Katie Hagen: A 30-Year Career Spent Strengthening Public Service

Like many new college graduates, Katie Hagen wasn’t quite sure what her next step would be.

In 1994, Hagen had just earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Humboldt State University. She had also just moved to Sacramento, Calif., in hopes of putting that degree to work, and of finding her strong points and professional interests in the process. It didn’t take long for Hagen to uncover those.

“Through a few early career roles, I realized I had a real strength for helping people navigate complex administrative processes,” says Hagen, who is now chief executive officer of Sacramento-based CPS HR Consulting, a Joint Powers Authority that helps public agencies across the country meet their human resources and organizational management needs. She has served in that role since July 2025.

Those early-career roles included working at a lobbying firm, “learning about legislation, Fair Political Practices Act requirements “and the practical realities of running a small association with members across California,” she says.

Hagen also worked for a small company that helped individuals study for and apply to take their contractor’s licensing exam through California’s Contractors State License Board. She found time to earn a master’s of public administration from the University of San Francisco as well.

All the while, she was applying for government positions and submitting “hundreds of state applications,” by her estimate.

She eventually landed an entry-level role as an administrative assistant to the branch chief in California’s Department of Corrections, Selection and Standards Branch.

That opportunity launched a 30-year career in state government, including 26 years in leadership positions across multiple departments.

For example, she went on to work for two years as a recruitment manager in the Selection and Standards Branch.

From July 2002 to August 2006, Hagen gained more recruiting experience serving as assistant deputy director in the Office of Peace Officer Selection in the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. In that role, she was responsible for the recruitment, selection and hiring of entry-level peace officers in California’s 33 institutions statewide.

In October 2011, Hagen was named chief human resources officer with CalPERS, which manages the state’s public pension fund. In March 2020, she became director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, leading that department until she left to head up CPS HR Consulting last year.

“My path into public sector HR was not a straight line,” she says, “but each step helped me discover the work that has defined my career: making HR and government systems more accessible, understandable and effective for the people who rely on them.”

Hagen rejoined PSHRA in 2025 as well. A previous member, she renewed her membership in July of last year, “because I wanted to stay connected to public sector HR trends, learn from what public HR organizations are doing across the country and to contribute to a broader professional community committed to strengthening public service.”

Hagen recently earned her PSHRA-SCP certification as well, and she remains focused on continuing to contribute to the public sector HR profession “by helping agencies build practical, people-centered systems that strengthen public service,” she says.

“I hope to support the next generation of HR leaders, share lessons learned from both state government and consulting, and continue advancing approaches that make hiring, leadership development and organizational change more accessible and effective for public agencies.”