veronica passaro is an HR leader based in Geneva, Switzerland. She works at IOM – UN Migration. Her role is to plan the workforce and make talent move where it is needed most. She focuses on simple, fair, and inclusive processes. She also likes data and tools that make work easier for everyone.
She has more than ten years of experience. She has worked in both international groups and the private sector. People who work with her say she is calm, fair, and very organized. They also say she brings a human touch to tough tasks. That mix is rare and very useful in 2025.
What does she do at IOM?
Right now, veronica passaro serves as an HR Officer for Strategic Workforce Planning. In simple words, she looks at today’s needs and tomorrow’s goals. Then she plans how many people, and what skills, each team will need. She also helps manage rotation and mobility for over 350 international staff. This means making sure the right person is in the right place at the right time.
Her work also supports urgent crises. Think of fast deployments to places like Gaza or Ukraine. She helps coordinate a global deployment roster with about 23,000 staff. When an emergency hits, that roster helps leaders act in hours, not weeks. Have you ever tried to hire or move people fast across borders? It is hard. Her systems and checklists make it doable.
How does she hire leaders fairly?
Before this, veronica passaro worked in strategic talent acquisition. She sat as an Ex-Officio member on senior selection panels. Her job was to keep the process fair, clear, and consistent. She helped run assessment centers for top roles like Regional Directors, Chiefs of Mission, and Supply Chain Officers. The scale was big: 100+ assessments and over 1,000 applicants.
She also led global hiring campaigns and built better career support guides. She trained more than 200 staff on hiring, interviews, and fair selection. Picture a team in Tunisia or Germany learning how to spot skills and reduce bias. With simple tools and practice exercises, she turned policy into daily habits.
HR business partner work that drives results
As an HR Business Partner for IOM’s Immigration and Border Governance division, veronica passaro handled full-cycle HR. That includes recruiting, contracts, and separations. She hired 50+ thematic experts to match shifting priorities. She also created a thematic roster to boost readiness. When a project started, the right experts were already lined up.
She even helped plan a global hybrid retreat for more than 140 staff. Imagine bringing people together across time zones and cultures. The goal was simple: align the team and refresh trust. Sessions mixed strategy talks with practical workshops. People left with clear goals and a few new friends. That is how culture grows.
The tools and tech behind her work
Great HR needs good systems. veronica passaro helped test and refine IOM’s new Oracle ERP for HR tasks. She gave feedback from real users so forms and flows made sense. She also piloted AI-based tools to keep rosters clean and up to date. This cut manual work and reduced errors.
Earlier in her career, she led the rollout of SAP SuccessFactors in a private-sector firm. She trained staff, fixed small issues, and kept the new system stable. She also handled vendor talks, office moves, and post-merger changes. Those projects taught her how to plan, communicate, and keep calm when things shift. These skills now help her run large processes across countries.
The path that shaped her
Before joining IOM, veronica passaro served as Chief of Staff and Head of Secretariat Coordination at the Education Relief Foundation. She led hiring and onboarding, set a smarter travel policy, and ran 20+ high-level meetings with governments and partners. She also helped organize a global conference with 280 people from 39 countries. Big room, many voices, one shared plan.
Her journey started in Milan, where she managed HR operations at GCA Altium for almost a decade. She handled payroll, contracts, and recruitment. She also supported a company relocation and post-merger changes in HR, IT, and marketing. If you have ever moved a whole office or merged systems, you know the stress. She turned that stress into structure.
Skills that make a difference
What makes veronica passaro stand out? She blends people care with process care. She knows how to listen and how to measure. She can build a fair hiring panel and a clean dashboard. She can coach a colleague on career choices and also map the next six months of staffing.
Her skill set is wide but focused: workforce planning, talent acquisition, mobility, and HR operations. Add project management, ERP know-how, and AI pilots. Add training and mentorship. Add inter-agency collaboration across the UN system. This mix helps her move between strategy talks and daily fixes with ease.
Education, languages, and how she communicates
veronica passaro holds a Master’s in International Relations from the Università degli Studi di Milano. Her thesis looked at UN work in Haiti. She also completed a Master’s in Communication and Media Studies at 24ORE Business School. That is why her messages are clear and simple. No jargon. Just what people need to know.
She is multilingual. She has full professional English and working Chinese, and a strong background in Italian, French, and German from years of translation work. In global HR, language is not just words. It is trust. It is the difference between a quick fix and a lasting solution.
How others describe her
Colleagues describe veronica passaro as proactive, balanced, and kind. One former teammate said she blends structure with a human touch. A past manager in Milan praised her steady effort while she finished her second degree. These stories match her career arc. She shows up, does the work, and lifts others as she moves forward.
Why does this matter? Because HR is about people. When people feel seen and supported, they do better work. When processes are fair and simple, teams move faster. Her track record shows both.
Diversity, inclusion, and her vision for people
When you look at how veronica passaro talks about work, one word keeps coming up — inclusion. She believes every person deserves to feel safe, respected, and seen. In her view, diversity is not a checkbox. It is a way to make smarter and kinder decisions.
At IOM, she helps shape hiring rules that welcome people from all cultures and backgrounds. She has built training programs to teach fair selection and reduce bias. One of her favorite examples is a recruitment workshop in Greece where local teams shared their hiring challenges. Instead of giving them a manual, she asked questions, listened, and then showed small changes they could use right away. That practical, people-first style is what makes her special.
She often says that inclusion is about more than gender or nationality. It’s about giving space for every voice to be heard. That belief shows in her mentoring, her meetings, and even the way she writes emails — clear, respectful, and warm.
Helping teams in times of crisis
When emergencies strike, planning and calm leadership matter most. That’s where veronica passaro shines. She has helped coordinate emergency deployments for large teams working in places like Gaza and Ukraine. Imagine managing hundreds of staff movements while keeping morale and safety high. It’s not easy, but she has done it with structure and care.
She also supports colleagues who return from crisis duty. After a tough mission, people need time and space to adjust. She helps guide them through next steps, career plans, and emotional support. It’s a part of HR that doesn’t make headlines, but it changes lives quietly behind the scenes.
Her calm approach comes from years of experience. Whether it’s an office move in Milan or a sudden staff surge in Geneva, she brings the same steady hand — one that helps people breathe, plan, and act.
Mentorship and leadership style
Many coworkers say veronica passaro is more than a manager — she’s a mentor. She has guided over 100 colleagues in their career paths. She listens carefully, then helps them find small, real steps to grow. Her advice is simple but strong: “Focus on progress, not perfection.”
She doesn’t believe in one-size-fits-all leadership. She adjusts her style based on who she’s helping. For a new recruit, she explains things step-by-step. For a senior officer, she talks strategy. In both cases, she treats people with the same respect and patience.
Her mentorship doesn’t stop at work. She often volunteers her time for career coaching inside IOM and supports young professionals learning about HR. In 2025, when many people feel lost in a fast digital world, that kind of steady guidance makes a real difference.
Tech, data, and the future of HR
veronica passaro sees technology as a friend, not a threat. She helped test and improve IOM’s Oracle ERP, giving real feedback to make it easier for HR users. She also tried out AI-based tools to clean up big rosters and track staff skills. These ideas save time and cut paperwork, letting HR teams focus on people instead of screens.
Her goal is clear: make HR faster, fairer, and more human at the same time. She believes that data can help managers see patterns — like where teams need help, or which skills are missing — but human judgment should always lead the way.
When you mix data with empathy, the results last longer. That’s the kind of modern HR she represents.
Education and global mindset
veronica passaro’s studies helped shape how she thinks. Her degree in International Relations taught her about diplomacy, global law, and the role of the United Nations. Her later degree in Communication and Media Studies showed her how messages travel — and how one good message can move people to act.
Her mix of education and work across countries has given her a global mindset. She’s lived and worked in Italy and Switzerland and worked closely with teams from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. That international blend helps her connect with people fast, no matter where they come from.
What people say about her
Colleagues who have worked with veronica passaro speak with warmth and respect. One teammate said she combines structure and heart — a rare mix that makes teams feel safe and focused. Another former manager praised her determination and kindness, saying she was “a joy to have in the team.”
Their words paint a clear picture: she’s the kind of leader who leads quietly, by example. She doesn’t shout. She builds. She organizes. She listens. And in doing so, she earns both trust and results.
Why her story matters
In 2025, workplaces are changing fast. Remote work, AI tools, and global mobility make HR more complex than ever. But people like veronica passaro remind us that even with all the tech and data, it’s still about people. It’s about care, fairness, and giving others the chance to grow.
Her journey shows what modern leadership looks like — smart but simple, structured but kind. She proves that when you mix technology with empathy, big systems can feel human again.
Conclusion
veronica passaro is more than an HR expert. She’s a builder of teams, a guide for careers, and a voice for fairness. From her days managing HR in Milan to her current global work at IOM, her story shows what good leadership can do.
She brings balance — between people and data, heart and structure, planning and action. In a world that moves fast, her calm and clear approach feels like a breath of fresh air. And that’s what makes her one of the most inspiring HR leaders working today.
