Certified Business Networking and Development Professional (CBNDP)

APRIL SIMPKINS SHRM-CP, PHR, - April is a dually certified HR Professional with 30 years of executive-level Human Resources experience. April is an HR Consultant, and the Chief Human Resources Officer for Totalhr, a human resources services firm focused on supporting the HR needs of small- to mid-sized businesses. She has helped more than 1000 business owners shape and develop their human capital.

April's experience and expertise, coupled with her continued study of Human Resources trends, has made her a trusted advisor for many in the business community. It also led to an invitation to The Business Journal Leadership Trust, which allows April to share her expertise with leaders nationwide. She has been a requested presenter and guest speaker for organizations that include Harvard University Extension School, Winthrop University, The Citadel, EEOC, and The City of Charleston, to name a few. She is also a member of the SHRM Speakers Bureau.

April is a board member of both the York County Regional Chamber of Commerce and the SC Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). She is the Chapter Chair for the Charlotte affiliate of the Women Presidents Organization (WPO), a non-profit membership organization for women presidents, CEOs, and managing directors of privately held, multimillion-dollar companies. In 2016 WPO honored April with the Woman of Color Award for her business achievements.

April was the Diversity Director for the South Carolina Society for Human Resources Management from 2018 - 2020. In 2020 April received the Unsung Hero Award from Greenville SHRM for her exemplary leadership in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her service and commitment to the HR community and the profession's advancement led to her selection as a member of the HR Advisory Board for Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. She works with a team of HR thought leaders who have been charged with designing the human resources undergraduate and postgraduate degree curriculum and programs.

April has received many awards and honors for her business acumen. Her awards include: the 2020 Women In Business Achievement Award from the Charlotte Business Journal, the 2018 Fort Mill/ Tega Cay Business Person of The Year Award from the York County Regional Chamber, the Movers & Shaker Award given by Business Leader Magazine and, in 2016, April was named one of Charlotte's 50 Most Influential Women by Mecklenburg Times.

April is a classically trained pianist, an avid runner, athlete, mother, wife, and entrepreneur.

Bob Churilla is a partner in a conflict management and organizational development firm, Conflict Resolution Professionals Group (CRPG). In addition, Bob is a Visiting Professor at a private University. Bob has worked with the United States Postal Service, Veterans Administration, Transportation Security Administration and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a mediator and consultant. He has also consulted with local, state and private employers, government agencies, churches and nonprofit organizations. Bob has a Ph.D. in Conflict Resolution and a Juris Doctorate degree.

Christopher Salem is an Executive Coach, Corporate Trainer, and Professional Speaker mentors C-Suite, CPAs, Financial Advisors, Physicians, and other business leaders to build and protect their brands by raising their level of influence as trusted advisors to maximize their results.  He also works with companies to create an interdependent work environment and thriving culture through a growth mindset foundation, effective communication, transparent leadership, and higher engagement.  

His book Master Your Inner Critic / Resolve the Root Cause – Create Prosperity went international best seller in 2016. He also co-authored the recent edition to "Mastering the Art of Success" with Jack Canfield. His weekly radio show Sustainable Success is part of the Voice America Influencers Channel.  Chris is also an accomplished business & emotional intelligence strategist, award-winning author®, certified mindset expert, radio show host & media personality, and wellness advocate.  

He works with organizations such as such as JP Morgan – Chase, Ralph Lauren, GE Research, UTC - Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon, Microchip Technologies, Anthem, US Census Bureau, United Healthcare, Laticrete Corporation, Hubbell Corporation, Conning & Company, Foxwoods Casino, and NYPD Forensics Department including universities such as University of Hartford, Westchester Community College, Bay Path University, Worcester State University, and spoke on overcoming limited beliefs for peak performance at Harvard University’s Faculty Club and US Senate.

After more than 30 years in sales and management, Cynthia Widlitze founded Adduco Consulting.  With a passion for serving others as a sales coach, sales consultant, executive coach and professional speaker, Cynthia helps companies and individuals increase their sales.  She teaches and coaches on implementing simple, repeatable sales processes, and collaborates with her clients to create extraordinary customer experiences.

A high energy and goal-driven woman, Cynthia’s career and life experiences contribute to her ability to actively engage her audiences.  Her presentations are filled with precise, relevant and occasionally humorous, content, resulting in opening the eyes, ears, and hearts of her audiences with simple skills they can apply to their everyday lives.

Danny M. Goldberg is the Founder of GoldSRD (www.GoldSRD.com), a leading provider of Staff Augmentation, Executive Recruiting and Professional Development services.  Danny is a well-known speaker on internal auditing and People-Centric Skills, co-authoring People-Centric Skills: Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Internal Auditors, via Wiley Publications.  People-Centric Skills, 2nd Edition, the follow-up to this critically acclaimed book, is currently available via Amazon and through GoldSRD at a discounted rate. 

Danny has over 26 years of professional experience, including five years leading/building internal audit functions.  Danny was named as one of the Fort Worth Business Press 40 Under 40 for 2014. 

He is a thought-leader in the profession, recognized through his numerous articles in trade magazines and consistent rating as a top speaker in the industry.  Mr. Goldberg is also accredited as the Professional Commentator of the Bureau of National Affairs - Internal Audit: Fundamental Principles and Best Practices (Professional Commentator).  This book was authored by renowned audit scholars Curtis C. Verschoor and Mort A. Dittenhofer – coauthor of Sawyer’s Internal Auditing. 

Mr. Goldberg is an active member of the Institute for Internal Auditors, both at a local and national level.  Leadership roles include: 

• Current IIA Dallas Chapter Board Member and Programs Committee Co-Chair
• Former IIA Fort Worth Chapter Board Member and Programs Committee Co-Chair
• Former Member of the IIA North America Learning Committee (2015)
• Former Volunteer Chairman of the American Lung Association (2014)
• Former Audit Committee Chairman/Director at numerous religious organizations

Danny is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise Information Technology (CGEIT), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA), has obtained his Certification in Control Self Assessment (CCSA) and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

Edi’s career spans over 18 years in Human Resources as a subject matter expert within Diversity & Inclusion and Talent Acquisition. She’s held various positions within HR at several Fortune 100 corporations such as Target, Truist, Walgreens, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and Dell Technologies.

Edi obtained her Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from Illinois State University and Master of Science in Human Resource Management from DeVry University-Chicago. In addition, she is a certified Human Resource Professional (SHRM-CP) and well as a LinkedIn Recruiter License and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification. 

In 2018, Erica McBeth set out on a mission to talk to one stranger a week for a full year.  Her journey through that project is chronicled in her book, “52 New Friends” and her video series, “How to Make Friends & Beat Loneliness.”  In an effort to help people connect together in positive ways, Erica founded Erica McBeth Productions in 2020 and McBeth Marketing in 2021.  She sits on the Arizona Chapter Board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and educates people on the benefits of how human connection can transform their companies and their lives.  She is a speaker, a writer, a storyteller, an advocate for human connection and the self-proclaimed slayer of loneliness. 

Garrett Wasny, MA, CMC, CITP/FIBP, is an artificial intelligence skills advisor to accountants worldwide and Director of the forthcoming AI Accounting Future Forum. This groundbreaking platform is set to revolutionize how accounting professionals engage with artificial intelligence. A former Price Waterhouse management consultant, Garrett has authored 60+ ebooks, delivered thousands of seminars and webinars to elite accounting enterprises around the globe, and developed dozens of AI apps on accounting technology, tax and ethics topics. 

Jennifer F. Louis, CPA has over 25 years of experience in designing and instructing high-quality training programs in a wide variety of technical and “soft skills” topics needed for professional and organization success. In 2003, she founded Emergent Solutions Group, LLC, where she focuses her energy on designing and delivering high-quality, practical, and engaging accounting and auditing training. She was most recently Director of Audit Product Development at Surgent Professional Education, and prior to that served as Executive Vice President/Director of Training Services at AuditWatch, Inc., a highly-respected training and audit process consulting firm. Before joining AuditWatch, Jennifer was the Financial/Operational Audit Manager at AARP. At the start of her professional career, Jennifer was an Audit Manager for Deloitte & Touche LLP, where she frequently served as a local and national instructor. Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from Marymount University with a BBA-Accounting. Besides loving life on the lake with her husband in Charlotte, NC, she enjoys hiking with her little dog Frodo Beggins, and savoring any precious moments spent with her two young adult boys.

Jennifer Hancock is the author of several best selling and award winning books and is the founder of Humanist Learning Systems. Not only was she raised as a Humanist, she is considered one of the top speakers and writers in the world of Humanism today. Her professional background is varied including leadership positions in both the for profit and non-profit sectors.

She teaches Humanism – a combination of Love, Rationality, Science & Responsibility. Her courses will give you hope. It will help you simplify your life by reducing complexity of the problems you face, which will in turn – help you reduce your anxiety. Finally- because this is all science based – it will work. 

What makes her unique is that she teaches humanistic approaches grounded in dignity and compassion coupled with science based behavioral modification techniques to create positive workplace cultures that eliminate unwanted behaviors like bullying, harassment and discrimination while positively reinforcing the behaviors you do want.

Ms. Hancock has a BA in Liberal Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1990). Her field of study combined cognitive linguistics, anthropology and psychology.  While in college, she apprenticed as a dolphin trainer for a dolphin language/cognition laboratory which is where she learned the behavioral science and behavior modification techniques she now teaches.

Ms. Hancock has worked in executive leadership roles her entire career (since graduating college in 1990).  She has literally never not worked in leadership/management.  In the course of her career she has provided training to companies all over the world for both executive leadership as well as staff.  She started training and coaching staff in her first job out of college as the director of volunteer services for the Los Angeles SPCA., and has provided training, support and mentoring programs at  every job she’s held since including her stint at the manager of acquisition group information for a 1/2 billion dollar company.

She has over 30 years of experience working in executive leadership and in providing leadership and management training to others. If you let her, she can teach you how to be a more authentic and effective leader who is both powerfully ethical and armed with the technical skills required to master whatever challenges you face with grace and dignity. 

Lisa Mininni is President, Excellerate Associates, an organizational development and business mentoring company showing businesses how to understand and identify human wiring, uncover prevailing hidden cultures impacting their organizations, and scale the company in alignment with their Contribution in the World

• Founder Business Innovation Lab CoWorking & Conference Center located in Livonia, Michigan
• Best Selling Author of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change
• Excellerate Associates is a Certified Women Business Enterprise
• To schedule an introductory session, visit https://www.ExcellerateAssociates.com or call 734-223-3938
  

Loren Fogelman is a keynote speaker and one of America’s top ranked business coaches. From 2018 to 2021, she continues to be recognized by HubSpot in its annual list of the world’s top 22 business coaches.  

She delivers talks and workshops across the United States at major conferences such as Inbound, one of the world’s most esteemed content marketing events for entrepreneurs, as well as many niche accounting conferences.  

Loren is an expert in pricing strategy and sales for accounting professionals. She coaches them to shift away from the “dollars-per-hour” pricing trap to a value-based pricing model. This allows her clients to reduce workload by as much as 50% while doubling revenues. 

She’s a regular contributor to Intuit’s Firm of the Future series, Accounting Web and the author of two Amazon best seller books: The Winning Point: How to Master the Mindset of Champions and The Success Solution: Break Through Limiting Beliefs for Business Success.  

Ready to value price your services? Discover how to double your income while working half the time. Claim your FREE RESOURCE to separate your fees from your time at https://www.businesssuccesssolution.com/value-book/. 

Energetic, ambitious and Result-oriented professional, offering +15 years of extensive experience in Management, operations, Finance, Audit, Risk management, marketing and Customer experience.

Manish has hands-on experience in Monthly Reporting and Pnl Analysis, Budgeting and strategic planning.

Passionate for learning and development, thinking in innovative and non-traditional ways, Manish is your business partner for growth.

Manish is experienced with leading projects for change. He has led ERP implementation for 16 hotels in Htoo Group.

Manish is focused, display positive attitude and Topline growth approach towards business problems. He believes in efficiencies and lean management.

He is also on his Entrepreneurial journey and founded https://ehotelmanagementschool.com for sharing knowledge and experience via online classes and sessions. Startup also help small hotels and other startups with finance and management consulting.

Raymond Sheen, PMP® LSS BB, is president and founder of Product & Process Innovation, Inc. He is a veteran business leader with over 35 years of executive, functional, and project management experience working in GE, the US Air Force and as an independent consultant.  Ray is author of the book, Guide to Building Your Business Case, published by Harvard Business Review Press and a contributor to the book, Guide to Project Management, also published by Harvard Business Review Press.  Ray teaches process improvement, digital transformation, project management, product development and strategy development topics through Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. 

Ray received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and his M.S. in Astronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He has recently completed a graduate certificate in Digital Leadership and Strategy from Boston University.    He also attended numerous business management and executive management training programs while at GE.  Ray is a Fellow at the Institute for Digital Transformation and a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).  

The focus of Ray’s work has been the management and deployment of technology in various industries and business functions including finance, engineering, marketing, manufacturing, service, and IT.   Ray has completed projects, managed teams and delivered training and consulting on three continents and 15 countries.

My philosophy is to inspire, challenge and support change. I have nearly 30 years’ experience as a business author and consultant. 

As a consultant, I specialise in process improvement based on the Lean philosophy. I facilitate improvement teams and provide expertise in performance measurement and management; problem solving; and process improvement. 

As well as delivering webinars for MyCPE, I develop courses and webinars for the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) in the UK and other specialist business and finance providers.

I live in Scotland, near Glasgow, with my wife, daughter and Cocker Spaniel.

Scott grew up in CT and graduated from the University of Hartford. His career started in Investment Banking, where he learned the art of building relationships and hard work. After three decades of leading companies to greater levels of success around the globe, generating over $6 BILLION in new revenue, Scott made the decision to bring his expertise to the greater Austin community locally through the ActionCOACH platform, creating and implementing custom business systems for immediate success.  In simple terms, Scott uses his innate passion for helping others succeed, creating wealth and gaining back control of their business, their life! Scott combines this with his knowledge and understanding that a business can thrive best with thoughtful and implemented systems.  Scott is the father of two amazing sons. His passion for the joys of growth of his sons is reflected in his willingness to get in the game.  His leadership skills lead him to coaching youth sports of baseball, soccer and basketball over the years.  His oldest son is currently at the beginning of a successful career having served bravely in the Air Force Special Forces, while his youngest son is pursuing his dream of becoming a major league pitcher.

Shane Lukas…

• has worked with accounting business owners for over 25 years.
• owns and runs AVN Inspiring Accountants, a membership organisation for accountants around the world who are passionate about growing their firms and delivering added value. 
• is an International Coach, enriching the lives of those accountants, their teams and their clients, by teaching them how to deliver advisory solutions.
• is an energising and inspiring speaker; his TEDx Talk has had over 100,000 views and climbing.  
• has authored many international best-selling books for business owners and accountants. These include the two best-selling books for accountants:

Putting Excellence Into (your) Practice: A Proven Roadmap To A Profitable, Sustainable and Value Driven Accountancy Business.

and

What’s Next For Accountants: How to make the biggest threat facing the profession your biggest opportunity.

Shane’s core beliefs include…

Accountancy is a noble profession that can make a profound difference to its clients and deserves to be well rewarded.

AND

It’s not really success if it comes at the expense of family, friends and health!

• R. Shawn McBride has the credentials. You can read them below. What you really need to know:

• Shawn works with successful, private business owners on ways to build companies that stand the test of time so he can help you make your plans work.
• He is all about empowering business owners, employees and others to live a life they love so he'll work hard to make that happen for you and your audiences.
• Shawn's experience in business, law and speaking means he can effectively deliver powerful results for you and your teams.

Experience

• 14+ years of experience enables him to quickly assess businesses and provide discerning advice to help you meet your goals.
• Licensed to practice law in 12 states and D.C. so he understands law and business throughout the US.
• Licensed as a CPA for 17 years so you don't have to worry he gets the financial and business concepts that are so critical to you.
• Has utilized a philosophy of educating his clients, not just pushing paper, so you know he'll deliver results that really help you.

Education

• Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2002 with honors.
• Bachelor’s degree from Towson University in 1999 - double major in Accounting & Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Community Service

• Board of Advisors, Maryland Public Interest Law
  
  

Ty is a CPA with almost 20 years of experience in both public accounting and sales. Ty worked as an accountant at firms ranging from small to large prior to moving into the accounting technology sector successfully building sales training programs for both Wolters Kluwer and Bloomberg BNA. Working in different areas of the accounting industry, Ty recognized that sales and business development skills are a necessary part of the job of a CPA, but also the most underserved in terms of skill development and training. Ty’s passion is to provide the tools necessary for accountants to not only be successful but also enjoy business development. Ty has a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY.

William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, RODC, CPLP Fellow is President of Rothwell & Associates, Inc. & Rothwell & Associates, LLC. His consulting focuses on succession planning and talent management.  He is also a Professor at Penn State University, University Park, where he teaches graduate courses in Organization Development and Change. 

Before becoming a professor 28 years ago, he had nearly 20 years of full-time human resource management experience in government and in business. He has consulted on succession planning with corporations, small businesses, family businesses, charities, and Federal, State and local government agencies. He has traveled to China 83 times and has consulted on succession on nearly every continent. Among his 127 published books are these, which are relevant to this webinar: The essential HR guide for small businesses and startups; Optimizing talent in the federal workforce; Building a talent development structure without borders; Effective succession planning: Ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within; The leader’s daily role in talent management: Maximizing results, engagement and retention; Career planning and succession management: Developing your organization’s talent for today and tomorrow; The competency toolkit; Talent management: A step-by-action-oriented guide based on best practice; Becoming an effective mentoring leader: Proven strategies for building excellence in your organization; Working longer: New strategies for managing, training, and retaining older employees; Invaluable knowledge: Securing your company’s technical expertise-Recruiting and retaining top talent, transferring technical knowledge, engaging high performers; The manager’s guide to maximizing employee potential; and Cases in government succession planning: Action-oriented strategies for public-sector human capital management, workforce planning, succession planning, and talent management.