Daniela Karaki-Suarez

About Daniela Karaki-Suarez

Strategic People Development and Engagement Leader with 7+ years of experience designing scalable employee experiences that help teams stay connected and do meaningful work. By centering inclusive systems, I center on solidifying culture through high-trust leadership and data-driven engagement strategies. I specialize in people operations and program management, with a focus on sustaining psychological safety across the whole employee journey within an organization.At the heart of my work is an intersection of people, programs, and data. I enjoy turning complex or ambiguous challenges into clear processes that are staff-focused and enduring. This can mean either launching engagement initiatives, supporting managers through change, or using survey and performance data to inform better decisions to create a warm, repeatable employee experience.Being a first-generation college graduate and the daughter of immigrants, I care authentically about creating environments where people feel supported, seen, and empowered to grow. I am especially energized by communities that prioritize belonging and long-term impact. Career highlights include: • Program Leadership & Management: Manage a high-performing team of 9 career coaches and program managers through 1:1 coaching, monthly performance evaluations, and OKR alignment, resulting in four internal promotions and 91%\"above average\" management rating on CultureAmp. • Belonging & Advocacy: Founded Somos Meritos, Merit America\'s Latine & Hispanic Affinity Group, increasing membership from 4 to 30+ through inclusive events and programming, contributing to an 85% engagement survey result of Latine saff reporting a sense of pride and belonging. • Staff Development & Engagement: Designed and launched a quarterly recognition program generating 450+ peer-to-peer shoutouts via 15Five, leveraging engagement data to boost visibility, morale, and value alignment. Created individualized Notion \"Brag Logs\" for managers to track and celebrate direct report achievements. • Process Design & Optimization: Built internal infrastructure (including SOPs, dashboards, and risk-tracking tools) to support scalable workflows, learner monitoring, and operational clarity across 7 national career tracks. • Learning Strategy & Analytics: Earned People Analytics (HCI), Employee Experience Design (HCI), and SHRM-CP certifications, applying data-driven, evidence-based practices to strengthen learning outcomes and staff engagement initiatives. On a personal level, come find me playing board games @EscapetheBoardom on IG!

Experience

1. Coach Manager, Program Success

   Merit America

   Jul 2022 — Present

   Design and facilitate Coaching Practice Circles for 75+ coaches and managers, delivering learning sessions to promote best practice sharing, skill-building, and a culture of continuous, collaborative development• Spearheaded organizational change efforts in a high-growth environment by streamlining process rollouts and maintaining clear communication through frequent updates and team transitions. Facilitated open dialogue during RIFs to rebuild trust, foster psychological safety, and sustain efficiency across programs• Developed and maintained internal leave tracking processes and documentation standards, collaborating across People Ops and Legal to ensure compliance and compassionate, equitable resolution of employee support cases• Promoted to people manager within 6 months after successfully meeting OKRs and performance metrics, and excelling through a competitive interview process; recognized for leadership excellence and program impact• Proactively intervened in escalated learner and staff issues by conducting detailed assessments, documenting concerns with clarity and precision, and coordinating responses across departments (e.g, Learner Wellness, HR, Program Design) to ensure equitable outcomes while maintaining psychological safety and program alignment

Education

• Florida International University

  Bachelor of Business Administration - BBA, Marketing

• Nova Southeastern University

  Master of Science - MS, College Student Affairs

Skills

• Community Outreach
• Social Networking
• Social Media Marketing
• Customer Service
• Research
• Leadership
• Teaching
• Peoplesoft
• Social Media
• Event Management
• Imagenow
• Teamwork
• University Relations
• Communication
• Public Relations
• Organization
• Spanish
• Microsoft Office
• Fundraising
• Higher Education
• Taekwondo
• Public Speaking