Dennis Connelly has a record of entrepreneurship spanning 30 years. He's founded, co-founded, and built eight companies from start-up to scalable to maturity, that were either sold, merged, or remain on-going, and he has learned powerful lessons that apply to any company in any industry. His primary skill is finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems, using creativity, team work, and sometimes the sheer force of will.

Dennis' specialties include executive leadership, sales management, business growth and development, and raising capital. He has substantial experience in sales development, product creation, training, coaching, and operations management.

Prior to joining Kurlan & Associates, Dennis built a nationwide network of manufacturers to serve his distribution clients, and trained and coached hundreds of existing sales personnel in the channel. He also hired and trained his own sales force and expanded operations from two to seven manufacturing locations in five years.

With core experience in strategy, growth, finance, and operations, Dennis provides C-level perspective to help clients get unstuck, make necessary changes, and achieve the success they envision for their companies and themselves.

Jennifer Millman specializes in driving organizational performance to new heights through talent and performance management and development strategies. She has been applauded for her uncanny ability to quickly and accurately assess talent and makes courageous recommendations on the most effective structure of existing talent as well as finding rare A+ external talent to fill the gaps and upgrade the overall talent bench of an organization.

With more than 15 years’ experience leading strategic HR teams, mostly in the technology industry, from global Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurial firms, as well as Consulting engagements across all industries, Jennifer is well-positioned to assist HR professionals strategically align with business leaders to effect real, immediate impact through increasing existing performance and significantly affecting the bottom line through creating and maintaining a workforce of A+ players.

Jennifer currently leads the Talent Acquisition function at Vology, an Inc. 500 Company and a Fast 50 Technology company.  Jennifer is also a writer, speaker, consultant, foodie, and mother of a 5-year-old superhero son.

Areas of Expertise:
Strategic Planning, Talent Management, Change Management, Succession Planning, Performance Management, Topgrading, Organizational Development, Executive Searches, Creative Recruiting Programs, Social Media.

Follow Jennifer on Twitter on @Jenny_Millman.

Lester S. Rosen is an attorney at law  and CEO of Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a national background screening company.  He is a consultant, writer, expert witness  and frequent presenter nationwide on pre-employment screening. He is the author of “The Safe Hiring Manual,” (3d Edition 2017/826 pages), the first comprehensive book on background screening.  He served as the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the Professional Background Screeners Association (PBSA),  served as its first co-chair and received the PBSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. 

Dianne Durkin has over 25 years of experience in finance, direct sales, international marketing and training and development. She has held Vice President of Marketing and Presidential positions with companies like Gulf Oil, Digital Equipment Corp, Corporate Branding Partnership and ASTEA International. She has also founded and sold two companies. Dianne has built a reputation as one who can quickly assess the core issues within a company and outline their impact on the organization and its profits, productivity and people. Dianne’s combination of executive management and entrepreneurial skills has proven very beneficial in helping major corporations and small enterprises achieve maximum results.

Brad is the Founder and CEO of JB Training Solutions. An accomplished public speaker and executive coach, Brad has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and Dr. Phil, and has been quoted in: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and USA Today. Brad is also the author of three business books including the critically acclaimed Manager 3.0: A Millennial’s Guide to Rewriting the Rules of Management, which you can read in Mandarin (assuming you can read Mandarin).

Prior to creating JB, Brad spent 15 years at advertising agency Leo Burnett in Chicago. Today, Brad presents for major organizations including Eli Lilly, Securitas, Top Tier Capital Partners, and Saint Laurent. When he’s not enjoying a robust buffet, you can find Brad playing racquetball or drafting the perfect fantasy football roster. Brad is left-handed.

Matt Adam serves as Chief Talent Strategist for NAS Recruitment Innovation, a leading Employment Branding & Recruitment Marketing firm. He has been an innovator and thought leader in the space for over 25 years. Today, his role is national in scope and designed to lead major account implementation and support strategic project consultation for many high-profile organizations.

With his finger on the pulse of the industry, Matt has shared knowledge on topics such as Employment Branding, Career Site Best Practices and The Future of Recruitment Marketing to audiences at SHRM, NAHCR, AAPPR, etc.

Matt has a Marketing Degree from Boston College and resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mary Ann Downey, Principle and Co-Founder of HR Metrics Coach, and known as “Mad” to friends and colleagues, founded HR Metrics Coach because (she thinks) she knows what she should do when she “grows-up”. 

Mad has always been a renaissance woman, and is more interested in the connections between disciplines rather than specializing in a specific subject. Her non-traditional professional path and keen problem-solving aptitude make her uniquely qualified to help organizations maximize their human capital for the benefit of the enterprise and the individual. 

Mad has had the privilege of working with organizations from a variety of industries, sizes, and global footprints. She has provided in-house and virtual training to organizations such as GE, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and ConAgra on a variety of human capital topics like Workforce Planning, Diversity and HR Analytics. 

Mad’s clients appreciate her sometimes irreverent, and always practical approach to solving their challenges. Her philosophy is that in a global, yet flat world the only source of competitive advantage is through people. While her undergraduate Economics professor was attempting to make a joke, she realized there is truth in the punch line that “the only asset that appreciates is human.”

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.

Lester S. Rosen is an attorney at law  and CEO of Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a national background screening company.  He is a consultant, writer, expert witness  and frequent presenter nationwide on pre-employment screening. He is the author of “The Safe Hiring Manual,” (3d Edition 2017/826 pages), the first comprehensive book on background screening.  He served as the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the Professional Background Screeners Association (PBSA),  served as its first co-chair and received the PBSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.