Katherin Nukk-Freeman

Co-Founder / President and Chief Culture Officer, SHIFT HR Compliance Training

Katherin is the Co-Founder and President of SHIFT HR Compliance Training and a passionate advocate for building better workplaces. As a dynamic employment law advisor, training instructor and industry thought leader, Katherin partners with clients to develop and implement strategies to manage risk, comply with the law, increase productivity and create an overall better workplace. She is a highly sought-after speaker and considered the industry leader on the subject of addressing “”Unconscious Bias”” in the workplace.
As a practicing employment law attorney for the past twenty-four years, Katherin has grown her highly successful Employment Law firm, Nukk­ Freeman & Cerra, P.C., by focusing her practice on working with clients to proactively address and effectively manage workplace issues including harassment and discrimination complaints and unconscious bias awareness. Katherin strives to avoid costly litigation and create more inclusive teams through high quality training that helps employees be more mindful of their actions and decisions in the workplace. Since October 2018, Katherin has also served on the Board of Directors for ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNOB).
In 2014, leveraging her years of experience as a trusted advisor to corporate leaders and organizations, Katherin co-founded SHIFT to provide innovative, engaging and impactful online training services for businesses of all sizes from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. SHIFT HR Compliance Training delivers compliance training to human resource departments, executives,
management teams and employees nationwide. Katherin works with human resources management professionals providing guidance and instruction enabling them to better manage and proactively address their training programs and many other employment law issues thereby avoiding costly litigation for their companies. As a champion for forward-looking employment law applications, Katherin is a frequent presenter on employment law issues and has authored countless articles on current employment law “hot topics”.

Jack Gottlieb

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Total Solutions Group

Jack Gottlieb is a results generating executive with 20 years of proven high-level success in building and turning around organizations to achieve their optimal potential and performance. Jack is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of the Total Solutions Group a strategic consulting and results-based training firm. The mission is to drive the results that are Really Most Important™ for an organization to fully thrive in the marketplaces they operate in while delivering the solutions their customers truly need. They ensure this generates the results that their people will take ownership of and replicate going forward for their organization.  TSG’s work is centered around becoming a strategic partner to their clients to uncover,  build and drive forward the change they need while holding them accountable throughout the process. They bring distinct capability in culture/organizational transformation, organization wide strategic planning & alignment, leadership development (executive level down to first time managers), L&D optimization and large-scale change management.

Some of the transformation and impact TSG has achieved has been:

• Growth: Lead the transformation of a global market leader to build a growth-oriented culture and structure that further protects and enhanced their core business. From that we moved into 2 new business verticals through both organic and acquisition-based strategy that will increase overall profit margins by 10% in North America, 25% in EMEA and 25% in APAC
• Capability: Taking a $5 billion organization and helping to lead it into $10 billion in 18 months less time than projected on their 10-year plan through the transforming of their L&D department culture, strategy, approach and partnership with the C-Suite
• Culture: Taking a multibillion-dollar organization and transforming their specific site in Silicon Valley which houses 12 different business units and 7 corporate research departments and aligning that to become 1 site by building, launching and activating a site identity, culture and strategy to fully align these teams to focus on driving greater impact, innovation and growth in Making Life Better

Prior to and while leading the Total Solutions Group Jack served as

• Chief Executive Officer, Chief Culture Officer and Chief Learning Officer at 2 Credit Unions and one global engineering and testing company: Focus to build the culture, strategy and capability needed lead their growth (organic or M&A) and/or turnaround
• Senior Consultant & Trainer for Dale Carnegie Training where he led large scale strategic change and customized on-site training for their clients while also driving growth and expansion in New Jersey
• Director of Corporate Partnerships at a sport marketing firm where he achieved strategic growth for corporate clients and sports properties such as the NFL, PGA, ATP & WTA

Jack has a relentless passion for higher education and is actively involved with two universities.

• The first is Kutztown University where he is the Chair of the College of Business Advisory Board. His mission is to fully unleash and align the full potential of the students, faculty, alumni and business community to achieve breakthrough results for KU in real student impact, growth and position as an elite developer of the future business leaders
• The second is with Rider University with their Center for the Development of Leadership Skills. He helped build their core leadership skills program which provided students the real-time skills and practice to develop the confidence, skills and plan to truly succeed when they graduate. Rider University is one of the top universities in the country by Leadership Excellence Magazine for outstanding leadership development

Jack received B.S. from Kutztown University in Marketing/Management with a concentration in I/O Psychology. He lives with his wife Jennifer in Jackson, NJ and their 2 children Allison & Brandon and their dog Baymax.

Regina Clark

Chief Learning Officer, Creative Performance Solutions, LLC

Regina M. Clark, CSP is a sought-after international speaker, author and founder of Creative Performance Solutions, LLC, a leadership development consulting firm in Goshen, NY. For the past 25 years, Regina has been helping leaders and teams improve their performance. Regina is a professional member of the National Speakers Association who received her Certified Speaking Professional designation in 2005, a designation held by less than 10 women in New York State. She is also a SHRM approved speaker who has spoken in 40 states and five countries.

Kelly Merbler

International Leadership Coach & Founding Principal, The Kelly Merbler Company, LLC

Kelly Merbler is one of the foremost leadership consultants in the human resources industry having been featured as a contributing writer for Inc. Magazine, traveled with Dr. John C. Maxwell to share his leadership teachings with foreign governments and was profiled in the book Living a Life of Tin Can Moments. She is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and member of The John Maxwell Team. Kelly has served as president of The Florida Staffing Association for the last four years.

She discovered her passion in life several years ago while attending a leadership conference where her soon-to-be mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell, was the keynote speaker. It was there she came became keenly aware of her interest and passion in helping other leaders discover their purpose in life.
Kelly spent twenty-one years as a regional executive with a global staffing organization where she was responsible for leading, hiring, developing and building successful sales and operations teams. She knows that the secret of success is hiring good talent which begins with identifying what people do best and aligning them in the right role for maximum impact.
Kelly Merbler is the founding Principal of The Kelly Merbler Company, LLC which is a leadership consulting firm based in South Florida specializing in Strengths-Based employee engagement and retention programs, culture building, keynote speaking, executive coaching and leadership development programs.

Robyn Hatcher

Founder and CEO, SpeakEtc.

Robyn Hatcher, is a dynamic keynote speaker, communication expert, author, thought leader and award-winning actor. Robyn transforms the careers of business leaders and the culture of organizations, through custom corporate programs, private coaching, and interactive, content rich presentations. Using her 15 plus years in the entertainment industry and her experience as a certified Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioner, she inspires. She invigorates. She leaves you with tangible skills you can apply the very next day. In 2018, Robyn appeared on Good Morning America speaking about the “Me Too” movement and was named one of the ’21 Leaders for the 21st Century’ in 2019 by Women’s eNews!

Patrick McCauley

Command Sergeant Major (Retired)

CSM (R) Patrick McCauley is an accomplished Special Operations veteran who distinguished himself leading this nation’s most elite Special Operations organizations in diverse and challenging combat environments. Serving in the U.S. military for over 33 years, he culminated his career as the ninth Command Senior Enlisted Leader for the U.S. Special Operations Command.

CSM McCauley initially entered service with The United States Marine Corps in 1986, attending boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Upon completion of his training, he was trained as an Armor Crewman at Ft. Knox, KY and subsequently assigned to A Company, 8th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division.

In 1988, CSM McCauley transferred to the U.S. Army where he would serve tours with the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea and the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas before volunteering and completing the demanding pipeline to become a Green Beret. Upon successful completion of his training, he was assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group at Ft. Bragg, NC. In 1995, he volunteered to try out for the U.S. Army’s Special Mission Unit where he would go on to serve for more than 20 years, culminating as the Command Sergeant Major for the organization.

In June 2015, CSM McCauley was selected for U.S. Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) where he served for just over a year before being personally selected by General Tony Thomas to be the Command Senior Enlisted Leader for the 73,000 personnel that make up U.S. Special Operations Capability. CSM McCauley has deployed multiple times throughout his career, supporting Operations JOINT ENDEAVOR, UPHOLD DEMOCRACY, ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, and INHERENT RESOLVE. He has completed the following military courses: Warrior Leader’s Course, Special Forces Assessment and Selection, Special Forces Qualification Course, Advanced Leaders Course, Ranger Course, Basic Airborne Course, Arabic Course, French Course, Static Line Jumpmaster Course, Free Fall Parachutist Course, Free Fall Jumpmaster Course, Senior Leaders Course, United States Army Sergeant Major Academy, the Summit Course, and the Keystone Course at the National Defense University.

CSM McCauley’s awards and decorations include the following: Distinguished service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with V-Device and 5 Oak Leaf Clusters, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Combat Infantry Badge, Military Free Fall Jumpmaster Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, and Danish Parachutist Badge.

CSM McCauley graduated Suma Cum Laude from Norwich University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Strategic Studies and earned an M.S. in Organizational Leadership from the University of Charleston.

CSM McCauley currently resides with his wife of 32 years, Starla, in Kalispell, MT. Their two children, Colton and Andrea, are both college graduates and successful professionals in their own right. Colton and his wife Samantha recently welcomed Patrick and Starla’s first grandchild, Avett in October.

Patrick is currently an Operating Partner at Data Collective Venture Capital (DCVC), a partner at Gothams Defense, and independent leadership consultant.

Christa Degnan Manning

Director of Human Capital Management Innovation, Ultimate Software

Christa Degnan Manning is Ultimate Software’s Director of Human Capital Management Innovation. She is a research-driven thought leader who helps organizations and individuals understand and use the latest technologies to improve workplace productivity and performance. Frequently quoted by leading business and trade media, Christa has presented on trends, leading practices, and technology challenges and benefits at industry and user conferences globally throughout her career. Before joining Ultimate, Christa led HCM technology and services research for a number of firms including Aberdeen, AMR (acquired by Gartner), Bersin, and as an independent analyst.

Dionne Griffin McGee

Keynote “R.O.A.R” Speaker| Author| Consultant| Entrepreneur

Transformational Leader. Change agent. Thought guru. Author. Dionne Griffin McGee brings her insane energy and compelling empathy for those in leadership to her speaking, writing, and coaching roles. Her career, built on more than 20 years of corporate life, has included in excess of a decade in the executive suite. What she’s learned there has been both painful and powerful. It was in that same executive suite that she discovered the next season for her own growth and her dreams took on a new shape. Drawing on a wealth of life and work experiences, Dionne has developed a keen understanding of the power of leadership. She has made it her goal to embrace and engender that power in others. To that end, her first book was released in 2019 “Finding Your R.O.A.R.”. She has had the good fortune to travel the country to inspire thousands to chase after their dreams and goals and not settle for the status quo. Her fresh tactics rekindle hope, and spark restoration. Dionne has brought her insane energy and fierce personality to her own company, DG McGee Enterprises (DGME). Being a seasoned executive, certified Project Manager, Scrum Master, and Six Sigma (Practitioner), Dionne has a voice curtailed to ignite a room and champion a company. DGME modifies the way individuals think by encouraging them to believe in what seems impossible, just as she did for herself. Through dynamic sessions of listening and learning, building cherished relationships, and participating in phenomenal instruction, clients will learn to live a harmonious life that exceeds expectations and embraces excellence. She earned her Bachelor of Science (B.S) from North Carolina Wesleyan, Rocky Mount, NC. She is married to Corey McGee Sr., (Firefighter) and they have two beautiful children.

Fannie Glover

Director of Equity & Inclusion for ECLC and NYS SHRM Workforce Readiness Director

Ms. Glover is the Director of Special Projects- responsible for the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion efforts for the statewide network; oversight of business leaders’ engagement in the early childhood work.  She has developed and facilitated management and leadership training, strategic planning retreats, been a keynote speaker, and presented at national, regional, and state meetings and conferences.  

Ms. Glover has over 15 years in Human Resources and holds a degree in Organizational Development. To complement her training, she is a trained facilitator for Anti- Defamation League (ADL- an organization designed to build bridges of communication, understanding and respect among diverse groups), has attended national conferences, and participated in national focus groups, to enhance her continuous learning process.

Ms. Glover recently completed the BUILD Equity Leaders Action Network (ELAN) Fellowship where she represented NYS as part of a national team to advance racial equity in early childhood systems.  Ms. Glover is a board member of NYS Society Human Resources Management (NYSSHRM), NYSSHRM Workforce Readiness Director and past NYSSHRM Diversity Director, NYSSHRM Diversity Conference Chair, and past member of SHRM National Top Diversity Professional Workgroup Taskforce Member.  She is past V.P. of AIM Services Inc. board of directors, (an organization serving individuals with disabilities and brain injuries). She is past board member of the Capital Region Human Resource Association (CRHRA) and founder of the CRHRA Top Five Spectrum Award initiative.

Lois Cooper

Associate Certified Coach, Diveristy and Inclusion Consultant and Trainer, Professional Speaker and Published Author

Lois Cooper is a featured Coach and speaker for global Conferences such as The Forum on Workplace Inclusion, the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), Working Mother Media’s Multicultural Women’s Conference, Women in Cable Telecommunications and other Diversity and Inclusion thought leadership Summits. She has trained leaders and individuals regarding effective strategies to increase engagement and communication with current clients, prospective clients, peers and staff.  Lois is a Content Developer and Faculty Member of the American Management Association and an Adjunct Professor for the Graduate Human Resources Management Program of Stonybrook University. Lois also facilitates professional development initiatives across industries such as banking, media, retail and consumer services

Lois has leadership experience in organizations across a variety of industries including 16 years at Adecco Group North America, the worlds largest temporary staffing firm and the parent company of Lee Hecht Harrison where she provides services as an Executive Coach. Lois’ experience includes Employee Relations, Change Management, Conflict Resolution, Performance Management, Organizational Design and Development, Workforce and Supplier Diversity, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Her experience spans the Professional Services, Media and Entertainment and Talent Acquisition and Development fields.

In 2018, Lois was appointed to the position of Diversity Director for the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) New York State. In April 2017, Lois was awarded the Diversity In Business Award from Long Island Business News for outstanding leadership in Diversity and Inclusion. In 2016, she was named a Woman of Influence by the Urban League of Long Island. In 2015, Lois was recognized for her Remarkable Dedication and Commitment to Farmingdale State College’s STEM Diversity Program. In 2014, Lois was named as a Top Executive by Uptown Professional Magazine, a Top Influential Female in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine and a Top Diverse Leader in STEM by STEM Connector.

Lois was credentialed as an Associate Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation (ICF) in 2016. She is also certified in Motif Notation, The Method for Recording Movement Concepts and in Conflict Resolution and Violence Prevention Using Movement.  Lois is active in many community organizations including being Co-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Council for SHRM Long Island.  She is also currently involved in an initiative to educate communities regarding Diversity and Inclusion through an organization named Raising Voices. Lois received her MBA from Baruch College in New York City and her BA from American University in Washington, D.C.