Business Acumen

Gareth Williams is one of Mercer’s senior leaders of Merger & Acquisition consulting services in the US. In this role he provides a broad range of merger, acquisition and divestiture services while specializing in helping clients successfully complete global transactions. He also offers a wealth of experience in the strategic development, design and financing of total rewards programs around the world. He joined Mercer in the UK in 1979 and transferred to South Africa in 1982, New York in 1988 and Chicago in 1996. Prior to taking on his current role as an M&A leader, he held zone, regional and global leadership roles in International Consulting and Total Rewards. Gareth holds an honours degree in pure mathematics and statistics from the University of Wales and a diploma in business administration from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in the UK and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries in the US.

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.

 

Karl Ahlrichs specializes in helping professionals make order from chaos. He is a national speaker, author, and consultant, presenting on the people issues in all industries, and is often quoted in the local and national media. 

Karl’s experience is ideally suited to times of organizational change as he pulls on risk management and organizational development theories to replace “best practices” with “next practices”. He owes much of his communications mastery to working as a writer and editor in daily media, to on-the-job writing experience and to the process of becoming a published author.

He joined Gregory & Appel in 2010 after serving as a founding partner of ExactHire, bringing his HR, operations, diversity & belonging, and learning & development skills with him. Karl’s affinity for design, composition and learning started at a very young age, by taking and examining thousands of boring pictures with the goal of improving his craft. He loves deploying that practice-to-improve approach with all manner of hobbies including writing haiku, mastering cutting-edge technology and learning Spanish.

In 2003, he was named the SHRM Human Resource Professional of the Year for the State of Indiana. He is on the Boards of several organizations, including the Maryland CPA Society.  He has lived in Scotland and Spain and lives to explore new experiences with his wife and family.

 

Brad is the Founder and CEO of JB Training Solutions. An accomplished public speaker and executive coach, Brad has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and Dr. Phil, and has been quoted in: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and USA Today. Brad is also the author of three business books including the critically acclaimed Manager 3.0: A Millennial’s Guide to Rewriting the Rules of Management, which you can read in Mandarin (assuming you can read Mandarin).

Prior to creating JB, Brad spent 15 years at advertising agency Leo Burnett in Chicago. Today, Brad presents for major organizations including Eli Lilly, Securitas, Top Tier Capital Partners, and Saint Laurent. When he’s not enjoying a robust buffet, you can find Brad playing racquetball or drafting the perfect fantasy football roster. Brad is left-handed.

Sherrin Ross Ingram, CEO of the International Center for Strategic Planning, is a Master Strategic Planning Facilitator and an Independent Corporate Board Director for companies in need of fresh strategies, an updated strategic plan, improved strategy execution, or restructuring to increase competitive advantage. She is a frequent speaker on strategy development, execution and leadership topics at business meetings and conferences around the world.

Jennifer Millman specializes in driving organizational performance to new heights through talent and performance management and development strategies. She has been applauded for her uncanny ability to quickly and accurately assess talent and makes courageous recommendations on the most effective structure of existing talent as well as finding rare A+ external talent to fill the gaps and upgrade the overall talent bench of an organization.

With more than 15 years’ experience leading strategic HR teams, mostly in the technology industry, from global Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurial firms, as well as Consulting engagements across all industries, Jennifer is well-positioned to assist HR professionals strategically align with business leaders to effect real, immediate impact through increasing existing performance and significantly affecting the bottom line through creating and maintaining a workforce of A+ players.

Jennifer currently leads the Talent Acquisition function at Vology, an Inc. 500 Company and a Fast 50 Technology company.  Jennifer is also a writer, speaker, consultant, foodie, and mother of a 5-year-old superhero son.

Areas of Expertise:
Strategic Planning, Talent Management, Change Management, Succession Planning, Performance Management, Topgrading, Organizational Development, Executive Searches, Creative Recruiting Programs, Social Media.

Follow Jennifer on Twitter on @Jenny_Millman.

Internationally recognized as an expert in the field, Mr. Kushner is one of the nation's most sought after speakers on HR strategy and employee benefits. He has advised four U.S. Presidents on health care and has testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. House Small Business Committee on employee benefit issues.

A frequent resource to the media, Mr. Kushner contributes to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, AP, Knight-Ridder, the Kiplinger Washington Newsletter, CNN News, Fortune, MSNBC and Good Morning America among others. More importantly, he and his wife Tamis have five children and four wonderful (and amazing!) grandchildren.

 

Sheila helps leaders define organizational culture and use culture to drive organizational change. She holds a doctoral degree in Human Resource Development, teaches in the Professional MBA program at Georgia State University, and is President of Workplace Culture Institute. Sheila has written four books on organizational culture and change, and she consults with companies such as Philips, Shaw Industries, Acuity Brands/ZEP, and Cherokee Town and Country Club. Sheila is published in journals and professional magazines and has been quoted in newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Valerie helps companies improve their bottom line by elevating employees from tactical thinkers to strategic leaders.

She served in senior leadership roles at RollsRoyce Aircraft before helping to found InterActiveCorp, parent company to Expedia, Home Shopping Network and TicketMaster. She then went to work for Oprah Winfrey, helping to found the Oxygen channel which was later sold to NBC Universal.

Valerie obtained her mechanical engineering degree from Kettering University and her MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Val’s book, Clash of the Generations: Managing the New Workplace Reality, helps leaders manage multiple generations in the office.