While traditional HR is often characterized as transactional and reactive with a compliance-driven approach, Jacqueline Welch does not take the traditional approach.

Instead, she looks beyond this and focuses on being a strategic business leader. As chief human resources officer and chief diversity officer at Freddie Mac, she leverages best practices in human resources to advise senior leadership on the best human capital decisions to help the company achieve its long-term strategic goals. She leads the business forward with her promise to never lose sight of the humans they serve within the company and outside of it. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, her approach to leading has been more important than ever and is a key ingredient in Freddie Mac’s business successes. Some of these changes and achievements include prioritizing safety and well-being in times of crisis, embedding a culture of inclusion and diversity, launching fresh approaches to better include and engage people and providing new options for employees to prioritize their total well-being. Outside of the crisis, she also equips employees to continuously learn and raise the bar on their performance while embracing disruption, such as partnering with the CEO to roll out new corporate mindsets to shape the right culture to ensure Freddie Mac delivers the right results.