Karen Zygun will be joining UBC as the new Director of Human Resources for the VPFO, effective March 17. Karen will be a key leader in renewing the VPFO’s HR team and strategy, developing a strategy to build a stronger values-centered culture, and supporting our leaders and teams to build on our many strengths.
Karen joins us with extensive leadership experience in human resources, talent strategy, and organizational development. Most recently, she served as the director of human resources and talent strategy at Vancouver Airport Authority, where she led significant workforce growth, culture transformation, and strategic HR initiatives.
She holds a Master of Business Administration from UBC and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta. In addition, Karen holds her CPHR and has pursued professional development in leadership, change management, and coaching, earning certification from the Justice Institute and Harvard Extended Learning as she finalizes her ACC practicum with the International Coaching Federation.
As we welcome Karen, we also want to thank Irene Hensel for her exceptional leadership as our interim director of human resources. She has made many contributions to the VPFO and the broader university community as she helped bridge a challenging gap. Irene will be staying on into April to support an effective transition under Karen’s leadership. A big thank you to the entire VPFO HR team for their dedication over the past six months in maintaining quality service in a rapidly changing environment.