Relationship Management

As CEO of Propel Forward LLC, Carlann Fergusson and her team partner with leaders to gain the insights, capacity and confidence to transform themselves and their organizations. Whether providing coaching, visioning, strategic planning or leadership development, her ultimate goal is to create leaders who love their role and bring passion and energy to their work. Corporations shouldn’t be places where people are counting the days till the weekend or the years till retirement.

Carlann is known for her unique approach of blending coaching and organizational development to create both personal and business results. Her keen insight and her ability to synthesize information from numerous sources results in solutions that stick. She has over 25 years of experience in executive and leadership coaching, strategic planning, organizational development, and leadership development. She is also a master certified coach. 

As a past Senior Director of Global Organizational and Leadership Development as well as a Manufacturing Manager overseeing a team of 740, Carlann uses her line and staff management experience to achieve measurable results. Her past position titles also include Strategic Planning Manager and Change Manager.  Carlann has worked for a diversity of businesses including Intel Corporation, Visteon Automotive, Meijer Corporation, Press Ganey, Florida Power and the United States Government. She and her teams were recipients of two Intel Quality Awards, Press Ganey’s Innovation Award, The Department of Treasury Treasurer’s Award and a finalist for the Visteon Summit Award. Today her client list includes pharmaceutical, fashion & design, financial, healthcare, construction and technology companies.

Carlann teaches the Leadership Certificate Program for Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. She is the author of Shoots and Ladders Workbook; Insights to Accelerate Your Leadership and has been cited in CBS MoneyWatch, International Business Times, Newsday, and The Boston Globe.

She holds a Master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Southern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland.

David Lewis is the founder, president, and CEO of OperationsInc, one of the nation’s largest human resources consulting firms. OperationsInc has grown steadily since its inception in 2001, and now engages a team of over 90 professionals providing HR, Payroll, Training, and Recruiting support to a base of over 1,600 clients. David is leveraging a 30-plus year career in human resources and operational management for leading firms including Merck/Medco and Computer Associates. He serves as an on-air subject matter expert in the areas of human resources, workplace management, and small business issues for MSNBC, FOX, CBS Radio and NPR, and regularly appears in national publications like The New York Times, Inc., and The Wall Street Journal.

Steve is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame and was recognized in 2015 as one of the top 10 motivational speakers globally from over 9,000 candidates.

In addition to being one of the most sought-after speakers in North America, he has written 11 books and was named Author of the Year by Advantage/Forbes for his book Enjoy The Ride.

Steve built a multimillion-dollar company, which the Pittsburgh Business Times named one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the region. Steve is one of SHRM’s top-rated speakers. This is his 18th consecutive year speaking at the SHRM Conference.

Diana Yarbrough is known as a champion of diversity, upward mobility and recognition within ADP. She leads the Human Resources department for all of ADP’s Added Value Services

(AVS) division. As division vice president, Diana heads a team of nine associates who services all of AVS and Compliance and Payment Solutions (CAPS). In her more than 20 years with

ADP, Diana has held many positions in a Human Resource capacity.

Jim Knight is not your average keynote speaker. As the former Senior Director of Training & Development at Hard Rock International, Knight brings his high energy, interactive and entertaining approach to deliver insights on organizational culture, customer service, employee branding, performance management, philanthropy, facilitation training, personal development, and leadership skills.

Knight has a degree in Vocal Performance & Education and taught in the Florida public school system for 6 years, before embarking on his hospitality training career.

The acclaimed author of Culture That Rocks, Jim Knight began his 30+-year career in hospitality training as a restaurant staff-level employee for Olive Garden and Hard Rock Cafe, before serving as the head of the School of Hard Rocks, running point on all global training and development functions for Hard Rock International. In this role, Knight managed and contributed to all facets of organizational training, including staff and management training materials and programs, the corporate university, management training locations, company e-Learning initiatives, leadership transitions, and on-site training and assessment.

During his time with the Hard Rock brand, his team won multiple Telly Awards, as well as a Gold Best in Class Award from Brandon Hall's Excellence in Learning. Knight was also recognized by Training Magazine, as representing one of the Top 125 training companies in the world, out of all industries and businesses. Since 2012, Jim Knight has been featured in Forbes Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business News Daily and Fox Business News and was highlighted in 2015 as one of the “Top 5 Speakers to Watch.”  
 

A portion of Knight’s book and speaking proceeds goes to No Kid Hungry, a campaign to eliminate childhood hunger in the U.S.

With thought-provoking content and a refreshing, edgy delivery style, Jim Knight shares his unique, seasoned outlook on company culture, guest service, building teams, employee engagement, training and philanthropy to help organizations achieve rock star status.

Pandit Dasa is a Mindful Leadership Expert. He has spoken on Mindfulness and conducted workshops at Google, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America, Nationwide, Intel, Novartis, The World Bank, UNICEF, Harvard and many other institutions. He has also presented at the World Government Summit in Dubai, the national SHRM convention, Oracle HCM conference, and WorkHuman. Through these workshops, Pandit helps individuals develop positive leadership qualities, lower stress and anxiety, increase focus and productivity, and boost emotional intelligence. Pandit has spoken at a TEDx conference and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, PBS, NPR, The New York Times and Inc.