Senior-Level

For over 20 years, Allison West has used her employment law background in delivering customized workplace training, conducting investigations, coaching executives/managers, serving as an expert witness, and specializing in conflict resolution and facilitated discussions to create more collaborative work environments. 

Allison is a top-rated speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference as well as other HR/diversity conferences, and is a national expert on harassment, discrimination and investigations. She has appeared on PBS, CBS This Morning and in O Magazine discussing workplace harassment issues. 

She is a member of the State Bar of California and holds her SHRM-SCP certification and AWI-CH (investigation) certificate.

 

 

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.

 

Joseph Grenny is a New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including the communication classic, Crucial Conversations. His whose work has been used by nearly half of the Forbes Global 2000 and has helped millions of people achieve better relationships and results. He cofounded Crucial Learning, one of the world’s most respected learning and organization development firms, offering courses in communication, performance, and leadership.

Steve Browne, SHRM-SCP is the Chief People Officer for LaRosa's, Inc., a regional Pizzeria chain. He has 35+ years working as an HR professional in a variety of industries. He has a globally recognized HR blog and author of three books, HR on Purpose !!, HR Rising !! and HR Unleashed !! He is a past member of the SHRM Board of Directors. Steve also runs a global HR network called the HR Net which reaches 15,000+ HR and business professionals weekly.

 

Bob Livingston has more than 25 years of experience with Procter & Gamble, and is currently the Vice President of Human Resources – Global Operations. He has worked through five significant mergers – most recently the merger of Wella into Procter & Gamble. He has a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA with a specialization in Human Resources Management.

Jason Geller is managing partner of the firm's San Francisco office.  Jason represents employers in all facets of employment law matters. He has considerable experience defending employers in litigation involving claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act and California Family Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and California wage and hour laws. Jason has also defended employers against whistleblowing and retaliation claims, including claims under the California Whistleblower Act, the False Claims Act and various provisions of the California Labor Code.

Jason has extensive experience defending employers in federal and state court, as well as in investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board.

Mr. Rittof is the President and CEO of Modern Management, Inc. and an employee relations consultant His proactive approach to employee relations has roots in a broad spectrum of activities including organizational re-design studies, employee opinion surveys, communication audits, and labor relations seminars. As President/CEO, he leads a team of dedicated professionals in helping executives, managers, and supervisors face the challenges of the future. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mr. Rittof holds a B.A. and M.A. in Organizational Communication. He has taught at the university level and is co-author of Quality Circles, a textbook utilized by several universities and businesses. Since joining the firm over 33 years ago, he has consulted in virtually all aspects of employee relations. His experience encompasses healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, hospitality, banking, services, insurance, and government. A few of Mr. Rittof’s many accomplishments include successfully assisting numerous organizations in maintaining non-union status; providing preventive management training programs regarding the union campaign process; developing identification and action planning processes for responding to employee morale issues; and implementing communication plans for organizations in transition. He has also provided coaching and guidance for executives wishing to improve their public speaking skills and frequently facilitated executive retreats for strategic planning and team building.

Anne Pachciarek helps companies establish and operate their employee benefit plans, such as medical plans, 401(k) plans, pension plans and executive compensation programs.

With more than 20 years of experience, Anne works with public companies and closely held businesses to find solutions to a wide range of ERISA compliance, fiduciary responsibility and plan administration problems. She advises on welfare plans, pension and profit sharing plans, cafeteria plans and deferred compensation programs, as well as on the handling of benefit plans in mergers and acquisitions.

Anne has been a member of the Hiring Committee and the Chair of the summer program for the Chicago office.

David Lee, the founder of HumanNatureAtWork.com, helps employers improve employee engagement, customer service, and morale, though his work as a consultant, trainer, and executive coach. He is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance.

David is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as over sixty articles and book chapters on employee and organizational performance that have been published in North America, Europe, India, Australia, and China.

Much of his work involves taking research into human nature from a wide range of scientific disciplines, and then translating these principles into practical strategies for optimizing individual and organizational performance.

Using the popular TV show The Dog Whisperer as an analogy for the difference understanding human nature makes, David’s work helps leaders and managers become “Employee Whisperers.”

Morgan L. Hembree, Psy.D., MBA, BCB graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Philosophy in 2009. She knew from an early age that she wanted to study human behavior, and fell in love with the analysis and exploration of philosophy during college. She spent her summers doing Applied Behavior Analysis with children and teens on the Autism spectrum, which helped her gain confidence in her decision to pursue a graduate degree in psychology.

Morgan began her graduate studies at the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University in the fall of 2009. Though her interest was initially in clinical applications of psychological theory, she very quickly fell in love with the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. During her second year of graduate school she began pursuing her Master of Business Administration degree simultaneously, and began the process of integrating her understanding of human behavior with her new knowledge of managerial strategy. In addition to her clinical rotations, Morgan completed a practicum with Organizational Development Services, where she conducted individual assessments, led workshops, and engaged undergraduate leaders in leadership development.

After completing her dissertation, “The Mindful Leader: The Interaction of Mindfulness and Attachment in Predicting Transformational Leadership Ratings,” Morgan graduated with her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Master of Business Administration degrees, as well as her Board Certification in Biofeedback, in May of 2014. She hopes to continue to expand her understanding of leadership and management strategy, as well as to explore the utilization of both Mindfulness and Biofeedback techniques in coaching.

Currently, Morgan is working as a Leadership Consultant for Integrated Leadership Systems (ILS) in Columbus, Ohio. Here she assists employees at varying levels of organizations in industries such as health care, energy, law, and construction in optimizing their leadership potential. Morgan provides executive coaching, which incorporates a detailed 360 assessment