Speaker Bios
Scott Hamilton
Scott Hamilton is a well-known thought leader & speaker in the field of “next practices” improvement of executive and workforce performance for emerging companies across the Global 5000. With a multi-discipline experience as an internal corporate executive and external trusted advisor, Scott has helped leaders and organizations be more effective in how they strategize and execute. His executive and organizational coaching expertise includes the development/implementation of strategic plans, advanced innovation methods, leadership team performance sessions and the pioneering use of “collective intelligence” alignment & adaptability programs. He has worked with leaders at all levels to build their strengths in order maximize team commitment, capability, focus and results in both emerging and established businesses.
Scott’s industry exposure has been both broad and deep. He has held key marketing, strategy, human resources and organization development executive roles for such companies as McDonald’s, Nestle, Bergen Brunswig, Honeywell, ARAMARK Distribution and DirecTV. Scott has also founded several businesses and built top advisory practices that have coached hundreds of C-level leaders through strategic planning, large-scale change efforts, teambuilding, merger and acquisition/integration activity teams, and developed in-house executive development programs.
Hamilton is CEO of the Executive Next Practices Institute, a global C-suite innovation focused organization that is based at UCI Beall Applied Innovation at the University of California Irvine and the Founder of NextWORKS Strategy, a premier provider of strategy development, alignment, talent management, and executive performance programs to small to middle-market companies. Both of these entities have been recognized by Forbes and the Orange County Business Journal as leaders in fields of innovation, entrepreneurship and strategic transformation.
He is a frequent keynoter and panelist to CEO groups, trade associations, private company functions and global conferences. Hamilton serves on the boards of several organizations.
Errol Arkilic
Chief Innovation Officer of UCI, and Executive Director of Beall Applied Innovation. At UCI, he leads campus‐wide commercialization activity, helping researchers turn knowledge into products and services that impact society. Prior to his role at UCI, he was founder and CEO of M34 Capital. M34 is a private investment company that focuses on seed and early‐stage projects being spun out of academic research labs. Previously, Errol was the founding and lead program director for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program (I‐Corps). Prior to this, he was the lead software and services Program Director for the NSF SBIR program. Before his government service, Errol was founder and CEO of StrataGent Lifesciences (Acquired by Corium International: CORI) and Manager of Product Engineering at Redwood Microsystems. He has a Ph.D. in Aero/Astro Engineering from MIT.
Neil Sahota
Neil Sahota (萨冠军) is the CEO of ACSI Labs, United Nations (UN) AI Advisor, IBM Master Inventor, part-time Professor at UC Irvine, author of best seller, Own the A.I. Revolution, and contributing author of Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. With 20+ years of business experience, he works with organizations to create their core business strategy, enter new markets, and develop next generation products/solutions powered by emerging technology. His work experience spans multiple industries including legal services, healthcare, life sciences, retail, travel and transportation, energy and utilities, automotive, telecommunications, media/communication, and government. Moreover, Neil is one of the few people selected for IBM's Corporate Service Corps leadership program that pairs leaders with NGOs to perform community-driven economic development projects. For his assignment, Neil lived and worked in Ningbo, China where he partnered with Chinese corporate CEOs to create a leadership development program.
In addition, Neil partners with entrepreneurs to define their products, establish their target markets, and structure their companies. He is a member of several investor groups like the Tech Coast Angels, advises venture capital funds like Miramar and CerraCap, and helped create the UN’s Innovation Factory, a global program for social impact entrepreneurs. Neil also serves as a judge in various startup competitions and mentor in several incubator/accelerator programs. He actively pursues social good and volunteers with nonprofits. Neil cofounded the UN's AI for Good Initiative and is actively helping them build out their ecosystem of strategic partnerships. He is currently helping the Zero Abuse Project prevent child sexual abuse as well as Planet Home to engage youth culture in sustainability initiatives. Over the last twelve years, he has served as a Board Director to several non-profit organizations such as the Inteleos and Computing for Humanity as well as corporate boards from around the world like Legalmation, Lingmo, and Shineville.
Delilah Panio
Delilah Panio is Vice President of U.S. Capital Formation for Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) based in Southern California. In this role, Delilah advises U.S. companies on the opportunity to list and raise capital on Canada’s premier equity markets.
Previously, Delilah spent 10 years at TSX and TSXV in business development and strategy in the Canadian head office. She has advised many companies on the going public process and provides an understanding of private and public financing options in Canada and the U.S.
Delilah is also the founder of Fortuna Funding which provides practical and intentional guidance on accessing aligned capital. She has developed a proprietary Investor Readiness Program for early-stage founders. She partnered with UBS and Coralus on Project Female Founder, a global investor ready accelerator for female founders. She is a frequent speaker, pitch competition judge and pitch coach.
Delilah is currently Chair of the Funding Committee for Women Leaders of Octane and an Advisory Board Member for MAPLE Business Council (a trade organization between Canada and Southern California), WE Global (an innovation studio for women entrepreneurs), and The Allyship (driving change for women in venture capital). She is an Activator for Coralus (formerly SheEO) and led the 2016 US launch for this financing vehicle for female and non-binary founders.
Delilah is also the Co-Founder of We Are Enough, a non-profit that educates women on why and how to invest in women-owned businesses and/or with a gender lens, which will be launching a global campaign in late 2023.
Delilah holds an MBA in Enterprise Development and a BA in English and has completed a certification as a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Master Practitioner.
Bill Edwards
William (Bill) Edwards Brief Bio – August 2023 William Edwards, CEO and Chief Global Advisor of Edwards Global Services, Inc. (EGS), has 4+ decades of international operations, development, executive, consulting, and entrepreneurial experience. Outside the USA, he has lived in China, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran and Turkey and has worked on projects in more than 50 countries in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. After a 20-year technical and executive career in international oil & gas exploration, Mr. Edwards was Master Franchisee for a U.S. franchisor in China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Turkey. He was also Senior Vice President of international operations and development for the AlphaGraphics® taking the brand into 20 new countries. Since founding EGS in 2001, he and his team based in more than 25 countries have helped 44 companies enter 30+ countries. EGS provides a complete international solution for U.S. companies going global, from the initial global market research and country prioritization to developing new international markets and providing operational support around the world. EGS has worked with Fortune 50, INC 5000, and private companies in the auto service, business services, education, software, auto service centers, beauty, property management, medical, fitness, home care, food & beverage, and pet care sectors. EGS has twice received the U.S. Presidential award for export excellence. He is also currently Chairman of the Board of the World Affairs Council of Orange County, California. Bill was recently appointed to the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Services as the U.S. franchise industry’s international trade advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and to the U.S. Trade Representative. He is active on the International Franchise Association’s International Committee and Education Advisory Council. He is Vice Chairman of the District Export Council of Southern California, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Mr. Edwards speaks around the world at conferences and universities on taking businesses international successfully. He has authored more than 50 articles on global business development. Bill publishes a biweekly global business update newsletter – Geowizard.biz - that goes to over 1,400 subscribers in 20 countries and has quarterly published the well known GlobalVue™ country-ranking tool since 2001. “To his many clients who are going global, Bill oversees overseas.” — Franchise Times
Bosco Yuen
Bosco spent the majority of his career with the Big Four, specializing in SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) compliance, SOC 1/2/3 + HIPAA + HITRUST examinations, cybersecurity and data privacy, IPO Readiness, IA (Internal Audit) co-sourcing and outsourcing, IT controls, business process controls, and specialized compliance assessments and attestations.
His client base includes a variety of industries – technology, financial services, life sciences, real estate, energy and utilities, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, professional services, higher education, not-for-profit, retail, state and local government, private equity, and third-party administrators. Bosco has provided services to clients ranging from start-ups to middle market companies to the Fortune 500 international organizations.
Holly Johnston
Holly is a highly skilled business consultant and organizational development practitioner. With over twenty years experience working with C-Suite leaders, Holly is known for delivering business solutions. She has expertise in strategic planning, M&A integration, developing high performing leaders and teams, performance management, succession management, and behavior-based competency research.
Holly’s direct style and business orientation has delivered results for both private and public companies, governmental organizations, educational institutions, and non-profits. She has in-depth experience leading in a global environment.
Holly is passionate about the people – the talent – within an organization and seeks to ensure the best and right talent is aligned with the business’s strategy.
Her belief is Strategy + Culture + Talent = Growth
As a Talent Strategist, Holly has been a leader in
organizations as large as 9000 employees, generating
$1.9B in revenue annually. She facilitated a strategic direction to decentralize operations achieving reduced procurement cycle time by 30% and 99% on-time material operations. Her depth of experience spans unique industries including legal, founder owned, hospitality, transportation, government, and nonprofits. Her professional network includes Million Peacemakers, National Human Resources Association, Executive Next Practices, Growth Mindset Leaders, and Private Directors Association, Southern California.
Holly’s passion extends to philanthropic efforts including Red Bucket Equine Rescue, Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Laguna Beach Playhouse, Bolsa Chica Conservancy, Catalina Island Conservancy and most importantly Wounded Warrior Sailing Program. She is an avid golfer, sailor, hiker, and world traveler.
Michael Bardelmeier
Michael grew up in Northern California where he developed an adventurous spirit and a love for the outdoors. He began racing stock cars at the young age of fifteen and later jumped out of a perfectly good airplane twice before setting out to hike the Grand Canyon from one rim to the other in a single day.
Michael started his professional career leasing and managing apartment communities in San Jose, CA and has lived and worked in many cities throughout the country including Phoenix, Kansas City, Seattle, Chicago, and Dallas. In 2009, he discovered senior living and was inspired by the incredible lives and experiences of the many residents, and the selfless dedication of caring team members. In the last ten years, he has directed as many as 68 communities as Vice President of Operations for two large national senior living providers.
Today, Michael lives in Huntington Beach, CA with Julie, his wife of 24 years and their two cats, Peyton & Hobie. They enjoy traveling and exploring new places and spending as much time as possible with Michael’s 95 year old grandmother, “Mema” who still lives on her own and has been one of the most influential people in his life.
Kurt Takahashi
With over 25 years of experience in the security industry, Kurt Takahashi has earned a reputation as a visionary leader. He successfully oversaw two acquisitions valued at over $100 million each to strategic buyers. During his executive tenure at Quantum Secure (HID Safe) and AMAG, as well as his previous roles at Sensormatic Corporation and ADT Security Services, Takahashi demonstrated an unwavering commitment to providing outstanding customer service and establishing salient solutions. In 2019, he took on the role of CEO at Pelco, where he led the transition from Schneider Electric and subsequently oversaw the sale of the company to Motorola Solutions. Currently serving as the CEO of Netwatch Group, Takahashi has utilized his expertise to merge five separate companies into three distinct businesses, with a focus on driving innovative monitoring solutions to the global market.
Nick Mitchell
Nick is an experienced leader in the Medical Device Industry. In his current role he is responsible for the Clinical Sales teams in southern California and Hawaii. He has extensive knowledge of cultivating culture, organizational design, scaling process, situational leadership, and building high performance teams.
Nick is known for being a passionate leader who cares deeply about the organizational mission and his people. He has been involved in developing and scaling national initiatives, compensation plan design, competitive analysis, and helped to create tools and resources to simplify the complex business of surgical robotics.
As a leader at Intuitive Nick is most proud of the success of his team over the years. He has had multiple award winners to include Rookie of the Year, and Clinical Sales Manager of the Year. Additionally, he has had the opportunity to work with and develop several individuals into their careers as people leaders at Intuitive.
Nick firmly believes that Culture, Execution, and Development are the keys to leading at a rapidly growing organization.
Nick is supported at home by his wife, Pamela, and his 16-year-old son, Asher. He enjoys being active through skiing, tennis, pickle ball, and going to the gym. However, he spends most of his free time watching Asher play both Indoor and Beach Volleyball.
Areas of Expertise
- Culture
- Organizational Design
- Scaling Process
- Business Development
- Sales Strategy
- Sales Planning
- People Development
- Negotiation
- Situational Leadership
- Conflict Resolution
- Resource Development
- Capital Sales
- Building High Performance Teams
Sandeep Pandya
Sandeep is a purposeful and entrepreneurial C-level leader with a successful record of developing teams, products, and new markets across technologies and industries. His focus in recent years has been spent building early-stage ventures with Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Deep Tech/Computer Vision (CV) foundations that are transforming and digitizing major industrial goods operations.
Sandeep serves on early-stage venture boards and non-profit boards. He is a recognized thought leader and best-selling author on the topics of technology, sustainability, and leadership. He is a member Forbes Technology Council Sandeep earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Sandeep believes that the world is experiencing a technological renaissance and that the nexus of artificial intelligence, computer vision, ubiquitous connectivity, and access to the worlds knowledge base through the internet will fundamentally reshape and improve the way people live, work and play globally. He is determined to help lead that change.
Sandeep’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/sandeeppandyasd
Feyzi Fatehi
Feyzi Fatehi is the CEO of Corent Tech, a cloud/software/SaaS technology leader named among the Top 10 Most Disruptive Private Companies. A technology visionary, inventor, and entrepreneur, Fatehi was the recipient of the 2019 CODiE Lifetime Achievement Award, an award previously bestowed on Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Bill Gates, for significant long-term contributions to the software industry. A Silicon Valley veteran, Fatehi studied at Cambridge, Princeton, UT Austin, and UCLA and has given talks at Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, CalTech, as well as a commencement speech at UC Irvine in 2022. Forbes Books recently published his book titled “Democratizing SaaS”, a tech industry best seller on how Corent’s breakthrough platform SaaSOps is poised to accelerate the transformation of the software industry into a service industry unleashing a new multi-trillion dollar market by the end of this decade.
Claire Gribbon
Claire Gribbin is the Global Head of SMB at AWS where she drives the next phase of growth within the SMB segment. In her prior role, she led Microsoft Azure SMB strategy worldwide after a decade of field sales leadership across the globe, driving digital transformation of customers and partners at scale. Claire is based in the US.
Michelle Beauchamp
Michelle’s passion is quite simply, helping people grow. Her motto, “Unleash Your Inner Champ” is evident in her client relationship rapport, vast course curriculum, design structure, and delivery method.
As a trainer, she constructs courses that provide a clear understanding of content with applicable activities that encourage practicing the lessons presented. When participants leave the classroom setting and return to the real world, they experience increased confidence and competence. Michelle is focused on providing not just understanding, her intention is to impact behavior change.
As a coach, Michelle establishes trust with her clients and supports them to explore their challenges in a non-threating manner and resolve their limitations to achieve their high potential capabilities.
Some of the organizations and associations she’s partnered with include Hyundai Capital, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Astronics Test Systems, American Management Association, Mirati Therapeutics, Clark Hill Law, University of California Irvine, Channel Bakers, Glidewell, Ensign Services and more.
Michelle is a certified coach, speaker and trainer on the John Maxwell
team.
Michelle’s 25 years in Corporate America as a Sales
Leader in Telecommunications, combined with her 12 + years as an entrepreneur, has
equipped her to help others explore their strengths, improve.
areas of weakness and through a journey of inner discovery,
create and lead inclusive cultures that enrich relationships and increase productivity.
A member of eSpeakers, she’s also licensed in the Everybody at the Table DEI content, and FOR, the program that helps clients identify their purpose and practice to build customer, team and community excellence.
Robert Horsley
In his role as Managing Director at Fragomen, Robert Horsley draws on decades of transformational experience and strategy to leverage technology, work models, workforce data, and talent preference. Aligned with these initiatives, he co-founded and leads Fragomen’s WorkRight I-9 software as a service (SaaS) technology offering and service. His ability to forecast trends, conceptualize innovative solutions, and recognize angel investment opportunities is remarkable, and reaches through Fragomen to clients and industry colleagues and partners, always with the goal of improving customer and employee experience, implementing efficiencies, and increasing democratization in the workplace and in business.
Helena Ferrari, GPHR, PHR
As a global CHRO and strategic Executive Team member, I work with CEOs, C-suite and the Board of private/PE companies on governance, scaling global growth, risk management, cross-border M&As, IPOs, regulatory compliance, audits, succession planning, compensation, and workforce strategy. I provide valuable actionable solutions drawing from a growth-focused mindset and cultural nuance gained via 25+ years leading businesses to scale across the US, UK, Australia, Europe, LatAm, and APAC regions – ensuring shareholder value and responsible corporate cultures. I help businesses navigate crisis including multi-CEO/Executive Team transitions, financial turnarounds, class action claims, dissolving businesses, and with delicate CEO/C-level matters.
Currently, I advise CEOs, C-Suite, and Boards as CEO of HRRX on governance, regulatory compliance, risk, crisis, compensation, SOX, and operational optimization. Notably, I advise leaders of one of the nation’s largest healthcare consortiums on governance, compliance, and steering leadership discussions to proactively mitigate risk. In addition, I guided an eCommerce marketer through IPO, then advised CEO, CFO, and Board on public company governance, risk, compensation strategy/stocks, compliance, SOX, and communications.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenaferrari/
https://www.thehrrx.com/
Simon A. Taylor
Simon A. Taylor is the Head of Organizational Effectiveness & Change Management, Gap Inc., and the Author of "Build Smart: A Blueprint for Building a High-Performing Organization." He has advised senior executives at world-renowned organizations, including The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Amgen, and a tech startup acquired by Amazon. A nine-time national champion rower, Simon incorporates principles of elite sports into his approach to building strong organizations.
Chris Coureen
Vice President – Human Resources
As the Vice President and Global Head of Human Resources at MS International, Inc. (MSI), Chris leads the HR function for the premier flooring, countertop, and hard surfaces supplier in North America. With over 15 years of experience in HR and business management, Chris has a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions that impact his organization’s people and bottom line. Before his career in HR, he was a business leader responsible for managing sales, supply chain, and warehouse operations for one of the largest private employers in the US.
Chris is a certified Diversity and Inclusion professional, a member of Forbes Magazine’s Human Resources Council, Newsweek Magazine's America's Greatest Workplaces Advisory Council, sits on the Southern California CHRO Governing Body, and is a multi-year recipient of the Distinguished HR Leaders Award. He is also a national speaker and thought leader focused on up-skilling and modernizing the HR profession.
In his current role, he partners with MSI’s executive team and the operational and sales management teams to align HR strategies with business goals. He oversees all HR activities across 50+ locations in the US, Canada, and India, including employee relations, organizational development, diversity and inclusion, performance management, training, benefits, compensation, rewards, wellness, workers compensation, injury prevention, and compliance. He also leads MSI’s HR modernization efforts, leveraging automation, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning techniques to enhance people practices.
Larry Taylor, PhD
Larry Taylor is a seasoned independent professional corporate director having served on publicly traded corporate boards, private company boards, non-profit boards and corporate advisory boards. Currently is the President and executive committee member on the board of directors for the National Association of Corporate Directors (SoCal) and chairman of the board for The Creighton Group, a international corporate governance advisory firm. Further, he serves on the board of Trustees for Claremont Graduate University and the board of directors for the African American Board Leadership Institute. Finally, he chairs the advisory board of directors for Space Lok, Inc of the Novaria Group, a large aerospace manufacturing organization.
Previously, he was the co-founder and chief financial officer (CFO) of a publicly traded corporation, where he routinely interfaced with the SEC, the IRS, the PCAOB, the DTC and FINRA for nearly ten years. Further, he was the founder and chief executive officer of The Creighton Group, an international environmental management consulting firm for ten years. He spent ten years with Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche as the Principal-in-Charge of the productivity improvement consulting practices. Dr. Taylor was a manufacturing executive in the automobile and aerospace industries for eleven years prior to entering the consulting industry.
As a management auditor and consultant, Dr. Taylor has conducted over 100 management audits and training programs for commercial, government and not-for-profit organizations. As an environmental consultant, Dr. Taylor served on the Technical Advisory Group committee that wrote the ISO 14001 international environmental management standard. He is the author of an accredited lead auditor environmental management training program that is being used in Asia. He has conducted management assessment projects in numerous countries for the U.S Agency for International Development, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S.
Environment Training Institute, the International Private-Public Partnership and the International Organization for Standardization. As an educator and speaker, Dr. Taylor was an adjunct professor or guest lecturer at several universities, including the Asian Institute of Technology (Bangkok), the Penang Development Center (Malaysia), California State University (Los Angeles) and the American College of Corporate Directors. Moreover, he has been the featured speaker at numerous conferences around the world and has been interviewed and quoted in business magazines and news media, including Siam Trade, Corporate Dossier Africa, Black Enterprise and CNBC.
He holds a PhD. in Executive Management from the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, a master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Administration from General Motors Institute. He is a Board Leadership fellow with the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and holds a NACD Cybersecurity Certificate. He was a lead EMS auditor (ISO). He has held “fellow” status with Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) and the International Environment Management Association (IEMA). Finally, he earned certificates from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and the University of Southern California Certified Public Accountant (CPA) program. He is the author of three books: “The New Breed of Independent Corporate Directors: Glimpses and Perspectives from the Tone-at-the-Bottom” (2014); “Private Sector Praises: The New Tone-at-the-Bottom” (2015).; and "Enhancing the Tone-at-the-Bottom: Free Market Capitalism is a Corporate Social Responsibility" (2016).
Contact Information: 355 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2450, Los Angeles, CA 90071; ltaylor@thecreightongroup.com; (323) 299 -2293; (323) 620-1741 C
Dr. Anita Polite-Wilson, Ph.D
Anita Polite-Wilson, Ph.D., affectionally known as Dr. Anita, is a C-Suite trusted advisor, board director, executive coach, workshop facilitator, and organizational development consultant helping leaders and teams navigate complexity and change associated with Diversity initiatives by accelerating awareness and changing cultures. With over 20 years of experience, she is a scholar-practitioner with expertise in adult learning theory, change management, and organizational leadership initiatives for corporate, government, and non-profit entities.
She holds a B.S. in Management from Pepperdine University, an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Biola University, along with an M.A. and Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University.
Expertise
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Thought Leader & Speaker, Sustainable Workforce & Culture Transformation Strategist, Workforce Psychological Safety & Change Management Practitioner, international speaker, author, and host of the Keeping It Real with Dr. Anita podcast
Credentials
Academy to Innovate HR certified Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Specialist, Fearless Organization certified Psychological Safety Practitioner, Gallup certified Strengths Coach, iPEC Certified Professional Coach.
Russell Garcia
Russ has more than 30 years of experience in the electronic systems and semiconductor industries with a proven track record in executive leadership positions in both public and private companies. As CEO of Menlo Micro, Russ oversees the corporate direction and strategy of the company, focusing on leadership, technology innovation and customers.
Prior to Menlo Micro, Russ founded nGeniSys, a consulting firm focused on the electronics, semiconductor and telecommunications industries. He was an Executive in Residence for GE Ventures from 2015 through 2016 and holds advisory and board of director positions at several venture backed companies. Prior to Menlo and nGeniSys, he held the position of EVP Marketing for Microsemi, where he led the integration Actel, Zarlink and Symmetricom, representing over $700M USD of M&A over a 4-year period. His leadership of those acquisitions led to operating income improvements in each case from low single digits to all greater than 25% operating profit. One of those integrations resulted in greater 40% operating margin. Prior to Microsemi, he was the CEO of two start-ups, WiSpry, a RF MEMS company and uNav Microelectronics, a fabless semiconductor company, where under his leadership, u-Nav developed and introduced the first “single-chip” GPS semiconductor device. Prior to that, he was vice president of Marketing for Silicon Systems and Texas Instruments Storage Product Division.
Daniel Han
Dan is currently the Economic Development Manager for the City of Irvine. Dan brings a strong professional background forged in both the private and non-profit sectors. He was most recently the Economic Development Director for Jobs for the Future where he specialized in inclusive economic development in regions throughout California. He was a consultant and FUSE Corps Executive Fellow with the City of Long Beach Economic Development Department, primarily working with small businesses and entrepreneurs in access to capital and direct technical assistance. After a stint as a Peace Corps volunteer, Dan started his career in management consulting, focused on strategy and operations, enterprise transformation, and program / project management in financial services. Dan lives in Long Beach and is the proud father of two young kids.
Ravi Bodla
Ravi Bodla is a Director in RSM’s Digital and Data Services practice and is the National Industrials and Manufacturing Data Analytics Leader. Ravi has more than twenty years of experience helping organizations develop technology and data based solutions to solve business problems, enable better decision making and to drive meaningful business transformation. Ravi’s areas of specialization include: Data and Analytics solutions; Enterprise Data Warehouse; Data Strategy and Governance; IoT based analytic solutions; Cloud Strategy and Governance; Application Modernization and Rationalization: Cloud Native Application Development; and People Analytics.
Ravi has a strong ability to manage large, complex programs, quickly master new technologies and match complex business needs to relevant technology solutions. Ravi is able to easily adapt to client culture and establish strong and long-lasting relationships with clients, resulting in high quality services and solutions.
In his current role, Ravi delivers strategy, advice, and consultation regarding business intelligence and enterprise data strategies, serves as both a solution and enterprise architect, assists and oversees engagement teams, and is responsible for ensuring outcomes delivered by the firm adhere to client expectations.
Education
- Bachelor of Science, Engineering Science, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
- Bachelor of Arts, Chemistry, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
- SAFE 5 Agilist Certified
Robbie Beyer
Robbie Beyer helps clients deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions across a variety of industries in his role at RSM. With over a decade of project and leadership experience, Robbie has demonstrated the ability to help clients leverage data and technology to enable business and digital transformation in alignment with their strategic business objectives.
In his current role, Robbie provides AI solutions for clients looking to differentiate themselves from their competitors. This includes experience in data and AI strategy, generative AI deployment, machine learning development, and data science to help clients build a competitive advantage. Robbie is on RSM’s National AI Committee and provides thought leadership on these new capabilities.
Robbie serves on the RSM US Foundation Board and was named to the SDBJ’s 40 Under 40 Next Top Business Leaders. He also served as the Commencement Speaker at his graduate school commencement ceremony.
Certifications
- Azure Data Scientist
Skills/Credentials
- Advanced Analytics and Statistical Modeling – Azure Machine Learning, R, Python
- Data Visualization – Tableau and Power BI
- Cloud Computing, Data Warehousing, and ETL – Azure
- Generative AI – Azure OpenAI Services, OpenAI
Education
- Master of Science in Business Analytics – Rady School of Management, UC San Diego
- Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance – University of San Diego
Ian O. Williamson
Ian O. Williamson was appointed dean of The UCI Paul Merage School of Business on January 1, 2021. Prior to joining the Merage School, he served as pro vice-chancellor and dean of commerce at the Wellington School of Business and Government at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Williamson received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in business from Miami University. He has served as a faculty member at Melbourne Business School, Rutgers Business School, the Zurich Institute of Business Education, the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and Institut Teknologi Bandung.
Williamson is a globally recognised expert in the area of human resource management. His research examines the impact of "talent pipelines" on organizational and community outcomes. In particular, his research focuses on how human and social capital influences firm operational and financial outcomes, talent management in the context of new ventures and growth-oriented firms, the role of human resource practices in driving firm innovation and the impact of social issues on firm outcomes.
Williamson’s research has been published in leading academic journals (e.g. Academy of Management Journal, MIT Sloan Management Review, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology) and has been covered by leading media outlets across the world. He is a past recipient of the Academy of Management (AOM) Education Division Best Paper Award for his research on high performing teams and the AOM Human Resource Division Best Paper Award for his research on the effect of employee mobility on firm performance. He is also a recipient of the AOM Best Practices Mentoring Award for his role as the founding President of the Management Faculty of Color Association (MFCA).
A passionate educator, Williamson has been recognized for his innovative approaches to business education. He is a past recipient of the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business Krowe Teaching Award, the Melbourne Business School Senior Executive MBA Teaching Award, the University of Melbourne Award for Excellence and Innovation in Indigenous Higher Education, and the Business/Higher Education Round Table CPA Australia/ABDC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business Education Collaboration.
Henry DeVries
Henry DeVries writes a weekly business development column for Forbes.com and is the cohost of The Marketing With A Book Podcast. He is CEO of Indie Books International based in Oceanside, California and has ghostwritten or edited more than 300 business books, including his #1 Amazon sales and marketing bestseller, How To Close A Deal Like Warren Buffett. In his books and presentations titled “Marketing With A Book,” “Rainmaker Confidential,” and “Persuade With A Story!” he shows thousands of professionals each year how to uncover hidden asset hero stories that communicate their trustworthiness in two minutes or less. He earned his MBA from San Diego State University and a certificate in Leading Professional Service Firms from the Harvard Business School. He is the former assistant dean for continuing education at the University of California San Diego, president of an Ad Age 500 advertising agency, and vice president for an international $5 billion financial services organization. On a personal note, he is a baseball nut who has visited forty-four major league baseball parks and has three to go before he can touch ‘em all. He can be reached at henry@indiebooksintl.com.
Leslie Rubin
Bestselling author, communications and leadership presence expert Leslie A. Rubin says leadership is not just a title, it’s a vital skill that transcends hierarchy. Her experiences working with industry luminary and former Cisco CEO and Chairman John Chambers - along with other prominent executives such as Sheila Jordan, CIO of Symantec, and work with Jack Cheng of Foxconn/MIH, and Dr. Rosina Racioppi of Women Unlimited International - fueled her first Amazon best-seller, MEANING: How Leaders Create Meaning and Clarity During Times of Crisis and Opportunity. In 2024 her new book will be published, Filling the Leadership Gap: 8 Principles to Elevate Your Leadership Presence. She will be interviewed by business journalist (Forbes.com, Inc.com) and CEO of Indie Books International, Henry DeVries.