M.A. Bearden

Michael-Ashley (M.A.) is a passionate people operations and talent acquisition professional with an interest in positive impact, building meaningful connections, and maximizing human potential. M.A. has almost two decades of talent acquisition experience through a unique combination of in-house and executive search firm experience. M.A. also built and led the people operations function from scratch at a venture-backed HouseCanary. 

 

At HouseCanary, M.A. led people operations as a member of the executive leadership team. During his tenure, HouseCanary grew from 15 to 125 and was twice recognized as a 'best place to work' by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal. Some of the work involved was - designing and administering performance management programs, Implementing/migrating people-related systems (ATS, HRIS, engagement surveys/tools, etc.), project-managing build-out of new HQ in SF and expansion office in Boulder, leading all talent acquisition efforts (internal team, embedded contractors, vendor relationships), organizational design/structure, owning end-to-end employee experience, and co-creating company values.

 

M.A. has worked at multiple executive recruiting firms including Enspira and Riviera Partners across virtually all functions including technology/engineering, people operations/HR, product management, design, client success, finance/accounting, marketing, sales, operations, strategy, research, legal, merchandising in numerous industries - software, autonomous vehicles, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, CPG, finance/banking, retail, ecommerce, consumer media, marketplaces, and more. 

 

M.A.plays guitar, bass, drums, and sings, and is currently improving his skills with Ableton in an effort to move into electronic music production. He’s working on a certification in the Rapid Rewire Method - a suite of emotional processing techniques designed to quickly get people back to functioning from emotional distress. M.A. is a member of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, an avid hiker, and a psychedelic facilitator. He loves helping others and trying to make the world a better place.