Relationship Management

With 25+ years of experience and several prestigious awards, such as the 2021 OnCon HR Professional of the Year Award, Erika Lance is truly a distinguished leader in the Human Resources field. Currently, Erika is the Chief Human Resources Officer at KnowBe4, the world’s largest integrated platform for security awareness training and simulated phishing. Here, she ensures KnowBe4 continues to run properly while maintaining a unique and fun company culture. Under her leadership, the People Operations team has grown from just 10 team members to over 50 team members in 11 countries across 6 continents. Erika is most well known for her radical transparency and her people-centric approach to Human Resources.

Dr. Melanie Peacock has over 30 years of experience as a Human Resource Management professional, is an Associate Professor at Mount Royal University, past president of the Faculty Association and runs her own boutique firm, Double M Training & Consulting.

Melanie is a published author of various best-selling HR books including The HR Professional’s Guide to Change Management and Understanding Human Resources Management.  As well, Melanie is sought-after local and national media commentator.  Melanie was presented with HRD’s 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award in the HR Industry at the Canadian HR Awards.  As well, in 2021 and 2020 she was named to HRD magazine’s list of the top 100 HR global professionals and was acknowledged in HRD magazine’s 2017 Hotlist as one of the top 30, most influential HR practitioners in Canada.

Melanie obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree (with distinction) at the University of Alberta, her MBA from Western University and her PhD from the University of Calgary.

Greg Hare has been an employment lawyer at Ogletree Deakins his entire career, since 1991. He assists companies with human resources and employment-related litigation matters, including wrongful termination claims, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, employment contracts, trade secrets, and non-compete agreements. He advises clients on a wide range of human resources topics, such as drug testing, employee discipline and discharge, severance planning, independent contractor classifications, wage payment, family and medical leave, disability law, military leave, joint employment issues, affirmative action, and reductions in force. Mr. Hare also counsels clients on traditional labor relations and matters involving the National Labor Relations Board.

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.

Dr. Karlyn Borysenko is the force behind Zen Workplace. An organizational psychologist and executive/performance coach, she is a leader in integrating mindfulness strategies at work to increase productivity and creativity, reduce stress, and create better work experiences. Her practice is based in the greater Boston area and serves clients all over the world. She holds an MBA and a PhD in Psychology, is an experienced trainer and facilitator, coach, and award-winning speaker. Karlyn is a contributor to Forbes.com and the author of Zen Your Work: Create your ideal work experience through mindful self-mastery.

After 10+ years studying mothers around the world and becoming one herself, Katherine launched The Mom Complex in order to develop better products and services to make the lives of mothers easier. Bound and determined to make an impact on the world, Katherine is seen as a trusted advisor by companies such as Walmart, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, The Discovery Network, and Playskool. Her sought-after research and expertise has been featured by The Today Show, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company and she regularly writes about the topic of modern motherhood on her popular blog In All Honesty, as well as for The Huffington Post and Working Mother Magazine. When she’s not working, you can find her on the tennis court, in a yoga studio or meditating first thing in the morning before the house wakes up and turns to complete chaos.

Steve Browne, SHRM-SCP is the Chief People Officer for LaRosa's, Inc., a regional Pizzeria chain. He has 35+ years working as an HR professional in a variety of industries. He has a globally recognized HR blog and author of three books, HR on Purpose !!, HR Rising !! and HR Unleashed !! He is a past member of the SHRM Board of Directors. Steve also runs a global HR network called the HR Net which reaches 15,000+ HR and business professionals weekly.

 

Kathleen is currently the President of The HeaRt Group, a human resource consulting firm, with expertise in organizational development, talent acquisition and management, employee engagement, performance leadership, compensation and benefits. She is the former Assistant Vice Chancellor of Human Resources at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas. Prior to that, she was Corporate Vice President of Human Resources at Edgewater Technology in Fayetteville, AR for five years, helping with the acquisition of 44 companies to form Staffmark Inc., later becoming Edgewater. Prior to this position she held various executive human resources positions at Acxiom Corporation, Express Human Resources and M.M. Cohn. In her last position, she was responsible for the human resource function in the UAMS Medical Center, which has over 6500 employees, as well as campus responsibility for the operation functions that includes compensation, HR analytics, recruitment, organizational development, employee relations, affirmative action, immigration, compliance, benefits, employee services, and performance management for 11,000 employees. The HeaRt Group’s focus is to work with small to mid-sized business owners and executives to develop Human Resource practices best aligned with their business objectives and strategic plans. The HeaRt Group provides common sense human resource advice by solving Human Resource challenges, handling Human Resource issues and partnering with clients to enhance their organization. Ms. McComber has over 40 years’ experience in the human resource profession and has done extensive work in the areas of compensation, benefits, employee relations, performance leadership, diversity and organizational development 30 of those at the senior level. She is a member of the Central Arkansas Human Resource Association (CAHRA) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for many years. She has served on the CAHRA board of directors twice serving as Chair. She has also served on the SHRM Board of Directors for seven years and held the top volunteer position as Chair in 1998. She served four years on the Human Resource Certification Board and six years on the SHRM Foundation Board serving as chair in 2006. She holds a B.S. in Education from the University of Arkansas and a M.A. in Management from Webster University. She is on the faculty of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the College of Public Health and Webster University teaching leadership and human resource classes at the graduate level.

I have nearly 30 years experience in security consulting, human resources and investigative services, including 14 years in the public sector. My expertise is in fraud and theft investigations, compliance, security operations, public speaking, and executive protection. Prior to joining the private sector, I developed my behavioral acumen through experience as a court investigator, intensive probation supervisor and law enforcement officer, serving both vice and criminal intelligence. 

I served two Fortune 500 companies, as Director of Compliance and Ethics, and Director of Global Investigations Security Services. I have lead a multitude of fraud-related investigations, resulting in the recovery of millions of dollars.