Community Options has hired Stacey Verdino as senior vice president of human resources. 

Company officials say she will lead a strategic HR process that can help the company maintain its competitive advantage and effectively retain its employees. 

Before joining Community Options, Verdino served as director of human resources at Amicus Therapeutics. Community Option’s President and CEO Robert Stack is friends with Amicus head John Crowley, whose life story became the basis of the film "Extraordinary Measures" starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser.

Amicus was formed after Crowley’s twins were diagnosed with a rare condition called Pompe disease. He and his family have long supported Community Options and its advocacy “to empower people with disabilities.”

“Stacey learned from John [Crowley] the value that persons with disabilities bring to society and will augment her knowledge and this ethos to our human resource department that manages over 5,200 employees nationwide," Stack said. 

Verdino graduated from Rutgers University with high honors and is finishing her master’s degree there. She is a member of BioNJ and the Society for Human Resource Management.