Leadership & Navigation

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.
 

Emma Geist, MSc., SHRM-SCP, GPHR, has been an Leader in the field of Human Resources for over 18 years, having lived and worked on all five continents and contributed to various industries.  Emma is an expert in fostering and delivering change for business alignment and operational efficiency across multiple countries and cultures for global organizations.

Over the past 10 years, she has focused mainly on Human Resources Management and Organizational Development for the extractive industry in Africa and South America, where one of the main challenges is to build efficient teams made of employees from various cultures and backgrounds while taking into consideration the local environment.

She holds a BA from University Stendhal (Grenoble – France) and a MSc. in International Human Resources management and Globalization from University of Leicester, UK.

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.

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.

Stacey Carroll is the President of HR Experts On-Call. HR Experts On-call provide strategic HR consulting services to business owners and HR professionals. Prior to establishing HR Experts On-Call, Ms. Carroll served as the Director of Professional Services & Education for PayScale. As Director of Professional Services, Stacey created and managed the compensation consulting business for PayScale, a venture-backed SaaS provider of compensation resources to HR and business leaders.  Prior to her  work at PayScale, Stacey spent over 12 years in various positions within Human Resources for Trendwest Resorts, Nordstrom, and Western Washington University. Stacey’s specialty areas in HR include: compensation, benefits, training & development, and strategic human capital management.  She earned her BA and MBA from Western Washington University. Stacey has been certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and as a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP). In addition to her regular full time responsibilities, Stacey has taught HRM classes for Western Washington University, Seattle Research Partners, and Tacoma Community College. She also speaks at many local, regional and national conferences.

Follow Stacey on Twitter @HRStacey.

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.

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).

 

Richard Schepp, chief administrative officer, oversees Kohl's human resources, legal, risk management and compliance, real estate and business development functions.

Schepp joined Kohl’s in 2000 as senior vice president, general counsel/secretary. He was promoted to executive vice president in 2001 and senior executive vice president in 2011. In 2013, he became senior executive vice president, human resources, general counsel/secretary. He was promoted to the principal officer position of chief administrative officer in 2015.

Prior to joining Kohl's, Schepp, a 23-year retail veteran, served as senior vice president, general counsel/secretary for Shopko. He began his career as an attorney for Quarles & Brady, LLP.

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.

 

Dr. Loren Murfield is a disruptive thinker who serves as an Executive Coach, Author, Filmmaker, and Speaker. Working with entrepreneurs and organizational leaders, he stretches their thinking to sense and seize cutting-edge opportunities. Dr. Murfield has authored over 30 books, including Pivotal Thinking, Pivotal Leadership, and Pivotal Power. He has also penned eight plays, a screenplay and produced his first movie short in 2020. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Nebraska and taught 23 undergraduate and graduate courses in Leadership and Communication.