Senior-Level

Dr. Dale J. Albrecht is an expert in business transformation, culture, and human resources.  He is the Executive Vice President of People and Performance for Alonos and a member of the Forbes HR Council.  He’s an Adjunct Professor for the University of Texas and Texas Woman’s University, and he is also the author of the book, “Organizational Design that Sticks!” Dr. Albrecht has fulfilled C-Suite leadership roles as Chief Human Resources and Risk Officer.  He also has experience in general management, operations, and engineering, which enables him to bring a holistic focus to enabling business success. 

Jonathan A. Siegel is a principal in the Orange County, California, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has spent more than 27 years at Jackson Lewis representing employers in workplace law matters.  In 2009, Jonathan was recognized as one of the Top 100 Labor Attorneys in America. In 2020 and 2021, Jonathan was recognized in Best Lawyers in America.

Jonathan provides advice and counsel to employers regarding various issues including wage and hour, reduction in force, discipline, leave management, labor, harassment and discrimination issues. 

Jonathan has represented management in NLRB elections, unfair labor practice proceedings, collective bargaining and arbitrations.

Carol Darling leads the Talent Acquisition, Analytics & Compliance Center of Expertise for BAE Systems, Inc.  Her remit includes talent acquisition operations; recruitment marketing; workforce analytics; strategic workforce planning; and HR compliance.  She also has HR responsibility for corporate headquarters.

Early in her career, Carol worked for the NSA and CIA.  While with the government, Carol attended law school and became a labor and employment litigator.  She joined a major firm and later served as in-house counsel for several companies.  She moved into HR in 2011.  

Carol received her B.A. from Florida State and Juris Doctorate from Georgetown.  
 

Curt Gray is senior vice president, Human Resources & Administration for BAE Systems, Inc., responsible for all human resources and employment-related activities for the company’s U.S.-based businesses, which employs approximately 32,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, and Israel, and generated 2017 sales of $10 billion. He brings over 15 years of experience in HR, and an impressive record of accomplishments in the aerospace & defense industry to his position.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, Natalie Smith, APR, is senior vice president at Padilla. A leader in Padilla’s RC2 Practice (Reputation, Risk, Change, Culture), Natalie is an expert in navigating the challenges of an ever-changing workforce and workplace. She works with clients who are going through substantial change, helping them to successfully navigate that change and in the process, build a culture that engages employees and drives company performance. Natalie has a bachelor’s degree in communications from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and a master’s degree in mass communications/media management from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va.

Clients who work with Jon aren’t surprised to learn about his background as an attorney and a scientist. Prior to joining Bell Leadership, Jon developed a reputation as an attorney who could break down complex issues into manageable elements, bring a measured approach to dispute resolution, and present skillfully before judges and juries. Jon lived in Guatemala volunteering for a medical organization, managed research studies investigating the role of genetics in cancer development, and helped start an institute to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. Companies who turn to Jon appreciate the value his unique perspective brings to their organizational cultures.

• J.D., cum laude, from the University of Richmond School of Law
• M.S. in Environmental Health from University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health
• B.S. in Biology from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Dr. Lepora is a well sought-after keynote speaker on People and Process topics worldwide. She is the CEO and Executive Coach of Nextgen People, a cutting- edge firm that specializes in Executive Coaching and Talent Management Next Practices in a global and multi-generational environment.

Dr. Lepora has partnered with many global business leaders and organizations to help them be more effective in their transformational efforts. She is especially passionate about elevating leader performance and seeing individual and organizational potential realized. She also has a special focus on Intentional Culture and the Globalization of work.

Dr. Lepora has worked and led teams as an internal executive leader and consultant in Fortune 500 companies to achieve positive transformational change in people and processes. Some companies, with which Dr. Lepora Flournoy has partnered include Delta Airlines, ManpowerGroup, Randstad, Capital Blue Cross, Deloitte, and Coca- Cola.

Dr. Flournoy is dedicated to innovative people practices and creative ways to help leaders better perform. She is the author of Journey to Authentic Joy and is currently working on a second book.  Aside from writing, she also enjoys hiking, traveling and photography.

While you can find her on most social media vehicles, feel free to follow Dr. Lepora on Twitter @drlepora and connect with her on linkedin/in/drlepora

www.nextgenpeople.com

Chris Murdock is a veteran of the recruiting and talent acquisition industry with twenty years of experience spanning across multiple industries. Murdock founded IQTalent Partners in 2009 and now leads search execution and client relationships for his 150- person firm. Prior to establishing IQTalent Partners as a talent acquisition leader, Murdock worked with Yahoo!’s internal executive recruiting team, gaining in-depth experience across the technology recruiting sphere. He began his career working in recruiting and sourcing roles for Heidrick & Struggles and with TMP Worldwide. Murdock earned his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and resides in Nashville, TN.

With 6000+ research citations, 50+ patents, 35+ peer reviewed research publications, and the outstanding PhD thesis award from UIUC for his PhD thesis in Machine Learning, it’s fair to say that Ashu is one of the world’s experts in machine-learning. After his time managing Search and Personalization efforts at both Google and IBM Research, Ashu founded Bloomreach, a Visionary vendor on Gartner’s magic quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms. Now, he is applying his experience to the problem he is most truly passionate about – helping the world’s talent find their most meaningful and fulfilling work.

Lee is currently VP of Strategic Relationships at Digi-Me.

Before joining Digi-Me, he has successfully built and managed globally distributed teams which provided administrative, technical, and techno-functional support to Talent Acquisition teams.

Lee’s background also includes franchise ownership as well as experience designing and implementing franchisee programs. In addition, he has led teams to promote and support domestic and international franchisee growth and development.

Lee has six children, and with two still at home in Arizona, most of his spare time is spent supporting their pursuits by attending ballet performances and baseball games.

Dawn Burke, founder of Dawn Burke HR, is an HR leader, speaker and writer specializing in new HR practices, engagement and workplace culture. Her HR and leadership career has spanned the last 20 years, most recently serving as VP of People for Birmingham, AL, award-winning technology company, Daxko.

During her tenure as VP of People, Dawn was responsible for finding great talent, developing team members, and preserving company culture - a culture recognized in Fortune Magazine as one of the “50 Best Small and Medium Workplaces.” Recognized as a Top HR Innovator, she is creator of DawnHBurke.com, and a contributor to a variety of national blogs including SHRM Next and Fistful Of Talent.