Manny Lara is 17 year HR leader and professional mostly in the healthcare industry having worked for large healthcare system such Ascension Health, Mayo Clinic and Advocate Aurora Health. Manny is now the Chief HR Officer for Bartolotta Restaurants implementing and managing the people operations for 17 locations, over 500 staff with an annual revenue of $32 million.  

Manny also provides HR guidance and solutions on HR Operations, including staffing, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for several non-profit organizations in the Milwaukee area (Meta House, Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce, Renaissance Theatrerworks and  Arts@Large).  

He is also a co-founder for a startup company called WorkShift, which provide real-time, last minute staffing solutions for the restaurant and hospitality industry.  They were recently recognized in the Milwaukee BizTimes as innovation runner up in 2020 and awarded a grant from the MKE Tech Hub Coalition.

Manny is a Marquette Undergrad (’96) and Graduate (’03) and served (7) years as a Navy officer prior to entering the HR profession.  Manny hails from the Chicago area but Milwaukee has been home for the past (20) years and is a father of (3) (Madeline, Owen and Isabella).