Concurrent Session

Dr. Don R. Powell is the President and CEO of the American Institute for Preventive Medicine located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The Institute is a leading developer and provider of health management programs and self-care publications.

Dr. Powell is a licensed psychologist who earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He also taught in the University's Psychology Department for eight years where he was nominated for the "Distinguished Teaching Award" and presently serves as a guest lecturer. Dr. Powell is considered to be one of the country's foremost authorities on the design and implementation of community and corporate health education programs. He is the author of fourteen best-selling self-care books including Healthier at Home®, the HealthyLife® Self-Care Guide, which was the winner of the National Health Information’s “Excellence in Health Education Award” and A Year of Health Hints. He gave 110% in writing his latest book Best Sports Clichés Ever which Sports Illustrated called “a home run." He also wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column and has published many professional articles.

Hunter Lott is an HR problem solver. He has delivered over 4000 “on stage” events, over 17,000 presentation hours and reviewed over 1200 employee handbooks. Hunter won accolades as a senior course leader for the American Management Association. Hunter is an award winning speaker with Vistage and has earned Speaker of the Year, Impact Speaker of the Year and Top Performer Vistage honors.

Hunter attended Tulane University in New Orleans, graduated from Iowa State and has a Master’s Degree in Employment Law from NSU Shepard Broad College of Law.

Alessandro Bonorino is Global Vice President of Recruitment/Talent Acquisition for IBM Corporation. He is responsible for defining, executing and operating strategies regarding recruitment programs and policies across the 170 countries where IBM operates. 

With extensive experience in HR, prior to his role, he was HR Director of Latin America, which comprises more than 25,000 employees in 11 countries;  Brazil HR Director (2005-2008), Spanish South America HR Leader (2002-2005), GTS HR Leader for Latin America (2001-2002). He also worked for Glaxo Wellcome and KPMG. 

A Brazilian born in Rio de Janeiro, he is graduated in Economics from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and has specialization in Business for Managers and an Executive MBA. He started his career in finance, but 18 years ago moved to HR. Also, during his professional career, outside Brazil, he had the opportunity to live in Miami (USA), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Shanghai (China).

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

James Wright of JamesWantsToKnowYou.com is a dynamic and compelling leader with a track record of delivering practical roadmaps for increasing Inclusion and Diversity in global corporations such as Apple Inc., LinkedIn, NBCUniversal, and Time Warner (now WarnerMedia). A featured guest on NBC and FOX, Wright’s articles and commentary appear frequently on LinkedIn and his expertise has been included in The Washington Post as well as several SHRM articles. 

In his practice, James offers transformative training solutions on Gender Equality, Unconscious Bias, Improving Race Relations, and Generational Diversity. In addition, James introduced The Language of Inclusion - a free download of over 135 key terms and definitions to help organizations find a common language to Inclusion. With increased focus on gender and LGBTQIA+ equality, James believes it is important to update these terms to signal where we are today in our journey to ensure diverse communities are truly seen, heard, and valued.

James attended Erskine College in SC & The Catholic University of America in Washington DC.

Dr. Robin Roberts is the Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL. She has been in this role since February, 2013. The Office of D&I is integral to enhancing the overall education experience of students through development of, exposure to, and participation in academic and social programs that improves cultural competencies, social currency, and strategic human resourcing. Eight years prior, Dr. Roberts worked as the Director of Career Services (five years) and Director of the Office of Student Leadership and Activities (three years) at Delaware State University where she created a Leadership Institute, Student Employment Office, and Career Kinetics education. Her career spans 30 years of human resource leadership in banking, manufacturing, healthcare, and higher education. Dr. Roberts is a career coach specializing in talent acquisition, talent management, strategic leadership, diversity and inclusion, and professional development. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems, a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management, and a Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership at the University of Phoenix. She received a certificate in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University in November, 2013. Her passion is in helping others grow personally and professionally and to fulfill their dreams.

In his current role, Mark is responsible for program development, project management and the expansion of Tanenbaum programs nationally and internationally. A sought-after expert on equality issues like race, gender, sexual orientation and religion, Mark's recent engagements include workshops at SHRM’s Annual Conference & Exposition, the National Association for Multicultural Education, the Out & Equal Workplace Summit, and Multicultural Forum for Workplace Diversity.

Lance Matthiesen is Vice President of Partnerships and manages Management Leadership for Tomorrow’s (MLT) corporate, non-profit, and foundation partnerships.  He joined MLT in 2013 over 20 years of sales leadership experience in the technology and professional services industries, including the Corporate Executive Board, The Washington Post and Verizon.  He holds a BA from Bates College and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Karen Rylander-Davis is an accomplished senior human resource executive with over 35 years of international experience. She specializes in transforming organizations, developing talent, and supporting culture change to achieve business strategies. Her work in management development includes project leadership, instructional design, development and delivery of training programs.

Karen’s consulting focuses on offering strategic organization and leadership development solutions to a wide variety of firms in diverse industries.  Her approach to clients is customized to each situation, culture and team dynamic. She motivates, facilitates, and challenges people to rethink what is possible for themselves and the organization. Recognizing that the organization is a system, she considers potential impacts and contingencies in her work to ensure that recommendations and deliverables are practical, actionable and value-adding.

Of note is Karen’s development of a comprehensive leadership curriculum for a global French wire and cable manufacturer, built on management and functional competency models and company values.   A global course for high potential senior leaders involved building the design around corporate values and competencies, incorporating appropriate action learning, and ensuring strong partnership between internal and external resources.  A course for Plant Managers required integration of design by multiple internal subject matter experts and preparation for delivery by internally trained facilitators. A short-course targeted transversal leaders whose virtual teams did not report directly to them and were located around the world.

Other instructional design and delivery projects include:

• Comprehensive instructional design curriculum, including a variety of training modules, materials and video, to support process transformation in a multinational family-owned food products company

• Redesign of a senior leadership development program for a chemical manufacturing company

• Diversity awareness training for all employees of a regional newspaper
• Local customer team development curriculum for sales and service staffs of a medical imaging equipment manufacturer 

Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Karen held human resource positions of increasing responsibility with Knight Ridder, General Electric Medical Systems, Ryder System, Inc. and Goodyear Aerospace Corporation. Most recently, as Corporate Vice President, Training and Career Management for Nexans, worldwide leader in cables and cabling systems, headquartered in Paris, she engaged senior leadership worldwide in creating and implementing Nexans’ Management Competency Model, followed by the development and delivery of an expanded leadership development curriculum.

Experienced in working effectively in multiple regions and cultures, including North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Karen has lived and worked in the US,  Canada, and France and is fluent in English and French. She holds dual US and Canadian citizenship.

Karen holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Counselor Education, an M.Ed. in Counseling in Higher Education from Kent State University, and a B.A. in French, with honors, from the College of Wooster.