Conference Session Speakers

Scott Aicher
Chief Operating Officer, RGBSI

Scott A Aicher, an industry speaker and leadership veteran for over 25 years has built a reputation for leading some of the Staffing Industries best case studies for organizational success. In his current role as RGBSI’s Chief Operating Officer, Scott is responsible for the global strategy and operational execution of RGBSI, UpGlide and Signum Group brands of the company. The insight gained from his many years leading some of the industries most respected IT/Engineering global staffing and solutions firms has given Mr. Aicher a unique perspective on developing optimal structures to service clients, as well as consultants in an ever changing, challenge filled, employment market.

Threase Baker 
President, ABBTECH Professional Resources

Threase Baker has earned her reputation as a national voice for the staffing and recruiting industry best-in-class standards. As President of ABBTECH Professional Resources (ABBTECH) she continues to manage and grow a dynamic, award winning national firm devoted to providing Top Talent in the areas of staff augmentation and creative staffing solutions.

Threase has more than twenty five years of experience in all areas of the staffing industry with particular emphasis on corporate recruiting, executive placement and staff augmentation. Her customer focus includes both the government and private sector. Prior to her current role at ABBTECH, Threase worked as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System project manager which provided vital perspectives on the Information Technology (IT) industry and process.

Alan Beaulieu  
President, ITR Economics 

Alan Beaulieu has been providing workshops and economic analysis seminars in countries across the world to literally thousands of business owners and executives for the last 25 years. He is considered one of the country’s most informed economists. He is co-author of "Prosperity in the Age of Decline," a powerful look at how to make the most of the US and global trends over the next 20 years. Alan also coauthored "Make Your Move," a practical and insightful guide on increasing profits through business cycle changes, and noted by one reviewer as “simple, yet awesome.” As the chief economist for numerous US and European trade associations, it has been remarked that Alan’s “insight into our business, a track record of accurate forecasting, and unparalleled knowledge of global markets has earned him the respect and appreciation of key business leaders in our industry.”

Debbie Blair 
Director of Recruiting Operations, G-TECH

With over 20 years of experience across the full spectrum of staffing solutions, Debbie has a passion for empowering individuals to achieve their career ambitions, as well as for problem solving and strategy development. As G-TECH’s Director of Recruiting Operations, she is constantly seeking ways to improve our service delivery and leveraging the power of technology and data to support a recruiting approach that's focused on responsiveness and efficiency.

Debbie is a TechServe Alliance Certified Professional Services Recruiter, Technical Services Certified by the American Staffing Association (ASA), and an ASA Certified Staffing Professional. She has served on the TechServe Alliance, the Michigan Council for Women in Technology, the Michigan chapter of the ASA, and is a past president of the Michigan chapter of the National Technical Services Association.

Barbara Bruno
President, HR Search, Inc./Good as Gold Training, Inc

Barb Bruno CPC, CTS is respected as one of the top training professionals and consultants to the Staffing and Recruiting Profession. She has worked in all segments of the profession and is an experienced, successful entrepreneur. She became a trainer so her clients could improve sales and profits. Her innovative training products include her web based Top Producer Tutor, Temp and Contract Tutor, Sales Tutor and Strategic Management Tutor. In addition, she has created a customized Career Portal for candidates who are not placed, which greatly improves the candidate experience and generates passive income. Her most recent product is her Metric Program, the Sales Performance Indicator that automatically calculates individual stats and ratios. She has received numerous national awards and had the honor or participating in the creation and development of the TechServe Alliance Certification Program.

Kyle Braun
President, CareerBuilder’s Staffing and Recruiting Group (SRG)

As President of CareerBuilder’s Staffing and Recruiting Group (SRG), Kyle Braun is in charge of sales strategy and product vision for one of the most critical segments in the world of recruitment. Drawing on a rich history of working closely with staffing and recruiting firms across the U.S. and Canada, Braun has a keen understanding of the challenges they face and how to design the right recruitment technology solutions for each firm.

Kersten Buck
Senior Director, Global Strategic Solutions, SIA

Kersten Buck has extensive domestic and global experience in Staffing and Contingent Workforce Management. She has held executive positions in Sales, Operations, Outsourcing Solutions, Consulting, IC Compliance, Global MSP Services, and Implementations. Her hands-on practice in translating client needs to operational solutions resulted in programs with measurable results and continued improvement in reducing cost and increasing program adoption with successful supplier participation. Kersten provides strategy and analysis for both the staffing supplier and buying needs of those looking at high-end outsourcing, and contract services to support Contingent Workforce Management.

Rick Carlson
Founder/President, Harvyst Consulting Partners

Rick Carlson has been selling, managing, and training sales, recruiting and management teams for more than 30 years. The past 20 have been spent in the staffing world. Rick has held various senior level positions at Modis, Kforce, and Corestaff Services Group. In each organization, Rick has been tasked with revitalizing struggling offices, regions, and divisions. His hands on approach to ensuring that team members are properly trained and adequately challenged have been the catalyst to his team’s successes. Rick is the owner and founder of Harvyst Consulting Partners, a company that customizes growth solutions specifically for staffing organizations.

Jason Clayton
Vice President of Sales, Prudent Technologies & Consulting, Inc.

Jason has more than 17 years of professional experience in IT solutions and consulting. He attributes his track record of success to his genuine understanding of his clients’ businesses and in helping them tailor a solution for their IT needs. He has a primary responsibility for developing and managing all sales, delivery, and personnel development activities for Prudent. In this capacity, he provides leadership in the day-to-day operations of the sales and delivery department, while seeking out and targeting new customers and sales opportunities, and initiating action plans to approach and secure new business for Prudent Consulting. Jason is a graduate of Texas A&M and the President of Tech Serve Alliance’s Dallas Chapter.

Jay Cohen
CEO, Signature Consultants

Over a 25-year period, Jay Cohen has been an owner and operator of various businesses. Upon graduation from Cornell, Jay completed his residency and fellowship at Jackson Memorial in Miami, Florida, and was selected as chief resident of internal medicine. He then completed my fellowship in gastroenterology. After leaving Jackson Memorial, Jay founded MSPB, a privately held medical group. While there, Jay was a practicing physician and managing partner of what became one of the largest privately owned medical groups in South Florida. After discovering that he really liked the business side of things, Jay decided to invest in his own staffing company, Signature Consultants.

Alfred De Bellas 
President, De Bellas & Co.

Alfred De Bellas has over four decades of experience in all phases of investment banking, with an established expertise in mergers and acquisitions, corporate valuations, financial advisory services, public securities offerings and private financing transactions. Prior to founding De Bellas & Co. in 1983, Al managed the Corporate Finance Department of Underwood Neuhaus & Co., Inc. for nine years.

Al began his investment banking career in 1966 at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he worked until 1972. He has taught investment banking at the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Rice University and has served on the American Stock Exchange Member Firm Advisory Committee and as an Allied Member of the New York Stock Exchange.

Brian Delle Donne
CEO, President, Talent Tech Labs

Brian has been a leading force in driving innovation through his career in operating roles in industry. After serving as Chief Operating Officer at both large public and privately held staffing and project engineering firms he has amassed a wealth of insight into effectively applying innovation. At Talent Tech Labs, Brian and the TTL team have been identifying and then assisting emerging companies with breakthrough ideas to gain commercialization and scale. Brian has guided Talent Tech Labs to being not only a unique accelerator but has elevated it to be the leading authority on emerging technology addressing Talent Acquisition.

Dyan Finkhousen
Director of Open Innovation & Advanced Manufacturing
President & CEO GENIUSLINK™ - Customer Shared Service, GE Global Operations

Dyan leads GE’s GENIUSLINKTM group, building crowd-powered business plans and models to accelerate innovation and redefine what’s possible. She collaborates closely with the GE Global Operations, Global Research Center, business verticals, customers and entrepreneurs to establish the company’s vision for and execution of collaborative business models.

The team was awarded the prestigious 2015 Berkeley-Haas Open Innovation Award for Business Model Transformation, and the 2016 Nine Sigma Innovation Leadership Summit - Innovation Champion Award.
Prior to this role, Dyan served as GE’s Asset Optimization Software Marketing Leader – coaching business teams on the development and commercialization of GE PredictivityTM Industrial Internet services. She also led the development and launch of the GE Predictivity brand. Dyan is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with an M.B.A. Degree in Marketing and Finance. She also holds a B.F.A. degree from Ohio University.

Matt Franklin
Director of Recruiting, Mitchell Martin

Matt has 20 years of experience architecting, building, and leading Mitchell Martin’s (MMI) IT recruitment practice. MMI’s delivery team has grown to include more than 70 individuals in three different countries supporting U.S. clients in 34 states. Matt has been guided by innovation throughout his career and has long felt that talent acquisition technology will become a core differentiator in the staffing space.

He has been involved in the implementation of several applicant tracking systems and currently serves as both a mentor and an expert reviewer at Talent Tech Labs, an incubator focusing on Talent Acquisition Technology (TAT) start-ups. Matt is a frequent speaker at TechServe annual conference on topics ranging from TAT to training of recruiters. Matt is passionate about organizational development, candidate experience, metrics, and performance management. Matt received his master’s degree from Columbia University and undergraduate degree from Binghamton University.

Scott Grausnick
President and Founder, Harbinger Partners, Inc. 

Scott Grausnick, President and founder of Harbinger Partners, Inc., is excited to participate on the panel, Sales and Recruiting 3.0: How to Connect with Prospects and Candidates in 2017 and Beyond, with other members of TechServe Alliance.

For over fifteen years, Scott has grown his own company, Harbinger Partners, into a dynamic, successful, and profitable company. He is distinguished by his success as an entrepreneur, leader, motivator, and problem solver. He has had an extensive career in sales, marketing, and the development and management of new businesses.

When he is not running his company, Scott is a member of the St. Paul Urban Tennis and University of St Thomas’ Strategic Advisory Boards.

Eric Gregg
CEO, Inavero 

Eric Gregg, founder of Inavero, brings his expertise in marketing and quantitative analysis to top professional service organizations. Eric is also a professor of marketing, a published author in the field of marketing, client loyalty and employee satisfaction, as well as client and job candidate research and consulting.

Allison Hemming
CEO, The Hired Guns

Allison Hemming is the CEO of The Hired Guns and founder of the Pink Slip Parties which rescued the digital talent during the dotcom meltdown. Hemming is the author of Work It!, and has spoken at SXSW twice on the future of work as well as the 2017 SIA on the topic of Digital Marketing.

Gene Holtzman
Founder and President, Mitchell Martin, Inc.

JJ Hurley
Founder/CEO, GDH

JJ Hurley is founder and CEO of GDH. JJ started GDH in 2001 and has expanded it to 14 locations around the country. GDH has grown from a local IT staffing firm to an industry leader, offering solutions for staff augmentation, professional / managed services and RPO. JJ is married to Alissa and has an 11-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son.

James Janesky
Managing Director, Corporate Fuel Advisors

Prior to joining Corporate Fuel, Jim Janesky spent more than 20 years as an equity sell-side research analyst in the Business Services space. During his tenure as an analyst, he launched the Business Services research effort at three investment banking firms: Montgomery Securities (now Bank of America Merrill Lynch), Stephens, Inc., and Stifel Financial. Jim started in capital markets in 1993 as an Associate Equity Analyst in the Technology/Telecom area at The Chicago Corporation.

Jim participated in, or evaluated, over 100 public as well as private M&A, equity and debt transactions and his M&A analysis included strategic merits and accretion evaluation. He advised senior management, analyzed and provided institutional investment advice on one of the largest mergers in the human capital solutions industry.

Lauren Jones
Senior Director of Operations, Star Staffing

Lauren Jones has been a leader, influencer and innovator in the staffing industry for 20 years. She is currently the Senior Director of Operations for the women-owned Star Staffing firm in Northern California. She is passionate about elevating women professionally and has become a writing and speaking staple at many staffing events and throughout the Sacramento region. She sits as the VP of Communication and current Board Member for the National Charity League for Mothers & Daughters. She has been the recipient of multiple staffing awards, with the Staffing World ASA Care Award for service and participation in putting the brave men and women who have served our country back to work as a major highlight of her career. Lauren resides on a farm in Elk Grove, CA with her husband Peter and their 2 girls Emily & Allison.

William Josey
Attorney at Law

William (Bill) Josey has over 25 years experience advising the staffing industry, including service as General Counsel of Kforce Inc. for 14 years before returning to private law practice in 2014. Today, Bill provides staffing firms with practical guidance and advice in the areas of employment law, wage/hour, contracts, insurance and risk management, noncompetition agreements, and compliance. Bill is the author of the TechServe Alliance white paper "The New Overtime Rules: Understanding the Challenges and Choices for Staffing Firms."

Jonathan Kestenbaum
Managing Director, Talent Tech Labs

Jonathan Kestenbaum is the Managing Director of Talent Tech Labs. He is a lawyer by education, and an entrepreneur and investor by trade. Jonathan is passionate about being on the cutting edge of innovation and capitalizing on industry trends.

He currently spends his days managing TTL’s innovation lab and advising the recruitment technology companies of tomorrow. Jonathan can be found at HR technology conferences all over the country as a sought-after speaker and panelist sharing deep insights into the evolution of the Talent Acquisition Ecosystem.

Kevin Knaul
Director of Corporate Development, Global Employment Solutions and Fahrenheit IT

Kevin Knaul, Director of Corporate Development at Global Employment Solutions and Fahrenheit IT, has more than 20 years of experience in IT staffing and M&A, and is a sought-after industry advisor known for leading business transformations, growing revenues, and enhancing profitability.

Knaul started his career in branch level roles at Aerotek/Allegis Group, and worked his way up to executive leadership roles there and at other multibillion-dollar global staffing firms, including Hudson Highland Group, Inc. On the M&A side, he’s led 11 deals, including the buying and selling of two of his own IT staffing businesses, Halo Group and Indecon Solutions. Knaul has been a TechServe Alliance member for 13 years and has also served on the Executive Board of the Information Technology Association of America.

Sioux Logan
President, RedStream Technology, 

If there was a contest when she was a recent college grad – least likely to start a business – Sioux Logan would have won it. She was a Humanities major who studied literature, art, history, music, and theater. Post-graduation she worked at The American Museum of Natural History in New York City and The SAFE Project, a domestic violence social services agency, in Laramie, Wyoming. 

Upon returning to New York, her mother derailed her new career as a temp at Goldman Sachs when she threatened to disown Sioux if she didn’t find a job with medical insurance. So she landed at an executive search firm and then went on to be a technical recruiter and account manager at an information technology consulting firm. In 2007, she left that sizeable IT staff augmentation firm to launch RedStream Technology. Her clients today include Fortune 500 financial services companies, private equity, management consulting, and luxury retail companies. 

Rick Martinez
President & CEO, r2 Technologies

Rick Martinez, is President and CEO of r2 Technologies. Rick has led his company for the past 21 years, placing full-time and contract IT professionals across North Texas. Rick has a very direct, practical and realist approach to helping business owners and managers connect with their staff and consultants. He has proven to be a winner in sharing key job information in helping people get “to the next level.”

Rick is a noted speaker in Texas, presenting on various topics in high demand by hiring companies, professional groups, HR organizations, and job networking groups. His insight and candid style is welcomed
by all attendees.

Bob Miano
President and CEO, Harvey Nash, USA

As President and CEO of Harvey Nash USA, Bob Miano manages, drives and oversees the strategic direction and U.S. market growth of the company’s solutions in executive search, IT recruiting, and outsourcing and offshoring.

Miano joined Harvey Nash in 2004 to lead the company’s U.S. expansion, with a focus on client delivery, operational efficiency and strong internal culture. Over the past 12 years, Miano has been at the forefront of Harvey Nash USA’s impressive growth, tripling the size of the organization in terms of revenue and profit.

Miano is actively involved in the technology talent solutions industry as a Tech Serve Alliance board member and SIA community member, and is frequently turned to by media as a leading resource on technology and hiring.

Miano holds a master’s of business administration in finance from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from CUNY-Hunter College.

Sarah Michel
VP Professional Connexity, Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

Sarah is an Experience Architect who has been working in the meetings industry for over 17 years to create dynamic audience experiences. Her vast knowledge of next-generation learning and facilitation skills help design dynamic educational sessions that guarantee more participation, opportunities for networking and peer-to-peer learning to make content sticky.

Sarah is Vice President of Professional Connexity for Velvet Chainsaw Consulting helping organizations deliver on the networking promise at face to face meetings. She is a professional speaker and has keynoted for audiences around the world and author of Perfecting Connecting©, A Guide to Mastering Networking in the Workplace and the e-book, Conference Connexity.

Cadence M. Moore
Senior Associate, Hammond Law Group

Cadence M. Moore is a Senior Associate at the Hammond Law Group. She enjoys helping private companies, not-for-profit organizations and professionals with employment-based immigration matters. She has been with the Hammond Law Group since 2011. Cadence is experienced in helping large, mid-sized and small organizations in a wide range of employment-based immigration matters.

David Morgan
President, Information Technology, Addison Group

Mr. Morgan has been in the staffing industry for over 25 years exclusively in Information Technology. In 2001, he started an IT business that is now Addison Group IT, a $100m IT Staffing and Direct Hire business with over 20 offices throughout the U.S. Mr. Morgan began his career with Sapphire Technologies, now Randstad, after graduating from Merrimack College in Massachusetts.

Tom Nunn
President, Tom Nunn Consulting

Tom Nunn is the president of Tom Nunn Consulting, LLC, a company he started in 2009 that specializes in helping owners and executive teams of growing companies implement best practices to enable long term growth, profitability and health. Tom currently works with numerous IT staffing companies around the country and also facilitates industry roundtables. He is actively involved in TechServe Alliance as a speaker, facilitator and currently serves as Secretary-Treasurer for the Board of Directors.

Prior to starting his own company, Tom was president of a national IT staffing company headquartered in Boston, MA. Over the nine years that he was there, Tom helped develop and lead a high performing team that grew the company from $25MM to $100MM and top quartile profitability. Tom has over 30 years of diverse business experience including many years as an executive in the financial services industry where he led teams that oversaw IT and back office support for various investment management functions in multi-national banks.

Pat Patel
CEO and President,Intelliswift Software, Inc.

Pat Patel founded Intelliswift Software, Inc. as systems integration and technology consulting company providing solutions to Fortune 100 companies and emerging, mid-sized organizations in the Silicon Valley.

Pat is responsible for worldwide operations including sales and marketing, finance, information systems, human resources, and corporate planning. As a serial entrepreneur with an appetite for calculated risk, Pat has been instrumental in driving growth globally with strategic acquisitions, offshore service offerings expansion, and acquiring a diversified portfolio of niche companies.

Customers, partners, and industry rock stars have recognized Pat’s thought leadership through accolades and awards. Out of many of his achievements, he was also an invited member in the alliance of CEOs in 2006 and 2007. Pat is actively involved in TechServe Alliance and was featured in their Executive Profile in 2015, and currently serves on the Board of Directors. Pat holds a Degree in Electrical Engineering from Mumbai University, and an MBA from Wharton School of Business.

David Phillips
Director, CHILDS Advisory Partners

Dave Phillips joined CHILDS Advisory Partners following successful tenures at several global human capital firms. As a director, he manages CHILDS Advisory Partners’ Jacksonville, Fla. office, focusing on firms in the business services sector. Prior to joining CHILDS, Dave served as the Vice President of corporate development for Volt Information Sciences. Prior to that, Dave spent 10 years as Vice President of corporate development for MPS Group, and executed over 40+ transactions across the IT, healthcare, legal, finance & accounting, marketing and VMS/RPO/MSP sectors. He leverages his three decades of experience acquiring, integrating and managing high-performing business services and technology companies to provide guidance to services firms.

Nick has more than 25 years of experience in the employment services industry. The majority of his background is in working with Fortune 500 companies to achieve their workflow goals. Nick specializes in change management and driving operational efficiencies. He is an expert on the changing world of work and a consultant to many companies in helping them prepare for coming changes. 

Nick's experience includes overseeing full-cycle recruiting, sales, and efficiency planning and consulting. His experience is varied between Technology, Engineering, Financial, Call Center, Administrative, and Industrial environments. He is a sought after and frequent speaker at academic and company events as well as being interviewed on T.V and in newspapers for details on the changing world of work. He is also a frequent contributing writer to the Des Moines Business Record, JobDig, and Iowa ABI BizLogs and print magazine. Nick was also chosen as JobDig’s 2009 career tip guru.

Mark Roberts
CEO, TechServe Alliance

Mark Roberts is Chief Executive Officer of TechServe Alliance, the national trade association for the IT & Engineering Staffing and Solutions industry. Prior to being named CEO by the TechServe Alliance Board of Directors in February 2003, Mr. Roberts served as COO & General Counsel of the organization. He is an authority on both business trends and legal issues impacting the industry. He writes and speaks frequently on industry topics including what successful firms are doing to drive growth and profitability.

Before joining TechServe Alliance, Mr. Roberts was a partner in the Labor and Employment Group of a large Florida law firm. Mr. Roberts also served for four years in the Washington, D.C. office of Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman of New York. Mr. Roberts currently serves as a member of the Labor Relations Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

Ron Seibert
Founder and CEO, SSI

Ronald M. Seibert is founder and CEO of SSI, formerly Software Specialists, Inc. SSI is a national staffing firm, which has earned numerous awards in 2017, including Staffing Industry Analysts’ Best Staffing Firms to Work For, Inavero’s Best of Staffing Client and Best of Staffing Talent and ranked 33rd on Forbes’ Best Professional Recruiting Firms. Ron oversees the functions that drive the strategic direction of business growth and performance, ensuring employee alignment and service excellence, and creating effective delivery models and growth of profitable solutions in an evolving workforce.

Jack Shein
Senior Vice President, JobDiva

As Senior Vice President, Jack Shein is responsible for generating new business development opportunities for JobDiva. Throughout his career, he has held various executive-level positions in staffing and human resources at The Equitable Life Assurance Society, Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC) and Instinet. His post-graduate work is in Human Resources at Long Island University, New York -- Master's Degree. He currently serves on the Board of Directors as Senior Adviser for the Human Resource Association of New York. Jack has held many positions with HRNY including Vice President of Technology & Communications for HRNY and has served as a member of National Human Resource Technology Management Panel for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Past Chair of the HR/NY Certification Committee.. Jack has been an Adjunct Professor for Human Resources Certificate Program at Wagner College's teaching Workforce Planning and Employee/Labor Relations.

Harvey Shulman
President, EAC

Harvey Shulman, a co-founder and general counsel (1987-1999) for NACCB (now TechServe Alliance), has provided legal advice to more than 150 IT companies for more than 25 years. Clients respect Harvey’s practical approach and legal knowledge on employment and independent contractor issues, government audits (IRS, DoL, state agencies), customer contracts, non-competes, M&A, and more.  Harvey is a published author and received NACCB's Lifetime Achievement Award.d.

Chris Skerrett
Sales Director, CareerBuilder’s Staffing and Recruiting Group

Chris is a CareerBuilder Veteran, starting his career 11 years ago in the Multimedia Sales Group. He quickly grew his business becoming Team Lead and eventually taking on 9 leaders and leading 100 account executives as CareerBuilder expanded its market leading position. He spent 4 years in Canada, starting with leading the inside sales team and being promoted to Director of all Canada. Chris was responsible for all sales, marketing and partnerships in the CA marketplace. In 2011 Chris returned to the US to lead the Central Major Accounts Team within the Staffing and Recruiting Division. Chris is an industry expert and is a frequent speaker at many industry events and currently sits on the Board of several staffing associations. He is a graduate of Denison University.

Akash Taneja
Managing Director, De Bellas & Co.

Mr. Taneja joined De Bellas & Co. as an associate in 2008 and now serves as Managing Director focused exclusively on a wide variety of merger and acquisition advisory assignments in all segments of the staffing industry. As Managing Director, Mr. Taneja is responsible for the sourcing, origination, execution, marketing, and management of M&A transactions for sellers of staffing companies. Mr. Taneja has worked on and successfully completed a number of M&A transactions since joining the firm. Prior to De Bellas & Co., Mr. Taneja was an equities analyst for two years for a successful family office in the greater Los Angeles area. He is currently based out of Orange County, CA.

Susan Thaden
President, CRi

In 1999, Sue started CRi. As the founder and CEO of CRi, the Omaha, Nebraska based staffing and solutions firm, has evolved through rapid growth and expansion into a leading IT staffing and solutions firm. Sue has developed a strong leadership team who assists in the day to day coaching of sales, recruiting, consultant management and solutions practice development. Sue provides the leadership and vision that keeps the company culture on track and the business growing.

In 2015, Sue led the launch of From Now On out of CRi’s Innovation Lab. FNO is a leading provider of Fan Engagement and digital mobile platforms, for over 40 DI & DII colleges and events. At the core of all we do is the passion around “getting it great” for our schools, their fans, and communities.

Sue is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Communications. Sue is a member of TechServe Alliance (TSA), based in Washington D.C., was the 2014 Chairman of the TSA Board and Chair of the TSA’s Government Affairs Committee.

Richard Thatcher
Managing Director, Fairmount Partners

Richard W. Thatcher is a founding partner and managing director of Fairmount Partners. Mr. Thatcher specializes in mergers and acquisitions, strategic/financial advisory services, and private financings for emerging growth companies. His clients include leading middle-market and entrepreneur-led companies in the information technology and business services sectors.

 Prior to founding the company, Mr. Thatcher led Investec Inc.’s corporate finance practice serving those same sectors. In 1992, Mr. Thatcher joined PMG Capital, Investec’s predecessor firm, following an extensive career as head of mergers and acquisitions for AGS Computers Inc., a major information technology software and consulting services company, where he focused on the financial services, telecommunications, computer manufacturing, and distribution industries. Mr. Thatcher joined AGS when they purchased his firm, Atlantic Management Systems, of which he was founder and CEO. Atlantic specialized in project management and systems development software and consulting services.

Leslie Vickery 
Chief Executive Officer & Founder, ClearEdge Marketing 

Leslie Vickery is a marketing expert and business advisor who began her career with McDonald’s Corporation and Junior Achievement. However, one taste of working for a technology company and Leslie quickly found her niche. Today, as CEO of ClearEdge Marketing, Leslie works closely with leaders in Talent Management and technology to drive business results with strategic marketing programs.

Leslie’s passion for creating meaningful connections extends beyond ClearEdge. In 2013, Leslie Co-Founded ARA, a group dedicated to attracting, retaining and advancing women in tech. She’s also on the Board of Directors for i.c.stars and the Chicago Innovation Awards; was recognized by The Blue Sky Vault, Blue Network, featuring 100 of Chicago’s most compelling innovators and entrepreneurs; was included on the TechWeek 100 list; is part of UIC Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame; and was named one of the 2016 Enterprising Women of the Year. Follow Leslie on Twitter and LinkedIn to discuss all things Marketing, HR and leadership.

Brian Wallins
Senior Research Analyst, Staffing Industry Analysts

Brian Wallins is a Senior Research Analyst at Staffing Industry Analysts covering IT staffing, mergers and acquisitions, and workforce solutions. Brian brings six years of experience in equity research covering the Enterprise Software sector for Gleacher & Company (FKA Broadpoint AmTech). He has also held various finance and strategy roles at Getaround, Hire On-Demand and Calypso Technology.
Brian holds an MBA from Bentley University and has passed Level I of the CFA exam.

Chris Walters
Vice President LRS Consulting Services

Chris Walters is Vice President of LRS Consulting Services, the staff augmentation group within Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. (LRS), which is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois. As Vice President, Walters is responsible for all aspects of the group’s sales, recruiting and delivery activities.

Walters was promoted to Vice President of LRS Consulting Services in 2012 after having served as Director since 2006. Under his guidance, the group has grown to eight consulting offices and revenue has more than doubled. Walters was President of Mackenzie and Roth in St. Louis, Missouri, when LRS acquired the consulting firm in 1999. As part of that acquisition, he joined LRS and served as account manager of the St. Louis LRS office until he was promoted to Director of Sales. Prior to joining Mackenzie and Roth, Walters served as an Assistant Vice President of Commercial Lending at Mark Twain Bank, St. Louis, Missouri.

Walters holds a B.A. degree in Finance and Management from the University of Missouri, St. Louis. He has more than 20 years of information technology and sales experience.

Doug Washington
Director of Recruiting Strategy TriCom Technical Services

Doug Washington has nearly 20 years of professional experience in and around the Recruiting, Staffing, Consulting and Information Technology Services industries. He’s successfully recruited, sold, led recruiting teams, and managed sales and recruiting operations for several staffing and consulting organizations, from local Kansas City area companies to an international, publically-traded professional services consulting firm.

He was an integral member of the team responsible for the operation and growth of RiverPoint, a company that was named Kansas City’s fastest growing in 2001. Doug is one of the founders of The Purple Guys, a business technology support company in Kansas City. In 2014, Doug founded Powerhire, his own IT staffing firm. In addition to his full-time employee roles over the past decade, Doug has served as a business operations consultant to several small businesses.

Tim Waterloo
Founder and President, Oak Enterprises

Tim Waterloo is founder and President of Oak Enterprises, located in Glen Ellyn, IL. Founded in 1984, Oak Enterprises provides quality IT consultants and direct hire search services to Chicago’s major corporations who emphasize quality, value and strong relationships.

Oak Enterprises is proud to be a member of TechServe Alliance since 1987. Tim is a past president of the TechServe Alliance Board of Directors.

Tim currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Information Management (SIM) Chicago Chapter. He is also a member of the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP).

Karen Wilson
Presiden/CEO, MAKE Corporation

Karen Wilson joined MAKE Corporation as a partner in 2002 and purchased the company in 2010. MAKE Corporation is a professional services and staffing company with offices in Chicago and Dallas. Over the course of her career, Karen has established herself at the forefront of contingent workforce management through her thought leadership and staffing services industry involvement.

Karen has been an active member of TechServe Alliance for more than twenty years, completing an eight year engagement on its board of directors in 2012 as chairman. She is proud to be currently serving on the Government Affairs committee. Karen also is president of the board of directors for VMS Professionals, a national not-for-profit association she co-founded in 2003.

Tori Young
Staffing Sales Manager CRi

Tori joined CRi in 2007 and has held roles including Sr. IT Recruiter, Recruiting Manager, and Sales Manager. Prior to CRi, she was a Human Resources Manager in a biotechnology company and an in-home services organization. She hails from the panhandle of Nebraska, received both a BSBA and an MBA at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and has been a resident of Omaha for 20 years.

Gary Zander

Founder & CEO, Project One

Gary Zander is founder & CEO of Project One (www.project1.com), a tech/digital media consulting company serving the Media & Communications niche. Clients include broadcast & cable television, telecom & communications, sports media, interactive entertainment, content development and ad tech. Project One supplies consultants possessing a combination of technical skill sets along with deep domain expertise.

Gary has been named Top Staffing 100 Exec by Staffing Industry Analysts for 3 years - 2017, 2016 and 2014. Prior to founding Project One, he held technical and marketing positions with Automatic Data Processing and Dun & Bradstreet. Gary is a graduate of Queens College of the City University of NY where he received a BA in Computer Science. He did his MBA graduate work in Marketing & Management at Pace University.  

Mindy Zaziski
President & CEO, FYI Solutions, Inc 

President and co-founder of FYI Solutions, Mindy Zaziski is responsible for developing and implementing long-term business strategies as well as overseeing the firm’s day-to-day performance and operations. A highly insightful and intuitive business leader, Mindy has brought together a team of top professionals that share her passions for people, technology and service excellence. Mindy is an active member of the Women’s Presidents Organization (WPO) and Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). 

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