Johnson County Government has selected  Kayla Holloway to serve as its next director of human resources. Holloway begins work at the county today after more than 25 years of experience as an HR professional, with HR strategy a focus of her leadership journey over the past 15 years.

Penny Postoak Ferguson, county manager, said the county received hundreds of applications for the director position, but Holloway’s rose to the top.

“Kayla’s experience and knowledge, combined with her understanding and alignment with our culture, made her a top candidate,” Postoak Ferguson said.

Most recently, Holloway served as senior vice president of human resources/development director for Central Bank of the Midwest in Lee’s Summit. Before her 19 years at Central Bank, Holloway worked at Home State Bank and Trust in McPherson, Kansas, and Pizza Hut International in Wichita.

Holloway was drawn to public service as a long-time Johnson County resident. “I wanted to join a team committed to providing meaningful experiences for others in this place we’ve called home for nearly 25 years,” she said.

She and her husband moved to Overland Park in 1998 with two small children and then added two more. “We raised four beautiful children here and have benefited from many of the wonderful services Johnson County offered,” she said.

Her identified areas of expertise include:

• Leadership and professional development
• HR operations and analytics
• Culture and communications
• Organizational effectiveness
• Talent management