Angel Geoghagan: Right Where She Belongs in Public Sector HR

Angel Geoghagan likes to say that she did not pursue the HR profession. Rather, the HR profession pursued her.

“I am finding that, like many of my public sector HR colleagues, I ended up in HR, as opposed to intentionally pursuing it as a career path,” says Geoghagan, the director of human resources, standards and compliance at Hamilton County 9-1-1 Emergency Communications District in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Geoghagan started out as a police officer with the City of Chattanooga, where she served for nine years (1995 – 2006) before leaving to finish her doctorate. (Geoghagan holds a doctorate of philosophy, criminology/sociology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.)

She eventually moved on to Hamilton County 9-1-1 in 2008, where she first brushed up against HR—working as an accreditation manager, and then as the Center’s compliance and risk management officer.

Geoghagan started in standards and compliance in 2008, with some HR duties being part of the role. Her position was reclassified into the newly created position of HR manager in 2017, in part to put more emphasis on HR, Geoghagan says. She was promoted to director of human resources in July 2023, as part of an organizational restructuring.

“Quite frankly, it seems that I woke up one day and was in charge of all things human resources!” says Geoghagan, who

“I do not regret a thing about my journey,” she’s quick to add, “as I believe we end up on the path we were meant to take all along.”

When Geoghagan joined PSHRA as a member in March 2018, she was looking for some help as she navigated her new path in the HR profession.

“I was a newly minted HR professional, but I did not know what I did not know,” she says.

“As I am a public sector lifer, the choice was clear: I needed to join PSHRA to learn necessary job skills and to connect with other public sector HR professionals.”

Geoghagan joined, made valuable new contacts, and eventually earned her PSHRA-SCP certification in 2019.

She’s also been very involved with her Tennessee state chapter since joining the organization, and is currently the president of the Tennessee chapter.

“More importantly,” she says, “I am gaining colleagues and friends that are always there when needed.”

Ultimately, “I believe I am where I need to be professionally,” Geoghagan says. “My professional aspirations at this point are to do everything I can to make our workforce and workplace the best it can be.”

“We are pushing for new and innovative programs for our employees,” she concludes,” we are working on salary and benefits programs to assist in creating a better work-life balance and we are streamlining hiring processes and career development paths to hire and keep the best we have.”