In-person Pass

Karl Ahlrichs specializes in helping professionals make order from chaos. He is a national speaker, author, and consultant, presenting on the people issues in all industries, and is often quoted in the local and national media. 

Karl’s experience is ideally suited to times of organizational change as he pulls on risk management and organizational development theories to replace “best practices” with “next practices”. He owes much of his communications mastery to working as a writer and editor in daily media, to on-the-job writing experience and to the process of becoming a published author.

He joined Gregory & Appel in 2010 after serving as a founding partner of ExactHire, bringing his HR, operations, diversity & belonging, and learning & development skills with him. Karl’s affinity for design, composition and learning started at a very young age, by taking and examining thousands of boring pictures with the goal of improving his craft. He loves deploying that practice-to-improve approach with all manner of hobbies including writing haiku, mastering cutting-edge technology and learning Spanish.

In 2003, he was named the SHRM Human Resource Professional of the Year for the State of Indiana. He is on the Boards of several organizations, including the Maryland CPA Society.  He has lived in Scotland and Spain and lives to explore new experiences with his wife and family.

Karl Ahlrichs specializes in helping professionals make order from chaos. He is a national speaker, author, and consultant, presenting on the people issues in all industries, and is often quoted in the local and national media. 

Karl’s experience is ideally suited to times of organizational change as he pulls on risk management and organizational development theories to replace “best practices” with “next practices”. He owes much of his communications mastery to working as a writer and editor in daily media, to on-the-job writing experience and to the process of becoming a published author.

He joined Gregory & Appel in 2010 after serving as a founding partner of ExactHire, bringing his HR, operations, diversity & belonging, and learning & development skills with him. Karl’s affinity for design, composition and learning started at a very young age, by taking and examining thousands of boring pictures with the goal of improving his craft. He loves deploying that practice-to-improve approach with all manner of hobbies including writing haiku, mastering cutting-edge technology and learning Spanish.

In 2003, he was named the SHRM Human Resource Professional of the Year for the State of Indiana. He is on the Boards of several organizations, including the Maryland CPA Society.  He has lived in Scotland and Spain and lives to explore new experiences with his wife and family.

Mario Bordogna is a Partner in the Labor and Employment Practice at the law firm of Bowles Rice, LLP working with employers nationwide on the front end to keep them in legal compliance with labor and employment laws and on the back end if they need a strong and experienced litigation advocate.  For 25 years, Mario has represented employers in sectors like health care, education, energy, hospitality, manufacturing, and others in the areas of HR/employment counseling, employment litigation, wage and hour, harassment, trade secret and non-competition matters, labor-management relations, accommodation, policy development and investigations, and much more.

Mario Bordogna is a Partner in the Labor and Employment Practice at the law firm of Bowles Rice, LLP working with employers nationwide on the front end to keep them in legal compliance with labor and employment laws and on the back end if they need a strong and experienced litigation advocate.  For 25 years, Mario has represented employers in sectors like health care, education, energy, hospitality, manufacturing, and others in the areas of HR/employment counseling, employment litigation, wage and hour, harassment, trade secret and non-competition matters, labor-management relations, accommodation, policy development and investigations, and much more.

Anthony an attorney that helps employers with legal issues affecting the workplace, including matters concerning the rapidly evolving subject of employee privacy. In particular, he assists employers with compliance with a variety of privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act. When providing guidance to clients related to legal issues concerning electronic employment data, Anthony draws on his prior professional experience as a software engineer. Anthony is a member of Fisher Phillips’ Privacy and Cyber Practice Group. He also frequently presents and authors articles on topics related to employment and privacy laws.

Joe Urbanski believes an Undeniable Culture™ inspires its people to unleash their best selves, take home more wins and less stress to their families, and create incredible value for the company, its customers, and community. For more than two decades, he has worked with HR and training departments, consulting and coaching 750+ executives and leaders at 400+ global organizations, and facilitating 800+ kickass trainings, strategic retreats, and leadership programs for 480,000 people. Joe has a remarkable understanding of how to transform the workplace experience. Plus, you’ll have more fun and laughs than you’d expect.

With more than two decades of Human Resources corporate leadership, Felix Massey, SHRM-SCP, has provided innovative “people solutions” and HR best practices for small to mid-size organizations in industries to include: consumer services, aviation, retail, entertainment, and distribution for Blockbuster Entertainment, Paramount Parks, G2 Secure Staff, LLC and HomeTeam Pest Defense.  Felix studied Business Management at University of Louisiana; received Management Leadership certification from Center for Creative Leadership.  Felix joined SHRM as a corporate employee in 2018 as Director, Field Services (SE Region) and in 2019 became Sr. Director of Customer Experience. 

At SHRM, Felix oversees and leads a virtual and outsourced customer experience operation which supports and propels SHRM’s customer centricity and growth strategies. Creating and sustaining a world-class omni-channel platform, accomplished via the efforts of a diverse team of virtual agents residing in 16 countries.  The Customer Experience team is charged with providing swift resolution to customer/member inquiries, and driving revenue growth through new customer acquisition, retention, and higher engagement. 

Felix lives in Arlington, TX with his wife, Cecelia and son, Bryce. You can contact Felix at felix.massey@shrm.org; LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/felixmassey; Twitter: @SHRMFelix.

Carol is a proven executive with extensive experience in building and leading sophisticated, high-performance teams across broad geographies and various industries.  She develops and executes Human Capital strategies that enable and extend corporate strategy - driving performance, engagement, customer satisfaction, and profitability.  Carol’s career spans over 20 years as a transformative leader with tech-savvy and agility, 

Carol has been published in Manage HR Magazine, HR Tech Outlook, CMP’s “C-Suite on Talent” and Bruce Waller’s “Life in the Leadership Lane.”  She achieved her B.S. in Computer Science and her M.B.A.

She was most recently, until August 2023, VP of HR at Halff Associates, a full-service engineering/architecture firm operating in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.  

Kim Crowder, Founder & CEO of Kim Crowder Consulting, is one of the country’s leading Anti-Racism, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Speakers, Coaches, Trainers, and Consultants. 

Kim and her team work across industries serving global organizations. From Adobe to Smugmug, the American Library Association, HarperCollins Publishers, and more, Kim and her team provide leaders and companies actionable tools to move initiatives forward long term.

Kim has been named by Forbes as a “Top Anti-Racism Educators Companies Need Now,” A Top 10 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Expert by All American, and Top Influential African-American Business Women To Follow by LinkedIn. She is also a member of the MIT Technology Review Global Panel and For(bes) The Culture.

She has been featured by The New York Times, Business Insider, Cheddar News, CBS, NBC, FOX, Katie Couric Media, regularly by Forbes, on Hubspot’s podcast, The Growth Show, Workology, and As Told By Nomads.