Concurrent Session

Naowarat Bumrungchit is Senior Vice President, of the C.P. Leadership Group.  She was recently assigned to the office of the Chairman  to institutionalize the C.P.Leadership Institute. Previously, Naowarat’s responsibilities included heading Leadership Development, Learning & Development for CPF as well as overseeing the CPF Learning Center Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Thailand the largest ago-­‐industrial food company “Charoen Pokaphan Public Company” (CPF). CPF subsidiaries companies operate in 27 countries around the globe. 

Naowarat has an impressive track record and international reputation for building the talent pipeline, including talent development with global capability, and for transforming knowledge capital, capability and leadership into business success.   In her current role, she is institutionalizing  the CPF Global Learning Center by providing innovative learning tools for CPF global leaders. Naowarat has been awarded the Global HR Excellent Award 2009 and in 2012 the Leaders Award in Business Leadership.

Naowarat also served as the Vice President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand. In that capacity, she played a key role in institutionalizing the Thailand Securities Institute to function as a center for licensing examinations.  She is credited for bringing continuous, innovative, education and training programs for industry practitioners and investors through series of lectures, workshops, seminars, computer-­‐based training sessions and other relevant technology. While serving in this role, she devoted her personal time to developing mentoring programs for volunteer instructors to help sustain their personal long term growth. She also wrote 2 pocket books used as   mentor’s hand books focused on how to be high technology instructors using a blended learning technique as the key to success in transferring knowledge in a simple and effective way. Naowarat is a Fulbright Scholar with a Masters degree in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation from Syracuse University.

Bonnie Mason began her human resources career with South Seas Resort on Captiva Island, Florida in 1995. There she was instrumental in providing human resources leadership for over 700 employees. As the human resources manager, she spearheaded the international H2B and J-1 programs to help supplement staffing during the resort’s peak times. She continued on the human resources team just after hurricane Charley destroyed the resort in 2004.

In 2005, Bonnie joined Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN as a Sr. Recruiter. She was responsible for attracting leadership talent for the 2,881 room hotel plus 4 attractions. In addition, Bonnie led a team of 4 recruiters and 2 support staff. In January 2008 Bonnie was promoted to Assistant Employment Manager where she led her team of recruiters to attract talent for all hourly positions within the hotel and attractions. This included the famous A Country Christmas season where her team hired over 300 new STARS each season.  In September of 2009 Bonnie was recognized for her strong leadership and was given the title of Employment Manager. Bonnie led the HR team during the 2010 Nashville flood rebuild where she worked with her team to rehire over 2000 STARS that had been displaced after the May flood that affected the entire Opryland hotel.

Bonnie has continued in this role and has navigated through numerous changes since Marriott International acquired the management of the Gaylord Hotel brand in October 2012. She and her team have implemented fully into the Marriott International company policies, procedures, and practices. Bonnie is a dynamic team player highly skilled in talent management, creating partnerships, and focused on customer service.
 

Allyson Gonzalez is a Human Resources professional who directs AT&T’s program for the hiring and management of foreign nationals.  Her team develops policies and procedures in support of foreign national employees for the benefit and guidance of hiring managers, staffing managers, and others as they pursue the achievement of business objectives.  Prior to joining AT&T, she held a similar position at Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) – now British Petroleum.  She is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Texas - Dallas, with a Master’s degree in Public Administration.

Mike Aitken has worked at SHRM since 2003 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. Prior to joining SHRM, he served for 14 years as associate director for Governmental and External Relations at the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). Previously, Aitken worked on state public policy issues at Bonner & Associates, a public affairs firm in Washington, DC. Currently, he is based in Alexandria, VA.

 Cassidy Solis has served since September, 2012, as the Workplace Flexibility Program Specialist for SHRM’s Workplace Flexibility Initiative and Partnership with the Families and Work Institute (FWI).  She is responsible for growing When Work Works, the centerpiece of the Partnership, and for educating employers about workplace flexibility issues. 

Prior to joining SHRM, Cassidy worked for the Texas Dental Association where she managed two statewide dispute resolution processes and advised on community oral health public policy issues.

 Cassidy received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin and her Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership and Ethics from St. Edward’s University in Austin.

Megan Lee,  has more than 10 years of experience developing human resource departments, creating programs to improve business operations, directing executive-level training programs, and establishing flexible workplaces.  As a human resource professional with experience in software development, service/hospitality and federal government contracting industries, Megan has worked with diverse employee populations within multi-unit environments.  These experiences have provided her with a unique understanding and appreciation of employee needs and for being known as a trusted business partner. 

A proponent of flexible work, Megan was a featured speaker at the Work Life & Flexibility Expo and has helped numerous human resource professionals develop their own flexible work programs.  In her current role as Director of Human Resources for Architecture Technology Corporation (ATCorp), the organization has become a leader in workplace flexibility.  In 2012 and 2013, ATCorp was awarded the When Work Works Award (formerly the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility) as awarded by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Families and Work Institute (FWI).  ATCorp has also been named a 2014 When Work Works finalist.  In addition, ATCorp is recognized as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2014 as awarded by Minnesota Business Magazine. 

Anne-Marie Slaughter is currently the president and CEO of the New America Foundation, a public policy institute and idea incubator based in Washington and New York. She is also the Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. From 2009–2011 she served as director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State, the first woman to hold that position. Upon leaving the State Department she received the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for her work leading the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, as well as meritorious service awards from USAID and the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. Prior to her government service, Dr. Slaughter was the Dean of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs from 2002–2009 and the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School from 1994-2002.

Dr. Slaughter has written or edited six books, including A New World Order (2004) and The Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World (2007), and over 100 scholarly articles. She was the convener and academic co-chair, with Professor John Ikenberry, of the Princeton Project on National Security, a multi-year research project aimed at developing a new, bipartisan national security strategy for the United States. In 2012 she published the article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” in The Atlantic, which quickly became the most read article in the history of the magazine and helped spawn a renewed national debate on the continued obstacles to genuine full male-female equality.

Follow Anne-Marie on Twitter @SlaughterAM.

With over 3 years of experience as a part of the Talent Acquisition team for Waste Management, Alex has developed strong networking, writing and communications skills, and a broad knowledge of the Employment Branding space. Alex brings a blend of fresh ideas and creative energy to any organization. Communicating through Social and Traditional Media is not just an end result -- it is about process, methods, and a strong foundation in collaboration, performance, and context. Alex strives to improve his skill set while providing valuable services to the organizations with which he works.
 

Mark J. Schmit, Ph.D., is the Executive Director for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation. In this capacity he leads the Foundation’s efforts to advance the strategic direction and impact of the HR profession. Dr. Schmit was previously the Vice President of Research for SHRM. Dr. Schmit has more than 25 years of experience in the field of human resources and has also been an academic, applied researcher, HR generalist, and internal and external consultant to both public and private organizations. Dr. Schmit earned a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Bowling Green State University in 1994. He has published more than 25 professional journal articles and book chapters and delivered more than 75 presentations at professional meetings on HR and Industrial/Organizational Psychology topics. Dr. Schmit is a Fellow in both the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association. He is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).

Ms. Westfall represents clients in the employee benefits and executive compensation aspects of mergers and acquisitions, financings, and other types of transactions, including due diligence, negotiations, and post-transaction benefits integration. In addition, she advises clients with respect to the design and operation of equity compensation arrangements, including all forms of stock compensation (such as stock option, restricted stock and phantom stock plans), partnership equity plans and long-term incentive plans, and the implications of Sections 162(m), 280G and 409A of the Internal Revenue Code on such arrangements. Ms. Westfall regularly represents both employers and senior executives in connection with the negotiation and drafting of executive compensation agreements, including employment, change-in-control, retention and severance agreements. Ms. Westfall also counsels investment fund sponsors and investing plans on the fiduciary, prohibited transaction and other implications of ERISA. She provides advice to clients on all aspects of their employee benefit programs, including the design and implementation of tax qualified retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans, defined benefit plans and ESOPs), health, welfare and other fringe benefit plans (including medical, dental, disability, life insurance, cafeteria and consumer-directed health plans), as well as compliance with ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA and the Internal Revenue Code.

Ms. Westfall received her B.A. in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College in May 2003, and her J.D. from Widener University School of Law in May 2006. Ms. Westfall earned her LL.M. in Taxation, with distinction, as well as an Employee Benefits Law Certificate, from Georgetown University Law Center in May 2007.

With over thirty years of experience in the benefits field, Lynn Franzoi is recognized as an accomplished Benefits Executive. She has demonstrated a unique ability to interface with employees and executives at all levels, providing quality benefits while controlling costs. Lynn has managed the design, administration and financing of benefits for Fox Entertainment Group, a major global entertainment company, as well as other major Los Angeles-based companies, including American Honda and Whittaker Corporation. Lynn is an accomplished executive who has served on the boards of hospitals and non-profit organizations and who has provided advisory services to public, private and government agencies.

Chatrane Birbal is Vice President, Public Policy in SHRM national’s Alexandria, Va. office. In this capacity, she is actively involved in solidifying strategic partnerships and research to address policy issues on Capitol Hill that impact the workplace. In her role, Ms. Birbal lobbies Congress and develops policies and positions in support of workplace public policy issues including workplace healthcare, workforce development, workplace equity, workplace flexibly and leave, workplace immigration and employer-sponsored benefits (retirement, education assistance, unemployment insurance, among others).   

Prior to joining SHRM, Ms. Birbal was the director of government relations at the Council on Foundations, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit membership association of some 2,000 grant making foundations and corporations, with assets totaling more than $282 billion. During her tenure at the Council, Ms. Birbal implemented strategies and launches programs in support of the organization’s public policy and government relations work. She lobbied Congress on tax legislation relating to charitable giving, raised the Council’s profile with Congress and other nonprofit organizations, advised members on legislative activities impacting philanthropy and planned and executed the Council’s annual legislative fly-in conference, “Foundations on the Hill.”

Prior to joining the Council, Ms. Birbal was a federal legislative lobbyist at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), an Arlington, Va.-based medical specialty society with over 38,000 U.S. and international member physicians who work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including mental retardation and substance-related disorders. During her tenure at APA, Ms. Birbal lobbied Congress on behalf of psychiatrists, planned and executed the association’s annual advocacy day training session for membership as well as developed the APA’s online advocacy action center to further legislative efforts on behalf of the psychiatry profession.

Chatrane previously served on the Board of Directors for the ACT for Alexandria community foundation.  ACT for Alexandria brings the community together to elevate local philanthropic giving and engagement to new heights, supports local nonprofits working to aid the most vulnerable and develops solutions for the community’s most pressing challenges. During her tenure on the Board Ms. Birbal supported the foundation’s initiatives including ACTion Alexandria, an online civic engagement platform and Spring2ACTion, 24 hours of online giving to support local nonprofits.

Chatrane obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the State University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. and received her graduate degree of public administration and public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Ms. Birbal currently serves on the Board of Directors of Women in Government Relations (WGR) - the premier, non-partisan professional society dedicated to advancing and empowering women by fostering professional development and growth opportunities through a community that supports women’s leadership in government relations. She is a member of the Tax Coalition, which provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among professionals in federal tax policymaking to encourage the professional development of women in federal tax policy and Birbal also serves as a Director-at-large on George Mason University’s Alumni Board.