Relationship Management

Andrea P. Howe is the co-author, with Charles H. Green, of The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook: A Comprehensive Toolkit for Leading with Trust. She is the founder of The Get Real Project and an entrepreneur on a mission: to kick conventional business wisdom to the curb and transform how people work together as a result. Andrea is a recovering IT consultant who has spent more than 20 years working with clients, managing projects, and facilitating groups of all kinds and sizes. Her focus for the last decade has been teaching people in consulting roles how to get better results by getting relationships right. She speaks on topics like customer intimacy, client loyalty, the dynamics of influence, speaking hard truths, and developing business with trust. When she’s not working, you can find her in the art studio taking far too long to finish her latest mosaic project. 

Jill Kopanis is the vice president, Human Resources for Dynamic Dies, Inc. based in Toledo, Ohio where she leads human resource initiatives for manufacturing and sales locations nationwide Ms. Kopanis has been involved in the field of Human Resources for over 20 years working with both Fortune 500 and International companies. She was nominated for the Excellence in HR Management Award and was a finalist in the 2007 Benny Awards – awarded for outstanding benefit initiatives. She has served in a variety of SHRM leadership roles at the state and local level include Chapter President and State Director of Certification. Jill holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership and earned both PHR and SPHR certification. A speaker on several human resource topics, she has spoken at numerous national conferences enlightening her audiences and receiving top audience ratings along with writing a monthly HR column for a national magazine.

Follow Jill on Twitter @JillKopanis.

Through his keynote presentations, interactive workshops, leadership coaching, and custom-designed facilitation service, Ian helps his clients achieve greater results from their managers and teams.

He specializes in what he calls "micro leadership," helping managers lead successfully at the "micro" level–in that vital interpersonal space between the manager and his/her individual employee. He shows managers how to generate strong results through effective conversations with staff around (1) job performance, (2) job satisfaction and motivation, and (3) ongoing development.

He began the independent consulting firm, Fulcrum Associates, Inc., back in 1988, following seventeen years of corporate experience in both the high tech manufacturing and transportation industries. His extensive client list includes some of the largest corporations in the private sector, major trade and professional associations, small business, government, and not-for-profit organizations.

Ian holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and, from Cornell, a Masters degree in Industrial & Labor Relations, majoring in Human Resources Management, and has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Business of Ryerson University. In addition, from the Gestalt Institute of Toronto he earned a (3-year) Diploma in Gestalt Theory and Methodology that significantly deepened his ability to achieve results as both a facilitator and executive coach.

He is author of Would They Call You Their Best Boss Ever?: Practical Tips and Insights for the Successful Manager.

Ian is actively involved with the community leadership organization Leadership Fairfax Inc. A graduate of LFI’s Signature Leadership program class of ’04, he has served both on the Board and as Chair of the Program Committee, and has been a keynoter in their Speakers Series. Currently he facilitates a one-day Open Space event for the Emerging Leaders program and, for the Signature program class, facilitates individual team process debrief meetings following completion of their projects.

Jen Shirkani is the CEO of Penumbra Group and has spent over 20-years as a learning and development specialist, trainer and speaker. Her topics are presented from a leadership perspective filled with practical strategies and immediately useable tips. She lives in New England where she oversees a national talent management firm. She has been a past speaker at national SHRM conferences and at SHRM affiliates in Colorado, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Maine, and the North East. Jen holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership and focuses on leadership development, communication skills and on making common sense more common.

Amy Hirsh Robinson, M.B.A., is Chief People Officer for King’s Hawaiian, a global producer of irresistible Hawaiian food. Amy was brought on to King’s Hawaiian to re-envision the employee experience and transform the People function from traditional HR to a strategic driver of business growth. During her time at the company she has worked to radically redefine the purpose, structure and activities of HR with significant results. Prior to her role as CPO, Amy ran a successful human capital consulting firm, The Interchange Group, helping executives and HR professionals retool and adapt their strategies to rapidly changing workforce expectations and business landscapes.

For over 20 years, Allison West has used her employment law background in delivering customized workplace training, conducting investigations, coaching executives/managers, serving as an expert witness, and specializing in conflict resolution and facilitated discussions to create more collaborative work environments. 

Allison is a top-rated speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference as well as other HR/diversity conferences, and is a national expert on harassment, discrimination and investigations. She has appeared on PBS, CBS This Morning and in O Magazine discussing workplace harassment issues. 

She is a member of the State Bar of California and holds her SHRM-SCP certification and AWI-CH (investigation) certificate.

Joe Gerstandt brings greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts.

Joe has worked with Fortune 100 corporations, small non-profits, and everything in between. He speaks at numerous conferences and summits, and blogs at joegerstandt.com. He is a featured contributor for the Workforce Diversity Network Expert Forum and his insights have been published in Diversity Executive, HR Executive, and numerous other print and on-line journals.

A strong advocate for resetting the diversity and inclusion conversation, Joe sees these issues as poorly understood and often misunderstood.

Marlene Chism is a consultant, speaker and author of Stop Workplace Drama, (Wiley 2011.) Marlene is a seasoned national speaker who has the unique ability to speak across the boundaries of many types of audiences: from the fortune 500 executives to managers dealing with workplace drama to franchise owners, small business owners and nonprofit CEOs.

On stage, Marlene is an engaging story-teller with the ability to take complex subjects and universal principles and make them immediately applicable to her audience. She is known for her thought-provoking yet down to earth practicality, her sharp wit, balanced by a sense of humor and her ability to create an intellectually stimulating and transformational experience.

Marlene brings her experience in manufacturing, business, entrepreneurialism, and story of reinvention to engage and inspire her audiences to discover, develop and deliver their unique gifts to the workplace and to the world.