People & Talent Management

Dick Finnegan is THE global turnover expert, having cut turnover by 30% and more for healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, distribution centers, call centers, and other industries…and on all six inhabited continents.

Dick has authored the top-selling SHRM-published book, The Power of Stay Interviews, along with four other books. BusinessWeek magazine has said “Finnegan offers fresh thinking for solving the turnover problem in any economy”. He has been similarly cited by Forbes, Chief Executive Magazine, and Consulting Magazine.

He holds bachelors and graduate degrees from The Pennsylvania State University and lives in Orlando, Florida.

Bob Kelleher is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and consultant on employee engagement, leadership, and workforce trends. Bob is the author of the bestselling book, LOUDER THAN WORDS: 10 Practical Employee Engagement Steps That Drive Results, CREATIVESHIP, A Novel for Evolving Leaders, EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT for Dummies, and I-Engage, Your Personal Engagement Roadmap.   

Bob can be seen or heard on national media (most recently on CNBC, CBS, NBC News, Business Week, Forbes, and Fortune, and has presented to many of the world’s top companies

Bob is also the founder of The Employee Engagement Group, a global survey, products, assessment, consulting firm.  

John Ferguson is the Chief Human Resources Officer at NASCAR, the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States.

In this role, Ferguson oversees the development and execution of NASCAR’s human resource planning, aligning it with the overarching business plan and strategic direction of the organization. This includes cultivating a "people-first" company culture across more than 20 office and race-track locations throughout the U.S.

Ferguson serves on the Board of Directors for the SHRM Foundation, Alumni Board of Directors for Furman University, and the UNCF Orlando Leadership Council.

Ferguson holds Bachelor’s in Political Science from Furman University, Executive Certificate in Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management from Georgetown University, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Howard University School of Business.

Amy P. Kelly, GPHR, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is a human resources and talent development executive who believes in people and helps them grow. She loves business, teamwork, and the people who make it all happen. Amy is the Vice President of Consulting for The Jon Gordon Companies and co-creator of The Power of a Positive Team Training Program. She is the author of G.L.U.E. A Leadership Development Strategy to Bond and Unite and co-author of The Energy Bus Field Guide A Roadmap to Fuel Your Life and Work with Positive Energy.

Paul Falcone (PaulFalconeHR.com) is principal of Paul Falcone Workplace Leadership Consulting, LLC, specializing in management & leadership training, executive coaching, international keynote speaking, and HR advisory services. He is the former CHRO of Nickelodeon Animation and has held senior-level HR positions with Paramount Pictures, Time Warner, and City of Hope. He has extensive experience in entertainment, healthcare/biotech, and financial services, including in international, nonprofit, and union environments.

Paul is a long-term columnist for SHRM, a certified executive coach, a board member of the American Management Association, and a bestselling author of 17 books published by HarperCollins Leadership, the American Management Association, and SHRM.

Miguel is the Chief Belonging Officer of MJA & CO, a Minority-owned consulting firm helping leaders leverage DEI as a catalyst to improve recruitment, engagement, and retention.  Recognized as a LinkedIn's Top Voice in Racial Equity, Top 15 Champion of Diversity by Diversity Global Magazine, a Top 100 Executive by Diversity MBA Magazine, and featured as an Inclusion Innovator by SHRM.

Miguel served as the first civilian Chief of D&I in the history of the US Coast Guard.  He started his career as diversity recruiter and for over a decade held several leadership positions in 3 major Federal Departments. Miguel is a TEDx speaker, featured at the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and Telemundo.

 You can learn more about him by visiting www.migueljoeyaviles.com

Sarah Noll Wilson, Inc. is on a mission to help leaders build and rebuild teams. Our goal is to empower leaders to understand and honor the beautiful complexity of the humans they serve. We create a safe, honest environment, preparing people to deal with real-world conflict, have more meaningful conversations, and create purposeful relationships. Working with organizations that care deeply about their teams and understand the connection between staff development and organizational success, Sarah Noll Wilson, Inc. specializes in transforming relationships from good to great. 

With 15+ years in leadership development, Sarah Noll Wilson earned a Master's Degree from Drake University in Leadership Development and a BA from the University of Northern Iowa in Theatre Performance and Theatre Education. Through her work as an Executive Coach, an in-demand Keynote Speaker, Researcher, Contributor to Harvard Business Review, and Bestselling Author of “Don’t Feed the Elephants”, Sarah helps leaders close the gap between what they intend to do and the actual impact they make. She hosts the podcast “Conversations on Conversations”, is certified in Co-Active Coaching, Conversational Intelligence, and is a frequent guest lecturer at universities. In addition to her work with organizations, Sarah is a passionate advocate for mental health.   

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Adam Weber is Chief Evangelist at 15Five, host of the popular HR Superstars Podcast and best-selling author of “Lead Like a Human.” Adam is the creator of the HR Superstars Community, a vibrant community of over 8K strategic HR leaders and is a leading voice in the strategic HR movement, being named a LinkedIn “Top Voice in HR”.

Previously Adam co-founded and sold two tech companies, Emplify (acquired in 2021) and Bluebridge (acquired in 2016).

He holds a master’s degree in organizational communication from Ball State University and lives in Zionsville, IN with his wife, two sons, and dog Poppy.

Margaret Dondero is a Senior Manager of Global Benefits at Globalization Partners whose passion about holistic wellbeing and employee benefits has been making a difference in employee’s lives for more than thirty years.

She joined Globalization Partners in 2021 following nine years with Novanta where she managed Global Benefits. Margaret has always approached solutions to employee benefits inclusively of overall wellbeing; physical, financial, emotional and social.

Margaret lives in Massachusetts with her husband and children and their dogs on a family farm. When she is not working, she likes to spend time on the farm with her family and assorted farm animals.

Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Data & Insights Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.

During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).

Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.

Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.

Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.