Conference Session Speakers

Scott Aicher
Chief Operating Officer, RGBSI

Scott A. Aicher, a passionate staffing/IT solutions veteran of over 25 years has been a successful Entrepreneur, Industry Speaker and Executive Leader with some of the industry’s most respected Public/Private global firms. Mr. Aicher has been bringing his open book style and relatable insights to TSA for years and serves as the Vice President Elect of TechServe Alliance’s National Board. A frequent speaker at TSA, Scott leverages his experiences within each business stage (Start-Up to Sale, Small to Mid, Mid to Large, and Large Global Enterprise) providing a form that is both interactive and engaging to all regardless of size of organization. Currently Mr. Aicher is the Chief Operating Officer of UpGlide/RGBSI, a large private global Software/Staffing/Solutions firm based in Troy, Michigan. In addition to UpGlide/RGBSI, Scott has been and executive leader with such public companies as Mastech, Hudson, Volt, ARC, Syntel, etc… along with regional/global respected private companies.

Threase Baker
President & Owner, 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 and an Owner 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 thirty years of experience in all areas of the staffing industry with emphasis on corporate recruiting, executive placement and staff augmentation. Her customer focus includes both the government and private sector.

Threase is a past board member of TechServe Alliance and is currently treasurer of the DC chapter. Threase is on the Board of Directors for the American Staffing Association (ASA) and the Professional Services Council (PSC). She was recently named to the Staffing Industry Analy st 2018 Global Power 150 Women in Staffing. ABBTECH is a family owned and operated staffing firm in the Washington, DC area. ABBTECH is an award - winning woman owned small business with two GSA schedules.

ABBTECH provides creative staffing solutions and “ connects the job and the job seeker” in the areas of information technology, cyber security, engineering and administration.

Don Beemer
Managing Director of Insurance Services, TechServe Alliance

Don Beemer is the Managing Director of Insurance Services for TechServe Alliance. As the principal contact for the agency, it is his responsibility to provide leadership, strategies to improve processes, personnel development, and the P&L. Don handles and manages the agency account executives, marketing, new hire training, and overall production while promoting a high level of customer service. Don has also incorporated procedures and guidelines that have increased sales, revenues, retention and insurance company contingencies. Ultimately, representing the organization in the relationships with insurance carriers and managing the direct sales through carriers like Zurich, The Hartford, Travelers and State National Insurance Company.

John Bemis
Partner - Director, IT Services, Benchmark IT

John is the founder and president of Benchmark IT, a leading technology recruitment and staffing firm based in Stamford, CT. John and his team help Tri-state(CT-NY-NJ) CIOs, CTOs, and technology management build and manage their teams with both direct-hire and contract-based staffing solutions. A 25-year veteran in IT recruitment, John founded Benchmark IT in 2007. In his previous position as Director at the Computer Merchant, Ltd., he built the onsite Managed Staffing Program for Starwood Hotels, recruiting and managing over 250 consultants in this program. He began his recruiting career with RHI Consulting. A graduate (and humble basketball fan) of Duke University, John’s early career was in international aviation sales and marketing where he managed sales territories across the Pacific Rim, before he was recruited into recruiting and found his current niche and passion working with technology talent.

Andrew Brown
Director, Fairmount Partners

Mr. Brown is responsible for originating and executing middle - market investment banking transactions . He has over 14 years of experience providing financial and strategic advisory services to growing middle - market companies. Mr. Brown focuses on the consulting and technology services sector, specifically business and information technology services (inclusive of staffing and related professional HR services), as well as outsourced healthcare and pharmaceutical services.

Notable recent transactions include advising TayganPoint Consulting in their sale to Grant Thornton, BioBridges in their sale to The Adecco Group, Artech’s acquisition of CDI’s Talent and Technology Solutions Business , ALKU in their minority recapitalization with WestView Capital, Infusion in their sale to Accenture, and Inspirage in their majority recapitalization with Riordan, Lewis & Haden Equity Partners. Mr. Brown has completed numerous cross - border transactions with clients and/or counterparties in England , Ireland, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, India , and Canada.

Mr. Brown has been a key member of deal teams that have executed 50 + transactions, representing more than $ 1.5 billion in aggregate value. Mr. Brown joined Fairmount as an analyst in October of 2005.

Experience: Prior to joining Fairmount, Mr. Brown spent five years as vice president of operations for the QuoteScout Corporation, an online technology development and insurance marketing services firm.

Education: Mr. Brown received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. He is registered with FINRA and is Series 7 - , 63 - , and 79 - licensed.

Lori Brown
Chief Executive Officer, ComplianceHR

Lori Brown leads ComplianceHR as its Chief Executive Officer. In her role, Lori draws from her unique and extensive experience as a human capital strategist, corporate leader and employment law litigator. Lori joined CHR in 2015 with over two decades as an award-winning trial lawyer and trusted counselor to many of the nation’s largest staffing companies, retailers, financial services organizations, and manufacturers. A longtime shareholder and board member of Littler Mendelson, Lori devoted much of her practice to developing compliance strategies across the full spectrum of regulatory workplace issues such as protected leave and wage hour issues. Prior to joining CHR, Lori served as U.S. Chief Legal Officer and Head of Human Resources at GardaWorld, the world’s largest privately owned security company.

Robert Brown
Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Signature Consultants

Robert "Bobby" Brown is Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Signature Consultants and its subsidiaries. Bobby studied internationally at Regent’s University in London and is a graduate of Suffolk University and Suffolk University Law School. Bobby regularly serves as a moderator and expert panelist for discussions involving legislative, legal, compliance, business operations, technology, finance, sales and general staffing industry topics. Bobby, who regularly lobbies on a variety of topics at the state and federal levels, was recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts in its 40 Under 40 publication and the Boston Business Journal in its Emerging Leader Series. Bobby, who is a licensed real estate broker, is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, First Circuit Court of Appeals and Federal District Court, District of Massachusetts.

Barbara Bruno
CEO, Good as Gold Training, Inc

Barb is internationally recognized as one of the top experts in the Staffing, Recruiting and Sales Professions. She was selected by LinkedIn Learning after their content managers viewed her platform skills and she has created fourteen recruiting courses which have been approved for their Enterprise clients continuing education curriculum.In these courses Barb strongly promotes the utilization of contract staffing services to LinkedIn’s large Enterprise Clients.

 Barb was instrumental in helping design TSA’s Certification Program, wrote the best practices Study Guide and Industry Practices and conducts prep training that covers critical knowledge points of the exam. She was able to promote the TSA Certification Program in several of the courses she created for LinkedIn Learning.

Barb has developed web-based training programs that are distributed in several countries and her Top Producer Tutor clients have increased efficiency and profits. She just launched the following new Tutor training programs: Add Direct Hire for Owners/Managers and Outside Sales Tutor for the Contract Staffing Profession.

Barb has developed a web-based Career Portal which puts 90 minutes back in the day for most Recruiters and improves the Candidate Experience. Career Portal owners assist 100% of candidates they attract by either placing them or referring them to their customized Career Portal. Over 500 Contract Staffing Firms worldwide are now offering this Career Portal to candidates they don’t place and are enjoying increased referrals, positive social media posts,and passive income! They’ve also increased sales and profits because their recruiters are focused on the 5% candidates they will place!

Barb has also held many leadership roles including: Indiana State President for IAPC, Illinois State President of IAPC and Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Personnel Services. She is the recipient of the Lincoln Award, Harold B. Nelson Award, Woman of Merit Award and was inducted in NAPS Hall of Fame.

Barb’s web-based Tutors, in-house training sessions and Executive Consulting have increased sales and profits for 100% of her clients, including many TSA members.

Kate Butler
Principal Consultant, Menemsha Group

Kate joined the staffing industry in 1992. Throughout her career, Kate has established a reputation as a dynamic sales leader. Her passion has always been the hiring and development of talent. Building a broad revenue base across multiple clients, balanced across multiple high performers has been the recipe of her success. With mature hiring, coaching, account allocation and prospecting strategies, Kate has applied her knowledge against multiple markets and consistently achieved and exceeded budget goals.

Kate has built IT staffing business’ in 15 US markets and 6 Latin American countries. T hroughout her career she has successfully : led 4 markets start - ups and managed across multiple verticals to include: IT, Finance, Lite Technical, Lite Industrial and Admin Clerical. IT Solutions and staff augmentation are her areas of expertise. For over 12 years Kate has managed a P&L to exceed $150mm.

Kate’s Leadership and Coaching incorporates the Devine Inventory Assessment tool. She works with Sales Leaders and Sales Reps to expand their self - awareness in order to accelerate their productivity and effectiveness. In 2017 Kate was drawn to Menemsha Group because of Menemsha Group’s intellectual content dedicated to the IT staffing space. Menemsha’s content has enabled her to b uild effective, engaging solutions for sales & recruiting teams spanning IT staffing companies of all sizes.

Kate’s depth of knowledge on talent management has significantly enhanced Menemsha’s programs and offerings related to employee talent development, onboarding and performance management. Kate’s greatest desire is to enable learners to realize their full performance potential and drive personal growth. Her natural strength as a coach allows her to guide training participants to success by focusing o n client needs.

In her roles, as Regional Vice President for both Experis (17 years) and American Cyber - System, Kate worked closely with market leaders to ‘win their market’. Having led the Washington DC market for 14 years, Kate’s personal experience in growing a market of 8 sales people to a run rate of 66mm across multiple clients has served invaluable in coaching other leaders. Maintaining a portfolio of small cap, mid - size and enterprise accounts has always been her mantra. With experience leveraging off - shore, on - shore, national recruiting center and branch recruiting models Kate’s delivery experience has proven invaluable across her markets.

Encouraging diverse suppliers has always been a particular passion of Kate’s. She has accelerated revenue growth by efficiently leveraging WBENC and NMSDC. As a student of leadership and sales management, Kate has attended the Center for Creative Leadership along with the University of Wisconsin’s Executive Strategic Leadership program. Kate lives in Arlington Virginia with her middle - schooler Avery. To date, they have traveled to see four of the Seven Wonders of the World

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 and the Director of the TechServe Sales Management Program.

Steve Cerny
Sales Director, Staffing & Recruiting Group, CareerBuilder

Steven Cerny is the Sales Director of CareerBuilder’s Staffing & Recruiting Group. The division focuses on providing advertising, search, SaaS, data analytics, and employment screening solutions to staffing customers throughout the United States. Steven has thirteen years of industry experience with CareerBuilder and prior to running the Staffing & Recruiting group, he led the division’s Key Accounts team and was awarded Manager of the Year in 2014 and 2015.

Previously, Steven worked as a Senior Sales Manager within CareerBuilder’s Vertical Business Unit, leading six sales teams in the IT & Engineering division, where he focused on strategic solution identification for the vertical and leadership development. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from DePaul University.

Lance Cooper
President, SalesManage Solutions

IT and Engineering Staffing CEOs love the people business they begin. They want to serve companies, be profitable and grow a great culture. To do that they must hire people who can sell.

But they face these hindrances: Their own pressures and tendencies to hire people they like, a candidate’s impression management, and the difficulty of finding good salespeople in a full employment economy and changing social conditions. Coaching people who have poor character and are unmotivated.

They experience the frustrations of hiring people who can’t sell and will not work hard, the tensions of inconsistent cash flow from too few placements and too few placement orders, and the loss of opportunities and profits when people quit and have to be replaced.

Lance and his team at SalesManage Solutions will help you change this. For the last thirty years, as President of SalesManage Solutions (SMS), and author of Selling Beyond Survival and co-author of Can They Sell, Lance has helped thousands of sales leaders develop great sales cultures. Certified experts for the SMS Recruit the Best!™ and Coach the Best!™ Systems have learned step-by-step proven researched and scientific methods that teach them how to: hire character first and know and select who can sell.

And then make use of the best way to coach the new salesperson while building an organization of high character individuals: honest, hard-working, responsible and concerned about others - one that attracts additional motivated people and continues consistent revenue growth into the future.

Chris Cosper
Head of Consulting, Rhythm Systems

Chris Cosper is a former CEO who understands first - hand the challenges and complexities of leading a mid - market company in times of growth and change. She has a reputation for creating win - win solutions, driving innovation, and empowering her teams. Today, as Head of Consulting at Rhythm Systems, she not only continues to work directly with clients but also leads and mentors a staff of highly sought after consultants who have facilitated thousands of consulting sessions around the world and across a wide spectrum of industries.

With an extensive background in manufacturing and retail, Chris worked her way up to CEO of The Warren Featherbone Company, a U.S. based children’s apparel manufacturer. Prior to accepting her current role at Rhythm Systems, she served as principal at Change Partners, LLC, a consulting company focused on corporate culture as a driving force behind company success. Chris holds a BS in Management from Georgia Tech and an MBA in Leadership from Brenau University.

Chris is a co-author of Amazon best - seller Predictable Results: How Successful Companies Tackle Growth Challenges and Win.

Claudette Cunitz
Staffing Industry Consultant, CC Advisors Group, LLC

Claudette brings a rare combination of successful staffing firm ownership, sales acumen, and operations excellence to her clients. Over the course of Claudette’s career, she has a proven track record of improving sales by growing the bottom line, managing operational standards, and finding efficiency opportunities. By continually improving her own firm for the changing demands placed on staffing, she is an expert in assisting owners and leaders in change management.

Additionally, Claudette served as a board member and officer of the American Staffing Association national board of directors for 12 years. She is ASA certified in both CSP and TSC.

Alison Daley
Founder & CEO, Recruiting Innovation

Alison Daley is the Founder & CEO of Recruiting Innovation, the online certification platform for technical recruiters. She is a national speaker, moderator, training facilitator and thought leader on tech recruitment. Alison combines her decade in international recruitment with her experience as a UX Researcher to incorporate the framework of product design into the recruiting process. She is on a mission to help recruiters and sales teams to ‘Talk Tech’.

Vincent Devoe
Senior Business Application Manager, Signature Consultants

Vincent “Vinnie” Devoe serves as Senior Business Applications Manager at Signature Consultants. With 17+ years at Signature, Vinnie has supported the growth of the company in various capacities, serving as Senior Resource Manager and Manager of Development Programs before moving into his current role 5 years ago. Vinnie played an integral part in building out Signature’s award-winning training and development department. He currently manages the evolution of internal business technologies and solutions and has successfully deployed numerous technologies to improve efficiencies across Signature’s 28 offices including Bullhorn, Daxtra, Herefish, Cornerstone, Broadbean, and UpGlide.

Vinnie holds a B.S. in business administration with a concentration in management from Merrimack College.

Matt Eckert
EVP Sales, Genuent

Matt Eckert joined Genuent as Executive Vice President – Business Development, North America in 2014. Matt is responsible for leading the business development efforts for all lines of business covering Rochester, New York City, Atlanta , Houston, Dallas, Southern California and Sacramento markets. Under Matt’s leadership, Genuent has improved key financial indicators including Gross Margin Percentage and EBITA.

Prior to joining Genuent, he was Principal at UHY Advisors leading their resource solutions practice, focused on talent management solutions around technology, finance, accounting, and internal audit. Previously, Matt was Managing Director for Experis, formerly known as COMSYS, responsible for leading the Houston market with annual revenues of $70 million. Under Matt’s leadership, the Houston market grew 35% and was the top market in the Experis organization peaking at 525 billable consultants.

Jennifer Emerson
Talent Acquisition Specialist, Signature Consultants

Jennifer Emerson is the Talent Acquisition Specialist for Signature Consultant’s largest office in Charlotte, NC. She has been with the company for less than a year but brings six years of recruiting experience with her from her time at Wake Forest University’s School of Business, where she oversaw admissions for the Master of Science in Accountancy program.

Born in New Haven, CT, Jennifer grew up in North Carolina and studied English Literature at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She served as president of Chi Omega and Habitat for Humanity for two years each and worked part-time as a group exercise instructor, teaching yoga and kickboxing. After graduation, Jennifer worked as a National Leadership Consultant for Chi Omega Fraternity, where she traveled to over forty colleges and universities and provided onsite support on topics including membership recruitment, member engagement, and chapter operations.

Jennifer is involved in numerous non-profit organizations including the Junior League of Charlotte, where volunteers as the Chair of Heart Math Tutoring, Chi Omega, where she serves on the National Recruitment Team and as an advisor for two chapters, and Habitat for Humanity, where she volunteered as Chair of the Young Professionals group.

Jennifer and her husband, Ryan, who also works in recruiting, live in Charlotte, North Carolina and she has hopes that a dog will be in their future.

Nick Esanu
Vice President of Sales, XOR, Inc.

As the Vice President of Sales, Nick’s responsibilities vary from managing the whole sales process to constructing and managing sales teams, training new team members. With an extensive experience of over 11 years in sales and sales management, Nick is focused on strategic sales planning, enterprise deals and negotiations with clients like SAS, IKEA, ExxonMobil. Over the past 13 years, Nick has been promoting global organizations and start-ups. His main focus is on helping them develop a steady sales pipeline by using bold and innovative methods both in direct and indirect sales."

Anna Frazzetto
CDTO and President of Technology Solutions, Harvey Nash, Inc.

As Chief Digital Technology Officer and President of Technology Solutions, Anna Frazzetto leads the global technology division of Harvey Nash Inc. Focused on helping businesses expand their digital capabilities and technology resources in areas like data analytics, Cloud, social and mobile technology, Frazzetto is Harvey Nash Inc.’s chief IT solutions and outsourcing strategist. She works closely with teams around the globe and with Harvey Nash’s dedicated offshore development centers to deliver tech innovations for organizations across various industries, including: banking, insurance, healthcare, retail technology and media.

In addition to speaking globally on digital innovation and IT strategy, Frazzetto is a tireless advocate of workplace diversity and the advancement of women in technology. She currently serves as the National Chair of ARA, an organization aspiring to Attract, Retain and Advance women in IT.

Maurice Fuller
Founder, StaffingTec Conference

Maurice produces the annual StaffingTec Conference (May 5 - 7 2020 in Austin, TX) that focuses on leading edge staffing technology innovation. He also advises staffing firm leaders on technology solutions and digital strategies to improve growth and profitability. Previously, Maurice served on the leadership teams for two of the largest and fastest growing IT staffing firms in the Pacific Northwest. He has more than twenty years of IT staffing industry and staffing technology leadership experience.

Eric Gregg
Founder, ClearlyRated

Eric Gregg, founder of ClearlyRated, 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.

Michael Haffey
Managing Partner, Pendella, LLC

Michael is the Managing Partner at Pendella, providing leadership and guidance to Pendella’s various department heads and ensuring continuity when it comes to Pendella’s vision, overall strategy, and business development. Michael's passion for over 30 years has been creating and deploying innovative strategies to assist employers , Associations and their employees in controlling their health insurance spend while allowing access to the best healthcare and moving them towards real wellness and total health.

Michael is known as an innovator and a Thought Leader within the employee benefits industry and has taken an industry-leading position in Association Health Plan deployment using next-generation benefit strategies.

In the 25 years prior to joining Pendella, Michael provided leadership in the employee benefits industry as both a founder and principal of three successful insurance agencies and was a part of the executive leadership team at one of the nation's top-ten independent insurance brokerage firms. As an entrepreneur and business owner himself (Agency Associates Inc, Gravie LLC, AHP MastermindsLLC, Next Generation Benefits, LLC), Michael understands the importance of meeting business owners and their employees “where they are financially” and helping them thrive by taking care of their employees and providing strategic solutions that allow them to reach their business goals. Michael is a nationally published author and a frequent speaker to groups hoping to learn more about the ever-changing health plan space.

Michael and his wife of 30+ years, Catherine, make their home in Naples FL after spending 20 years in Indianapolis raising their family. Their family consists of Jack and Mary, both student-athletes at Florida State University. Michael and Cathy enjoy traveling, cycling, plant-based cooking, and animal rescue.

Mike Hammond
Senior Associate, Hammond Law Group

Mike is a partner and the Chair of the U.S. Immigration Group of CKR Law. Prior to merging with CKR Law, Mike was the founder and managing partner of Hammond Law Group for 25+ years. Mike’s practice focuses on the IT and healthcare sectors. He is a regular speaker for trade associations TechServe Alliance and SIA.

Larry Hemley
President, S.J.Hemley Marketing

Larry Hemley founded S.J.Hemley Marketing after 15 years of guiding marketing for technology, healthcare, scientific, clinical, and engineering professional staffing firms as well as 5 years in sales and sales management. After working with some of the nation’s leading staffing firms and driving ROI generating marketing efforts, he set a path for working with small and mid - market firms to assist i n driving their growth. From strategy development to branding and lead generation to supporting it all with market research and analysis, he is driving home the message that brand matters, but not without ROI.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Larry Hemley joined Eliassen Group in October of 2008. His responsibilities included the creation, strategic development and implementation of all marketing including websites, collateral, marketing programs, social media, tradeshows and career fairs, advertising, and dire ct mail as well as public relations for the entire company.

Prior to joining Eliassen Group, he served as Vice President of Marketing for On Assignment, a diversified professional staffing firm, providing flexible and permanent staffing solutions for Healthcare, Scientific, IT and Engineering. In his four years with On Assignment, he was responsible for rebranding the company, creating new web properties, driving marketing programs and being part of the team to integrate two major acquisitions.

Prior to joining On Assignment, he served as Director of Marketing and Communications for COMSYS Information Technology Services (now Experis, a division of Manpower), one of the nation’s premier providers of IT staffing and solutions. Larry is a former Professor of Advertising at the University of Houston where he spent five years. As an advertising competition class, he guided his class to a national championship for the university in 1993.

John Higginson
Chief Technology Officer, Enova International

John is the Chief Technology Officer at Enova International, a large publicly-traded FinTech company based in Chicago that's extended over $20B in credit to customers across the globe. At Enova, John is responsible for driving the company’s technology strategy to leverage advanced digital experiences and data science to deliver on its mission to help hard-working people access fast, trustworthy credit.

In addition to his work at Enova, John is a member of the board of directors for the Illinois Technology Association, and a member, investor, and advisor with Hyde Park Angels. He also serves an adjunct professor at Lewis University teaching MBA courses on technology, business ethics, and entrepreneurship.

John is a frequent writer and speaker on D&I, technology, leadership: He has spoken at the Chicago Women in Tech Conference, ARA, DisruptHR, and TechWeek. His writing has been featured in Forbes and ITA as well as Enova’s own blog.

Prior to Enova, John served as the CTO for FTD Companies, Wheels, and Applied Systems. Flowers, cars, insurance, and money: proof that technology powers every facet of our lives.

John holds a B.A. from Northern Illinois University and M.S. in IT and Privacy Law, with honors from The John Marshall Law School.

Jim Janesky
Senior Advisor, Corporate Advisory Group, Peapack-Gladstone Bank

Jim Janesky is a Senior Advisor within the Corporate Advisory team at Peapack-Gladstone Bank. Jim’s focus is to provide unbiased, advice-led guidance to companies within the Business Services sector on sell side, buy side, corporate finance, and corporate development activities. Prior to joining Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Jim Janesky led the Business Services Investment Banking Group at Corporate Fuel Advisors, a boutique investment banking firm in New York. Before Corporate Fuel, Jim spent over 15 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.

Lauren Jones
Vice President, Talent Technology Resources & Strategy, Volt Workforce Solutions

Lauren Jones has been a leader, influencer and innovator in the staffing industry for 20 years. As Vice President of Talent Technology at Volt 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. Her Goat Leadership blog is featured on the Top 25 Life Leadership Blogs list . Lauren is a recent empty nes ter and proud mom to two powerhouse young lady leaders Emily & Allison. She lives on a farm in Elk Grove, CA with her husband Peter.

William S. Josey
Business and Staffing Industry Attorney, Compliance Consultant, William S. Josey, LLC

William (Bill) Josey provides General Counsel and consulting services to staffing firms that appreciate having access to an experienced, practical and cost-effective resource. His service areas include general legal guidance and advice; contingent workforce and human resource issues; contract review, negotiation and drafting; litigation management and outside counsel oversight; employment law; non-compete law; marketing and trademark protection; wage/hour law; corporate law; risk management; and compliance consulting.

John Larson
Principle, Keen Insights Associates

Mr. Larson has thirty years of senior operational management experience , ranging from entrepreneurial driven companies to F500 enterprises . He was the president of three IT Staffing firms before acquiring his own firm, Cohesion Consulting in Baltimore. Cohesion consolidated two entities and acquired three smaller firms over a six - year period. Larson and his partner recently sold their company to a large national staffing firm which has private equity support. He currently serves on the TechServe Alliance Board of Directors as an At - Large Board member.

Neil Lebovits
Vice President, Global Search & Recruiting Support Division, People 2.0

Neil Lebovits, CPA, CPC, CTS, is the Vice President, Global Search & Recruiting Support Division for People 2.0. People 2.0 is a leading global provider of vendor - neutral back - office solutions for contingent workface management organizations.

Neil comes to People 2.0 after serving in various high - profile roles across the industry’s top - echelon organizations, including global president for Adecco and president and COO of Ajilon Professional Staffing in North America, where he oversaw over 300 of fices.

In 2009, Neil founded the industry - leading company, The Dynamic Sale — a multi - faceted back - office platform providing learning, coaching, consulting, speaking, strategy, and development services to staffing companies and recruiters.

Hank Levine
President & CEO, iPlace USA

Hank Levine is the President and CEO of iPlace USA , the largest company providing professionally managed sourcing and recruiting services for companies throughout the world from India. He has 37 years of experience in sales, business development, marketing, and general management. Hank has created the marketing and business strategy for six companies – four of which were acquired for a total of $92 million. He has a Master’s in Management from the Sloan School at MIT and Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Hank spearheaded the development of LaunchPad, iPlace’s secret weapon. LaunchPad is an innovative “company operating system” based on gamification. LaunchPad’s success in driving iPlace’s growth has motivated Hank to spread the word about how gamification can improve employee engagement and productivity. To this end, he has spoken at the StaffingTec and Recruiting Trends conferences, and the Hire Power Radio podcasts about how progressive companies are using gamification to scale their operations, align company and client goals, improve the health and wellness of their employees, and even eliminate performance reviews. He hopes to inspire companies to gamify their employees and make work fun and engaging, while increasing revenue and productivity.

Dana Look-Arimoto
Executive Coach, Speaker & Author, Phoenix5, LLC

Dana has always left a legacy behind. She believes strongly in leaving things better than she found them, and her record shows it. While working at SIA as Senior VP of Strategy and Solutions, Dana co - launched the industry’s first - ever buyside conference, research council, advisory practice, and speaker bureau. This resulted in a complete organizational structure change to scale and ultimately sell the founder's company, along with the CEO and Chief Analyst, to Crain Communications. During her time as Global Vice President at TAPFIN, Dana designed, collaborated, and led the Global Managed Services (BPO) Center of Excellence for TAPFIN. By working with 66 country experts across sales, finance, legal, tax, operations, back office, and implementations , her team delivered standardized methods across Fortune Company clients while honoring nuances within each region, country, and province. Dana also directed a team of market intel and thought leader experts, mining proprietary data and correlating it with externally available market and economic data, to create and launch the first - ever company Contingent Workforce Index. Today, this is not only a Global Index but the basis for a new revenue model. Dana left TAPFIN to join ICon Professional Services (now TalentWave), where she served as COO and President of Alliances and Advisory Services. As COO, she led growth initiatives that resulted in the final transaction to a substantial private equity exit for the owner/founder of ICon within 18 months, doubling the company’s revenues by developing and executing against a three - horizon plan ahead of timeline by ten months. As President, she was an architect of change and led the industry’s first alliance and advisory practice. She was responsible for the team of experts who jump started TalentWave’s growth engine with the vision of revolutionizing the way companies and freelancers take the first step to becoming compliant.

The aforementioned successes and her 20+ years of experience led her to be recognized as a Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2015 Woman of Influence , a judge for the 2016 and 2017 Stevie Awards in the Individual/Female Executive Award categories , and a member of SIA’s Global Power 150 for the Women in Staffing category in 2018 . She has also spoken at a variety of international keynotes and expert panels within the talent ecosystem for such notable companies as Fieldglass, PeopleFluent, Allegis, and TAPFIN. She has also presented at industry events such as SIA’s CW Solution, SIA’s Executive Forum, and the TechServe Alliance Annual Conference. Not satisfied to only talk about her opinions and thoughts, she has published pieces in SI Review, CW 3.0, HRO, Compliance Week, The Fordyce Letter, and Institute Supply Management Magazine, among many others. Helping companies anticipate “what’s next” is a specialty of hers.

Today, Dana has started her own consulting and advisory firm, Phoenix 5 , embarking on the next phase of her career as an advisor, coach, speaker, and mentor, evangelizing a new mindset: Stop Settling®. Phoenix 5 transforms individuals and organizations holistically in an accelerated way with maximum return. Stop Settling builds on that vision by offering a sustainable alternative to the work - life balance myth through a simple composite StrataGEM® charting that frees companies and professionals from giving in and giving up on sustainable success. With that in mind, Dana has begun coaching and advising an elite and like - minded team of Fortune, Staffing, and Digital Platform leaders, while collaborating with thought leaders and innovators of all kinds, to revolutionize the way we work and lead the voice of the new talent movement. She is a Founder and Global Staffing Evangelist for SOAR and also serves as a member of the advisory boards for Opolis, Reboot Accel, VNDLY, Shiftgig, and LNQ Systems.

Tom Nunn
President, Tom Nunn Consulting, LLC

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.

Michael Paradise
CEO, Sysazzle

Michael Paradise is the CEO at Sysazzle, Inc (Business & Information Technology systems). Michael’s experience in the business, non - profit and government sectors has helped Sysazzle become an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company. Michael’s unique path to CEO of a respected, growing information technology staffing firm has been a major factor in Sysazzle’s success.

Over the past 20 years, Michael has personally accompanied and provided logistical, event and travel support for President Clinton, Mrs. Obama, Dr. Biden, Vice - President Gore, and other high - ranking government officials and their families during domestic and international travels. Michael’s meticulous planning, “can - do” attitude, proven results and trustworthiness subsequently led to his joining the largest association of information technology staffing companies, based in Washington, D.C., where he helped affect government policy on the major issues facing the technology industry: wage and hour laws, immigration, employment taxes and independent consulting, technology education investments, and similar issues.

Michael’s broad understanding of the technology industry, and his results - driven approach, led to several offers by company executives to work in that industry, and in 2000 he joined a start - up venture founded by alumni of Network Solutions (the original domain registry company) and funded by NEA. Within a couple of years Michael moved to California and became a top producer at an information technology firm serving the entertainment, healthcare, financial services industries.

In 2008, Michael and his business partner created an information technology services company to help clients develop and maintain information technology SYStems that dAZZLE — resulting in Sysazzle. Michael and his Sysazzle team bring the same excellent level of service to information technology clients that he has demonstrated throughout his career — and The White House and high - level government officials still call upon him to plan domestic and overseas trips for them.

This combination of experience and skills, and the ability to deliver results, distinguishes Michael and Sysazzle in the highly competitive information staffing industry.

Mark Roberts
CEO, TechServe Alliance

Mark Roberts is CEO of TechServe Alliance, the national trade association serving IT and engineering staffing and solutions firms. Roberts is a noted authority and spokesperson on industry trends. Under his leadership since 2003, the organization has expanded significantly moving beyond traditional association offerings creating multiple innovative programs designed to drive member firm growth and profitability. From its unique member-owned insurance program, account executive and recruiter certification, Excellence Awards, to contract and compliance assistance hotline and sales and recruiter management programs, Roberts has led the organization through its transformation.

Before joining TechServe Alliance, Mr. Roberts was a partner in the Labor and Employment Group of a major law firm and served four years on Capitol Hill. He earned his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his law degree with distinction from Emory University. Mr. Roberts currently serves as a member of the Labor Relations Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He has been repeatedly named to the Staffing Industry 100 List and is a member of the Hall of Fame.

Carole Schlocker
Queen of iSpace, iSpace

Carole Schlocker has been with iSpace since it was founded and has been instrumental in building the company’s foundation base of clients. Prior to joining iSpace, Carole was Sr. Vice President of D.P Specialists where she was one of the principal contributors in building the company into one of the premier IT Staffing and Solutions companies in S. California. She stared her IT career at Candle Corporation where she was Manager of West Coast Technical Support.

Carole is passionate about the IT Staffing business and has placed thousands of people in full time and contract positions. She believe that her background in social work is one of the main reasons for her success and longevity in the business.

Carole is currently on several Boards including The Westside Center of Independent Living (wcil.org), Stem Advantage (stemadvantage.org) , The Association of IT Professionals (Los Angeles Chapter), The Southland Technology Conference (ww.sotecconference.org) and is also Chair of the Speakers Committee for the annual Southland Technology Conference. She is also a long time member of the UCLA I.S. Associates and has served on their board. She is a past Board Member of Tech Serve Alliance. She was the Co-Director of the Los Angeles Chapter of Women in Technology and helped to build the chapter from the ground up. Carole holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Temple University.

Irina Shamaeva
Chief Sourcer, Brain Gain Recruiting

Irina Shamaeva is a recognized leader in Sourcing, Social Recruiting, and Internet Research. She is Partner and Chief Sourcer at Brain Gain Recruiting, an executive search firm.

In addition to sourcing for her agency, Irina takes on Sourcing /Name Generation/Internet Research projects across numerous industries and geographies – which she loves doing!

Irina shares her discoveries, tips, and strategies in her blog Boolean Strings, international conference presentations, and lectures. She is Founder and Trainer at People Sourcing Certification Program, which has become the program of choice for recruiters worldwide. Tens of thousands of professionals have attended Irina’s webinarson Search Engines, LinkedIn, Social Recruiting, Internet Research, and productivity tools.

Irina’s most recent venture is SocialList.io, an online research tool for quickly assembling high-precision lists of professionals from social network profiles.

Harvey Shulman
Owner, Expert Advice and Counsel

Harvey Shulman, a co-founder and general counsel (1987-1999) for NACCB (now TechServe Alliance), has provided legal advice to 150+ IT companies for 30 years, including in hundreds of lawsuits and government investigations regarding overtime and wage payments, independent contractors, non-competes, client / supplier / VMS disputes, and more. Clients respect Harvey’s legal knowledge and practical approach to problem solving. Harvey received NACCB's Lifetime Achievement Award and is considered a “computer pioneer” by the Computer History Museum.

Dave Smith
Co-Founder & COO, Triple Crown Consulting

Triple Crown Consulting is a recruitment firm focused on internal efficiency, proven client solutions, and long-lasting relationships with the markets’ best hardware and software talent. Under Dave’s leadership, Triple Crown has grown to 5 offices over 15 years with their sixth office opening in Raleigh-Durham January, 2020. Dave’s focus today is on management, operations and ensuring optimal delivery of our service to both the candidates who require them and the customers who depend on them.

Triple Crown has averaged 55% year-over-year growth following their brand strategy implementation in 2016. A 24 year veteran in tech recruitment, Dave earned his undergraduate degree from Williams College where he also played football, and is a graduate of Harvard’s Business School of Executive Education.

Christine Stone
VP, Office of Program Management, Brookfield Properties

Christine Stone is a strategist, connector and coach. Christine's career began with technical project management - quickly evolving into project recovery, developing top performing IT teams, building business technical strategies and financial plans, then changing and building IT organizations to execute.

Currently with Brookfield Properties as the VP of PMO, Christine leads Strategic Planning, Budget, Governance and Talent Development for IT, and honed her skills at VW/Audi, EMC2 Dell, McDonald’s and consulting firms. Leading technical change and developing people is a natural part of Christine’s approach, formalized in her graduate work in Organizational Behavior. She mentors with Chicago Innovation, is active with the Chicago Women in Tech community including ARA, i.c.Stars, Chicago Executive Women’s network and others. She is an organic connector of technology and people and an author of articles and a book on work-life balance.

Akash Taneja
Managing Director, De Bellas & Co., LLC

Akash joined De Bellas & Co. as an associate in 2008 and now serves as Managing Director focuses 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. Akash 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. Akash received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from California State University, Long Beach.

Michael Testa
Chief Executive Officer, Testa Consulting Services

Michael J. Testa, a cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, has over three decades of experience in the Information Technology industry. Specializing in IT Consulting and Recruiting, he also has a strong background in banking, manufacturing, distribution, and public utilities. Testa’s previous employers include Top 500 companies BNY Mellon and ThermoFisher Scientific, as well as startup firm, KCS Computer Services. In 1997, Testa decided to apply his extensive skillset to incorporate Testa Consulting Services and is known as “The Right Geek for the Job.” He has become a leader in the Industry and has twice been ranked as a Top 100 Fastest Growing Company in the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Testa Consulting Services, is a longstanding member of the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the TechServe Alliance. A former board member of TechServe Alliance and WQED (PBS), he is currently Secretary/Director of Membership, Member Benefits Committee Chair, of the Three River s Business Alliance, the LGBT Chamber of Commerce i n Pittsburgh. Testa has also served his community as the immediate past President of Equality Pennsylvania, raising millions of dollars and advancing inclusion and policy statewide. He proudly authored and published his personal coming out experience following a straight marriage with two sons. The book is titled, “When Opposites No Longer Attract,” and can be purchased through his personal website www.michaeljtesta.com.

Sue Thaden
President & Chief Executive Officer, CRi

In 1999, Sue started CRi. As the 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 DI & DII colleges, tournaments 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. She has received several leadership awards including the “40 under 40” leadership award from the Midlands Business Journal and is a graduate of Leadership Omaha, a program which develops local executives into community leaders.

Sue is a member of TechServe Alliance (TSA), based in Washington D.C., was the 2014 Chairman of the TSA Board and current Chair of the TSA’s Government Affairs Committee. She serves on Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s Public Policy Council. Sue serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for Information Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) and is the Chair of the Women in IT Fund Task Force for the University. Sue helped start a hugely successful program with UNO to increase interest and awareness for young women in IT called “CodeCrush”. Sue joined the board of the Omaha Community Foundation in 2016 and is currently a University of Nebraska Trustee.

Michael Tosto
National Recruiting Director, Harvey Nash, Inc.

Since joining Harvey Nash in 2005, Michael Tosto has played a critical role in the growth of the company’s IT recruiting services and talent resources across the dynamic New York region. Starting as a recruiting manager, he quickly rose to regional director of recruiting after demonstrating extensive understanding of business needs across the marketplace. Michael previously worked in Germany for the global IT executive search and recruitment firm Antal International. He received his BBA in international business from Schiller International University in Heidelberg.

Anastasia Valentine
President, Managing Partner, Resource 1

As the President and Managing Partner of Resource 1, Anastasia is responsible for technical infrastructure/architecture, technical recruiting, marketing and human resources initiatives. With over 20 years at Resource 1, she is on the Board of Directors involved in the overall strategic planning and implementation of long and short-term goals. Over the last 25 years, Anastasia has assisted global organizations in developing leading edge technology through identifying and positioning talent.

Anastasia is a two-time recipient of the Staffing Industry Analysts “Hackathon” award, featured technology panelist for StaffingTec, TechServe Alliance, Staffing Industry Analysts and featured in “Woman in Staffing” spotlight from ClearEdge Marketing.

Leslie Vickery
CEO, ClearEdge Marketing

Seeing a need for business-minded marketing solutions that were as agile as the industries they served, Leslie Vickrey founded ClearEdge Marketing in 2006. As CEO, Leslie leads a team of more than 40 top-notch marketers that help technology, software, professional services and staffing clients differentiate themselves from competitors through services like Branding, PR, and Digital Marketing. 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 Chicago Innovation; was recognized by The Chicago Tribune's Blue Sky Vault, featuring 100 of Chicago’s most compelling innovators and entrepreneurs; is part of UIC Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame; and was named one of the 2016 Enterprising Women of the Year. Prior to ClearEdge, Leslie was Marketing Director at industry-leading staffing and recruiting firm Spherion. Earlier in her career, she held roles at McDonald’s and Junior Achievement.

Manuel Vidal
Chief Executive Officer, The Matlen Silver Group

Manuel Vidal is the Chief Executive Officer of The Matlen Silver Group. After starting his career as a recruiter in the staffing industry, Mr. Vidal rapidly rose through the organization and held positions as a Sales Executive, Sales Lead, COO (2012 - 2019) before stepping into the CEO role in 2019.

Mr. Vidal is a dynamic CEO who has worked in the IT staffing industry for over 23 years. His passion around helping consultants take the next step in their career path while supporting clients’ critical IT projects in their organizations has led him to take the helm of and lead one of the fastest-growing IT staffing firms in the industry.

Mr. Vidal believes that by creating a company with a strong culture of “doing the right thing” for its employees, consultants, and clients, growth becomes a natural outcome. Mr. Vidal is an industry visionary and feels strongly that the future of the staffing industry lies in focusing on how we engage our talent in order to retain top talent and meet the high demand of ever-changing skillset needs in IT. By building strong relationships with consultants and partnering with them in their career progression, they will choose to work with Matlen Silver, where they know they are valued.

Mr. Vidal is a graduate of Mansfield University. He enjoys coaching soccer, traveling to visit family in the Azores, and spending time with his wife, two sons, and twin daughters.

David Williamson
Regional Executive, The Hanover Insurance Group

David Williamson, Regional Executive at The Hanover Insurance Group, has 29 years of insurance experience.  He started his as a Plant Manager for a biomedical device manufacturer in Charlottesville, VA.  His insurance career began in 1990 as a Loss Control Consultant.

David earned a B.A. in Biology from The Virginia Military Institute in 1989.  He earned an M.B.A. from Loyola University in 2001.

He is married to Lee (28 years) and has two children, Michael (21) and Kieffer (17) and resides in Oakton, VA.  They have been in their current home for nearly 10 years after stops in Baltimore, Denver, Philadelphia, Baltimore (again) and Richmond.

David is an avid runner and sports enthusiast.  His favorite teams include the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Capitals and Baltimore Orioles (unfortunately).

Theresa Zandi
Principal Owner, Centurion Consulting Group

A recognized leader in the I T services and management consulting industry, Theresa brings over 20 years of experience to Centurion. She started her career in staffing as a recruiting and delivery management professional, which included opening a fledgling office in Dallas, TX as well as managing a team in Atlanta, GA. To continue career diversification, Theresa transitioned to the client relationship side of the business where she thrived as a business development executive and ultimately a managing director, running a branch office for a top firm in Atlanta, GA.

She returned to the Washington, D.C. area to spend the next 18 years leading the global recruiting, national consultant care and regional operations teams for three nationally - ranked firms. This included the development and growth of a regional recruiting organization that led to its acquisition.

Her expertise includes strong relationship selling with Fortune 500 clients, effective organizational management and proven cutting edge recruiting skills of top technical talent.

Theresa’s passion lies in direct recruiting engagement, and training others to build relationships, handle objections, negotiate strategically and deliver excellence.