Business (Behavioral)

Kate Gebo is the executive vice president of human resources and labor relations for United Airlines. Kate is responsible for leading a global team of more than 500 professionals in the transformation of United’s culture. In her role, Kate and her team are the principle drivers of delivering on commitments to employees to provide a great employee experience. This includes recruiting, developing and retaining top talent, and building effective teams to put customers at the center of everything United does while working closely with our labor partners.

Kate previously served as senior vice president of customer service delivery and chief customer officer at United. She was responsible for delivering an integrated and industry-leading travel experience for customers from booking to landing. Kate also previously served as United’s vice president for the office of the CEO, where she worked with United’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, and the executive team to coordinate strategic company initiatives.

Kate joined United in 1998 and also held roles leading the corporate real estate organization and in procurement. Prior to joining United, Kate worked at Continental Airlines. Kate is a board member of Youth Guidance and also a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow. She. received her bachelor’s degree in finance from Chicago’s DePaul University and earned a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Business at Loyola University of Chicago.

John Mazzone is an experienced finance professional with over 20 years of technical accounting and operational finance experience. John spent the first half of his career with PwC and KPMG as an auditor of companies ranging from small startups to large SEC reporting entities. He also led due diligence teams and advised private equity and strategic buyers on a variety of transactions. After his public accounting career, John held key finance positions at a large international public biotechnology company and large international financial investment firms.

Over the last 10 years, John has led large international accounting finance teams and implemented best in class practices. With John’s vast international finance experience across a broad spectrum of companies, he is well aware of the challenges company’s face when contemplating international expansion.

John earned his CPA license in the state of Massachusetts.
 

Joseph (“Joe”) Beachboard is a nationally recognized employment lawyer who also closely tracks the most important developments at the U.S. Supreme Court impacting the business community. He has more than 30 years of experience representing management in a wide variety of employment and labor matters in perhaps the most challenging state in the nation for employers – California.  Mr. Beachboard speaks regularly before human resource and employer groups on cutting edge employment law topics.  He is a member of SHRM and has been an annual presenter at both the SHRM Annual Conference and the Employment Law and Compliance Conference for two decades.  Mr. Beachboard is frequently quoted in such leading publications as HR Magazine, National Law Journal, Los Angeles Times, NY Times, HR Executive and Workforce, and has been published in dozens of legal and business journals. Throughout his career in Los Angeles, Mr. Beachboard has represented dozens of studios and entertainment properties.  He cites his most interesting project as working with the cast and crew of the television show The Office, from its pilot through the final season.

Kate Lister is a recognized workplace thought leader and president of Global Workplace Analytics, a research-based consulting firm that has been helping communities and organizations optimize flexible and distributed workplace strategies for more than fifteen years. She has written or co-authored five business books including the U.S. chapter of “Telework in the 21st Century” (Edward Elgar, 2019), a multi-country peer-reviewed study on remote work. Her perspectives on how COVID-19 will change the way people work have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and dozens of other respected news outlets. In July of 2020, she was one of only three witnesses invited to testify before a U.S. Senate committee on the expansion of telework in government post-COVID-19.

Karen M. Gustin, LLIF, is the Executive Vice President for Ameritas Group Dental and Eye Care in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Gustin began her career at Ameritas in 1983. In January 2016, Karen was promoted to her current position.  She is a member of the Ameritas of New York Board of Directors and is also the Dental Select President, CEO and Chair of the Board. 

Ms. Gustin is involved with the National Association of Dental Plans (NADP) and has served as past Chair of both the NADP Board of Directors and the National Association of Vision Care Plans (NAVCP) Board.

Karen graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.  

For over 20 years, Allison West has used her employment law background in delivering customized workplace training, conducting investigations, coaching executives/managers, serving as an expert witness, and specializing in conflict resolution and facilitated discussions to create more collaborative work environments. 

Allison is a top-rated speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference as well as other HR/diversity conferences, and is a national expert on harassment, discrimination and investigations. She has appeared on PBS, CBS This Morning and in O Magazine discussing workplace harassment issues. 

She is a member of the State Bar of California and holds her SHRM-SCP certification and AWI-CH (investigation) certificate.

Been there – done that!  With 30 years of HR and business experience – Lori has walked in your shoes.  A recovered HR Generalist, she built a consulting company that she sold to Arthur J Gallagher after 7 years and then reinvented her current business – HR Topics -  training, speaking and developing content for HR professionals.  Lori delivers facts, tips, tricks and best practices in a way that appeals to human resource and business leaders: with a sense of humor, a bias toward actions that improve their operations right away, and practical resources and tools to support their progress.  As an annual speaker at the National SHRM conference, she has leveraged her masters in HR, SPHR and SHRM-SCP background to elevate the position of all HR professionals!

Mari Ryan, CEO and founder of AdvancingWellness, is an expert in workplace well-being. She leverages over 30 years of business experience in a variety of industries. For the past decade, Ms. Ryan has been creating thriving workplaces, through her consulting work and speaking on worksite well-being. Mari earned a Bachelor Degree from Lesley University, an MBA from Boston University, a Master’s degree in Health Promotion from Nebraska Methodist College.  Mari is an active member of the National Speakers Association. Mari is the author of award-winning book The Thriving Hive: How People-Centric Organizations Ignite Engagement and Fuel Results.