Josh Bersin, CEO and President 

 Josh Bersin has worked with hundreds of companies to deliver high impact employee learning, leadership development and talent management solutions.  In 2001, he founded Bersin & Associates to provide research and advisory services focused on corporate learning. Today, the firm is the “go to” source for learning and HR decision makers seeking product and market data, insight on trends and expert advice on enterprise learning and talent management. 

Bersin is a frequent speaker at industry events including the HR Technology Conference and the ASTD International Conference.   In addition, he has been a columnist since 2007 for Chief Learning Officer magazine and is a frequent contributor to other leading training and HR publications.  He has been quoted on talent management topics in The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, on BBC Radio’s In Business and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.   Bersin also serves as a volunteer on the scholarship committee for the SHRM Foundation.

He is the author of The Training Measurement Book: Best Practices, Proven Methodologies, and Practical Approaches (April 2008, Pfeiffer) and The Blended Learning Book: Best Practices, Proven Methodologies, and Lessons Learned (October 2004, Wylie/Pfeiffer) and is a co-author of Talent Management:  Strategies from Six Leading Companies (December 2009, ASTD).

Earlier in his career, Bersin spent 25 years in product development, product management, marketing and sales of e-learning and other enterprise technologies at companies including DigitalThink (now Convergys), Arista Knowledge Systems, Sybase, and IBM.

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Bob Danna, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer  

 Bob Danna has more than 30 years of industry experience in human performance consulting, adult learning and associated management consulting services. At Bersin & Associates, he was instrumental in launching the Advisory Consulting practice, developing the firm’s branded WhatWorks^® methodologies, and delivering advisory support in talent management, enterprise learning, measurement, and technology selection to numerous research members.  

Danna has held executive management positions with RWD Technologies, where he served as a vice president in the Enterprise Systems Group, responsible for operations in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific; at General Physics Corporation, where he held positions of executive vice president, group president and member of the board of directors; at Knowledge Management Solutions, Inc., where he served as executive vice president, COO and member of the board of directors; at Convene.com, where he served as senior vice president and chief customer officer; and at Resource Management International, where he served as senior vice president of the management and technical services practice. In these positions, he consulted with Fortune 1000 clients worldwide, with extensive experience in Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Danna also served as a naval officer on active duty at the Naval Nuclear Power School as a division director and instructor, and in the reserves, leaving the service after 12 years as a lieutenant commander. He holds advanced degrees in physics and engineering, is a registered professional engineer, and has published or presented more than 40 papers on a variety of management, technical and enterprise learning topics. 

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 Chris Howard, a vice president and co-founder of Bersin & Associates, heads the company’s research operation and leads many internal corporate initiatives. He has an extensive background in learning and enterprise systems technology. Howard has provided research and consulting services in the deployment of learning systems to many organizations. He has authored research reports on a variety of topics in enterprise learning.

Earlier in his career, Howard held positions in product development and management for several industry-leading learning technology products including those from Macromedia, IBM, and Convergys. He holds a B.S. in computer science and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston.

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Cathleen Schreiner Gates is responsible for membership development and strategic services growth strategies at Bersin & Associates. She has more than 30 years of sales and field operations management experience in consulting, research services, and enterprise software. Schreiner Gates has held a range of senior leadership positions in companies focused on bringing innovative solutions to the marketplace.

Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Schreiner Gates was senior vice president of Clickability, a provider of web content management solutions. She also served as general manager of sales and research services for MarketTools, a provider of customer insight and management solutions, and general manager of customer experience management at Keynote Systems, a provider of on-demand test and measurement solutions for improving online experiences. She held senior sales and worldwide operations management positions with SiteROCK, Ninth House Network (now PDI Ninth House), and Hyperion Solutions (now Oracle).

Cathleen has an MBA in finance from Rutgers University.

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Mike Cooke, Vice President, Government and Mid-Market Business 

Mike Cooke oversees sales and business development for Bersin & Associates' Federal and Mid-Market businesses. Mike is one of the senior members of the executive team and was responsible for development of Bersin's original sales and service model  He has more than 15 years of experience in the corporate training and e-learning industry. Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Cooke was CEO of Dynamic Minds, a custom developer of e-learning programs. He also was director of sales for the e-learning division of Oddcast, a New York City media technology company.

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Linda Galloway, Vice President of Marketing

Linda Galloway has more than 20 years of experience in all aspects of technology marketing and public relations. She has solid relationships with editors and reporters from all key industry publications – from CLO to HR Executive, producers of major industry events, and HR and learning executives from companies in all industry segments. Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Galloway was president of Apollo Associates, a PR and marketing consulting firm which specialized in working with companies in the corporate learning market. Over the last six years, she has worked with a variety of companies, including: Articulate, SkillSoft, NetDimensions, NetG, Exxceed, Expertus, Insight Educational Consulting, Genesys Software, Books24x7, SocratEase, Scientific Computing Associates, Intelliquest, ZooLogic, and WatchIT.com.

Prior to joining the corporate learning and HR industry, Galloway spent three years (1997 to 2000) as vice president of marketing for Meta Group, an IT and research and consulting firm (bought by Gartner in 2005). During her tenure, she revamped the company’s brand, increased the company’s awareness through public relations, and expanded the company’s event strategy. Galloway has also held marketing management positions for On-Line Software, Prentice Hall Software, KnowledgeWare, Datalogix (acquired by Oracle), and EIS International. She has a B.A. in english from Georgia State University and a master’s degree in journalism from University of Georgia.

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Lance Parish, IT Director 

Lance Parish oversees the operation and development of the Bersin & Associates IT infrastructure. Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Parish was the IT manager for Busse Design, the founder of OneZero Media. He has designed and developed web-based applications for clients including: Apple Inc., Microsoft, Adobe, Tibco, Leapfrog, Cooper Design, et al. Parish is a Microsoft Certified Application Developer and has been developing web sites and applications for close to a decade.

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Stacey Harris, Principal Analyst and Director of Research Operations

As a principal analyst and director of Bersin & Associates research operations, Stacey Harris leads the research in our talent strategy, organization and governance, measurement, and total rewards areas.  She has more than 15 years of industry experience in performance consulting, learning and development, and human resources, and has consulted and worked on various talent management and learning strategies for organizations of all sizes and across all industry segments, including KeyCorp, JoAnn Stores, NSA, McDonalds, Rockwell Collins, Pfizer, Lockheed Martin, Cisco, GSK, Clorox, RW Baird, and Mars. 

Her background includes experience leading enterprise-wide change management initiatives and technology implementations, business process alignments, and the design and implementation of integrated organizational effectiveness solutions including measurement strategies.

Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Harris held leadership roles related to enterprise learning and organizational effectiveness with companies in retail and financial services segments.  Her innovative work was profiled in Chief Learning Officer and Training Magazine. Additionally, she holds a masters of education from Kent State University and a bachelor’s degree from Ashland University.

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Al Johnson, Principal Advisory Consultant

Al Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in human resource management, learning and development, talent management systems, and performance consulting. Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Johnson managed global and enterprise learning, performance, and HR change management initiatives for Eastman Kodak, Pitney Bowes, and Danka Corporation. His work has been recognized and awarded as both innovative and results-driven, with a focus on linking talent management to business strategy and goals. Johnson has successfully leveraged learning and talent technologies to improve business performance and employee development. His experience includes the implementation of global integrated talent management systems, including performance, succession, learning, competency, recruitment, and content management. He has spearheaded enterprise elearning, learning technologies, virtual classroom, and blended learning solutions.

In human resource management positions with Eastman Kodak, VehiCare Corporation, and Pitney Bowes, Johnson provided employee engagement, organizational development, talent acquisition, performance management, and succession planning services. He has also provided independent consulting services in recruitment, enterprise learning, process reengineering, and technology strategy development for leading organizations, including Wegmans Food Markets and the Boston Globe. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York.

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Diane Anselm, Director of Client Services 

Diane Anselm is responsible for providing service and support to Bersin & Associates research program members. In addition to managing new member orientation and monitoring customer satisfaction, Diane and her team coordinates member participation in activities such as advisory services, webcasts, analyst visits, and workshops. She also assists the sales team with lead management and follow-up activities. Anselm joined Bersin & Associates in 2004, and brings more than 20 years of customer service experience based on running her own administrative support and service business.

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Karen O'Leonard, Principal Analyst 

Karen O'Leonard has directed primary research and industry studies for Bersin & Associates since 2002. She is the principal analyst and author of the Factbook series, which include annual studies on corporate learning, talent management, and leadership development.  Before joining Bersin & Associates, O'Leonard spent 15 years in research, product management, and corporate strategy for Apple, Sun Microsystems, and eBay. She brings a solid background in statistics, research design, and methodology, together with a keen understanding of business issues, to her work at Bersin & Associates.

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Kim Lamoureux, Principal Analyst and Director of Research  

Kim Lamoureux directs Bersin & Associates' research in leadership development, succession management, competency management, and career management. She has more than 15 years of experience in human resources and talent management, with areas of expertise in senior leadership development, career development, 360° feedback, performance management, and succession planning. Lamoureux is the author of recent reports including High-Impact Leadership Development: Best Practices, Case Studies and Industry Profiles and High-Impact Succession Management: Best Practices, Models and Case Studies in Organizational Talent Mobility.  

In addition to her research responsibilities, Lamoureux is also responsible for setting research priorities, overseeing all research initiatives, and aligning research with membership needs.

Lamoureux's previous experience includes several training and development management positions at Textron Inc., an $11B global multi-industry manufacturer and service provider. Most recently, she was manager of leadership development and training, responsible for the design, development, implementation and evaluation of global leadership and professional development programs and processes.

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David Mallon, Principal Analyst 

David Mallon directs Bersin & Associates’ research in enterprise learning, an area which includes content development, informal learning, social networking, virtual learning, learning culture and learning management systems, as well as performance management. He has more than a decade of experience in corporate learning strategies, programs, and processes; the selection and implementation of learning and performance solutions and related technologies. Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Mallon led the consulting services practice at Learn.com, where he and his team assisted hundreds of clients with the integration and alignment of solutions to critical business objectives. Previously, Mallon held several training and development positions with EarthLink, where he was responsible for overall learning strategy for its global call center organization. This included the worldwide launch of an enterprise learning management system, the design and deployment of a comprehensive contact center agent certification program, and the implementation of a competency based performance management process and system.

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Madeline Laurano, Principal Analyst 

Madeline Laurano is responsible for Bersin & Associates’ research in talent acquisition, an area which includes sourcing strategies, screening and assessments, RPO, CRM, employer branding, and onboarding, as well as workforce planning and talent systems. Prior to joining Bersin & Associates, Laurano served as the research director for ERE Media, where she created the ERE webinar series, published the Talent Acquisition Industry Analysis and Buyers Guide, led community discussion groups, and had responsibility for various research products and services. She also worked as a research analyst for the Aberdeen Group and research director for Linkage, Inc., where she co-edited Best Practices in Leading a Global Workforce and Secrets in Succession Planning.

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Max Meadow, Director, Strategic Services 

Max Meadow is an experienced advisor in talent and performance management, training and performance support, and software adoption. Meadow has 18 years of experience in consulting with sales, procurement, line of business operations, and management functions. He has worked throughout Asia and Europe and in a variety of vertical industries such as technology, manufacturing, finance, and life sciences and healthcare. Meadow has deep expertise in talent and performance strategy and process design and frontline performance, coupled with in-depth operational knowledge.

Meadow served as operations manager in the Enterprise Systems Group at RWD Technologies, director of strategic services at Saba, and business development manager at Genesis Consulting. He also led the U.S. Navy’s reactor controls division for four years.

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