Save your seat for Monday's CHRO Roundtable + SHRM26 takeaways + this week's St. Louis HR moves.

Friday, June 19, 2026

Today we honor Freedom Day — and recommit to workplaces where every professional can lead, serve, and rise.

Register before Monday · June 22 · 8:30 AM · RGA HQ

This week: takeaways from SHRM's national conference, how to plug into mentorship right now, what's shifting in HR, and who's cutting jobs across St. Louis.

SMPHR Mentorship · Now open

Find your mentor — in about two minutes.

Mentorship runs on SMPHR Connect, self-serve and always open. Join with your personal or company email and start browsing mentors today.

🎤 SHRM26 · Orlando · in review

HR's biggest stage, decoded

~25,000 HR pros · 375+ sessions. John Maxwell opened on leadership resilience; Oprah Winfrey closed on leading with vision. The throughline: AI is no longer experimental — it's now structurally embedded across HR.

of employers now subsidize AI tools — a +17-pt jump YoY, the biggest shift in SHRM's 2026 Benefits Survey, which also began tracking GLP-1 coverage and "work-from-anywhere" perks.

"The vocabulary of inclusion may be changing, but the need for fair, high-performing workforce systems is not."

— SHRM I&D Council, SHRM26 main stage

Did you attend SHRM26?

Tell us your biggest takeaway — we'll share the best with the community in the next Rewind.

📰 This week in HR

📍 St. Louis · market moves

What's happening to local talent — and where SMPHR members can step in to help.

🎬 Watch · 2026 HR trends

CHRO Roundtable: How Does HR Stay at the Table?

Monday, June 22 · 8:30 AM · RGA Headquarters, 16600 Swingley Ridge Road, Chesterfield, MO 63017

The SMPHR Blog · Coming soon

Insights, straight from our leaders

Real talk on HR, leadership, and building a multicultural workforce — kicking off with a note from our co-presidents.

The people behind SMPHR

14 HR leaders across St. Louis — volunteers powering mentorship, events, and community.