Keynote Speakers
Thomas Wood, Vice President Labor Relations at Mittal Steel USA, Inc.
Thomas F. Wood is Vice President of Labor Relations at Mittal Steel USA, the largest steel company in North America. Mittal Steel N.V., the parent, is the largest steel company in the world, doing business in 17 countries.
Tom holds a BS in Business Administration with a major in Personnel Management from the University of Dayton and a Juris Doctor from Cleveland State University. He has worked in the steel industry for over 35 years in the fields of safety, equal employment, employee relations, arbitration, government affairs and labor relations. He has been active in professional associations and has served as Chairman of the East Chicago Chamber of Commerce and Vice Chairman of the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce.
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Sherry Woodry, Senior Vice President-Human Resources, GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services.
Sherry Woodry is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources of GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services, headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Sherry has held this position since August 2002.
Prior to joining Fleet Services, Sherry held a variety of human resource leadership roles across GE with experiences in organization design, facilitation, change management, staffing and selection, rewards and recognition, conflict resolution, training and development, performance management, communications and community relations. Sherry joined GE in 1984 held positions at Advanced Materials in Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Burkville, Alabama; and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. From 1994 to 2000, Sherry served as a Human Resource Manager in Technology and Sales & Marketing at GE Consumer & Industrial in Louisville, Kentucky. Moving to Chicago in 2000, Sherry joined the Rail Services as Senior Vice President of Human Resources.
Sherry is a graduate of North Adams State College in Massachusetts.
When Sherry’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her two grandsons in Birmingham, Alabama.
Breakout Presenters
Denise Baek, Principal Leadership Development Consultant, Medtronic, Inc.
Denise Baek is a Principal Consultant in Executive and Leadership Development at Medtronic, Inc. She is responsible for the creation, enhancement and rollout of global Talent Management processes - including Organization/Succession Planning, Performance Management, Development Planning, Talent Searching and Talent Reviews.
Prior to Denise's role in Executive and Leadership Development, she was a Change and Process Development Analyst where she was responsible for delivering change management solutions for global PeopleSoft, Saba and SAP implementations.
Before joining the corporate world, Denise spent five years overseas in South Korea and Chile as an English and Business Presentation Consultant. Denise has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and International Studies from the University of Minnesota.
Mario F. Bognanno, Professor, Industrial Relations Center, Carlson School of Management
Professor Bognanno received his BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and his MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Iowa. His research specialties are negotiations, arbitration, international industrial relations and labor markets and collective bargaining. Currently his research is focusing on “Governing the Global Workplace” (symposium and book), and “Discharge & Discipline in the Workplace” (book).
Some of his recent publications include “The Influence of Wages and Industrial Relations Environments on the Production Location Decisions of US Multinational Corporations,” with M. Keane and D.H. Yang, in the Industrial and Labor Relations Review, January 2005; and “The Evolution of Korea’s Industrial Relations – System and Change in the Wage-Strike Relationship,” with Young-Myon Lee and M.L. Bognanno, in the Korean Social Sciences Journal, December 2004.
Professor Bognanno serves on the Arbitration Advisory Council, Bureau of Mediation Services; is President of the Research & Education Foundation, National Academy of Arbitrators; sits on the Advisory Council, China Center; and is an Adjunct Professor at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
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Sarah Bridges, Ph.D., L.P., is a licensed psychologist, executive consultant, and a thought leader on managing people. In her consulting practice she advises senior executives and organization leaders at a broad range of Fortune 100 and 500 clients, including United Health Group, Mc Kesson Corporation, Northwest Airlines, Target, Ceridian, Alcoa, and Guidant. Her work addresses issues of executive assessment, organization effectiveness, performance management, leadership development, succession planning, recruitment, and individual coaching, all with a keen focus on achieving observable results and a genuine return-on-investment for the company. Dr. Bridges received her B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota.
Formerly an executive at Deluxe Corporation, she was a practice leader of the assessment business for Personnel Decisions International, an innovator in the psychology and organizational consulting field. She is a frequent speaker at corporate trainings, universities, and conferences such as the Association for Type (Myers Briggs), Outsourcing Summit, University of Minnesota, Menttium, and the Organization Development Network.
Dr. Bridges's interest in the field of psychology and human development extends to her interests as a writer. She has published investigative articles and personal essays for the Washington Post, Mothering magazine, SEED magazine, Organic Style, and other publications. She is currently at work on book that explores "career ecology" and the role of the environment on the professional and organization success. Born and raised in Northern California, Dr. Bridges lives with her family in Minneapolis.
Robert W. Chester, Assistant to the Regional Director/Acting Regional Director, NLRB Region 18, Minneapolis, MN
Bob Chester became Assistant to the Regional Director (ARD) for the NLRB’s Regional Office in Minneapolis, MN in May 2001. Bob has served as the Acting Regional Director for Region 18 on a bi-monthly rotating basis since May 2005. As ARD he has responsibility for the overall supervision and coordination through subordinate supervisors and professional employees of the investigation, evaluation and resolution of representation case matters and unfair labor practice investigations. As Acting Director he is the official representative of the NLRB for investigating, adjudicating and prosecuting matters arising in the Region’s geographical jurisdiction in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Northern Wisconsin.
Bob is a career NLRB employee who began working for the Agency in 1976 in the Peoria, IL office as a Field Examiner. He transferred to the Pittsburgh, PA office in 1985 and was promoted to Supervisory Examiner in 1998. A native of Washington, PA, Bob graduated from Towson University in 1974 with a B.S. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Personnel and Labor Relations. He received his MBA from Bradley University in 1981. Before coming to work for the NLRB, Bob was in the U.S. Army and worked for the U.S. Navy Aviation Supply Office in Philadelphia.
Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson are the innovators of the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) and the founders of CultureRx, a company whose unique free-spirited and proven approach might just be the catalyst that sparks the next great social revolution. Or at least puts Dilbert out of business.
Tom Hall, Vice President, Human Resources, Seagate
Thomas M. Hall joined Seagate Technology in 1999 as Vice President of Human Resources for the Americas and Europe. Tom's office is located at the company's engineering design center in Shakopee, Minnesota. Since joining Seagate, Tom has been one of the leaders of the company's global HR transformation. This includes everything from establishing strategic HR business partnerships with key executives, globalizing the corporate Staffing & Onboarding function, introducing Six Sigma principles and metrics, founding Seagate's cultural diversity initiative, and building the company's state of the art HR service center.
Prior to joining Seagate, Tom was an HR leader at HR savvy corporations such as Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Pepsico, American Hospital Supply Corporation and Amoco. He currently serves on the advisory council of the Industrial Relations Center at the Carlson School of Management, and is a member of the Human Resources Executive Council in the Twin Cities.
Tom earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, with concentrations in HR management and behavioral science.
Tom lives in Eden Prairie with his wife Marcia and their two sons, Spencer and Trevor.
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Rob Jones, Senior Principal Leadership Consultant, Medtronic, Inc.
Rob Jones is Senior Principal Consultant in the Executive and Leadership Development Organization. Rob is responsible for leading the development and execution of several enterprise-wide leadership development programs and initiatives.
Rob has more than ten years experience in human resources. Rob joined Medtronic in 1997 through the Targeted Schools Program. Since joining Medtronic Rob has worked primarily in human resources generalist positions within the Neuro and Cardiac Surgery businesses. In Cardiac Surgery Rob was also responsible for sales compensation design and delivery.
Rob has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota and a MA-HRIR from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.
Diane McNutt, Vice President and HRO Solutions Consultant, Ceridian Corporation
Diane McNutt is a Vice President and HRO Solutions Consultant for Ceridian Corporation, a leader in providing services to the Human Resources marketplace. Diane is responsible for working with current and prospective Ceridian customers to help transform their human resource delivery strategies through HR technology and outsourcing. Prior to her curren role, Diane spent 20 years as a VP Human Resources with Ceridian as a strategic business partner focused on employee and leadership development, attraction and retention, organization design, change management, and mergers and acquisitions. She has a master's degree in Training and Organization Development from the University of Minnesota. Diane is a frequent conference speaker on the topics of strategic HR transformation and HR outsourcing.
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Dennis W. Shuler, Vice President, Human Resources, P&G Beauty
Dennis W. Shuler is Vice President of Human Resources for P & G Beauty, a position he has held since 2002. He joined Procter & Gamble in 1984 as an HR Manager in Lima, Ohio, and held a series of progressively responsible positions over the years, including Director, HR, United Kingdom/Ireland, Health and Beauty Care.
Prior to joining Procter & Gamble, he worked for Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation and was a part-time lecturer at Highline Community College in Seattle.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from State University of New York at Oswego, and his Master of Arts in Human Resources Management from the University of Alabama where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa chapter of the University of Alabama.
Dennis has been active in the community, volunteering for Junior Achievement, serving on the Board of Governors at Woking College in London, as a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in London, and as a visiting professor of Business Administration at Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom.
Christine Solis-Mendoza, Compensation Consultant, PHR
Christine Solis-Mendoza is a Compensation Consultant with Stanton Group. She has over 5 ½ years of human resources experience in various industries. While compensation work is her primary focus, she also has experience in training and development, employee relations, FLSA determination and documentation, job description development and recruiting.
Her compensation work has included job analysis and evaluation, market analysis, designing and costing of base and incentive compensation programs for all levels of jobs and executive and Board of Directors' compensation. Her executive compensation experience includes market analysis, evaluation and costing of base and incentive compensation programs.
Since joining Stanton Group she has also been actively involved in the development, design, and administration of a number of regional and national compensation and benefits surveys.
Christine holds a Bachelors of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Masters of Arts Degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations for the University of Minnesota. She is also an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management Association (SHRM) and the Twin Cities Compensation Network and certified as an ISO Auditor.
Prior to joining Stanton Group, she held several human resource positions with Organizational Concepts International, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Rosemount Inc., Werling & Associates, and Amnitek Limited.
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Mark Stryshak, Director of Human Resource, Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Mark is currently the Director of Human Resource for Anheuser-Busch, Inc. supporting finance, planning, procurement, logistics and other business functions. He previously held a similar position supporting all manufacturing operations for the beer company. Prior to being at the corporate level, Mark was the Human Resource Manager for the start-up of the Cartersville, GA brewery and held various positions at the Fort Collins, CO and Houston, TX breweries. Prior to working for Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Mark worked for Phillips Petroleum Company in a variety of human resource positions. He received an MBA from Louisiana State University.
Mark can be reached by e-mail at
Nancy Weidenfeller, SPHR, M.A., Practice Area Leader & Senior Consultant, MDA Leadership Consulting
For nearly 20 years, Nancy Weidenfeller has found that there is a common element in the work that excites her: helping organizations achieve performance results by focusing on the people issues. She loves to partner with leaders on building their organization’s ability to assess its current level of functionality and change it to achieve the desired goals. She has extensive background in organization development, talent management, human resource systems and quality management.
Nancy joined MDA Leadership Consulting in 2004. Prior to that, she was a senior consultant in the Human Capital Group with Watson Wyatt Worldwide and a principal with Davies Consulting, Inc. where she worked with a vast array of companies and industries. Nancy also served as director of the Office of Quality Management at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she was responsible for implementing strategies to create an organizational culture emphasizing excellence, continuous quality improvement and customer service.
Nancy earned a B.A. in Business/HR Management, certificate in psychology from the Adler Institute and an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from the College of St. Catherine. She is Certified Senior Professional Human Resources practitioner for Life, and is certified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Birkman Method. She is presently a doctoral student in the University of St. Thomas, Doctoral Program in Organization Development.
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Kevin D. Wilde, Chief Learning Officer, General Mills, Inc.
As VP-CLO, Kevin Wilde leads the corporate organization effectiveness team at General Mills, Inc. His major responsibilities center around stewardship of core people and organization development systems, the General Mills Leadership Institute and business consulting. His work has been recognized by Training Magazine's Top 100 award, Chief Executive Magazine's Top 20 for leadership development and Chief Learning Officer Magazine's Gold Award for leading business change. Prior to joining General Mills, Kevin was a seventeen year veteran of General Electric. He served in two high growth divisions and also in two corporate roles managing global leadership development at the Crotonville Education Center and leading corporate WorkOut consulting.
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