Learning and Development Exchange - 08/19/2020

Shilpa Pherwani, the principal of IBIS and a leading expert in diversity and inclusion, has been guiding global organizations for over 12 years on leveraging diversity as a business advantage. An organizational psychologist by training, she partners with organizations to effect sustainable organizational change by conducting cultural assessments, developing comprehensive strategic diversity action plans, and designing compelling and interactive classroom-based and online training.

Shilpa collaborates with key stakeholders to strategically plan, implement, and measure diversity initiatives. Shilpa has worked with global organizations to guide management and executives on being effective across cultural and geographical boundaries. She delivers outcome driven and systemic consultation to diversity committees, senior members of HR and business leaders. Shilpa’s clients include Aetna, Barclaycard US, Boeing, Campbell Soup, Framingham State University, Grainger, Genzyme, Microsoft, Nestle, Progress Software, Sun Life Financial, State Street Bank, Texas Health Resources, Thrivent Financial of Lutherans, Tredegar Corporation, and Williams Sonoma.

Shilpa Pherwani graduated from Kanpur University (India). She received her Master’s from Springfield College in Industrial/Organizational Psychology where her focus was on Organizational Development.

Melissa James is the Strategic Partnerships Lead at IBIS. Over the past 10 years, she has successfully helped early stage companies grow revenue and scale their internal capacity. She is a seasoned HR professional with experience in strategic partnership development, a passion for increasing diversity and inclusion, and a proven strategist for effective diversity recruitment initiatives.

Melissa is also the author of  “When Are You Going To Get A Real Career: A Guide to Designing a Career You Would Be Proud Of!”,  a roadmap for millennials starting out in their career and experienced executives crafting their next move. Shared stories and experiences provide insightful knowledge and steps for anyone navigating different aspects of their career.

She is also the recipient of the U.S. Presidential Service Award, the UMass Distinguished Young Alumni Award, and the 2015 Pursuer Award from the African Youth Excellence organization for her relentless commitment to the community. Born and raised in Boston, Melissa graduated with honors from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a bachelors in journalism and legal studies. In 2019, Melissa was presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Pine Manor College.

Cheryl Jacobs is Senior Vice President, Executive Coach, Leadership Developer & Facilitator at MCG Partners, a women-owned consultancy specializing in leadership and talent optimization. With over 20 years’ experience leading teams and organizations to sustainable success, Cheryl develops and delivers a broad spectrum of customized training and development programs. Her program participants span various organization levels, industries, and cultures, and speak to Cheryl’s ability to create personalized learning experiences and transformative and sustainable changes.

A skilled interactive and collaborative facilitator, Cheryl has extensive expertise in solving the leadership challenges of individuals and organizations. She specializes in employee and leadership effectiveness, succession planning, organizational innovation, change and alignment. Cheryl is a Harvard Business School executive coach providing coaching and advisory services to attending global executives. Previously, Cheryl leveraged her passion for developing people and founded Talent Transformation, a coaching, training and talent management consulting firm.

Cheryl also served as the Executive Director of Sales for The Providence Journal Company, a multimedia organization owned by Belo Corporation. At The Providence Journal Company, she oversaw a sales and marketing staff of 60 and drove strategies, revenue, and multimedia product development with a $50m budget. Prior to the Providence Journal, Cheryl spent 10 years in Sales and Strategic Planning at Boston.com and The Boston Globe.

Cheryl holds a BA from Boston College and a MBA from Suffolk University. In addition, Cheryl is a certified Executive Coach through the International Coach Federation (ICF) and is a certified Analyst in the Predictive Index® (PI®) and DiSC®. She is also certified in several 360 assessments. She is also a faculty member of the Northeast Human Resource Association (NEHRA), a SHRM chapter.

Cheryl lives outside of Boston, MA with her husband and three boys.

Since joining Chestnut Hill Realty in 2002, Melissa Hartman is responsible for the management of all human resources operations, systems, and programs, ensuring legal compliance at the federal, state, and local levels. 

These responsibilities include overseeing all aspects of the recruiting, hiring, and exit processes, health and retirement benefit administration, payroll processing, communicating with employees, managing performance reviews, providing management training and support, and coordinating with senior leadership.

As Director of Human Resources, Melissa has played an indispensable role in improving the work-life experience of CHR's many employees. She has created a company benefits fair; helped institute CHR's mentoring program, serving as the program coordinator; introduced Create Healthy Results, a nationally recognized wellness program; and launched a volunteer program in which employees can accrue paid time while providing charitable service in and around CHR's various communities. Additionally, she has helped facilitate the newly formed Senior Leadership Team and serves as Chair of the Wellness Committee, co-Chair of CHR's University initiative, and is on the Strategic Operations Committee.

Melissa is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management, Northeast Human Resources Association, and World at Work. She received her bachelor's degree from Stonehill College.

A seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience in Human Resources, Myra Carmona oversees MassHousing’s investment in staff development and organizational improvement; drives employee engagement, inclusion and recognition; and leads the Agency’s learning and professional development programs.

Prior to joining MassHousing, Ms. Carmona led a human resources team for the City of Manassas Park, Virginia, working closely with the city’s police and fire departments in recruitment, leadership development and performance management. As Director of Human Resources at The Community Builders, she developed a recruitment process; managed employee relations, performance management systems and a mentoring program; and helped to create efficiencies with the use of technology.

Described as a Motivation Catalyst, a Communication Wizard and an Uncommon HR Practitioner, Julie Lynch is Principal of Uncommon Consulting and founder of UPschool. She facilitates inspiring, energizing programs on motivation, management and meaningful work and provides practical tools to get the results you seek.

Julie brings over 25 years of experience in human resources leadership, management development, and personal motivation. She has been a speaker for the Northeast Human Resources Association, Human Capital Institute and Achieve Engagement. Her programs are designed to connect people more meaningfully to the work they choose to do. The results are greater motivation, better management, increased productivity, improved relationships and more meaningful work at every level.

Phil has always been interested in business, having started investing at the age of 12. This led him to NYU where he studied finance. After graduation, Phil started his career working as a venture investor at Bessemer Venture Partners. Subsequently, he attended Harvard Business School to get his MBA where he taught himself how to program and started his entrepreneurial journey.

Phil got into the HR world when he founded NextWave Hire in 2015. NextWave helps companies build their employer brands through better career websites, talent communities, employee testimonials and more.

Phil is originally from the South Shore but now lives in Boston's South End. He's an aspiring golfer, meditator, and chef - but all three of these are still a work in progress.

Phil Strazzulla is the Founder of SelectSoftware Reviews, a website that helps HR leaders buy the right software through free online guides.

Kari Heistad is the CEO of Culture Coach International and the DEI Boxx. She has been working in the space of diversity, equity and inclusion for more than 25 years. Her clients have spanned industries, sectors and sizes. Through her work she seeks to make diversity applicable and approachable for all employees, engaging them through a process of positive curiosity about the world and others. She has spoken before more than 18,000 people through presentations, keynotes and conferences and she has developed hundreds of DEI tools, models and resources.

More can be learned about her work at: CultureCoach.biz and DEIBoxx.com

As a dynamic consultant, executive coach, and educator, Sarah Scala has over 20 years of experience in supporting organization development, leadership, coaching, talent management, learning design, team effectiveness, and change management for diverse client organizations. Sarah brings high energy, optimism, and adaptability to new challenges. She has led talent development initiatives for start-ups to Fortune 100 companies as a partner and trusted adviser. She is passionate about creating solutions that strengthen interpersonal skills and support positive change with individuals, teams, and organizations.
Education:
 Masters degree in Organization Development and Adult Education from Alverno College
 Bachelor degrees in Business Management and Adventure Recreation from Green Mountain College.

Sarah’s Formal Credentials:
 International Coach Federation - Certified Coach (ACC)  Gestalt International Study Center - Certified Gestalt Coach
 Emotional Intelligence (MSCEIT ™) - Certified practitioner
 Situational Leadership II ® - Certified practitioner
 MBTI ®, FIRO-B ®, and Thomas Kilman Conflict Instrument ® - Certified practitioner

Ongoing Education: I love to learn and completed these courses in addition to reading 50+ books annually:
 Wharton School of Business: People Analytics
 Stanford University: Learning Technology Design and Sustainability
 Case Western Reserve University: Coaching, Learning, Leadership and Change
 Case Western Reserve University: Leading Positive Change through Appreciative Inquiry
 Case Western Reserve University: Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence
 Cape Cod Institute: Creating Resonance in Your Life as a Leader
 Cape Cod Institute: Developmental Coaching for Leadership Agility  Cape Cod Institute: Developing Better Leaders through Coaching, Emotional Intelligence, Renewal and Resonant Relationships
 GISC: Cape Cod Training Program
 GISC: Enhancing Your Therapeutic Skills  GISC: Working with the Body in Mind 1 and 2

AFFILIATIONS:
Sarah is the Founder and Chair of the Granite State Learning and Organizational Development Round Table, a professional association that provides learning and development to HR and Learning leaders. Sarah serves as Professional Associate for the Gestalt International Study Center and Coach for Babson College’s Coaching for Teamwork and Leadership Program (CLTP) . In addition, Sarah is a member of the International Coach Federation, Human Resource Leadership Forum, Organizational Development Network, and Association of Talent Development / American Society of Training & Development. In her free time, Sarah enjoys cycling, kayaking, cross-country skiing, and travel. She also enjoys volunteering to provide meals to those in need, and frequently speaks at conferences and events for organizations that support Human Resource leaders and entrepreneurs.

Melissa Christenson, president of Creative Training Resources (CTR), has over thirty years of progressive experience in learning and organizational development. Melissa’s passion is helping individuals, sales teams, and executives enhance their communication and public speaking skills to ensure they are delivering the right message in the right way.

In addition to providing presentation training and coaching, Melissa has designed and delivered numerous programs, including communication skills, customer service, interviewing techniques, interpersonal skills, team building, management development, meeting management, performance management, and a variety of client specific programs. She holds certifications in change management, management/leadership development, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and time management. Melissa has also received three National Telly Awards for her video-based learning programs. Prior to founding CTR in 1998, Melissa was the worldwide training manager at Reebok International where she implemented the corporate development strategy and oversaw all programs within The Reebok Professional and Management Development Center.

Melissa has been a speaker at the Association for Talent Development (ATD, formerly ASTD) and the Society for Human Resources Management international conferences. She has served as part of the New England Human Resources Association’s (NEHRA) faculty delivering sessions on Enhancing Executive Presence for the Leadership Level Human Resources and the Executive Development for Female HR Leaders series for the past five years. She also served on the Board of Directors for VideoNitch, an enterprise learning company. Melissa received both her Master of Education in Organizational Development and Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Jamie is a recognized innovator in the area of performance management.  She has a uniquely singular focus - optimizing employee performance through reshaping communications between managers and employees based on two-way informal conversations designed to drive and align performance expectations.   She helps organizations make the shift away from reviewing and rating past performance to building the capacity of everyone in the organization to speak regularly and candidly about strengths, accomplishments, and more methodically re-direct off-target performance.  Her ground-breaking work as the originator of the Performance Continuum Feedback Method® and Conversations to Optimize Employee Performance training program provide managers and employees with the skills to engage in continuous performance discussions.  The work is based on the principles of neuroscience and Appreciative Inquiry.  It's particularly effective when unproductive or disruptive behaviors need to be addressed.  The framework has broad application; transcending organization industry, size, geographical location, and culture.Jamie is known for being ahead of her time and has dedicated half of her three-decades long HR career to re-framing performance management.  As a thought leader on the topic of modernizing performance management, she is a frequent contributor on the subject.  She holds a BA in Business from Emmanuel College, and is an instructor at the Boston University Corporate Education Group. She is also on the faculty for the Northeast Human Resources Association, is a contributor to Halogen Software's Talent Space Blog, and is an editorial advisory board member for HR Examiner.

Bob serves as an executive coach as well as Keystone Partners' Leadership Development Practice Lead. He has designed and delivered executive coaching and leadership development services across multiple industries, impacting hundreds of clients, including the Organizational Leaders Program (OLP). Bob’s areas of expertise include strategic thinking, decision making, communication, innovation and change leadership, collaboration, and development. His specialty is working with experts making the shift to becoming broader business leaders.

Bob brings 25 years in management consulting, including his time as the Managing Director and Partner of Strategic Decisions Group where he led the Power and Gas Industry practice and was a member of the executive committee.

Omar serves as a trusted advisor to organizations to achieve their business goals through leadership development and career management.

He joined Keystone Partners with more than 20 years’ experience in management and human resources, with expertise in performance management, leadership development, career development, and compensation. Previously, Omar worked in the biotechnology, professional services, technology, and higher education sectors for organizations including Harvard University, Genzyme, and Cubist. He is SPHR certified and is fluent in Spanish.

Omar is an active member of NEHRA and HRLF, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts as well as its Board Nominating and Development Committee, and its Membership Committee. He holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern Graduate School of Business and a BS in Consumer Economics from Cornell University.

Nancy works with leaders to help raise their game in situations of growth, challenge, and change.

Nancy is able to quickly assess human capital needs against business strategy and customize an executive coaching program to meet those needs. She has extensive international experience working and living in Latin America, Asia/Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe.

Nancy has coached senior executives and leaders of all levels in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, professional services, healthcare, financial services, higher education, etc. Nancy utilizes her broad coaching background to customize engagement for Keystone clients. Nancy’s coaching style is straightforward, candid, and thorough.

David empowers clients to enhance their leadership skills by making critical mindset and behavior changes to drive growth and success. He has many years’ experience coaching executives and high-level professionals in healthcare, biotech, pharma, technology, financial services, higher education, insurance, law, and manufacturing. A Harvard-trained psychiatrist, David specializes in applying evidence-based psychology to help individuals and teams manage stress and reach peak performance.

David is an experienced author, blogger, teacher, public speaker, and thought leader in these areas of expertise. As the Coaching Practice Lead, he provides teaching and consultation for associates to ensure high-quality services for all Keystone Partners clients. He also trains and provides certification for executive coaches.

Marge leads the leadership development division of Keystone Partners. She oversees a highly skilled team of coaches, consultants, and faculty who help client organizations build leadership capability that drives business results and unleashes the potential of individuals and teams.

Earlier in her career, she was SVP of Global HR with State Street Corporation, leading talent management, diversity and inclusion, and corporate communications. She was also Global Head of Organization Development for Analog Devices and a Consultant with Hay Group, and was formerly Treasurer and Board Member of Worldwide Association for Cooperative Education.

Mark Millett is the Human Resources Manager at A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies.  He has been in the HR profession since 2001, setting and implementing the strategy, design, and delivery of effective HR programs for multiple companies. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Northeast Human Resource Association, and is a past president of the Central MA Chapter of the Association for Talent Development.