Michael P. Aitken
Director of Government Affairs
Society for Human Resource Management

Mike Aitken has been the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) since 2003. SHRM is the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management. He is responsible for all SHRM governmental affairs endeavors; including managing and developing the organization’s governmental affairs strategic focus. Prior to joining SHRM, Mike served for 14 years as Associate Director for Governmental and External Relations at the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), which represents the human resource professionals at 1,750 higher education institutions. Previously, he worked on state public policy issues at Bonner & Associates, a public affairs firm in Washington, DC.

Mike is currently a member of the Editorial Board of Employee Benefits for Nonprofits and serves on the Board of Directors for Unemployment & Workers' Compensation (UWC), as well as the Board of Trustees for the National Foundation for Unemployment Compensation and Workers’ Compensation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of San Diego.

Gretchen Alarcon
Vice President
Human Capital Management Strategy
Oracle

Gretchen Alarcon is Vice President Human Capital Management Strategy at Oracle. Ms. Alarcon leads the strategy team responsible for applications that enable companies to align their workforce goals and business objectives.

Ms. Alarcon brings more than 13 years of industry experience to Oracle's strategy organization. She spent over four years at PeopleSoft working closely with customers and contributing to the direction of the company's talent management and recruiting applications.

Prior to Oracle, Ms. Alarcon was Director, Product Management at Icarian, Inc. where she designed new product roadmaps and drove strategic decisions for the company's workforce management suites. Before joining Icarian, Ms. Alarcon was with National Semiconductor where she helped redesign the company's worldwide human resource functions.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Alarcon was responsible for the strategy of Oracle's talent management applications.

Ms. Alarcon holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in American Studies from Stanford University.

Kim Billeter
NA Workday Practice Leader
South East HR Service Delivery Practice Leader
Towers Watson

Kim Billeter is the NA Workday Practice Leader and the South East HR Service Delivery Practice leader for Towers Watson. Kim is a HR service delivery and systems professional with 20 years of domestic and international experience. She specializes in HR service delivery strategy and implementation, business process design and HR systems implementation with a deep background in HR Technology. Kim earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Math and Computer Science from Florida Southern College and a Master's Degree in Computer Information Systems from Florida Institute of Technology.

John Cooper
Senior Director
The Hackett Group

Mr. Cooper has over twenty-four years of experience in human resources and reengineering consulting with specialization in strategy development and the use of automated solutions to streamline business processes. He is highly proficient in strategic framing, application implementation, HR strategy, design and implementation capabilities across shared services, competency/expertise centers, employee contact centers, business process outsourcing, and HR business partnering. Mr. Cooper has strong leadership skills and technical expertise that help clients realize strategic corporate goals and reduce costs.

Mr. Cooper has led many projects involving the selection and implementation of integrated ERP and HR/Payroll/Benefits systems (Lawson, PeopleSoft, Oracle, SAP), Service Center Design and implementation, the reengineering of benefits processes, and technology infrastructure. Representative clients include Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, McGraw-Hill, Independence Blue Cross, Motorola, Entergy, Wal-mart, Bose Corporation, Fidelity and Covidien.

Michael J. Haught
Vice President of Labor Relations
Time Warner Cable

Michael Haught is currently Vice President of Labor Relations for Time Warner Cable where he is responsible for leading the company's labor relations strategy development and implementation.

Haught was first introduced to the cable industry through a small family owned business that operated a cable system in rural West Virginia. Haught has held various Human Resources and Labor Relations leadership positions with the WV Department of Health and Human Resources and the Division of Labor, the City Colleges of Chicago, TCI, AT&T Broadband and Comcast.

In 2006, Haught joined Time Warner Cable as VP, Human Resources for its Northeast Ohio Division and was promoted into his current role in November, 2008.

Haught graduated from West Virginia University with a B.A. Degree in Psychology and English. He is currently pursuing an M.S. in Management/MBA through the University of Maryland.

Haught is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management and the Human Resources Management Association of Cleveland. He is a member of the Cable and Telecommunications Human Resource Association, Women in Cable and Telecommunications and the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communication (NAMIC).

Haught was selected for the 25th class of Leadership Akron and served as a board member for Boys Hope-Girls Hope of Pittsburgh — an organization that offers at-risk children a stable home, positive parenting, and high quality education to reach their full potential.

Trish Jones Senior
Vice President of Strategic Audience Solutions
Turner Broadcasting

Trish Jones is Senior Vice President of Strategic Audience Solutions (SAS) within the Turner Technology, Strategy & Operations area. Before her current responsibilities at Turner, Ms. Jones served as Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. ("TBS") and Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Turner Broadcasting System International, Inc. (“TBSI”).

Prior to joining Turner, Ms. Jones held both business and legal positions within The Coca- Cola Company. From 1998-2000, she served as Director of Business Planning within the Information Services Division of The Coca-Cola Company working closely with the Chief Information Officer to set and implement global information technology strategies and to structure business planning for the Information Services organizations of The Coca-Cola System worldwide. From 1996-1998, Ms. Jones served as Technology Counsel for Coke. Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Ms. Jones was Senior Intellectual Property and International Counsel for Anacomp, Inc., an international Fortune 500 technology company. Ms. Jones began her legal career in private practice as a member of the Corporate & Technology Practice Group with the law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer and Murphy in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ms. Jones is an avid advocate within her community for children's issues and human right’s causes; since 2000, she has served on the board of the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, a public/private non-profit organization committed to addressing the comprehensive needs of neglected and abused children in Atlanta. She is the Executive Sponsor of TurnOut; a member of TBS’s Diversity Steering Council; serves on Turner’s Supplier Diversity Taskforce, and is

Michael Kabat
Partner
Wargo & French LLP

Michael Kabat serves as head of the Labor and Employment Group for Wargo & French LLP, a full-service law firm practicing in the areas of labor and employment, class and collective action litigation, commercial litigation, intellectual property, general corporate, and creditors' rights law. Mr. Kabat has practiced labor and employment law exclusively on behalf of employers for 20 years. During that time, he has represented clients on a nationwide basis in all phases of labor relations and employment law, before state and federal courts, the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other state and federal agencies. Mr. Kabat has particular expertise in the area of federal and state wage and hour law, including representing clients on a nationwide basis in wage and hour class and collective actions. Mr. Kabat also has extensive traditional labor experience in representing clients faced with union organizing efforts, collective bargaining negotiations and labor arbitrations.

Mr. Kabat received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1987. He subsequently received his law degree from Duke University in 1990. Mr. Kabat is a member of the Georgia and District of Columbia Bars as well as the Society for Human Resources Management and the American, Georgia and Atlanta Bar Associations.

Mr. Kabat is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Georgia and the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Tomas Mathews Executive
Vice President Human Resources
Time Warner Cable

Tom Mathews joined Time Warner Cable (TWC) in January of 2002. Tom’s role is to serve as a strategic partner at the executive level, weighing in on the human resources implications of all major business decisions affecting 45,000+ employees. Tom leads the organization’s human resources function by developing and implementing progressive human resources strategies across the company. These strategies include talent acquisition and development, compensation planning, internal communications, benefits plan design and implementation, mergers and acquisitions, and workforce management.

Tom came to Time Warner Cable from AOL where he served as the Vice President of International Human Resources from 1999 through December of 2001. Tom was responsible for developing and implementing AOL’s Human Resources strategy for its workforce outside of the US. His duties included building a global HR staff, staffing for numerous executive level positions, setting compensation strategy, implementing performance management and change management strategies, and working with senior management to determine worldwide business strategy for AOL’s 6,000+ international employees.

Prior to joining the Time Warner family, Tom was the Vice President of Human Resources for International Data Group in Framingham, Massachusetts. Tom developed and implemented IDG’s HR strategy for their worldwide workforce. Earlier in his career Tom worked in HR roles at Shearson Lehman Brothers, Data General Corp. and The Pillsbury Company. Tom has an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BS from Trinity College.

Tom is an avid wine enthusiast and has edited multiple wine books. He enjoys photography, travel, hiking, and sports. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife, Lori, and his twin daughters, Emma and Morgan.

Robert C. McIntyre
Chief Technical Officer, Service Provider Business
Cisco

Robert C. McIntyre currently serves as chief technical officer of Cisco’s Service Provider Business.

Previously chief technical officer for Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco Company, McIntyre’s newly extended role will enable him to leverage the synergies of Scientific Atlanta and Cisco intellectual capital and integrated end-to-end technology portfolio to improve the overall service velocity of the ‘quad play’ for service providers and the industry.

McIntyre began his career at Scientific Atlanta in 1991 and has held significant leadership roles in the company’s Transmission and Subscriber businesses. While leading the Subscriber business, his team designed the first real-time digital TV systems and held the first digital TV field trials over Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC). Bob was named Chief Technical Officer in 1999.

Prior to joining Scientific Atlanta, McIntyre was vice president and general manager of Augat’s Interconnection Products Group and served as president and CEO of Avex, Inc., an electronic manufacturing company in Huntsville, Alabama. Earlier in his career, he was the vice president and general manager of GTE Communication Systems in both their Telephone Switching and Transmission businesses. McIntyre also spent 11 years at General Electric, working in a variety of technical management positions. He also participated in General Electric’s General Management Development Program.

McIntyre holds a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgy and Materials from Carnegie Mellon University. He has done graduate work at Penn State in Engineering Mechanics, and at Gannon University in Business Administration Training programs. McIntyre became a member of the Network Advisory Council of Accenture in 2006.

Jim Shanley
Partner
The Shanley Group

Jim Shanley retired from Bank of America in 2006 after a 20-year career with the company. He played a leadership role in growing the company from a small regional bank into one of the world’s largest and most profitable companies earning in excess of $70bb in revenue, $20bb in net income and employing over 225,000 people. He led the cultural integration in over 15 significant mergers and acquisitions.

At Bank of America, he had corporate wide accountability for Staffing, Executive Development & Succession Planning, Organization Development, Leadership Development and Learning. He was a member of the Management Operating Committee and regularly worked with the Board of Directors. He led a team of over 1500 professionals. Under Jim’s leadership, Bank of America earned a reputation as a benchmark company for their Leadership Development and Talent Management programs and processes.

Prior to Bank of America, Shanley was a Naval Officer, a management consultant, and headed up leadership development for a medium size-manufacturing firm.

Jim is the past co-chairman of the Conference Board Council on Training, Education, and Development, and also served on the original steering committee of McKinsey & Company’s groundbreaking “War for Talent” research project. He is a frequent national speaker on the topics of Leadership & Executive Development, Talent Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Change Management. He has also served as a consultant to the White House.

Jim’s consulting practice focuses on six areas:

• Top Team Alignment…focusing on Growth & Strategy Execution
• Talent Management & Succession Planning
• Executive Assessment, Executive Coaching, Executive Assimilation
• Leadership Development....processes, high potential programs, action learning, leadership development/executive development programs
• OD work with Mergers & Acquisitions (culture assessment, cultural integration, change management)
• Working with HR functions to increase their effectiveness and impact

Since beginning his consulting firm in 2006, Jim has worked with some of the most well regarded companies in the world. His consulting engagements have been in North America, South America, Western & Central, Europe, Russia, India, China and New Zealand. Clients include J&J, Microsoft, Avon, ITW, JPMorgan Chase, Fidelity Investments, The Carlyle Group, Mass Mutual, PIMCO, Wyeth, Coca-Cola and National Australia Bank.

Shanley received a B.S. from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of Georgia. His spouse, Vera, is a studio potter and a retired pediatric anesthesiologist. They live on a farm in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

www.jimshanley.com
jim@jimshanley.com

Peter Stern
Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer
Time Warner Cable

Peter Stern is Time Warner Cable’s Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, a role he has held since 2008. He is responsible for broad-based analysis and strategic planning for the Company, as well as supporting product strategy for all Time Warner Cable’s residential and commercial lines of business. He also oversees the Company’s RoadRunner.com Internet portal.

Before taking on his current role, he served as Time Warner Cable’s Executive Vice President of Product Management from 2005-08, and Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning from 2004-05.

Before joining Time Warner Cable in 2004, Stern was Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Time Warner Inc. Prior to joining Time Warner Inc. in 2001, Stern was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, where he helped lead the Firm’s Technology and Media practices.

Stern received a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was the Case Notes Editor of the Yale Law Journal and author of the book Connecticut Prisoners’ Rights, and became a member of both the New York and Connecticut bars. He has a B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in a double concentration of Music and English.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. He serves on the Board and as an Executive Committee member of The Cable Center, the non-profit educational arm of the cable industry.

Stern is an avid classical pianist, tennis player, and skier. He resides in Connecticut with his wife, Sue, and their three children.

Karen Zifcak
Senior Manager of HR Applications
Harris Corporation

Karen Zifcak is the Senior Manager of HR Applications at Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. In this role, she provides ongoing leadership and project management for company-wide HR system projects and initiatives.

Karen has overall responsibility for managing core HR systems, such as PeopleSoft, and the company’s talent management suite, Authoria, and learning management system, GeoLearning. She also managed the implementation of COGNOS, a system that provides HR metrical reporting.

Karen has been with Harris Corporation since 1990. She was part of Harris’ IT group before entering the HR area. She has a degree in Human Resource Management from Rhode Island College. Previous employers include Swarovski Consumer Goods Ltd. and Rhode Island College.