Since October 2021, Mila Cosgrove has been a principal consultant with Workplace Solutions AK, a Juneau, Alaska-based human resources and organizational development firm.
Cosgrove brings a wealth of HR expertise to that role; insight gained from spending more than 30 years in human resource-related roles, primarily at the state and municipal levels of government in Alaska.
She admits, though, that her decades-long career in public sector HR only came about “through happenstance.”
“Government was one of the larger employers in Juneau, Alaska’s capital city. When I moved to Juneau, I had been working for a private sector consulting firm managing their executive recruitment business,” Cosgrove recalls.
Ultimately, though, she “wanted something different.” In 1991, Cosgrove was able to land a position with the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, working as a classification analyst.
She knew immediately that she had found a professional home in the public sector.
“I quickly fell in love with the mission of the work, and the opportunity to create not only a lasting impact on the organization, but on the community we served,” says Cosgrove, who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boulder, Colo.-based Naropa University.
From there, Cosgrove moved into a statewide labor relations function with the Department of Administration. After a seven-year hiatus working as the Southeast regional manager for the Alaska Public Employees Association, she returned to state service in 2004.
Cosgrove eventually became deputy director and then director of personnel, before taking the position of human resources director with the City and Borough of Juneau in May 2006. She was appointed deputy city manager in 2015, remaining in that function until September 2021.
In each of these roles, Cosgrove sees her primary function the same way.
“Ultimately, our work is about helping achieve operational excellence that enables us to improve the lives of our friends, neighbors and all who pass through our community.”
Cosgrove was seeking a community of like-minded public sector HR peers when she joined PSHRA as a member in 2005.
“PSHRA provided me with an opportunity to expand my knowledge, leverage the practical experience of other organizations, and access HR practitioners who understood my unique challenges,” says Cosgrove, a former PSHRA Executive Council member who served as PSHRA president in 2013, and helped design PSHRA’s original executive leadership program that same year.
“The generosity and insight of my colleagues deepened my HR practice and pushed me to excel in my profession. I love that public sector HR people lift each other up, and that is what PSHRA is for me.”
Ultimately, Cosgrove wants to continue lifting up other HR practitioners in her consulting work with public sector organizations.
“I hope to continue to add value to those around me,” she says, “and help organizations better meet the challenges of service excellence.”
30 July 2026
Category
Stories of Impact
