SPEAKERS

Zach Clayton

Zach Clayton

Founder and CEO of Three Ships and Co-Author, Emerging Leaders Edition of True North

Zach Clayton is CEO of Three Ships, which he founded in 2009. Three Ships owns more than a dozen marketplace websites such as Sleepopolis and HouseMethod that help consumers buy with confidence.

Zach is a “digital lifer.” He has worked with leading private equity firms and more than 50 private equity-backed clients, advising investors, CEOs, and CMOs on digital strategy.

Zach holds an MBA with high distinction from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and a BA from UNC Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar and elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Zach currently serves on the board of the Dix Park Conservancy, the board of With Honor, and the board of the UNC General Alumni Association.

Tony Denhart

Tony Denhart

Executive Vice President, Talent And Workforce, Indiana Economic Development Corporation

Tony Denhart joined the Indiana Economic Development Corporation as the executive vice president of talent and workforce on Jan. 3, 2022. Prior, Denhart most recently served as the University Relations Director for GE Corporate.

In his role, Denhart reports to Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers to help connect Hoosier businesses and talent resources including universities, government agencies and resources, as well as community and education stakeholders. The goal to make it as easy as possible for employers to develop robust talent pipelines, meet hiring goals and implement training and development programs. He also represents the IEDC as a member of the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet.

Denhart joins the IEDC with more than 30 years of developing early career talent attraction strategies and engaging with university recruiting and student relations. Most recently, he led the strategy and implementation of university relations, full-time and internship university hiring needs, military, diversity and campus recruitment initiatives, branding strategy and execution, and research collaboration at GE. Denhart began his career in 1989 as a GE field engineer, in the Field Engineering Program. After several roles of increasing responsibility at GE Power, in 2007, he was promoted to the role of senior services leader where he was responsible for the Midwest region, all client success, field operations and full profit and loss.

Denhart was also involved in his alma mater Purdue University, serving as the Campus Relations Leader (CRL) for six years. As the CRL, he oversaw the recruiting cycle, relationships with the deans, faculty, administration, student organizations and research collaboration. Denhart drove the partnership to new levels where student interaction increased, hiring increased and collaborative research increased by ten times.

Samantha Hammock

Samantha Hammock

EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer, Verizon

Samantha is responsible for unlocking the full potential of Verizon’s workforce, because it takes more than the best technology to move the world forward, it also takes the best people.

Sam is preparing Verizon’s workforce to deliver on the promise of 5G. By supporting a culture of continuous development and learning, all teams, no matter where they sit in the organization, are ready to accelerate Verizon’s business strategies and build the future.

Core to her strategy is to foster an inclusive workplace and champion diverse talent at all levels and across the business. With recognition from leading industry authorities, Verizon has received top honors from Forbes, Newsweek, Seramount, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), Black Enterprise, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Disability: IN and Military Friendly®.

Sam joined Verizon in December 2020 as senior vice president of global talent, leading the HR Talent Center of Excellence. Given the transformative time for the industry, she strengthened learning and development practices and introduced new programs to recruit and retain the right skills and talent to deliver on the company’s priorities.

Prior to Verizon, she spent over 14 years at American Express in various executive roles, from finance and banking to leadership positions across HR. Most recently, she was head of talent and learning, where she transformed how the company attracted and engaged its workforce by building a dynamic talent ecosystem. Sam also implemented a culture of continuous learning to reinforce talent readiness across American Express. Before joining American Express, she worked for JPMorgan Chase for six years, based out of Chicago.

Sam received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University and holds an MBA in Finance from Wayne State University. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, three children and three dogs.

Bill George

Bill George

Harvard Business School professor, former Medtronic CEO, and Author, Discover Your True North and Emerging Leaders Edition of True North

Bill George is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Medtronic. He joined Medtronic in 1989 as president and chief operating officer, was chief executive officer from 1991-2001, and board chair from 1996-2002. He is currently a senior fellow at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004.

Bill is the author of: Discover Your True North and The Discover Your True North Field book, Authentic Leadership, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis True North, Finding Your True North, and True North Groups. He served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Novartis, Target, and Mayo Clinic.

He received his BSIE with high honors from Georgia Tech, his MBA with high distinction from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar, and honorary PhDs from Georgia Tech, Mayo Medical School, University of St. Thomas, Augsburg College and Bryant University.

Denise Graziano

Denise Graziano

Author, Talent is a Team Sport

A change agent and trusted advisor to the C-suite for decades, Denise Graziano helps companies differentiate and gain competitive advantage in their market, by leveraging the power of positive employee and customer experiences.

Companies and high-level leaders often don’t realize the challenges and impressions they’re presenting to their team members and customers. Miscommunication, lack of clarity, and feedback not being heard, valued, or understood can start to erode productivity and trust. Denise helps companies see how their interactions internally with employees and externally with customers could be sabotaging their growth and how to correct it.

Denise Graziano is a leading authority in helping companies to create change, improve trust, relationships and communication inside their organization with employees and externally with clients to increase revenue, retention and loyalty. A strategic thinker and leader with over 30 years of business experience, Denise is a speaker and bestselling author of Talent is a Team Sport.

Denise is CEO of Graziano Associates, a boutique marketing communications firm with a unique internal and external approach that helps companies to vitalize their workforce, and build brand ambassadorship from within.

Andrew McAfee

Andrew McAfee

Co-Founder and Co-Director of Initiative on the Digital Economy, Principal Research Scientist at MIT Sloan School of Management

Andrew McAfee is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Initiative on the Digital Economy and a Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He studies how digital technologies are changing business, the economy, and society. His 2014 book on these topics, The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies, coauthored with Erik Brynjolfsson, has won several prestigious awards and has been both a New York Times and Wall Street Journal top ten bestseller. 

His book with Brynjolfsson, Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing our Digital Future, published June 2017, offers an executive’s guide to succeeding during this turbulent era. In October 2019, Andrew’s shattering new book, More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources — and What Happens Next, will be released. In it, McAfee makes the compelling case that in America and other rich countries, growth now happens while using fewer total natural resources and also while polluting less. This remarkable turnaround has occurred because we’ve finally become so efficient and productive that we can satisfy our wants and needs while treading ever-more lightly on our planet.

Optimistic, yet cautionary, More from Less offers hope that we will be able to simultaneously improve the human condition and the state of the world. Because we already are. Andrew has written for innumerable publications including Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The Wall St. Journal, and The New York Times. He has talked about his work on CNN and 60 Minutes, at the World Economic Forum, TED and the Aspen Ideas Festival, with Tom Friedman and Fareed Zakaria, and in front of innumerable global and domestic audiences. He is also the host of the popular podcast, Minds and Machines with Andrew McAfee. Andrew was educated at Harvard and MIT. He lives in Cambridge, watches too much Red Sox baseball, doesn’t ride his motorcycle enough, and starts his weekends with the NYT Saturday crossword.

Pete Yonkman

Pete Yonkman

President, Cook Group

Pete Yonkman is president of Cook Group and Cook Medical in Bloomington, Indiana. He has been with the company for 20 years, starting in 2001 as in-house counsel. Pete has served in a variety of roles for Cook, including leading one of the local manufacturing sites and as executive vice president for 10 business units. Pete was named president of Cook Medical in 2014 and in 2015 added the role of president of Cook Group.

Pete is a born and bred Hoosier originally from Crown Point, Indiana. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University and earned degrees in psychology and philosophy. He graduated with his law degree from the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University in 1998. Pete is actively involved in community issues, including adult education, workforce development, fostering start-ups, and creating a business culture that supports entrepreneurs. He lives in Bloomington with his wife, Janell, and their two boys, Leo and Vic.

Roundtable

Strategic Planning Workshop

1:00 - 5:00 pm

Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

  1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
  2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
  3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

 

Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

2:00 - 5:00 pm

Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

Limited space available.

To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

Golf Outing

10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS

General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.