Lauri Wactlar is vice president and director of Human Resources at Kessler Foundation, where she has provided leadership and consultation across all human resources functions since 2005. In this role, she supports the organization through strategic HR planning, policy development, and comprehensive employee services.

Wactlar brings deep experience across employee relations, recruitment and retention, compensation and benefits, employment law, training and development, workplace immigration, and internal communications. Her work reflects a strong focus on aligning HR strategy with organizational goals and fostering a supportive, compliant, and engaged workplace.

She is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and holds the SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM‑SCP) credential. Wactlar is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Morris County SHRM chapter. She has also completed professional development in transformative leadership and inclusive employment practices. 

In addition to her HR leadership, Wactlar previously served as editor of Innovations, a semiannual publication highlighting the organization’s research activities. Before joining Kessler Foundation, she worked as an HR Manager at Thomson Inc. (now Technicolor) and as an Assistant Vice President at Merrill Lynch.