Honoring HR Leadership: American Express’s Monique Herena and HiBob’s Nirit Peled-Muntz Take Top Honors
Winners to Be Recognized at Two Upcoming Events, Including HR Tech in Las Vegas and Institute for Leadership & Work
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Monique Herena Named 2026 HR Executive of the Year
Nirit Peled-Muntz Named 2026 HR Leader of Distinction
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The editors at HR Executive, the premier global media company covering strategic issues in HR, today announced that Monique Herena, Chief Colleague Experience Officer at American Express, has been recognized as the 2026 HR Executive of the Year, with Nirit Peled-Muntz, Chief People Officer at HiBob, named this year’s HR Leader of Distinction.
For more than 30 years, this award has honored HR executives leading teams at organizations around the world, with a focus on those who exemplify HR’s increasingly strategic role in business. Honorees are selected based on several key criteria, including their ability to navigate obstacles; their success in positioning HR as an integral part of their organization; their management skills within the HR function; and their broader contributions to the HR profession. The awards carry equal weight; the only difference is the size of the organizations represented. Previous winners have included leaders from Walmart, Blackstone, IBM, Caterpillar, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Accenture, Marriott, Lincoln Financial, Amtrak and more.
“The HR Executive of the Year awards recognize leaders who can address today’s challenges while also expanding our understanding of what HR can accomplish,” said Paul Wilson, Editor-in-Chief of HR Executive. “Both Monique and Nirit have demonstrated the impact HR can have when it operates as a strategic force for business and people – they are raising the bar for what HR leadership looks like.”
This year’s HR Executive of the Year, Monique Herena, has spent her career in human resources in senior leadership roles at organizations including BNY, Honeywell, PepsiCo and The Quaker Oats Company. Since joining American Express in 2019, Herena has served as Chief Colleague Experience Officer (CCEO), overseeing all aspects of the global experience for the company’s 76,000 colleagues, from talent acquisition and talent management to compensation and leadership development. In this role, Herena has helped fully integrate American Express’s HR strategy into the business strategy, tailoring its approach to compensation, skills, technology and more to broader organizational goals. Her passion for HR’s advancement carries over outside her day job as well: Herena sits on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the CHRO Association and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources, where she also serves on the Board of Directors.
Like Herena, the 2026 HR Leader of Distinction, Nirit Peled-Muntz, has also spent her 30-year career in human resources, with international experience at organizations such as Arcaffe Retail Chains, Caesarstone, Deal Time (acquired by eBay), IQVIA and Lumos Global. For the last six years, Peled-Muntz has been Chief People Officer at HiBob, leading HiBob’s global People team across London, New York and Tel Aviv as the company scaled from 150 employees to more than 1,400. Peled-Muntz believes that HR’s role is to enable the company strategy and success, a simple premise that powers her HR philosophy. She recognizes that this work starts with a deep understanding of the CEO’s vision and the product itself. She uses this to support HiBob’s continued growth as both the company and its industry evolve. Peled-Muntz is an active voice in the HR community and a strong advocate for culture initiatives.
Herena and Peled-Muntz will be celebrated twice in October. First, during the HR Icons Awards Evening at HR Tech 2026 in Las Vegas, and again later that week at the Institute for Leadership & Work’s Fall Summit at Boston University Questrom School of Business.
Fred K. Foulkes, Interim Co-Director and Founder for the Institute for Leadership & Work and Professor Emeritus, Boston University Questrom School of Business shared, “The future of HR will be defined by teams who challenge convention, use technology thoughtfully and deliver meaningful impact to their organizations. Through their leadership, Monique and Nirit embody this thinking, and together, the Institute and HR Executive are proud to recognize the excellence they represent.”
This year’s judges for the award included former HR Executive of the Year winners Peter Fasolo, former CHRO, Johnson & Johnson; Diane Gherson, former CHRO, IBM; Nickle LaMoreaux, Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, IBM; Donna Morris, Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, Walmart; as well as Professor Foulkes; Daniel Marsili, President, National Academy of Human Resources; and Wilson from HR Executive.
To learn more about the career accomplishments of Herena and Peled-Muntz, visit https://hrexecutive.com.
About HR Executive
Established in 1987, HR Executive is the premier global media company covering strategic issues in HR. Part of the Arc network, HR Executive provides more than 220,000 subscribers with news, content and analysis of global HR trends. HR Executive is where HR professionals go when they need to know, providing in-depth coverage on all facets of human resource management, including recruiting, talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, learning and development, employment law, talent management, the latest technologies and more. Visit hrexecutive.com.
About the Boston University Questrom School of Business
Founded in 1913, the Boston University Questrom School of Business is a global top-tier academic research business school. Led by Interim Dean and Ravi K. Mehrotra Professor of Business Marcel Rindisbacher, Questrom develops business leaders who create value for the world. Questrom redefines transformational business programs, strengthens partnerships with the business community, advances the impact of research on business, and manages the school as a high-performing enterprise committed to excellence with a service mindset. Comprising a renowned full-time faculty of 165 researchers, teaching faculty, and accomplished practitioners, Questrom generates insights to address today’s business challenges and prepares students with the tools they need to succeed from Day 1 in their professional lives. Questrom’s portfolio of academic programs is robust and includes a Top 20 undergraduate program of over 2,200 students; distinctive MBA offerings including 900 students in a full- and part-time MBA, the affordable Online MBA and specialty MBAs in social impact, health, and digital technology; several thriving specialized masters programs in areas including business analytics, mathematical finance, and management studies; and a rigorous PhD program. More than 50,000 Questrom alumni form a powerful global network of leaders driving value creation that changes the world.
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