Senior-Level

Karl Ahlrichs specializes in helping professionals make order from chaos. He is a national speaker, author, and consultant, presenting on the people issues in all industries, and is often quoted in the local and national media. 

Karl’s experience is ideally suited to times of organizational change as he pulls on risk management and organizational development theories to replace “best practices” with “next practices”. He owes much of his communications mastery to working as a writer and editor in daily media, to on-the-job writing experience and to the process of becoming a published author.

He joined Gregory & Appel in 2010 after serving as a founding partner of ExactHire, bringing his HR, operations, diversity & belonging, and learning & development skills with him. Karl’s affinity for design, composition and learning started at a very young age, by taking and examining thousands of boring pictures with the goal of improving his craft. He loves deploying that practice-to-improve approach with all manner of hobbies including writing haiku, mastering cutting-edge technology and learning Spanish.

In 2003, he was named the SHRM Human Resource Professional of the Year for the State of Indiana. He is on the Boards of several organizations, including the Maryland CPA Society.  He has lived in Scotland and Spain and lives to explore new experiences with his wife and family.

Joe Urbanski believes an Undeniable Culture™ inspires its people to unleash their best selves, take home more wins and less stress to their families, and create incredible value for the company, its customers, and community. For more than two decades, he has worked with HR and training departments, consulting and coaching 750+ executives and leaders at 400+ global organizations, and facilitating 800+ kickass trainings, strategic retreats, and leadership programs for 480,000 people. Joe has a remarkable understanding of how to transform the workplace experience. Plus, you’ll have more fun and laughs than you’d expect.

Magi The Evolutionist

Catalyst for Positive Change

Personal - Interpersonal - Team - Organizational

Using a unique combination of experiential coaching, science-backed development tools, and actionable strategies, Magi empowers leaders to evolve themselves and their organizational culture to meet the moment. Whether it’s change initiatives, new leadership, or cultural transformation, she partners with teams to catalyze positive change.

Magi has spent her life reinventing herself. From a single mother at 19 working at the first Cable TV company, to leading one of the fastest growing consultancies and becoming a best selling author in her field of expertise, Magi has continually taken challenges and failure as lessons and learned to move beyond her limits (both real and perceived) to live a life that inspires and contributes. Her body of work cuts through the personal, group, and organizational malaise stifling happiness, joy, and fulfillment at work. Her uplifting talks and groundbreaking courses uncover, catalyze, and optimize human potential, unite teams, and raise organizational effectiveness. 

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.

Jerrod Murr is a speaker, corporate trainer, and cultural entrepreneur. He is a graduate of Northeastern State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, and a member of the Northeastern State University Hall of Fame.  Murr is the founder of The 20 Leadership Camp, a faith-based movement equipping students through personal leadership challenges.  He is also the Co-Founder of Paradigm Shift, a leadership training and development firm.

Murr speaks at multiple Human Resource conferences and corporate educational events throughout the year. He is also honored to be a member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, as well as being appointed Partner Expert in The Forge's startup incubator, powered by the Tulsa Regional Chamber.

Murr currently resides in Muskogee, OK with his wife, Jenn, and three children, Adelae, Josalyn, and Everette. His favorite book is The Giving Tree, and he loves working on his Bucket List, the OKC Thunder, and good coffee.

Dr. Wang-Jones is a leader of global diversity and inclusion. She spearheads and drives strategic plans to integrate D&I into the business across IKEA. Her leadership in LGBT+, gender, and religious inclusion impacts 150,000+ co-workers company-wide in nearly 50 countries. With her dual PhD in Organizational Psychology and Clinical Psychology, she is also a coach and psychotherapist helping individuals achieve their full potential. Additionally, she is an independent organizational development consultant specializing in strategic D&I, unconscious bias, and transgender issues in the workplace. She develops business strategies that improve organizational effectiveness while leveraging the power to make positive social change.

Bernard joined Uber as the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in January 2017. In this role, he drives the D&I programs through meaningful relationships, both internally and externally, as well as promotes Uber as a leader in ride sharing, and as a forerunner in D&I engagement. Prior to Uber, Bernard led Hillary for America’s D&I and HR initiatives, as the first ever Chief Diversity and Human Resources Officer in U.S. history for any presidential campaign and political party. Bernard’s written for Catalyst, SHRM and his insights have appeared in the Nasdaq Government Clearinghouse and the Huffington Post.  Bernard holds an M.B.A. from Trinity University, a B.A. in psychology from Hampton University, a Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Management certification from Georgetown University, and is a graduate of the University of Virginia's Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership.

Josh Bersin founded Bersin & Associates (now Bersin by Deloitte) in 2004 to provide research and advisory services focused on corporate learning, leadership, talent management, and HR technology. Josh is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been quoted on talent management topics in key media, including Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, BBC Radio, CBS Radio and National Public Radio. He is a popular blogger for Forbes.com, a leading LinkedIn influencer, and has been a columnist since 2007 for Chief Learning Officer magazine. Josh spent 25 years in product development, product management, marketing and sales of e-learning and other enterprise technologies at companies including DigitalThink (now Convergys), Arista Knowledge Systems, Sybase, and IBM.  Josh's education includes a B.S. in engineering from Cornell University, an M.S. in engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.