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Carmen Hudson Headshot 1.png

HI, I'M CARMEN.

Carmen Hudson is a self-described “recruiting geek” who has spent years learning, creating, and sharing recruiting and sourcing best practices. She spent over ten years as a consultant and trainer at Recruiting Toolbox, helping high profile companies develop strategies to attract and select talent, and helping recruiters, recruiting leaders, and hiring managers hone the skills necessary to identify and hire top talent.

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Her corporate experience includes ExtraHop, where she was Senior Director of Talent Acquisition and Yahoo!, where she was Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition. At Yahoo! she led the strategic sourcing team, revitalizing the employee referral program and Yahoo’s employer brand. The team was awarded a coveted Yahoo! Superstar Award, an ERE Excellence award and various recruiting and advertising industry awards. Prior to joining Yahoo!, she was manager, Global Strategic Sourcing for Starbucks Coffee Corporation, where she developed sourcing strategies and recommended resources and tactics to support U.S. retail management hiring.​

 

Carmen has also held senior talent acquisition roles at Microsoft, Amazon.com and Capital One and founded a social recruiting technology company. She is a regular contributor to recruiting industry publications, and often speaks at industry events, including Talent42, SourceCon and ERE Exchange. In February, she published a book, The Corporate Recruiter’s Playbook, Strategies for Hiring Top Talent.

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Carmen and her husband William live in Gig Harbor, WA. She is on the board of directors of the CareerXroads Foundation, and YouthCare Seattle, an organization that works to end youth homelessness.

Strategic Reset: Planning for Impact  

Tuesday, April 7, 10:15 AM

As senior talent acquisition leaders, you are expected to move fast—often without taking time to reflect. This interactive workshop offers a structured opportunity to pause, assess, and plan with intention. Together, we will review how to evaluate the effectiveness of your current year’s recruiting efforts using meaningful metrics, stakeholder feedback, and business outcomes. From there, you will learn a framework to identify high-impact opportunities, sunset underperforming initiatives, and prioritize the right projects for the year ahead - aligned with business goals and TA capacity. 

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You will leave this session with a practical, customizable planning tool and a clear, defensible roadmap to guide your team’s focus and resources in the coming year. Whether you are building your first annual TA strategy or refining a mature operating plan, this session will sharpen your strategic lens and help you drive results that matter. 

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Who Should Attend: 

Senior corporate recruiters, talent acquisition leaders, and heads of recruiting strategy responsible for annual planning, prioritization, and performance measurement. 

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Key Takeaways: 

  • A framework for evaluating this year’s performance across key TA dimensions. 

  • Tools to align recruiting initiatives with business priorities. 

  • Strategies for balancing innovation with operational discipline 

  • A draft roadmap for annual planning, ready to refine and share with stakeholders. 

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USA TODAY Top Workplaces 2026 Conference Policy

​​All cancellation request must be submitted in writing via email to justin.libak@usatoday.com.

 

Confirmed registrants may cancel and receive a full refund minus a $150 cancellation fee for general attendees through February 27, 2026. Cancellation request received from February 28, 2026 through March 20, 2026 are nonrefundable but can be transferred to another member within your organization. Cancellations on or after March 21, 2026 are nonrefundable and transfers are not permitted.    

 

Attendees who do not attend the event and/or do not contact USA TODAY Co. via written correspondence by the dates above will be responsible for the full attendee registration fee. If the conference is cancelled, USA TODAY Co. is not responsible for any penalty incurred by purchasing a nonrefundable airline ticket or related costs.  


Notice of Filming statement: 

By entering this event and by your presence here, you consent to be photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded. Your entry constitutes your consent to such photography, filming and/or recording and to any use, in any and all media throughout the universe in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice and name for any purpose whatsoever in connection with USA TODAY Top Workplaces 2026 Conference.  You understand that all photography, filming and/or recording will be done in reliance on this consent given by you by entering this area. If you do not agree to the foregoing, please do not enter this area. Holder releases and waives each of  USA TODAY Co., Inc. the facility, vendors and participants, and their respective affiliates and representatives from any and all loss, damage, or injury, including death, that may be sustained by Holder or damage to any of his/her property, WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF THE RELEASEES, or otherwise, while attending and/or participating in the Event, or while in, on or upon the premises where the Event is being conducted. HOLDER VOLUNTARILY ASSUMES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY RISKS OF LOSS, PROPERTY DAMAGE OR PERSONAL INJURY, INCLUDING DEATH, that may be sustained by Holder, or any loss or damage of property owned by Holder, as a result of participating in the Event, WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF RELEASEES OR OTHERWISE.

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*Policy subject to change

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