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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.

Mike Psenka is the senior vice president of Workforce Analytics for Equifax Workforce Solutions and the founder of eThority, a provider of world-class analytics to the human capital, higher education, commercial, and government markets. In 2011, Equifax Workforce Solutions acquired eThority to offer an unparalleled analytics tool to its customers. Earlier in his career, Psenka worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers within their Open Systems Technology group implementing financial and manufacturing systems. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Psenka has focused a great deal of passion toward the creation of 'user-obvious' platforms. When not executing day-to-day business operations, he dedicates himself to the development of innovative solutions that provide vital answers to the marketplace.

Evren is the director of Survey Programs at the Society for Human Resource Management located in Alexandria, VA. She oversees the development and production of surveys and polls on HR and business topics through SHRM’s Survey Research Center which releases data from approximately 30 research findings each year on topics ranging from employee benefits to performance management. Evren has worked at SHRM for over twelve years and she has a strong understanding of HR issues particularly in the areas of compensation, benefits and employee job satisfaction. 

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!

Charlie joined Interactive Health in 2014 through Interactive Health’s acquisition of Health Solutions, where he served as President. As EVP of Business Development, he holds overall responsibility for corporate sales strategy and client acquisition.

Charlie brings over 30 years of experience in health management, employee wellness and corporate fitness. As the former President of Health Solutions and adjunct faculty member at the Yale School of Public Health, Charlie is often called upon to speak on customer service and wellness program innovation. Earlier this year, Charlie was elected President of the International Association of Worksite Health Promotion.  Prior to his work at Interactive Health, Charlie led the successful development of employee wellness programs at Campbell Soup, General Electric and General Motors, which have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Newsweek.

Charlie holds a MS in exercise physiology from West Virginia University and a BS from Ithaca College.

As founder of Corporate Advisors Group, Kevin Mahoney joined Raymond James as a Managing Director, Investments and Senior Institutional Consultant in 2015. Kevin brings over 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry. His areas of expertise include fiduciary risk management, ERISA issues, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, liability driven investing, philanthropic services, employee education and communication. 

Kevin led the launch of SHRM 401(k) Solutions by Raymond James. SHRM 401(k) Solutions by Raymond James offers fiduciary investment advisory services to SHRM’s ecosystem.  We help employees make meaningful progress towards their financial goals and employers meet their fiduciary responsibilities.

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.

Todd Solomon is a partner in and Chicago local practice group leader of the employee benefits practice group of McDermott Will & Emery LLP in its Chicago office.  Todd focuses his practice primarily on designing, amending, and administering pension plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans, 403(b) plans, and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements.  He also counsels corporations and tax-exempt entities regarding fiduciary and plan investment issues under ERISA, employee benefits issues involved in corporate transactions, executive compensation and Code Section 409A compliance and correction matters, and the implementation of benefit programs for domestic partners.  

Sharon Podstupka is a Vice President in the New York office of Pearl Meyer & Partners. She is a key member of the firm’s Thought Leadership team and is focused on executive and broad-based employee pay communication consulting. She works closely with her clients in a wide range of industries to develop internal communications that educate and engage people in their pay programs. Ms. Podstupka also has extensive experience in developing critical shareholder communications (CD&As) that clearly explain pay-for-performance in the context of today’s challenging say on pay environment. Her key areas of expertise are communication strategy, stakeholder management and content development.

Ms. Podstupka is a popular conference panelist at The Conference Board and Corporate Board Member (NYSE Corporate Governance) events. She has also contributed to several publications including WorldatWork’s Workspan, Executive Pay Matters, Bloomberg BNA and Corporate Board Member. Ms. Podstupka joined PM&P in 2013 after 17 years at Towers (Perrin) Watson, where she served as a Director in the Talent & Rewards segment. In her most recent role there, she led the Executive Compensation Communications Services team for the Americas. Prior to that, she was a compensation and benefits administrator and communication specialist at EMI-Capitol Music Group.

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.