SPRING SEMINAR 2010
“A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO HR: DELIVERING BUSINESS RESULTS”

Speaker Bios

Francie Dalton, CMC
Francie Dalton, CMC, is founder and president of Dalton Alliances, Inc., a Washington, D.C. based consultancy specializing in the management, behavioral and communication sciences.  Among her offerings are fully customized organizational and leadership assessments, an array of follow-up services including business consulting, developmental workshops, retreats and interventions, executive coaching, and keynotes.

Francie’s published works have been featured in Harvard Management Update, CEO Magazine, Investors Business Daily, The Washington Post, The NY Times, and in hundreds of other business publications.  She has been a regular columnist for the Washington Business Journal on issues of leadership, and has appeared on both CNN and CNBC.
A veteran of the Vietnam Era, Francie was trained as a German linguist, spending four and one-half years with the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service.  She then took her Masters in Business from Johns Hopkins University, and in 1991, founded Dalton Alliances, Inc. 

Adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland, Francie taught business management to doctoral candidates for 9 years, and is currently an instructor for coveted Institute of Management certification awarded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

A frequent speaker for corporations and associations, Francie’s clients include scores of CEO’s and senior executives throughout the United States. 

Her book, published by ASAE, is entitled: “Versatility:  How to Optimize Interactions when 7 Workplace Behaviors are at their Worst”. 

Lynn Lorenz, MBA, SPHR
Lynn M. Lorenz, MBA, SPHR has over 25 years experience in Human Resources Management for both large and small companies in new media, high tech and customer service industries.  Her areas of expertise center on HR Strategy Development, HR Management Practices, Organizational Development and HR in Mergers and Acquisitions, with both domestic and international exposure.

Lynn is President of her own consulting practice, HR Goddess, Inc.  HR Goddess provides consulting services in strategic human capital management – both in the traditional realm of human resource management and in the employee engagement area of organizational development.   HR Goddess works with executives, managers and HR departments to enhance both their organizations’ and their own effectiveness, which in turn lead to greater employee satisfaction and increased accomplishment of organizational goals.

Previously, Lynn was employed by AOL as a senior business partner, working primarily with the entrepreneurial and rapidly growing parts of the business.  In this role she provided expertise and guidance including organization design, employee relations, staffing, performance management, leadership development, training, and management practices to maximize business success.   Lynn also worked on AOL’s corporate HR team providing leadership on mergers and acquisitions and international organizational strategy. 

Lynn holds both a MBA and a MA in Organizational Development from Marymount University in Arlington, VA, where she currently serves as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business Administration.  Lynn is a charter member and past President of the Dulles Chapter of SHRM where she writes the “Wisdom from the Goddess” column for their newsletter.  In addition, Lynn has taught the HRCI PHR/SPHR certification course for both Shenandoah University and Prince George’s Community College.

Michael Beckmann, Ph.D.
Mike Beckmann is the lead HR business partner supporting Freddie Mac’s Finance Division.  Previously he was the Senior Director of Talent Acquisition for the corporation.  Before he joined Freddie Mac Mike was the Deputy Associate Director for the Center for Leadership Capacity Services for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.  In this role he was responsible for the Federal Executive Institute, the Western and Eastern Management Development Centers and federal civil service succession planning programs, to include the Presidential Management Fellows Program.

Mike brings over 20 years of private and public sector experience to his role within Freddie Mac.  After serving with the U.S. Army as an Adjutant General Officer, he held human resource leadership positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of staffing, employee development, labor relations and compensation with Mobil Oil Corporation, PepsiCo, Caterpillar and Lafarge North America. 

Mike holds a BBA and an MBA from George Washington University.  In 2003 he obtained his Ph.D. in Human Development from Virginia Polytechnic and State University, where his core research focused on adult learning methods and human resource metrics.  He has taught as an adjunct professor at Lamar University, Marymount University and George Washington University’s School of Education and Human Development.   Mike is currently certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) with the Society of Human Resource Management, and as a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) with WorldatWork.

Erika H. James, Ph.D.
Erika James is an expert on two critical issues facing today’s corporate and political environments: crisis leadership and workplace diversity.  She is an impassioned speaker, teacher, and consultant on these topics. Her work in crisis leadership explores the competencies necessary to lead organizations throughout the life cycle of a business crisis. She examines the personal attributes of executives and numerous organizational factors that allow some firms to seize opportunity from crisis—such as opportunities for organizational growth, innovation, resilience, and change.  She has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 companies and not-for-profit organizations.  Erika James has published a variety of academic articles, and recently authored the book Leading Under Pressure.  She is currently the Bank of America Associate Research Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, and recently a visiting Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School. She earned her PhD in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan.