Our Story
As a strategic Human Resources executive and people strategy partner, I help CEOs and executive teams build people systems that actually support the work, so culture strengthens, leaders scale, and performance becomes sustainable rather than fragile.
For more than 15 years, I’ve partnered with organizations across corporate, nonprofit, global, and multi-site environments, particularly in education and manufacturing, where growth, change, and complexity expose the cracks in traditional HR approaches. These leaders understand that people challenges are rarely talent problems; they are system problems.
Today, organizational performance is no longer determined by good intentions, engagement surveys, or reactive HR policies. It is determined by how well the people strategy aligns with the business strategy, how clearly roles, leadership, accountability, and culture are designed to support execution.
We are now in an era where organizations must intentionally architect their people functions. Informal processes, fragmented HR programs, and leadership-by-heroics no longer scale. Sustainable performance requires integrated systems that connect leadership, talent, operations, and culture.
My work focuses on helping organizations achieve three mission-critical outcomes:
Build people systems that align strategy, structure, and culture, so the organization can execute consistently, even through growth and change.
Develop strong, accountable leaders and leadership pipelines that reduce burnout, improve decision-making, and increase retention.
Create scalable HR foundations, policies, processes, and talent infrastructure, that move organizations from reactive problem-solving to proactive performance.
To deliver these outcomes, Carter People Strategy Partners works side-by-side with leadership teams to design, build, and embed people-centered systems. This includes HR operations, workforce planning, performance management, leadership development and change leadership, integrated into a cohesive operating model leaders can actually sustain.
Clients typically experience:
Clearer leadership alignment and accountability within the first 60 days
Stronger talent pipelines and measurable improvements in retention and engagement
Scalable people infrastructure that supports long-term growth instead of slowing it down
Across engagements, this work has resulted in outcomes such as a 71% increase in training capacity, retention rates reaching 86%, and cultures where people are developed, not depleted.
Carter People Strategy Partners exists to help organizations move from intention to execution. We don’t just advise, we partner, build, and embed. The work is grounded in transparency, stewardship, and meaningful work, helping organizations create environments where people and performance thrive together.
If your organization is growing, evolving, or navigating change, and your people systems haven’t kept pace, I can help you assess where your structure is breaking down and what to build next so your strategy can actually succeed.
Mission
We help organizations turn people strategy into a competitive advantage by building cultures, leadership systems, and workforce practices that are intentional, equitable, and built to last.
Vision
We envision organizations where people strategy is treated as business strategy, where cultures are built with purpose, leaders are equipped to develop others, and systems support both human potential and organizational results. Our vision is a future of work where organizations thrive because their people do.
Donna Carter
Founder
Donna is a strategic people and organizational development leader with over 15 years of experience partnering with organizations across manufacturing, nonprofit, government, education, and private-sector environments. She specializes in fractional HR leadership, talent management, and leadership development, helping mission-driven organizations build strong, inclusive, and scalable people systems.
Throughout her career, Donna has led HR departments through growth, transformation, and cultural change, designing and executing global strategies in leadership development, DEIB, organizational effectiveness, and workforce planning. Her work is grounded in a belief that sustainable organizational change begins with self-leadership, accountability, and purpose at every level of the organization.
Donna is particularly passionate about developing leaders, shaping healthy organizational cultures, and mentoring HR professionals to lead with confidence and integrity. She partners closely with executive teams to align people strategy with business goals, guiding organizations through complexity with empathy, data, and clarity.
Donna holds a Master of Education in Adult and Continuing Education (Human Resource Development concentration) from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management from DeVry University. She is SHRM-CP certified and brings a practitioner’s lens rooted in adult learning, equity, and continuous development.
Beyond her professional work, Donna is actively engaged in her church, serving on the Connections and Media Production teams. A native of New Jersey, she currently resides in Winchester, Kentucky with her husband and daughter. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, scrapbooking, and spending meaningful time with her family.
Meet the Team
Yvette C. Owens
Senior Consultant, People Strategy & Change Leadership
About Yvette: "I am Yvette C. Owens, known as The Changologist™, a leadership and change strategist and real estate sales associate and consultant with over four decades of experience guiding individuals, organizations, and communities through meaningful transformation and informed decision-making. My work spans leadership development, change management, ministry, and real estate, yet it is unified by one central conviction: how we lead, communicate, and invest today determines the legacy we leave tomorrow.
I call this approach The Language of Legacy™, the intentional translation of experience, faith, and strategy into enduring impact. Through my proprietary V.I.C.T.O.R. framework, I equip leaders and clients to move beyond transactional thinking toward purpose-driven leadership, sustainable change, and legacy-centered wealth building. Whether developing leaders, shepherding organizational change, or guiding clients through property ownership and investment, my work centers on one outcome: helping others speak, act, and build in a way that leaves something of value behind."
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