2018 Executive Forum Speaker Bios

Transcription

1 2018 Executive Forum Speaker Bios Greg Gifford, Ph.D. Dr. Greg Gifford is Dean of the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) and is responsible for the professional development of over 800 senior federal executives each year. Dr. Gifford administers the academic operations at FEI and oversees faculty, adjunct faculty, and curriculum delivered in FEI s executive leadership development programs. His portfolio includes FEI s flagship program Leadership for a Democratic Society, a variety of custom single agency and international programs, and open enrollment courses. Dr. Gifford is recognized as an expert in leadership development and is a strategic driver of executive leadership development programs for the U.S. government. He places a strong value on outcomes based development that demonstrates return on investment and shows measureable progress. He regularly speaks on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and has earned the MBTI Master Practitioner designation. His other interests include work motivation, team development, workplace diversity, adult development and individual change. Dr. Gifford regularly teaches in FEI programs including sessions on leadership theory, MBTI, 360 degree feedback, transforming organizations, transforming individuals, and a variety of special topics. Dr. Gifford came to FEI in 2011 from the University of Florida where as an Assistant Professor he taught courses on interpersonal leadership development, team development, team leadership, work motivation and leadership theory. His publications include work on power in organizations, work motivation, positive political skills, workplace stigma and cross cultural motivation. He has been an invited speak at the University of Virginia, The George Washington University and the National Taiwan University and the Chinese Training and Development Association, the Korean Central Officials Training Institute, amongst others. He has a number of professional certifications including MBTI Step II, EQi 2.0, Kirkpatrick Evaluation Methods, Subject Object Interviewer, and Immunity to Change facilitator. Dr. Gifford has served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Leadership Educators and is a member of the International Leadership Association. In 2016, he received the OPM Director s Award for Leadership Excellence and in 2000 he was presented with the Gold Congressional Award from the United States Congress. He studied at the University of Nebraska Lincoln earning a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies, an M.S. in Leadership Education and a B.A. in political science and communication studies. Kristi Hedges Kristi Hedges is a communications expert, author, speaker and sought after leadership coach. In her 25 year career working with leaders to help them communicate more effectively she s encountered every personality type imaginable, yet remains more than a little passionate that anyone can learn presence. Through her coaching and workshops, she s worked with CEOs, senior leaders and professionals in companies spanning the Fortune 500, non profits and the U.S.

2 government. In addition to running The Hedges Company, she is a founding partner in the leadership development firm, Element North. Kristi writes about leadership for Forbes and Harvard Business Review and is regularly featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Entrepreneur, BBC, Chief Learning Officer and CNBC. She s been honored as one of the 50 Women Who Mean Business in Washington, D.C. and as an owner of a top 25 Largest Women Owned Businesses by the Washington Business Journal. Prior to becoming a leadership coach, Kristi co founded and ran one of the first technology communications firms in the Washington, D.C. area for a decade before successfully selling her interest. Her career highlights also include working for a national news outlet, and as a political consultant for dozens of electoral campaigns from U.S. President to statewide offices. Kristi holds a Phi Beta Kappa B.A. from Virginia Tech and an M.S. from Purdue University. She is an ICFcredentialed leadership coach through Georgetown University, and is a teaching faculty member in Georgetown s Institute for Transformational Leadership. Daphne Y. Jefferson Daphne Y. Jefferson is the Senior Advisor for Shared Services with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). She was asked to lead DOT s migration to a shared service operating model because of her exemplary accomplishments in leading mission support functions in several federal agencies. She advises the Assistant Secretary for Administration on the assessment, design and implementation of shared services for human resources and acquisitions management. Ms. Jefferson served as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from February 2015 until November She led an organization with over 1,100 employees across the United States. Prior to her appointment with FMCSA, she served as the Counselor to the Chief of Staff at DOT in the immediate Office of the Secretary from December 2013 until February Before that, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration for DOT. Previously she also served as the Associate Administrator for Administration for DOT s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Ms. Jefferson previously held the position of Administrator of the Office of Financial and Administrative Management with the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration where she led Federal employees and contractors that performed diverse functions including Federal grant and contract management, audit resolution, budget formulation and execution, accounting, administrative services, human resource management, training, labor relations, equal employment opportunity, and emergency preparedness. Ms. Jefferson also served as the Director of Business Integration in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Office of the Chief Financial Officer. At NASA, she directed the development and implementation of financial management policies, processes and procedures, ensured the integration of financial management regulations with NASA's agency wide business systems, and led the workforce development effort for the financial management community.

3 Ms. Jefferson began her federal career with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Over a 20 year period, she held positions of increasing responsibility within the Air Traffic Control Service, including managing air traffic control field facilities and serving as manager of the Meteorological Support Branch in Washington, DC. In addition to Ms. Jefferson s career as a federal senior executive, she is also a leadership coach. She is passionate about helping leaders to gracefully navigate the challenges of transitions. She has coached leaders at every level of government, the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and academia. Ms. Jefferson holds a Masters in Public Administration from American University and served as a Brookings Institution Legislative Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives. She holds a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University s Institute for Transformational Leadership. In addition, Ms. Jefferson is the recipient of the 2016 Presidential Meritorious Rank Award and the 2017 Influential Woman in Trucking Award. Rob Kramer Rob Kramer specializes in public sector and academic leadership and team development. A manager for fifteen years in the public sector and NGO s, he has experienced many different styles of bosses and other superiors. Rob has been an adjunct faculty member at FEI since 2004, and an executive coach since Rob has served more than fifteen years in academia. He currently facilitates faculty leadership development programming at the University of North Carolina s (UNC) Institute for the Arts and Humanities. He was founding Director the Center for Leadership & Organizational Excellence at NC A&T State University, the first of its kind in the southeast United States. Prior to that he was the Director of Training & Organizational Development at UNC, where he lead and provided executive coaching and organizational development consulting, overseeing management, supervisory and leadership development for the University's 12,000 faculty and staff. Rob's coaching clients include CEO s, executives in public and private sectors, political appointees, and senior managers. He is the author of Stealth Coaching: Everyday Conversations for Extraordinary Results, and Management and Leadership Skills for Medical Faculty: A Practical Handbook. He has contributed a leadership column for Advance magazine and for the Chronicle of Higher Education. Rob is delighted to have lectured at a TEDx conference, where he spoke on The Opposite of Stress. Rob is also an executive coach for the Center for Creative Leadership, an organization ranked among the best executive education providers in the world. Additionally, he has lectured at Yale University, the University of Virginia, Duke University, NC State University, and the University of Colorado, among other academic institutions. Rob received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Delaware. Concentrating on Social Psychology, Rob's primary focus was examining group behavior, dynamics and interactions. Rob received his Master s degree from the University of North Carolina, and completed his studies in Organizational Development at UNC Charlotte. He is an International Coach Federation (ICF) and

4 CCL certified coach, and is an active member of the Institute of Coaching (Harvard), ICF, and the Organizational Development Network. Russ Linden Russ Linden is a management educator and author who specializes in organizational performance and change methods in the public sector. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia and the Federal Executive Institute. His clients have included several intelligence and defense agencies, the Departments of State, Transportation, Treasury, HHS, Interior and Education. He s also worked with a governor, a state attorney general, and over four dozen nonprofit, state and local government agencies. He writes a column on management innovations for Management Insights, an online column sponsored by Governing Magazine. In 2003 he was the Williams Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York (Fredonia) School of Business. He is the author of five books. The most recent, Leading Across Boundaries: Creating Collaborative Agencies in a Networked World, was published in His PhD is from the University of Virginia. He and his wife have two adult children. Daniel H. Pink Daniel H. Pink is the author of several provocative, bestselling books about business, work, and behavior. His books include: When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing unlocks the scientific secrets to good timing to help you flourish at work, at school, and at home. To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, which uses social science to offer a fresh look at the art and science of sales. To Sell is Human was a #1 bestseller on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post lists and is being translated into 31 languages. More than a dozen outlets, from Amazon.com to The Washington Post, selected it as one of the best books of the year. It also won the American Marketing Association s Berry Book Prize as the year s best book on marketing. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, which draws on 50 years of behavioral science to overturn the conventional wisdom about human motivation. Along with being a Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Publishers Weeklybestseller, Drive spent 159 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists. A national bestseller in Japan and the United Kingdom, the book has been translated into 35 languages. A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future, which charts the rise of rightbrain thinking in modern economies and describes the six abilities individuals and organizations must master in an outsourced, automated age. A Whole New Mind was on the New York Times bestseller lists for 96 weeks over four years. It has been a Freshman Read at several U.S. colleges and universities. In 2008, Oprah Winfrey gave away 4,500 copies of the book to Stanford University s graduating class when she was the school s commencement speaker.

5 The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You ll Ever Need, the first American business book in the Japanese comic format known as manga and the only graphic novel ever to become a BusinessWeek bestseller. Illustrated by award winning artist Rob Ten Pas, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko was named an American Library Association best graphic novel for teens. Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, a Washington Post bestseller that Publishers Weekly says has become a cornerstone of employee management relations. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Library of Congress selected Free Agent Nation as one of 100 Books That Shaped Work in America. Pink was host and co executive producer of Crowd Control, a television series about human behavior on the National Geographic Channel. He also appears frequently on NPR s Hidden Brain, the PBS NewsHour, and other TV and radio networks in the US and abroad. He has been a contributing editor at Fast Company and Wired as well as a business columnist for The Sunday Telegraph. His articles and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The New Republic, Slate, and other publications. In 2007, he was a Japan Society Media fellow in Tokyo, where he studied the country s massive comic industry. For the last six years, London based Thinkers 50 named him, alongside Michael Porter and Clayton Christensen, as one of the top 15 business thinkers in the world. Pink s TED Talk on the science of motivation is one of the 10 most watched TED Talks of all time, with more than 19 million views. His RSA Animate video about the ideas in his book, Drive, has collected more than 14 million views. He currently serves on the advisory boards of RiseSmart, Betterment Institutional, Heleo, and Hubspot. Before venturing out on his own 20 years ago, Dan worked in several positions in politics and government, including serving from 1995 to 1997 as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. He received a BA from Northwestern University, where he was a Truman Scholar and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a JD from Yale Law School. He has also received honorary doctorates from Georgetown University, the Pratt Institute, the Ringling College of Art and Design, and Westfield State University. Pink and his wife live in Washington, DC. They have three children a college junior, a college freshman, and a high school freshman.