Oksana Lukash

Fractional CPO/CHRO, Advisor to CEOs, CxOs and Boards

People Culture You · United States

2022 – Present(4 yrs 4 mos)

People, Culture, You was built on a simple belief: Companies succeed when their people succeed. Our approach is people first and business grounded. We understand that organizations are systems, but people are not. We focus on the experience, the relationships, and the context behind the challenges so we can address root causes, not symptoms. That is where we come in. We combine deep HR expertise with emotional intelligence, operational clarity, and a people first mindset. We help leaders navigate complexity, strengthen their culture, build strong teams, and grow with purpose. We partner with companies as their fractional CPO, executive advisor, and hands on strategic HR support. Our work spans: • People and Culture leadership • HR strategy for high growth organizations • Organizational transformation • Leadership development and executive coaching • Talent acquisition and workforce planning • Building cultures where people thrive • Navigating uncertainty, reinvention, and rapid change • Women in leadership and equitable people practices • Executive partnership and Board collaboration • Self discovery, confidence, imposter syndrome, and emotional resilience • Speaking boldly, showing up authentically, and leading as a work in progress We are trusted partners to founders, CEOs, executives, and HR teams. Recent engagements include: • Fractional CPO for a disruptive staffing startup • Fractional CPO for a molecular diagnostics company brought in by the new CEO • Strategic People advisor to companies in fashion, technology, therapy, manufacturing, and logistics • Building and optimizing HR functions • Mediating sensitive leadership and team challenges • Supporting organizational redesign • Strengthening culture and rebuilding trust • Guiding leaders through inflection points, transitions, and uncertainty

Keynote Speaker & Podcast Guest

People Culture You · United States

2022 – Present(4 yrs 4 mos)

There is no shortage of advice about leadership and culture. Most of it sounds good. Very little of it actually works when pressure is high. What I talk about on stage comes from years of being in the room when decisions mattered. Growth. Burnout. Talent loss. Leadership misalignment. Culture breaking under scale. What leaders tell me before I speak: • We are growing, but our culture is not keeping up • Our values sound right, but they are not anchoring decisions • Our leaders are capable, yet overthinking and second-guessing themselves • We want to be people-first, but the reality feels unsustainable I have been there. I know that tension. What you walk away with after is: • Clarity on why culture is not a perk, but a competitive edge • A practical understanding of how to build people-first businesses in a burnout world • Tools to define No Matter What values that anchor leadership under pressure • A shift from overthinking to ownership for high-achieving leaders • A stronger sense of personal leadership brand and presence These are the conversations I lead: • Culture Isn’t a Perk. It’s Your Competitive Edge • No Matter What: Defining the Values That Anchor Unshakable Leadership • Building People-First Businesses in a Burnout World • From Overthinking to Ownership: Rewiring Confidence for High Achievers • Brand You: Why Every Leader Needs a Personal Brand That Means Something I speak to executives, founders, and leaders who are tired of performative culture and motivational noise. My talks are grounded leadership. Built for pressure. Traction over applause. You leave with a different lens. They stop asking: “How do we fix our people?” And start asking: “What kind of experience are we creating, and is it worthy of the talent we want to keep?” If you are looking for a keynote that challenges leaders to think deeper, decide clearer, and lead better, we should talk. My availability can be found here: https://calendly.com/oksanalukash/30min

Leadership Consultant & Coach

People Culture You · United States

2022 – Present(4 yrs 4 mos)

Leadership rarely breaks down in big moments. It breaks down in the small, everyday ones. The conversation you replay after a meeting. The decision you delay because you want more certainty. The team dynamic everyone feels but no one names. The quiet exhaustion that comes from carrying responsibility well. This is where my coaching and training work lives. I work with individuals, teams, leaders, and executives who are capable, committed, and tired of operating below their own standards. Not because they lack skill, but because clarity, confidence, and alignment erode under pressure. What shows up in coaching and training: • Leaders who think deeply but overthink themselves into hesitation • Teams with talent but inconsistent trust and communication • Executives carrying weighty decisions with no space to process • High achievers whose confidence is tied to outcomes, not values This work is not about motivation. It is about strengthening how people think, decide, communicate, and lead when it matters most. Through coaching and training, I help people: • Move from overthinking to ownership • Anchor confidence in values rather than validation • Communicate with clarity, presence, and intent • Navigate pressure without burning out themselves or their teams • Lead in a way that feels aligned, not performative My approach blends real-world leadership experience with practical frameworks leaders can actually use. Tools like DISC and the 12 Driving Forces help individuals and teams understand how they operate, where friction comes from, and how to work better together. This is not surface-level development. It is deliberate, reflective, and action-oriented work designed to raise the standard of how people lead and collaborate. People leave this work clearer than when they arrived. Not louder. Not busier. Clearer. They stop asking: “What is wrong with me or my team?” And start asking: “What kind of leader do I choose to be in this moment?”

Vice President, People (CPO / CHRO)

Avid Bioservices · Tustin, California, United States

2022 – 2024(2 yrs)

• Recruited to build & lead the CDMO’s people function — realigning people & systems to meet the needs of the business today and into the future as Avid launched a viral vector business and expanded its manufacturing capacity from $180M to $400M+ annually. • Built & led a high-performing team of five HR professionals — restructuring & hiring talent, dedicating focus toward priority initiatives, elevating the function’s reputation as a proactive partner to the company’s 385 employees, and increasing employee engagement by 75% in 12 months. • Selected as an active member of Avid’s Compensation & Governance, ESG, 401k Audit, and IT Steering Committees — delivering value across the business while influencing corporate governance and human capital management at the highest levels. • Key advisor to the CEO, Executive Team, and Board of Directors — providing ongoing counsel & insights on all human capital initiatives while designing creative solutions that solved complex problems and aligned HR with corporate governance, compensation, and long-term business objectives, including: - Establishing a strategic framework for executive succession planning — identifying retirement & flight risks, addressing talent gaps, and forecasting future leadership needs. - Owning & driving Executive Compensation strategy — personally developing & presenting strategic insights and other materials, such as Director pay & governance materials, to the Committee six times per year. - Enhancing transparency & accountability in compensation practices by contributing to the development of the Compensation Committee’s charter, program plan, and CD&A section of the proxy statement. • Championed innovative talent management solutions — redesigning base salary & incentive programs while implementing new HRIS/HRM/ATS systems and refining recruiting to reduce new hire turnover by 35%, regrettable turnover by 3%, overall turnover by 9%, ultimately delivering $3.5M+ in cost savings in 12 months.

Global Vice President, People & Culture (CPO / CHRO)

Oncocyte Corporation · Irvine, California, United States

2019 – 2022(3 yrs)

• Tapped as a core member of the precision diagnostics organization’s executive team by its CEO (former CEO of Clarient) — joining as employee 17 of 135, serving as a trusted advisor to the Board, and playing a critical role in defining the talent, culture, and systems to propel the business into & through rapid growth. • Consistently displayed the ability to quickly build meaningful relationships and master new skills — withstanding challenging industry & pandemic-related headwinds while driving critical initiatives that dramatically transformed the organization, including: - Serving as the HR lead in separating from the parent company, completing two acquisitions, securing office space & relocating corporate, and launching a commercial team within five months, ultimately quadrupling headcount and completing all projects on time and under budget. - Leading the company through two acquisitions in the US and one in Germany within 18 months — navigating the complexities of integrating four highly regulated businesses into a single cohesive company. • Defined & established core values of the business — placing people & servant leadership as the nexus of everything and cultivating an environment cherished by employees that drove significant results, including: - Increasing headcount by 588% while reducing recruiting costs by $5M+ without compromising talent quality. - Strategically reducing voluntary separation of high-value employees to less than 3%. - Spurring recognition as the Top Place to Work in Orange County by the OC Business Journal and Best Place to Work in Healthcare nationally by Modern Healthcare for multiple consecutive years.

Director, Sr. Human Resources Business Partner

Panasonic Avionics Corporation · Lake Forest, California, United States

2018 – 2019(1 yr)

• Recruited to serve as a trusted, strategic partner for 450+ global team members across key functions including Product Management, Product Marketing, CTO, Sales, Customer Success, and Business Development — directly supporting senior executives and leadership within these groups to drive alignment and performance. • Collaborated closely with business leaders to provide consultative and tactical HR leadership across multiple areas including performance management, engagement, compensation, succession planning, organizational design, talent management, employee relations, training, talent acquisition, change management, communication, workforce planning, HR analytics & KPIs, and leadership development. • Drove impactful cross-functional collaboration, ensuring HR strategy was aligned with business objectives to optimize profitability, enhance performance, and deliver measurable results for the organization. • Spearheaded development and delivery of "Effective Performance Management" training for managers across the organization, driving process improvements and changing the culture around performance management. • Leveraged Workday HR analytics to provide actionable insights, enabling senior leadership to make data-driven decisions that directly impacted organizational effectiveness.

Associate Director, Human Resources

Avanir Pharmaceuticals · Aliso Viejo, California, United States

2016 – 2018(2 yrs)

• Recruited into the 750-employee, central nervous system-focused pharmaceutical company to serve as the strategic HR Business Partner for its commercial org — delivering value and restoring trust to the role as the business navigated the complexities of FDA approval on a new drug, integration into Otsuka, and a multi-year US DOJ investigation. • Went above & beyond to understand and connect with the unique needs of the Commercial team and its 450+ members — proactively attending sales meetings, performing ride-alongs, and drilling down on product knowledge to build strong relationships, truly learn the business, and deliver dramatically improved support. • Drove critical initiative to stand up a new national Psychiatry Sales team — working through the holiday shutdown to identify & onboard one director, six managers, and 57 sales reps, ultimately managing the project from idea to success under budget within five months while ensuring readiness to meet aggressive sales targets.

Senior Director, Human Resources & Head of People

Agendia · Irvine, California, United States

2012 – 2016(4 yrs)

• Recruited by the precision oncology company’s CFO (Clarient’s former Controller) to build & lead its People & Culture function from inception — architecting & standardizing systems to best support the needs of the company’s 140+ employees and its operations in the US and the Netherlands. Built the P&C team into a self-sustaining group of trusted cross-functional partners — continuously implementing playbooks & strategies to instill process & accountability, scale output, and enhance the overall quality of HR’s effectiveness while ensuring legal compliance. Continuously introduced optimizations across the business to maximize efficiency while increasing the level of service across the board — renegotiating vendor contracts, bringing in partners, and building out in-house capabilities to add $1.5M+ back into the bottom line.

Human Resources Business Partner

GE HealthCare · Aliso Viejo, California, United States

2010 – 2012(2 yrs)

• Recruited to serve as the HR Business Partner for a client group of 475+ employees, providing leadership and expertise across the full spectrum of HR functions, including employee relations, compensation & benefits, employee engagement, organizational design & change, communications, career development, and recruitment. • Led targeted retention and employee development initiatives, ensuring high employee engagement and supporting the organization’s future growth objectives by nurturing key talent. • Partnered with over 50 hiring managers to assess staffing needs and implement effective recruitment strategies, including sourcing, interviewing, and selection processes, to attract top talent. • Analyzed and reported on recruiting trends, evaluating the effectiveness of sourcing strategies and recommending data-driven improvements to optimize hiring outcomes. • Acted as a trusted advisor, coaching employees on HR policies and procedures related to hiring, transfers, promotions, compensation, benefits, and other employment conditions, ensuring fairness and compliance. • Served as an impartial employee advocate, balancing company policies, fair labor standards, and business needs to maintain a harmonious and productive work environment. • Developed and delivered impactful employee training and leadership development programs (e.g., Servant Leadership, First-Time Managers, Conflict Resolution) to drive organizational growth and foster leadership at all levels.

HR Business Partner / HR Manager / Sr. HR Generalist

Clarient, A GE Healthcare Company · Aliso Viejo, California, United States

2008 – 2010(2 yrs)

• Recruited into the 24x7 molecular diagnostic lab to build out its HR function — quickly proving value as a trusted business partner to executive leadership & the 220-member employee base, playing a key role in powering 273% growth within 24 months and garnering recognition as the Top 3 Employer of Choice in healthcare nationally. • Consistently tapped to assume greater responsibility — leading critical initiatives such as building & rolling out the company’s first compensation structure for 150+ positions and managing multiple complex integrations as Clarient purchased Applied Genomics for $18M and later was acquired by GE Healthcare for $580M. • Key driver in fostering a culture of continuous development and leadership excellence — contributing successful strategies that increased internal promotions & transfers by 25%, growing employee referrals by 40%, and reducing turnover by 15.5%, while headcount grew from 220 to 600 employees.

Human Resources Manager

Ambassadors, Inc. · Newport Beach, California, United States

2007 – 2008(1 yr)

Contract Recruiter

Sterling Search · Costa Mesa, California, United States

2006 – 2007(1 yr)

HR Specialist / Generalist

Powerwave Technologies · Santa Ana, California, United States

2005 – 2006(1 yr)

HR Specialist / Generalist

Ingram Micro · Santa Ana, California, United States

2003 – 2005(2 yrs)