SPEAKERS

Guest Keynote Speakers

Lt. Col. (ret.) Rob 'Waldo' Waldman | Dennis Snow | Curt Steinhorst

General Session Speakers

Lt. Col. (ret.) Rob 'Waldo' Waldman

Rob "Waldo" Waldman Lt. Col. (ret.) Rob ‘Waldo’ Waldman - The Wingman – is a professional leadership speaker and author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Never Fly Solo. He teaches organizations how to build trusting, revenue producing relationships with their employees, partners, and customers while sharing his experiences as a combat decorated F-16 fighter pilot and businessman. Waldo overcame massive claustrophobia and a fear of heights to become a highly experienced fighter pilot with over sixty-five combat missions in Iraq and Serbia. He believes the key to building a culture of trust lies with your wingmen – those in your life who help you to overcome obstacles, adapt to change, and achieve success. In business & life, you should never fly solo! Waldo is a graduate of the U.S Air Force Academy and also holds an MBA with a focus on Organizational Behavior. An inductee into the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, he is also a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) with real world sales experience. His clients include Hewlett Packard, Verizon Wireless, New York Life, Siemens, Home Depot, Aflac, and Johnson & Johnson. In addition to his speaking business, Waldo is the founder and President of The Wingman Foundation, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to build funds and awareness for soldiers, veterans and their families in need. He was voted one of the “Top 40 under 40” business leaders in Georgia and has been featured on Fox & Friends, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, The Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, INC. Magazine, and Business Week.

Dennis Snow

Dennis Snow’s customer service abilities were honed over 20 years with the Walt Disney World Company. There, he developed his passion for service excellence and the experience he brings to the worldwide speaking and consulting he does today. He began his Disney career in 1979 as a front-line attractions operator. As he advanced through the company, Dennis managed various operating areas throughout the park, learning and applying the skills it takes to run a world-class, service-driven organization. Dennis launched a division of the Disney Institute responsible for consulting with some of the world’s largest companies including ExxonMobil, AT&T, General Motors and Coca Cola. During this time, he presented to audiences in diverse locations around the world, such as South Africa, Australia, Mexico, England and Argentina. This division quickly became the fastest growing venture of the Disney Institute and experienced repeat business of nearly 100%. He also spent several years with the Disney University, teaching corporate philosophy and business practices to cast members and the leadership team. While there, he coordinated the Disney Traditions program, which is universally recognized as a benchmark in corporate training. In his last year with Walt Disney World, Dennis’ leadership performance was ranked in the top 3% of the company’s leadership team.

Today, Dennis is a full-time speaker, trainer and consultant who helps organizations achieve goals related to customer service, employee development and leadership. Some of his clients include American Express, Johns Hopkins Medicine, ExxonMobil, and Nationwide. His articles appear in a number of industry publications and he is a featured guest “expert” on customer service, on several business news-talk radio shows. He is the author of the book, Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service, which has been used in organizations around the world as a blueprint for organizational excellence. His newest book has just been released, titled, “Lessons From the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life.”

Curt Steinhorst

Curt Steinhorst is a Certified-Speaker at The Center for Generational Kinetics, an organization whose founder has been featured on 60 Minutes, 20/20, The Today Show, and The View. Curt is a member of Gen Y who has a reputation as a leader in his own generation. At age 20, he was elected President of his 10,000 member class at Texas A&M University. Since graduating from college Magna Cum laude he has worked extensively to make the most of generational strengths in a variety of organizations. Curt’s speaking style has wowed audiences of up to 20,000 from California to New York and Africa. Curt’s personal experiences leading Gen Y and direct work with top performers make him a powerful communicator for bridging the generations. Learn more about The Center’s unusual take on generations at www.GenHQ.com

General Session Speakers

Vince Crisler

Vince Crisler is an IT and cyber security leader with 17 years of experience in the private sector, the Department of Defense, to include service at the Pentagon, the White House, and the Department of Homeland Security. His rare blend of technical, strategic, and business expertise has gained him respect in the server room, the board room, and everywhere in between. He has served as a consultant for the C-suites of numerous Fortune 200 IT and technology companies and senior government leaders. In addition to being able to understand the technical nuances of technology and systems engineering, he can also effectively communicate those nuances to executives and customers alike.

Danny M. Goldberg

Danny Goldberg Danny M. Goldberg is the Founder of GOLDSRD, a leading provider of staff augmentation, executive recruiting and professional development services. Previously, Danny led the professional development and executive recruiting practices at Sunera. Prior to joining Sunera, Danny founded SOFT GRC, an advisory services and professional development firm. Danny has over 17 years of audit experience, including five as a CAE/Audit Director. He has served on the audit committee of the Dallas Independent School District and was the Chairman of the North Texas Leadership Council of the American Lung Association in 2012. Danny is also the IIA Dallas and Fort Worth Chapter Programs Committee Co-Chairman for the 2012-2013 year and was elected to the Fort Worth IIA Board of Directors in 2013. Danny has also been asked to serve on the IIA’s Learning Committee for the 2014-2016 term. Danny co-authored the groundbreaking storybook format publication People-Centric© Skills: Communication and Interpersonal Skills for Internal Auditors, the first publication of its kind that specifically focuses on communication and interpersonal skills for internal auditors. Danny is also accredited as the professional commentator on the publication BNA Tax and Accounting Portfolio, Internal Auditing: Fundamental Principles. Danny has been named as one of the Fort Worth Business Press “40 Under 40” for 2014 and is a well-known speaker at IIA and ISACA sponsored events. He currently works with over 100 professional associations around the world and numerous Fortune 1000 companies, assisting in their professional development efforts. Danny is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). He also holds certifications in the Governance of Enterprise Information Technology, Risk and Information Systems Control, Risk Management Assurance and Control Self-Assessment and is a also Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Andy Harig

Andy Harig currently serves as Director of Government Relations at the Food Marketing Institute. In this position, he is responsible for lobbying Congress and the Administration on behalf of FMI’s members, with a primary focus on agriculture, taxes, trade and pensions. Prior to joining FMI, Andy was an associate trade advisor and speechwriter for the Senate Finance Committee under its Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT). From 1999-2001, he was the senior research associate for the Global Economic Policy Project at the New America Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank. Andy holds a Bachelors degree from the College of William and Mary and Masters degree from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.

TONY HAYES

Tony Hayes is a Partner in Oliver Wyman’s Retail Banking & Payments Practices, specializing in retail payments and retail delivery channels strategies. His expertise spans payment types, payment constituent groups and themes (industry structure and dynamics, pricing optimization, rewards program effectiveness, strategic alliances and innovative new payment providers). Tony has 20 years’ consulting experience working with leading financial services organizations to build growth strategies, develop new products and enhance existing operations. He has helped payment networks and processors around the world with their go-to-market strategies, operating models and strategic M&A. Additionally, Tony has advised sophisticated private equity firms considering investments in the ATM, debit and prepaid markets. Beyond his client work, Tony has led several industry studies including the ATM Deployer Study, the Debit Issuer Study, and the Study of Consumer Payment Preferences. He is the standing chairman of the PayThink Forum and was invited to address the Electronic Funds Transfer Association’s (EFTA) Board of Directors. His recent publications include “The Durbin Amendment: Worse than the Worst Case Scenario” and an extensive paper on the regulation of traditional and alternative electronic payments. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve’s Consumer Payments Research Center.

Dave Hooper

Dave Hooper is the Vice President of Financial Services at Ahold USA. He has over 25 years of retail experience and more than 15 years of experience managing a Shared Service Center. Ahold Financial Services handles all aspects of the financial work streams for AUSA from AP to Financial Reporting.

Kate Hubben

Kate Hubben, Client Advocate for the Willis Group, specializes in human capital and employee benefits consulting and is a Certified Self-Funding Specialist. Kate advocates strongly for her clients and works closely with employee groups and carriers to meet mutually beneficial goals. She is active in the community and serves in leadership positions on the Board of Trustees for In Counsel with Women, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center and The Temple-Tifereth Israel Learning Council. Prior to joining the insurance industry in 2007, Kate was the Senior of Director of International Business Development at the Cleveland Clinic, where she led the effort to create partnerships with medical practices in the Middle East and South and Central America. Kate also spent five years as the Executive Director of Leadership Cleveland and introduced service learning into the curriculum. She was recognized two years in a row by the Community Leadership Association as the top leadership program director in the country. Kate obtained a Bachelors of Arts degree from Ohio State University and a Master of Public Administration from Cleveland State University.

Weston Jones

Weston Jones is a global shared services and outsourcing leader in the Advisory Services practice of Ernst & Young LLP. Weston has over 25 years of professional experience. His engagements have included Finance transformation, shared services, outsourcing strategy, operating model design, merger and acquisition integration, finance process improvement, performance management, benchmarking, business case modeling, change management, communications and program management. He is currently focused on advising clients on shared services and outsourcing strategy, design and implementation where he is recognized leader. Weston is a recognized leader in global shared services and outsourcing and he has presented as a keynote speaker at multiple global conferences. Weston also specializes in cross-functional shared service operations, known as Global Business Services (GBS), which typically include global Finance, HR, Supply Chain and IT functions. He has developed EY’s point of view and methodologies on several topics including Global Business Services (GBS), Shared Services and Outsourcing Advisory and Management (OAM). He is well networked globally, internally and externally, and is in frequent discussions with government development agencies, industry associations, software vendors and service providers in the Shared Services and Outsourcing industry.

Jeff Kummer

Jeff Kummer is a Director of Tax Policy at Deloitte Tax LLP. He has over 20 years of experience in the tax policy arena and is currently responsible for communicating emerging tax developments in the U.S. Congress, the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department, and the federal courts to the Firm and its clients. Jeff oversees the content development of Tax News & Views as well as thought leadership publications on issues such as the U.S. deficit and prospects for fundamental tax reform. His Capitol Hill experience includes working on tax and budget issues for former U.S. Senator and Senate Finance Committee member Steve Symms, R-Idaho. Jeff holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Idaho and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

Gregg Maxwell

Gregg Maxwell, Group Vice President Controller of Safeway/Albertsons, has led the National Accounting Service Center at Safeway for the past 14 years and was instrumental in the implementation of Sarbanes Oxley Section 404 compliance efforts in 2004. With the recent merger of Safeway and Albertsons, the National Accounting Service Center is now responsible for all aspects of the retail accounting processes for 2,400 stores, 27 distribution facilities and 20 manufacturing plants with 16 different banners throughout the United States. Prior to joining Safeway, Gregg worked for the Dial Corporation for 18 years. He was Director of Finance for the International Division, including Asia/Australia and lived in Hong Kong for a time. Gregg is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Master’s Degree in Business.

Scott Moses

Scott Moses is a Managing Director and Head of Food, Drug and Specialty Retail Investment Banking at Sagent Advisors, an independent and privately-owned M&A advisory firm. Scott specializes in retail sector strategic and financial advice, focusing on food retail M&A. He has executed many M&A and financing engagements for retailers (many family-owned) including Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market, Sunflower Farmers Market, United Supermarkets, Haggen Food & Pharmacy, Pro’s Ranch Markets, Ahold (US Foodservice) and Weis Markets (SuperPetz)as well as many private equity firms. Scott was named to Global M&A Network's “Top 50: Americas M&A Dealmakers” list in 2013 and IDD's “40 Under 40” list of promising finance professionals in 2011. Prior to joining Sagent Advisors, Scott was an Executive Director at JPMorgan’s Investment Bank, where he led one of Wall Street’s most prominent food & drug retail M&A efforts. Scott has advised clients in many of the largest and most significant retail M&A transactions in the past decade, with a combined transaction value of over $50bn. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors degree in Political Science. Scott received his MBA and JD degrees from Columbia University, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an executive editor of the Columbia Business Law Review.

Melissa Palmer

Melissa Palmer is the Audit Partner leading PwC's Northeast market Retail and Consumer practice. In her 20+ years with the firm, Melissa has served multinational clients ranging from $75 million to $27 billion in revenue. Her recent clients include companies in the apparel and footwear, specialty products and grocery industries. She retains responsibility for all market facing retail and consumer focused events including various roundtables on topical matters as well as networking and other industry aligned programs. In addition to her client and market roles, Melissa is a co-leader of the women's initiatives within PwC’s Northeast practice. Melissa has been honored with the Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award and a Boston Business Journal “40 under 40” award for her work within PwC as well as within the Boston community. She is currently on the Board and Executive Committee of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, a host of the Greater Boston Food Bank’s Women Fighting Hunger event and a member of the UMASS Dartmouth Accounting and Finance Advisory Council. Melissa received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and holds an MBA from Babson College. She is a CPA in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Loredana Pfannenbecker

Loredana Pfannenbecker is a Director in the Metro New York State and Local Tax (“SALT”) practice and serves as the Metro New York Leader of the National Abandoned and Unclaimed Property (“AUP”) practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”). She has 15 years of experience serving clients for unclaimed property issues in various industries. Loredana specializes in AUP and spends the majority of her time serving clients in this area. Loredana began her career in 1999 in state and local tax, and joined PwC's AUP practice in July 2002. At PwC, Loredana assists clients in a broad range of AUP services and directives. Her experience in the unclaimed property area includes assisting clients identify their unclaimed property liability; participation in various negotiations for voluntary disclosure agreements; participation in both state initiated and third party initiated audits, identification and quantification of unclaimed property, policy and procedures review, AUP multi-state compliance and gift card restructuring. Loredana has specific experience in the retail, wholesale, telecommunications, consumer products, financial services, pharmaceutical, printing/media, professional services, advertisement, marketing, electronics, and manufacturing industries. Loredana is barred in the state of New York and Connecticut. She holds a Bachelor of Science from State University of New York at Albany and a Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac University School of Law.

Kristina Rota

Kristina Rota is the Vice President of Accounting and Controls for Ahold USA, a subsidiary of the Dutch parent, Ahold Nv. She has over twenty five years of progressive leadership experience working for retail in technical accounting, tax and finance, with responsibilities in both the US and Europe in applying International Financial Reporting Standards for public companies. As a global company, Kristina is responsible include providing the US financial support for the external audit and the publication of both the company’s Financial and Responsible Retailing annual reports. Kristina is a member of Network of Executive Women and she holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting / Finance and a Masters degree in Taxation. She is also the chairwoman of the FMI planning committee for the 2015 conference.

Myriam Sido Simmons

Myriam Sido Simmons is an Executive Director at Ernst & Young in the National Tax Credit Investment Advisory Services (TCIAS) practice based in Stamford, Connecticut. She has 15 years of experience in negotiating, identifying and securing federal, state and local tax credits and economic incentives. She currently leads EY’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) practice and works with clients across the United States and globally to secure NMTC allocations at both the federal and state level. She has spent significant time working with companies in the retail, development, manufacturing, and distribution sectors. Myriam has consulted on projects and negotiated incentives for deals with alternative financing structures such as New Markets Tax Credits, bond financing as well as other incentive based financing. Prior to joining EY, Myriam started and lead the NMTC practice at another Big 4 firm, and prior to that she was the Director of Public Partnerships for Target Corporation, where she created and managed the internal credits and incentives process. Myriam earned her Bachelors degree from the University of Wisconsin. She attended Rutgers School of Law where she earned her J.D. and Tax Honors Certificate. She is an attorney and has been a frequent speaker on topics related to economic development and credits and incentives.

Bill Spoehr

Bill Spoehr is Vice President, Financial Compliance for Safeway Inc. He has over 30 years of experience in public accounting and in various retail organization accounting, finance, operations, and governance and compliance roles. Since 2004, he has led Safeway's financial compliance team, evaluating company compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and PCI Data Security Standards, as well as SEC rules and regulations. As a member of a national organization's committee on Governance, Risk and Compliance, he has published articles and presented on various compliance risks and opportunities, including the COSO Integrated Framework - Internal Control, and the impact of various PCAOB and SEC actions on company accounting and reporting processes, reviews, risks, and liabilities. Bill holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Allegheny College, a Masters degree in Accounting from the University of Rhode Island, and a Masters degree in History from Norwich University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Hannah vonLackum Walker

Hannah Walker joined FMI as a Director, Government Relations in March 2012. She handles banking, SNAP, WIC, payment data security and other payments issues for FMI. Prior to joining FMI Hannah spent three years as Legislative Director for then House Agriculture Committee member Congressman Tom Rooney (R-FL). Hannah handled the Congressman’s agriculture, judiciary, energy and environment portfolio. Hannah joined Rooney after working for the State of Florida and former Congressman Mark Foley for several years, where she also handled agriculture and energy issues. Hannah started her political career at the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2001 and then moved to the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 2004 cycle. Hannah is a native Tennessean; she received her Bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University and Law Degree from the University of Memphis and is a member of the Tennessee Bar.

John Verdonck

John Verdonck is an audit partner in KPMG’s New York Office and a senior advisor to the Audit Committee Institute. He has been with the firm for over thirty-six years, is an SEC Reviewing Partner and has devoted all his time with the firm to servicing clients in the financial services industry. John has broad audit partner experience having served many of the firm’s largest global financial services clients, including Munich Re, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, HSBC and ING. His current focus is in the insurance industry, serving as engagement partner for Munich Re America, Ambac Financial Group, Pavonia Life, CIFG NA, and First Investors, as well as various captive insurance companies. John is, or has also been, the SEC Reviewing Partner for Fidelity Life and Guaranty, American National Insurance Company, Travelers, W.R. Berkley, Selective Insurance and Platinum Underwriters. He has contributed to the accounting and auditing standard setting process as a member of the AICPA Investment Banking and Stockbrokerage Committee and AICPA Discount Accretion Task Force. He has also held various leadership positions within the firm, including National Partner-In-Charge, Resource Management; Northeast Partner-In-Charge, Campus Recruiting; and Insurance Audit Sector Leader, New York Financial Services. John is currently a member of the KPMG’s Partnership Audit Committee and Operational Efficiency Committee.

Alan Voels

Alan Voels Alan is a Managing Director in PwC’s Strategy and Operations Consulting practice. He is a former Retail Practice Leader and brings over 35 years of experience to his clients, having worked for and served several top Fortune 500 companies. He has extensive experience with retail, consumer goods and high tech organizations. He has led transformation initiatives, developed and implemented financial and business performance measurement systems, re-structured and organized operations in support of changing customer requirements and employed technology as a key enabler of improved performance. Alan specializes in strategy development and execution, performance measurement and management, store and supply chain operations and risk management.

Jim Czarnecki

Jim Czarnecki is an Advisory Principal with KPMG and serves as their leader of the Chicago Metro and Midwest Internal Audit Risk and Compliance (IARCS) practice. He is also the National Risk Consulting industry leader for Consumer Products/Retail. Jim currently serves as the Global Lead Partner for two global food/manufacturing companies. He has over 26 years’ experience serving a broad range of organizations in the areas of internal and external audit, internal control and regulatory compliance, enterprise risk management, process improvement, and internal audit transformation. He was the general auditor for a global transportation and logistics company and has served in various management capacities with Fortune 1000 and 500 companies in internal audit and operation leadership roles. Jim is a CIA, CRMA, IIA Chicago Board member and a Board member of the DePaul University Internal Auditing Education Program.

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