SHRM PDCs

Eric C. Peterson, MSOD is a Senior Consultant with Cook Ross Inc. He is a recognized facilitator and educator in the Diversity & Inclusion space with over 15 years of experience in Unconscious Bias, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), Learning Strategies, and Organization Development. Eric is certified in the use of both the Predictive Index and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and is a graduate of the Facilitation Learning Partners Program of Healing the Heart of Diversity. He has been published in Profiles in Diversity Journal and Echelon Magazine, and has been sourced as a D&I expert by CNN, National Public Radio, USA Today, The Bloomberg Group, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times.

Nereida (Neddy) Perez, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Ingersoll Rand. She is an internationally known Human Resources and Diversity practitioner with more than 20 years of experience working with Fortune 500 corporations in developing and implementing business strategies designed to remove organizational and cultural barriers designed to spur talent and business growth.

Neddy has been a speaker at a number of national conferences and events in HR, Diversity, Supplier Diversity and STEM. She has served as an advisor on diversity initiatives at an array of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Ms. Perez has been on the board of several national nonprofit organizations focusing Manufacturing, Energy, Leadership Development and Workforce Management. In 2014, she was named as the Top Hispanic Executive in the U.S.  by the National Hispanic Business Group and more recently was named one of the top 10 Latina in the U.S. by Latina Style Magazine. A strong advocate for MWBE’s and supplier diversity she has created and implemented supplier diversity programs at KPMG, National Grid and established the initial structure at Ingersoll Rand. 

Wendy Lewis is responsible for implementing game changing Diversity and Inclusion strategic and metric based platforms for Major League Baseball’s Club franchises, its Central Office, MLB Advanced Media and MLB Network. She has developed and implemented the innovative and wildly successful Diversity Economic Impact Engagement (DEIE) model. DEIE is designed to advance League-wide the level of MLB’s workforce, supply chain and Club engagement levels of diversity and inclusion leadership and progress. A key and groundbreaking component of the DEIE initiative is MLB’s Diversity Business Summit, an unprecedented diversity employment and procurement trade fair event that provides a unique and substantive opportunity for job seekers, business owners, emerging entrepreneurs and community and advocacy leaders to network with MLB Human Resources and Procurement executives. Theses industry influencers are from all 30 Clubs, Central Office, Advanced Media, the Network, and Minor League Baseball. The Commissioner and other key dignitaries and chief executives are in attendance as well. The Summit was officially launched in 2012, co-hosted by the Chicago White Sox in Chicago. The Chicago Summit would be the first time in professional sports that an event of this nature and scope had been staged. The 2013 MLB Diversity Business Summit was co-hosted by the Houston Astros in Houston, and in 2014 the New York Yankees co-hosted in New York City. The 2014 MLB Diversity Business Summit greatly surpassed all expectations in regards to attendance and outcomes. The "DBS" is transforming the employment and procurement pipelines of MLB.

Wendy is also responsible for the Diverse Business Partners Program, the premier supplier diversity program in professional sports. "DBP" was established to cultivate new and existing partnerships with minority and women-owned businesses. Under Wendy’s leadership, a greater number of diverse businesses have had an opportunity to participate in the procurement process for MLB’s desired goods and services. Since its formation, more than $1 billion has been spent with thousands of minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

Wendy also serves as a member of the Commissioner’s On-Field Diversity Task Force created in 2013 to address the talent pipeline that impacts the representation and development of diverse players and on-field personnel in Major League Baseball, particularly African-Americans. The wide-ranging group, which includes representatives from Club Ownership, Club Front Offices, Central Office, Minor League Baseball, former players, the Major League Baseball Players Association, the MLB Scouting Bureau, academia and collegiate baseball. The Task Force focuses on the myriad of issues influencing on-field diversity and inclusion at all levels of baseball.

Most recently she has supported and continues to direct the Commissioner’s appointment of MLB’s newest diversity and inclusion role, the Ambassador of Inclusion.

She has been recognized by national and international organizations, is the recipient of numerous awards, frequently selected for publication features and is a highly regarded key note speaker and subject matter expert.

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

At age 28, Richard took the reins of a $120 million car and truck dealership group when his father was forced to retire suddenly. This was a 100 year old family business and he was the 4th generation of his family to be CEO. That alone was a challenge. Worse, the business was losing $3.5 million a year. With help from his mentor Frank, Richard was able to apply creative strategies, articulate a crystal clear vision, hire the right people and forge a dynamic team. Ultimately he helped the business to survive and then prosper in a tough and competitive industry.

During his time as a CEO, Richard's leadership style matured from a controlling micro-manager to a coach and mentor. Today he shares with his audiences how they can achieve this in their own organizations.

Richard lives in Evergreen Colorado with his wife and two teenage children and likes to spend his leisure time golfing, skiing and traveling with family and friends.

Richard is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and is also a Board Member of the NSA-Colorado chapter.

At age 28, Richard took the reins of a $120 million car and truck dealership group when his father was forced to retire suddenly. This was a 100 year old family business and he was the 4th generation of his family to be CEO. That alone was a challenge. Worse, the business was losing $3.5 million a year. With help from his mentor Frank, Richard was able to apply creative strategies, articulate a crystal clear vision, hire the right people and forge a dynamic team. Ultimately he helped the business to survive and then prosper in a tough and competitive industry.

During his time as a CEO, Richard's leadership style matured from a controlling micro-manager to a coach and mentor. Today he shares with his audiences how they can achieve this in their own organizations.

Richard lives in Evergreen Colorado with his wife and two teenage children and likes to spend his leisure time golfing, skiing and traveling with family and friends.

Richard is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and is also a Board Member of the NSA-Colorado chapter.

Nancy is Senior Government Affairs Policy Counsel in the Government Affairs department of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  Nancy joined SHRM in January 2006 and is responsible for advocating SHRM membership views in federal rulemaking and in response to regulatory proposals affecting the HR profession. In addition, Nancy tracks court cases that raise critical issues for the HR profession and evaluates whether SHRM should intervene as amicus to ensure the HR viewpoint is considered by the court.

Prior to joining SHRM, Nancy spent 5 years as Legislative Counsel for Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE). Nancy also served as Director of the International Division and Policy Counsel for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Nancy received her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri and her Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Leslie Mays is vice president, chief inclusion officer for Avon Products, Inc., responsible for designing and driving the company’s worldwide inclusion strategies, policies and practices in line with Avon’s empowerment mission. She has been leading the design and implementation of the company’s first global women’s strategy across six of Avon’s largest markets around the world, leading development of a new global employee value proposition and integrating D&I into core talent practices. She also currently serves as acting vice president of Global Talent Management.

Prior to joining Avon, Leslie has served in senior executive roles and as an executive level specialist for other leading global corporations for over 20 years. Her key accomplishments include: the establishment of the first auditable global D&I policy in a multinational corporation implemented in 140 countries; applying rigorous, evidence-based analysis to D&I strategy development; educating and partnering with leadership teams in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa to improve talent and business performance through understanding and leveraging cultural differences. Her work has resulted in several awards and professional commendations, and has been featured in articles, books, and research in academic, trade and business publications.

Greg Burns is a senior vice president in Human Resources.  In this role he leads the Client Partnership organization, which provides strategic HR support to Allstate’s business areas. Greg also serves as HR business partner for the president of The Allstate Corporation, and president, Emerging Businesses.  

Greg has a deep knowledge of the business, extensive field and corporate experience, and a proven ability to collaborate and influence to drive business results. He brings a diverse  background and unique perspective to HR.   

Greg joined Allstate in 1985. His Allstate career has included a variety of roles in Claims, HR and Business Insurance. As the regional commercial manager for the Northeast Regional Commercial Center in New York, he was responsible for the profit and loss for the Commercial Center. Most of his career has been in HR, with roles supporting Business Insurance, Allstate Personal Property & Casualty, the Illinois Region, the Southern California Region, Encompass, and Allstate Personal Lines Eastern and Western Territories. In 2012, he was promoted to senior vice president, with responsibility for HR’s field organization and Claims support. He took on his current position in January of 2015.  

Greg earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of South Florida and an MBA from the

University of Illinois at Chicago.  He earned his CPCU in 2007. 

Greg is a board member for Countryside Association and the Lake County Workforce Investment Council.