Professional Development

Dianna Booher, an expert in executive communications, is the author of 45 books, published in 26 countries and 20 languages, with nearly 4 million copies sold.  Her latest books include Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader and Communicate with Confidence, the Revised and Expanded Edition. As CEO of Booher Consultants, an executive communication training firm, Dianna and her staff travel worldwide to help organizations improve the effectiveness of their communication:  oral, written, interpersonal, and cross-functional. National media frequently feature her work and interview her on critical workplace communication issues—Good Morning America, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg. Successful Meetings magazine has named her to its list of “21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century.”  

Follow Dianna on Twitter @diannabooher.

Richard is a Certified Master Facilitator™ and Principal with Leadership Strategies, Inc., a firm specializing in providing clients with professional facilitators to lead sessions in strategic planning, process improvement, information needs analysis, and issue resolution. The organization also focuses on teaching leadership training classes in group facilitation, consulting, strategic planning, project planning, team building and management excellence.

Prior to Leadership Strategies, Inc., Richard was an executive with software services companies where he had responsibility for the delivery, training and support of complex systems including customer relationship management, finance and human resources, and enterprise requirements planning. In these roles Richard had in-depth experience facilitating sessions with clients, vendors/partners and staff in the design, implementation and support of mission critical projects. In these roles he led the training of over 10,000 professionals and administrative support personnel.  

Earlier in his career, Richard was a consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) for eight years where he worked on engagements in the area of strategic planning, profit improvement, change management and systems development. He was part of the team that developed the firm's training materials for facilitation and leadership programs as well as project management.

James is a rare mix of management consultant, change specialist, adventurer and motivational speaker. James helps turn busy and over-worked managers into inspirational leaders.

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.

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.

The exclusive teacher of improvisational comedy at the DC Improv for more than eight years, Shawn Westfall teaches classes in beginning improv, advanced short-form and long-form improv, as well as improv workshops focusing on character, long form, and non-traditional improv techniques. His classes (and the numerous performances they've generated) have been featured in the pages of The Washington Post, The Washington Post Express, Washingtonian magazine, as well on Washington Post Radio, DC 101, WTOP Radio, Mix 107.3's "The Jack Diamond Morning Show," on The Food Network's "Dinner: Impossible!," as well as on such local media outlets as K Street Kate's video weblog, and other local blogs, including WeLoveDC.com, among many others. Not only has Shawn taught the principles of improv to individual students, he's also taught improv as a strategy for fomenting creativity, teambuilding and organizational development to various private, public and non-governmental organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Discovery Channel, B'nai Brith Youth Organization, Touchstone Consulting, Booz Allen Hamilton, and The Washington Post Company, among numerous others.

Follow Shawn on Twitter @shawnwestfall.

Tim Sackett, SCP, is the CEO of HRUTech.com, a leading technical recruiting firm. Tim has over 20 years of combined executive HR and talent acquisition experience working for Fortune 500 companies. Tim is a highly sought-after international speaker on leadership, HR &TA Tech, talent acquisition, and HR execution. Tim is currently a Senior Faculty member with the Josh Bersin Academy. He is also an Angel investor and advisor and sits on multiple HR Technology corporate boards.

Tim is the author of the newly released book The Talent Fix, Vol. 2. He also writes daily on his blog, the Tim Sackett Project. Tim is married to a hall-of-fame wife, has three sons, and his dog Tucker. In 2023, he was named a Top Global HR & Recruitment Influencer by HR Executive. He has more Twitter (X) followers than his 3 Gen Z sons and is sponsored on stage by diet Mt. Dew.

John Austin is the P.D. Merrill Endowed Chair and Dean of the newly formed Honors College at University of New England. He also works with organizations around the world to improve the foresight skills of their leaders and future proof strategies and initiatives. Dr. Austin holds a BA in economics from The Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in management from Boston College. He is the author of Unquestioned Brilliance: Navigating a Fundamental Leadership Trap and Leading Effective Change: A Primer for the HR Professional published as part of the SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series. 

Through his keynote presentations, interactive workshops, leadership coaching, and custom-designed facilitation service, Ian helps his clients achieve greater results from their managers and teams.

He specializes in what he calls "micro leadership," helping managers lead successfully at the "micro" level–in that vital interpersonal space between the manager and his/her individual employee. He shows managers how to generate strong results through effective conversations with staff around (1) job performance, (2) job satisfaction and motivation, and (3) ongoing development.

He began the independent consulting firm, Fulcrum Associates, Inc., back in 1988, following seventeen years of corporate experience in both the high tech manufacturing and transportation industries. His extensive client list includes some of the largest corporations in the private sector, major trade and professional associations, small business, government, and not-for-profit organizations.

Ian holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and, from Cornell, a Masters degree in Industrial & Labor Relations, majoring in Human Resources Management, and has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Business of Ryerson University. In addition, from the Gestalt Institute of Toronto he earned a (3-year) Diploma in Gestalt Theory and Methodology that significantly deepened his ability to achieve results as both a facilitator and executive coach.

He is author of Would They Call You Their Best Boss Ever?: Practical Tips and Insights for the Successful Manager.

Ian is actively involved with the community leadership organization Leadership Fairfax Inc. A graduate of LFI’s Signature Leadership program class of ’04, he has served both on the Board and as Chair of the Program Committee, and has been a keynoter in their Speakers Series. Currently he facilitates a one-day Open Space event for the Emerging Leaders program and, for the Signature program class, facilitates individual team process debrief meetings following completion of their projects.

Jen Shirkani is the CEO of Penumbra Group and has spent over 20-years as a learning and development specialist, trainer and speaker. Her topics are presented from a leadership perspective filled with practical strategies and immediately useable tips. She lives in New England where she oversees a national talent management firm. She has been a past speaker at national SHRM conferences and at SHRM affiliates in Colorado, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Maine, and the North East. Jen holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership and focuses on leadership development, communication skills and on making common sense more common.