Heather Dery is succinct when she talks about what led her to the public sector HR profession.
“I didn’t choose public sector HR. It chose me,” says Dery, employee engagement and continuous improvement specialist with the Michigan Gaming Control Board.
Dery holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing from the University of Phoenix, and she worked in radio and TV marketing for eight years before entering the public sector in the mid-2010s.
But, Dery has “always been drawn to mission-driven work and finding ways to serve others, whether through servant leadership or the volunteer organizations and events I’ve worked with,” she says.
(Dery has volunteered for organizations including the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Forgotten Harvest and Friends of Foster Kids, among others. She also helped relaunch the PSHRA Michigan Chapter in 2025, and serves on the Chapter’s board as its director of communications. Dery has been a member of PSHRA’s conference committee in 2025 and 2026 as well.)
That pull toward public service led Dery to her first job in the public sector.
Moving into the public sector “felt like a natural fit, but I didn’t anticipate where it would lead me,” says Dery, who has also earned a master’s of public administration, nonprofit and community services management from Park University.
Dery joined the Michigan Gaming Control Board as an administrative secretary in September 2014, before moving to the Michigan Department of Corrections in 2015 as a departmental specialist.
Early in her time with the Michigan Department of Corrections, the facility’s warden assigned Dery an employee engagement project that helped confirm that she found her place, even if she was uncertain where the new job might take her.
“I was apprehensive at first, but by the time I completed the project, I was hooked,” she continues. “I realized I had found a way to combine my interest in people, communication and engagement with my commitment to public service. That project ultimately set me on the path to a career in public sector HR.”
Dery left that role in June 2018 to take a role as departmental analyst with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
Dery transitioned to the position of continuous improvement and employee engagement specialist in February 2022, before returning to the Michigan Gaming Control Board as an employee engagement analyst in January 2023. She moved into her current role in June 2025.
Dery joined PSHRA in January 2022, looking to expand her professional network and connect with other people who faced the same challenges she faced. In January 2024, she received her PSHRA-CP certification.
“Public sector HR comes with its own laws, funding models, workforce challenges and dynamics, and PSHRA provides a national network, public sector-specific training and resources, and advocacy information that a general HR organization simply can’t offer.”
Moreover, Dery’s PSHRA membership has helped her make meaningful connections with her peers in public sector HR.
“What has kept me involved is the people. Attending the PSHRA annual conference has given me the opportunity to learn, laugh and connect with people who truly ‘get’ public sector HR,” says Dery.
“I’ve made real friendships through PSHRA, and I have people I can reach out to in both the good times and the difficult ones. They understand the challenges we face, and chances are, they’ve dealt with something similar and can share what they’ve learned. That kind of community is invaluable.”
06 October 2026
Category
Stories of Impact
