Communication

Cory Bouck is the Director of Organizational Development & Learning at Johnsonville Sausage.  He is also an author, keynote speaker, and an expert in building leaders - a reputation he has earned over twenty years of leading in the military, in business, and in politics. He is a graduate of and former leadership instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy and is a former Naval Flight Officer. Cory led brand and event marketing teams at General Mills, Newell-Rubbermaid, and Johnsonville Sausage.  He is also the author of The Lens of Leadership: Being the Leader Others WANT to Follow (2013).

 

David Lee, the founder of HumanNatureAtWork.com, helps employers improve employee engagement, customer service, and morale, though his work as a consultant, trainer, and executive coach. He is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance.

David is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as over sixty articles and book chapters on employee and organizational performance that have been published in North America, Europe, India, Australia, and China.

Much of his work involves taking research into human nature from a wide range of scientific disciplines, and then translating these principles into practical strategies for optimizing individual and organizational performance.

Using the popular TV show The Dog Whisperer as an analogy for the difference understanding human nature makes, David’s work helps leaders and managers become “Employee Whisperers.”

As vice president of human resources, David Almeda is responsible for overseeing the global human resources function at Kronos.  He serves as a strategic business partner to Kronos’ senior leadership team and drives the human capital management strategy, programs, and initiatives to support Kronos’ continued growth and profitability. Prior to his work at Kronos, Almeda spent 16 years in various human resources functions at Staples, most recently as vice president of global human resources.

Almeda holds a master’s degree in HR management, and a doctoral degree from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School/Graduate School of Education. He is an active member of SHRM; serves on the Board of Directors of the New England Human Resources Association; and is an advisory board member of the Executive Program in Work-based Learning Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton. He is a sought-after speaker and expert on HR issues, and has presented at or been published by The Conference Board, Harvard Business School, and CMO Magazine.

 

 

Larry is an experienced counselor and trial lawyer. He is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and represents clients in all types of labor and employment matters, including wrongful termination and employee disloyalty litigation, development of personnel policies, implementation of workforce reductions, negotiation and drafting of employment agreements and compensation packages, union avoidance and collective bargaining, and investigations and administrative proceedings. Larry has tried cases to verdict, judgment and decision in state and federal court, before administrative agencies, and in arbitration.

Larry was named a Texas “Super Lawyer” seven times in Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters (2003-2005 and 2008-2011) and was recognized as a “Leading Labour Lawyer of the World” by Euromoney in 2003. Larry served as President and General Counsel of HR Houston, as an instructor for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Technical Assistance Program, and is an Adjunct Professor in Management in the Jones Graduate School of Business. Larry is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, the Society for Human Resource Management and other professional organizations and currently serves as President of Jones Partners. He is a regular speaker at national and regional human resources conferences and has authored numerous articles on employment law topics. Before founding the firm, Larry was a partner at Baker & McKenzie and co-director of the labor and employment practice at Legge Farrow.

Chloé Rada is a forward-thinking, creative and analytics-driven employment branding leader with fifteen years of experience in the recruitment advertising industry and a passion for social media!

Leading Sodexo’s "award-winning" Employment Branding team, she is responsible for building awareness of Sodexo’s culture and workplace experiences in the US by managing their social, digital and mobile strategy. By leveraging technology like Avature CRM and QueSocial, she has spearheaded talent community re-engagement and employee advocacy programs to help bring their brand to life!

Named “the voice of Sodexo Careers” in January of 2012, she now manages a team that cares for Sodexo’s seven social media profiles, the career site and seven discipline-specific microsites and more than two dozen media relationships to improve their source of qualified candidates. She also is the chief content curator for the Sodexo careers blog, the number one most helpful social space for their candidates.  

In her previous role at Rada Advertising, a privately owned national recruitment advertising agency, Chloé consulted with employers on strategy and process to effectively communicate with and attract the right talent.  Leading the agency in new product development, she built strategic partnerships with HR technologies companies to develop and launch digital solutions for the agency. In addition to designing go-to-market strategies, she provided training, mentorship and education to co-workers and clients on these emerging recruitment trends and technologies.  Chloé’s previous two years’ experience at Edelman Worldwide, allowed her to hone her public relations and marketing techniques and adapt them for the recruitment marketing industry.

Chloé volunteers for Society of Talent Acquisition & Recruitment (STAR Chicago), formerly the Staffing Management Association of Greater Chicago (SMAGC), for the past eleven years and enjoys providing job search training to community organizations and students.

Chloé graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts and resides in Chicago, IL. Learn more about Chloé's here or by following her on Twitter (@CRada) or Instagram. 

Chatrane Birbal is Vice President, Public Policy in SHRM national’s Alexandria, Va. office. In this capacity, she is actively involved in solidifying strategic partnerships and research to address policy issues on Capitol Hill that impact the workplace. In her role, Ms. Birbal lobbies Congress and develops policies and positions in support of workplace public policy issues including workplace healthcare, workforce development, workplace equity, workplace flexibly and leave, workplace immigration and employer-sponsored benefits (retirement, education assistance, unemployment insurance, among others).   

Prior to joining SHRM, Ms. Birbal was the director of government relations at the Council on Foundations, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit membership association of some 2,000 grant making foundations and corporations, with assets totaling more than $282 billion. During her tenure at the Council, Ms. Birbal implemented strategies and launches programs in support of the organization’s public policy and government relations work. She lobbied Congress on tax legislation relating to charitable giving, raised the Council’s profile with Congress and other nonprofit organizations, advised members on legislative activities impacting philanthropy and planned and executed the Council’s annual legislative fly-in conference, “Foundations on the Hill.”

Prior to joining the Council, Ms. Birbal was a federal legislative lobbyist at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), an Arlington, Va.-based medical specialty society with over 38,000 U.S. and international member physicians who work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including mental retardation and substance-related disorders. During her tenure at APA, Ms. Birbal lobbied Congress on behalf of psychiatrists, planned and executed the association’s annual advocacy day training session for membership as well as developed the APA’s online advocacy action center to further legislative efforts on behalf of the psychiatry profession.

Chatrane previously served on the Board of Directors for the ACT for Alexandria community foundation.  ACT for Alexandria brings the community together to elevate local philanthropic giving and engagement to new heights, supports local nonprofits working to aid the most vulnerable and develops solutions for the community’s most pressing challenges. During her tenure on the Board Ms. Birbal supported the foundation’s initiatives including ACTion Alexandria, an online civic engagement platform and Spring2ACTion, 24 hours of online giving to support local nonprofits.

Chatrane obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the State University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. and received her graduate degree of public administration and public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

 

Ms. Birbal currently serves on the Board of Directors of Women in Government Relations (WGR) - the premier, non-partisan professional society dedicated to advancing and empowering women by fostering professional development and growth opportunities through a community that supports women’s leadership in government relations. She is a member of the Tax Coalition, which provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among professionals in federal tax policymaking to encourage the professional development of women in federal tax policy and Birbal also serves as a Director-at-large on George Mason University’s Alumni Board.

Kelly is responsible for SHRM legislative activities on employment and labor issues, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal employment issues as they affect the management of human capital.

Prior to joining SHRM, Kelly worked as the legislative director for Congressman Lou Barletta (PA), a member on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. In this role, Kelly developed an overall legislative strategy for the office and managed the Congressman's legislative team. She specifically focused on Congressman Barletta's Committee portfolio of issues including, labor, health, and education policy

Dr. Shirley Davis, CSP, President of SDS Global Enterprises, a global workforce solutions firm, is an award-winning Human Resources expert, with over 30 years of business experience in a variety of senior executive roles for several Fortune 100 companies, as well as her last role of Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion for the Society for Human Resource Management. She’s also a best-selling author of 5 books, serves on the National Speakers Association and the NSA Foundation Boards, and the Make A Wish Foundation Board. She is a popular facilitator for eight LinkedIn Learning leadership courses.