep research, ongoing evaluation, and a values-aligned lens.

We consider:

• 🔍 Ecosystem impact and visibility across Chicago, Naperville, and Elgin
  
  
• 💬 Client testimonials, peer endorsements, and case study work
  
  
• 🧠 Alignment with core values like inclusion, sustainability, strategic clarity, and people-first infrastructure
  
  
• 🧭 Whether the consultant helps organizations move from intention to actual, operationalized change
  
  

For more on our methodology and point of view, check out:
👉 HR Consultants in the USA to Watch
👉 What Do HR Consultants Really Do?

Now let’s meet the HR Consultants shaping work in the Windy City:

Nicole Martin

Founder & Chief Empowerment Officer, HRBoost
LinkedIn | Website

Nicole Martin isn’t just changing how companies do HR—she’s changing how they feel about it. As the force behind HRBoost, Nicole is on a mission to empower companies to treat HR as a strategic lever—not an administrative cost center.

Her firm delivers full-suite HR services ranging from recruiting and compliance to leadership training and organizational culture building. But what sets Nicole apart is her fierce belief that HR must align with business drivers. She works with mid-market companies ready to boost engagement, deepen alignment, and increase retention—all with measurable ROI.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 🚀 Fractional HR leadership for orgs in transition
  
  
• 📊 Linking HR KPIs to business goals
  
  
• 👥 Culture transformation through systems and storytelling
  
  
• 📚 Author, speaker, and thought leader with national reach
  
  

Nicole often says, “People matter, and they know when they don’t.” Through HRBoost, she helps companies prove—every day—that they do.

Shazia Sultan

Founder, EmployZen
LinkedIn | Website

Shazia Sultan launched EmployZen after more than two decades in global HR leadership, where she saw firsthand how most HR systems, especially in startups and scaling environments, were reactive, rushed, and emotionally draining. Her answer? A consultancy rooted in what she calls “people-first calm.” At EmployZen, she builds HR infrastructure that’s as strategic as it is emotionally intelligent.

Her services span everything from compliance audits and handbook creation to executive coaching and org design. But what really defines Shazia’s work is her ability to bring order without rigidity, and empathy without sacrificing performance. She’s especially powerful with startups that are rapidly hiring but have no HR systems in place—and with mid-sized firms in need of stabilization.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 🧘 Calm-centered HR buildouts that lower friction across teams
  
  
• ⚖️ Legal compliance + DEI-informed policy design
  
  
• 🧠 People strategy for growth-phase orgs and founder-led teams
  
  
• 🗣️ Cultural audits that tie behavior to business outcomes
  
  

Shazia isn’t just fixing HR systems—she’s healing them, helping leadership and staff re-engage with processes that make work work again.

Susan Levi

CEO, Jinji HR
LinkedIn | Website

At Jinji HR, Susan Levi is crafting a new model for recruiting and people strategy—one that prioritizes relationship and precision over speed and volume. A former corporate HR exec, Susan now advises early- and growth-stage companies on how to build talent pipelines that actually last. Her expertise spans high-level executive search, org mapping, and values-based hiring frameworks.

Susan’s approach is incredibly nuanced. She starts every engagement with a deep dive into a company’s mission, market, and momentum—then aligns every people decision to those truths. Whether it’s guiding a founder through a tricky exec hire or redesigning onboarding experiences, Susan shows up as a coach, strategist, and steady partner.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 🎯 Bespoke recruiting strategies for mission-led orgs
  
  
• 🤝 Building culture-fit pipelines without bias
  
  
• 🧭 Long-term org design that scales with purpose
  
  
• 🧠 DEI-minded interview frameworks and advisory
  
  

Clients describe her as “surgical,” “strategic,” and “incredibly human.” That’s the Jinji difference—and Susan makes it real.

Yolanda Rocio

Founder, Rocio Consulting
LinkedIn | Website

Yolanda Rocio created Rocio Consulting to support organizations during their most vulnerable transitions—leadership changes, team conflicts, policy failures, or rapid growth. With a background in nonprofit HR, Yolanda approaches every engagement with empathy, structure, and trauma-informed insight.

Her style is relational but precise. She guides companies in building infrastructure that reflects their values—especially around justice, inclusion, and healing. Whether facilitating tough conversations or rewriting outdated HR policies, Yolanda brings both clarity and care.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 🧘 Trauma-informed consulting for nonprofits and mission-led orgs
  
  
• 🧭 Conflict mediation and communication strategy
  
  
• 📑 Founder coaching for values-aligned leadership
  
  
• 🧠 Organizational design with equity at the center
  
  

Yolanda is especially trusted by social impact orgs, where traditional HR often falls short. Her work is changing what accountability and culture really mean.

Sophia Granobles

HR Consultant, HR&A Advisors
LinkedIn | Website

Sophia Granobles is one of those rare consultants who can translate policy into practice without losing sight of people. At HR&A Advisors, she supports organizations in building HR systems that reflect real-world complexities—especially around inclusion, accessibility, and transparency.

She’s bilingual, bicultural, and deeply invested in equitable outcomes. Her work spans performance management, internal policy reviews, and leadership development—with a keen understanding of the public sector and civic-focused organizations.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 🌎 DEI strategy tailored for multicultural orgs
  
  
• 📘 Clear, modernized internal documentation
  
  
• 📣 Advocacy-based leadership development
  
  
• 🤝 Rebuilding broken trust with staff and stakeholders
  
  

Sophia helps teams align their workplace reality with their external mission—something few consultants can truly pull off.

Brenda Duncan

Founder, Ally HR Solutions
LinkedIn | Website

Brenda Duncan is the HR person you want in the room when things get hard. As the founder of Ally HR Solutions, she works with leaders navigating investigations, policy breakdowns, or employee relations challenges—and helps them rebuild with integrity.

Brenda brings 25+ years of HR experience, especially in compliance-heavy industries. Her approach is grounded in process and practicality—but she never forgets the people behind the paperwork.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• ⚖️ Leading sensitive workplace investigations
  
  
• 🧩 Designing policies with clarity and empathy
  
  
• 🔧 HR infrastructure for small to mid-size orgs
  
  
• 👥 Coaching overwhelmed HR leads toward sustainability
  
  

Clients say Brenda brings order to chaos—and does it with a deep sense of respect.

Christine Diorka

VP of HR Consulting, EmploySource
LinkedIn | Website

Christine Diorka leads HR Consulting at EmploySource with the seasoned insight of a former CHRO. Her work focuses on building repeatable, scalable HR systems for companies navigating fast growth or leadership turnover.

She is tactical and strategic—able to create HR plans that not only comply with regulations, but also support real, measurable team growth. From setting up HRIS systems to conducting leadership offsites, Christine brings an operator’s brain and a coach’s heart.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 🧠 Executive team alignment and development
  
  
• 📋 Systems-level audits and roadmaps
  
  
• 🧭 Helping teams transition from founder-led to HR-led ops
  
  
• 🧘 Culture-building during M&A and scaling periods
  
  

She doesn’t just optimize teams—she grounds them.

Ebony McDuffie

LinkedIn

Ebony McDuffie is a multidisciplinary HR professional whose career spans talent development, DEI, and operational leadership. She’s especially skilled at bridging the gap between strategy and execution, helping HR teams build processes that actually reflect their company’s values.

Her work often focuses on first-time HR infrastructure, performance design, and manager training—particularly in equity-minded environments. Ebony is a builder, a translator, and a systems-thinker, all in one.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 🧰 Full-cycle HR systems for scaling orgs
  
  
• 🌿 L&D design that centers inclusion and growth
  
  
• 📣 Internal comms strategies that reduce burnout
  
  
• ✊ HR transformation for equity-focused orgs
  
  

With Ebony, you’re not just checking HR boxes—you’re building something that lasts.

Gail Gerson

Founder, The HR Gig
LinkedIn | Website

The HR Gig was born out of Gail Gerson’s desire to bring real, flexible HR support to small businesses. With decades of experience in retail and manufacturing, Gail helps owner-led teams build the HR tools they need—without overcomplication.

Her work is practical, fast-moving, and grounded in what businesses actually face: budget constraints, messy growth, unclear policies. She thrives in chaos, and helps clients emerge from it with structure, trust, and clarity.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• 📦 Retail and field team HR solutions
  
  
• 🧾 Documenting policies for compliance and clarity
  
  
• 🧰 Fractional HR leadership for scrappy teams
  
  
• 🛠️ Vendor and HR tech consulting
  
  

Gail makes HR feel like a business advantage—not a barrier.

Elizabeth Balder

Founder, EB Human Capital
LinkedIn | Website

Elizabeth Balder leads EB Human Capital with a clear mission: to bring soul and systems together. Her practice focuses on helping values-driven orgs operationalize justice, equity, and community care.

She often partners with nonprofits, schools, and social ventures who are doing important work externally but need stronger systems internally. Her blend of strategic clarity and emotional intelligence makes her especially valuable during reorgs, transitions, or moments of tension.

💠 Signature Strengths:

• ✊ DEI-centered people systems
  
  
• 🧘 Coaching for burned-out HR pros and execs
  
  
• 🧩 Board and founder alignment consulting
  
  
• 🧠 Building cultures of accountability with care
  
  

Elizabeth doesn’t just offer services—she offers transformation rooted in shared humanity.

The Chicago Talent Ecosystem Is Built on Quiet Strength

Chicago’s HR consultants don’t need flash. They’re too busy doing the real work.

From equity-centered org design to policy rewrites, culture audits to founder coaching—these professionals are designing better workplaces one process, one policy, and one team at a time. In a city that blends blue-collar values with big-city innovation, they’re creating HR that actually works—for the business, and for the people.

Whether you’re a founder in Naperville, a nonprofit in Elgin, or a startup on Kinzie Street, there’s someone on this list ready to help you scale the right way.

A Note from Digital Reference

At Digital Reference, we’re not just another content site—we’re building a talent intelligence platform for the operational middle. That means surfacing the people who do the work—the HR leaders, people ops strategists, and DEI architects who take your org from idea to impact.

We do that through:

• 🌐 Curated research and human-centered storytelling
  
  
• 💬 Direct outreach and community insights
  
  
• 🧭 Ecosystem mapping and strategic resourcing
  
  

Learn more about what drives us at Digital Reference’s About Page, and explore insights like:
👉 What Are Human Resource Professionals?

Know someone doing this kind of work in the Chicago area? Send them our way—we’re always listening.

And if you’re one of these consultants?
You’re already in the right place.

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