SHRM Foundation Names 2024 Mentor of the Year

Kylee Rooney, SHRM-CP, is the recipient of the SHRM Foundation’s 2024 Mentor of the Year Award. This is the third year the Foundation has given the award, which recognizes a person working full time in an HR-related position or role who has also devoted time to a mentee’s career growth.

Rooney is director of talent acquisition at Morgan Properties, based in Conshohocken, Pa., where she is responsible for developing and leading the talent acquisition department’s overall strategy and execution. She’s also a member of the LakeNormanHR chapter of SHRM, serving on its board of directors as webmaster.

She has a bachelor’s degree in business management from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East. She holds a certificate in HR analytics from Cornell University and a certificate in adult mental health first aid from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.

Milena Quaresma Franzini, a senior at the University of West Florida (UWF) in Pensacola, Fla., nominated Rooney for the award. They met through the SHRM Foundation’s Fall 2023 HR Career Mentoring Program. The initiative matches mentors and mentees for a three-month structured experience to assist students in clarifying career goals, developing career plans, and strengthening high-demand skills in HR.

Rooney’s own experience as a mentee inspired her involvement with SHRM’s mentorship program.

“Growing up, I had limited guidance in navigating life’s challenges, which honed my ability to ‘figure things out’ on my own,” she said. “Learning from people smarter than myself was a crucial skill I developed.”

She pointed to the mentors who have influenced her—David Privitera, president of a construction company in Charlotte, N.C., and Krista Reynolds, senior vice president of HR at Morgan Properties.

“Krista gave me a chance at Morgan Properties in 2020 despite my nontraditional HR background and has been my mentor ever since,” Rooney said.

And despite Rooney’s initial doubts about her qualifications as a mentor, she was encouraged, she said, “to ‘lean in’ by Jes Sachs, my fearless leader and vice president of talent acquisition and development at Morgan.”

Franzini was Rooney’s second mentee from SHRM’s program. 

“She is an extraordinarily driven and passionate college student from Brazil. I am certain I’ve learned more from her than she has from me—she opened my eyes to the unique challenges of being an international student and her perspective on navigating the competitive world of securing internships.

“This award celebrates the potential and future successes of mentees like Milena, who are poised to make significant contributions to their fields. The cycle of mentorship and its transformative power is what excites me most about receiving this honor.”

Student Praises Mentor’s Expertise, Passion

Franzini is studying HR management and will graduate in December 2024.

She moved to the U.S. from her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to earn an associate degree in business administration and economics at Casper College in Wyoming, where she received a full two-year scholarship to play volleyball. She then transferred to UWF.

She is a SHRM member, is vice president of UWF’s SHRM student chapter, and, in October, placed second in the undergraduate level of the annual Student Case Competition held in conjunction with the SHRM affiliate HR Florida State Council’s leadership conference. 

Franzini aspires to be an HR consultant to help companies “provide better employee satisfaction and overall happiness.”

One of her goals for participating in the mentoring program, Franzini said, “was to better understand different areas of human resources and which [area] I had the most affinity with.”

Rooney helped her understand her personality traits and “understand different sides of HR areas that I had previously had bias [toward],” Franzini said. “For example, previously I did not think that I was a good fit with talent acquisition as I felt that this only involved talking to people. She showed me the strategic side of it,” which Franzini found intriguing.

Rooney asked Franzini to complete various exercises, scheduled meetings with HR professionals from different HR areas so Franzini could learn about their work, and helped her look for and secure a summer internship.

“We also worked together in a group project for my class and a project for her company, which benefited both of us,” Franzini said.

In her nomination letter, Franzini spoke highly of Rooney’s enthusiasm, approachability, and skill in active listening.

“Since our first meeting, she made me feel comfortable to be open with her. She also listened to all of my different challenges, needs, and goals” and provided the assistance and opportunities Franzini said she needed.

“She would always be excited and positive when I achieved my goals, making me look forward to sharing them with her and creating new [goals],” she added.

This was the first time Franzini worked with a career mentor. Given her rewarding experience, “I definitely will seek out mentors in the future, as listening and learning from someone with more experience can provide a lot of insights and help,” she said.

Rooney and Franzini each received complimentary registration to the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo 2024 from the SHRM Foundation, along with lodging for the conference.