Speakers

• Jason Averbook
  Chief Business Innovation Officer Appirio
  
  

  As chief business innovation officer, Jason Averbook leads Appirio’s human capital management business. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in the HR and technology industry, he works closely with customers to creatively drive business outcomes.

  Averbook was formerly the CEO and co-founder Knowledge Infusion, which was acquired by Appirio in 2012. While at Knowledge Infusion, he was responsible for the vision and strategy that propelled the company to be the recognized leader in HR consulting. Prior to Knowledge Infusion, he held senior management positions at PeopleSoft and Ceridian, where he built strong relationships with customers and strove to provide unrivaled service to HR organizations around the world.

  Averbook is deeply involved in the global HR community and speaks frequently at industry conferences, including HR Technology, IHRIM and major enterprise software vendor conferences. He also frequently contributes to publications that include Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Talent Management Magazine, HR Executive and Workforce Management. A native of Minnesota, he holds a bachelor’s degree and M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

• Bill Behrendt, Ph.D.
  VP, Human Resources University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
  
  

  Bill Behrendt currently serves as vice president for human resources at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where he is responsible for all “people” issues at the medical school and its university hospitals and clinics. Prior to coming to Dallas in 2003, Behrendt served as vice president for human resources for CareGroup Health System and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He previously held the role of senior vice president for human resources at the BJC Healthcare System in St. Louis, Missouri. He also served as president of Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital in St. Louis. In these positions, he gained extensive knowledge and experience in organization development, mergers and acquisitions, change management, strategic planning and executive coaching.

  Behrendt began his career in retailing with the May Department Stores Company headquartered in St. Louis, where he held positions in consumer research, strategic planning, executive development and human resources. He earned a B.S. in psychology from Tulane University in New Orleans, his PhD in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and completed a psychology internship at UT Southwestern in Dallas. He is also a graduate of the certificate in executive coaching program at University of Texas at Dallas, and an associate certified coach member of the International Coach Federation. Behrendt has held faculty positions at Simmons College in Boston, UT Southwestern and UT Dallas and has served as a board member for the Barnes and Jewish Colleges of Nursing, the Picker Institute, LaunchAbility, and HealthPartners of the Midwest. In 2012, he accepted the International Coach Federation — North Texas Chapter PRISM Award for integrating coaching as part of the UT Southwestern Leadership Development Program.

• Jim Biggerstaff
  VP, Human Resources Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.
  
  

  Jim Biggerstaff serves as the global vice president of human resources for Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. and has held that position for 20 years. Sally is a $3.4 B company with 25,000 employees worldwide. He joined Sally Beauty in 1991 as VP, HR and has seen dramatic growth via domestic and international acquisition of more than 40 companies. He is a retail veteran with more than 26 years in the retail industry.

  Prior to joining Sally Beauty, Biggerstaff has held a variety of HR positions in a variety of industries with companies including Pearle Vision, The Williams Companies, W.R. Grace-Energy Group, Alcon Pharmaceutical, and Frito-Lay. Early in his career he served as an industrial engineer for Hagar Slacks.

  Biggerstaff earned a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Texas, Arlington and an M.S. industrial administration from the University of Dallas Graduate School of Management. He enjoys public speaking and is writing his first novel.

• Mike Bollinger
  Vice President, HCM Transformation Practice Oracle
  
  

  Mike Bollinger has more than 25 years of rich business, HCM and technology experience. His work at Oracle includes developing the HCM value consulting content, value-analysis tools and management of a national value consulting practice. He also worked at SAP for seven years in their HCM center of excellence. Bollinger is formally trained and certified in a number of disciplines including human capital strategy, strategic workforce planning, value engineering and business process transformation.

  Prior to joining SAP in 2001, he served in several corporate roles including CIO, staff development manager, HCM/payroll project manager and MIS director working in the education, services and distribution industries. His areas of expertise include HCM strategy, analytics, talent development and education, shared services, HRMS/payroll, finance, procurement, planning and budgeting.

  Bollinger is active in local hometown service as a school board commissioner and city administrative review board member.

• Jennifer Bowes
  Culture Ambassador Interstate Batteries
  
  

  Jennifer Bowes is the culture ambassador for Interstate Batteries, a role that was created in order to protect, sustain and grow the unique and special Interstate Batteries corporate culture. Bowes interned for the company while she was a student at SMU and was recruited upon graduation. Since joining Interstate in 2010, she has served in a few different operations roles within thedistribution and franchise operations groups. She is also currently a professional MBA student at SMU's Cox School of Business and serves on the student advisory board as her class's representative. She enjoys being involved and connected in the community through efforts and volunteer work with the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas.

• Donna Boyd
  National Vice President Product Sales SuccessFactors, an SAP Company
  
  

  For more than a quarter of a century, Donna Boyd has worked passionately with Fortune 500 companies to achieve superior business results through the strategic application of information technology. As national vice president of product sales, she is responsible for driving sales growth and customer satisfaction for SuccessFactors’ core human capital management solution, Employee Central. With SuccessFactors, she has the opportunity to help organizations meet the challenges of today’s business reality by leveraging the value of their workforce.
  
  Boyd’s prior professional experience includes leading a regional sales team at Workday, as well as more than 12 years of experience with SAP in various capacities including professional services, sales and sales leadership, working throughout the United States and Canada.

• Paula Caligiuri, Ph.D.
  Professor, Human Resource Management Department Rutgers University
  
  

  Paula Caligiuri, Ph.D. is a work psychologist dedicated to helping companies, business teams, and executives become effective in today’s complex global environment. She is the author of several books including, “Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline of Successful Global Professionals.”

  Caligiuri works extensively with leading organizations on topics related to the selection and development of culturally agile professionals. Across a wide range of industries, her clients include private sector, military, and non-profit organizations in the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe. She is a research fellow with the E&Y Institute for Emerging Market Studies and a frequent expert guest on CNN.

  As professor of human resource management at Rutgers University, she was the director of the Center for HR Strategy from 2001 through 2010. Caligiuri holds a Ph.D. from Penn State University organizational psychology.

• Bob Craycraft
  Former President & CEO Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc.
  
  

  For nearly 20 years, Bob Craycraft has established a successful track record of developing growth strategies and driving profitability. Before serving as president of Safety-Kleen, he served as president of Ashland Distribution, a division of Ashland, Inc. There he led the company’s chemicals, plastics, environmental services and composites businesses in North America, Europe and China. Ashland Inc. is the parent company of Valvoline, serving the automotive aftermarket with lubricants, chemicals, appearance products, filters and antifreeze. He held numerous senior leadership positions there, including vice president chemicals, senior vice president and general manager of do-it-yourself and installed sales at Valvoline, and vice president business transformation at Valvoline.
  Craycraft’s accomplishments include the development of new growth platforms, sales models and supplier arrangements, as well as strategic acquisitions and alliances. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

• David Eberhardt
  Director, HR Strategy & Systems Devon Energy Corporation
  
  

  David Eberhardt is the director of HR strategy and systems at Devon Energy. Prior to joining Devon, he worked as a human capital consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and Deloitte Consulting, specializing in workforce planning, succession planning, performance management and workforce segmentation.

• Brian Engle
  CISO State of Texas
  
  

  As the State of Texas, CISO, Brian Engle advises the executive leadership of nearly 200 independent state agencies and higher education organizations on protecting information resources for the State of Texas, with more than 300,000 employees and 26 million citizens. Engle serves as a policy-making official responsible for statewide cyber security strategies, as well as the oversight of the delivery of the enterprise security program, operations and services.

  Prior to serving as the State CISO, Engle was the CISO for the State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Previous information security roles include CISO for Temple-Inland, manager of information security analyst for Silicon Laboratories. He is a past president and lifetime member of the board of directors of the Information Systems Security Association Capitol of Texas Chapter, is a member of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, and has been recognized as a CISSP and CISA.

  Engle holds a B.S. in management/computer information systems and was the 2010 Information Security Magazine Security 7 Award winner for the manufacturing vertical.

• Suzanne Farmer
  Chief Learning Officer University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
  
  

  Suzanne Farmer, Ph.D., is an industrial/organizational psychologist and organization development professional with more than 15 years of corporate and consulting experience in various industries, including consumer packaged goods, high-tech, bio-tech, pharmaceuticals, health care, manufacturing, telecommunications, chemical and law enforcement. She has a rich background with industry-leading Fortune 100 companies, heading up individual and organization learning and development efforts, as well as succession planning, organization effectiveness needs assessment, change leadership, communication and culture initiatives.
  Farmer earned her Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from Central Michigan University and her B.S. in psychology from Texas A&M University. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Society for Human Resource Management and the International Association of Business Communicators. Her award-winning assessment and selection research is published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, and she is also published in the Journal of Occupational and Health Psychology. In addition, she has presented at various professional conferences and business speaker panels throughout her career.

• Jason George
  HR Data, Reporting, and Analytics Manager Devon Energy Corporation
  
  

  Jason George is director of human resources data, reporting and analytics and brings a background of various roles in the oil and gas industry including engineering, commercial, investment appraisal, treasury, strategic planning and workforce planning. He has a passion for transforming raw data into solid intelligence by using the analytical principles of statistics, optimization, economic modeling, investment theory, and more to transform the human capital space. George earned a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from Kansas State University and an MBA from Houston Baptist University.

• Jamie Gutfreund
  Chief Strategy Officer The Intelligence Group
  
  

  Jamie Gutfreund serves as senior director for business development and strategy for The Intelligence Group, a division of Creative Artists Agency. As a member of the IG Management Committee, her role entails leading the company’s initiatives in client services, marketing and sales, technology innovation and product development. She has been a frequent presenter and advisor to leading companies such as Microsoft, Visa, Victoria’s Secret and Red Bull.
  An early pioneer in digital entertainment, Gutfreund worked for Microsoft, Expedia and Prodigy developing original content and business strategies for clients, brands and entertainment partners. She has also served as a business development executive focused on international marketing campaigns for Saatchi & Saatchi in London.

• Fiona Haworth
  Director of Team Member Development Interstate Batteries
  
  

  Fiona Haworth is director of team member development at Interstate Batteries, where she is working on a vision for leadership development and performance as a key competitive differentiator for the company.
  Prior to this role, Haworth was director of talent development at Southwest Airlines and before that, director of workforce strategy at Baylor Health Care System. Her career has taken her across industries — energy, healthcare, airline — and across disciplines, including strategic planning, employment branding, performance management and executive coaching. She was born and raised in the west of Scotland, UK.

• Jan Jerger-Stevens
  SVP, Human Resources GAF
  
  

  Jan Jerger-Stevens is senior vice president of human resources and serves as a member of the board of directors for GAF, North America’s largest roofing manufacturer. After joining GAF in 2007 as the result of the acquisition of ElkCorp, where she was the vice president of human resources, she was a member of the integration team and also led the successful HR transformation, driving innovative processes and programs in areas of talent strategies and technology, employee engagement and recognition, talent acquisition, benefit/compensation and wellness program solutions, and safety initiatives.

  Prior to her recruitment to ElkCorp, Jerger-Stevens spent more than 15 years in HR global leadership positions with Jacuzzi Brands and Ingersoll-Rand Company, gaining extensive strategic leadership experience in all areas of human resources management including compensation, benefit design, leadership development, mergers and acquisitions and employee relations.

  Jerger-Stevens received her MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas and her undergraduate degree in management from Defiance College in Ohio. She also serves on the HR Committee for the YMCA.

• Jean Lee
  SVP, Human Resources Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., a Clean Harbors Company
  
  

  Jean Lee is senior vice president of human resources for Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., a Clean Harbors Company. Lee is responsible for the development and execution of effective talent strategies to support the company’s continued growth as the largest re-refiner of used oil and provider of parts cleaning services in North America. Lee’s accomplishments include the re-design of executive compensation and sales pay plans, integration of talent management processes and technology, delivery of competitive, cost-effective employee benefits solutions, and building employee engagement practices across a geographically dispersed service organization with more than 200 locations.
  Prior to joining Safety-Kleen, Lee served as vice president, human resources for Armstrong Cabinet Products, a division of Armstrong World Industries and vice president, human resources for Overhead Door Corporation and she held a variety of management positions for United Healthcare Corporation, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Corporation and The Travelers Group.
  Lee received her B.S. in psychology from the State University of New York at Oswego and earned her M. S. in organizational behavior from the Barney School of Business at the University of Hartford. Lee is a lifetime-certified Senior Professional in Human Resources.

• Bernadette Nace
  Vice President, Benefits Outsourcing Consulting Services, Strategic Advisory Services Automatic Data Processing, Inc. ADP
  
  

  Bernadette Nace serves as vice president of benefits outsourcing consulting in ADP’s strategic advisory services group. In this role, she is responsible for actively working with clients to help them execute leading-edge decision support solutions for employee enrollments to drive their benefits strategies. This includes providing guidance and advice on the effective use of data analytics and reporting, which can help clients successfully measure plan performance and analyze trends to determine strategic solutions for the future.

  ADP’s strategic advisory services is a group of experts that helps clients develop and execute highly effective benefits strategies in the areas of data analytics, decision support and forecasting, compliance, service delivery, and communications and education.
  Before joining ADP in 2012, Nace served as principal of workforce communication and
  change consulting for Mercer. There, she was responsible for developing and cultivating relationships with the company’s largest and most complex clients, developing communication strategies and deliverables for a variety of HR programs. Her work ranges from domestic and global projects, including mergers and acquisitions, health and retirement benefits changes, total benefits outsourcing, wellness initiatives and performance management and compensation programs.

  She holds an MBA and a bachelor of arts in communications from La Salle University.

• Kelly Painter
  Chief Sales Officer and EVP Profiles International Inc.
  
  

  Kelly Painter joined Profiles in 2005. Her strength and skill is in providing exceptional service to clients with 1,000 or more employees and creating successful global implementation plans. She manages the staging of outstandingly effective client workshops that produce measurable returns on investment that prove the efficiency and value of implementing Profiles’ products and services. In her position, she is a trusted advisor to twenty Fortune 500 companies and other clients. She helps her enterprise clients develop successful strategies and develop solutions to their business needs.
  Painter has a B.A. in sociology with a minor in business administration and an M.A. in organizational management.

• Stephen Paskoff
  President Employment Learning Innovations, Inc.
  
  

  Stephen Paskoff is the founder, president and CEO of Employment Learning Innovations (ELI). He has worked with numerous, nationally-known industry leaders to help them communicate standards of proper legal and ethical behavior along with their companies’ own missions and policies in order to build productive, civil workplaces. He pioneered the development of interactive, model-driven training that addresses fair employment issues by providing practical skills people can apply every day at work.
  Paskoff is a recognized expert in helping companies build cultures that foster fairness, ethics and integrity while minimizing the risk of lawsuits and scandals. He speaks nationally on a full range of workplace legal and cultural issues. He has written extensively and been interviewed widely by numerous national media outlets on workplace professionalism, legal trends, and changing on-the-job behavior to align with organizational values. He is also the author of the book Teaching Big Shots to Behave and Other Human Resource Challenges.

  Paskoff is a former co-chair of the American Bar Association’s compliance training and communication committee and is a member of the editorial board of Workforce Management Magazine. Prior to establishing ELI in 1986, Paskoff was a trial attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a partner in a management law firm. He is a graduate of Hamilton College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and is a member of the Pennsylvania and Georgia bars.

• Misty Reich
  Chief People Officer Yum! Restaurants International
  
  

  Misty Reich is chief people officer of Yum! Restaurants International, where she shapes the global people strategy to support more than 14,000 restaurants in 125+ countries. Her key accountabilities include identifying and developing top talent across the organization, building the people capability to run great restaurants, and championing Yum’s famous recognition culture around the world. Misty is also actively involved in influencing corporate and social responsibility efforts at YRI, helping Yum! fulfill its mission to be the defining global company that feeds the world.

  Prior to her role as CPO, Reich was VP, HR for KFC UK from 2007 to 2012, where she was a key member of the leadership team that delivered 23 consecutive quarters of growth. She was instrumental in raising the caliber of KFC’s restaurant-level talent and in building people capability generally across the organization, leading a successful effort for accreditation of KFC UK by an independent agency as a Great Place to Work and as one of Britain’s Top Employers. She also launched the Apprenticeships in Hospitality Management, a qualification program to improve training for team leaders and team members, and pioneered KFC’s partnership with Barnardo’s, the UK’s leading children’s charity, to support underprivileged children.

  Reich also served as VP for Yum! global talent management and chief people officer for Long John Silver’s and A&W Restaurants. Before joining Yum! Brands, she spent more than 10 years with AT&T/Cingular Wireless in a variety of HR roles, culminating in her role as vice president of HR for wireless data and business-to-business sales.

• Dan Sessa
  EVP & CHRO Lennox International Inc.
  
  

  Dan Sessa was appointed executive vice president and chief human resources officer in 2007. Prior to joining Lennox International, he served in numerous human resources and legal leadership positions for United Technologies Corporation, including vice president, human resources for Otis Elevator Company — Americas; director, employee benefits and human resources systems for United Technologies; and director, human resources for Pratt & Whitney. Sessa began his professional career practicing law in New York and Connecticut, specializing in labor and employment law. He holds a J.D. from the Hofstra University School of Law and a B.A. in law and society from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

• Tracy Skeans
  Chief People Officer Pizza Hut, Inc.
  
  

  Tracy Skeans was promoted to chief people officer for Pizza Hut in 2011. Prior to that, she served as senior director of one-system HR. In that capacity, she led the HR team responsible for all aspects of HR across the 6,000 system restaurants. Her thought leadership in world class operations helped to create a new model for staffing flexibility and team engagement in the restaurant. In 2010, Skeans was instrumental in bringing the Pizza Hut culture to life in a very tangible way—through the development of the Center of Restaurant Excellence, which has helped to foster greater emphasis on collaboration and learning for our system. She is truly a culture champion and people grower with a talent for building relationships across functions, levels and organizations. She was recently recognized for her leadership and passion for people development as a recipient of the Texas’ Most Influential Women and 40 Under Forty awards.
  
  Skeans joined Pizza Hut and YUM in 2000 and has worked in various finance capacities for the YUM Express group, YUM Asset Development team and Pizza Hut Finance Department. In 2009, she made a non-traditional career move and left her role as director of financial planning to join the human resources department as director for the support center. Prior to Yum Brands, she was a staff and senior auditor at Price Waterhouse, before spending 3 years at Union Switch & Signal in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  
  Skeans has a bachelor of science in accounting from Lehigh University. She later earned her MBA from the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.

• Sandi Stevens
  Senior Vice President Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
  
  

  Sandi Stevens is an SVP at Challenger, Gray and Christmas and is responsible for the Southwest. She brings extensive knowledge in all aspects of human resources, including mergers and acquisitions, HR strategy, organizational development, staffing, compensation, benefits, training, relocation and labor relations. Stevens has an impressive leadership background, becoming the top HR officer at a $7B company at the age of 33. She has held top human resources executive positions in five companies in a wide range of industries, including healthcare, retail and manufacturing. Early in her career she gained valuable international experience in the energy industry and telecommunications. Stevens is known for her strategic ideas and ability as a true business partner to understand the requirements and deliver a solution. She has chaired the operations committee for several companies. Her dynamic leadership style and business approach are integral parts of a company where she was a senior officer that grew from $200M - $1B in three years. She is a frequent speaker and radio personality, where she speaks on many topics including: servant leadership, strategic human resource issues and the keys to successful career transition.

  She graduated first in her class with an MBA from Southern Methodist University and earned her bachelor of arts. in human resources from the University of North Texas, graduating magna cum laude. She was awarded the coveted top student in the U.S. from the Society of Human Resource Management.

  Her leadership and drive are also evident in professional associations and non-profits where she is currently president of the board of the Family Place and past president of the Dallas HR organization and has served as executive director of the HR Southwest Conference. She is on the board of directors of the Dallas Children’s Theater and is a former board and executive committee member for the Sci-Tech Discovery Center, among others. Stevens has also been involved in the Dallas Military Ball Foundation, an organization that helps the families of our service men and women. She volunteers at Career Care for St. Andrew United Methodist Church in a ministry that helps those in job transition.

• Sherry Vidal-Brown
  EVP, Human Resources G6 Hospitality
  
  

  Sherry Vidal‐Brown, Ph.D., has more than 15 years in human resources with an expertise in organizational change in acquisitions and significant business restructuring, and she has worked for Bain and Company, American Airlines and FedEx. She joined the G6 Hospitality in 2009. Under her leadership, the human resources function has been transformed from a purely transactional team to one that supports the business in executing change. Vidal‐ Brown also designed valuable training programs for franchisees and corporate managers.
  Prior to 2009, Vidal‐Brown held senior positions at several companies in which she improved customer metrics, reduced employee turnover and drove efficiencies through organizational change efforts while ensuring the organization was recognized for its best‐in‐class work. She also was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal in 2009 as one of the “Top 25 Women to Watch” in Dallas as part of the publication’s annual Women in Business Awards in 2009.
  Vidal‐Brown holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M as well as an MBA from the University of Houston. Along with her commitment to her professional role, she has served on the board of directors for Make a Wish in North Texas and is involved in various community organizations.

• Mike Williams
  VP Human Resources Trinity Industries, Inc.
  
  

  Mike Williams is vice president of human resources for Trinity Industries where he is responsible for all aspects of HR processes and results within Trinity and its consolidated group of subsidiaries.

  A senior executive with a successful track record of building and leading HR as a business partner, Williams joined Trinity from Luminant, where he served as the vice president of HR for the power generation and lignite mining division within Energy Future Holdings, Inc. Williams joined Luminant from Safety-Kleen Systems, where he served as senior vice president of HR and reported to the chairman and the CEO. His 30 years of experience includes leading HR and labor relations functions for other industrial companies that include ServiceMaster, Waste Management, Genstar Corporation, PepsiCo, and Wolverine Worldwide.

  Williams has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University and a J.D. in labor and employment law from the University of Arkansas. He is a member of the American Bar Association and Arkansas Bar Association as well as a Senn-Delany executive coach, Six Sigma Green Belt and guest lecturer at the SMU Denman School of Law.

• Chris Willis
  VP, Human Resources Interstate Batteries
  
  

  Chris Willis is vice president of human resources and general counsel for Interstate Batteries. He has responsibility for human resources, including team member development, training, recruiting, engagement and retention. As general counsel, he has responsibility for all legal matters, including risk and litigation management, intellectual property, corporate governance and transactions. Since joining Interstate in 2005, Willis has served as director of legal services, director of human resources and general counsel.

• David Works
  EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer Windstream Communications
  
  

  David Works has served as the executive vice president and chief human
  resources offi cer for Windstream since February 2012. He is responsible for
  the company’s human capital strategy, talent acquisition, talent management,
  employee and labor relations, and compensation and benefi ts.
  Works previously served as the chief human resources offi cer for Sears
  Holdings in Chicago. Prior to joining Sears, Works was a partner at ghSMART,
  which specializes in the assessment and coaching of executives at Fortune 500
  companies. He also held positions with McKinsey & Company and Motorola.
  Works spent the fi rst seven years of his career as an offi cer in the U.S. Navy,
  where he served on a fast-attack nuclear submarine.
  He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern
  University and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University
  of Connecticut. He has bachelor’s degrees in fi nance and mechanical
  engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.