Senior-Level

Rebecca Shambaugh is an internationally recognized leadership expert, author, and keynote speaker. Rebecca is President of SHAMBAUGH, a global leadership development organization and Founder of Women In Leadership and Learning (WILL), one of the first executive leadership development programs in the country, dedicated to the research, advancement, and retention of women leaders and executives. Rebecca has coached and advised over a hundred leaders and executives and has enhanced their overall level of excellence in such areas as communications, strategic thinking, gender intelligence, visionary leadership, employee engagement, executive presence, and culture transformation. Prior to starting her own company, she worked for such premier organizations as General Motors, Fairchild Industries, and Amax Inc. as a senior executive in the leadership and human resources arena.

 

Mary Martinéz is the diversity and inclusion (D&I) practice leader for APTMetrics, Inc. As an experienced D&I practitioner, she provides guidance and support for organizations that are committed to maximizing the bottom-line benefits of D&I through assessment, engagement, and measurement. She has more than 20 years of experience as a consultant and as an HR leader in organizations representing multiple industries and in the nonprofit sector where she has implemented a wide range of diversity and talent initiatives. Her capabilities include designing and implementing strategies and processes, creating and delivering training, and implementing organization development interventions. Most recently, Mary led the global diversity consulting practice for Mercer/ORC Networks (formerly part of ORC Worldwide -- where she began her career, and to which she returned in 2008). Immediately prior to this, she was responsible for global performance management and professional development at Alcatel-Lucent where she was instrumental in integrating the merged company’s talent processes.

Curtis Olson is an Inspector with the Calgary Police Service and currently oversees the Community and Youth Services Section. With over twenty years of policing experience he recognizes the strength of diversity and understands the importance of strategic planning to anticipate emerging demographic trends. One of his responsibilities is managing the Diversity Resource Team in which members are responsible for 9 different community portfolios: Aboriginal, African, Caribbean/ Latin America, Sexual and Gender diversity, Hate/Bias crimes, South East Asian, South Asian, Middle East/Europe and Persons with disabilities.

Recently, he guided the development of an integrated, multi-layered organizational framework to advance diversity that includes service provision, human resource practices, community capacity building and strategic communications, within the context of business planning. Curtis has presented at various conferences about topics that have national to international application. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity Western University, a Professional Management Certificate from the University of Calgary and is an alumnus of the 2012 Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference.

Shilpa Pherwani is an organizational psychologist by training and the Principal and CEO of IBIS Consulting Group, Inc. She has expertise in the areas of cultural competency, diversity and inclusion, organizational development and e-­learning.  As a consultant and trainer, Shilpa provides guidance to organizations to develop and achieve their D&I business goals.  She provides subject matter expertise in change management, organizational development and diversity to help organizations align D&I with business strategy. Shilpa heads the design and development team at IBIS for diversity e-­learning tools. She has led the team for several highly effective programs for clients such as Aetna, Boeing, Campbell Soup, Grainger, ESPN, Nestle, Microsoft, Sun Life Financial, and Xerox. Shilpa’s work with global organizations has included conducting diversity assessments, diversity and cross-­cultural training, leadership development, and implementation of diversity strategic plans. Shilpa received her Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Springfield College with a focus on Organizational Development.

 

Dr. Edna Chun is associate vice chancellor for Human Resource Services at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She came from Broward College, a very large, multi-campus community college, where she was vice president for human resources and equity. At Broward College, she led the development of its Total Rewards Strategy, resulting in an employee compensation system that promoted consistency and equity. She negotiated labor agreements with faculty and staff. And she initiated a range of cost-savings initiatives. Chun received the Kathryn G. Hansen Publication Award for her co-authored book “Bridging the Divide: Globalization and Reciprocal Empowerment in Higher Education” (2009). She also received that award for the co-authored book “Are the Walls Really Down? Behavioral and Organizational Barriers to Diversity” (2007).

As a managing partner and co-founder of n-gen People Performance Inc., Adwoa has dedicated the last 10 years to working with industry leaders across North America, in both the private and public sectors, to build strategies and programs that target, motivate and engage a multigenerational workforce.

With over 15 years of training and performance consulting experience, she has leveraged her expertise to create solutions in five practice areas – sales & customer service; leadership, team building, Gen Y and HR. Adwoa has presented to international audiences, has written numerous whitepapers, and co-authored two books: Loyalty Unplugged: How to Get, Keep & Grow All Four Generations and Upgrade Now: 9 Advanced Leadership Skills.

For over twenty-five years Jeff has delivered development and training solutions for the private and public sector. He has facilitated hundreds of programs and delivered keynote addresses to scores of clients as diverse as General Electric, the U.S. Postal System, Federal Express and the City of New York. Topics have ranged from leadership to performance accountability, from customer service/loyalty to team building.

Earlier Jeff’s consultant activities were associated with The Disney Institute, a best-practices institution modeled on America’s first corporate university. While there, Jeff was responsible for designing The Disney Approach to Quality Service and Service, Disney Style programs. The models, concepts, and examples of that program were later introduced to corporate America in Be Our Guest, a popular benchmarking title published by The Disney Institute, with a forward by Michael Eisner.

While at the Disney Institute, Jeff played a key role in developing other programs at The Disney Institute to include Disney’s Approach to Customer Loyalty, and Disney’s Approach to Creativity and Innovation. He continues today as a columnist for MousePlanet.Com where he continues to share stories of excellence in the Walt Disney Company as best-practices ideas for corporations worldwide.

Jeff is now CEO of World Class Benchmarking, which provides a programming series that benchmarks many of America’s greatest corporations. Recently, World Class Benchmarking supported Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (Sheraton, Westin, & St. Regis) in launching a massive customer/brand service initiative for over 125,000 associates globally.

Recently Jeff has consulted in the last couple of years for the Finance division of the City of New York in providing leadership and transformation solutions for the public sector. He is the Chief Learning Architect for The Public Strategies Group (PSG) creating training and development solutions for such organizations as the State of Iowa and Federal Student Aid—U. S. Department of Education.

Jeff’s new best-selling book, Lead With Your Customer: Transform Culture and Brand into World-Class Excellence (ASTD Press) showcases what world-class organizations do to attain and sustain extraordinary results and is available via ASTD.org, Amazon.com, and bookstores all over the world.  Jeff's book, "The Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney" highlights best practices in customer service at Disney.

Todd Solomon is a partner in and Chicago local practice group leader of the employee benefits practice group of McDermott Will & Emery LLP in its Chicago office.  Todd focuses his practice primarily on designing, amending, and administering pension plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans, 403(b) plans, and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements.  He also counsels corporations and tax-exempt entities regarding fiduciary and plan investment issues under ERISA, employee benefits issues involved in corporate transactions, executive compensation and Code Section 409A compliance and correction matters, and the implementation of benefit programs for domestic partners.  

Roger King represents employers in employment relations matters, concentrating on matters arising under the National Labor Relations Act, state and federal equal employment statutes, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. In addition, Roger's practice consists of representing employers in collective bargaining negotiations, grievance and arbitration matters, and litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts regarding a broad spectrum of labor-related matters. Roger's experience also includes representing clients regarding issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program matters, wrongful discharge claims, and development and review of employee policies and procedures. Roger is a Fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a member of the following bar associations, including the labor relations section of each: American, District of Columbia, Ohio State, and Columbus and a member of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Labor Advisory Committee, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the American Health Lawyers Association, and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA).

Jerold A. Ramos Sr., CPP, CFE is the Corporate Manager for Talent Acquisition/Corporate Military Liaison for AlliedBarton Security Services. AlliedBarton Security Services is a premier security services company, established in 1957 and currently has 58,000 employees. Jerold is a Navy Veteran, and has been in Human Resources/Talent Acquisition for the past 35 years. Jerold retired from his first career after 33 years in Public Law Enforcement recently, where he held the position of City Marshal. Jerold has won the Presidents “Gold Level” Volunteer Service Award for the past three years now and is a volunteer with the American Red Cross and the Employers Support of the Guard and Reserve. Through Jerold’s partnerships with Military Assistance Groups, Jerold has assisted over 10,000 veterans in getting hired.