Carla Harris, CEO
Carla Harris, CEO
A woman on a mission.
Carla Harris loves people! Doing what she can to help people become even better versions of themselves has been the foundation of her 25+ year career in coaching and leadership development services.
As the CEO & Managing Director of The People Institute, Carla's sole mission is to help companies and organizations serve clients better by focusing on the dynamics of workplace culture and cultivating synergy across teams. Formerly known as ImageWorks, Carla embarked on her journey in 1997 when she founded the company to assist C-level executives further enhance their professional image in order to be more effective in their roles. In 2018, ImageWorks became The People Institute in order to further align Carla's quest of leading the charge to shift organizational focus from the bottom line to the heart of the people who influence the organizational productivity. "People are the heartbeat of any organization. Focus on the people and the performance will come," Carla says, as her background in assisting both public and private-sector clients have continuously fueled her calling to help others show up as their absolute best.
In 2020 Carla began hosting the Racial Awareness & Cultural Equity (R.A.C.E.) Town Halls to address the lack of structural diversity in companies, government agencies, and community organizations. As a result of the town halls, The People Institute created the Shift the Culture of Corporate Diversity Challenge which is a six-month challenge companies can accept to proactively move forward in becoming a 21st Century Workplace.
Carla was is the first image consultant in the South Florida market to draw a parallel between image consulting and professional development and she continues to do so with great success. Her pioneering work and ability to demonstrate a positive outcome in bridging the gap between two independent disciplines has changed the very framework of the workforce development industry, and has greatly impacted how human service organizations work with citizens in the community to prepare them for work. In her book FaithWorks: an Innovative Approach to Workforce Development, Carla shares ideas about changing human services for the betterment of the citizens who also happens to be humans first.