Andrea Cutler: Embracing the Challenges and the Joy of Public Sector HR

Andrea Cutler had no idea that walking into her local city headquarters to pay a bill would change the course of her career.

“It started out with paying a trash bill at the City of Whittier, Calif., right after the Whittier earthquake [of 1987],” says Cutler, a retired human resource and risk management director who still works as an HR consultant.

At the time, Cutler was working as a volunteer services assistant with the Children’s Home Society. But the new mother was growing restless in that role.

“With an infant at home, commuting an hour each way from my job in a nonprofit agency was no longer fun,” she says. “So, the flyer for a secretarial job in the City of Whittier’s public works department—six blocks from home—was enticing.”

Cutler applied, and she was soon on her way to a public sector HR career that would span four decades.

“When I got the job, I learned about City services, I finished my degree through the City’s tuition reimbursement program, was promoted into the personnel department and fell in love with public service, and with HR.”

(Cutler went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of the State of New York, and a master’s degree in public administration from California State Long Beach.)

From there, “it was a journey from city to city,” says Cutler. She went on to serve in HR leadership roles with the City of Whittier, the City of Monterey Park, the City of Commerce, the City of Santa Fe Springs, the City of Baldwin Park, the City of Rosemead and the City of San Marino.

Cutler, who has since relocated to the Las Vegas area, sharpened her HR skills at each stop, “so I could be of better use to the City that I served, and so I could get the job done quicker and better.”

Knowing that she was working on behalf of the residents in those cities was always a source of personal satisfaction, she says.

“Learning the many facets of human resources always kept my mind working and challenged. There was always something new to learn! And I figured I would rather work for the public good in the public sector than for the almighty dollar in the private sector.”

Cutler, who jokes that her future aspirations include “being successful at retiring,” has been a PSHRA member for nearly all of her public sector HR journey. She first became a member in 1990, ultimately serving as the Association’s national president in 2025, receiving PSHRA’s President’s Award the same year, and becoming an honorary lifetime member in 2019.

PSHRA “is where the knowledge and expertise of our industry lives,” she says.

“There is almost always someone who knows more about a topic than you, has already done what you are thinking of doing, and has experienced what you are going through, or worse. Members are so very giving of their knowledge, expertise, time and care.”

Her involvement with PSHRA “has provided me with the knowledge, expertise and experience that I needed throughout the promotions in my public sector HR career,” says Cutler.

“PSHRA also provided me with my ‘HR peeps’—acquaintances, associates, colleagues, mentors and lifelong friends who understand the challenges and joys of working in the HR world.”