Andy Almeter is President and CEO of Leath HR Group, a strategic HR consulting firm helping organizations across North America build stronger businesses by designing stronger systems. His leadership philosophy is rooted in a simple belief: sustainable business performance is created when organizational systems, leadership, and people are intentionally aligned.
Long before leading executive teams, Andy studied how complex systems function. As a published systems ecologist and former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Research Fellow, his research focused on understanding the relationships that drive performance within dynamic environments. That scientific foundation continues to shape his leadership today—bringing analytical rigor, systems thinking, and evidence-based decision making to organizational strategy.
Andy later translated those principles into operational leadership in healthcare, serving as Divisional Business Operations Leader for Novant Health. There he led business operations strategy for more than 90 business units and over 800 employees, overseeing large-scale growth initiatives, operational transformation, workforce strategy, and regional emergency response. The experience reinforced what data alone cannot explain: every successful strategy ultimately depends on people.
Today, Andy has combined those two disciplines—the science of systems and the art of leadership—to guide Leath HR Group’s unique consulting model. Under his leadership, the firm has expanded across the United States and Canada while developing nationally recognized expertise in healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofits, professional services, and the skilled trades. Rather than delivering transactional HR support, Leath HR Group embeds senior executive HR leaders within client organizations to strengthen leadership, improve organizational performance, and create workplaces where both businesses and employees thrive.
Andy is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s College of Science and Engineering, along with graduate certificates in Policy, Data Analytics, and Lean Process Design. A licensed pilot and Certified EMT, he has served his community in search-and-rescue and emergency response roles for more than two decades.
He currently serves as Board Chair of United Way of the Cape Fear Area, is a board member of Lower Cape Fear LifeCare, serves on the Advisory Board of New Hanover Cooperative Extension, and is a founding board member of the New Hanover Disaster Coalition. Andy has been recognized as a “Biz100”, a “Forty under 40” and was nominated as a “Healthcare Hero” for his leadership and innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When he’s not working with clients or serving his community, Andy can usually be found on the water with his wife and two daughters, continuing his lifelong fascination with exploring the natural systems that first inspired his career.