Leadership & Personal Growth

Karl Ahlrichs specializes in helping professionals make order from chaos. He is a national speaker, author, and consultant, presenting on the people issues in all industries, and is often quoted in the local and national media. 

Karl’s experience is ideally suited to times of organizational change as he pulls on risk management and organizational development theories to replace “best practices” with “next practices”. He owes much of his communications mastery to working as a writer and editor in daily media, to on-the-job writing experience and to the process of becoming a published author.

He joined Gregory & Appel in 2010 after serving as a founding partner of ExactHire, bringing his HR, operations, diversity & belonging, and learning & development skills with him. Karl’s affinity for design, composition and learning started at a very young age, by taking and examining thousands of boring pictures with the goal of improving his craft. He loves deploying that practice-to-improve approach with all manner of hobbies including writing haiku, mastering cutting-edge technology and learning Spanish.

In 2003, he was named the SHRM Human Resource Professional of the Year for the State of Indiana. He is on the Boards of several organizations, including the Maryland CPA Society.  He has lived in Scotland and Spain and lives to explore new experiences with his wife and family.

Ashley T. Brundage is the President and CEO of Empowering Differences. While seeking employment at PNC Bank in the United States, she identified openly during the interview process as a woman of transgender experiance and subsequently was hired after facing years of harassment, discrimination, and homelessness. These factors led her to start her second career as a means of survival while doing research on empowerment & differences. She took a role in the bank as a part time teller and then rose to national Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion in less than 5 years. She captured her research as a 4-Step process of empowerment to cultivate change in her new book and online leadership course. Ashley credits her success to those closest to her for providing actionable allyship including her 2 teenage sons, Bryce and Blake. She also volunteers her time serving numerous nonprofit organizations including serving as the vice chair for the national board of directors for GLAAD who works to accelerate acceptance across all forms of media for the LGBTQ+ community.

Ashley T. Brundage is the President and CEO of Empowering Differences. While seeking employment at PNC Bank in the United States, she identified openly during the interview process as a woman of transgender experiance and subsequently was hired after facing years of harassment, discrimination, and homelessness. These factors led her to start her second career as a means of survival while doing research on empowerment & differences. She took a role in the bank as a part time teller and then rose to national Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion in less than 5 years. She captured her research as a 4-Step process of empowerment to cultivate change in her new book and online leadership course. Ashley credits her success to those closest to her for providing actionable allyship including her 2 teenage sons, Bryce and Blake. She also volunteers her time serving numerous nonprofit organizations including serving as the vice chair for the national board of directors for GLAAD who works to accelerate acceptance across all forms of media for the LGBTQ+ community.

Todd Lemmis is an author, organizational architect, musician, lawyer, and impact investor/developer. His diverse background in human resources, music, law, and business leadership affords him a creative, whole-brain perspective and approach to all the adventures he undertakes. 

His seminal work involves transforming organizational design with a simple, natural approach that unlocks the keys to career development and employee retention through his novel, common model. It simplifies organizational architecture, job competencies, career pathing, job descriptions, job families and succession planning, resulting in happier, more stable, productive organizations.

Todd’s current work with Pacific6, Enterprises, a Long Beach, California based investment/development firm involves impact investment and development of hotels, multi-family properties, aquaculture, and HR consulting. Within Pacific6, Todd focuses on human resources, public and government relations, development, consulting and design.

Todd holds a BA in philosophy from UCLA and a JD from Southwestern University School of Law. For fun, he loves writing, music, reading, cooking, entertaining, and designing leather goods and ceramics. In addition to his proprietary works on organizational architecture and human development, he invented a punctuation mark and developed a couple of colognes.

Todd lives in Long Beach, California with his awesome, patient wife and three children. He’s a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the US Navy Musician’s Association, and Costco. He also likes cats.

Todd Lemmis is an author, organizational architect, musician, lawyer, and impact investor/developer. His diverse background in human resources, music, law, and business leadership affords him a creative, whole-brain perspective and approach to all the adventures he undertakes. 

His seminal work involves transforming organizational design with a simple, natural approach that unlocks the keys to career development and employee retention through his novel, common model. It simplifies organizational architecture, job competencies, career pathing, job descriptions, job families and succession planning, resulting in happier, more stable, productive organizations.

Todd’s current work with Pacific6, Enterprises, a Long Beach, California based investment/development firm involves impact investment and development of hotels, multi-family properties, aquaculture, and HR consulting. Within Pacific6, Todd focuses on human resources, public and government relations, development, consulting and design.

Todd holds a BA in philosophy from UCLA and a JD from Southwestern University School of Law. For fun, he loves writing, music, reading, cooking, entertaining, and designing leather goods and ceramics. In addition to his proprietary works on organizational architecture and human development, he invented a punctuation mark and developed a couple of colognes.

Todd lives in Long Beach, California with his awesome, patient wife and three children. He’s a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the US Navy Musician’s Association, and Costco. He also likes cats.

With nearly 20 years of experience, Rachel Druckenmiller is a keynote speaker, TEDx speaker, and leadership trainer on a mission to unleash purpose, passion, and potential in people and organizations. By leveraging the power of curiosity, Rachel helps people elevate their clarity, confidence, and courage, so they live and lead with greater intention, influence, and impact at work and in the world. Recognized by Smart Meetings as a 2023 Best of the Stage Speaker, Forbes as a Next1000 Honoree, and Workforce Magazine as a 40 Under 40 Game Changer, Rachel is a trailblazer and thought leader in her field.

Lisa Cooper, Co-Founder of Workplace Healing and the Human Recovery Platform™ helps corporate leaders recognize how empathy can help them engage an employee experiencing a life disruption and lead a high-performing team. By striking a delicate balance of thought and humanity, leaders enhance team performance, corporate culture and fiscal well-being.  

 A former marketing professional, Lisa earned a reputation in the advertising industry for driving creative solutions as she led marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies and small businesses. She built upon her corporate success by launching a consulting practice and sharing her expertise in teaching graduate-level marketing classes.   

G. Riley Mills is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer, and the co-founder of Pinnacle Performance Company. He is the co-author of the book The Bullseye Principle and was included in the list of "Top Leadership Speakers" by Inc. Magazine. He presented his TEDx session "Are We Killing Communication" at the Shanghai American School and has guest-lectured at such institutions as the Columbia University, London Business School, Manchester United, and The Royal Household at Buckingham Palace. Mills has written about leadership and communication for Forbes, Fast Company, and Inc. Magazine. 

Dr. Amy Beacom is credited as the trailblazer who built the vertical broadly referred to as parental leave support. Amy conceived of and began developing the field of parental leave coaching and consulting in 2006. In 2014 she founded the Center for Parental Leave Leadership, the first full service consultancy in the US to focus exclusively on parental leave strategy, research, and training. Drawing on over 25 years in executive leadership development and coaching, Amy consults with organizations of all sizes to drive talent development, attraction, and retention while improving the employee experience.

Brad is the Founder and CEO of JB Training Solutions. An accomplished public speaker and executive coach, Brad has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and Dr. Phil, and has been quoted in: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and USA Today. Brad is also the author of three business books including the critically acclaimed Manager 3.0: A Millennial’s Guide to Rewriting the Rules of Management, which you can read in Mandarin (assuming you can read Mandarin).

Prior to creating JB, Brad spent 15 years at advertising agency Leo Burnett in Chicago. Today, Brad presents for major organizations including Eli Lilly, Securitas, Top Tier Capital Partners, and Saint Laurent. When he’s not enjoying a robust buffet, you can find Brad playing racquetball or drafting the perfect fantasy football roster. Brad is left-handed.