Senior-Level

Valerie helps companies improve their bottom line by elevating employees from tactical thinkers to strategic leaders.

She served in senior leadership roles at RollsRoyce Aircraft before helping to found InterActiveCorp, parent company to Expedia, Home Shopping Network and TicketMaster. She then went to work for Oprah Winfrey, helping to found the Oxygen channel which was later sold to NBC Universal.

Valerie obtained her mechanical engineering degree from Kettering University and her MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Val’s book, Clash of the Generations: Managing the New Workplace Reality, helps leaders manage multiple generations in the office.

Kelly R. Wenzel is the Vice President of Business Development at OptTek Systems, Inc. As VP of Business Development, Kelly brings solutions to current and prospective clients for their workforce planning needs. Prior to joining OptTek, Kelly was Director of Human Resources for FreeWave Technologies. Her additional experience includes serving as Regional Sr. HR Manager for Animal Health International and Director of Communications for SeatonHill, working with multiple clients including Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, PepsiCo, Entech Solar, QVL Pharmacy and Trend Micro. Kelly holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of North Texas and an MBA in International Business from Texas Christian University. She also achieved both her SPHR and SHMR-SCP and was a court appointed mediator for the state of Texas.

When Maren walks into the room, you know it. She is a natural and dynamic leader one is drawn to for her energy, charisma and her diverse knowledge and background.

Her experience in coaching top performers has brought her clients in diverse areas: from Fortune 500 companies, to U.S. Government, to leaders in the Arts. Maren’s clients are consistently recognized for improved relationships and moving large projects forward swiftly and effectively. Her focus is on developing her clients’ interpersonal and communication skills so that they can lead their teams with a higher degree of engagement and effectiveness.

Prior to coaching as owner of a management consultant company, Maren worked with clients such as the Annenberg Foundation, White House Project, AIG and Blackstone Group. Standout projects include the management of the International Women Leaders Global Security Conference and Initial Public Offerings for Blackstone Group and Genworth Financial.

Alan Fine is considered the pioneer of the modern-day coaching movement and is the co-creator of the widely recognized GROW® Model. Alan is a New York Times Bestselling Author, international performance expert, and well-respected business executive and professional athlete coach. He has dedicated the past 35 years to helping people elevate their performance and unlock potential. From the golf course to the boardroom, Alan has worked with many respected athletes and organizations.

John O’Leary lived through worse than most can imagine. At age nine, a fire exploded and burned 100% of his body. Given a one-percent chance to live, he fought extraordinary odds.

John spent five months in the hospital, underwent dozens of surgeries, lost all of his fingers to amputation and had to relearn to walk, write, and feed himself. He endured, persevered, and survived – largely because others emerged, served and inspired. John now lives to share the life-giving lessons from his story in hopes that he can Spark! the extraordinary possibility of your story.

He shares these lessons as a tribute to those who leapt into the flames to save him. Who worked tirelessly to restore him. Who pushed him to write though he no longer had fingers. Who held him close when the days were dark and the nights scary. He shares these lessons as an invitation for you to choose to wake up to the fullness of your life, to embrace the amazing gift of each moment, and to celebrate the joy of your inspired life!

As he shares these lessons, sparks will leap.

Sparks that can renew you with hope, purpose, perspective, faith and love. Sparks that remind you that one person, one action, one word, does indeed make a difference. Sparks that liberate you from excuses, destructive cynicism, limiting beliefs, broken relationships, and lousy results. And sparks that, when united, ignite us together toward an extraordinary future!

What John knows for certain is this: You can’t always choose the path you walk in life, but you can always choose the manner in which you walk.

Hayward L. Bell is chief diversity officer for Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN). Raytheon Company, with 2014 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity markets throughout the world. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass.

Bell was elected to this position in January 2005 and is a member of Raytheon’s Executive Diversity Leadership Team. As chief diversity officer, Bell is responsible for developing and leading innovative global diversity initiatives, practices, programs and strategies for Raytheon. He also serves as liaison between Raytheon Global Headquarters and all business units to ensure enterprisewide consistency.

Prior to joining Raytheon, Bell served as director, global diversity for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., a position he held since 1998.

As director, global diversity, Bell was responsible for strategic development and senior-level leadership of diversity, including program design, resource planning and implementation.

He began his career at Air Products in 1980 and held various positions in finance, corporate policies and professional development.

Bell earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Rutgers University. He is a certified management accountant and holds an MBA from Lehigh University.

Bell is a National Training Laboratories (NTL) Institute certified diversity practitioner. He is a member and past chair of the Conference Board Global Diversity Council, and a Board member of the International Multicultural Institute (iMCI)

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.

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.