Paul Karlzen (JD, MBA, and PMP) serves as the Director, HR Information & Analytics at Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI). One of the nation’s largest health systems, Englewood, Colorado-based CHI operates in 19 states and comprises 105 hospitals, including four academic health centers and major teaching hospitals and 30 critical-access facilities; community health-services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home-health agencies; and other facilities that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. Paul is responsible for HR Information metrics, service level agreements, information standardization and researching/implementing leading information practices including predictive analytics, text analysis, and big data.  

Previously, Paul held various leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company, American Airlines, Ball Corporation and Accenture. Paul is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Georgia and Texas and obtained concurrent Juris Doctorate (J.D.) and Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) degrees from Southern Illinois University, magna cum laude. 

Paul is a voting member of SHRM’s National HR information standards taskforces and has been an active member of the Colorado Bar Association’s Communications & Technology section. He is a first time presenter at SHRM’s Annual Conference & Exposition and has previously presented at the Project Management Institute’s Global Congress.

J. Lenora Bresler, J.D., is a powerhouse of enthusiasm and insight.  In her presentations, you get plenty of substance along with a good helping of “fun.” Graduating from law school at age 20, she is an attorney, a certified senior human resource professional, a professional public speaker in the National Speakers Association, is a GSI, graduate of the Speakers Institute, and holds an advanced speaker certificate.  She operates Bresler Training, a corporate keynoting and training business.  Her specialties are leadership, motivation, change, and conflict resolution.  J. Lenora has given thousands of presentations and keynote addresses to every kind of audience imaginable and is known for her energetic and humorous speaking style.  She was the first executive director of the nationally-acclaimed Polk Works Workforce 2020 project, dedicated to educating employers in workforce trends.  In addition to teaching Law at the University of South Florida and all modules of the Human Resources Certification courses at Valencia Enterprises, J. Lenora was the long-time host of her own law and politics talk radio program for a Fox-affiliate radio station. She is a Bible teacher, formerly with her own religious radio program, an actress, and singer.  She co-authored the books Mission Possible with Steven Covey and Brian Tracy and the Best of the Best.  She is the editor of the motivational book Jump Starts by Tim Richardson.  Her newest book is Instant Insight. 

Andrea P. Howe is the co-author, with Charles H. Green, of The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook: A Comprehensive Toolkit for Leading with Trust. She is the founder of The Get Real Project and an entrepreneur on a mission: to kick conventional business wisdom to the curb and transform how people work together as a result. Andrea is a recovering IT consultant who has spent more than 20 years working with clients, managing projects, and facilitating groups of all kinds and sizes. Her focus for the last decade has been teaching people in consulting roles how to get better results by getting relationships right. She speaks on topics like customer intimacy, client loyalty, the dynamics of influence, speaking hard truths, and developing business with trust. When she’s not working, you can find her in the art studio taking far too long to finish her latest mosaic project. 

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.

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.”

Jennifer McClure is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and high-performance coach who works with leaders to leverage their influence, increase their impact, and accelerate results.

Frequently recognized as a global influencer and expert on the future of work, strategic leadership and innovative people strategies, Jennifer has decades of in-the-trenches leadership and executive experience working in and with startups, privately held companies, and Fortune 500 organizations in a variety of industries.

As a top-rated keynote speaker, Jennifer has shared her insights with thousands of leaders at conferences and corporate events around the world. Clients include Procter & Gamble, General Electric, IBM, SAP, Bloomberg, Charles Schwab, Stryker, LinkedIn, Notre Dame University, Society for Human Resource Management, Association for Legal Administrators, and Association for Talent Development.

In her informative and entertaining keynote programs and workshops, she shares a blend of research, best practices, case studies and storytelling which leaves audience members inspired and motivated to take action when they return to work.

Jennifer is also the Chief Excitement Officer of DisruptHR, a global community designed to move the collective thinking forward when it comes to talent in the workplace, and she hosts a weekly podcast – Impact Makers with Jennifer McClure – sharing conversations with practitioners, entrepreneurs, authors and speakers who are changing the world while building careers that they love, and lives that matter.

As a Business Strategist and Executive Coach, LaFern Batie leads The Batie Group, LLC, a business consulting and leadership development firm serving organizations around the globe. With extensive Fortune 500 corporate leadership experience and widely recognized expertise, she works with international organizations and leaders across diverse industries to maximize their collective and individual performance. Leaders value her high business acumen, ability to quickly connect with teams, thorough and efficient approach to identifying challenges and commitment to helping them achieve results that exceed their expectations. 

Follow LaFern on Twitter @LaFernBatie.
 

Shane A. Yount is a nationally recognized thought leader, author, and President of Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), an international Business Transformation consulting firm that pioneered the acclaimed organizational development system known as Process Based Leadership® - A business transformation methodology designed to create a sustainable culture of clarity, connectivity, and consistency through the use of Non-Negotiable Business Processes. Since 1991 he has led the offices of CSI in becoming one of the nation’s most recognized Business Transformation consulting firms,  personally working with such organizations as Michelin, Genentech, Pfizer, Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense, and many others.

Shane A. Yount is a nationally recognized thought leader, author, and President of Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), an international Business Transformation consulting firm that pioneered the acclaimed organizational development system known as Process Based Leadership® - A business transformation methodology designed to create a sustainable culture of clarity, connectivity, and consistency through the use of Non-Negotiable Business Processes. Since 1991 he has led the offices of CSI in becoming one of the nation’s most recognized Business Transformation consulting firms,  personally working with such organizations as Michelin, Genentech, Pfizer, Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense, and many others.