Jen Abramowitz
Global HR Transformation, Change and Implementation Lead
EY
Jen Abramowitz leads EY’s HR Services M&A team, providing global support across all service lines and practices. She has been with EY for over 20 years and has led project teams to design, develop and implement cultural changes and HR business improvements. Jen is focused on acquisitions, process redesign, HR transformation, organizational design, change management and communications.
Jen is based in New Jersey and holds an MA in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition to her HR M&A role, she is a mentor for UStrive a non-profit organization providing high school students with mentoring and guidance with the college application process.
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Global HR Transformation, Change and Implementation Lead
EY
Emmalina Cohen
Associate Director
EMEIA, APAC
Emmalina Cohen leads EY’s EMEIA HR Services M&A team supporting EMEIA, APAC and cross-border transactions into EY. Over the past six years in this role, she has supported over 50 transactions, from full acquisitions to managed services transactions, across the deal lifecycle. Before joining this team, Emmalina worked as an HR Transformation Consultant and Change Manager.
Emmalina is based in London and holds an MA in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University (Caius). In addition to her HR M&A role, she serves on the board of Enable Leisure and Culture, a not-for-profit that focuses on enriching lives and strengthening communities in South West London.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmalina-cohen/
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Associate Director
EMEIA, APAC
Shelly Castleberry
Project Management Consultant
EY
Shelley Castleberry leads EY’s Americas HR Services M&A team, primarily supporting U.S. based transactions across all service lines. She has developed and established internal transaction methodologies, tools, and processes to streamline talent activities during each phase of the deal.
Shelley has supported internal acquisitions and managed service transactions from due diligence to “day 1” readiness. She has onboarded over 2500 transaction hires on U.S. and cross-border deals. Shelley has been with EY for 24 years and has over 10 years of direct M&A experience. She is based in Austin, Texas, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas A&M.
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Project Management Consultant
EY
Michele Lodin
Vice President of Total Rewards
Maxar
Michele Lodin is currently VP Total Rewards at Maxar Technologies, a space technology and information company based in Westminster, Colorado. Prior to Maxar, she spent over 20 years in the life science industries, working for companies including Abbott, Thermo Fischer Scientific, Merck KGaA, and a number of smaller companies that were acquired. Michele has played a leadership role in over 100 transactions from the acquisition to the integration stages of complex entities. She has extensive experience in acquisition deal planning, due diligence and improving operations along with managing divestitures, and spin-offs. Michele’s early career was spent with The Walt Disney Company.
Michele graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She also holds a Master of Science in Human Resources from Chapman University in Orange, California, and a J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Michele is a member of the California State Bar. She also earned the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation from WorldatWork, and the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) designation from the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI).
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Vice President of Total Rewards
Maxar
PJ Patel
Co-CEO & Senior Managing Director
Valuation
PJ Patel is co-CEO, leads VRC’s financial reporting practice, and is also a member of the board of directors. He has more than 20 years of financial and valuation advisory experience focusing on financial reporting and tax assignments for public companies, private equity firms, and their portfolio companies. PJ has worked with nearly 1,500 deals, including well-known firms such as The Carlyle Group, The Kraft Heinz Company, PepsiCo, AmerisourceBergen, and Quest Diagnostics. He specializes in the valuation of business enterprises and their underlying intangible assets, including brands, trademarks, patents, customer contracts and relationships, software, and IPR&D. PJ also values businesses and brands for tax reporting and financing purposes.
A frequent presenter on valuation issues, PJ was on the Fair Value panel at the AICPA SEC Conference and is frequently quoted and featured in the press regarding valuation issues. He is active in the industry as chair and active member of Appraisal Issues Task Force, member of the Appraisal Foundation’s Business Valuation Resource Panel and Working Group, which prepared the industry Practice Aid for valuing customer-related intangible assets, member of the LES committee preparing best practice on brand and intellectual property valuation, and is a member of American Society of Appraisers Business Valuation Committee.
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Co-CEO & Senior Managing Director
Valuation
Edward Hamilton
Managing Director
Valuation Research Corporation
Ed Hamilton specializes in the valuation of businesses and assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes. He particularly focuses on the valuation of brands, intellectual property, and intangible assets such as trademarks, technology, software, customer relationships, and IPR&D. He also values business interests for tax purposes.
Ed holds a master’s of business administration degree with a concentration in finance from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Rowan University. He also holds the designation of chartered financial analyst (CFA).
He is an active member of the Appraisal Issues Task Force. He is currently involved with the Appraisal Foundation Working Group, preparing a Practice Aid for the valuation of customer relationships. He is also a frequent presenter on valuation issues for financial reporting purposes and has presented on valuation and other emerging issues.
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Managing Director
Valuation Research Corporation
Ken Freeman
Dean Emeritus
Boston University Questrom School of Business
Ken Freeman started his career at Corning in 1972, progressing through the finance function before leading several businesses. He joined Corning Clinical Laboratories in 1995. The company was soon spun off as Quest Diagnostics. As chairman and chief executive officer, he led the dramatic turnaround of Quest Diagnostics through 2004. Ken significantly increased shareholder value as he executed a dramatic financial turnaround, established industry leadership, and drove growth both organically and via acquisition.
For his work at Quest Diagnostics, Ken was named to the Business Week 50 in 2004, and HBR's list of 100 best-performing CEOs featured Ken in 2010 and 2013. During his tenure, Quest Diagnostics provided the third-highest five-year shareholder returns among the Fortune 500 (1999-2003). Market capitalization increased from approximately $350 million at spin-off to more than $9 billion.
Ken joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in 2005 and served as a managing director and partner until 2010, continuing until 2013 as a senior advisor to KKR, serving on the firm's portfolio management committee.
In 2010, Ken joined Boston University as the Allen Questrom Professor and Dean of Boston University Questrom School of Business and served in that capacity for eight years. Under Ken's leadership, the school transformed its undergraduate and MBA curricula, focusing on ethics and global citizenship. Programs were updated to reflect sectors that dramatically impact the world economy, including health and life sciences, digital technology, sustainability, and social enterprise. Ken initiated the first-ever comprehensive global conversation about the future of business education between academia and industry in 2014 and co-authored "Reimagining Business Education: Insights and Actions from the Business Education Jam," in 2016.
Ken is a Professor of the Practice and interim VP of Human Resources at Boston University, and serves on the boards of Laureate Education, PRG, WBUR, and the Center for Higher Ambition Leadership. Prior board service includes HCA, Lake Region Medical, Masonite, TRW, Dow Corning Corporation, Ciba-Corning Corporation, and Fleet Bank of New York. Ken received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BSBA from Bucknell University. He was a trustee of Bucknell University for seventeen years, serving as Chair of the Board from 2009 through 2018.
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Dean Emeritus
Boston University Questrom School of Business
Mark Casady
Founder & General Partner
Vestigo Ventures
Mark Casady served as CEO of LPL Financial from 2002 until he retired in 2017. He was also the non-executive chairman of LPL’s board. During his leadership, Mark guided the company to become a leading financial services organization, serving independent financial advisors, banks and credit unions, along with providing clearing services to brokers/dealers at financial services companies.
Currently, Mark is working in venture capital. He co-founded Vestigo Ventures, a firm that finances FinTech start-ups. He is a general partner and chairman of their advisory board. Mark is also a board member of the Horace Mann Corporation, an auto, property, life insurance and overall financial services company that focuses on retirement annuities and mutual funds. He is a former member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Board of Governors
Before joining LPL, Mark was the managing director of the mutual fund group for Deutsche Asset Management Americas, formerly Scudder Kemper Investments. Prior to Scudder, he held roles at Concord Financial Group, a start-up funded by Hambrecht & Quist that went public.
Mark is also treasurer of the Casady family’s One Step Forward Education Foundation, which focuses on changing the lives of children around the globe through education. He also helped establish and fund the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation, which recognizes the philanthropic activity of financial advisors. Mark has a BS from Indiana University and an MBA from DePaul University.
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Founder & General Partner
Vestigo Ventures
Sallie Larsen
Managing Director, Chief Human Capital Officer
LPL Financial
Sallie Larsen is Managing Director, Chief Human Capital Officer, for LPL Financial with oversight over Executive Communication, Talent Acquisition and Development, Corporate Real Estate, Total Rewards and Culture and Community Engagement. In this role, she is responsible for managing and developing the human capital systems, programs, and resources that support a satisfying and engaging work environment and cultivate a robust learning culture for ongoing professional development. Sallie also leads LPL’s Advisor Learning and Diversity and Inclusion programs. She joined the organization in 2012 with more than 25 years of human resources experience.
Previously, Sallie worked as chief human resources officer at the Federal Home Loan Bank/Office of Finance, where she was responsible for improving employee programs and policies including expanded employee development opportunities and increased internal communications. In earlier roles, she was a managing vice president of human resources for Capital One Financial Corporation, senior vice president of human resources for Marriott International, and vice president of HR and communications for TRW Inc. Sallie earned a Master of Arts in communications from Purdue University, a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from California Lutheran University, and a certificate in executive leadership coaching from Georgetown University.
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Managing Director, Chief Human Capital Officer
LPL Financial
Dave Ulrich
Speaker, Author, Professor, Thought Partner on HR, Leadership, and Organization
The RBL Group
Dr. Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He is a founding partner of the RBL Group, a consulting firm started in 2000 to help organizations and leaders deliver value and achieve outstanding and sustainable long-term results. RBL has focused on strategic HR transformation, leadership capability development, and strategy implementation. A prolific writer and prominent thought leader for over thirty years, Dave has published over 200 articles and book chapters and over thirty books, many bestsellers. He has played an essential role in shaping the HR profession as well as thinking about leadership, organizations, and talent. He has been called the "father of modern HR" and "HR thought leader of the decade" by focusing on strategic HR outcomes, governance, competencies, and practices. In his writing, teaching, and consulting, Dave continually seeks new ideas that tackle some of the thorniest and longest standing HR challenges.
Focusing on leadership, organizations, and HR, Dave has been ranked as the #1 management guru by Business Week, profiled by Fast Company as one of the world's top 10 creative people in business, and recognized on Thinkers50 as one of the world's leading business thinkers. In 2021 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Management Studies and was named the #3 (out of 200) thought leader by PeopleHum. In 2020 he was selected to be one of 15 Distinguished Fellows at the National Academy of Human Resources. That year he also received the Michael R. Losey Excellence in Human Resource Research Award by SHRM. Dave was also named the "Most Influential Global HR Leader, 2020," sponsored by PeopleFirst and the HRD Forum.
In 2019, Dave was named one of the 100 top influencers in HR (in the leadership & development category) and ranked the #1 thought leader in HR by HRD Connect. In 2018, he was named one of the 20 most influential business professors in the world by top-business-degree. In 2017, Dave was named to the Thinkers50 "Hall of Fame," recognizing lifetime achievement in influencing management. Dave was on the Board of Directors for Herman Miller for sixteen years.
Dave has a Ph.D. in Organizations Theory from the University of California, Los Angeles. He and his wife Wendy live in Alpine, Utah, have three children and ten grandchildren.
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Speaker, Author, Professor, Thought Partner on HR, Leadership, and Organization
The RBL Group
Kison Patel
CEO and Founder
DealRoom, M&A Science
Kison Patel is the Founder and CEO of DealRoom, a lifecycle management software for financial transactions, as well as the author of Agile M&A: Proven Techniques to Close Deals Faster and Maximize Value. In 2016, he started M&A Science, an educational podcast featuring behind-the-scenes stories from leading M&A practitioners. Now boasting over 20 thousand listeners, Kison has expanded the M&A Science platform to include a training program, M&A Science Academy, allowing others to learn practical how-to’s they can easily apply to their own practices from active M&A professionals.
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CEO and Founder
DealRoom, M&A Science
Elise Vaughn
AVP, HR M&A Americas Lead
Cognizant
Elise is the Americas Leader for HR M&A at Cognizant. She has more than 20 years of HR experience in diverse multinational organizations. Elise joined Cognizant in 2020 and is responsible for leading the talent strategies and implementations for acquisitions, divestments and mergers. Before joining Cognizant, she spent five years at Oracle Corporation as a Director of Human Resources, responsible for Global M&A. Prior to that, Elise held leadership positions in Total Rewards, Talent Management and M&A at CareFusion Corporation.
Previously, Elise managed Employee Benefits at Viacom/CBS and at Coca-Cola Enterprises. Her broad HR experience includes M&A due diligence, risk mitigation and integration, global health and retirement plan strategy, compensation, global mobility, employment, HR policy development, and performance management. Elise holds a Master of Business Administration in International Business from Georgia State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish from Washington University in Saint Louis. She served as a Corporate Board member and officer of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
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AVP, HR M&A Americas Lead
Cognizant
Klint Kendrick
Chair
HR M&A Roundtable
Klint Kendrick, Ph.D., SPHR is a sought-after expert on issues of people, leadership, and culture in M&A. He has worked on dozens of public and private mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and divestitures, making him a respected authority in the field. His presentations on the human side of M&A have been heard by HR and Corporate Development leaders at high-profile events sponsored by The Conference Board, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg BNA, and McKinsey.
Klint has recently published The HR Practitioner’s Guide to Mergers & Acquisitions Due Diligence, which provides a robust approach to identifying, assessing, and mitigating the most vexing issues that arise in M&A. In addition to his work as an HR M&A Director at several Fortune 500 firms, Dr. Kendrick chairs the HR M&A Roundtable.
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Chair
HR M&A Roundtable
Michelle White
VP of Outcomes and Senior Scientist
QualityMetric
Michelle leads a scientific consulting team in health services research specific to patient engagement and patient-centered measurement in health studies. As a researcher, Michelle has 20 years of experience in patient-centered research and outcome measurement, including the development, modification, and evaluation of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures and other clinical outcome assessments. She has led more than 80 studies that have included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method research methodologies, including measurement strategy for regulatory engagement, dossier development, qualitative treatment journey, patient preference, observational studies, meta-analyses, and content validation studies across a broad range of rare and prevalent conditions. Michelle has also researched novel approaches to make it easier for patients and their families to participate in research studies.
Prior to joining QualityMetric in 2008, Michelle conducted addiction treatment outcome studies and supported a comprehensive assessment system for addiction and mental health treatment. She has also held adjunct positions at Illinois State University and the University of Illinois, where she earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology, respectively.
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VP of Outcomes and Senior Scientist
QualityMetric
Patricia Bravo
Leadership Development Consultant
Bravo
There’s a lot of talk about advocating for empathy at work. So why is it that one of the most common questions I get is, “Can you help my leader be more empathetic?”
Empathetic Leadership can be challenging for leaders juggling competing demands, navigating uncertainty, simplifying complexity and driving business forward.
Yet demonstrating empathy can be learned or enhanced and incorporated into leadership. I put those techniques into the hands of leaders and organizations who want to take leadership to the next level.
I develop leaders, build teams and grow talent. Reach out to find out how to accelerate and upgrade leadership.
SPECIALTIES: Empathetic Leadership, Empathy, Resilience, Teams, Team Development, Leadership Development, Organization Development, Collaboration, Change Management, Training, Facilitation, Workshops, Program Development
PUBLICATION(s): Empathy as a Vehicle to Authentic Leadership and Followership in Latin America: A Practitioner Perspective (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
CONTACT:
patricia@bravoforyou.com
www.bravoforyou.com
https://www.bravoforyou.com
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Leadership Development Consultant
Bravo
Brenda Hastings
Executive Director
HR M&A Roundtable
Brenda brings 30 years of experience in human resources to her work as Executive Director of the HR Mergers & Acquisitions Roundtable organization. She contributes her skills in relationship, administrative and project management to the coordination of the monthly virtual national HR M&A Roundtable sessions, as well as the annual HR M&A Roundtable conference. As a certified HR consultant, Brenda also provides HR solutions to small and medium sized companies. She also contributes to the greater HR profession as a presenter, instructional developer, and women’s leadership coach. She leads tailor-made mastermind groups for high-potential women leaders to support them in rediscovering lost confidence, adopting practical strategies and setting new goals for themselves. Prior to her role as an independent consultant and coach, Brenda spent 25 years as a senior HR leader and executive coach at the Boeing company.
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Executive Director
HR M&A Roundtable
Heather U'Ren
VP, Transition Services
TriNet
About Heather U'Ren
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VP, Transition Services
TriNet
Mikela Kiner
Founder & CEO
Reverb
Mikaela is a CEO, mom, executive coach, and author. In 2015, Mikaela founded Reverb to help companies create healthy, inclusive cultures that engage and inspire employees. Prior to Reverb, Mikaela held HR leadership roles at Northwest companies including Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, PopCap Games, and Redfin. Mikaela enjoys coaching leaders at all levels and working with mission-driven organizations. She’s the author of Female Firebrands: Stories and Techniques to Ignite Change, Take Control, and Succeed in the Workplace. A native Seattleite who grew up on Capitol Hill, Mikaela is married to Henry, a musician, artist, and teacher. Their two teens are good at challenging the status quo and are a constant source of learning and laughter.
About Mikela Kiner
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Founder & CEO
Reverb
Sallie Cunningham
HR M&A Executive
Sallie's experience includes a wide variety of deals, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures for large, multinational corporations in the industrial, healthcare, biotech and technology industries. Having been acquired herself, she brings a unique perspective and empathy to transactions. Sallie resides in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband, where they enjoy long distance cycling.
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HR M&A Executive
Erika Flowers-Johnson
VP of People and M&A
J.S. Held LLC
Erika is a transformative, Global Human Resources Executive and Business Partner who designs and executes strategic plans that support the ever-changing workplace environment, whether due to inorganic growth, economic downturns, or organizational restructuring. Throughout her career at IBM, American Express, and Cognizant Technology Solutions, she has created enduring solutions that align with business plans, human capital needs, and strategic direction. While meeting the challenges facing the global talent market by delivering initiatives that touch not only the organization, operations, culture, and leadership, but the bottom line. She has extensive experience building a foundation of trust and connectedness among internal and external stakeholders, building bridges and winning consensus toward organizational vision and goals.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-flowers-johnson/
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VP of People and M&A
J.S. Held LLC
Amanda Penebaker
HR Director
Radioisotope Life Sciences
Amanda has 23 years of Human Resource experience. She most recently spent 19 years at GE Healthcare where she held various Human Resource Business Partner roles of progressive responsibility; mainly in Americas Service, Global Supply Chain, & multiple Global Engineering & Marketing teams. She also spent a few years as a Lean Leader for GE Healthcare’s Americas HR function. The last few years prior to leaving GE, Amanda was the HR leader for a divesture of GE’s Nuclear Pharmacy business, which was divested to a new business entity RLS (USA) Inc. in late 2020. Amanda volunteered to leave GE and go with the deal to lead the HR function as the HR Director for RLS (USA) Inc. RLS’s vision involves various M&A activities as RLS expands its footprint in the nuclear medicine industry globally. Amanda will continue to lead all M&A activities for RLS, in addition to leading and building the HR team within RLS.
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HR Director
Radioisotope Life Sciences
Lori Fosnes
Director, HR M&A Integration Programs
Providence
Lori’s Human Resources career has included roles in all HR disciplines with a core focus in Total Rewards. She has contributed to a diverse portfolio of organizations, from biomedical startups to global Fortune 500 entities. Throughout it all, mergers and acquisitions has been a common thread. She has been acquired, harmonized, consolidated, and divested. Each of these experiences comes to play today as she leads the HR M & A Team for Providence. Her team provides strategic HR direction, cross functional leadership, risk mitigation and transition services in support of business growth, market expansion and diversification. She loves to make things happen.
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Director, HR M&A Integration Programs
Providence
Heidi Alessi
VP, Senior Employee Benefits Counsel
Providence
Heidi Alessi is an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney. She currently serves as the Vice President, Senior Employee Benefits Counsel for Providence St. Joseph Health and is the lead attorney for HR issues and integration in mergers, acquisitions, and tax-exempt affiliations. Prior to joining Providence in 2015, Heidi was a partner with the law firm K&L Gates representing large companies and private equity firms involved in mergers and acquisitions.
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VP, Senior Employee Benefits Counsel
Providence
Jennifer Truex Powell
Director, HR Integration M&A
Comcast
Jennifer Truex Powell is Director, New Business HR Integration at Comcast where she leads employee matters for mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures under the Comcast Cable suite of businesses. Jennifer combines a focus on the employee journey with 20 years’ experience in strategic and operational leadership roles, serving as a trusted partner to business and HR executives engaged in deal activity and delivering 15+ transactions since 2018.
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Director, HR Integration M&A
Comcast
Mary Cianni
Adjunct Faculty, MS Program in Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting
New York University
Dr. Mary Cianni has over 20 years of experience in the field of M&A. Mary served as the Global Leader of Integrated Solutions at Korn Ferry, responsible for transformation offerings at the firm including M&A. Prior to this role, she was the Global Leader of Willis Towers Watson’s M&A Human Capital Practice, leading a global team of M&A practitioners. She focused her consulting on change, culture, and leadership alignment. Mary co-led change leadership activities for the Towers Watson and Willis Towers Watson mergers.
Mary’s corporate experience includes serving as VP, Global Human Resources at Stiefel Laboratories, where she led the integration of three companies. Currently, she is a member of the NYU faculty in the School of Professional Studies, leading the consulting elements of the MS program in Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting.
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Adjunct Faculty, MS Program in Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting
New York University
Jeremy Segal
Senior Vice President Corporate Development
Progress
Jeremy Segal is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Progress, a leading provider of products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact business applications. Previously, he was the Global Head of Corporate Development for LogMel, a pioneer in remote work technology. Prior to this role, Jeremy was Vice President, Corporate Development at Akamai Technologies, where he played a significant role in the company’s growth and expansion.
Jeremy is a corporate development executive with over twenty years of experience in the technology industry focused on M&A, Strategic Planning, Joint Ventures, Divestitures, International Expansion, and Strategic Partnerships. He has led all aspects of over thirty-five acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic investments with aggregate value exceeding $8 billion including sourcing, business case development, financial analysis, due diligence, negotiation and integration planning.
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Senior Vice President Corporate Development
Progress
Benjamin Granger
XM Institute, Sr. Principal | XM Catalyst
Qualtrics
Dr. Benjamin Granger is a Senior XM Catalyst within Qualtrics’ XM Institute. He has over a decade of experience building, running and optimizing Experience Management (XM) programs across the globe. In addition to his client-facing work, Ben leads research initiatives within the XM Institute and has pioneered several innovative survey techniques and methods that are changing the way many organizations measure and manage employee and customer experiences. His research has been featured in academic and practitioner forums, including Forbes, the Journal of Business and Psychology, the International Journal of Training & Development, the Academy of Management, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). Ben is certified in Lean Six Sigma and earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida.
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XM Institute, Sr. Principal | XM Catalyst
Qualtrics
Jaya Lakshmi
CPO & Client Services Lead
Xpand
Jaya has more than 18 years of strategic HR partnership working with large and complex enterprises. She has developed and managed the employee experience at scale, employee relations and HR policy design. Jaya is currently the Chief People Officer and Client lead at Xpand, a HR digital onboarding product company based in New York. At Xpand, she leads both the product evolution and the HR function to further the employee experience in digital onboarding and transition management.
Jaya is an ICF accredited ACC certified coach and an MBTI certified practitioner. Intellection, Input, Strategic, Learner and Futuristic are Jaya’s top Gallup strengths. She is extremely passionate about strengths-based development and is an advocate for coaching in the workplace.
“Organizations, teams and individuals grow when they embrace change and are open to continuous learning”; Jaya believes in adding value by inspiring growth and supporting change. She loves travelling, is a voracious reader and occasionally dabbles with travel blogging.
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CPO & Client Services Lead
Xpand
Jessica Zhivotovsky
Account Executive
DealRoom
Jessica Zhivotovsky is an Account Executive at DealRoom, a deal lifecycle management platform designed for complex financial transactions. She helps companies solve inefficiencies within their M&A process. Previously in Sales and Marketing roles for 5 years with a background in Events and Hospitality. You can find her on the beach in Fort Lauderdale saving sea turtles when she is not consulting.
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Account Executive
DealRoom
Todd Hicks
Head of HR Mergers & Acquisitions
BASF
Todd Hicks is the Head of HR Mergers & Acquisitions for BASF Corporation, the second-largest producer and marketer of chemicals and related products in North America. He leads mergers and acquisition projects from initial deal thesis through post-merger integration. Recently, Todd was the HR workstream leader for BASF's $9.6 billion acquisition of the Bayer Agricultural Solution business and $3.87 billion divestiture of BASF's Construction Chemicals business to Lone Star Funds.
Before joining BASF, Todd spent ten years with Mars, Incorporated in HR, Finance, and IT leadership positions. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University and a Master of Business Administration from Rider University. Todd is an advisory board member for the NYU Master in Executive Coaching and Consulting Program and for Northeast HR M&A Roundtable. He is also the author of the “HR Technology: From Back Office Function to Full Business Partner” article published in the July 2014 issue of Workforce Solutions Review magazine.
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Head of HR Mergers & Acquisitions
BASF
Mark Walztoni
M&A HR Diligence & Talent Integration | Change, Communication, Culture, & Capabilities
Crowe
Mark is a Managing Director and leads Crowe's M&A Human Capital and Change practice. He and his team assist middle-market strategic acquirers and private equity firms to reduce culture and talent risks and accelerate value capture during M&A transactions and business turnarounds and transformations. His clients apply a proven change, communication, culture, and capability development roadmap and toolkit tailored to their goals, with Mark and his team’s support in project team, interim resource, and advisory or coaching roles.
Mark’s career includes senior human resources and M&A leadership roles with American Express, Ernst & Young, IGATE Capital, and Thomson Reuters. He has assisted entrepreneurs and private equity firms and their portfolio companies as a CHRO, human capital advisor and venture partner. He earned his MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and he is certified in multiple leadership and culture assessment methods.
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M&A HR Diligence & Talent Integration | Change, Communication, Culture, & Capabilities
Crowe
Debbie Millin
COO
Globalization
Debbie Millin joined Globalization Partners in May of 2016 after acting as an advisor since early 2015. She has over 20 years of operational, project management, and client relationship experience across a variety of industries. Debbie specializes in supporting companies experiencing rapid growth scale their systems and processes for successful and sustainable future operations. She played a key role in helping Globalization Partners become the No. 1 fastest growing women-led company in the United States and the No. 1 fastest-growing private company in Massachusetts in 2017
Just prior to joining Globalization Partners, she operated her own consulting firm, offering part-time COO services and was named in Boston Business Journal’s “Startup Watch: Five to Follow”. Debbie serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for Special Olympics of Massachusetts and is on the Corporate Advisory Board for The Commonwealth Institute. She is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship, fast-growing companies, global expansion, and women in leadership. Debbie has been a member of multiple non-profit and private boards. She graduated with honors from Bentley University, and is a life-long Massachusetts resident and Boston sports fan. An admitted coffee addict, she also enjoys a nice glass of whiskey and spending time with her husband, two children and extended family.
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COO
Globalization
Anna Hawk
Former Director M&A Business Integration, HR
Starbucks
Anna Hawk is a senior HR professional with over 20 years’ experience with a Fortune 200 company. She has held leadership roles in multiple areas at Starbucks Coffee Company including Total Rewards, M&A and Business Integration and Scalable Services.
Anna’s areas of expertise include Total Rewards, M&A from due diligence through business integration, HR Technology implementations, Portfolio and Change Management and running complex global initiatives in a fast-paced high growth environment. She earned a Masters’ degree in Business Administration from Seattle University and is passionate about continuous organizational improvement and ensuring optimized perspectives across people, process and technology.
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Former Director M&A Business Integration, HR
Starbucks
Craig Briscoe
Executive Advisor
Insightory
Craig Briscoe is a Business Advisor with Insightory. He has over 25 years of HR and business experience as an internal senior leader and consultant. During his 13-year career at Dell, Craig led HR integration for Dell’s $60B acquisition of EMC, along with the M&A practice, Compensation and Benefits and HR Technology. He also spent 6 years as HR Business Partner for Dell’s largest business where he led talent management and organization design including integration of numerous acquisitions.
Prior to Dell, Craig was a management consultant for Hewitt Associates and Towers Perrin. He founded and managed his own firm, Motivari Consulting, providing consulting on both M&A and total rewards. Over his career, Craig has worked with over 50 CEOs, 20 boards, several dozen CHROs, CXOs and Total Rewards leaders in companies across industries, ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 50s. He is based in Austin, Texas and holds a BA in Business Administration from Texas Christian University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
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Executive Advisor
Insightory
Stephanie Carty
Director, Client Delivery
Gagen MacDonald
Stephanie Carty is Director, Client Delivery, Gagen MacDonald, a strategy execution firm that helps companies turn strategies into results. Stephanie describes herself as having experience communicating everything from panthers in the parking lot to multi-billion-dollar deals. Even though she’s usually backstage not center stage, she believes she has one of the most important parts to play. Because when we do our work well, even our toughest work, it helps everyone it touches.
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Director, Client Delivery
Gagen MacDonald
Dawn Bartholomew
Global Head Of Corporate Development
Spencer Stuart
Based in Chicago, Dawn Bartholomew currently leads corporate development for Spencer Stuart, a global executive search and leadership advisory firm. She partners with both the client facing consultants and functional teams in development of the inorganic growth strategy, sourcing potential targets, negotiating transactions as well as leading the diligence and integration activities.
Prior to Spencer Stuart, Dawn led corporate development for Huron Consulting Group, a publicly traded consulting firm and also worked as part of UnitedHealth Group/Optum’s corporate development team. In building out corporate development for both Spencer Stuart and Huron, she has continuously developed and refined processes as well as onboarded several HR M&A team members. Dawn started her career in transaction advisory and audit with the Big Four firms. She has an accounting degree from John Carroll University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Global Head Of Corporate Development
Spencer Stuart
