Joe Laprade
Learning Program Manager
People want to excel, to do the right thing, to see themselves as an integral piece of something wonderful, something bigger, something beautiful. I’m here for all of it.
Hired
- 2020
Location
- Redmond, WA
Expertise
- HR
- Lab/Testing Services
As an enthusiastic and lifelong learner, Joe is ideally suited for his responsibilities as learning program manager. Joe produces insightful educational courses and technical training for GeoEngineers staff at all levels. His passion for people and diverse technical background give Joe the tools to help his colleagues grow.
“Having a highly educated workforce is a fantastic starting point,” Joe says. “My goal is to help move that forward to expand horizons, competencies, and new skills. I enjoy the challenge of helping people be the best people they can be. That’s what HR is all about.”
Joe leans on his broad educational and work experience for his knowledge of both people and soil. As the son of an engineering geologist, Joe spent his childhood years exploring soil labs and getting a hands-on understanding of Pacific Northwest geology. Years later, Joe took a job as a lab technician and put his many years of informal experience to work and worked his way into soils lab management.
“The interesting thing about working in the lab environment for so long is how many different people you can interact with and learn from across the entirety of operations,” Joe says. “It gives you a deep sense of how people work within the organization and how the organization works with and for the people.”
Joe has built a career around his unique blend of technical and behavioral expertise, going on to specialize in organizational safety, QA/QC systems, and professional development. His interest in people motivated Joe to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology with an emphasis on behavioral understanding. As safety director at a Seattle consulting firm, Joe developed policies and programs to support employees in the office and the field while protecting the company. Joe balanced his safety responsibilities with soil analysis, even serving on several ASTM International soil and rock committees during his 20-plus years in the lab. In 2020, Joe brought his experience to GeoEngineers to build up the firm’s technical training program.
“My history has helped me foster connections that strike at the heart of what’s important to people, what’s meaningful both inside the organization and in their personal lives,” Joe says. “People want to excel, to do the right thing, to see themselves as a beautiful piece of something wonderful—something bigger. I’m here for all of it.”
Joe’s diverse interests and skills go far beyond his expertise in human resources and soils. From age eight to eighteen, Joe was on track for a career in ballet—until a fractured lumbar modified his plans. Still, Joe says he appreciates the breadth of his liberal arts upbringing, which included prestigious ballet schools in New York and San Francisco, participating in the International Mathematical Olympiad, winning solo flute competitions, and playing soccer, baseball, and basketball. These days, most of Joe’s free time is spent with his family.
“I like to let my kids dictate all my free time! I say that jokingly but also lovingly—my wife and my girls are my everything,” Joe says. “My curiosity for every aspect of this short life is genuine and deeply important to me in all facets of my growth and getting to see that spark grow in my girls is truly a gift. I love being in the thick of it all and fully involved in doing as much as I can with all the love I have.”
