Our Consultants
Betsy Allen
Betsy Allen is a creative leader with a successful history of building relationships with a variety of executive stakeholders through developing solutions-oriented approaches that enable business visions. She is adept at leveraging a mix of strategic planning, operational execution, and analytics to help teams deliver profitable results. After earning a BS Degree from Michigan State University, Betsy had the opportunity to establish and lead talent/HR teams at Tower Automotive, Actuant Corporation, Cooper Standard, Guardian Industries, and Molex.
High-impact areas include:
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- Executive Coaching, Onboarding & Recruitment
- Culture "Curation"
- Project & Vendor Management
- Communication Coaching
James Bailey
James is a highly experienced HR Labor professional who held full accountability for human resources functions at nine manufacturing facilities in U.S., Canada, and Mexico that generated over $30B in revenue for the organization. In his various roles, James broke down barriers between different departments of HR to create a customer service centric HR organization. James' specialties include employee/labor relations, reduction of EEO liability, North American HR issues and solutions, and building HR organization from the ground up.
Katie A. Ballay
Katie A. Ballay is an executive communications and marketing leader with extensive experience in internal and external strategic communications, transformation and change communications, culture and diversity communications, marketing, and brand strategy.
She works with organizations to engage their audiences with smart, authentic communications, grow and transform their marketing capabilities, and reimagine their culture, diversity and inclusion, and talent and engagement strategies. She also works with C-suite leaders who are looking to refine and refresh their personal brands and deliver compelling messaging. Her expertise includes strategic communications and marketing, brand strategy and execution, executive branding, diversity and gender partnership communications, culture activation, C-suite level coaching, team building, and navigating complex environments and transformations.
David Bomzer
David has over 30 years’ experience working in public and private equity backed firms in both internal and external roles in mid-markets, global Fortune 500 organizations, and has board experience. David works with teams to deliver large, complex projects that help organizations realize the full value of their human capital as well as with individuals as an executive coach and consultant to help them progress in achieving their career and business goals. Whether as a consultant or an Interim Head of HR, David effectively partners with all levels of clients, from the Board to the floor, to develop solutions that address their business needs. David has held leadership roles in domestic and global as well as union and non-union environments. His deliverables include the development of a nationally recognized integrated succession planning - leadership development framework, a sales coaching initiative optimizing sales representative time driving enhanced revenues and margins, and successful integration of acquisitions and mergers.
Cliff Cameron
Cliff has been providing human resources consulting services since 2020. Prior to 2020 Cliff had over 40 years of human resources experience in the automotive industry working in both OEM and supplier organizations. At the functional level he has supported manufacturing, technical, sales, and staff organizations. His experience has included launching international joint ventures with Chinese and Japanese partners, providing acquisition due diligence and post-close transition planning, and extensive collective bargaining experience that has included supplier industry competitive agreements. Cliff has strong business acumen with an in-depth experience and understanding of Human Resources and how it relates to business needs and conditions.
Kristi Cnossen
Kristi is a highly seasoned HR professional most recently focusing on providing direction and oversight of employee-relations matters, including those related to equity and fairness, employment law compliance, and risk impacting the work environment from an employee-relations perspective. Kristi consulted and provided oversight and direction on investigations, including investigations involving matters related to ethics and global compliance. Kristi developed a Workplace Investigation Process with associated tools and templates and trained HR on this process. Kristi has worked in a manufacturing environment handling all levels of employee relations and HR generalist work, including the last five years at a headquarters facility. Kristi is based on the west side of Michigan.
Leanne Eastman
Leanne is an experienced HR professional with 20+ years of experience, who works with small to mid-size companies building out HR departments. Leanne is experienced with the full lifecycle of HR from employee relations, onboarding/offboarding, compensation, benefits, performance reviews, employee records, government compliance, EEO/AAP, immigration, job analysis, training, payroll, and more. Leanne was also point person on several payroll and HRIS/HCM system transitions such as UKG, Paycor, Paylocity, and ADP. Her expertise is HR Generalist and can assist with a variety of projects.
Melissa Gardynik
Melissa is an experienced human resources professional and leader who excels in talent acquisition and delivering a positive employee experience. She has developed new programs to support company culture, strength employee retention, and onboard talented new team members. She has extensive experience in leading human resources initiatives and developing successful HR programs especially for smaller employers. Melissa has the proven ability to foster positive employee relations, drive organizational performance, and support business objectives.
Vicki Gerou
Vicki is a hands-on HR professional with extensive experience in small and growing organizations. Vicki’s HR experience is from entry level to supervisory and managerial positions including recruitment and staffing, payroll, labor management, contract interpretation, benefits administration, workforce planning, and project development and implementation. Vicki has worked on mergers and has grown HR departments from the bottom up. Vicki has taken organizations from rudimentary systems to automated HR modules to increase efficiencies in operations. She is also an experienced compensation professional who has established structures and pay ranges and has reworked benefits while lowering costs. Vicki is located in the UP and can work throughout Northern Michigan.
Erica Hansen
Erica is an experienced relationship builder with a diverse human resources background. Erica has increased management effectiveness and coached employees to improve overall workplace satisfaction. Erica has worked in small, growing organizations and large organizations, across many industries from healthcare to non-profit to service. Erica focuses on facilitating investigations, creating employee experience initiatives to improve culture, developing and improving policies - including writing employee handbooks, and conducting compliance audits.
Samantha Klingler
Samantha is an HR leader with a special focus on HRIS and ancillary systems. Samantha has a full range of HR experience from recruiting to employee relations, but her passion is with HRIS. Samantha created an HR ticket and analytics reporting system and also managed company intranet. Samantha configured, implemented, and administered an HRIS system with an emphasis on automation/system enhancements. She evaluated and implemented LMS, payroll, and other systems and created custom forms, fields, reports, workflows, and visuals in the system while utilizing XML and SQL. Samantha has created project plans for HRIS selection, recognizing the needs of the company as a requirement for any selection (from budget to vendor to cross compatibility of systems currently used). If you are looking to upgrade your current HRIS/Payroll/ATS/LMS etc. systems, Samantha can assist.
Jim Lewis
Jim Lewis served as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for NSF International in Ann Arbor, Michigan during a 26-year career with the company. His responsibilities as a CHRO included all HR support for 3000 staff in over 40 locations in 18 countries, including recruiting and retention, benefits and compensation, training, organizational development, employee relations including litigation management, and strategic planning. He has also provided due diligence for, and integration of more than 15 corporate acquisitions in eight countries. Jim provides executive level human capital management consulting, including merger and acquisition due diligence and post-close workforce integration services, executive and board strategic planning and refinement, and executive succession planning. Jim is skilled at the creation of competitive executive compensation programs for privately held and not-for-profit organizations, including phantom stock and long-term incentive programs.
Terri Lies
Terri has a very successful tenure in the talent and HR space, supporting automotive manufacturing, tech/consulting companies, and the staffing business. She has experience in all aspects of talent acquisition and recruiting including both hands-on and leadership roles as well as managing talent programs and vendor relationships. She is also well versed in the talent management space including employee engagement, career mobility, and L&D. Her passion is helping all people, ensuring the business has the right talent, and doing the right things to make the business and culture successful. Her positive attitude makes her stand out along with her ability to drive results.
Elizabeth Militello
Elizabeth is a senior executive with strategic global leadership experience in a rapidly changing business environment. She has unique legal and HR background that include employment law, employee relations, human resources, and their intersections that impact on the workplace. She is an experienced people leader possessing excellent systemic thinking, analytical, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills. Elizabeth has a distinctive ability to create value, develop talent, manage risk, lead through crisis, and influence change at all levels of a global organization. Elizabeth is experienced in manufacturing as well as retail HR management.
Linda Moore
Linda is a long-time strategic and innovative leader experienced in human resources, organizational development, and strategic planning. She has worked in non-profit and for-profit organizations as well as corporate and manufacturing environments. Linda has the knowledge and skills to align HR practices with business goals, manage complex HR issues, and foster an inclusive and productive work culture. She can collaborate with all levels of the organization resulting in the delivery of comprehensive solutions that can be welcomed and sustainable. Her key areas of expertise include strategic planning, succession planning, talent development, performance coaching and management, compensation, talent acquisition, and employee engagement which includes employee surveys and action planning. Linda has a unique skill set as she has 20 years' experience working for Japanese-owned organizations leading their HR functions where she understands the challenges that can arise with such companies in the US. She welcomes the opportunity to work with you on what you need for your organization to retain top talent and thrive.
Lisa Peters
Lisa is a highly experienced HR professional and leader who has demonstrated success working with the C-Suite as well as a hands-on HR professional from payroll and timekeeping to employee relations to compensation. Lisa’s sweet spot is with smaller to mid size employers who need to identify compliance needs and actions. Lisa has an accounting background as knows how to talk numbers. Lisa is a skilled business partner who understands business drivers and aligns HR strategy with the corporate growth paths and enables growth by engaging, hiring, and retaining talented people who help the company compete in the global marketplace.
Pam Prafke
Pam Prafke is a full-cycle hands on HR leader on the west side of Michigan with over 20 years of experience, managing a team and focusing on employee relations, policies, and compliance. Pam has developed and implemented policies, updated handbooks, and provided training throughout organizations. Pam has also worked on company expansion and acquisitions as well as global compliance issues. Pam has conducted the life cycle of recruiting and has worked on diversity pipeline development as well as OFCCP audits and compliance. She specializes in HR generalist and compliance projects.
David Quinn (Sales & Marketing)
David has over 30 years of successful sales and marketing experience in small and large service organizations. David has extensive skills in building and developing sales teams, strategic plans, and aligning incentives with goals leading to desired outcomes. David excels in problem solving skills by building strong cultures and creating a collaborative environment with a focus on creativity and innovation within a sales and marketing team. David has also a long history working across multiple departments to develop effective value propositions, presentations, and training.
Shelley Riebel
With more than 20 years of helping clients design and implement programs that drive measurable improvements to performance, Shelley brings strong business acumen and creative energy to high-performing teams. Shelley creates customized solutions for clients, taking them to their next level of performance. Shelley's experience and expertise include talent management, leadership development, professional coaching, employee development, instructional design and program development, strategic facilitation, leadership assessments, and 360 feedback. She has delivered leadership training to 10,000+ employees.
Carol Riegler (Finance)
Carol is a strategic financial manager with over 25 years of experience managing operational and financial goals. She has hands-on financial expert experience working with interdisciplinary teams across organizational functions. Carol researched, analyzed, and created financial analysis through the evaluation of facts and analysis of complex business issues. Carol has significant experience and skills in risk management, business planning, mergers and acquisitions, treasury management, and cash flow management. Her last role was CFO for a 250-employee organization with over $200 million in revenue with 10 locations in the U.S. Carol is a CPA, Certified Fraud Examiner, and Certified Turnaround Professional.
Chris Shipe
Chris is a former naval aviator who for the last sixteen years worked in data analytics working most recently with C-Suite executives. Chris has led professionals in marketing, customer experience, and analytics to identify whether processes and strategies are worthwhile and achievable through data analytics. For example, Chris simplified and modernized recruiting, onboarding, and technical training and development leading to a 10% reduction in turnover and reducing the time to fill a position to under 45 days on average. Chris has also worked with material & logistics cost optimization, tooling and manufacturing complexity reduction, product complexity optimization, and constraint management using data analytics to bring about desired and achievable outcomes. Chris possesses strength is problem solving and understanding the limits and opportunities associated with data within organizations.
Destiny Starkweather
Destiny has an extensive track record of success designing and administering best-in-class compensation programs to help companies reach new levels of performance within highly competitive sectors. Focused on competitive benchmarking, job analysis and classification, managing pay structures, and ensuring equitable compensation programs to attract and retain top talent, Destiny excels at building and optimizing the performance of systems, processes, and tools that champion strategic HR compensation initiatives and drive organizational success. Her specialties are helping to identify and establish compensation strategy, developing compensation structure analysis & design, conducting job classification and creating the environment for appropriate architecture, and working on base pay merit and incentive pay administration.
Karen Straske
Karen Straske has been providing superior human resources consulting services since 2005. She began her human resources career in 1993 and by 1999 she was directing a corporate human resources department. Karen has worked for small to medium-sized organizations with a local, national, and international presence. Karen provides human resources solutions to organizations in need of professional expertise. She will work with your staff to customize human resources solutions based on your exact needs. From sexual harassment training to the proper handling of resignations, she can help assist with all the details, smoothly and seamlessly, in an effective and affordable manner. She will develop policies and programs that fit your corporate culture. Additionally, she is available to be on location when needed.
Eileen Vernor
Eileen is an accomplished HR leader with over 30 years of experience across Fortune 500 companies, mid-market firms, and non-profits. She specializes in total rewards (compensation and benefits) strategy and design, talent management, talent acquisition, and HR Systems. Eileen is fluent in Spanish and skilled at fostering inclusive workplaces. Eileen held HR leadership roles at Urban Science, NSF International, Joyson Safety Systems, and other prominent organizations.
Tami Vincent
Tami Vincent is a hands-on HR Leader with over 30 years of experience with all aspects of family-owned, small employer HR. With most of her experience in family business coupled with international HR (sprinkled with a little Fortune 500 HR experience), Tami is an expert navigating through structure and succession planning through multi-generational successions. From a startup business to a mid to large size family business, Tami can assist in all aspects of HR from payroll and benefits to performance management and leadership growth at all levels. Tami specializes in strategy and organizational design, succession and family succession, leadership and team development for SME, and especially family-owned businesses.
Ron Watson
Ron is the retired Vice President of HR for Oakland University, responsible for the strategic direction of University Human Resources (UHR) that included training, development, diversity, equity & compliance, benefits, compensation, employee/labor relations, employment, compliance, and human resources information systems. Ron has designed and implemented new compensation structures and benefit packages and led labor negotiations for the university. Before that role, Ron was Vice President at Compuware and integrated 16 acquired companies into Compuware’s compensation and benefits programs and overall culture by developing a comprehensive process. Ron's specialties are HR organizational design, compensation and benefits, M&A, and succession planning.
Adeline Wicker
Adeline is a CFO/Controller and has managed finance, accounting, strategic planning, growth and cash flows, debt financing, contract negotiations, and family succession planning for family-owned businesses with up to 250 employees. Adeline has managed financial aspects of eight mergers/acquisitions and has performed financial work for both U.S. and Mexico. Adeline has achieved cost savings of millions of dollars for several companies and has managed all aspects of accounting with direct hands-on experience and created various forecast models for corporate planning. Adeline specializes in smaller family-owned businesses with all aspects of accounting and C-level suite succession planning.