Only four women in the country earned the American Staffing Association’s 2026 Women in Leadership Scholarship. Two of them are at Vi-Leon.

Brittany Couture, Head of HR and Operations, and Olivia Girr, Manager of HR and Operations, were selected for the national honor, which recognizes rising stars in staffing, recruiting and workforce solutions. Supported by the ASA Foundation, the program honors women with strong growth potential and a long-term commitment to the industry. Recipients receive access to Staffing World and THRIVE, the industry’s premier event, held this October in Denver.

Brittany and Olivia joined fellow scholars Kim James of Integrity Staffing Group and Jen Watters Larson of Hollstadt Consulting. In Denver they explored where hiring is headed, traded ideas with staffing leaders nationwide, and connected with partners who help us move faster for our clients and consultants.

They brought plenty home to Beverly:
• On urgency: “Waiting is not an action word, and we (in staffing) are actionable people.” — Beth Garvey
• On culture: “There’s no neutral. You are a co-creator of the culture or you are detracting from it.” — Liz Forkin Bohannon
• On communication: Chris Mader showed how flipping everyday questions on their head sharpens communication between account managers and recruiters.

Those ideas are already in motion across our team.

At Vi-Leon, we invest in our people, put them in rooms where they grow, and celebrate them loudly when they do. That commitment helped earn us recognition as a Staffing Industry Analysts Best Places to Work in 2024 and 2025.

Thank you to the American Staffing Association, the ASA Foundation and everyone we met in Denver. Congratulations, Brittany, Olivia, Kim and Jen!