The Greenhouse podcast: People-first, featuring Kenysha Bartee and Jamie Adasi
People-first companies prioritize their people and foster a culture of hiring. They understand that people are their most valuable asset, so they treat all their people practices – especially hiring – as strategic, rather than administrative, functions. On the Greenhouse podcast: People-first, join host Donald Knight, Chief People Officer at Greenhouse, as he sits down with individuals at innovative organizations to discover how these companies prioritize their people.
In this episode, Donald is joined by Kenysha Bartee, SVP, People & Culture at SoundExchange and Jamie Adasi, Head of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Allyship (IDEA) at Greenhouse to unpack the leading characteristics of people-first companies. You’ll also learn about the importance of matching internal values with external values and how leading with curiosity can drive business outcomes.
Leaders should recognize that DEI is not a separate initiative. It's the thread that runs through everything.”
Kenysha Bartee
SVP, People & Culture, SoundExchange
Leadership should be approachable enough to listen to feedback and hear from underrepresented voices.”
Jamie Adasi
Head of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Allyship (IDEA), Greenhouse
You have to start in the right place. When you start with IDEA, profitability and revenue will follow.”
Donald Knight
Chief People Officer, Greenhouse
Learn more
Love the People-first podcast? Find out how Greenhouse promotes inclusivity, creates a culture of belonging and embraces diverse perspectives in our product, our culture and our community by visiting us at greenhouse.io/belonging.
Special thanks to our production partner, Wonder Media Network. Our producer is Brittany Martinez, and our supporting producer is Sara Schleede, with additional production assistance from Lila Watts. Our Greenhouse producer is Marnie Williams.
About Kenysha Bartee
Kenysha is the Senior Vice President, People and Culture at SoundExchange. In this newly created role, Kenysha’s primary focus is to strengthen company culture and people practices, including championing efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion as well as driving strategic talent acquisition, learning and performance outcomes at SoundExchange.
Kenysha has previously partnered with business leaders at Under Armour and Edelman on their global human resources initiatives, focusing on impacting company culture and using data to help businesses understand how people practices impact the bottom line. Kenysha received her JD from Howard University School of Law.
About Jamie Adasi
Jamie (pronouns: she, her, hers) is Greenhouse Software’s Head of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Allyship (IDEA). As a first-generation Queer Nigerian-American, Jamie began her self-reflective DE&IB/social justice journey as a high school and college student educating peers, staff and faculty about diversity and social justice issues affecting the world.
Prior to Greenhouse, Jamie held various diversity and recruiting leadership positions across higher education, nonprofits, SaaS, and behavioral health. Jamie holds an M.A. in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica, an M.Ed. in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland, College Park and a B.A. in Psychology and a Minor in Spanish Language & Cultures from the University of Maryland, College Park.
LinkedIn
About Donald Knight
Donald is the CPO at Greenhouse Software. He leads with a people-first mentality hoping to unlock the potential of Greenhouse talent globally. With a laser focus on the connection between people and the processes that serve them, Donald and his team create proximity by building bridges focusing on enhanced experiences that nurture culture and develop people. He is responsible for providing global strategy and leadership in developing, overseeing and administering people programs.
Before Greenhouse, Donald served as Senior Vice President of Global Talent for Edelman, where he helped shape the HR brand as a proactive, insightful and collaborative solution provider.