Chatrane Birbal is Vice President, Public Policy in SHRM national’s Alexandria, Va. office. In this capacity, she is actively involved in solidifying strategic partnerships and research to address policy issues on Capitol Hill that impact the workplace. In her role, Ms. Birbal lobbies Congress and develops policies and positions in support of workplace public policy issues including workplace healthcare, workforce development, workplace equity, workplace flexibly and leave, workplace immigration and employer-sponsored benefits (retirement, education assistance, unemployment insurance, among others).   

Prior to joining SHRM, Ms. Birbal was the director of government relations at the Council on Foundations, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit membership association of some 2,000 grant making foundations and corporations, with assets totaling more than $282 billion. During her tenure at the Council, Ms. Birbal implemented strategies and launches programs in support of the organization’s public policy and government relations work. She lobbied Congress on tax legislation relating to charitable giving, raised the Council’s profile with Congress and other nonprofit organizations, advised members on legislative activities impacting philanthropy and planned and executed the Council’s annual legislative fly-in conference, “Foundations on the Hill.”

Prior to joining the Council, Ms. Birbal was a federal legislative lobbyist at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), an Arlington, Va.-based medical specialty society with over 38,000 U.S. and international member physicians who work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including mental retardation and substance-related disorders. During her tenure at APA, Ms. Birbal lobbied Congress on behalf of psychiatrists, planned and executed the association’s annual advocacy day training session for membership as well as developed the APA’s online advocacy action center to further legislative efforts on behalf of the psychiatry profession.

Chatrane previously served on the Board of Directors for the ACT for Alexandria community foundation.  ACT for Alexandria brings the community together to elevate local philanthropic giving and engagement to new heights, supports local nonprofits working to aid the most vulnerable and develops solutions for the community’s most pressing challenges. During her tenure on the Board Ms. Birbal supported the foundation’s initiatives including ACTion Alexandria, an online civic engagement platform and Spring2ACTion, 24 hours of online giving to support local nonprofits.

Chatrane obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the State University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. and received her graduate degree of public administration and public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Ms. Birbal currently serves on the Board of Directors of Women in Government Relations (WGR) - the premier, non-partisan professional society dedicated to advancing and empowering women by fostering professional development and growth opportunities through a community that supports women’s leadership in government relations. She is a member of the Tax Coalition, which provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among professionals in federal tax policymaking to encourage the professional development of women in federal tax policy and Birbal also serves as a Director-at-large on George Mason University’s Alumni Board.

Marc Ramos is the Vice President of Marketing of the Workforce Planning and Analytics division of Peoplefluent. His 11+ year commitment to the business has put Marc in several capacities. Through strategic alliances, managing channels, and directing the division’s marketing efforts, Marc is further enhancing the division’s reputation as a thought leader and innovator in workforce planning and analytics.  

Marc is also recognized in the Human Resource Management space. For the past few years, Marc has served as Vendor Relations Chair on the Oracle HCM Users Group Board. He is also a seasoned speaker who presents at numerous industry events, as well as other HR User Group conferences throughout North America.  

Marc holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX and has earned his MBA at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX.

As VP of Marketing, Brand Strategy and Communications for Maritz Motivation Solutions, Paula leads a group of solution experts and marketing professionals who develop and communicate Maritz point of view, expertise and capabilities through client consulting, conferences, webinars, and publications. The solution expert team also directs the strategy for the solutions that Maritz builds to produce results for our clients. In her 27 years at Maritz, she has held positions in performance strategy, process improvement, product management, creative management, solution design and operations. She’s worked with a variety of clients including those in high tech, telecommunications, consumer products and automotive. Paula is a Certified Recognition Professional through Recognition Professionals International (and a Certified Professional of Incentive Management through the Incentive Marketing Association. She is on the board of trustees for the Forum for People Performance and past President of the Incentive Technology Council.

Over her 22 year career at Maritz, Tammy has worked in or supported all Maritz business solutions through research.  While specializing in research in support of group travel and motivation solutions, she has played several other key organizational roles, including win/loss, voice of the customer, market intelligence, employee engagement and is a research liaison with The Maritz Institute.

Elizabeth Moore is the Vice President of Development of Holmes Corporation and manager of the SHRM Learning System. She has over 25 years of combined Product Management, Project Management, and training and development experience.  She has managed the design and development of SHRM certification and education courses for over 10 years, working directly with HR experts, employers, educational partners, instructors and students from around the globe. Elizabeth’s insights and expertise have helped shape the SHRM Learning System into the premier HR Certification preparation resource and advanced the careers of thousands of HR professionals worldwide.  

As Senior Vice President, Bob Carr leads SHRM’s Membership, Marketing, and External Affairs business unit. He is responsible for the development and execution of a global communications strategy that builds SHRM’s portfolio of highly successful brands. Carr served as Chief Professional & Business Development Officer where he oversaw the society’s professional development program. As a member of the SHRM’s Executive Team, he played a key role in the organization as its Chief Human Resource and Strategic Planning Officer. Carr returned to the organization from the National Bar Association, where he served as Executive Director.

As Director of the Human Resources Group at AARP, he led all major organizational development activities, human resource and diversity management. Prior to joining AARP, he was Senior Director of Human Resources and Strategic Planning for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He also led the HR function for Howard University and Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Carr served in government as Deputy Counsel to the Ethics Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and as Deputy Counsel in the Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor

Carolyn Kurowski, Senior Vice President of Federal Management Partners, Inc., has over 15 years of experience leading a diverse range of projects and providing analytical and consulting services in the area of human resource management. She currently works with VA’s Learning University (VALU) to design MyCareer@VA, a world-class online resource that offers current and potential employees a “one stop shop” for career planning and development. Ms. Kurowski provides technical guidance, leading the overall integration efforts that help drive this innovative project. With a focus on building cross-functional and cross-organizational teams, she works closely with her team and her clients to navigate information analysis, process engineering, IT integration and solution development challenges. Ms. Kurowski received her M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Clark University and B.A. from Notre Dame University.