Margaret is CEO for The HR Edge, Inc., an international management consulting and training company. Her clients have included Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Time Warner, U.S. Secret Service, Sara Lee Foods, Home and Garden Television, Roche, Nationwide Insurance, NAPA Auto Parts, Homeland Security, New York Presbyterian Hospital (Cornell & Columbia Medical Centers), U.S. Marine Corps, Deloitte, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Vanderbilt University, Comcast, Intercontinental Hotel Group, National Institutes of Health, McKee Foods, Skanska, Fox Broadcasting, Schwarz BioSciences, Fifth Third Bank, Verizon, SAS (computer software), The Nashville Predators national hockey franchise, Northrop Grumman, Miami University, Wells Fargo, TECO Energy, AmSurg, Quorum Health Resources, the U.S. Naval Nuclear Submarine Group and various local and state governments. Previous to owning her own company, Margaret was Sr. Vice President, Human Resources Consulting for a national consulting firm out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has a BS degree from the University of Alabama and a JD degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. She has worked as an attorney, specializing in employment law as well as been Vice President of Human Resources for three large companies and served on the Board of Directors for Aegis Sciences Corporation. She is often quoted as a business expert in newspapers and magazines across the country including Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, CBS Money Watch and Entrepreneur and appears regularly on local ABC, CBS and Fox television affiliates. She is the author of the business books, “Management Courage – Having the Heart of a Lion” and “The Hidden Language of Business – Workplace Politics, Power & Influence.”

Lida Citroën is an international reputation management and branding specialist who designs the identities of companies and professionals globally. As principal of LIDA360, Lida also an accomplished speaker and writer, often featured in MSNBC, Entrepreneur Magazine, Fortune Magazine, Forbes.com, Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, and CBS Moneywatch.

Lida is passionate about helping our nation's veterans navigate the challenges and opportunities of the military-to-civilian career transition. A popular speaker at military installations and national events on veteran hiring, Lida writes for Military.com and Entrepreneur.com on the topic of military transition, sits on the Board of Director for the National Association of Veteran Serving Organizations (NAVSO), volunteers with ESGR, teaches in the TAP program at the US Air Force Academy, and works with Philadelphia-based Wall Street Warfighters Foundation (General Peter Pace’s program). In addition, Lida leverages her 20+ years in corporate branding to help America's employers learn how to recruit, on board and grow the veteran employee to support business and brand goals.

Lida's second book, Your Next Mission: A personal branding guide for the military-to-civilian transition, is a best selling resource for career and professional guidance for transitioning military members and veterans. She is also the author of Reputation 360: Creating power through personal branding, a valuable tool for gaining professionals seeking competitive advantage through reputation management.

Howard Ross is lifelong social justice advocate, and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias.  Howard has delivered programs in 47 states and over 40 other countries to audiences including Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities, and major institutions within healthcare, government, and non-profit sectors. He authored the Washington Post best seller, Everyday Bias:  Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives, ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance. His latest  book, Our Search for Belonging: How the Need for Connection Is Tearing Our Culture Apart, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2018, received the Nautilus Gold Medal for Social Change and Social Justice. His next book, Building Belonging: 9 Pathways to Creating Inclusive and Joyful Organizational Communities, will be published in 2020.

Lisbeth Claus, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, is a Professor of Global Human Resources at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon (USA). Prior to joining Willamette University, she held faculty and administrative positions at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and managerial positions at Safeway Inc. and Maritz Inc.

Dr. Claus has published widely in academic and professional journals on subject matters related to international and global HR management issues, and is a frequent key-note speaker at national and international HR conferences. She is considered a leading expert on issues related to employee performance management for multinational companies and organizations.

She frequently delivers multi-day strategic HR seminars in Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Africa, and Asia for country and regional HR managers. She was the 2003 President of SHRM Global, the international division of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In 2004, SHRM commissioned her to design the GPHR (Global Professional Human Resources) Certification Preparation Course  She is also a Global HR Special Expertise Panel Member at SHRM. To advance the HR profession, she frequently volunteers her professional services for the establishment and development of country HR associations in emerging markets. 

Lisbeth Claus, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, is a Professor of Global Human Resources at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon (USA). Prior to joining Willamette University, she held faculty and administrative positions at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and managerial positions at Safeway Inc. and Maritz Inc.

Dr. Claus has published widely in academic and professional journals on subject matters related to international and global HR management issues, and is a frequent key-note speaker at national and international HR conferences. She is considered a leading expert on issues related to employee performance management for multinational companies and organizations.

She frequently delivers multi-day strategic HR seminars in Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Africa, and Asia for country and regional HR managers. She was the 2003 President of SHRM Global, the international division of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In 2004, SHRM commissioned her to design the GPHR (Global Professional Human Resources) Certification Preparation Course  She is also a Global HR Special Expertise Panel Member at SHRM. To advance the HR profession, she frequently volunteers her professional services for the establishment and development of country HR associations in emerging markets. 

For over 20 years, Allison West has used her employment law background in delivering customized workplace training, conducting investigations, coaching executives/managers, serving as an expert witness, and specializing in conflict resolution and facilitated discussions to create more collaborative work environments. 

Allison is a top-rated speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference as well as other HR/diversity conferences, and is a national expert on harassment, discrimination and investigations. She has appeared on PBS, CBS This Morning and in O Magazine discussing workplace harassment issues. 

She is a member of the State Bar of California and holds her SHRM-SCP certification and AWI-CH (investigation) certificate.

Internationally recognized as an expert in the field, Mr. Kushner is one of the nation's most sought after speakers on HR strategy and employee benefits. He has advised four U.S. Presidents on health care and has testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. House Small Business Committee on employee benefit issues.

A frequent resource to the media, Mr. Kushner contributes to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, AP, Knight-Ridder, the Kiplinger Washington Newsletter, CNN News, Fortune, MSNBC and Good Morning America among others. More importantly, he and his wife Tamis have five children and four wonderful (and amazing!) grandchildren.

David Lindgren is a Senior Manager with Flexible Benefit Service Corporation (Flex), a fullservice wholesale insurance firm and administrator of tax-advantaged benefit plans based in Rosemont, Illinois. David oversees the Compliance and Public Affairs departments at Flex and brings fifteen years of experience to his role.

He is a subject matter expert in the areas of ERISA, HIPAA, Cafeteria Plans, Healthcare Reform and various Employee Benefit Programs, including consumer-driven plans that incorporate Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and wellness programs.

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.

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 through the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching program, and a bestselling author of 17 books published by HarperCollins Leadership, the American Management Association, and SHRM.