Irena Djordjevic-Behery (Past Speaker)

Irena Djordjevic-Behery is Vice President of Talent Management at United Way Worldwide. She leads talent management and board development for the network of 1,800 United Way agencies worldwide. She has created a talent management strategy and launched the High-Performing Boards Initiative. This work has provided the strategic direction and built the infrastructure for United Way’s approach to driving organizational performance through the success of its key asset – its people. Under Irena’s leadership, the alignment between organizational and talent management strategy was strengthened and positioned talent management as the foundational business strategy that enables effective organizational performance and culture. Everything is grounded in the talent management strategy “United Way as the Mission of Choice 2020” with goals, actions and measures for success. She expanded the talent management portfolio to include leadership development programs, competency models, succession planning, onboarding, talent acquisition, mentoring, and more. She also created products and programs to support board development strategy. Irena consults and supports executive searches for CEO and senior roles and is frequently invited to speak and present on talent/board topics.