Business Acumen

Suz Graf O'Donnell
strategic initiatives advisor
Point B
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Suz helps companies achieve, sustain and outperform their desired goals. She works primarily with executives pressured with the need to implement successful change and growth initiatives. Suz and her team help them excite and engage both employees and customers so their initiative is a roaring success.  

Suz’s business advice is featured by Forbes monthly and she’s also been quoted by, U.S. News & World Report, Time, Harvard Business Review, and many more. Suz leads workshops called Stop Speaking HR. Start Speaking Business Results, which help HR teams get more time, budget, and respect from functional business line leaders. 

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 - 2:15pm to 3:30pm
LaFern K. Batie
professional speaker/author, business strategist & executive coach
The Batie Group
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As a Business Strategist and Executive Coach, LaFern Batie leads The Batie Group, LLC, a business consulting and leadership development firm serving organizations around the globe. With extensive Fortune 500 corporate leadership experience and widely recognized expertise, she works with international organizations and leaders across diverse industries to maximize their collective and individual performance. Leaders value her high business acumen, ability to quickly connect with teams, thorough and efficient approach to identifying challenges and commitment to helping them achieve results that exceed their expectations. 

Follow LaFern on Twitter @LaFernBatie.
 

SESSIONS:
Dinesh Sheth
founder & CEO
Green Circle Health
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Dinesh Sheth is founder and CEO of Green Circle Health (GCH), a human resources (HR) engagement and health technology platform provider that leverages the latest advances in information, communication and social technologies to enhance the organizational productivity and improve healthcare outcomes through holistic wellbeing of families.

A serial entrepreneur, Sheth has successfully executed several company launches – both domestic and abroad – across multiple industries, including information technology, financial services and telecommunications. Prior to GCH, Sheth co-founded uMonitor-Parsam Technologies, where he served as CEO until its acquisition by a fortune 500 company. Sheth led uMonitor’s growth for over 10 years. Sheth served as president of Software Resource Consultants, which he co-founded and was responsible for its day-to-day operations. Sheth holds a MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago and a master’s in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

 

SESSIONS:
Matt Harmon
Vice President, Benefits, Compensation, and HR Systems Customer Satisfaction
AutoZone
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Matthew joined AutoZone Inc. in September of 2014 as the Director of Benefits, Customer Satisfaction.  Subsequently, he is now Vice President, Benefits, Compensation, and HR Systems Customer Satisfaction and is primarily responsible for strategically driving a culture of wellbeing through healthcare consumerism, financial wellness, and productivity while ensuring the right HR systems and processes are in place to drive the business forward. Harmon is responsible for a team of nearly 30 HR professional’s enabling strategy, design, delivery, systems, reporting, and vendor management coast to coast in all states with some global components. 

Having nearly 20 years of experience in benefits and total rewards Harmon is extremely involved in the benefits community including current appointments as the Chair of the Benefits Council for World at Work, the Client Advisory Council for CVS Health, and the IBI Board of Directors. 

His prior experience includes over 5 years at J.C. Penney Co. where in recognition of his outstanding work, he was awarded Business Insurance Magazine’s 2013 Benefits Manager of the Year and received JCPenney’s Chairman’s Award of Excellence in 2009.   Before JCPenney, Harmon spent nearly 11 years as a benefits practitioner at Hewitt Associates, now Aon Hewitt, in many and varied benefits administration and consultative roles working with small to jumbo clients.  Matthew’s unique, high energy and consumer focused approach to benefits leads organizations through cross functional teams to creating better benefits and business results.

Although originally from Tennessee, Harmon earned undergraduate degrees in Finance and Business Management from the University of Florida where he graduated with Honors.

 

SESSIONS:
Margaret P. Spence
president/CEO
C. Douglas & Associates, Inc
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Margaret Spence is the founder of The Employee to CEO Project and CEO of C. Douglas & Associates. Inc. It is her mission to champion the advancement of women into executive leadership. Her new book, Leadership Self-Transformation ask women two simple questions, what do you want from your career and why don’t you have it now? It’s her feeling that you cannot get the corner office until you get clear about what you want and why you want it.  Margaret is a keynote speaker, leadership development coach, corporate consultant, and the author of three books. Learn more about Margaret at her website: www.MargaretSpence.com

 

 

SESSIONS:
Jennifer Lee
Director of Learning and Development
JB Training Solutions
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Jennifer Lee is an experienced keynote speaker, engaging educator, and talented facilitator. Jennifer has over 15 years of learning and development experience with a robust background in luxury hospitality, human resources, and training. As the former Learning and Development Director at the AAA Five Diamond-rated Waldorf Astoria Chicago and the former Learning Manager at The Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, Jennifer brings a rich perspective in leadership, management, service, hospitality and presentation skills training. When she’s not presenting, Jennifer can be found checking items off her bucket list, which still includes attending the Oscars at least once in her lifetime.

SESSIONS:
Catherine Mattice, SHRM-SCP
Founder & CEO
Civility Partners
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Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the founder/CEO of Civility Partners, a strategic organizational development firm focused on helping organizations create respectful workplace cultures and specializing in turning around toxic cultures. Civility Partners’ clients range from Fortune 500's to small businesses across many industries. Catherine is a TEDx speaker and an HR thought-leader who has appeared in such venues as USA Today, Bloomberg, CNN, NPR, and many other national news outlets as an expert. She’s an award-winning speaker and blogger, author of three books, and she has 50+ courses reaching global audiences on LinkedIn Learning.

 

SESSIONS:
Kevin Cope
Personal Pronouns
He/Him/His
Founder & CEO
Acumen Learning
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Kevin Cope is the #1 Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling author of Seeing the Big Picture: Business Acumen to Build Your Credibility, Career, and Company. A renowned trainer and speaker, Kevin has spent the last 25 years working with top organizations including 30 Fortune 50 companies. His 5 Business Drivers model and ideas, shared with millions through his book, articles, and courses, have been praised for being relevant and actionable; they help you come to the table prepared.

 

SESSIONS:
Amanda Haddaway
Managing Director
HR Answerbox
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Amanda Haddaway is an award-winning HR consultant and corporate trainer. In her role as the managing director of HR Answerbox, she serves small businesses and start-ups as a talent optimization expert. She has more than 40,000 hours of experience in HR and holds the two highest professional certifications, SPHR and SHRM-SCP, as well as a Master of Jurisprudence degree in Labor and Employment Law from Tulane University Law School, a Master’s degree from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree from James Madison University.

She has been recognized as the Most Influential Woman in HR Training - USA by Acquisition International and the Gamechanger of the Year (US-East Coast) by ACQ Global Awards.

She is also the creator of New Manager Bootcamp and the author of two books.

 
SESSIONS:
Monday, June 18, 2018 - 2:00pm to 3:15pm
Shane Yount
President
Competitive Solutions, Inc.
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Shane A. Yount is a nationally recognized thought leader, author, and President of Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), an international Business Transformation consulting firm that pioneered the acclaimed organizational development system known as Process Based Leadership® - A business transformation methodology designed to create a sustainable culture of clarity, connectivity, and consistency through the use of Non-Negotiable Business Processes. Since 1991 he has led the offices of CSI in becoming one of the nation’s most recognized Business Transformation consulting firms,  personally working with such organizations as Michelin, Genentech, Pfizer, Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense, and many others.

SESSIONS:
Dan Schawbel
partner & research director
Future Workplace
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Dan Schawbel is a New York Times bestselling author, a Partner and Research Director at Future Workplace. He is the author of three career books: Back to Human, Promote Yourself and Me 2.0. He is the host of “5 Questions with Dan Schawbel”, a podcast where he interviews a variety of world-class humans by asking them 5 questions in less than 10 minutes. He has been recognized on several lists including Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30”, Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30”, Business Insider’s “40 Under 40”, BusinessWeek’s “20 Entrepreneurs You Should Follow,” and as one of Workforce Magazine’s “Game Changers”.

SESSIONS:
Monday, June 18, 2018 - 2:00pm to 3:15pm