People Connector
Age: 35
Title: Associate Director of Talent Acquisition
Name of Organization: AbbVie
Leo Ibarra currently leads teams supporting AbbVie’s research and development business. His job is to bring a strategic approach to attracting top talent to the company.
Ibarra is passionate about connecting people. And he is a strategic and innovative talent acquisition leader with a career spanning various geographies and industries.
Whether partnering with business leaders, diversity organizations, or colleges and universities, his team is dedicated to ensuring every hire and candidate has an exceptional experience with AbbVie.
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Ibarra is also passionate about challenging those he partners with to think differently, to seek out diversity, and create opportunities for the often underserved or underrepresented communities. He believes this is the level of commitment necessary to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is also what is needed to drive meaningful change and results.
He is a part of AbbVie’s Latino employee resource groups and plays a lead role in their human resources Latinx culture circle. This team is dedicated to helping AbbVie hire, retain, develop, and promote Latinx HR professionals.
Outside of AbbVie, he has held director roles for the Association of Latino Professionals For America in Chicago and Phoenix. He has served as a mentor and big brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters and YearUp, an organization committed to closing the opportunity gap for underserved youths. He has been a contributing member of the United Negro College Fund, including helping to organize teams for their annual Chicago 5k. Most recently, Ibarra joined the associated board for Culinary Care, an organization seeking to help patients and families battling cancer.
He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and human resources from Lewis University and is currently pursuing an MBA from the University of Illinois.
Leo was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. He is the son of immigrant parents from Michoacan and Durango and was raised by a single mother. Growing up he saw firsthand the hard work, passion, and dedication that immigrants from all over the world bring to the United States.
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