Maria Scarangella

I am an advocate for women’s leadership development. I understand the challenges working women face. I have been married to her husband Michael for 35 years and raised three daughters as a working mother.

I am a dynamic senior leader with decades of experience in business operations and human resources. As the President of Scarangella Consulting LLC., I am a thought leader focused on talent strategy, leadership development, data-driven decision-making, and executive coaching. I lead workshops on Building Trust, Change Management, Purpose, Culture and Team building. I work with Start-ups and growing companies to build their infrastructure for success.

I recently retired from my role as the VP of Talent and Enterprise Learning at GEICO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc, after 37 years to launch my business. My expertise includes executive management, strategic planning, creative problem solving, P&L management, workforce planning, organizational design, talent management, coaching, performance improvement, learning & development, and change management. I led large-scale teams in operations and corporate departments and multimillion-dollar initiatives that increased revenue, reduced costs, and improved customer and employee experiences.

As the VP of Talent and Enterprise Learning, I found creative solutions to ambiguous problems. I designed the infrastructure, frameworks, and policies for employment branding, advertising, recruiting, selection, onboarding, and training for all seventeen company locations. My team drove the transformation of learning to create an entertaining, engaging way to learn insurance for 40,000 associates. Capitalizing on the intersection of learning and technology, we converted instructor-led training to a brand-aligned personalized learner-driven experience. The programs incorporated virtual reality practice, artificial intelligence speech coaching, and smart simulations to apply learning and verify skill development in a psychologically safe environment for leadership and technical skill development.

As the Underwriting AVP, I oversaw insurance operations for seven states. She managed $2.5 billion in written premiums, 1.4 million customers, 400,000 new sales per year, and led a 700+ person team. We delivered 20% customer growth each year for five consecutive years.

I hold an MBA from Adelphi University, BS in Business Management from St. John’s University, Certifications from Harvard University in Executive Communication, Change Management from Cornell University, Strengthening Advocacy from UC Berkley, and am a Co-Active Trained Coach. She earned multiple awards for innovation, quality, process improvements, and sales. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Advancing Women Executives (AWE), Executive Networks (EN), the Association for Talent Development (ATD), and WSJ Women.