SHRM PDCs

Dr. David S Cohen, Ed. D. has a vision: organizations that thrive by living their values in good times and especially VUCA times. David's first career was in elementary and high school education, where he built a reputation for building school communities based on purpose and social responsibility. Thirty-three years ago, David transitioned to corporate consulting. As a consultant, David earned a reputation as a contrarian consultant because he does not always follow what is popular in his chosen field. David works with leaders helping them understand what is and what is not necessary to build an active and positive organization. He helps leaders' step into life's challenges, inspiring them to create a sustained approach through a values-based focus, resulting in better business results. David has had the privilege of partnering with firms across five continents and all business sectors. Additionally, he has worked with governments, from the local to the federal levels, and not-for-profits.

He has taught at Queens University School of Labour Relations and the executive education program at the Schulich School of Business, York University. Currently, he teaches organizational development at Durham College. David earned his doctorate from Boston University in Humanistic and Behavioural Studies. During that time, he also completed independent studies at the Harvard School of Education, where he was a teaching assistant.

David is a keynote speaker, educator, disruptor, facilitator, team builder, and executive coach. He has authored two books and numerous articles in professional journals.

• The Talent Edge: A Behavioral Approach to Hiring, Developing, and Keeping Top Performers (John Wiley and Sons, August 2001)
• Inside the Box: Leading With Corporate Values to Drive Sustained Business Success (Jossey-Bass September 2006)

When David is not travelling, he is hanging out with his five grandchildren, when possible, attending Toronto Raptor's games, or relaxing with family and friends.

David is honored to be recognized by the GlobalGurus30 as one of the top 30 GlobalGurus in Organizational Culture.

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.

Amy Hirsh Robinson, M.B.A., is Chief People Officer for King’s Hawaiian, a global producer of irresistible Hawaiian food. Amy was brought on to King’s Hawaiian to re-envision the employee experience and transform the People function from traditional HR to a strategic driver of business growth. During her time at the company she has worked to radically redefine the purpose, structure and activities of HR with significant results. Prior to her role as CPO, Amy ran a successful human capital consulting firm, The Interchange Group, helping executives and HR professionals retool and adapt their strategies to rapidly changing workforce expectations and business landscapes.

Glen  E. Kraemer, a founding and managing partner of the employment law boutique firm Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP, is nationally recognized for his “best practices” training programs relating to workplace harassment, bullying, violence prevention, and investigations.  From 2005 – 2021 Glen has been voted a California employment “Super Lawyer,” and in 2020 and 2021 ranked by Chambers USA as a top Labor & Employment Law attorney.  Named by Lawdragon as one of 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, he has also received the “Elite Boutique Trailblazer” award from the National Law Journal, and garnered “Top Speaker” recognition for each of his SHRM Annual Conference presentations from 2009 - 2019.

Trent serves as the VP of Research at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM),  the world’s largest HR professional society, representing more than 300,000 members in more than 165 countries.  In this position, Trent leads a comprehensive research program that identifies workplace needs, conducts research, and develops research-based solutions and products to allow HR and business leaders to further the goals of their organization.  Trent also served as a SHRM Certification Commissioner.  In this position, Trent served as a chief technical advisor for the development of the SHRM competency model and certification exams.  Prior to SHRM, Trent spent 15 years at Walmart Stores, Inc. leading global HR Centers of Expertise and has led large, multinational HR projects in China, India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Canada, the UK, and the US.  Trent holds a BA in Psychology and a MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Akron.   He is also holds the SHRM-SCP certification. 

Wendi Safstrom is a senior non-profit leader committed to serving the public through philanthropic program management, cultivating strategic partnerships and managing and developing high performing teams. She has both association and nonprofit management experience including; national program development and administration, membership strategy, marketing and product development, grant management, development and donor stewardship, and leading cross functional teams. Safstrom currently serves as President for the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation (SHRM Foundation), where she leads the development and implementation of SHRM Foundation's programmatic, development, and marketing and communication strategies in support of SHRM Foundation's new mission and vision, creating growth plans and ensuring alignment with SHRM goals.  

Prior to assuming the role at SHRM Foundation, Safstrom served as Vice President at the National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, where she led the development and implementation of their Foundation's most recent five-year strategic plan, and was responsible for all Foundation programming, including workforce development initiatives, scholarship and event management, community relations and engagement initiatives. The NRAEF's philanthropic programming supported a number of audiences including high school youth, veterans transitioning from service to civilian work and life, opportunity youth and incumbent workers. Of particular note, she led the implementation of the restaurant industry's premier high school career and technical education program, growing the program to over 2,000 public high schools, engaging over 150,000 students annually, nationwide. In 2016, she served as lead project director for the development of a $10 million contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to develop the hospitality industry's first apprenticeship program, and was instrumental in the Foundation's reorganization and relocation of operations from Chicago, Illinois to Washington, D.C., transforming the staff and culture.  

Safstrom has also held human resource management roles with the Leo Burnett Company and Hyatt Hotels Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. She has a BS in Business Administration from the Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University and was recognized as a member of the 2014 "Power 20" by Restaurant Business Magazine as a leader in philanthropy within the restaurant industry.  

Dionna Smith, GPHR is a Strategic Global D&I Executive at PowertoFly, where she provides D&I solutions for companies with more than 10,000 employees.

Prior to joining PowerToFly, Dionna led Diversity Talent strategies at Delta Air Lines and has led Talent Acquisition teams at a number of fortune 500 companies.

Dionna is a sought after diversity recruitment subject matter expert and speaker who has contributed to several media outlets, in print and on-air, including Forbes, INC, Entrepreneur, CNN Money, NPR and the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

People Strategy leader focused on developing and implementing initiatives and strategies across the organization to attract, hire, develop, and engage top talent. Strong background in talent acquisition and employer branding, coupled with a passion for data analytics and leveraging technology to fuel business strategy and leadership decisions. 

Experienced in hyper-growth organizations both in-house, as well as consulting, working with a goal of creating scalable processes that lead to reaching overall business objectives related to people operations and human strategy.  Jessica has just completed her Certificate in the Foundations of Neuroleadership.

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.

Pam Jeffords is a Partner in PwC’s Workforce of the Future Practice. Pam has over 25 years of experience advising companies and organizations on how they can break the status quo and drive progress with their diversity, inclusion and engagement goals. Pam has deep industry expertise in Technology, Energy, Consumer Goods and Financial Services. Pam is a member of the Global Leadership Council for Colorado State University’s College of Business, an advisory board member for University of Denver's Women’s College, Limited Partner in The JumpFund, and has served as Chair of Women United for the Mile High United Way where she received the prestigious Frances Wisebart Jacobs award for philanthropy.

Pam holds a Bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University and a MBA from Georgia State University. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and four children.