Essen Otu
Senior Manager, People & Culture, Salt River Project
Essen Otu is a visionary and transformative leader with a track record of building engaged, inclusive, and sustainable cultures with a diverse career spanning healthcare, utility, government, and non-profit sectors.
Currently, Essen serves as the Senior Manager for People & Culture at Salt River Project (SRP), where he leads a team dedicated to fostering a workplace culture where inclusion enhances performance, and every team member is seen, engaged, and valued.
Before joining Salt River Project (SRP), Essen dedicated over a decade to the healthcare industry, where he oversaw inclusion, community, and public affairs strategies through three-fold health system growth.
Essen holds an undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and a graduate degree from Baruch College in New York.
He is a proud graduate of the Valley Leadership program, a Phoenix Business Journal 40 Under 40 award recipient, and an alumnus of the Virginia G. Piper Fellowship program. Essen contributes to the community through his role as a Founder of the REAP philanthropic giving circle, a Governing Council member for Valleywise Health, and a board member at the Arizona Community Foundation.