Concurrent Session

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.

Mr. Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra, Mechanical Engineering Graduate and Post-Graduate Diploma in Management joined Indian Oil in 1987 and has since worked on varied assignments, including Terminal Operations, Supply Chain Management and Logistics, Indian Oil’s overseas establishment among others. Currently, in the Board of Indian Oil Corporation as Director (Human Resources), he is leading the organization with a human touch  and aligning various HR initiatives with Strategic Corporate Vision. He is also Chairman of Lanka IOC, Indian Oil’s subsidiary in Sri Lanka, which is into retailing, terminalling and bunkering operations in the island nation. As Managing Director of Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd, the Company’s overseas subsidiary, during 2012-2015, Mr. Mohapatra led a team of young professionals, registering sizeable growth in market share and profitability. He was also the first Chairman of Mer Rouge Oil Storage Terminal, a joint venture formed by four MNCs to set up modern oil storage facilities in Mauritius. Mr Ranjan has pioneered many HR policies in sports promotion, CSR, Skill-development, e-learning, ‘HR Facilitator’ etc.  A firm believer in the power of possibilities and strengths of HR, he has always strived for the betterment of stakeholders.

John Jersin leads the Talent Solutions and Careers product team at LinkedIn, which helps connect millions of people with career opportunities. Through artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, John has lead the team to deliver next generation tools to make finding jobs and sourcing candidates simpler and more efficient. John joined LinkedIn via the acquisition of Connectifier, where he was founder and CEO and built a company that pioneered the use of artificial intelligence in hiring, ultimately worth nine figures. He graduated with a BS in Computer Science from UC San Diego and an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Heather Tinsley-Fix is a Senior Advisor at AARP, where she leads the organization’s work on employer engagement and helps drive AARP’s focus on providing workers 50+ with the tools they need to thrive in today’s work environment.  With a background in marketing, innovation, and program management, Heather works with employers and job seekers, external partners, and academics to provide thought leadership on 50+ labor market issues and create practical resources that enable employers to capitalize on the value of experience. 

Christina Broussard is a Recruitment Evangelist with Indeed. She has spent her career working with recruitment teams across multiple industries to optimize their strategies and performance in online talent attraction, candidate experience and recruitment technology. As a member of Indeed’s Employer Insights team, Christina pairs platform data with industry trend analysis to share Indeed’s story and bring the value and impact of the company’s programs and solutions to life.

James Bernstein is a Partner and a National Solution Leader, supporting the West market, for Mercer Marketplace 365+. In this role, James supports Mercer consulting teams in helping employers evaluate and implement integrated technology, administration, well-being and consulting solutions. In addition, James is a national speaker on technology and consumerism in healthcare.

Prior to his current role, James served as the Office Business Leader for Mercer’s Cincinnati and Columbus Health and Benefits business. James was responsible for client services, P&L growth across all market segments and professional development of the consulting teams.

James has been with Mercer for seventeen years, actively leading client relationships and guiding clients' long-term benefits strategy. James consults clients in health care funding strategies, benefit redesign and cost analysis, multi-year strategic planning, consumer driven strategies, and international benefits.

James received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

Brigadier General (Ret.) Carol Eggert is SVP, Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal. She provides strategic leadership to all aspects of Comcast NBCUniversal’s programs and outreach to the military and veteran community. Carol completed her distinguished military career in 2014 as the Assistant Adjutant General for the Pennsylvania National Guard and the Deputy Commandant for the Army War College. She served in a variety of command and staff positions and completed numerous overseas deployments, including a 15-month combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as Chief of the Women’s Initiatives Division and Senior Liaison to the U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, and received numerous military awards and commendations, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. 

Passionate Industrial Engineer with a 12+ year career in Human Resources leading strategic multicultural teams. Achieved ambitious results in dynamic international work environments while empowering professionals to help achieve successful career growth. Working first as an HR consultant for Cegos Group, then as an HR Director in the clothing industry (retail and wholesale) for brands such as Gant, Barbour, Belstaff, True Religion, La Martina in the Spanish market areas. And now at Cosentino, leading the Talent Management function facilitating the international business transformation across 5 continents and helping to solidify Cosentino as the global leader in the surface building materials market worldwide.

Workplace storyteller, ethnographic researcher and IO Psychologist, Abby is Co-Founder of Skill Scout. She spends her days bringing jobs to life on video. Abby geeks out on new media techniques like 360 Video, Virtual Reality, Point-of-View Video, Silent Storytelling and Employee-Generated Video. She's been featured in Crain's Chicago Business, SHRM, and WBEZ Radio. She lives in Chicago with her husband and 2 kids.

Abby holds a BA in Sociology & Psychology from the University of Northern Iowa and MA in Industrial Organizational Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Richard Bronson is the Founder and CEO of 70 Million Jobs, the first national, for profit employment platform for people with criminal records. The Y Combinator company’s job board matches a community of one million plus+ active job seekers with some of the nation’s largest employers.

His career began on Wall Street, where he was a partner in the infamous Wolf of Wall Street firm, before launching his own 500-person, $100 million business. Some of the company’s actions were outside the law, and he was punished with a two-year prison sentence. When he was released, he served as Director of the prominent reentry non-profit, Defy Ventures.