After over 15 years in the benefits industry, I've had the opportunity to see what works, what doesn't, and where real impact happens.  

But I've also lived it personally.  Two of my kiddos were born prematurely, and our youngest had open heart surgery at 7 months old.  In those moments, you don't care about your plan type or deductibles.  You just want to know your family will be okay.  Those experiences changed the way I show up in this work.

I help HR and finances teams to rethink the way they approach benefits. We dig into what’s really driving cost, confusion, and frustration. Then we build strategies that actually fix those issues. It’s not magic, it’s asking good questions, using data better, and caring enough to do the hard work.

Away from work:  I'm a husband, father to three boys, and happiest when we're at a trail head.  Backpacking, snowboarding, mountain biking, and finding new ways to wear everyone out before sunset.

Ryder Kimmes

DoD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office

Leads the Communication and Engagements Team's principles, methods, practices, and techniques of internal and external communication and strategic engagements. Communications and Engagement advisor to senior leadership, including compliance of all DoD regulations and Directives.

Communication and Engagements Team Lead

Director of Operations and Military Deputy for the Chief Technology Office at CDAO. Provided strategic guidance, operational oversight, and leadership to ensure the successful implementation of digital and AI initiatives in support of DoD objectives. Provided input on policy development, resource allocation, and organizational priorities. Directed and oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Chief Technology Office, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and objectives.

Director of Operations - Chief Technology Office

Served as a Military Assistant to the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO), a Principal Staff Assistant (PSA) at the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD). Performed administrative and staff coordination with officials across Department of Defense (DoD) and the US Government Interagency. Provided military guidance and executive assistance to the CDAO on matters across the DoD and on industry. Drafted all executive correspondence. Coordinated 4-star level engagements with major military commands. Assisted the CDAO in the preparation of Congressional testimony, correspondence/briefing coordination, and resource requests across the services, Joint Staff, Combatant Commands, OSD, and the Interagency.

Military Assistant to the CDAO

Rochester Institute of Technology

Research Fellow at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, with an emphasis on resilience training, coaching curriculum, and behavioral health research.

Training Specialist / Researcher

United States Army Reserve

Planned and produced feature stories released to various international community and military media, including the US Army public affairs website. Created and published news releases for Major Military Commands. Coordinated, facilitated, and led command engagements with key local and state officials and members of US Congress and their staffs for US Alaskan Command. Facilitated monthly resilience training. Class advisor during the six-month Armed Forces Public Affairs course, mentoring Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors alike.

Special Training: Defense Support of Civil Authorities
Master Resilience "Train the Trainer"

Public Affairs Specialist

Nuro

Recruited across the Operations, University, and G&A Orgs, averaging 20 hires per quarter. Managed all internal mobility for Operations. Co-led the Veterans ERG, resulting in the creation of a new board and monthly ERG initiatives. Facilitated interview training for employees, teaching interviewing 'best practices' to 300 employees and trained three new trainers. Coached countless hiring managers through challenging recruiting processes. Championed for the company on LinkedIn and was selected several times as THE example of what a great promotional post looks like, for the entire company.

Full-Cycle Recruiter - RIF

Perfect Daily Grind

Researched, wrote, and promoted articles for the world's largest online coffee publication. Interviewed producers, roasters, baristas, and other coffee industry professionals to share the world of Specialty Coffee in an engaging way.

Features Writer

U.S. Army

Coached leaders on all human resources / personnel matters. Compiled weekly and quarterly reports submitted to the Department of the Army headquarters regarding staffing vacancies for 500-4,000 person organizations and projected manpower and capacity solutions. Selected and integrated software such as spreadsheet, database (HRIS), word processing, publishing, graphics applications to generate working documents, correspondence and forms. Evaluated and processed qualification packets for advanced military schooling and assignments. Established personnel operations plans for staff exercises, countless field training exercises, and deployments in support of contingency operations. Revised postal operations plans for a consolidated mailroom. Directly managed up to 6 employees at any given time.

Special Training: Equal opportunity, workplace safety, postal operations, Observer Coach/Trainer.

Human Resources Generalist

CARMA International

Monitored media mentions of different companies to coordinate analysis and interpretation of media messages. Served as office manager, improving supply management and efficiency throughout the 20+ person space.

Media Relations Intern

People Team Enthusiast : HR & Recruiting | Coach | Writer | Veteran | Fitness Prioritizer

Give me a challenge and I will to find a way to tackle it 💪.

I'm passionate about guiding people to attain their goals 🤸‍♀️  -  be that through developmental coaching, organizational communication, building resources that inspire growth and resilience, or plain-old relationship building. 

I love to write! ✍️ From post-graduate academic work to executive correspondence to blogging about the coffee industry- I'm here for it.

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The Battle

Ryder Kimmes

Daniëlle Kilbride

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