Lance Matthiesen is Vice President of Partnerships and manages Management Leadership for Tomorrow’s (MLT) corporate, non-profit, and foundation partnerships.  He joined MLT in 2013 over 20 years of sales leadership experience in the technology and professional services industries, including the Corporate Executive Board, The Washington Post and Verizon.  He holds a BA from Bates College and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Karen Rylander-Davis is an accomplished senior human resource executive with over 35 years of international experience. She specializes in transforming organizations, developing talent, and supporting culture change to achieve business strategies. Her work in management development includes project leadership, instructional design, development and delivery of training programs.

Karen’s consulting focuses on offering strategic organization and leadership development solutions to a wide variety of firms in diverse industries.  Her approach to clients is customized to each situation, culture and team dynamic. She motivates, facilitates, and challenges people to rethink what is possible for themselves and the organization. Recognizing that the organization is a system, she considers potential impacts and contingencies in her work to ensure that recommendations and deliverables are practical, actionable and value-adding.

Of note is Karen’s development of a comprehensive leadership curriculum for a global French wire and cable manufacturer, built on management and functional competency models and company values.   A global course for high potential senior leaders involved building the design around corporate values and competencies, incorporating appropriate action learning, and ensuring strong partnership between internal and external resources.  A course for Plant Managers required integration of design by multiple internal subject matter experts and preparation for delivery by internally trained facilitators. A short-course targeted transversal leaders whose virtual teams did not report directly to them and were located around the world.

Other instructional design and delivery projects include:

• Comprehensive instructional design curriculum, including a variety of training modules, materials and video, to support process transformation in a multinational family-owned food products company

• Redesign of a senior leadership development program for a chemical manufacturing company

• Diversity awareness training for all employees of a regional newspaper
• Local customer team development curriculum for sales and service staffs of a medical imaging equipment manufacturer 

Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Karen held human resource positions of increasing responsibility with Knight Ridder, General Electric Medical Systems, Ryder System, Inc. and Goodyear Aerospace Corporation. Most recently, as Corporate Vice President, Training and Career Management for Nexans, worldwide leader in cables and cabling systems, headquartered in Paris, she engaged senior leadership worldwide in creating and implementing Nexans’ Management Competency Model, followed by the development and delivery of an expanded leadership development curriculum.

Experienced in working effectively in multiple regions and cultures, including North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Karen has lived and worked in the US,  Canada, and France and is fluent in English and French. She holds dual US and Canadian citizenship.

Karen holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Counselor Education, an M.Ed. in Counseling in Higher Education from Kent State University, and a B.A. in French, with honors, from the College of Wooster.

Mary Martinéz is the diversity and inclusion (D&I) practice leader for APTMetrics, Inc. As an experienced D&I practitioner, she provides guidance and support for organizations that are committed to maximizing the bottom-line benefits of D&I through assessment, engagement, and measurement. She has more than 20 years of experience as a consultant and as an HR leader in organizations representing multiple industries and in the nonprofit sector where she has implemented a wide range of diversity and talent initiatives. Her capabilities include designing and implementing strategies and processes, creating and delivering training, and implementing organization development interventions. Most recently, Mary led the global diversity consulting practice for Mercer/ORC Networks (formerly part of ORC Worldwide -- where she began her career, and to which she returned in 2008). Immediately prior to this, she was responsible for global performance management and professional development at Alcatel-Lucent where she was instrumental in integrating the merged company’s talent processes.

Global Speaker Sonia Aranza has presented on the international stage from Spain to Singapore.  She brings 27+ years of experience in Diversity, Inclusion & Global Leadership. Her clients include Boeing, CIA, McDonald’s and more. The U.S. Department of Labor describes her work as “Outstanding” and was selected to execute programs for landmark cases. SHRM featured her as a Diversity & Inclusion Expert in HR Magazine and she is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Leadership. She serves on the Faculty of Howard University’s Executive Diversity Program; named “100 Most Influential Filipina Americans in the United States” and honored “100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World.”

Kim Reese is the Director at Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Treasury, Washington, D.C.

Robin Schooling, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is on a mission to make organizations better by making HR better. With 20+ years of senior HR leadership experience in a variety of industries, she consults with organizations, advises HR teams, and writes for a variety of sites and publications. She explores what HR does (and why we do it) by discussing the intricacies, complexities, and absurdities through the sharing of information, the exploration of ideas, and the development of solutions. She rattles cages, takes an audacious approach, and works to ensure HR is valued. She’s been an active and involved SHRM volunteer leader and once upon a time received an award as “HR Professional of the Year.”

 

Sharlyn Lauby is an author, writer, speaker and consultant. She has been named a Top HR Digital Influencer and is best-known for her work on HR Bartender, a friendly place to talk about workplace issues. HR Bartender has been recognized as one of the Top 5 Blogs read by HR professionals by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and best business blog by the Stevie Awards.

Publications such as Reuters, The New York Times, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, and Mashable have sought out her expertise on topics related to human resources and the workplace. Sharlyn is the author of “Essential Meeting Blueprints for Managers,” and ”Manager Onboarding: 5 Steps for Setting New Leaders Up for Success,” which are available in the SHRM Store.

Her personal goal in life is to find the best cheeseburger on the planet.