Ann Rhoades is a dynamic and visionary Human Resources Executive with over 25 years experience in a variety of service-based industries. She held the position of vice president of the People Department for Southwest Airlines and executive vice president of Team Services for Promus Hotel Corporation and most recently, the executive vice president of People for JetBlue Airways where she currently remains as a Board Member as well as President of People Ink, her Human Resources consulting company.

Rhoades has a respected reputation in the industry for her creative approach to creating cultures around fun and for blending cultures in merger situations. During her tenure with Doubletree Hotels, later Promus Hotel Corporation, she built a service culture focused on delivering outstanding service to Guests. During the time Rhoades headed the People Department at Southwest Airlines, she solidified Southwest’s reputation of retaining and hiring the best people in the airline business despite Southwest’s rapid growth during that time. Most recently, Rhoades took responsibility for the creation of JetBlue Airways Corporation’s People Team in New York.

In her role as head of Human Resources, Rhoades has been a key member of the executive team, and is extremely successful in her role as internal counsel to executives in every discipline in the organization.

Rhoades is a popular speaker on the subject of customer service and how to build a strong service culture. She has great passion for certain industries such as healthcare where she is making a great contribution to revitalizing the workforce and culture of our nation’s hospitals. She serves on patient safety and quality task forces with the Texas Medical Institute of Technology involved in setting metrics used in pay-for-performance programs across the country such as the Leapfrog Group. She is co-founder and CEO of CareLeaders Corporation a company dedicated to help US hospitals attain a new level of performance. Her community involvement includes the University of New Mexico-Robert O Anderson School of Business National Advisory Board and former Board of Director, Albuquerque Community Foundation. Rhoades currently serves on JetBlue Airways Corporation, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Accion New Mexico, HireVue, Inc., and executive council, Brigham & Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School Boards and as chairwoman for Safer New Mexico Now. Rhoades has an MBA in Management from the University of New Mexico.

With over a decade of experience in Fortune 500 organizations, Laurie Ruettimann is an influential speaker, writer and social media expert focused on the human capital management industry. She received her SPHR certification in 2001 from The Human Resources Certification Institute and is an active member of The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). Ruettimann is also a certified recruiter and trainer through various credentialed organizations.

In addition to creating Punk Rock HR, which was recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 100 blogs for women, Ruettimann was the co-founder of New Media Services LLC, HR Bloggers, and HRM Today, the first social network for HR professionals. She is a columnist for The Conference Board Review and an advisor to SmartBrief on Workforce. Her HR, career and social media advice has been featured in various publications such as The New York Times, Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, CFO magazine, and Men’s Health. Listed as one of the Top 5 career advice websites by CareerBuilder and CNN, her work has also been featured on the Suicide Girls, AOL, and Lemondrop websites.

As a “Recovering HR Manager" Richard Fagerlin, has led Peak Solutions, a leadership development firm for the last 20 years.

Born out of the simple idea that we should love what we do and who we do it with, Peak Solutions is dedicated to helping build wise leaders, strong teams & healthy cultures & has served countless organizations in over 50 countries worldwide. Richard is also a leading authority on the topic of Trust and is the author of Trustology: The Art and Science of Leading High Trust Teams.

Richard is from Fort Collins, Colorado where he enjoys an active lifestyle following the interests and passions of his four boys and making memories and enjoying experiences every step of the way.

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Jerry Seibert is Global Director, Diagnostic Services for Metrus Group. He has 20 years of experience working with organizations to measure and improve customer, employee and other stakeholder perceptions. He has designed and implemented employee surveys for numerous organizations, ranging in scope from global entities to small privately held firms.

In addition to leading a wide range of client engagements, Jerry has also led research in internal customer service and its connection to business outcomes. He has more than 20 publications to his credit in a variety of peer reviewed and professional journals.

In his spare time, Jerry enjoys outdoor sports and camping with his family.

Mr. Mankin has over 28 years experience in the study of Human Performance Technology (HPT), management consulting, coaching, training, and organizational analysis roles in both government and commercial sectors, worldwide. He is an accomplished Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) and a Managing at Partner at Platinum Performance Partners (PPP), an International training and consulting firm. He is also the co-author and co-publisher, with ASTD, of the acclaimed Performance DNA processes and tools used by over 6,000 HPT analysts worldwide. In this capacity Mr. Mankin delivers workshops and consulting for ASTD worldwide and at three Universities as an adjunct professor. He is also a founder and Managing Partner of Outcome Systems a performance-based software company and co-creator/author of Performance DNA Desktop and the Performance DNA Dashboard.

Kevin Cope is the author of "Seeing the Big Picture," a No. 1 Wall Street Journal and New York Times best-seller and founder and CEO of Acumen Learning, the definitive source for customized strategy, finance, and business acumen training. Kevin's clients include some of the most respected and profitable companies in the world, including 30 Fortune 50 companies. He's been recognized as a top-rated speaker at national conventions, including SHRM and ATD; he’s been a guest on news and business talk radio programs, including National Public Radio; and he's been featured in Chief Executive and Fast Company. No matter your role or experience, Kevin's message will help you build your business acumen to advance your credibility, career, and company.

Jen Shirkani is the CEO of Penumbra Group and has spent over 20-years as a learning and development specialist, trainer and speaker. Her topics are presented from a leadership perspective filled with practical strategies and immediately useable tips. She lives in New England where she oversees a national talent management firm. She has been a past speaker at national SHRM conferences and at SHRM affiliates in Colorado, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Maine, and the North East. Jen holds a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership and focuses on leadership development, communication skills and on making common sense more common.