Warner Bros. is a leader in the entertainment industry from feature film, television and home entertainment production and worldwide distribution to DVD, digital distribution, animation, comic books, product and brand licensing, international cinemas and broadcasting. At Warner Bros., Andy Ortiz is Senior Vice President, Organization Effectiveness, a position he has held since March, 2008.

In his role, Ortiz is responsible for ensuring the development of Warner Bros. most important asset, its people. He is responsible for aligning its people with the Company’s business strategy through employee learning and development, leadership development, succession management, diversity initiatives, employee communications, employee relations, and change management. Andy also oversees all global organization development initiatives.

Prior to joining Warner Bros., Andy was Vice-President, Talent Management, Diversity, and Leadership Development for HealthNet, Inc. While at HealthNet, he was responsible for the leadership of the company’s talent pipeline including workforce planning, recruitment, diversity, associate development, leadership development, and succession management. Prior to HealthNet, Andy held numerous leadership roles in a variety of industries including financial services, cable, and automotive.

Ortiz earned his Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication. Andy is a certified executive coach from the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara and a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Martha T. Ramirez, PHR is the Director, Western Region & Field Services Director for the North Central Region for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).where she has worked since 2006. Previously, she held the position of Regional Manager at SHRM. Prior to SHRM, Martha had 11 years of HR experience from the finance and manufacturing industries.

Martha's primary responsibility is to help SHRM members, volunteer leaders, HR professionals and their organizations find rewarding ways to get engaged in our chapter structure, the profession and with SHRM. She is also responsible for assisting state councils and local chapters with their strategic planning and operations. Martha also leads the Staffing Management Panel at SHRM.

Martha holds a Bachelor of Science degree from DePaul University in Chicago. She is a lifelong resident of the Chicago area and resides in the western suburbs with her family. She enjoys traveling, reading and meeting new people, all things she incorporates in her position with SHRM.

As Field Services Director for the Society for Human Resource Management, Susan Post has accountability for the membership and relationship management strategies for SHRM affiliates in a nine-state territory (CT, DE, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI and VT.)  She serves SHRM members, prospective members and volunteer leaders from her home office in upstate NY. 

Prior to joining SHRM in 1999, Susan had 15 years of progressively responsible HR experience with several organizations, including Eastman Kodak and Cornell University.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Le Moyne College, is certified as a SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and holds the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

Susan's affiliation with the Society began in the early 1980's, when she served two terms as President of the Le Moyne College student chapter in Syracuse, NY.  Throughout her professional career, Susan held numerous SHRM volunteer leadership roles, including two terms as President of her local professional chapter and District Director on the New York State Council.

Outside of SHRM, Susan has served in a variety of volunteer leader capacities for many organizations. She is currently a member of the Elmira Little Theater board of directors, a non-profit community theater group in Elmira, NY.

Steve is the Chief Global HR and Content Integration Officer for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In this role, Steve is responsible for both the development of best-in-class HR programs for the world’s largest professional HR organization as well as globalization and planning strategies focused on serving both existing and future members.

Steve is a former HR Vice President at Lucent Technologies where his work took him around the world, including a 3 ½ year assignment as head of Lucent’s HR operations for the Asia Pacific region. He also held positions where he was responsible for supporting a wide variety of business units across Lucent. His specific responsibilities included the creation of global talent development initiatives, assessment methodologies, leadership development programs, and organizational design / effectiveness strategies.

Steve currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) and is a past United States representative to the North American Human Resources Management Association (NAHRMA), North America’s representative body to the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA).

Steve received his Master’s Degree in Computer Science and his Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Detroit, both Summa Cum Laude.

Debra Cohen, PhD, SPHR, is the chief knowledge development and integration officer for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and is responsible for the Society’s Knowledge Development and Integration Division, which includes the SHRM Knowledge Center (including the Society Library), the Research Department, Academic Initiatives, and HR Standards. Dr. Cohen joined SHRM in May of 2000 as the director of Research. Prior to joining SHRM, Dr. Cohen spent 15 years as an academician teaching HRM at George Washington University (10 years) and George Mason University (5 years). Dr. Cohen has published over 40 articles and book chapters and has been published in several journals. Dr. Cohen received her PhD in management and human resources in 1987 and her master’s degree in labor and human resources (MLHR) in 1982, both from The Ohio State University. She received her bachelor of science (in communications) from Ohio University. She is a frequent presenter at national, international, and regional conferences and has spoken to a wide variety of audiences. Prior to her academic career, she was a practicing human resources manager (in Training and Development).

Shari Simberkoff is the Director of Human Resources for EILEEN FISHER, a women’s clothing company headquartered in New York, whose mission is to “inspire simplicity, creativity and delight through connection and great design”. Shari began her career at EILEEN FISHER in 1998, having previously held HR positions at Bloomingdale’s Department Store and Nine West Group. She leads a team of HR professionals who support the company’s 850 employees across the country in the full suite of HR services. One of the team’s primary goals is to foster a joyful and fulfilling employment experience in the company. EILEEN FISHER has been awarded the honor of being one of the 25 Best Medium Companies to Work for in America each year since 2004. Shari graduated with a B.S. in marketing from the School of Management at Boston University.

Ginger Guyton is a Human Resources Manager, bringing over 20 years of employee relations, training and recruiting experience. Ginger attended Jackson State University and joined the US Air Force shortly there afterwards. Ginger’s organizational management skills and her ability to build teams and develop training programs has positively impacted several organizations and companies that she has worked for. She has volunteered for several nonprofit activities/organizations such as Special Olympics, Career Day, Third Ward Community Outreach and Junior Achievement.

Mark is an acclaimed consultant – having worked with dozens of Fortune 500 companies in six of the seven continents of the world over the past two decades. As an author and highly demanded speaker, Mark has an innovative, results-focused passion for helping people make a difference.

Mark first joined the Walt Disney World Resort® in 1978, working in a wide variety of leadership roles. After more than ten years, Mark left to establish The Consultant Network, eventually leading over 60 business consultants.

In 1992, during his doctoral studies, Mark was recruited to lead the consulting team at the Federal Aviation Administration’s national training headquarters. Mark played a key role in the Department of Transportation’s organizational redesign – spearheading initiatives such as executive development, assessment and design, change dynamics, self-managed/directed work teams, and train-the-trainer programs.

Mark returned to the Walt Disney World Resort® in 1996 to help lead the transformation of the Disney Institute Business Programs. While in this role, Mark was in charge of Leadership, Creativity & Innovation, and Quality Service initiatives. He also served externally as the senior project manager for numerous highly successful large-scale organizational initiatives for leading domestic and international corporations – many of which are showcased in the Disney-published book Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service. In recognition of his contribution to the Disney organization, Mark was nominated for the prestigious “Partner’s in Excellence” award – Disney’s highest regarded corporate award.

Currently, as Chief Operating Officer of World Class Benchmarking, Mark leads a network of experts from the world’s most renowned companies in implementing organizational transformation.

Mark’s new best-selling book, Lead With Your Customer: Transform Culture and Brand into World-Class Excellence (ASTD Press) showcases what world-class organizations do to attain and sustain extraordinary results.

For over twenty-five years Jeff has delivered development and training solutions for the private and public sector. He has facilitated hundreds of programs and delivered keynote addresses to scores of clients as diverse as General Electric, the U.S. Postal System, Federal Express and the City of New York. Topics have ranged from leadership to performance accountability, from customer service/loyalty to team building.

Earlier Jeff’s consultant activities were associated with The Disney Institute, a best-practices institution modeled on America’s first corporate university. While there, Jeff was responsible for designing The Disney Approach to Quality Service and Service, Disney Style programs. The models, concepts, and examples of that program were later introduced to corporate America in Be Our Guest, a popular benchmarking title published by The Disney Institute, with a forward by Michael Eisner.

While at the Disney Institute, Jeff played a key role in developing other programs at The Disney Institute to include Disney’s Approach to Customer Loyalty, and Disney’s Approach to Creativity and Innovation. He continues today as a columnist for MousePlanet.Com where he continues to share stories of excellence in the Walt Disney Company as best-practices ideas for corporations worldwide.

Jeff is now CEO of World Class Benchmarking, which provides a programming series that benchmarks many of America’s greatest corporations. Recently, World Class Benchmarking supported Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (Sheraton, Westin, & St. Regis) in launching a massive customer/brand service initiative for over 125,000 associates globally.

Recently Jeff has consulted in the last couple of years for the Finance division of the City of New York in providing leadership and transformation solutions for the public sector. He is the Chief Learning Architect for The Public Strategies Group (PSG) creating training and development solutions for such organizations as the State of Iowa and Federal Student Aid—U. S. Department of Education.

Jeff’s new best-selling book, Lead With Your Customer: Transform Culture and Brand into World-Class Excellence (ASTD Press) showcases what world-class organizations do to attain and sustain extraordinary results and is available via ASTD.org, Amazon.com, and bookstores all over the world.  Jeff's book, "The Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney" highlights best practices in customer service at Disney.

Molly is a frequent speaker and writer on talent topics. Her articles have appeared in leading publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, CNBC, Leadership Excellence and The Conversation at Harvard Business Review and she recently appeared on First Business TV.