Joe Gerstandt brings greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts.

Joe has worked with Fortune 100 corporations, small non-profits, and everything in between. He speaks at numerous conferences and summits, and blogs at joegerstandt.com. He is a featured contributor for the Workforce Diversity Network Expert Forum and his insights have been published in Diversity Executive, HR Executive, and numerous other print and on-line journals.

A strong advocate for resetting the diversity and inclusion conversation, Joe sees these issues as poorly understood and often misunderstood.

Cathy Cassidy is CEO of Martin Training Associates, LLC, the global leader in supporting matrix organizations develop into fully functional matrix organizations. Cathy supports key clients in facilitating and coaching leaders with designing and implementing matrix based processes and procedures at the enterprise-wide level that enables teams to deliver results without authority. Cathy has written and co-written several Quick Guide publications on topics related to the working and leading without Authority including: Leading Successful Meetings, Change Accountability and Accountability for Leaders in a Matrix and developed training programs in key organizational topics of Innovation, Matrix Management and Project Steering. Cathy speaks at industry chapter meetings on the topics on Innovation, Project Management and team development.

John A. Rubino, SHRM-SCP, CCP, CBP, GRP, WLCP, is founder and president of Rubino Consulting Services, a global human resources consulting company based in Pound Ridge, New York. His areas of expertise cover all areas of Human Resources program design. An internationally acclaimed speaker for SHRM and WorldatWork, John is the author of numerous human resources articles, and is frequently quoted in professional publications. He holds BA and MBA degrees, as well as a lifetime Achievement Award from WorldatWork. John works with a wide variety of organizations and his consulting practice takes him all around the world; in fact, he has visited one hundred and nine countries!

Ron Ozminkowski, Ph.D., is Vice President, Research and Development, in the Advanced Analytics Group at Ingenix, and Vice President, Research and Policy at UnitedHealth Group Alliances. He has been conducting health services research and evaluation projects since 1983. He is internationally recognized as an expert in the evaluation of corporate wellness and disease management programs, and has published widely on these and related issues. Dr. Ozminkowski received his Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of Michigan, School of Public Health, with an emphasis in health economics. He also holds Masters Degrees from the University of Michigan, with emphases in medical care organization and applied economics. Before joining Ingenix, Dr. Ozminkowski served as Director, Health & Productivity Research at Thomson Healthcare (Medstat) and as Associate Director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, at Cornell University. He also served as Research Director at Abt Associates Inc., and taught health economics to undergraduate and graduate students at Eastern Michigan University and Mercy College of Detroit.

David Lee, the founder of HumanNatureAtWork.com, helps employers improve employee engagement, customer service, and morale, though his work as a consultant, trainer, and executive coach. He is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance.

David is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as over sixty articles and book chapters on employee and organizational performance that have been published in North America, Europe, India, Australia, and China.

Much of his work involves taking research into human nature from a wide range of scientific disciplines, and then translating these principles into practical strategies for optimizing individual and organizational performance.

Using the popular TV show The Dog Whisperer as an analogy for the difference understanding human nature makes, David’s work helps leaders and managers become “Employee Whisperers.”

Samuel H. Fleet is President of AmWINS Group Benefits, a leading wholesale broker of comprehensive group insurance programs and administrative services. With more than 20 years of health and benefit experience, Sam has guided the rapid rise of AmWINS Group Benefits from a small regional organization to one of the most successful wholesale brokers and group insurance administrators in the country. Responding to the crisis of rising medical care and health insurance costs over the past few years, Fleet has positioned AmWINS Group Benefits as an industry leader that can empower brokers and their clients to survive and thrive in the new health insurance landscape, by developing, distributing and administering niche insurance products and services.

After owning a successful management consulting and training business for 10 years and previously working as a marketing executive in the health insurance industry for 17 years, Lynda F. Jeppesen became Sr. Vice President of Human Resources for the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies. Lynda’s vast experience in management, benefits, human resources and training is supplemented by a B.S. degree from the University of Utah, MBA from Westminster College of Salt Lake, SPHR, and published author of Sales Service Success, 1996. Lynda is described as energetic, knowledgeable and embodies the ability to bridge the gap between concept to practical application.

Trent Shuford has more than 20 years of experience in rehabilitation technology and treatment. Throughout his career, he has continually challenged established methodologies and pioneered new ways to improve health care in the workplace.

Trent has written many articles regarding his innovative and proven concepts which have been published in the Workers Compensation Journal as well as many other health and safety magazines and journals. He is honored to have been invited to speak at numerous local and nation conferences including the American Society of Safety Engineers Safety 2010 & Safety 2011, the National Safety Council Congress and Expo 2011, and the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) Annual Conference 2010.

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.

 

Jane Cooper is founder, President and CEO of Patient Care, the nation’s leading advocacy company, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has over 25 years’ experience in the health care industry, and has started and led five health care companies since the early 1980s. Ms. Cooper has a Bachelor's of Liberal Arts from Augustana College in Illinois and a Master's of Art from Western Illinois University, with a major in speech and communication. She serves on the board of Crescent City Bank & Trust, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network (WISHIN).