I graduated in 1998 from Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a major in Communications and then worked for a year in the field of public relations before returning to the School of Industrial and Labor Relations to pursue my MILR degree.

I was hired by IBM upon graduating from the MILR program in 2001, and my first position was as a Jr. HR Partner (generalist) supporting IBM’s global sales organization, where I focused on re-invigorating the sales culture while executing annual HR programs such as the salary increase program, succession planning and the stock option cycle. 

From my generalist role I moved to a corporate position in the Global Health Benefits organization. In this role I was responsible for ensuring the alignment of non-US IBM countries to IBM’s Global Health Benefits Strategy, as well as coordination of the health benefit terms of acquisitions and outsourcing deals. Leading a global health benefit team and working on country re-designs has allowed me to travel and work with IBM colleagues in Madrid, Vienna, Budapest, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bangalore. This past year I shifted focus to the delivery side of health benefits, and hope to focus more on global health initiatives, like developing a framework for IBM’s vaccination and prevention strategy outside of the US.

ILR has given me the skills necessary to do well both at IBM and in my job. The high standards and sense of urgency, together with the team environment of the ILR School closely match the work environment at IBM. The quantitative and analytic nature of the class work provided me with the skills necessary to succeed in the workplace.

- Heidi Kaufman, MILR '01