Elizabeth Hoffman: Always Connected to Public Service and Her Community

As much as Elizabeth Hoffman would like to say that her masterplan was always to become a public servant, that’s now how she drew it up.

“I wish I could say I intentionally set out to build a career in public sector HR, but I really found my way here by chance,” says Hoffman, who has served as director of human resources with the City of Fort Wayne, Ind., since March 2024.

Her introduction to the public sector came by way of a youth shelter in Allen County, Ind., where she was office and finance manager, overseeing certifications, food service and financial management.

Hoffman took that role in June 2017. She stayed for just over two years, realizing early on in her tenure that she truly enjoyed helping connect employees with the tools and resources they need to be successful.

“Managing certifications and training helped show me the nuance of public management. My background in finance kept me grounded in our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” says Hoffman, who holds an MBA in human resource management from the Indiana Institute of Technology.

Her Allen County experience also made her eager to continue advancing her career in the public sector. When Hoffman caught wind of an opening for a human resources director with the City of New Haven, Ind., “I jumped at it.”

Hoffman got the job, taking over as the city’s HR director in June 2019. Six months into the job, her role took an unexpected turn. On the heels of welcoming the city’s new mayor, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

“Suddenly,” says Hoffman, “I was leading employees through circumstances none of us had experienced before, while working to keep them safe and ensure essential services continued for our community.”

As it did for countless others in the HR profession, the pandemic provided valuable lessons for Hoffman.

“That experience taught me an incredible amount about leadership and adaptability,” says Hoffman, who also earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership, public health, from Purdue University Fort Wayne.

“But, more importantly, it showed me how interconnected public employees and their communities are. When we take care of our employees and give them what they need to succeed, they are better able to serve the people who depend on them. I may not have intentionally started a career in public sector HR, but I very intentionally chose to stay.”

Indeed, Hoffman went on to become HR director and equal employment opportunity officer with public transportation operator Fort Wayne Citilink before transitioning into her current position with the City of Fort Wayne.

Hoffman has been very involved in her local HR community at each career stop, and describes the connections she’s made along the way as “incredibly valuable to me.”

But, she adds, she ultimately realized that “there were parts of my job that were difficult to relate to unless you had worked in the public sector.”

The desire to connect with her peers in public sector HR led her to join PSHRA in June 2024.

“Public sector HR comes with a unique set of challenges,” continues Hoffman. “We often compete for talent with lower wages, we work within antiquated systems and we don’t always have the resources to simply spend our way out of a problem.”

Such constraints often force public sector HR leaders to find creative solutions, she says, adding that agency decisions are made in a public environment, with accountability to taxpayers, elected officials, employees and the communities they serve.

“I joined PSHRA because I wanted to connect with HR professionals who understood these challenges without needing them explained,” says Hoffman. “There is tremendous value in being able to learn from people who are navigating the same complexities and finding innovative ways to make public sector HR better.”