Jeremy Eskenazi, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CMC is Managing Principal of Riviera Advisors, Inc., a global Human Resources management consulting and training firm that helps organizations improve, enhance and optimize their internal talent acquisition and recruiting capabilities.

Prior to founding Riviera Advisors in 2001, Jeremy spent almost 20 years leading talent acquisition and recruiting teams at Universal Studios, Amazon.com, and Idealab. A regular SHRM speaker and a member of the SHRM Talent Acquisition Special Expertise Panel, Jeremy is also proud professional member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the Institute of Management Consultants-USA.

Jeremy is the author of the books, “RecruitCONSULT! Leadership – The Corporate Talent Acquisition Leader’s Field Book”, and “The High-Performance Talent Acquisition Advantage”.

 

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.

Stephen A. Lowisz is an Author, Educator, International Speaker, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualigence, Inc., a recruitment research and professional search firm he founded in 1999 that has grown to become the largest recruitment research firm in the United States. In addition, Stephen serves as Chairman of AllianceQ, a consortium of leading employers who collaborate on common recruitment problems and openly share resources and ideas to facilitate better, more open, and sustainable recruitment practices. With more than 18 years of experience in the recruitment industry, Stephen has led both sourcing and staffing engagements for companies located throughout the world. Due to his global experience and unique perspective of the industry, Stephen is an often requested and highly-rated speaker for leading HR industry events and conferences. He also serves as an author for various recruiting community resources and publications, an educator/trainer of The Answer® Recruitment Training Program and other recruiting functions, and is a speaker for several Fortune 500 organizations each year.

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.”

Jody is a brand planner and has spent more than 15 years in senior leadership positions within well-established advertising agencies such as J. Walter Thompson and Omnicom, consulting with major organizations seeking to build and promote successful brands. She has a passion for the latest trends in technology and marketing and has spent her career developing and implementing programs that make the most effective use of both. In her role as President of BRANDEmix, Jody leads the firm in creating brand-aligned programs that connect people to missions, cultures and business success.

Vicki Hess is an expert in employee engagement, team dynamics, and workforce and leadership development. A registered nurse with more than 30 years of hands-on professional experience include healthcare, consulting & sales. Hess is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), the speaking profession’s international standard for platform skill.
In 2011 & 2012, Speaking.com named Hess a ”Top 5 Healthcare Speaker”. Hess holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development from Towson University and was an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Business for five years. Hess is the author of SHIFT to Professional Paradise: 5 Steps to Less Stress, More Energy & Remarkable Results at Work and the The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Hiring, Firing & Inspiring . She is also a regular contributor to the Baltimore Business Journal and NurseTogether.com
 

Rowena Crosbie is President of Tero International. Since 1993, Tero has earned a distinguished reputation as a premier research and corporate training organization with thousands of graduates from more than 40 countries. Crosbie has authored several articles, many published in International Journals and Magazines and she is currently collaborating on a book titled Powering Down to Power Up, which addresses the unique risks of misalignment in business communication in a high tech, interconnected world. She was honored as the Woman of Influence Business Owner of the Year by the Des Moines Business Record in 2009 and was named Executive of the Year by Executive Women International, Iowa Chapter, in 2004.

As an executive coach, speaker and author, Scott Eblin helps next level leaders learn what to pick up and let go of to get game changing results. Featured on ABC News and in Investor’s Business Daily and Harvard Management Update, Scott is a former Fortune 500 executive with a leadership development client list that includes some of the world’s best known private and public sector organizations. He is the author of The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success which Business Book Review calls a “fascinating read” that “is full of potentially career-saving advice.” As a former Fortune 500 executive himself, Scott knows the demanding expectations and challenges his clients face. He coaches busy, successful leaders in what he calls the “school of real life” to help them identify the strengths they can build on along with the vital few opportunities that will help them be even better. Scott is an innovator in the field of coaching who has worked with hundreds of clients in individual and group engagements that yield measurable and significant improvements in leadership effectiveness. Scott is an honors graduate of Davidson College and holds a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University. He has a certificate in leadership coaching from Georgetown University and is a member of the faculty for that program. Scott also holds the designation of Professional Certified Coach from the International Coach Federation. He regularly offers simple, practical and applicable leadership tips on his Next Level Blog (www.eblingroup.com/blog) and writes the Executive Coach column for Government Executive magazine’s web site (www.govexec.com). Visit www.eblingroup.com to learn more about the services and resources The Eblin Group provides to leaders seeking game changing results.

Ralph A. Mortensen is board-certified in Organizational and Business Consulting Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. His doctorate degree is in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He belongs to the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the Society of Consulting Psychology divisions of the American Psychological Association. Ralph began his career within the human resources units of a bank and a public utility. After more than 20 years with his own consulting firm, Aon Consulting, YSC Ltd., and RHR International, Ralph joined IPAT in early 2009. He is an experienced trainer and speaker to local, regional and international audiences and also has experience as a university professor and an academic administrator. Ralph's expertise is in the areas of consulting with decision makers facing strategic talent, organizational, and leadership issues. He has specialized in talent assessment and executive coaching for much of his career. Ralph has created and managed employee selection systems for entry-level, professional, and managerial roles. This has involved analyzing jobs and job families, identifying competencies, choosing appropriate measurements, and investigating their predictive validity. In addition, he has completed thousands of individual assessments of executive, middle manager, and professional job candidates, including screening for CEO and other C-suite roles. Ralph has also designed and delivered workshops on employment interviewing and employee performance coaching among other subjects. He led a talent management best practices study in 2001 and has provided regular support for several clients' annual talent review processes.

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.