Edith M. Penn, Esq. (Edy) is a licensed attorney and HR/DEIA professional and is the Founder/CEO of PennSquared Consulting, LLC. In January 2014, Edy left the practice of law as a corporate litigator to pursue full-time, charitable work in the education space. As a graduate of Milton Hershey School (a free, private, boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania dedicated to maximizing the potential of children in financial need founded in 1909), she is the beneficiary of a kind of generosity and charity that sparked both the need and the obligation to engage in work that is satisfying, challenging, and inures to the benefit of historically oppressed and/or marginalized people. While becoming an attorney was a dream come true for her, it did not fulfill this need.
After leaving the practice of law, she began a journey that took her through various education-based non-profits and social enterprises. It is through these experiences that the passion to improve the employee experience fully blossomed. She has a deep desire to ensure that, in all areas of human resources – employee benefits, training and development, performance management, compliance, and, most importantly, culture – employees feel heard, valued, and understood. Additionally, especially for mission-based organizations, their ability to serve their target population and/or aid those communities in making choices that improve their lives is significantly compromised if staff are not happy, healthy, and engaged enough to do the “heart” work required to effectively serve. Through PennSquared Consulting, Edy provides a whole host of Human Resources and Equity (DEIA) supports, including but not limited to, DEIA Planning and Implementation, Culture Building, Executive and Personal Performance Coaching, Change Management Support, and Thought Partnership.
Edy has a B.A. and J.D., both from Temple University. She has a broad range of HR experience, including talent acquisition, executive coaching, staff training and development (particularly people managers), culture-building, and DEI support and implementation. She also has varied experience in the non-profit arena having served as a board member, executive, staff, and adviser to various organizations. Edy is a mom, an obstacle course racer, and a fan of foreign language movies and sci-fi and fantasy literature.