Partner | Award-Winning Global CPO · Board Advisor · Fractional CPO · Private Equity People Partner
Sheena Ponnappan
Board-level people leadership for organisations at moments of growth, transformation and value creation.
Sheena is an award-winning Chief People Officer with two decades of experience operating inside complex global businesses across 20+ markets. Today, she partners with CEOs, Boards, and Private Equity firms to solve the most difficult human capital challenges—transforming people strategy from a support function into a primary engine for organizational capacity and commercial impact.
The CPO perspective when the stakes are highest
Sheena provides senior operating judgement, Board-level perspective and practical executive leadership, not traditional HR consultancy. Her approach is built for high-stakes environments where people strategy must directly translate to commercial value.
Moments of Growth
Scaling global operations while maintaining cultural integrity and performance standards across multiple markets.
Complex Transformation
Re-architecting the people function to support new commercial operating models and digital shifts.
Value Creation
Partnering with Private Equity and Boards to ensure human capital strategies drive measurable EBITDA impact.
Internationally recognised People leadership
2024 Gold Stevie — CHRO of the Year
Sheena was named Gold Stevie winner for Chief Human Resources Officer of the Year. Everise also received Gold recognition for D&I and Employee Engagement.
2025 Silver Stevie — HR Executive of the Year
Sheena received Silver Stevie recognition. The Everise HR Department she led was named Gold Stevie winner for HR Department of the Year.
2021 Gold Globee — Female Pro of the Year
Recognised as Outstanding Female Professional of the Year in HR for hiring and career development for underserved communities.
2020 HR Leader of the Year — Singapore
Sheena was named HR Leader of the Year at the Human Resources Excellence Awards Singapore, for excellence in HR leadership.
Under her CPO leadership Everise’s People function received repeated external recognition across employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, HR excellence and workplace culture, without implying every award was personally hers.
Between 2016 and 2026, Sheena played a pivotal role in the global evolution of Everise, serving across senior leadership roles including Chief People Officer and Chief Digital Officer. Her tenure was defined by re-architecting people systems to support rapid global expansion and digital transformation across the US, Europe, and Asia.
Prior to her executive leadership at Everise and Aegis, Sheena held strategic roles at Promantra, CSC, and GE. Her career has been built operating inside complex global businesses, providing her with the senior operating judgment required to navigate high-stakes environments where People leadership is a direct driver of enterprise performance.
Building culture intentionally
Driving inclusion, diversity, and opportunity through structured initiatives like Everise Talks and a relentless focus on gender pay parity. Culture is not a side-project; it is the operating system that makes growth sustainable.
Core advisory areas
Fractional CPO Leadership
Deep operating judgment and Board-level leadership without the long-term overhead of a permanent hire.
Board & Investor Advisory
Guiding Boards and Private Equity partners through human capital decisions that directly impact enterprise value.
GTM & Org Design
Designing organizational structures that drive commercial revenue, sales velocity, and engineering efficiency.
M&A Integration Architecture
Building the operational machinery required for successful Day 1 transitions and long-term value capture.
HR Operating Model Redesign
Transforming HR from a transactional cost center into a lean, data-driven engine that powers business growth.
Agentic People Functions (AI)
Modernizing people operations using specialized AI agents to automate high-volume, transactional HR workflows.
A recognised voice on leadership, talent and culture. Sheena’s commentary reflects a career spent inside complex global businesses, providing a pragmatic perspective on how human capital strategy drives commercial success in the real world.
Who Sheena works with
- Private Equity Operating Partners
- Board Chairs and Non-Executive Directors
- Founders and CEOs of scaling technology businesses
- Global CPOs facing complex transformation