kristen suess

Kristen is an HR Business Partner and Executive Coach with nearly 20 years of experience helping companies grow and evolve, from scrappy startups racing toward IPOs and acquisitions to established public companies in transformation. Most recently, she was Senior Director, People Partner at Apollo GraphQL and Dropbox, following six years at Slack Technologies, where she was hired as the company's first People Partner (HRBP).

Think of her as a force multiplier: she helps leaders see around corners, get more out of their teams, and navigate messy change with less friction. She builds programs and playbooks that actually stick, the kind managers and teams keep coming back to, moving easily between strategy and hands-on work, always looking for the patterns that make organizations stronger and people's work lives better. She is a trusted certified executive coach (CEC) and well-rounded people strategist, known for her helpful nature, efficient work habits and breadth of HR expertise, and she loves to dismantle people's preconceived ideas of what it's like to work with HR.

Kristen is a chaotic gardener, avid cyclist, self-proclaimed foodie, amateur watercolour artist and petter of all cats. She lives in North Vancouver with her husband Lee and their cat, Nanny.