Giselle is the Practice Lead in Optimus SBR’s Learning & Development Group with over 25 years experience as a sought after resource to industry leaders across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors dedicated to building strategies and programs that help clients target, motivate and engage employees in order to increase performance and productivity.

Giselle has devoted more than 20 years to researching the impact that generational differences have on organizational performance, creating solutions and programs in four areas – leadership, high performance teams, early career talent, and reinforcement & sustainment of learning. Giselle has co-authored two books and completed her Master of Arts Degree in Communications Studies at the University of Windsor.

She is Chair of the Board at The Institute for Performance and Learning (I4PL), co-chair of the Cross Academy Association and Advisory Council member at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Bob Kelleher is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and consultant on employee engagement, leadership, and workforce trends. Bob is the author of the bestselling book, LOUDER THAN WORDS: 10 Practical Employee Engagement Steps That Drive Results, CREATIVESHIP, A Novel for Evolving Leaders, EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT for Dummies, and I-Engage, Your Personal Engagement Roadmap.   

Bob can be seen or heard on national media (most recently on CNBC, CBS, NBC News, Business Week, Forbes, and Fortune, and has presented to many of the world’s top companies

Bob is also the founder of The Employee Engagement Group, a global survey, products, assessment, consulting firm.  

Ed Frauenheim is about reinventing masculinity, organizations and society. And connecting the dots among the three, for a more soulful world.

Ed Frauenheim is about reinventing masculinity, workplaces and society--and connecting the dots among the three for a more soulful world. He is a writer, speaker and consultant who has focused on workplace, technology and culture matters for more than 25 years. His stories have been featured in USA Today, Harvard Business Review and Fortune. Ed spent six years as director of content at Great Place to Work, the global consultancy that produces the annual Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list. He’s co-written four books, including Reinventing Masculinity: The Liberating Power of Compassion and Connection. 

Known as the Boss Whisperer®, psychotherapist, corporate executive, executive coach, researcher, professor, speaker, and author, Dr. Laura Crawshaw specializes in researching and coaching abrasive leaders. She has served an international clientele of employers, including over 40 Fortune 500 companies, United Nations organizations, and NASA. She published her first book, Taming the Abrasive Manager: How to End Unnecessary Roughness in the Workplace, in 2007. Dr. Crawshaw founded The Boss Whispering Institute in 2009, whose mission is to stop suffering in the workplace caused by abrasive leaders through research and training.  Her new book is Grow Your Spine & Manage Abrasive Leadership Behavior: A Guide for Those Who Manage Bosses Who Bully.

John Bernatovicz, a devoted husband, father, and accomplished entrepreneur, serves as the president of Willory, an HR staffing and HR tech consulting firm. With a diverse background as a published author, competitive amateur golfer, professional coach, podcast host, and keynote speaker, John is on a mission to inspire leaders to excel both personally and professionally. Over his career, he has owned six businesses and guided Willory to notable achievements, earning accolades such as NorthCoast 99 and Inc. 5000. John authored "HR Like a Boss," which was published in October 2023 by SHRM Books and quickly became a #1 New Release on Amazon in the Human Resources category.

John Bernatovicz, a devoted husband, father, and accomplished entrepreneur, serves as the president of Willory, an HR staffing and HR tech consulting firm. With a diverse background as a published author, competitive amateur golfer, professional coach, podcast host, and keynote speaker, John is on a mission to inspire leaders to excel both personally and professionally. Over his career, he has owned six businesses and guided Willory to notable achievements, earning accolades such as NorthCoast 99 and Inc. 5000. John authored "HR Like a Boss," which was published in October 2023 by SHRM Books and quickly became a #1 New Release on Amazon in the Human Resources category.

Steve is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame and was recognized in 2015 as one of the top 10 motivational speakers globally from over 9,000 candidates.

In addition to being one of the most sought-after speakers in North America, he has written 11 books and was named Author of the Year by Advantage/Forbes for his book Enjoy The Ride.

Steve built a multimillion-dollar company, which the Pittsburgh Business Times named one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the region. Steve is one of SHRM’s top-rated speakers. This is his 18th consecutive year speaking at the SHRM Conference.

Tim Sackett, SCP, is the CEO of HRUTech.com, a leading technical recruiting firm. Tim has over 20 years of combined executive HR and talent acquisition experience working for Fortune 500 companies. Tim is a highly sought-after international speaker on leadership, HR &TA Tech, talent acquisition, and HR execution. Tim is currently a Senior Faculty member with the Josh Bersin Academy. He is also an Angel investor and advisor and sits on multiple HR Technology corporate boards.

Tim is the author of the newly released book The Talent Fix, Vol. 2. He also writes daily on his blog, the Tim Sackett Project. Tim is married to a hall-of-fame wife, has three sons, and his dog Tucker. In 2023, he was named a Top Global HR & Recruitment Influencer by HR Executive. He has more Twitter (X) followers than his 3 Gen Z sons and is sponsored on stage by diet Mt. Dew.

Jathan Janove, a former state bar Employment Lawyer of the Year and now Executive Coach and Organization Development consultant, writes SHRM’s “Putting Humanity into HR Compliance” column, and is a Master Coach and Practice Leader with the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching organization, including writing its Ask the Coach column. He’s the author, most recently, of “Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories From The Management Trenches” (HarperCollins 2017). He’s currently working on his next book, “From Compliance Cop to Culture Coach: Transforming the HR Profession.”

Carney uses his over 30 years of experience across business, IT, and HR to be a trusted advisor as the CHRO for Carter Bank.

And Paul isn't just all talk; he’s penned his wisdom into his insightful book, Move Your Æ(ash): Know, Grow, and Show Your Career Value. The book launched in 2018 and quickly found its place on the desks of many ambitious professionals. Paul's expertise is not limited to HR alone; he
earned respected accreditation from the Blockchain Council as a Certified Prompt Engineer™ and earned the prestigious Level 2 Award in Wine from WSET.