September 2013 Member Volunteer Profile - Julia Menegay, SPHR

Julia Menegay, SPHR is the Director of Human Resources for the Texas Nurses Association and has been a member of AHRMA since 2001.  In her early years with the organization, she admits she just attended an occasional monthly meeting and the annual conference, mainly for the HRCI credits.  Then, she learned about the Workforce Readiness Committee and, since helping prepare students and young people to successfully enter the workforce is her main interest, she joined this committee in 2009.  She volunteered on the Mentoring Subcommittee, which eventually merged with another subcommittee to become “School 2 Work.” 

For two years, she volunteered as Project Manager (first as Co-Chair and then as Chair) for Workforce Readiness Day, which she credits a wonderful team of volunteers with helping make this such a success.  This year, she is serving as Co-Chair of “School 2 Work”, and their mission is to work with schools and community agencies to help students become prepared to enter the workforce.  Julia says Workforce Readiness is such a passion to her because, as HR professionals, we have an opportunity to help students by sharing our stories through mentoring, Career Days and other volunteer opportunities. 

She enjoys the Workforce Readiness Committee because they have so many opportunities to give back to AHRMA and the community.  They have a diverse set of goals every year, but are focused on bridging the gap between workers and employers to help employees become more successful.  They have various subcommittees focusing on everything from K-12 students, HR professionals and Military Veterans in transition, as well as working with community organizations to improve the skills of tomorrow’s workers. 

Before Julia joined Texas Nurses Association in 2010 as their Director of Human Resources, she was an HR Consultant for a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) for 13 years, where she worked with numerous small businesses to provide guidance to the business owners about HR, payroll and benefits. 

Julia’s dedication and enthusiasm for AHRMA and her volunteer efforts with the Workforce Readiness Committee is best summed up in her own words.  Julia says, “AHRMA has great things to offer members, if we get involved.  It’s so easy to pay dues, attend a couple of meetings and go to the conference every year, but that’s not really what AHRMA is all about.  It’s about taking advantage of what our association and members have to offer.  There are so many ways to get involved and those naturally lead to networking opportunities, which gives us the opportunity to learn from each other and grow both personally and professionally.  I’ve met a lot of great people through AHRMA and plan to stay involved for a long time.”