Human Resources
Mission
Human Resources supports the City of Providence in achieving its strategic and operational priorities through the use and development of effective policymaking, benefit administration, and fiscal stewardship, making the City a workplace where employees are and feel valued, accepted, and accountable to high standards of public service and operational efficiency.
Vision
Our vision is to have an innovative, diverse, and dedicated workforce that effectively serves the needs of our residents and businesses, making Providence a City that works.
Emmanuel R. Echevarria
Chief Human Resources Officer
Echevarria leads strategy and operations for all HR functions, including employee benefits, workers compensation, personnel, equal employment opportunity, training, performance, and administration. His focus has been on organizational development and employee engagement, working with employees at all levels to identify service, performance, and systems efficiencies, while implementing practices that foster diversity throughout different teams and equity as a foundation for HR. Echevarria sees HR as a vehicle to improving the employee experience, and the value of the services the City provides its residents and businesses.
Echevarria’s public service started after graduating from Rhode Island College in 2010, where he majored in history and political science. He started with the RI Office of Minority Health working on influenza mitigation planning. Echevarria then moved into case management, expanding clients’ access to mental and behavioral health services. In 2012, Echevarria was appointed to design and lead Rhode Island’s Consumer Assistance Program, an ombudsman service entrusted to provide consumer protections from insurers failing to cover medically necessary services or follow federal health insurance design requirements. He joined the City in 2015, where before becoming CHRO, Echevarria served as Chief Innovation and Performance Officer, leading process improvement and digitization efforts, such as online business permitting, citywide.
Ashley Fioravanti
Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer
Fioravanti serves as Deputy to the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and works with the operational human resources divisions to support key deliverables like employment, employee and labor relations, classification and compensation, workers compensation, employee safety, and benefits while working with the CHRO on the annual budget process and citywide policies and practices that aim to aid the development of a complex and diverse public sector organization. Fioravanti finds the field of human resources inspiring and is focused on making quality improvements to the HR operation. Fioravanti’s work is inspired by her witnessing HR’s involvement throughout the complete employee trajectory with the City, from the moment they are hired through their promotions, benefit changes, and ultimately their departure, and aims to create systems and processes that support their growth and development.
Born and raised in Providence, Fioravanti is a graduate of Providence College, where she majored in psychology, and holds a master’s degree in human resource management from Saint Mary’s University in Minnesota. Fioravanti has worked her way up in the City’s Department of Human Resources, from her beginnings in benefits, to workers compensation, personnel, and ultimately being promoted into confidential and management positions in the administrative offices. Before being appointed Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer, Fioravanti oversaw the Personnel and Compensation division.