LaFern Batie, MBA works with leaders to help them maximize their potential through effective leadership, developing compelling strategies, excellent execution and creating the exceptional experience. As CEO of The Batie Group, a boutique management consulting firm, LaFern is committed to creating practical, high-impact organizational solutions.

With a strong corporate and civic leadership track record, the value LaFern provides to leaders – including small business, nonprofit and Fortune 500 executives – helps them deliver what they promise to their customers through people, processes, products and services. Clients value the results her business strategy, leadership consulting, corporate training and professional speaking competencies help them achieve. With accounting, operations and human resources experience, she is a visionary leader with high business acumen and a commitment to excellence.

In addition to extensive professional coach training, LaFern is a published author and professional speaker. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Salisbury University, Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Maryland and a leadership certificate from Harvard University. She holds the SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SCP) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designations.

Dr. Edward E. Hubbard, President and CEO of Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc., an International Business Performance Consulting Corp. specializing in Business Improvement, Diversity Return on Investment (DROI®) Measurement/Analytics, and organizational development.  Author of more than 59 DEI ROI and Business-related books, Dr. Hubbard is an expert in Organizational Analysis, ROI Measurement, Strategic Planning, and more. Dr. Hubbard was an honoree at the Inaugural International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals Living Legends of Diversity Award Ceremony in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico where he received the “Living Legends of Diversity Award” for creating the “Diversity ROI Analytics” and “Diversity Measurement Fields and their associated Disciplines” and is recognized globally as the creator of these unique sciences and fields of study. 

Dr. Hubbard received the “Excellence in Global Leadership Award” from the World HRD Congress (the highest individual professional award given), the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award from The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences, the Sentry Award from the U.S. Pentagon, and many others.

Dr. Hubbard serves on the Harvard Business Review, Diversity Executive Magazine and Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management (SDIM) magazine Editorial Advisory Boards and serves on the Board of Directors for The Ohio State University African American Alumni Society. He also holds a Practitioner Certification and Master Practitioner Certification in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), a Neuroscience discipline. Dr. Hubbard earned Bachelors, Masters Degrees from The Ohio State University and earned a Ph.D. with Honors in Business Administration.

Been there – done that!  With 30 years of HR and business experience – Lori has walked in your shoes.  A recovered HR Generalist, she built a consulting company that she sold to Arthur J Gallagher after 7 years and then reinvented her current business – HR Topics -  training, speaking and developing content for HR professionals.  Lori delivers facts, tips, tricks and best practices in a way that appeals to human resource and business leaders: with a sense of humor, a bias toward actions that improve their operations right away, and practical resources and tools to support their progress.  As an annual speaker at the National SHRM conference, she has leveraged her masters in HR, SPHR and SHRM-SCP background to elevate the position of all HR professionals!

Justin retired from the Marine Corps at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  He deployed to Iraq in 2006 and suffered a gunshot wound to the head while there, but has had an incredible recovery.  He is now an inspirational speaker and a leading voice in the veteran community.  Justin wrote a leadership book for mid-level managers in 2015, and SHRM recently published his authoritative guide on veteran employment.  Justin has given several TEDx talks, has been honored by several presidents, and is one of the wounded warriors painted by President Bush in his book Portraits of Courage. 

When Justine Evirs joined the Navy, her plan was to make a career out of it. Her early medical discharge, however, forced her back to square one. She ended up in college to study business then spent numerous years in higher education and veteran services. Evirs is now a mother of 3, military spouse, prominent leader and disrupter in the entrepreneurial and veteran & military spouse communities, whose ideas are fast-tracking opportunities for veterans entering the civilian workforce or starting their own businesses.

In her previous role as the Executive Director of the nonprofit Bunker Labs Bay Area Justine helps provide resources and networking opportunities to military veterans and their spouses who are starting and growing their own businesses. Now in her new role as the Regional Executive Director at Bunker Labs she is focused on helping the organization scale their local efforts to all 50 states. Also as the Head of Advocacy she is focused on developing and advocating for policy solutions that empower veteran entrepreneurs across the nation.

The Paradigm Switch , a nonprofit founded by Justine in 2017, originally provided veterans and military spouses access to prestigious certifications and vocational skills-based programs. Fast forward to today, The Paradigm Switch has recently relaunched and is putting military spouses first. Justine is building a global digital community for military spouses by military spouses, offering a full spectrum of resources that enable spouses to unleash their unlimited potentia l both personally and professionally. The Paradigm Switch discovers and provide access to career resources, education opportunities, and communities that promote remote work, entrepreneurship, and freelance work.

Patti Perez is on a mission to transform workplace culture. She is the founder of PersuasionPoint Inc. and combines her experience as a licensed California attorney, a professionally-certified HR executive, a tech company leader, a specialist in the prevention and resolution of workplace drama, an expert witness in state and federal court, a state regulator and as an entrepreneur to create a revolutionary shift in the way we communicate and connect at work.

Patti is the author of The Drama-Free Workplace: How You Can Prevent Unconscious Bias, Sexual Harassment, Ethics Lapses, and Inspire a Healthy Culture (Wiley 2019), a one-of-a-kind, informative resource that explains what it takes to build and sustain an equitable, inclusive and healthy workplace culture.

James J. McDonald, Jr. is a partner in the Irvine, California and Tampa, Florida offices of Fisher & Phillips LLP, where he is a litigator, trial lawyer and strategic advisor to employers regarding labor and employment law matters.  He is author of the SHRM-published book, California Employment Law: An Employer’s Guide, and he is a frequent speaker on employment law issues.  He is a cum laude law graduate of Georgetown University and a member of the California and Florida Bars, and he holds the SHRM-SCP certification.

Two themes are woven throughout Lauraine Bifulco's diverse career: a passion for a job well done and a zest for continual learning and improvement.  Lauraine infuses Vantaggio HR with these qualities every day. When she founded the firm in 1994, Lauraine combined her rare talent in understanding what a client needs and her gift of business foresight to create a company that can service the HR and management consulting needs of small and large companies equally well.  Today, Vantaggio serves clients across the country from their offices in California, Hawaii, Colorado, and New York. 

Her Career experience helps employers realize their HR goals and adapt to the shifting HR landscape.  Lauraine is a veteran HR executive and entrepreneur with 25 years of international, corporate, and consulting experience. Her bold career has taken her to employment and business opportunities in Europe and multiple U.S. cities. She serves as co-chair of the California Small Business Administration's committee on Labor Issues which reviews and makes recommendations on pending labor/employment laws, keeping her abreast of legal developments.                                                                            

Delivering over 30 presentations and webinars each year, Lauraine is a well-respected, and highly sought after guest lecturer and speaker on a variety of business management and HR-related topics for both state and national organizations including Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA), American Payroll Association (APA), Next Concept HR Association (NCHRA), Paylocity annual Elevate Conference, and HR Star Conference to name a few. She has been invited to review, develop, and deliver certificate programs for SHRM, and has developed and delivered curriculum for businesses throughout the U.S.                                                                   

Lauraine received a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and conducted graduate level studies in linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris.

For over 20 years, Allison West has used her employment law background in delivering customized workplace training, conducting investigations, coaching executives/managers, serving as an expert witness, and specializing in conflict resolution and facilitated discussions to create more collaborative work environments. 

Allison is a top-rated speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference as well as other HR/diversity conferences, and is a national expert on harassment, discrimination and investigations. She has appeared on PBS, CBS This Morning and in O Magazine discussing workplace harassment issues. 

She is a member of the State Bar of California and holds her SHRM-SCP certification and AWI-CH (investigation) certificate.