Leadership & Personal Growth

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Steve Gilliland, CSP, CPAE
Best-Selling Author and Speaker
Steve Gilliland, Inc.
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Steve is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame and was recognized in 2015 as one of the top 10 motivational speakers globally from over 9,000 candidates.

In addition to being one of the most sought-after speakers in North America, he has written 11 books and was named Author of the Year by Advantage/Forbes for his book Enjoy The Ride.

Steve built a multimillion-dollar company, which the Pittsburgh Business Times named one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the region. Steve is one of SHRM’s top-rated speakers. This is his 18th consecutive year speaking at the SHRM Conference.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - 11:00am to 12:00pm
Steve Gilliland, CSP, CPAE
Best-Selling Author and Speaker
Steve Gilliland, Inc.
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Steve is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame and was recognized in 2015 as one of the top 10 motivational speakers globally from over 9,000 candidates.

In addition to being one of the most sought-after speakers in North America, he has written 11 books and was named Author of the Year by Advantage/Forbes for his book Enjoy The Ride.

Steve built a multimillion-dollar company, which the Pittsburgh Business Times named one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the region. Steve is one of SHRM’s top-rated speakers. This is his 18th consecutive year speaking at the SHRM Conference.

SESSIONS:
Lisa Plaggemier
Executive Director
National Cybersecurity Alliance
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Lisa Plaggemier is Executive Director at the National Cybersecurity Alliance. She is on a mission to empower people and organizations to stay safe online, so that everyone can experience the benefits of technology without worry. Lisa started her career in marketing with Ford Motor Company before migrating to automotive technology and eventually security.  Lisa is honored to serve on the US Secret Service Cyber Investigations Advisory Board. She is a University of Michigan graduate (Go Blue!) and while she wasn’t born in Austin, Texas, she got there as fast as she could.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - 7:30am to 8:30am
Shirley Davis, SHRM-SCP
President and CEO
SDS Global Enterprises, Inc.
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Dr. Shirley Davis, CSP, President of SDS Global Enterprises, a global workforce solutions firm, is an award-winning Human Resources expert, with over 30 years of business experience in a variety of senior executive roles for several Fortune 100 companies, as well as her last role of Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion for the Society for Human Resource Management. She’s also a best-selling author of 5 books, serves on the National Speakers Association and the NSA Foundation Boards, and the Make A Wish Foundation Board. She is a popular facilitator for eight LinkedIn Learning leadership courses.

 

 

SESSIONS:
Delatorro McNeal
CEO
Platinum Performance Global LLC
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SESSIONS:
Shirley Davis, SHRM-SCP
President and CEO
SDS Global Enterprises, Inc.
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Dr. Shirley Davis, CSP, President of SDS Global Enterprises, a global workforce solutions firm, is an award-winning Human Resources expert, with over 30 years of business experience in a variety of senior executive roles for several Fortune 100 companies, as well as her last role of Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion for the Society for Human Resource Management. She’s also a best-selling author of 5 books, serves on the National Speakers Association and the NSA Foundation Boards, and the Make A Wish Foundation Board. She is a popular facilitator for eight LinkedIn Learning leadership courses.

 

 

SESSIONS:
Delatorro McNeal
CEO
Platinum Performance Global LLC
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Tim Orellano
President
The Human Resources Team
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Tim is the President of The Human Resources Team, a Little Rock based human resources management consulting company. His consulting firm provides assistance and resources in preparation, training, support and implementation of Affirmative Action Plans with Positive Solutions. He works with a wide and diverse range of industries including banks and financial institutions, utilities, health care, technology, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, nonprofit, construction, and service organizations. He has over 30 years of experience in all areas of functional areas of HR as a Director of Human Resources in manufacturing, service and financial industries and in his consulting firm with client’s coast to coast.

He is a top-rated speaker on the topic of Affirmative Action compliance for SHRM and other conferences many other professional associations and conferences across the country. He is a recipient of the Outstanding Member Award from the local SHRM chapter and the Arkansas Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development. He received the Arkansas Human Resources Professional of the Year Award and was finalist for the SHRM National Award for Professional Excellence and the Jim Wilkins Life Time Achievement Award in Human Resources and the Russell Gunter Legislative Advocacy Award.

He is the Chair for the Arkansas Industry Liaison Group.

He has served the ARSHRM State Council as Professional Development Director and is currently the Government Legislative Affairs Director.

As a cancer survivor he serves as a coach for esophageal cancer patients with MD Anderson Medical Cancer Center.

SESSIONS:
Monday, June 24, 2024 - 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Judy Ellis
Personal Pronouns
She/Her/Hers
SVP, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory
AMS
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As a DEI practitioner and organizational consultant, Judy leads strategic culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion transformations to build organizations where all employees thrive. For over 20 years, she has designed and delivered solutions for corporate, nonprofit and educational clients.

Judy leads the global DEI consulting practice of AMS (Alexander Mann Solutions), a Talent Acquisition and Workforce Solutions firm. She has designed diagnostic tools of end-to-end recruitment processes to foster inclusivity that she’s delivered for organizations including Barclays and Bristol Myers Squibb. She’s also developed DEI strategy, communication plans, career development frameworks and global training initiatives on Inclusive Leadership, Conscious Inclusion in Hiring, and Unconscious Bias for companies including Delta Airlines and MUFG. Prior to joining AMS, Judy led a certified Woman- and Minority-owned DEI consulting firm, Think People.

​Judy serves as an Adjunct Instructor in Workforce Diversity at the University of Cincinnati ‘s Master’s in Applied Psychology Program. She has a B.S. in Management & Organizations from Indiana University's Kelly School of Business. She holds certificates in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University, and Coaching with the International Coaching Federation; she is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory®. She has been named a “Top Diversity Officer” by the National Diversity Council. Her expertise in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been featured in Forbes, DiversityQ magazine, the Recruiting Daily podcast and on numerous conference platforms, including SHRM’s Inclusion Conference.

SESSIONS:
Steve Browne, SHRM-SCP
Chief People Officer
LaRosa's, Inc.
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Steve Browne, SHRM-SCP is the Chief People Officer for LaRosa's, Inc., a regional Pizzeria chain. He has 35+ years working as an HR professional in a variety of industries. He has a globally recognized HR blog and author of three books, HR on Purpose !!, HR Rising !! and HR Unleashed !! He is a past member of the SHRM Board of Directors. Steve also runs a global HR network called the HR Net which reaches 15,000+ HR and business professionals weekly.

 

SESSIONS:
Benjamin J. McCall
Principal
Focus Consulting
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Benjamin McCall is a Consultant, Speaker and practitioner in HR, DEI, Learning, Business and Organizational Performance serving organizations nationally. With FOCUS Consulting, he has partnered with Fortune 500’s from Financial Services, Education, Healthcare, Startup, Military Defense, Manufacturing across the nonprofit, private and public sectors.

Benjamin’s work focuses on 4 areas: People Development, Strategic Planning and Execution, HR Practices, and Coaching.  With his partners, he builds better processes and mindsets to address the changing landscape individuals, executives, and organizations face when delivering initiatives to their stakeholders. As a practitioner and coach his style balances guiding individuals to honestly clarify needs while being firm around the real work that needs to be addressed and to "Be BETTER" in their work and relationships.

SESSIONS:
Christopher CJ Gross
Founder and CEO
Ascension Worldwide
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Christopher “CJ” Gross is the author of the best-selling book What's Your Zip Code Story? Understanding and Overcoming Class Bias in the Workplace and the highly acclaimed Harvard Business Review article, A Better Approach to Mentorship. He is a TEDx Speaker and founder of Ascension Worldwide, a firm dedicated to DEI and cultural transformation consulting based in the Washington, D.C. area. CJ has 20-years of experience as an international organizational development consultant specializing in leadership development, and DEI transformation. CJ is a certified Social + Emotional Intelligence coach, trainer, Keirsey Temperament professional, and Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Administrator.

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