Mariangela Battista is Chief Talent Officer at XL Group, a global insurance/reinsurance firm.  She has strategic oversight and accountability for all global people processes including talent acquisition, performance management, succession planning, learning and development including management and executive development, selection and assessment, culture, engagement and change.  Prior to XL Group, Mariangela was Head of Talent at Guardian Life.  She was also Vice President of Talent and Organizational Capability at Pfizer, Inc. where she was responsible for the research center of excellence, including all engagement research; manager development and capability including assessments and organization-wide change management practices. Prior to Pfizer, Mariangela spent eight years at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. as Vice President, Organizational Culture and Effectiveness.  During her career at Starwood, Mariangela had strategic design and oversight for Internal Communication, Organizational Measurement, Community Affairs and People Programs including mentoring, employee recognition program, ethics and compliance programs and the Starwood Associate Relief Fund.  Mariangela was also a key architect in the design of Starwood’s Leadership Success Profile, performance management and 360-Degree Feedback programs and other management development programs.

In her twenty year career, Mariangela has also been part of the Human Resources function of the Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG), American Express, IBM and the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG).   She is also a published author in the areas of global Human Resources, engagement, talent management and executive coaching.

Mariangela earned a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the City University of New York.  She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology and the Academy of Management and is the current Chair of the Friday Group, a NY-based consortium of Industrial-Organizational Psychologists.