Cy Wakeman is a drama researcher, global thought-leader, and New York Times best-selling author who is recognized for cultivating a counter-intuitive, reality-based approach to leadership. Backed by 20 years of experience, Wakeman’s philosophy offers a new lens through which employees and executives alike, can shift their attention inward, sharpen their focus on personal accountability, and uncover their natural state of innovation simply by ditching the drama.

Deemed “the secret weapon to restoring sanity to the workplace,” Wakeman has helped companies such as Google, Facebook, NASA, Pfizer, Bank of America, and United Healthcare learn to harness energy wasted in workplace drama and reinvest that effort into achieving profound business results.

Sherrill’s practice specializes in strategic human resource and business management solutions for global, small business and individual clients offering leadership development, culture transformation, coaching and communications. She is the researcher and author of SHRM’s toolkit “Behind the Lines: 10 Steps to Becoming a Military-Ready Employer; a frequent media resource; and advocate for integrative workplace strategies, improved legislation and military-transition programs that support successful transitions for military-connected talent.

Three of the six SHRM Pinnacle Award recognized programs she spearheaded support successful career transition for military talent. Special resource and educational events produced for clients and non-profits deliver a  “whole person” approach supporting the needs of military and their families.  Co-produced events include: the award wining Annual Stand Down in Morristown supporting at-risk and homeless veterans transition to self-sufficiency; and Annual Hiring & Resource Fair - a networking, hiring, conference experience for job seeking former military and employers.  Sherrill’s 25 plus years of volunteer leadership include Senior Advisory and Board roles for: “We Are Veterans” (national, led by PBS affiliate, WGVU); VETSweekNJ, hosted by Community Hope, Inc..; and Military & Veterans Affairs Director, Garden State-Council-SHRM.  In partnership with United Way Northern NJ, she developed and co-leads the state-wide coalition “NJ Supports Vets”. Her current projects include co-authoring: “PTS in the Workplace, “It’s Not Just a Veteran Issue” and a series of “Making the Connection” guides for employers, state councils and chapters to develop successful outreach with military talent. 

Jay has more than 30 years of experience as a tax attorney specializing in employee benefits.  Prior to joining World, Jay was a Sr. VP and Senior ERISA Attorney with Lockton was previously the national practice leader for the legal and research team at WT.W

Jay served as a Peace Corps volunteer and business consultant from 1979 to 1982. 

He has an LL.M.  in taxation from New York University School of Law, J.D. with distinction from the University of Arizona College of Law and a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis.  Jay is the former Chair of the American Benefits Council, an adjunct professor of employee benefits in the LL.M. program at Washington University School of Law.

 

 

 

 

Murat Philippe is Principal Consultant at Avatar HR Solutions and has worked in social sciences for over 15 years. At Avatar, he functions as a key analyst and has been vital to revolutionizing the organization’s employee engagement philosophy, developing several of the firm’s signature reports, and conducting breakthrough research into the linkage between diversity and engagement. An expert on employee engagement, change management, and leadership development, Murat is frequently a featured speaker at conferences nationwide. To learn more about Murat’s work at Avatar HR Solutions, visit www.avatarhrsolutions.com

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.

Stacey Hanke is author of the book; Influence Redefined…Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday®. She has trained and presented to thousands to rid business leaders of bad body language habits and to choose words wisely; Coca-Cola, FedEx, Kohl’s, United States Army, Navy and Air Force, McDonald’s and Nationwide.  Her team works with Directors up to the C-Suite.  In addition to her client list, she has been the Emcee for Tedx.  She has been a featured guest with; The New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Thrive, SmartMoney magazine, The Economist and Business Week. 

 

Jeff Perkins is Chief People Officer at NPR. He has led the transformation of the human resources team from a more transactional approach to a business partner model, helped hire many of NPR's top executives and developed and implemented a new talent management strategy. Perkins was also instrumental in overseeing key aspects of NPR's 2013 move to the new state-of-the-art headquarters. Prior to NPR, Perkins worked at Huntbridge, Inc., a human resources consulting firm he founded. Throughout his career Perkins has worked in North America and Europe for several major media organizations. He served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Fox Interactive Media, a division of News Corporation. Prior to Fox, Perkins held several increasingly responsible positions at Time Warner, including Senior Vice President of Human Resources. Perkins managed significant changes and expansion throughout AOL's European business, including complex issues related to the Time Warner merger. Before Time Warner, Perkins led staffing in North America for AC Nielsen and later became Director of Human Resources for Nielsen International in Europe. Perkins holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Wabash College and a Master of Science in Organization Development from the School of Public Administration at American University. He serves on the Wabash College Board of Trustees, and he has been an adjunct professor at American University. He is currently pursuing a dual degree Global Executive MBA in the Georgetown-ESADE program via McDonough School of Business.

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the "deadly disease" known as the typical performance appraisal. Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP. For 16 years his consulting firm, Optimum Leadership, has consulted with dozens of organizations and coached hundreds of individuals in improving leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance. Wally is a professor of Organizational Change and Development at the University of New Haven in Connecticut

David W. Miller is a Senior Consultant for Avatar HR Solutions and specializes in talent management, data analysis, and communication engagements. He is in charge of administering surveys, facilitating employee feedback sessions, and providing senior leadership with results-oriented advisory services. In his time at Avatar HR Solutions, David has facilitated roughly 300 employee feedback and training sessions, as well as nearly 100 action-planning sessions. David has presented on topics such as eliciting and interpreting behaviors, emotional intelligence, and motivating the multigenerational workforce.

 

Dr. van Dongen is a business savvy global executive, who has broad experience in HR ranging from local responsibility up to Global experience within FMCG, IT Consumer goods, manufacturing and renewable energy environment. He also operated as managing director, including P&L responsibility for his own startup. In his current role in HR he is responsible for the HR strategic setup, design and implementation for the Global Growth Projects, which Cristal is undertaking. Cristal is a Saudi headquartered Global chemicals company focuses at titanium dioxide and other related  titanium chemicals. He is based out of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with his family. Mark holds a Master degree in Psychology, a PhD in management sciences and is certified as GPHR and as a FCIPD.