Deanna Silva

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT DEANNA SILVA

People-centered, business-minded HR leader with experience evolving people functions in dynamic, fast-growing organizations. Currently, I\'m at Salt & Straw, a Portland-based national hospitality brand rooted in community, innovation, and really good ice cream. As Director of People Business Partnerships, I oversee employee relations and recruitment, leading a team of People Business Partners/Generalists in supporting our shop and production teams. My role focuses on coaching and advising leaders to drive performance management and talent strategy, empowering them to build engaged, high-performing teams. Additionally, I manage HR investigations, ensuring a thorough, fair, consistent, and well-documented process that fosters trust and accountability.Before joining Salt & Straw, I had the opportunity to work across diverse industries, including education and hospitality, and in various roles such as recruiter, career advisor, HRBP (and even has a baker, for a resort, and my own dog treat business!). One consistent theme over the past decade has been my involvement in fast-growing, founder-led organizations, where I’ve developed processes from scratch and piloted programs that successfully introduced new revenue streams and helped scale the business. Highlights from my 8 years at a workforce solutions company include- Leading an internship program as one of two recruiters with a top pharma client, which resulted in the launch of a new recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) client service offering- Developing and conducting career coaching and mock interview sessions with former NFL players, which contributed to the company\'s successful partnership with the NFL Player Care Foundation and establishment of a HR advisory suite of career development services for clients.