Leadership & Development

Kevin M. Coleman is the Founder of KMC Empowerment, LLC where he provides executive coaching, empowering speeches, and professional development training to make individuals and organizations successful.  This is done through inspiring leaders to define clear vision, mission, and value systems that leads to exponential personal, professional, and business growth.  Kevin has vast experience in leading training for Entrepreneurs, Executives, Division Chiefs, Branch Chiefs, Mid-Level Managers, Supervisors, and Team Leads for over 35 years.  Kevin has demonstrated experience speaking for all audiences from three (4) to three thousand (4,000).  In addition, Kevin is a United States Army disabled veteran.

Mary V. L. Wright leads one of the SHRM Foundation’s four pillars of work: Skill Building - Preparing People for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Workplaces.  A critical part of that effort is leading the implementation of the US DOL funded HR Registered Apprenticeship Program, the first national HR apprenticeship program. As such, she is responsible for all parts of the program – development, marketing, sales, budget and evaluation.  In addition, she leads the Foundation’s work on the role of credentials in achieving an organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals and is an integral part of the team in promoting the inclusion of untapped talent in the workforce.

Ms. Wright has many years of experience connecting the public and private sectors in municipal finance, government affairs, and workforce development as a project leader, facilitator and subject matter expert.

Previously, Ms. Wright was a director at Jobs for the Future (JFF) where she designed and supervised the completion of foundation, government and employer-funded projects on topics including: expanding employability skills, developing apprenticeship and work-based learning strategies, utilizing labor market information to determine educational focus, better hiring and training practices for people with disabilities, improving entry level jobs for the retail sector, determining the correct educational focus for specific geographic areas including the state of Florida and Columbus Ohio, and an in-depth analysis of green infrastructure jobs.

Prior to joining JFF, she served as director at The Conference Board in New York City, driving its work in workforce readiness, business, and education partnerships. She also focused on improving the employment outcomes for people with disabilities through research and convenings. Ms. Wright co-authored or acted as project director on several key Conference Board reports regarding workforce readiness skills, including Are They Really Ready to Work? and The Ill-Prepared Workforce.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Work & the Economy and the Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation.

Ms. Wright received a Master of Business Administration in public/nonprofit management from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Affairs from Connecticut College.

Cassie currently leads Workforce Development Partnerships for the Google Career Certificates. This program helps job seekers -- regardless of their educational background and work experience - learn the skills they need to enter in-demand high-growth career fields that pay well. Prior to this role, Cassie served as the Product Lead for the second most popular certificate on Coursera: The Google Project Management Certificate. 

During her tenure at Google, Cassie has led Strategy and Operations for Grow with Google & Waze. She also served as an Account Strategist for small businesses using Google AdWords and Analytics to grow their presence. 

She is currently pursuing her Executive MBA at NYU Stern School of Business.

Dan is a Partner and leader of PwC’s HR Technology and Transformation practice. He has more than 30 years of consulting history delivering process and technology solutions to solve client business problems across multiple industries. His engagements have primarily been in the Human Capital Management (HCM) strategy, HR business transformation and HR systems implementation areas.

Dan has led over 40 HR strategy, HCM solution selection and HCM roadmap projects. He has led over 75 HR technology-enabled transformation implementation projects with half of those using Cloud HCM solutions. He holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Alabama.

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.

Lola Adeyemo is an Employee Resource Group (ERG) Advocate, Speaker, and Team Consultant. As the founder of EQImindset, she engages her skills and passion to promote inclusion within corporate workplaces. She advocates for an inclusive lens across every level within corporations as well as the empowerment of individual contributors, people managers, and executive leaders to align with their passions in supporting their personal and organizational goals.
Lola is a scientist by discipline and is currently working towards her Doctor of Strategic leadership degree with a dissertation focus on belonging, informal teams, and employee resource groups. She has work experience across global organizations in the biotechnology and life sciences industry and has spent years moving across roles in project management, supply chain, data analysis, people management, HR compliance, and Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion positions. Her book on Immigrant Women in Corporate America is set for a Fall 2022 release.

Dr. Wade Larson is a workforce consultant and human resources executive with 30-years of experience in strategy, leadership enablement, and talent management. His    expertise in HR and leadership helps organizations improve structures, culture, management, and leadership to achieve their goals. As an international speaker, published author, and professor, he strives to help others achieve the best versions of themselves. Wade has worked with hundreds of organizations and thousands of leaders to shift mindsets, innovate programs, and lead change that helps them do more, achieve more, and live their best lives.

Andi Campbell is a progressive executive focused on driving results through people. She serves as Chief Growth Officer at WellSpark, a national wellbeing, disease prevention, and management company that moves diverse, long-tenured employee populations along a path toward a more enduring well. At WellSpark, Andi develops and delivers holistic, “total person” wellbeing programs to thousands of employees across the U.S.

An experienced senior HR leader, Andi was previously Senior Vice President, Head of People and Culture at LAZ Parking, one of the largest parking companies in the world. CLO, Elearning!, Parking, Training, Workforce, and TD magazines have recognized her work.

Dr. Melody Rawlings is Director of the Center for the Advancement of Virtual Organizations, Lead Faculty for Managing Virtual Organizations specialization, and doctoral chair at Northcentral University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Education, an MS in Technology specializing in business management, and a doctorate in leadership. Melody has led remote teams for 10+ years, developed partnerships between corporations and higher ed, and managed her own businesses. She has authored peer-reviewed publications and presented internationally on business topics such as leadership development, emotional intelligence, ethics, and conflict management. Melody has taught internationally in Europe and Asia.

Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D. is a cutting-edge leadership development author, researcher, and consultant. He helps organizations vertically develop their leaders primarily through a focus on mindsets. Ryan is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership. And, he is the author of the upcoming book, The Elevated Leader: Leveling Up Your Leadership Through Vertical Development. He is also a leadership professor at the College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton.

Named a top 100 HR Professional of 2020, Dr. Allessandria Polizzi has 20 years of experience leading HR teams across multiple industries. Following recovery from burnout in 2021, Allessandria left her CPO position to focus on helping companies with resiliency, burnout prevention and psychological safety. Verdant offers programs designed around neuroscience, cognitive behavior theory, and the ISO 45003 standards by training practical, simple skills that help teams flourish. She also co-founded the Kite HR wellbeing app for HR teams and shares discoveries on all of these topics via the Be Verdant podcast.