Austin, Texas, United States, August 2026 — 8am has appointed Lorraine Vargas Townsend as its Chief People Officer, strengthening its executive leadership team as the company continues to scale its professional business platform and invest in building a high-performing, people-first culture.
Lorraine brings more than 25 years of global human resources leadership experience across technology, SaaS, healthcare, and enterprise software organizations. In her new role, she will lead 8am’s global people strategy, focusing on talent development, organizational effectiveness, leadership capability, employee experience, and culture as the company continues its next phase of growth.
Prior to joining 8am, Lorraine served as Executive Advisor at ESO, following nearly five years with the company, including as Chief People Officer. During her tenure, she led the organization’s global people strategy, helping drive talent development, culture transformation, and organizational growth. Before ESO, she was Chief People Guru at A Cloud Guru, where she played a key role in advancing the company’s people-first culture during a period of rapid expansion.
Earlier, Lorraine served as Chief People Officer at Mendix, where she embedded a people-first philosophy into every stage of the employee lifecycle, aligning career development, leadership capability, and organizational culture with business growth. She also held the position of Senior Vice President, Global Head of Human Resources at athenahealth, leading a comprehensive HR transformation focused on employee experience, workforce capability, and data-driven people strategies.
Her earlier career includes nearly a decade with Schneider Electric, where she held several global leadership roles including Vice President Human Resources, Director Strategic Workforce Planning, Executive Development Program Director, and Human Resources Manager, leading global workforce planning, executive development, leadership programs, and HR strategy. She also held leadership positions at TE Connectivity, Spherion Workforce Architects, and Dell, building deep expertise across talent management, workforce planning, organizational development, and business transformation.
With extensive experience spanning people strategy, organizational transformation, leadership development, workforce planning, culture, executive coaching, and global HR operations, Lorraine is well positioned to lead 8am’s people agenda as the company continues to innovate and expand.
About 8am
Founded in 2005, 8am™ (formerly AffiniPay) is a professional business platform designed to help legal, accounting, and other client-focused professionals manage and grow their businesses more effectively.
The platform brings together trusted solutions including LawPay, MyCase, CasePeer, DocketWise, CPACharge, and ClientPay, enabling professionals to manage practice operations, accept payments, serve clients, and drive business growth through an integrated technology ecosystem. Today, more than 250,000 professionals across the United States rely on 8am to work more efficiently, deliver better client experiences, and unlock new opportunities for growth.
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