SHRM PDCs

G. Riley Mills is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer, and the co-founder of Pinnacle Performance Company. He is the co-author of the book The Bullseye Principle and was included in the list of "Top Leadership Speakers" by Inc. Magazine. He presented his TEDx session "Are We Killing Communication" at the Shanghai American School and has guest-lectured at such institutions as the Columbia University, London Business School, Manchester United, and The Royal Household at Buckingham Palace. Mills has written about leadership and communication for Forbes, Fast Company, and Inc. Magazine. 

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.

Dr. Jamie Velazquez is the Director of Staff Development for Crittenton Services for Children and Families, in Southern California.  With over a decade of adult education, training, and leadership development experience in higher education and in the non-profit sectors, she has led the development and implementation of robust training programs that meet the requirements of national standards, licensing, accreditation, and/or the various county, state, and federal contracts for the various agencies or institutions. A background in psychology, education, and leadership led to a passion for social justice, rooted in critical theory, which greatly impacted her endless journey toward cultural competency.

Dr. David Rock coined the term 'Neuroleadership’ and is the CEO of the NeuroLeadership Institute, a global initiative bringing neuroscientists and leadership experts together to build a new science for leadership development. With operations in 24 countries, the Institute also helps large organizations operationalize brain research in order to develop better leaders and managers. David co-edits the NeuroLeadership Journal and heads up an annual global summit. He has written many of the central academic and discussion papers that have defined the Neuroleadership field.

In the last 2 years has been stdying the exponencial economy and the Sillicon Valley best practices on People, Culture and Performance. On this matter went to Stanford Graduate Scool of Business, Singularity University, Zappos Cuture Camp and took a Human Resources misson with Startse, visiting companies such as Facebook, Google, Uber and others. AUthor of the famous book Leader of the Future- the Leader Coach way.  Specialist in Executive Coaching and Leadership with certficates from schools like Kellogg, Insead, MIT, Center for Creative Leadership and Harvard Business School. Graduated in Economics from PUC-RJ and MBA from Columbia Business School em Nova York. Elected in december,2001 one of the 20 CEO's of the Future in a joint evaluation by KornFerry, Revista VOCÊ SA and FIA-USP. Former executive of Price Waterhouse, Citibank, Unibanco, Deutsche Bank and Grupo Santander Banespa. Acted as Strategic Planning Director at Santander.

Attorney James P. (“Jim”) Reidy is a management-side labor and employment lawyer. He is a partner in the New England based law firm, Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green, PA, where he is the Chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment group. His practice focuses on prevention, training and compliance but he also handles matters when claims arise.

He has more than 35 years of experience in the field and been a media resource on workplace law for media outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Business Magazine, Bloomberg, NPR, The Associated Press, NPR Market Place, Buzz Feed, Law 360, Inc. Magazine, The HR Power Hour, HR Breakroom, SKI Magazine and HR Magazine as well as several local/regional publications.

In 2020 Jim was inducted as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. 

Chambers USA and New England Super Lawyers have ranked Jim in the Top Tier of management-side employment lawyers for each year of the last 15 years. Best Lawyers USA named Jim the 2022 Lawyer of the Year for Labor and Employment Law (Manchester, NH) and the NH Business Review named him one of the top 200 most influential business leaders in New Hampshire.

Jim has been a presenter regularly at SHRM’s Legal and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC as well as SHRM’s annual conferences.

Jennifer Lee is an experienced keynote speaker, engaging educator, and talented facilitator. Jennifer has over 15 years of learning and development experience with a robust background in luxury hospitality, human resources, and training. As the former Learning and Development Director at the AAA Five Diamond-rated Waldorf Astoria Chicago and the former Learning Manager at The Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, Jennifer brings a rich perspective in leadership, management, service, hospitality and presentation skills training. When she’s not presenting, Jennifer can be found checking items off her bucket list, which still includes attending the Oscars at least once in her lifetime.

Michele Hester is Senior Manager of Client Services at Berkshire Associates. In her position, Michele is responsible for overseeing, developing, and implementing training and consulting services related to affirmative action and human resources management.

With more than 20 years in the human resource industry, Michele is an expert in HR practices and procedures. This experience allows her to develop and present training sessions to educate clients on the latest affirmative action, applicant management, compensation, and workforce analysis topics and trends. She has a true passion for educating fellow HR professionals, which is why she has been an active speaker throughout the country at conferences and meetings including the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Talent Management and Annual Conferences.

Michele has a Masters of Business Administration in Human Resource Management and Management Skills from New York State University at Buffalo. Michele holds both SPHR and SHRM_SCP Certification and is a member of the national Society for Human Resource Management.