About

For more than three decades, Vonnie Suhr, founder of High Impact HR, has been an accomplished human resources leader, having overseen tens of thousands of employees within some of the most iconic U.S. brands, from Western Auto to the nation’s largest franchisee of Pizza Hut and Wendy’s.

Complimenting her restaurant expertise, Vonnie spent 13 years in the retail space, leading Western Auto’s training and development function before ascending to HR director of field operations prior to Western Auto’s sale to Advance Auto Parts in 1998.

Over the ensuing 22 years, Vonnie oversaw human resources at NPC International, serving as the Chief People Officer for more than 35,000 Pizza Hut and Wendy’s employees. Under her watch, she built a world-class internal HR structure that supported talent development and enterprise growth, driving significant bottom-line value and supported the organization to reach its strategic goals.

Approachable, decisive and a proven troubleshooter and problem-solver, Vonnie is a recognized expert across a spectrum of HR-related topics including:

• Implementation and ongoing optimization of performance management systems
• Compensation and benefits design and implementation
• HR technology implementation
• Talent evaluation and needs-based analysis
• Organizational design and HR structure
• Change management
• Crisis management
• M&A support

A life-long Kansas City resident, Vonnie was involved in the local chapter of Girl Scouts of America and served as troop leader and day camp program manager for more than 10 years. She also served on the International Pizza Hut Franchisee Association’s Political Action and Government Affairs Committee for more than 20 years and was co-chair of the national Pizza Hut People Capability Committee for 15 years. She is also a member of the Society of Human Resource Management.

Vonnie holds a liberal arts degree in human resources management from the University of Kansas and an MBA through the Executive Fellows Program at Rockhurst College.