Kate Aiken
Senior Director, Human Resources
Gap Inc.

Kate Aiken is a senior director of human resources at Gap Inc. and is the HR business leader supporting the human resources, communications and social responsibility teams. Aiken and her team are focused on people strategies for each global function. They design and lead HR processes to deliver business solutions. Prior to this role, Aiken led undergraduate and MBA college recruiting for Gap Inc. and has served as the head of human resources for the New York Product Development Office. Prior to joining Gap Inc., she held senior positions in HR at Oxygen Media and Liz Claiborne Inc.

Peter Ambrozaitis
Vice President, Business Development and Sales
Novations Group

Peter Ambrozaitis has been helping clients design and implement training solutions and strategies for more than 12 years. He leads the team of directors of client services, focusing on ensuring that Novations meets and exceeds the promises made to our clients. Ambrozaitis has been successful with a broad range of markets and clients, including manufacturing, retail/wholesale and supply chain management. He has developed long-term impactful business relationships with a wide variety of clients, including Canadian Tire and Liz Claiborne. Prior to Novations, he spent 20 years in retail at various levels of field and store management. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine.

Scott Anthony
President
Innosight LLC

Scott Anthony is president of Innosight, an innovation consulting and investing company. He has worked with Fortune 500 and start-up companies in a wide range of industries. In 2005, Anthony spearheaded a yearlong project to help the newspaper industry grapple with transformation, and in 2003-2004 led a multi-month project to help Singapore’s government create an environment of entrepreneurialism and innovation. Anthony is the lead author of The Innovator's Guide to Growth: Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work and has written articles in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. He also is a featured speaker on growth and innovation.

John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.
Professor and Research Director
University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations

John W. Boudreau is recognized worldwide for breakthrough research on the bridge between superior human capital, talent and sustainable competitive advantage. He also consults and conducts executive development programs. His worldwide clients include American Express, Asian Development Bank, Avon, Baxter Healthcare, Boeing, Bristol-Myers, Citigroup, Corning and Dell. Boudreau also was the first Visiting Director of Sun Microsystems’ unique Research and Development Laboratory for Human Capital. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from New Mexico State University and a master’s degree in management and Ph.D. in industrial relations from Purdue University. His recent books include Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital and Investing in People.

Reginald Butler
Managing Director
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Reginald Butler is a dynamic motivational speaker, facilitator and training designer. His expertise lies in the areas of conflict resolution, diversity awareness and skills, multicultural recruiting, organizational change management, thinking and personality styles. He also has developed a guide to presentation skills for consultants, trainers and facilitators. At Miami University (Ohio), Butler instructed a course titled “Strength Through Cultural Diversity: Functioning Effectively in a Global Society.” He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a double major in theater and music and also holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Patti Cotter
Vice President, Human Resources
Nationwide

Patti Cotter is vice president of human resources for Nationwide, a $148 billion Fortune 500 organization based in Columbus, Ohio. Most recently, Cotter headed up the recruiting, training and development functions. Prior to joining Nationwide in 1999, she served almost 10 years with Bank One Corp; her last position there was vice president of the western U.S. for recruiting and staffing in Phoenix. Cotter holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a master’s from State University of New York at Albany, and has served as director of the Arizona State Employment Management Association.

Carol Demas
2nd Vice President
MassMutual Financial Group

Carol Demas joined MassMutual Financial Group in 1996 and built her career in talent management, first focusing on learning and development for field sales associates. She then moved into the company’s insurance business, building its training and communications organization. In 2004, Demas moved to corporate human resources, where she led learning and development, succession planning, executive development and undergraduate and MBA recruiting. She currently is responsible for talent management and general consulting for the insurance business and manages a team of HR business partners. Demas holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Clark University and a master’s in organization development from American International College.

John E. DiBenedetto, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer
General Parts International, Inc. (CARQUEST/WORLDPAC)

John DiBenedetto is a proven leader of large organizations in the fields of operations, sales and human resources and has led several large-scale, enterprise-wide change initiatives. He has worked for pedigree companies in the retail, financial services and telecommunications industries, including AT&T Corp., Wachovia Corp., Limited Brands Inc. and Wal-Mart. DiBenedetto has provided consulting services as a learning fellow for Elliott Masie’s Learning Consortium and with the American Management Association. He earned AT&T’s Golden Circle Award for transforming its global sales organization and has been featured in Workforce Management, Training and Development and Chief Learning Officer magazines. DiBenedetto serves as adjunct professor of management at Nova Southeastern University's H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he earned his MBA. John also earned B.B.A. degrees in marketing and accounting from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla., and a Ph.D. in human resources management from NSU.

Phyllis Dozier
Vice President, Program Development and Process Leadership
UnitedHealth Group

Phyllis Dozier joined UnitedHealth Group in December 2002. As vice president of program development and process leadership, she leads the design and implementation of UnitedHealth Group’s talent management core processes, including performance management, talent identification, succession planning, employee surveys and career pathing. Her team also is responsible for all soft skills employee training, including new-hire on-boarding, executive assimilation, coaching, leadership and employee development. Before joining UnitedHealth Group, Dozier worked at Thomson (now Thomson Reuters), where she led the talent management process and General Manager’s Program for the top 40 executives. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Jeff Facteau
Director, Consulting and Optimization Services
PreVisor

Dr. Jeff Facteau works with clients to implement sound, legally defensible assessment solutions and demonstrate their business impact. He recently has directed projects involving the design, implementation and validation of assessment solutions across multiple jobs within a Fortune 50 health care organization, and for commercial aircraft manufacturing jobs at The Boeing Co. He has consulted with a number of other organizations, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Federal Express. Facteau has published his research in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Human Resource Management Review. He is an active member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Bernardo Ferdman
Professor
Alliant International University’s Marshall Goldsmith School of Management

Dr. Bernardo Ferdman is an accomplished leadership and organization development consultant and expert facilitator who works with diverse organizations to increase individual and collective effectiveness, inclusion and participation. He has more than 24 years experience as a consultant, teacher and writer on issues of diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion in organizations; ethnic and cultural identity; Latinos in the workplace; inclusive leadership; cross-cultural communication; and organizational behavior and development. His recent research focuses on the antecedents, correlates and consequences of the experience of inclusion. As a consultant, Ferdman has worked with a variety of organizations to improve performance and leadership and to increase inclusion. He also has served as lead co-facilitator for CaliforniaSpeaks, a statewide conversation on health care reform.

Faithe Hart
Vice President, Talent Management
General Parts International, Inc. (CARQUEST/WORLDPAC)

Faithe Hart is vice president of talent management at General Parts International, including its Carquest and Worldpac brands. She is responsible for the business function that focuses on learning, succession planning, performance management and diversity. As an enabler for training excellence, Carquest University is represented by core functions, including learning operations, teammate solutions and instructional design. The university’s learning products span leadership development, product knowledge, technology, operations and customer service.

Norm Kamikow
President and Editor in Chief
MediaTec Publishing Inc.

Norm Kamikow is president and editor in chief of MediaTec Publishing Inc., which publishes Chief Learning Officer magazine,Talent Management magazine, Diversity Executive magazine and Certification magazine, along with targeted supplements, special reports and electronic newsletters for each publication. Chief Learning Officer was named "Best New Publication" by the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). Norm also received the 2005 Innovation Award from Media Business Magazine, which honored him as Top Publisher of the Year.

Norm has more than 30 years of magazine and direct marketing publishing experience. Since beginning his career with Seventeen magazine, Norm has worked either directly or as a consultant to many consumer and business-to-business magazines. With a specialty in new magazine development, he has played a key role in the launch of OMNI magazine, SPIN magazine, Game Players magazine, CD-ROM Today, Internet World and Web Week. He contributed to the redesign of such magazines as Financial World and CD-ROM World. As president/CEO of Decks Inc., he worked with several major publishing companies to develop revenue resources from alternative media. This client base included BusinessWeek, Fortune, Money Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, The Journal of the American Dental Association and Dun & Bradstreet reports. Norm is a recipient of the Tempo Award from the Direct Marketing Association and is a biographee of Marquis Who's Who in the Midwest and Who's Who in Advertising and the Media.

Leighanne Levensaler
Director of Talent Management Research
Bersin & Associates

Leighanne Levensaler directs Bersin & Associates’ research and advisory services in performance management and talent management systems. Levensaler has more than 12 years of consulting experience helping Fortune 1000 companies develop and implement human capital management solutions. Previously, Levensaler was responsible for the development of the enterprise learning consulting practice at SystemLink Enterprise Solutions, solution design manager for the global services division of SmartForce (now SkillSoft), director of e-learning for Gulfstream Aerospace, director of organizational development for Edutrek International/AIU and HR consultant for Deloitte Consulting. She is the author of recent reports including “Talent Management Suites: Market Realities, Implementation Experiences, and Vendor Profiles” and “Talent Management: What Can We Learn From Experienced Companies.” Levensaler frequently contributes to industry publications, facilitates public workshops and presents at industry conferences.

Denise Lynn
Vice President, Diversity and Leadership Strategies
American Airlines Inc.

Denise Lynn, who assumed her current role in February 2007, was previously vice president of people for American Eagle Airlines. In that role, she was responsible for all human resources and labor matters for the regional airline subsidiary of AMR Corp. She also has served other roles in the airline planning and HR departments. As managing director of benefits planning and administration, she was responsible for overseeing the transition of TWA employees when American acquired the airline in 2001. Lynn graduated from Bath University in England with a bachelor’s degree in economics and arrived in the United States in 1987 on special assignment as a consultant to advise Dallas Area Rapid Transit. In January 2003, Lynn received the Andrea Fisher Award for Excellence.

Kevin Martin
Vice President and Principal Analyst, Human Capital Management
Aberdeen Group

Kevin Martin came to Aberdeen in March 2007 to build its human capital management research practice. Aberdeen’s Extraprise research group covers human capital management, strategic service management, marketing, sales effectiveness and retail. Prior to Aberdeen, Martin spent 18 years leading the sales, marketing and business development efforts at several companies — the last 12 years of which were dedicated to the talent management industry. Martin has served on the boards of two talent management associations in the northeast United States. He currently serves as board president of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Massachusetts and Metrowest. He earned his MBA from Boston University and his B.S.B.A. from the University of Dayton.

Kim Post, M.Ed.
Vice President, Talent Optimization Solutions
Global Lead LLC

Kim Post came to Global Lead 15 years ago from Career Development Services, where she designed and launched the first nationwide partner relocation career assistance program for the Eastman Kodak Co. At Global Lead, Post and her team have delivered programs such as Power Pairs, Power Teams, on-boarding camps, cross-cultural executive coaching and Power Leaders on four continents. She specializes in cross-cultural coaching, with a special focus on senior management. Post has a personal passion for the advancement of women and people of color in the workplace and for improving leaders’ ability to manage a culturally diverse, multigenerational workforce. She holds a bachelor’s degree from American University and a Master of Education degree from Georgia State University.

Mike Prokopeak
Vice President, Editorial Director
MediaTec Publishing Inc.

Mike Prokopeak is editorial director of MediaTec Publishing Inc. Mike directs content for the CLO Symposium live conference series, the CLO Breakfast Club programs and all MediaTec magazines, as well as the e-Seminar series, research initiatives and special projects.

Mike brings a wide range of experience in journalism, publishing, and marketing along with a proven track record of editorial achievement to MediaTec. After joining Northern Arizona’s Mountain Living Magazine in Flagstaff (Ariz.) as a reporter, he worked his way up to editor in chief, eventually taking on general manager responsibilities for the magazine and its sister publication, Flagstaff Live, both owned by Pulitzer Newspapers Inc. He directed the editorial, design, advertising, and events departments and successfully led a complete redesign of the publications. Mike has also worked with leading educational publishing companies, including Houghton Mifflin Company and the Great Books Foundation. A former teacher and Peace Corps volunteer, Mike brings in-depth experience in continuing education and training to MediaTec.

Cathi Rittelmann
Vice President, Consulting Services
Novations Group

Cathi Rittelmann has been with Novations for more than 16 years and has worked with clients both domestically and internationally in sales, consulting and solution architecture roles. She currently leads the executive consulting team and is responsible for developing and delivering solutions related to talent management and diversity and inclusion. Some of her clients have included Capital One, PNC Bank and Wal-Mart. Prior to Novations, Cathi spent 10 years in line and staff human resources, with experience in merchandise management, recruitment, succession planning and employee relations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications management from Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.

Robert Rodriguez Ph.D.
Assistant Dean
Kaplan University

Robert Rodriguez, Ph.D., an Assistant Dean at Kaplan University, is responsible for providing academic support to Kaplan’s numerous corporate alliance partners, including development of customized educational programs, delivery of leadership development sessions and joint research on learning trends. In addition to cultivating relationships with Kaplan’s corporate partners, Rodriguez serves as a consultant for several major corporations, helping them develop proactive strategies in leadership development, change management and diversity initiatives. He is the author of Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain and Develop Hispanic Professionals and is a columnist for Diversity Executive magazine.

Marko Satarain
Director, Talent Management
Gap Inc.

Marko Satarain is responsible for the development, engagement and retention strategy for the executive ranks at Gap Inc. This includes identifying emerging trends with global thought leaders to reveal ways to engage and keep great leaders. Previously, Satarain led the college recruiting strategy for all brands and functions at Gap Inc. He’s been with the company for 11 years and had other roles in HR, IT and within Banana Republic. Prior to that, he managed subfunctions in HR at AAA. He also served in the U.S. Navy. Marko received his B.S. from San Francisco State University. He returned years later and received his M.A. in instructional design.

Linda Sharkey
Executive Director, Global Diversity and Inclusion Network
Executive Networks

Linda Sharkey is executive director of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Network at Executive Networks, a worldwide organization that connects HR heads from large corporations. Executive Networks gives members access to best practices, practical materials and early warnings on key trends and innovations. Previously, Sharkey was vice president of people development at Hewlett-Packard. In that capacity, she launched an executive development process that resulted in high-performance culture. Prior to HP, Sharkey worked at GE, where she held numerous senior human resource and talent management roles. She holds a doctorate degree in organization development from Benedictine University and an MPA from Russell Sage College.

Gail Thakarar
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc.

Gail Thakarar is a global, strategic human resources transformational leader and a member of the Executive Committee reporting to the CEO/chairman, with experience leading complex, global HR environments for Fortune 100 companies. She is also focused on creating and executing effective human capital initiatives to achieve core strategic business objectives to help organizations grow. Recently, Thakarar consulted with United Health to help define its mission, vision and values after the organization grew threefold in less than a year. She has held senior corporate positions at IntelliRisk Management and The Mony Group and holds an MBA from the Wharton School.

Cedric D. Thurman
Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer
Jones Lang LaSalle

Cedric D. Thurman joined Jones Lang LaSalle in 2000, and is responsible for creating and implementing a multi-year, multi-phased strategic plan for the real estate services and investment management firm that will define, assess, nurture and cultivate a culture of diversity and inclusion in the global company of 33,800 employees. He is also responsible for designing and implementing programs to increase the number of women and minorities hired, retained, developed and promoted in the firm. Prior to joining Jones Lang LaSalle, Thurman was principal of the Alexander Management Group, a consulting firm providing general management consulting services to small business owners, and has held senior roles with Third World Press, Beverly Bank-Chicago and Harris Trust and Savings. He has a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois.

Jeffrey Tritt
Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Organizational Development
Leo Burnett/Arc North America

Jeff Tritt began his career in communications at Leo Burnett in 1988 as an account executive. In 1994, he joined Bates as national account supervisor on Wendy’s International. Subsequent roles included directing paint marketing at Sherwin-Williams and consultant work on agency and organizational development to improve performance. Tritt returned in 2005 to join Leo Burnett Worldwide’s Global Organizational Development group, assisting in the development of a talent management system, before stepping into his current role. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Denison University and attended the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Executive Development. He also earned a master’s degree in organization development and analysis from Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management.

Kevin Wilde
Vice President and Chief Learning Officer
General Mills Inc.

Kevin Wilde joined General Mills in 1998, and since then he has led efforts in leadership development, executive assessment, succession planning and organizational development. He helped realign the General Mills Institute, the company’s training and development center, and produced a series of organizational effectiveness initiatives, most notably integration tools and processes for the acquisition of The Pillsbury Company in 2001. Before joining General Mills, Wilde spent 17 years at General Electric in a variety of human resources positions, including manager of GE’s management training center. He also was heavily involved in business globalization efforts, pioneered the use of leadership 360-degree feedback. In 2004, Chief Learning Officer magazine honored Kevin with the gold Learning In Practice award for Leading Business Change.  In 2007, Kevin was recognized as the CLO of the Year. 

Don Wilson
Vice President, Global Inclusion and Diversity
Baxter Healthcare

Don Wilson is responsible for internal and external inclusion vision and strategies at Baxter Healthcare, a global, diversified healthcare company with more than 45,000 employees. Wilson joined Baxter in October 2006 as vice president of global talent acquisition and led the transformation of the company’s staffing function before being appointed to his current leadership position. He possesses more than 24 years of total human resources experience. Prior to joining Baxter, Wilson spent six years at Motorola in several staffing roles, including the director of executive and diversity talent acquisition. He also was with BP for 16 years and held leadership roles in staffing and other areas of human resources management. Wilson holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in education from Northern Illinois University.

Isaias Zamarripa
Director, Talent Acquisition & Diversity
General Mills Inc.

Isaias Zamarripa was born in Kansas City, Mo., but grew up in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He has been with General Mills for more than nine years. Zamarripa is very active in his community, serving on the Board of Directors of the Ordway Theater and the Chicago Latino Film Festival. He is also the chair-elect for National Society of Hispanic MBA’s (NSHMBA) Corporate Advisory Board. He has been active in NSHMBA since its beginning, helping start two chapters. Previously, Zamarripa worked at Amoco as a recruiting manager and Exxon Corp. as an HR generalist. He also owned a staffing agency for six years.