Praveena Gregory recognized for payroll leadership and innovation

Praveena Gregory, Senior Payroll Manager at KinderCare in Glendale, Arizona, is being recognized for more than 20 years of payroll experience, technology expertise and a focus on accurate, compliant pay for about 45,000 employees. Her work centers on payroll optimization, leadership and helping organizations adapt to changing payroll systems and regulations.

Why it matters: - Praveena Gregory oversees payroll for about 45,000 weekly and bi-weekly KinderCare employees, making payroll accuracy and timeliness a direct issue for thousands of workers. - Her work combines payroll operations, compliance and process automation, which affects both employee trust and business efficiency. - The recognition from Influential Women highlights payroll leadership as a strategic function, not just an administrative one.

What happened: - Influential Women recognized Praveena Gregory, Senior Payroll Manager at KinderCare, for leadership and innovation in payroll. - Gregory works in Glendale, Arizona, and leads payroll processing through the Workday platform. - She also drives payroll optimization efforts aimed at improving efficiency, compliance and the employee experience.

The details: - Gregory manages payroll for KinderCare, one of the largest early childhood education and child care providers in the United States. - She oversees weekly and bi-weekly payroll cycles for approximately 45,000 employees. - Gregory brings more than 20 years of payroll experience to the role. - She holds the Certified Payroll Professional designation. - Gregory also holds Workday certifications in Payroll, Reporting and Time and Attendance. - She is an active member of the Payroll Leader Network. - Gregory began her career in the Fiji Islands as a cashier and payroll clerk at a handicraft store in the tourism industry. - She discovered her interest in payroll while personally distributing employee paychecks. - After relocating to the United States, Gregory continued building her expertise through professional development. - She attended Indian College and Methodist School in Fiji. - Gregory describes accurate payroll on time, every time as her guiding principle. - She says compliance with payroll regulations, tax laws and organizational policies is central to her work. - Gregory advises young women entering payroll to believe in themselves and persist through challenges. - She lives by the philosophy: “Be grateful when things go your way, and be graceful if they do not.”

Between the lines: - Gregory’s career path reflects a broader shift in payroll from manual processing to technology-driven operations. - Her emphasis on change management suggests that automation alone is not enough without employee and process adoption. - The recognition also frames payroll as a trust function, where errors can have immediate personal and organizational consequences.

What's next: - Gregory sees opportunities to optimize and automate manual payroll functions while maintaining compliance. - She expects change management to remain one of the biggest challenges as new technologies and business processes reshape payroll work. - Her focus will likely remain on balancing efficiency with accuracy as payroll systems continue evolving.

The bottom line: - Praveena Gregory’s recognition points to the growing importance of payroll leaders who can pair technical expertise with operational discipline and people-first leadership. - Her role at KinderCare shows how payroll now sits at the intersection of compliance, automation and employee experience.

More information: Praveena Gregory’s Influential Women profile