Josephine is an affirmative action, equal employment opportunity, diversity, work/life and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program specialist. She is well versed in regulation interpretation as well as establishing and maintaining effective relationships with federal and state agencies. Josephine also is experienced in developing proactive recruitment practices to improve minority selection and has earned a record of achievement in a dispute resolution process. She has worked in both the private and public sectors.
Her specialized experience includes six years as a compliance officer and senior compliance officer with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, where she was responsible for complex compliance reviews of employers in excess of 5,000 employees and higher education institutions. She also was responsible for the assessment, analysis, and recommendations to improve employers' personnel policies and practices to ensure Federal Regulatory Compliance. She has six years of corporate experience, including five years with a 9,000 employee, multi-state public utility where she was responsible for equal employment opportunity practices, employee relations investigations, compliance with affirmative action regulations, diversity and work/life initiatives; Manager of Diversity and Work/Life for a Fortune 50, and more recently, Director of HR and Labor Relations within academia. She played an instrumental role in winning the U.S. Department of Labor's Opportunity 2000 Award.
Josephine earned her Master of Science in Human Resource Management from the Hartford Graduate Center/Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute and her Bachelors of Arts, cum laude, in Spanish and Political Science. She has earned a C.T.M. as a Competent Toastmaster and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.
Yvonne Alverio is a nationally recognized professional in the field of workforce diversity. She specializes in developing diversity and inclusion strategies, as well as creating diversity tools and conducting diversity and inclusion educational programs. Her expertise in public and private industry, as well as academia, includes valuing and managing diversity processes, staffing programs, teambuilding, organizational and management development, strategic planning, and executive coaching. Yvonne has appeared in several diversity training films and has authored articles related to diversity and inclusion which have been published in local newspapers and national magazines.
Prior to external consulting, Yvonne served as Director of Workforce Diversity for Aetna Life & Casualty where she was responsible for leading the firm's development and implementation of strategies, systems, and management practices to support a worldwide high performing diverse and inclusive workforce. Previously, she worked as Corporate Director of Diversity and Staffing for Lotus Development Corporation; Diversity and Employee Relations Manager, Human Resources Manager, and Affirmative Action Manager for Wang Laboratories; Minority/Women Business Enterprise Program Manager for the Environmental Protection Agency; and Employment and Training Manager for the City of Boston. She also served as an Equal Opportunity Advisor for the Connecticut National Guard. Additionally, Yvonne has consulted to mid-sized and Fortune 500 firms in health care, finance, insurance, legal, manufacturing, oil and gas, publishing, retail, utility, and state and municipal business sectors.
Throughout her life, Yvonne has been heavily involved in community and national organizations and has served as a director on a number of Boards of Directors. Her educational concentration is in Cultural Anthropology and Human Resource Management. She also served in the Army Reserves and retired in 2002 from the Connecticut National Guard after twenty-seven years of service.
Gregg T. Barratt is an experienced HR leader and a nationally recognized professional in the training and organizational development field. He is certified in the use of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, The Career Architect, Situational Leadership, Thomas Kilman Conflict, and in the Rummler-Brache Process Mapping Method, as well as in an extensive range of professional and personal development programs. Additionally, he is certified as an alternative dispute mediator.
Gregg is highly proficient in developing and implementing innovative recruitment and retention strategies, researching and implementing human resource information systems, developing employee policies and procedures, managing employee relations, developing competency frameworks, performance management and measurement systems, compensation and benefits systems and recognition programs, safety and security programs, conducting labor negotiations and relations, business process redesign, call-center design and development, and critical incident stress response and management initiatives. Gregg has researched, designed and conducted high impact training programs throughout the United States as well as in global locations for a wide expanse of leadership, behavioral, and skills educational initiatives for large corporations as well as for dynamic entrepreneurial firms. Gregg utilizes a wide range of experiential, action-learning, and interactive learning approaches to captivate his audiences. Additionally, he is certified to lead and teach critical incident stress management defusings and debriefings.
Gregg has been a consultant with The Human Resource Consortium since 1995 and has held leadership positions with Merrill Lynch, Pitney Bowes, RJ Nabisco, Aetna Financial Services and BIC Corporation where he has been responsible for nationwide and global organization development and training. He has consulted with firms including American Medical Response, Avis, Culbro Corporation, Greenfield Online, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, HTVN, IBM, JDS Uniphase, Medspan, Merrill Lynch, PepsiCo, Price Waterhouse, SpaceFitters/Chasm, Texaco, UST, and the Connecticut State Police. Additionally, Gregg has supported small and large-scale critical events, including PanAm Flight 800 and 9/11/2001 at the World Trade Center in New York.
Gregg earned his B.S. in Industrial Psychology and extensive graduate work in Organizational Psychology and Human Resources. Active in community service, he has served as an advisory member of the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Make A Wish Foundation, a Member of Board of Directors for The Connecticut Critical Incident Stress Management Network, and 20 year veteran of emergency medical services. Gregg is a former Connecticut police officer, a certified emergency medical technician, and holds 2nd degree black belts in Tang Soo Do and Sho-Lin karate.
Steven Buttner specializes in the areas of leadership assessment and development, organizational alignment with strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and workplace environment and culture issues related to change and stress. Steve has extensive expertise in executive and leadership coaching and is certified in the use of an extensive range of diagnostic tools (including behavioral interview, self-report and multi-rater assessments) as well as personality and psychological instruments. Additionally, he is a licensed practitioner of the Future Search Conference.
Steve has spent more than twenty-five years developing human resource capability in financial service, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, health care, and academic businesses, as well as in the public sector. An organization development consultant since 1982, Steve is affiliated with Rensselaer at Hartford and the Center for Creative Leadership. Some of the firms with which he has consulted include Northeast Utilities, Lincoln National Life, CIGNA, Steelcase Canada, General Motors, Quest Diagnostics, and The Hartford.
Prior to establishing his consulting practice, Steve managed training programs and organization development for a division of CIGNA Corporation, and served as Compliance Officer for the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Previously he held positions as Dean and Professor for Wesleyan University.
Steve earned his M.A. and M.Phil. degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University, and his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University. He completed additional studies in organizational diagnosis (Weisbord), Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), substance abuse counseling, Gestalt therapy and innovative approaches to organizational change through NTL and the Omega Institute. Steve's professional affiliations include the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Organization Development Network, the Association for Psychological Type, the International Coach Federation, and The Hartford Seminary.Michelle Carpenter is nationally recognized for her work at Aetna on Work/Life Balance and Workplace Flexibility. She developed state-of-the-art policies and benefits that enabled Aetna to retain valued workers, increase productivity and improve employee morale. She has spoken at numerous national forums and conferences and has been interviewed and quoted in major electronic, TV and print media such as the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Working Mother, AP, NPR, and NBC Nightly News. With more than two dozen years of experience building and executing corporate-wide strategies to create a Great Place to Work, she has focused on diversity and inclusion and Work/Life Balance, guiding the ability to attract and retain talented employees, developing policies and programs for corporate-wide Temporary Services, Outplacement and Career Transition Center, Relocation, Applicant Tracking and Sourcing Systems, and Labor Relations. Michelle's expertise includes instructional design and development, strategic staffing, organizational effectiveness, change management, building employee commitment and managing the changing workforce.
Prior to consulting, she worked for Aetna where she was Head of Learning for Small and Middle Markets' Field Sales & Service and part of a taskforce to develop strategies across the U.S. to enhance cultural competency, increase sales to and better serve existing multicultural healthcare members and previously, Director, Office of Diversity where she was responsible for providing strategic and customized consulting to business unit leaders to integrate diversity, inclusion and cultural competency into how they conduct business, serve customers, and measure progress while acting as the catalyst to work across the enterprise to leverage information, experiences, relationships and business sponsorships. She linked departments and demonstrated added value by bringing together corporate teams/units who worked on projects addressing racial and ethnic disparities and lack of access to healthcare issues, member data collection project on race, ethnicity and language, business strategy for Emerging Markets, Supplier Diversity, Charitable Giving Strategy, Branding and Advertising, and Aetna's Recruitment & Selection strategy. Prior to her role in Diversity, she held the role of Vice President, Workplace Directions where she focused on workplace culture with systems and infrastructure to support a high performing organization.
Michelle attended the University of Madrid and has a B.A. from St. Lawrence University. She has served on various national organizations and committees including Chair of The Conference Board's Work/Life Leadership Council, Member of the Wharton Work/Life Roundtable, Member of the American Business Collaboration for Quality Dependent Care, and Member of the Hartford Area Childcare Collaborative. She is involved in her community through Boards of the Windsor Independent Living Association and Windsor Educational Foundation.
Scott Cawood is an internationally recognized professional in the field of organization development. He is considered an expert on workplace issues, is a highly sought speaker, and is frequently interviewed for current trends in the workplace. Most recently Scott has appeared in Investors Business Daily, the Human Resource Executive, the Continental Airlines Magazine, on the American Management Association's newsletter, and on Monster.com. Scott has presented to audiences throughout the world on creating and sustaining profitable businesses through the people of the business. His passion is to build sustainable business models that create people-focused workplaces that are externally informed and internally-driven, benefiting both the employees and customers. For the past decade, Scott has focused on assessing and guiding organizations to achieve higher performance and profitability. His book, "Destination Profit: Creating People-Profit Opportunities in Your Organization" was co-authored with Rita Bailey of Southwest Airlines and has just been published by Davies-Black.
He consults to companies across all industries, guiding them to align their people to their business while building workplace environments where people want to work. Scott has consulted to a wide variety of organizations, including Kellogg, Dow Chemical, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sovereign Bank, Memorial Hospital, KPMG, Trek, National Starch, Spirent Communications, TMobile, and Motoman.
Scott has held roles of President of ModernThink, LLC, an organization specializing in conducting statewide competitions for the 'best places to work;' Vice President for the Great Place to Work Institute, the organization responsible for surveying and identifying the nationwide "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list annually published in Fortune Magazine; Vice President of Global Talent for Revlon; and Human Resources Leader for W.L. Gore & Associates - currently number five and one of only four companies to make the 100 Best List every year since the List's inception.
Scott earned his Ph.D. in business administration with a cognate in organizational behavior. He is an adjunct faculty for the MBA program at Drexel University and has served as a regional and state leader for the Society for Human Resource Management. For the past five years, Scott has been featured at the SHRM National Conference as a keynote and mega-session presenter on the subject of building great workplaces.
Susan Colantunono has been delivering innovative HR solutions to organizations since the early 1970's. Whether developing cutting edge policies to address the changing workforce, bringing change management technologies to IT professionals or innovating training delivery via satellite broadcast, Susan has partnered with her clients to align business strategy with original HR solutions.
In the late 1980's, Susan drew upon her past experience as an information systems project manager and became a pioneer in advocating the need for change management competencies to be applied to information systems implementation. She worked with such major organizations as AT&T Capital Corporation, IBM, Holiday Inn, the IRS and Digital Equipment Company to enhance these skills among their IT professionals. Her workbook, "Bits, Bytes and Baudies" became the standard resource for NTL Institute's program on change management for IT professionals.
She also was the lead design person on a program to deliver diversity training to a nationwide audience via interactive satellite technology. She co-designed the content, wrote the script, designed the participant materials, developed the on-site facilitator's guide, and trained on-site facilitators in their role at the downlink sites during the broadcasts. Since the early 1970's, she has designed diversity change strategies, delivered diversity training at all levels of organizations, developed diversity councils, and has implemented career path planning and mentoring programs.
Susan has brought her expertise to a variety of national and multi-national corporations including AT&T Capital Corporation, Bloomfield Connecticut School System, the CIA, Cellular One, CIGNA, Columbia Medical Plans, Corn Products, DEC, Exxon, Loral Federal Office Systems, Marriott Hotels, NTL Institute, NYNEX, Origin Technology in Business, the U.S. Department of Education, Victoria General Hospital (Canada), WANG labs, webMethods.
Prior to her career choice as an external consultant, Susan worked for Connecticut General Life Insurance Company as an information systems project manager, human resources generalist and training department manager. Susan completed graduate studies at the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts and has authored "Build Your Career" and "Make Room for JOY!"
Scott Davis has more than fifteen years of experience providing organization development solutions in the areas of management and supervisory skills, leadership styles, career development, re-employ-ment, executive coaching, 360 feedback, conflict management, team building, diversity, and change management. Additionally, he has designed and conducted a major exit interview initiative for union employees. Scott has consulted to more than one hundred of the Fortune 500 companies, including Aetna, AT&T, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Champion, Dexter, Fleet Bank, Pfizer, SBA, Travelers, UCONN Health Center, UTC, Wiremold, and Yale University. He has completed diversity training for CIGNA, Digital, Dun & Bradstreet, Exxon, Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, SUNY, Marriott, Mobil and Nortel. His work has been featured in articles in The New York Times, Newsweek, National Employment Business Weekly, Job Search Bulletin, The Hartford Courant, and The Bottom Line. Prior to his consulting career, Scott was Manager of Corporate Training for CIGNA Corporation.
In addition to his consulting career, Scott has authored and published the "Employment Guide for College Students," which sold more than 40,000 copies to 500 colleges and universities, "Career Power," a 30 minute audio cassette published by Simon and Schuster, and "Pre-Retirement Planning Guide" which has sold more than 10,000 copies to more than 50 companies.
Scott completed his Bachelors at the University of Vermont in Political Science and completed additional education at UCLA's School of Management in Organizational Behavior. He is a Certified Professional Specialist in Organizational Development and a Certified Member of the Outplacement Institute. Additionally, Scott is a Member of the Advisory Board for the University of Hartford's School of Entrepreneurship.
Valerie Davis-Howard is a nationally recognized professional in the field of organization development and workforce diversity with more than eighteen years in the field. She specializes in organization development, strategic planning, diversity and inclusion strategies, and educational programs. She has overseen and carried out major interventions, large-scale events, and facilitated numerous diversity, leadership, strategic planning, and teambuilding session for executives, managers, and employees in banking, healthcare, retail services, airline, and manufacturing industries, including Fortune 100s as well as for not-for-profits and the public sector. She is highly regarded for her combined strengths in strategic thinking and detail orientation, facilitating seamless implementation.
Prior to her current consulting career, Valerie served as Vice President for Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group where she was responsible for technology and knowledge transfer as well as strategy and brand alignment, Assistant Vice President of Organization Development for Chase Bank and as a Training Consultant for the University of Michigan. Additionally, she held internal roles at The Hartford, CIGNA, Amoco, Proctor and Gamble, and Pepsi-Cola. Through this work, she realized her passion and success in culture change and systems alignment to yield enhanced morale, innovation, productivity, profits, and value.
Valerie earned her Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Spelman College and MBA from University of Iowa. She is a member of the National Black MBA Association, American Society for Training & Development, and the Organization Development Network. In 2002, she was honored as one of ASTD's New Guard, a select group of professionals who take the field of training and development in new directions. She presents at national conferences and publishes articles on culture change and diversity. Additionally, she volunteers her time to develop the empowerment of women and people of color.
Richard Doran is a nationally recognized professional in the field of organization development, most particularly in culture change and workforce diversity. A special area of his expertise is conflict management within diverse business, academic and community environments. His passion is working at all levels of an organization to create work environments where all employees feel valued and fulfilled.
Prior to external consulting, Richard led the human resource functions at Digital Equipment and Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. At Atlantic Electric, Winchester Rifles, and Ben & Jerry's he partnered with labor unions to bring about change for all levels of employees within the organization. No stranger to turnaround situations, he partnered with a leading turnaround specialist in three different companies where organizational assessment, reorganization of senior management, and the design and implementation of a new organizational structure were integral to the turnarounds' success. Before venturing into the human resource management and organization development world, Richard worked in the field of law enforcement for the cities of New Haven and Hartford and earned his degree in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven.
As a consultant, Richard has consulted to mid-sized and Fortune 500 firms including Exxon, Mobil, Conoco, Hannaford, Wild Oats, and United Airlines, as well as to colleges, universities, non-profits, religious organizations, and police departments. Additionally, he has consulted to high-level individuals in political leadership for cities and states regarding diversity issues.
Bill Friedman has consulted to organizations for more than fifteen years in the areas of leadership development inclusive of team effectiveness, communication, conflict management, negotiation, performance management, and diversity management. He also has consulted to small and mid-market organizations in the areas of strategic planning. His clients include Fortune 500s, and firms in the biotechnology, engineering, financial, governmental, health, human service, law, and manufacturing industries. Clients include GE, TIA-CREFF, and AstraZeneca.
Prior to external consulting, Bill spent seven years as Harvard University's Assistant Director of Career Services for the John F. Kennedy School of Government where he was responsible for the placement of graduate students, as well as the City of Chicago's Assistant Director of Real Estate and Senior Budget Analyst. As the Assistant Director of Real Estate, he was charged with streamlining operations.
Bill earned his Master of Science in Human Resource Development from The American University and NTL Institute and his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Relations, cum laude, from Harvard College. He maintains membership in the National Organization Development Network.
Paul provides consulting psychological services to management in business, industry, educational institutions, and government agencies, in addition to his work with medical, university, and correctional settings. His work includes candidate and key people assessments, development assessments and planning, development of competency frameworks, multi-rater feedback, organizational attitude/climate surveys.
Paul has consulted to nationally-based firms including ABB, Barnes Group, BASF [pharmaceutical and bio-tech divisions], Burns and Roe Enterprises, Crystal Brands, Danaher, Knoll Pharmaceutical, Knorr Brake Corporation, The Limited, Louisville Gas and Electric, Maricopa County Juvenile Court Center, Arizona State University Clinical Psychology Center, and the University Student Health Services. He has been a partner of Nordli Wilson Associates, a psychological consulting group headquartered in Massachusetts for eighteen years.
Dr. Harpin graduated with his MA and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. He served as a Psychology Associate with the Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center and Teaching Fellow at Tufts Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the National Psychological Consultants to Management. He has published research in The American Journal of Community Psychology on person-environment fit and has presented his research at regional conventions.
Marc Kroll is an experienced and seasoned compensation consultant specializing in the design, formulation and implementation of total compensation strategies, base salary systems, and variable pay plans across numerous industries. His approach centers on both the financial and human resources return on compensation programs and tactics by utilizing a methodology which focuses on financial affordability, organizational change, management accountability, and open business communications.
He brings experience that has involved advising and collaborating with management and employee teams to drive consensus on various compensation challenges, ranging from partnering with senior management on forming compensation strategy to designing implementation and communication initiatives for newly revised base salary and incentive programs. His work in both profit and non-profit business sectors affords Mr. Kroll the capacity to bring a broad perspective and in-depth knowledge to his clients as they determine their appropriate compensation vision and tactics.
Some examples of Mr. Kroll's past work have included:
- Redesign and "level-set" the base salary program for a 2000 employee healthcare facility by conducting an extensive internal and external review of both job classes and market competitiveness. This resulted in a 30% reduction in base salary growth.
- Serve as compensation change agent, for a high-growth, $100MM software maker to determine the appropriate performance objectives and incentive plan structure to drive business growth. This was inclusive of both sales and management bonus plans. The company experienced a $10 million sales increase, and reached profitability six months ahead of business plan.
- Partner with the senior sales team of $100 million global manufacturer of electric controls and equipment in designing and implementing their first sales compensation plan. This plan will support an organizational initiative to increase sales 20% worldwide.
Past and present clients include Aetna Retirement Services, Crosby Valve (a subsidiary of FMC), Kaye Insurance Group, Curtis Instruments, GE Equities (subsidiary of GE Capital), Intelligroup, Kendro Industries, United Distillers & Vintners of North America, and Lawrence & Memorial Hospital.
Mr. Kroll has held leadership positions in the compensation arena with Ciba-Geigy (Pigments and Additives Divs.), Aetna (property/casualty and healthcare), Travelers, and Greenwich Technology Partners. In these roles, he directed full-scale, compensation strategy changes and associated programs, which were prompted by significant organization changes resulting from mergers, acquisitions or high-growth.
Mr. Kroll received his B.A. from City College of the City of New York and his M.A. from Brown University.
Robert MacBain is an industrial psychologist with over thirty years of personnel management, affirmative action management, and audit experience. Mr. MacBain's specialized expertise includes development and validation of batteries of psychological tests for job placement screening, as well as extensive labor relations and mediation experience in both the public and private sectors.
Bob's professional background includes responsibility as Personnel Manager for both The Torrington Company and The Stanley Works. He also served as Affirmative Action Officer for The Stanley Works. Subsequent to years of corporate human resource management, he was named by Governor Ella Grasso to chair and develop The Balance of State Private Industry Council to determine the allocation of federal funds under the Job Training Partnership Act and participated in the Etherington Commission Study.
Mr. MacBain was later appointed head of the New Britain Government Management Study and acted as Administrator to implement the Study's findings and recommendations, including acting as the City's labor negotiator with three municipal unions. During his four year tenure on the New Britain Board of Education, he served as President for two terms and as the Board's labor negotiator for all four years. As the Executive Vice President of the New Britain Chamber of Commerce, Bob established the Route 9 corridor through New Britain, established New Britain as the first enterprise zone in Connecticut, and increased Chamber membership and member participation, as well as visibility in the community.
Mr. MacBain obtained his Master's Degree in Psychology at New York University and completed additional graduate studies toward his Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology. He has been an adjunct faculty member of Central Connecticut State University, where he taught graduate Industrial Psychology. Bob also founded and acted as President of the Torrington Mental Health Association.
Scott D. Macdonald, Esq., SPHR
Scott Macdonald has been practicing labor relations and employment law since 1987, and human resource management since 1997. The scope of his work includes employee and labor relations, HR compliance audits, employee handbooks, personnel policies and procedures, compliance training (sexual harassment, wage and hour, Americans with Disabilities Act, HIPAA), EEO and affirmative action, recruitment and selection, FMLA implementation and administration, job descriptions and workforce analysis, employee benefits administration analysis, and HR information systems/technology. He brings substantive knowledge and expertise in human resource management in both the private and the public sector.
Before joining The Human Resource Consortium, Scott was the Director of Human Resources and In-House Labor/Employment Counsel for two of the largest school districts in Connecticut, Attorney in the Labor/Employment Litigation departments for Shipman & Goodwin and Pepe & Hazard in Connecticut, and an Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in the Appellate Court Branch in Enforcement Litigation as well as the Injunction Litigation Branch.
Scott holds a Juris Doctor degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was an Articles Editor on the North Carolina Law Review. He obtained a B.A. with Honors in Political Science and Philosophy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was Phi Beta Kappa. In 2003, Scott earned his Senior Professional in Human Resource Management Certification from the Society for Human Resource Management. He is currently Co-Chair of the Government Affairs Committee of the State Council, serves on the Executive Board of the Connecticut Association of School Personnel Administrators, and is a member of the Connecticut State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section.
Kathleen Molloy has twenty years of experience building high performance domestic and global organizations. Her work is focused on aligning culture, leadership, and structure with business strategy and includes organization design, global executive coaching and development, culture alignment, strategic planning, cross-cultural management, and management systems design.
Kathy has consulted with firms including American Express Financial Advisors, American Savings Bank, ConnectiCare, Creative BioMolecules, Deloitte & Touche, Genzyme Pharmaceuticals, Habitat for Humanity, The Hartford, HSBC Equator plc, Johnson & Johnson, LEGO Systems, Merrill Lynch Insurance Group, The Stanley Works, and Towers Perrin.
Prior to consulting, Kathy led strategic human resource initiatives at Aetna Life and Casualty. There she held positions as the Director of Performance Planning and Development for Aetna, Manager of Executive Development & Organizational Effectiveness for Aetna Personal Lines, and later for Aetna International. She began her career as a Management Consultant for Social Development Corporation, where she did organization development consulting for non-profit organizations, including North American Indian tribes.
She earned her MBA in International Business from UCONN and her Masters in Social/Cultural Anthropology from Duke University. Her certifications include International Institute for Human Resource Management, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Corporate Development Group's Cultural Diagnostic Process, Cultural Adaptability Profile, Center for Creative Leadership's Leadership Architect, Future Search, and MRG Group's 360 Feedback Strategic Leadership Development.
She co-authored and was published in National Productivity Review, "How the Learning Organization Manages Change" and most recently co-authored "Getting Results Through Organization Design." She has presented at several national conferences on organization design, change management, global teams, competency modeling, and metrics development and application. As former President of the Organization Design Forum, she organized and implemented two successful international conferences Designing Organizations to Use Knowledge for Competitive Advantage and Designing the New Venture.
Calvin Morgan consults extensively in the areas of diversity, public speaking, interpersonal skills, business writing, and management skills. He has ten years' experience in developing and conducting diversity training programs for corporations and professional firms. He is an instructor in executive presentations for management employees, exempt employees, and community based organizations.
He has been employed by Northeast Utilities Service Company for thirty years and has held positions of EEO/Diversity Administrator, Management Development Administrator, and Management Development Trainer. Calvin has consulted with public school systems and institutions of higher education, corporations, professional firms, and not-for-profit organizations in developing diversity awareness, committees, and on-going programs. Additionally, he has extensive experience in creating highly effective affirmative action plans, programs, and procedures to comply with federal, state, and municipal regulatory requirements while achieving corporate objectives.
Calvin earned his Bachelor's degree in Human Services from New Hampshire College. He has been awarded second place in Toastmasters' World Championship of Public Speaking, is a member of Toastmasters' International Hall of Fame, and served as Governor of Toastmasters International. Additionally, he is a member of Hartford RSVP Advisory Board, the American Society of Training and Development, the American Management Association, and the Connecticut Diversity Council.
Suzanne Paetzer has over twenty-five years of experience leading major strategic human capital initiatives as a senior business partner, as chief HR officer for a publicly traded biotechnology company, consultant, and as a leadership development coach. Her domestic and international corporate experience (North America, Canada, and Australia) spans large, global international financial services (PricewaterhouseCoopers) to biosciences, as well as manufacturing, high-tech, retail, advertising and not-for-profit environments.
As a corporate HR leader, she developed the first integrated HR function to support multiple R&D and manufacturing sites, aligned all HR practices to the business plan, identified core competencies for management development and consulted to the senior leadership team to develop the organizational vision and mission, and reorganized the R&D function. Additionally, she designed and implemented a pre and post-merger integration plan to assimilate three companies with diverse cultures and technologies, retaining all key employees, improved quality and quantity of health benefits while reducing cost by 10% to company and employees, implemented three major restructuring reductions in force resulting in no legal incidents and maintenance of goodwill with downsized individuals. For PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Suzanne managed employee relations, recruitment, training, and administrative functions, directly managing 35 staff in multiple locations. Additionally, she developed and led corporate programs for strategic planning, succession planning, diversity, orientation, job sharing, mentoring, employee referral and alumni relations, and was a key member of their National HR Quality Control Review and National Recruiting Training teams.
As a consultant, Suzanne is able to draw on her wide range of experiences and business achievements to coach and consult with senior management to improve, productivity, organizational effectiveness and bottom-line performance. Her clients include American Red Cross - National Testing Laboratories, Credit Acceptance Corporation, DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Johnson Controls, Inc., Henkel, Holcim, Lenscrafters, Mars Advertising, Organic Inc. (high-tech.com), Pfizer, Plante & Moran, LLP, Premier Manufacturing, Valeo and Warner, Norcross & Judd PC. .
Suzanne has a BS in Business Management from Susquehanna University. She is certified in MRG, Inc. assessments: Strategic Leadership DevelopmentT (Leadership 360®, Strategic Directions®, Role Expectations®), Personal DirectionsT and Strategic Leadership PracticesT modules. And, she is Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) Qualified.
Susan Pellerin is a business and business strategy-focused, senior human resources professional with more than fifteen years of experience in organization development, recruitment and retention, employee relations, training and development, benefits, compensation, safety, and health in entrepreneurial organizations. A business growth specialist, Susan has led the development of the human resources functions within two expanding firms where she instituted strategic human capital plans and reconstructed benefits programs. She has substantively reduced employment litigation exposure and costs and managed the benefit and HR audit for a twelve company, nationwide merger.
For fifteen years, she was the chief HR officer for a rapidly growing regional architectural and biotech firm. She held significant hands-on responsibility while she developed subordinates in the full responsibility of human resources and organization development. For both firms, she was an active member of the senior management team. She developed, implemented and coordinated the first consumer-driven healthcare initiative in Connecticut, saved one firm $170K/yr in healthcare costs, and reduced healthcare premiums increase from 15% to 6% while maintaining high quality healthcare. Additionally, Susan developed a mini-MBA certificate program and career development assessments for all employees, recruited over 130 employees, including VISA documentation, and coached the senior teams to move to higher performance. Susan also is an Adjunct Professor of Organization Development at the University of New Haven in their EMBA, MBA and I/O Departments.
Prior to her career in organization development and human resource management, Susan was Assistant Director of Laboratories and a Bacteriologist where she initially developed her diagnostic and management acumen.
Susan earned her Masters of Arts degree in Organization Development, Adult Education, and Administration and her Bachelors degree in Medical Technology from the University of Connecticut. She is currently the Connecticut State Director for the Society for Human Resource Management and served on the Board of Directors of CBIA. She has been interviewed as a subject matter expert Inc. Magazine and Business New Haven and has served as a liaison to Unemployment, Workers' Compensation and FMLA Law Revision Committees.
Claudia M. Shelton, M.A., MBA, M.Ed.
Claudia Shelton is a nationally recognized management development expert, executive coach, educator, speaker, organizational development consultant, psychologist, and licensed professional counselor who focuses on helping managers utilize the full extent of their talents for optimal performance. She has keen expertise in executive leadership and business marketing and has worked significantly with development of program design, group facilitation, meeting design, development or marketing plans, corporate communications, and training including supervisory development, leadership development, change management, strategic business development, diversity and conflict resolution. As a nationally certified psychologist and a licensed professional counselor, she is certified in a full range of leadership assessment and development tools.
Claudia's development work has included working with first line supervisors to top senior executives. Her specialty lies in helping managers to understand and manage their blind spots - the subject of her forthcoming book, Blind Spots: Get Out of the Way of Your Own Success (John Wiley & Sons, 2006). She offers the Blind Spots Profile Finder and specific development programs to help managers recognize their potential limitations and turn them into strengths. She consults to a range of organizations, from Fortune 100 to entrepreneurial startups including AT&T, Fleet Bank, Cigna, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Pitney Bowes, Deutsche Bank, General Electric, Warner Lambert, and Northeast Utilities. Claudia also is a member of the faculty of the Center for Social and Emotional Learning at Columbia University and formerly taught at Michigan State University and New York University.
Prior to consulting, Claudia was a senior executive at IBM, Chase Manhattan, and Travelers Insurance, where she was recognized by Business Week as "one of fifty women to watch in corporate America." Among her many executive roles, she served as Director of Management Development for Chase Manhattan Bank and Executive Director of the Chase Manhattan Institute for International Banking - a management program for developing top talent for other institutions including all global sales training in 11 languages.
Claudia earned her M.A. in Communications Research from Michigan State University, MBA in Finance and Economics from New York University, and M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Massachusetts. Additionally she has completed her educational requirements for her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Massachusetts. She is a licensed Board Certified Professional Counselor and a nationally certified psychologist. Claudia maintains her membership in the American Counseling Association and the American Society for Training and Development. She has served as a director of the American Marketing Association, the Association o f National Advertisers and the Marketing Science Institute. Claudia has been sought as a keynote speaker of numerous national and international conferences on the topics of Management Development, Creative Leadership, and Intuition Technologies and has published articles and books on these topics.
Andrew Smith is a nationally recognized professional in the field of organization development, most particularly in culture change, workforce diversity, teambuilding, leadership development, and executive coaching. His thirty years of organization development consulting are grounded by financially sound business acumen gained through his origins in accounting and finance. Andrew has consulted to numerous Fortune 1000 and mid-cap companies within financial services, healthcare, high tech, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and utilities. Additionally, he has brought innovative solutions to the public sector and non-profits.
Consulting clients include Amtrak, Bank One, Bell Atlantic, numerous Blue Cross/Blue Shields, Con Edison, Commonwealth Edison, Delmarva Power, Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, JP Morgan Chase, Kidder Peabody, Lotus Development Corporation, McDonalds, MetLife, Mutual of Omaha, National Council of Churches, Nike, NYNEX/Verizon, Pennsylvania Electric Company (PECO), Phillip Morris, PMUSA, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Pacific Bell, Portland General Electric, PSE&G, Reebok, Schering Plough, Schenker Logistics, Smith Barney, Verizon, Pacific Bell, Sodexho Marriott Food Services, Transco of the United Kingdom, and United Technologies Corporation. He has held senior leadership roles with Right Management Consultants and Ivy Planning Group. Prior to consulting, Andrew held management roles at General Foods, Pillsbury, Green Giant, DuPont, Xerox Learning Systems, Roche Diagnostic Systems and American Cyanamid.
Andrew earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Kentucky State University and MBA in Organization Development and Finance from the University of Minnesota. He additionally completed coursework toward a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University in California.
Alison Sommers brings clients more than two decades of senior operational and financial leadership, as well as leadership development expertise in Fortune 100 and entrepreneurial organizations. She also has a solid track record of success in consulting and coaching within 17 industries with significant experience in turnarounds, scaling organizations for substantial growth, strategizing and positioning organizations for sale, developing supply chain strategies, expediting business process and flow redesign, identifying and assessing business acquisition candidates, designing and executing integration plans, facilitating strategic planning, assessing competency of staff, designing succession plans, and has assumed interim CFO and COO roles with selected clients. In her consulting roles, she has successfully coached numerous business executives. Additionally, Alison has designed and conducted management educational programs including managing change, strategic planning, finance for non-financial managers, conflict management, key employee development and retention, building world class teams, stress management, and humor in the workplace.
As a coach, Alison has developed leaders and high potential individuals in financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, consumer products, law, information technology, and entrepreneurial ventures. She has developed the practice of legacy coaching, structuring a smooth transition of knowledge and capability from a key leader to a successor, and providing the exiting manager with a comprehensive roadmap for the next phase of life.
Alison's corporate experience includes that of VP of Operations for Pitney Bowes, Inc. and VP of Finance, IT, & BPC Operations for Pitney Bowes' Office Systems Division where she led corporate-wide, cross-functional teams to develop and implement strategies for global initiatives, championed worldwide employee development efforts, assessed Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and created a market-driven Business Products Center distribution channel where she doubled revenue and quadrupled net income in 21 months; CFO of Global Delivery for Citigroup's Global Consumer Bank and a Member of the Board of Directors for Citigroup's Federal Savings Bank; VP and CFO of The Travelers' Business Diversification Group; General Manager of International Operations for Baxter Travenol; and Corporate Manager, Financial Planning and Reporting for Savin Corporation. She also founded a management consulting practice with 18 associates specializing in acquisitions, turnarounds, and joint ventures for consumer goods, manufacturing, and distribution companies.
Alison earned her B.A. in Economics and Political Science, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from University of Connecticut as well as her MBA in Finance, with distinction, from New York University. She is certified in the use of selected assessment tools, including Forte and the RSP success profile. She is a member of the National Speakers Association. Her down-to-earth personality, extensive knowledge of success requirements for key positions in organizations, and quick wit contribute to her high value as a coach.
Dr. Jack Thaw is The HRC's consultant that specializes in organizational and individual behaviors. He has more than 25 years experience consulting on workplace issues including employee and organizational productivity, anger control and violence, managing high rates of organization change, leadership development, and communication competencies. Additionally, Jack is the Director of the Center for Occupational Health and is a licensed, clinical private practice psychologist in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Dr. Thaw's training seminars, workshops, and private coaching and counseling services have guided corporate managers, line workers, athletes, and organizations to overcome adversity and achieve excellence.
Jack has served as principal trainer for the U.S. Postal Service Crisis Prevention Team (Connecticut District) and has consulted to numerous public and private organizations, including United Technologies, CBIA, Berkshire Corporation, Mediplex Corporation, the Hartford Federal of Teachers, and the Postal Service.
He has authored numerous scientific and professional papers and is the senior author of Developing Responsive Human Services, an internationally praised book on conducting organization change. He is currently working on a new book, The Coronary Prone Organization.
Dr. Thaw completed his doctoral education at the University of Connecticut and the University of Chicago School of Medicine. He is a former lecturer and visiting assistant professional in clinical and development psychology at the University of Connecticut. He was a 1981 co-recipient of the prestigious Meltzer Award for Consulting Psychology from the American Psychological Association. His work on stress, anger, and violence in the workplace and in schools is often featured on television and radio.
Jon has over twenty-eight years of experience in human resource management. In addition to his key strength in human resource information management systems, he possesses background in change management, employee benefits, compensation, performance management, training, and employee relations.
Mr. Vining's experience prior to consulting includes twenty-three years of corporate experience as former Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources for Society for Savings [a $3B consumer bank with 1,000 employees], Director of Personnel Services at Newington Children's Hospital and Associate Manager of Personnel for Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance. His accomplishments include directing a high level micro-computer automation for human resource management, which resulted in savings of over $1MM annually.
Jon is a B.A. graduate of Tufts University and earned his MBA from Barney School of Business at the University of Hartford. He has served as adjunct faculty member where he taught human resource management curriculum at the University of Hartford and Eastern Connecticut State University. He was named "Man of the Year" by the local chapter of American Society for Training and Development and served as its President, as well as having served as President of the Human Resource Association of Central Connecticut chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.