Jim is a Sr. Vice President at HUB International, with responsibility for employee benefit consulting services for employers around the Gulf South region.  Jim’s 30+ years of HR experience includes Hotel Dieu Hospital as the VP of HR and Regional HR Director for Glaxo SmithKline/Quest Diagnostics.  He is the past-President of GNOSHHRA (Health Care) association and was an active Board member for many years.  Jim has served on the Board of HRMA for 8 years, 4 as our Treasurer/Finance Committee, as President-Elect, President and is currently the Chairperson for the Sponsorships Committee.  He has an undergraduate degree from UNO in Management where he started his HR career as a student intern.  Jim also has an MBA from Loyola University.  In his spare time Jim enjoys fishing, duck hunting and outdoor activities.  Additionally, he is an active high school wrestling official for 33 years and has coached a local USA Wrestling club for the past 25 years.  

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.

 

Erin N. Sullivan, SHRM-CP, is the Program Manager for Conferences at SHRM. Erin has been with SHRM since March 2013. As Program Manager, she manages and programs one fall and one spring conference, as well as certain aspects of the Annual Conference. She is also responsible for the delivery of both the SHRM Conferences and Annual Conference mobile apps. Prior to joining the Meetings & Conferences team, Erin was an Instructional Designer for SHRM Seminars.

Prior to joining SHRM, Erin was an Instructional Designer for GP Strategies Corporation. 

She earned a BA from Muskingum University.  

Follow Erin on Twitter @SHRMErin.

Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Data & Insights Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.

During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).

Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.

Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.

Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.

Raised in a family with a diverse heritage with deep roots in New Orleans, dating back to 1852, MaryBeth loves the people, cuisine, and music of her city. At age 16, she developed a love for live jazz, attending concerts by Ellis Marsalis, patriarch of the Marsalis family of musicians. She published an article about this experience entitled: Waiting for Mr. Marsalis.  

MaryBeth also holds the distinction of graduating college without an understanding of basic math. 

Her passion for New Orleans drew her back home after years living in Manhattan, working in the film and art industry.  For the past 15 years, she has worked with the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Convention Services team, as an advocate and liaison for clients, industry partners and professionals, always with the goal of a positive experience for conventions, hosting their meeting in New Orleans. 

As a member of several industry and regional organizations, MaryBeth currently serves as Board President of the non-profit, NOLA tree Project and serves on the Board of Delgado College’s HRT program. She founded the Napoleon Avenue Association, a neighborhood advocacy group, and is a founding member of the Krewe of Stars, an all-inclusive, philanthropic Mardi Gras organization. She is also a member of the Human Rights Commission and the Gulf Restoration Project. 

Rue Dooley has been an HR Knowledge Advisor for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for over 16 years and has over 25 years of HR experience.

In college, as an accounting major, Rue interned with major corporations and worked his way through school from fast food, to dorm RA, to payroll assistant with a state agency. After receiving his B.S., he worked as an accountant, a budget analyst, a meeting planner, payroll specialist, benefits coordinator, and an HR Generalist…mostly all at the same company! 

After managing the HR function for a growing government contractor (from 13 to 100+ employees while he was there), Rue went on to hire school teachers at a major school district. In his current position as an HR Knowledge Advisor for SHRM, Rue has daily direct contact with HR professionals around the world, helping them to create solutions, to improve systems, and to find and use resources that improve the delivery of the HR function. 

Rue has authored and co-authored numerous articles; Designed systems and policies; Created practical tools (including forms, letters, toolkits, and other resources); Conducted webcasts and videos; and has been quoted in various media outlets on a number of HR topics. Rue is SHRM-SCP certified.

Rue Dooley has been an HR Knowledge Advisor for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for over 16 years and has over 25 years of HR experience.

In college, as an accounting major, Rue interned with major corporations and worked his way through school from fast food, to dorm RA, to payroll assistant with a state agency. After receiving his B.S., he worked as an accountant, a budget analyst, a meeting planner, payroll specialist, benefits coordinator, and an HR Generalist…mostly all at the same company! 

After managing the HR function for a growing government contractor (from 13 to 100+ employees while he was there), Rue went on to hire school teachers at a major school district. In his current position as an HR Knowledge Advisor for SHRM, Rue has daily direct contact with HR professionals around the world, helping them to create solutions, to improve systems, and to find and use resources that improve the delivery of the HR function. 

Rue has authored and co-authored numerous articles; Designed systems and policies; Created practical tools (including forms, letters, toolkits, and other resources); Conducted webcasts and videos; and has been quoted in various media outlets on a number of HR topics. Rue is SHRM-SCP certified.

 

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.  

Gary Jones, CSP and SPHR, is the Former Chief Human Resources Officer at Grizzard Communications Group (an Omnicom Company) with offices in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He has over 25 years of corporate level human resources experience in a diverse set of industries including marketing services, specialty retail, wholesale, and not-for-profit. He holds graduate degrees in Administration as well as Counseling and served as adjunct professor in Mercer University’s MBA program for nearly 10 years, teaching courses in human resources, organizational behavior and management. In 2010, Gary received the SHAPE Award for Professional Excellence in Human Resources from the Atlanta Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. His primary hobbies and interests revolve around guitars, classic rock, unsuccessful attempts to lower his golf handicap, and travel.