Monique Herena Named HR Executive of the Year for Transforming American Express Employee Experience

Monique Herena, American Express' chief colleague experience officer, has been recognized as HR Executive's 2026 HR Executive of the Year for her work in redefining the company's human resources function and improving the employee experience.

Herena joined Amex in 2019 with a priority on creating a seamless experience for employees, which led to the creation of the Colleague Experience Group. The changes aimed to sync up the HR strategy with the business strategy, making it easier for employees to access what they needed when they needed it.

Herena's efforts have paid off, with 40% of Amex colleagues moving into new roles or being promoted in the last three years. The company has also seen a significant increase in employee satisfaction, with over 80% of workers surveyed feeling equipped to manage their careers and being satisfied with development conversations with their managers.

One key area of focus for Herena was streamlining learning and development opportunities for employees. Amex launched its enterprise learning ecosystem, Amex U, which offers more than 20,000 on-demand courses. In just two months, the program reached over 45,000 unique users and over 231,000 course completions.