Relationship Management

Joni N. Dolce, MS, CRC is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at Rutgers University. Joni has several years of experience working in supported employment services for individuals with mental health conditions. She has authored and co-authored numerous articles and workbooks on employment. Joni was a co-principal investigator on a study exploring Human Resource professionals’ views on hiring individuals with mental health conditions and is currently the principal investigator of a study looking at hiring managers’ perspectives on job candidates with mental health conditions. She speaks and provides workshops and trainings nationally on a variety of employment related topics.

Roxi Bahar Hewertson is a leadership expert, Presence-Based® and ICF Certified ACC executive coach and organizational development expert with more than three decades of practical experience in the worlds of higher education, business, and non-profits. She is the CEO of Highland Consulting Group, Inc. and author of two highly-acclaimed books, “Hire Right, Fire Right: A Leader’s Guide To Finding And Keeping Your Best People” (Rowman & Littlefield) and “Lead Like it Matters…Because it Does” (McGraw-Hill). With a successful career focused on developing high performing leaders, Roxi is a foremost authority on helping executives and managers create thriving teams and work cultures that achieve stellar results. Her no nonsense, practical, tell-it-like-it-is insights have graced the TEDx stage and been featured by premier media outlets. She holds an MPS from Cornell University where she was Adjunct Faculty and a Senior Administrator. Connect with Roxi online at www.AskRoxi.com and www.HighlandConsultingGroupinc.com.

Skipper T. Ryan Davis is a 20+ year Retired Naval Officer with 4,000 hours of flight time encompassing multiple deployments in support of combat operations around the globe.  His most recent assignment was as the Commanding Officer for Patrol Squadron 47, a P-8 squadron responsible for executing the nation’s maritime strategy.  During that tour of duty, Commander Davis led his team of 300 Sailors through organizational culture change resulting in the highest morale on record across all VP squadrons, being awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Association Leadership Award, and earning the Battle “E” award for efficiency.  CDR Davis has proven himself a passionate leader who cares about people. 

Ryan is the Founder of Take Flight Leadership, an organization helping individuals and organizations achieve their goals.  He is the author of Take Flight: Cultivating Culture Through Trust, Teamwork, Purpose, & Ownership.  Ryan certified as a SHRM Senior Certified Professional, a Resilience-Building Leader Program Trainer, and as a BCSP Associate Safety Professional to better help him serve the teams he works with.

Dr. David S Cohen, Ed. D. has a vision: organizations that thrive by living their values in good times and especially VUCA times. David's first career was in elementary and high school education, where he built a reputation for building school communities based on purpose and social responsibility. Thirty-three years ago, David transitioned to corporate consulting. As a consultant, David earned a reputation as a contrarian consultant because he does not always follow what is popular in his chosen field. David works with leaders helping them understand what is and what is not necessary to build an active and positive organization. He helps leaders' step into life's challenges, inspiring them to create a sustained approach through a values-based focus, resulting in better business results. David has had the privilege of partnering with firms across five continents and all business sectors. Additionally, he has worked with governments, from the local to the federal levels, and not-for-profits.

He has taught at Queens University School of Labour Relations and the executive education program at the Schulich School of Business, York University. Currently, he teaches organizational development at Durham College. David earned his doctorate from Boston University in Humanistic and Behavioural Studies. During that time, he also completed independent studies at the Harvard School of Education, where he was a teaching assistant.

David is a keynote speaker, educator, disruptor, facilitator, team builder, and executive coach. He has authored two books and numerous articles in professional journals.

• The Talent Edge: A Behavioral Approach to Hiring, Developing, and Keeping Top Performers (John Wiley and Sons, August 2001)
• Inside the Box: Leading With Corporate Values to Drive Sustained Business Success (Jossey-Bass September 2006)

When David is not travelling, he is hanging out with his five grandchildren, when possible, attending Toronto Raptor's games, or relaxing with family and friends.

David is honored to be recognized by the GlobalGurus30 as one of the top 30 GlobalGurus in Organizational Culture.

Bethany Adams has more than 15 years of experience in HR and education.  She began her career working in learning & development and human resources in the restaurant and retail industries. She has experience in both small, privately-owned businesses and large, Fortune 500 organizations. Bethany holds a BA in Psychology, MA in Organizational Management, the SHRM-SCP certification, and is a Certified Genos International Emotional Intelligence Practitioner. She currently teaches at Villanova University in the Graduate Programs in HR Development.  Bethany has spoken at a variety of conferences throughout the country and leads corporate training on topics including emotional intelligence, DEI, and strategic HR.  Bethany hosts an HR podcast called HR Tea.

Daryll Bryant is a transformational leader with a distinguished career in manufacturing providing outstanding results for a number of Fortune 100 companies.   He is a Keynote Speaker, Leadership Coach, Trusted Business Advisor and Author of the book entitled “Engage. Lead. Deliver.   Leadership Tenets for Tapping into the Collective Genius of Your People”, available on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles online book stores.  

Daryll’s passion is to inspire New Leaders and provide them with the confidence to begin on their leadership journey.   His desire is to coach New Leaders by helping them to identify their personal leadership signature and leverage it to unlock the collective genius of their people.  His mission is to equip New Leaders with tools which will support them in overcoming roadblocks to their growth; and provide them with skills that will enable them to lead change, create business value, and foster engaged work environments.

Paul Meshanko, CSP, is an author, professional speaker and thought leader with over 25 years of experience in leadership development and organizational culture change. Known for his down to earth, humorous and highly-interactive style, he has captivated over a half million leaders and business professionals on five continents.

Pulling from the most current research in organization development, psychology and science, his inspiring programs cover a broad range of topics dealing with workplace culture, diversity, respect, motivation, bias and critical thinking. Paul holds a BSBA from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Baldwin Wallace College. His most recent book, The Respect Effect, was released by McGraw-Hill in 2013.

Matt Baxter is a serial entrepreneur. He started his first business at the age of 15, owning and operating Stony Pointe Lawn Care for over six years, before selling the company in July 2015. From this experience, Baxter experienced firsthand the hiring process's pain points, which led him to launch his current venture, Wedge, shortly after graduating from Hope College.

Today, Baxter is the CEO of Wedge, the one-way recorded video screening solution that enables job seekers to show off their true selves. Earlier this year, Wedge closed its seed funding round, raising $1 million in total. Baxter is focused intently on driving success and further establishing himself as an industry leader, building out the Wedge development team, and scaling its partnerships and integrations.

Baxter hosts "The Matt Baxter Show," dedicated to people finding their purpose. The show is an opportunity to have conversations spanning purpose related topics with people who love what they do every day.

Melissa Thompson is an HR and TA executive with 25+ years' experience across a wide variety of industries. Melissa is currently the SVP, Talent Acquisition for Nielsen Media.  She joined McGraw Hill Education as the VP, Talent Acquisition in early 2018.  During her tenure, she built the Global TA team from the ground up, including insourcing US TA and engaging an International sourcing partner.  Melissa improved the user experience by implementing Lever ATS onboard and introducing Passport to Recruit, a manager training program.  Most recently, she led the project to redefine and modernize the McGraw-Hill Employee Value Proposition (EVP). During her career she has held recruiting leadership roles at Dell, Citrix, Siebel, and Lenovo. She is an engaging, results-oriented, strategic Talent Acquisition leader with expertise in designing and executing game changing TA programs. 

Jeremy Eskenazi, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CMC is Managing Principal of Riviera Advisors, Inc., a global Human Resources management consulting and training firm that helps organizations improve, enhance and optimize their internal talent acquisition and recruiting capabilities.

Prior to founding Riviera Advisors in 2001, Jeremy spent almost 20 years leading talent acquisition and recruiting teams at Universal Studios, Amazon.com, and Idealab. A regular SHRM speaker and a member of the SHRM Talent Acquisition Special Expertise Panel, Jeremy is also proud professional member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the Institute of Management Consultants-USA.

Jeremy is the author of the books, “RecruitCONSULT! Leadership – The Corporate Talent Acquisition Leader’s Field Book”, and “The High-Performance Talent Acquisition Advantage”.

Tracy Stock is one of the most in-demand and top-rated female speakers in North America today because of her ability to inspire behavior change and achieve positive outcomes. As a workplace culture expert, an engaging Certified Speaking Professional®, highly skilled live and virtual training expert and a best-selling author with five published titles, her 25 years of experience include clients such as the U.S. Army, Motorola, True Value, US Bank and Subway, to name a few. As a speaker of choice, Tracy is committed to helping energize workplace culture, enhance employee engagement and empower high performance.