Sandra Charton

Sandra Charton has had an impressive and interesting career. She served as Counsel for the National Association of Government Employees/International Brotherhood of Police Officers, a large multi-faceted labor union, and was then recruited to practice labor and employment law at a Boston law firm. After working several years at the law firm, Sandra accepted a position as Labor and Employment Counsel at Boston Medical Center. Working in such a fast-paced and complex environment made Sandra recognize the importance of positive employee/employer relations and also enabled her to combine the expertise she developed in previous positions with her newer skills.

In order to further her transformation to a career as a Human Resources professional, Sandra Charton embraced a new role as the Director of Human Resources at a private psychiatric hospital outside Boston. In this position, she had the opportunity to become involved in all aspects of Human Resources by directly overseeing the hospital’s day to day personnel operations. Sandra played an integral role in the areas of employee development and training, labor relations, and legal compliance. Sandra left this position only because she was asked to serve as the Senior Staff Representative for Management at the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Joint Labor-Management Committee, an Alternative Dispute Resolution agency which focused on resolving impasses between employers and labor unions. After unparalleled success in that role, Sandra was invited to serve as the Director of Human Resources and Operations at Genesys Research Institute, Inc., a nonprofit research facility, before moving on as an Associate with the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She also served as the Chief Human Resource Officer for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.

Nobody who knows Sandra is at all surprised that she chose a career that combines her passion for developing human capital with her legal expertise. A Myers-Briggs Extravert, she finds fulfillment in working with people and has become known for her ability to draw upon her wide-ranging skill set while doing so. Working in Human Resources requires the ability to be adept in a number of different areas. On any given day, Sandra’s work calls for her to use,among other talents, her analytical skills, her communication skills and her conflict resolution skills to solve problems in ways that are productive, practical and efficient.

Sandra Charton truly enjoys the “employment processing” parts of Human Resources – i.e., recruiting, onboarding and training employees. She is also excited about opportunities to develop creative, workable and effective solutions to conflicts that arise in the workplace. Sandra understands that because most of us spend so much time and energy working, making the workplace environment a welcome and positive space benefits employers, employees and stakeholders in innumerable ways. As a Human Resources professional, Sandra is proud of the role she can play in guiding and enhancing the culture of diverse organizations.

Sandra Charton earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Boston University School of Law after graduating from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies. Sandra is also a graduate of Hunter College High School, a rigorous public exam school in New York City. She currently serves as the secretary for the Boston chapter of LERA (Labor and Employment Relations Association), which is an organization dedicated to bringing together professionals interested in all aspects of labor and employment relations in order to network, learn about new developments, and share ideas.

Sandra is writing these articles in her personal capacity. The views expressed are her own.