Reba Elder
Technology, Kforce Inc
“At the end of the day, although we are a business, we are helping people.”
Reba Elder has been named to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, the annual award recognizing the 100 most exceptional leaders and practitioners in talent acquisition. Honorees are selected by the Talent 100 committee from thousands of nominations and candidates across the industry, chosen for the impact of their work, the depth of their craft, and their influence on the future of recruiting. This is Reba's story.
For Reba Elder, Market Manager, Client Relationship Executive, Technology at Kforce Inc, recruiting began with an unexpected shift from sales, admissions, and training into the world of staffing. The path was not one she mapped out in advance, but each step added a skill she would later put to work on behalf of clients and candidates alike.
After college, she started her career in mattress sales before moving into admissions for a for-profit trade school in the allied healthcare space. There, she helped prospective students explore programs, understand career paths, and take concrete steps toward their futures. She became an admissions representative, then relocated to Denver to manage a team and train admissions recruiters across the organization, work that gave her an early foundation in recruiting long before she officially entered the staffing industry. “I loved the ability to train, help people, and align them with opportunities,” Reba recalls.
After several years in Denver, a former colleague encouraged her to explore staffing at Kforce. At first, Reba did not know much about the industry, but the more she learned, the more she realized how transferable her skills were. She joined Kforce in Kansas City and quickly found a career path that combined relationship-building, problem-solving, business understanding, and helping people find meaningful opportunities. “I wish I had known about it way before,” she says.
Making the Right Connections
Today, Reba works in a hybrid market manager role at Kforce, operating on the sales side while managing her own portfolio of customers. Her work centers on connecting with HR, talent acquisition, business, and technology leaders to understand their goals, challenges, and hiring needs, then helping those clients identify talent for projects, fill capability gaps, and solve business problems through the right people.
The most energizing part of the job, she says, is making those connections. “At the end of the day, although we are a business, we are helping people,” she says. That help goes both ways: Kforce supports clients by finding the talent they need, while also helping candidates discover their next opportunity.
Along the way, the work has stretched her in ways she did not anticipate. Over the years, Reba has gained a deeper understanding of business, technology, consulting, and the many ways talent can shape an organization’s success. “I never thought I would understand business and technology to the extent that I do,” she says.
Learning Through Leadership
Looking back, Reba credits several leaders with shaping her growth. One of the earliest was Chris Volker, her first regional leader at Kforce, who promoted her into the market manager role and gave her the opportunity to grow faster within the industry. He helped her step into leadership, mentor others, and gain broader exposure across the firm. “He enabled me to be a leader, to learn, to coach, and to train,” Reba says.
Another influential leader was Alex Donley, who empowered Reba to use her voice, build relationships, and connect across the organization. With that support, she gained visibility across Kforce and developed relationships well beyond her local Kansas City market.
She also points to Jackie Coleman as someone she deeply admires. The two worked together for years through leadership changes and market shifts, and Jackie encouraged Reba to stay at Kforce during a time when she might have considered leaving. “She saw my future going somewhere,” Reba says. Her current leader, Katie Bizzle, has played a major role in her development as well. Reba describes Katie as one of the strongest operational leaders she has worked with, someone who provides the structure, support, and trust that experienced professionals need to thrive.
Across all of them, one theme stands out. “They trusted me to learn quickly and run on my own,” Reba says.
Using Technology to Work Smarter
As technology and AI continue reshaping recruiting, Reba has seen the impact most clearly in efficiency. At Kforce, technology helps teams connect with contacts, update information, and better align talent with open roles, while on the candidate side, data and tools help match profiles to opportunities more quickly.
Even so, she believes technology is only part of the equation. AI can make the process faster, but human judgment remains essential when evaluating fit, personality, and the nuances that do not always appear on paper. “There’s obviously the human element on the back end,” she says. For Reba, the value of technology is not replacing recruiters; it is giving them better tools to serve clients and candidates more effectively.
Advice for Talent Leaders Heading into 2026
As talent leaders navigate a fast-moving market, Reba’s advice is grounded in partnership. “Trust your partners,” she says. Successful hiring, in her view, depends on transparency, collaboration, and communication, and the best outcomes happen when leaders are open about their goals, challenges, talent needs, and where they have flexibility. Whether the relationship is with an external partner like Kforce or an internal business partner, she believes strong relationships make the hiring process more effective. “The market is tough,” she says. “You never know when you’re going to need to tap someone on the shoulder for support.”
She also encourages leaders not to view staffing and recruiting partners as purely transactional. When trust is built and both sides understand the business, hiring becomes more efficient, more strategic, and more human. By combining relationship-building, business understanding, technology, and a deep commitment to helping people, Reba Elder represents the kind of talent leader who turns recruiting into meaningful connection.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Reba. We are honored to welcome Reba Elder to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Reba. Welcome to the Talent 100.
About the Talent 100
The Talent 100 is an annual list spotlighting the leaders who push HR and talent acquisition forward, organized by Noon AI. Honorees are selected through peer nominations and independent selection committees. Selection is entirely merit-based, with no fees or pay-to-play requirements.
