Episode
In the Trenches: Ivette Mills
- Published
- Apr 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1529
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Summary
HR isn't a spectator sport, and neither is this series. In the Trenches is a monthly feature on the HR Connection where co-host Marie Rolston sits down with HR practitioners working inside organizations with 1 to 500 employees. No consultants, no theorists, just the people actually doing the work. In our debut episode, Marie speaks with Ivette Mills, HR Director at 4Cs of Sonoma County, a nonprofit serving families across Sonoma County. Ivette shares what it was like to join a 200-person organization as its sole HR professional, how she built a case for headcount in a budget-constrained environment, and the career moment that reframed how she approaches advocacy. Whether you're a department of one or leading a small team, this series is built to remind you that your experience; the complexity, the invisible load, and the wins, is shared. In this episode: Building an HR team inside a nonprofit Managing a handbook revision and performance process overhaul simultaneously The advice that changed how Ivette shows up in leadership conversations