Teela has a passion for people, talent and organizational culture. She has partnered with C-suite executives to lead thousands of searches over the course of her 20+ year career in Talent Acquisition. She has a reputation as a trusted partner and leader to support organizational HR and business transformations. Teela has been instrumental in building Talent Connections into the organization it is today and is often referred to as "The HR Talent Guru.”
As Vice President of Talent Connections, Teela has served as a strategic partner to HR executives and collaborated with senior leadership to evaluate and identify key HR talent needs in alignment with company goals and transformations. The leaders that she places have staying power, exhibiting high retention rates. With the multiple repeat clients that result, she has a passion for finding top talent including established leaders, rising leaders, and hybrid or hard to find talent. Prior to joining Talent Connections, Teela held key positions in corporate talent acquisition with Georgia-Pacific, Turner Broadcasting and CIGNA.
Given her investment and success in the human resources industry, Teela has served as a volunteer leader with SHRM Georgia State Council and she’s active in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals (ATAP) and SHRM-Atlanta. The first African American female President of SHRM-Atlanta, Teela founded their Rising Leaders Community as well as the SHRM-Atlanta Scholarship Fund.
Teela is also an alumni honoree of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 and a supporter of numerous non-profits. She has served as Board Member for the Brian Jordan Foundation (retired Braves and Falcons players) and she has been featured in various news and media outlets.
Teela earned an MBA from Mercer University and a BA in Business/Human Resources that she attended on a full academic scholarship from The University of Tennessee - Martin. Originally from Nashville, Teela has called Atlanta home since 2000.