Chief People Officer Debra Hilton-Creek will serve as acting executive director of the CCC “until the return of” Executive Director Shawn Collins, who is out on parental leave until early December. Acting Chair Ava Callender Concepcion nominated Hilton-Creek, a newcomer to the CCC, for the position and said it would be “for the next few months moving forward.”
“Debbie is a military veteran, a human resources practitioner with over 25 years of management and organizational leadership experience, and as evidenced in our last meeting, she has really gotten up to speed on our policies and procedures here at the commission in a really impressive amount of time,” Concepcion said. “And she also brings a fresh lens with a focus on the people, the culture and the best practices for organizational operations.”
Hilton-Creek joined the CCC from Max HR Consulting Services, where she was the chief HR consultant and directed the design, planning and implementation of corporate organizational development programs, policies and procedures. Her resume also includes time working as human resources director for the town of Hopkinton and as chief human resources officer at the Codman Square Health Center.
“I guess all I can say is wow. This is really an incredible opportunity,” Hilton-Creek said Monday. “Am I a little bit scared? Of course. Am I worried? No, because I do have an incredible team. We have an incredible team and every day I interact with them, it reminds me of the work that we’re doing here and how important we are as an agency. So I am not worried. I’m a little bit scared. But again, with the people that are here, there’s no doubt in my mind that a collaborative effort will get us through this next few months.”
In 2013, on a cable access show in Hopkinton, Hilton-Creek said, “I actually got exposed to the profession when I was in the Army and in loved it so much that when I finished my tour, I decided that I would like to go into the human resources profession. So I basically went back to school, got my master’s degree and and then started looking for the right opportunity to apply my skills and my knowledge.
