Leadership (Behavioral)

Jim Link is the CHRO for SHRM.  With more than 340,000 members worldwide, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world and the leading voice for matters related to workers and the workplace.

Jim’s career includes roles of increasing responsibility across various industries and companies, including General Electric, the Pillsbury Company, Porsche Cars, and Randstad.  In his most recent role as CHRO for Randstad North America, he led a global team of 150 HR professionals who were instrumental in transforming the company into an award-winning, inclusive, and sustainable global leader.

Jim has served as a volunteer leader in several organizations including the SHRM Foundation Board, the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank Human Capital Advisory Board, and the Human Resources Leadership Forum.

Jim holds undergraduate and master’s degree from Murray State University.  Born and raised on a working family farm in western Kentucky, he currently resides in Atlanta and Alexandria, VA. 

Jim is an adjunct instructor in the Executive MBA program at the University of Poznan (Poland) School of Economics and Business and the University of Liège (Belgium) Asia-Pacific campus in Taipei, Taiwan.

Yvette Lee, SHRM-SCP, is an HR Knowledge Advisor at SHRM, the world’s largest HR professional society, representing 300,000+ members in more than 165 countries. Yvette possesses over 25 years of human resources experience. Her expertise includes talent management, benefits, compensation, diversity and inclusion, employee relations, ethics and compliance, and employee development. A published author of several articles in SHRM's HR Magazine on various topics, Yvette holds a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Virginia. She also holds the SHRM California Law HR, Talent Acquisition, Inclusive Workplace Culture, People Manager Qualification and HR Dept. of One Specialty Credentials. Yvette enjoys spending time with her family and doing community service.

David studies the keystones for success and achievement in the areas of Leadership, Communication and Personal Performance.  He studied over 3,000 top performers to find what the top leaders, salespeople and employees do.  And more importantly, he discovered the roadblocks that hold people back.  For over 25 years, David has worked with hundreds of clients of all sizes in many industries such as technology, banking, communications, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution.  He specializes in leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, sales and personal development and brings his insights to you to create breakthrough solutions. 

Michael S. Cohen is a partner in Duane Morris’ Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group.  Michael concentrates his practice in the areas of employment law training and counseling. He has trained and counseled employers throughout the country on subjects including harassment prevention; diversity, equity and inclusion; combatting implicit bias; performance management; discipline and discharge; hiring and recruiting practices; performance evaluations; FMLA, ADA and FLSA compliance; leave of absence policies; LGBTQ+ issues in the workplace; substance abuse testing; workplace violence; records retention; conducting background checks; and more. Michael also has conducted investigations into claims of harassment and discrimination and has drafted employee handbooks, employment agreements, non-compete agreements and post-termination agreements. Michael regularly conducts in excess of 200 trainings each year.  He has represented clients throughout the country in EEO and other administrative proceedings.

Michael has been cited as a national authority on employment issues by The New York Times, The Associated Press, USA Today, MSNBC.com, HR Magazine, SHRM On-Line, Employment Law 360, Inside Counsel Magazine, as well as many other publications. Michael serves as an Advisory Board Member of GenHERation and as a Board Member of Serve, Inc. Michael is a 1997 magna cum laude graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law and a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

With a Chick-fil-A journey spanning 12 years, Adam has grown from a frontline Team Member to now working on staff at Chick-fil-A, Inc. Currently, Adam's focus is on providing optional resources to franchisees and their dedicated talent leaders through resources like SHRM and a first-ever talent conference for franchisees.

Outside of his career, Adam's most important role comes as a husband and father, embracing outdoor adventures with two amazing kids. Together, Adam and his wife are on a quest to run a race in all 50 states and visit every MLB stadium, all while drinking amazing coffee. 

Scott is an internationally recognized crisis negotiator, advisor, trainer and keynote speaker. He is known and respected for his experience negotiating in highly charged situations, with high stakes and when the situation requires sensitivity to the human element. Clients, audiences and students alike, find Scott’s teachings, insightful, inspiring and pragmatic.   

Scott worked as a hostage/crisis negotiator with one of the largest regional SWAT teams in the United States for many years before moving into the role of a negotiations speaker and trainer. He has over 20 years of law enforcement experience and retired from a Chicago area police department in 2023 at the rank of Lieutenant. He was trained by in negotiation by the FBI and has studied at the Harvard University Program on Negotiation, at IMD Business School, and he continues to receive training from the world’s top negotiators.  

​Scott is a prolific trainer within the negotiation field and travels the country and around the world speaking to a wide variety of audiences. He has taught negotiations at Harvard University, for the FBI, and has keynoted for companies such as Microsoft and Bosch.  In 2016, he was invited to give a TEDx talk titled “The Secrets of Hostage Negotiators”, which has received over 1 million views.  His visibility as a speaker and educator through TEDx and other venues has reached global status.  
 
Scott currently resides in the Chicago area and is a Partner and co-founder with the Negotiations Collective, where he works with organizations and their leaders on how to have difficult conversations to resolve conflict and increase their influence.    

Nathan blends data with industry trend analysis to share Indeed’s story and bring the value of the company’s programs and solutions to life. In his role, he focuses on crafting holistic, strategic solutions for clients to aid in solving their hiring challenges. With nearly ten years of experience within the HR and Staffing industry, Nathan still looks to challenge himself and learn from others every chance he gets. Prior to entering the private sector, Nathan worked for the Fire Department in Southern California for ten years. Nathan’s experience in public service is evident in his passion to deliver Indeed’s mission to “Help People Get Jobs.”

Nathan blends data with industry trend analysis to share Indeed’s story and bring the value of the company’s programs and solutions to life. In his role, he focuses on crafting holistic, strategic solutions for clients to aid in solving their hiring challenges. With nearly ten years of experience within the HR and Staffing industry, Nathan still looks to challenge himself and learn from others every chance he gets. Prior to entering the private sector, Nathan worked for the Fire Department in Southern California for ten years. Nathan’s experience in public service is evident in his passion to deliver Indeed’s mission to “Help People Get Jobs.”

Heidi Laki is a product leader with a decade of experience with AI and its application across industries. She's passionate and committed to guiding and creating human-centered AI technologies and applications. At Indeed, Heidi focuses on using AI to improve recruiter efficacy with personalized messages, matching algorithms, and enhanced candidate evaluation.

Sharon Newport is an organizational consultant, facilitator, speaker, and executive coach with clients in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors across the globe. Sharon also serves as adjunct faculty at Georgetown University's Institute of Transformational Leadership. Sharon spent over a decade as an association and nonprofit executive, successfully leading wide-scale strategic, operational, and cultural change, and her early career, she was a documentary television/film producer and actor. Sharon has earned the Certified Association Executive designation from American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), a certification in the Key Polarity Indicator™, a credential in the Foundations of Somatic Abolitionism, a certificate in the Neuroscience of Change, an Executive Certificate from Georgetown University in Organizational Consulting and Change Leadership, and her B.F.A. from the State University of New York, Purchase College, graduating Magna Cum Laude. Sharon was awarded a Leader of Distinction by digitalNow and is a proud ASAE Diversity Executive Leadership Program alumnus.

Jathan Janove, a former state bar Employment Lawyer of the Year and now Executive Coach and Organization Development consultant, writes SHRM’s “Putting Humanity into HR Compliance” column, and is a Master Coach and Practice Leader with the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching organization, including writing its Ask the Coach column. He’s the author, most recently, of “Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories From The Management Trenches” (HarperCollins 2017). He’s currently working on his next book, “From Compliance Cop to Culture Coach: Transforming the HR Profession.”