Ashley Bendell was scrolling through his LinkedIn feed one day in 2024 when he stumbled on a video that stood out from the sea of posts.

The video was of a speaker at an HR industry event. But unlike most speakers at HR industry events, this one was, well, funny. Bendell was struck by his comedic talents, and his impersonations of celebrities and fictional characters as HR pros. (Who could possibly be better equipped to terminate employees than the Terminator himself?)

Bendell connected with the speaker, Peter Phelan, an HR headhunter who founded a consultancy called ValuesCulture. From there, they developed a friendship, and eventual partnership, starting a pop-up HR comedy show called Funny People in March 2025. Their open-mic nights, featuring HR pros, have taken over bars across New York City.

“[It’s] an open mic for us all to share funny stories, or to try standup, and ultimately, to have a laugh,” Bendell said. “Sometimes people will just get up and have a really hard story to share about their personal lives, or their health, [or] some hilarious stuff that actually happens at work that you wouldn’t believe until someone told you.”

For more on the comedic duo behind Funny People, keep reading here.—MC

This past year was the year of the sequel—and we’re not just talking about the hotly anticipated Wicked: For Good. The anti-DEI wave in 2024 was followed by another in 2025, one that brought with it government directives that resulted in some employers backing off from decades of their DEI programming.

Despite this, most companies still believe DEI initiatives are important, and practitioners are hopeful the work will continue in 2026.

For more on how the past year shaped DEI, and what the future may hold, keep reading here.—KP

Drumroll, please! The biggest HR move of the year goes to…Kristin Cabot, who stepped down from her role as the CPO of Astronomer after the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert broadcast her relationship with CEO Andy Byron to Gillette Stadium—and the world.

While most other HR moves didn’t make quite as big of a splash this year, there are still a number of runners up worth mentioning.

For more on the biggest HR moves in 2025, keep reading here.—MC