About the Presenters
Linda M. Irby, SHRM-SCP, is the Executive Vice President and CHRO with PlainsCapital Bank. Since joining in 2013, Linda provides strategic direction and oversight of Human Resources initiatives in support of the Bank’s strategic objectives. In addition, her responsibilities include recruiting and retention initiatives, compensation, employee relations and employee engagement, culture, leadership and development. Linda facilitates HR initiatives between the Bank and Hilltop Holdings shared services. She has more than 30 years of agement experience in HR and earned her BS and MS from Oklahoma State University.
Sharla Jones, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the Vice President, Learning and Development Manager for Hilltop Holdings Inc. headquartered in Dallas, TX. As an accomplished Human Resources’ and Organizational Development professional, Sharla leads the training and development programs and initiatives at the corporate level for HTH and its subsidiaries. She is a strengths enthusiast and is passionate about helping others grow and succeed. Sharla has a reputation as a warm and caring facilitator who ensures her participants have excellent learning experiences and are able to take that learning back to their jobs. Sharla earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Relations from Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma City, and holds a SPHR professional certification from the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM-SCP certification from the Society for Human Resource Management. Sharla also holds numerous certifications including Bergerac, DDI, Gallup, InsideOut Development, Partners in Leadership, Personalysis, Prosci and VitalSmarts.
Sherry Vidal-Brown, Ph.D., SPHR, is the Executive Vice President of G6 Hospitality, a private equity owned firm, which owns, operates and franchises more than 1,500 motels/hotels under brands, Motel 6, Studio 6, Hotel 6, and Estudio 6. G6 operates in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and India. Sherry has more than 20 years experience in the HR field, having held positions in consulting with Bain & Co, and executive positions with FedEx Office and DFW International Airport. Currently Sherry leads the strategy aligning human resource programs with business goals to ensure successful positioning against industry competitors. She also leads a “people focused” culture centered on creating hr initiatives that drive customer service and employee engagement. She holds a B.A. from Baylor, M.S. from Indiana University, MBA from the University of Houston and Ph.D. from Texas A & M University.
Megan Detz is the Chief People Officer of Varidesk, a privately owned design and manufacturer of a full line of furniture and accessories for the office and classroom that are easy to order, assemble, and reconfigure as needs change. They are known for their high adjustable standing desk solutions and accessories and their products are in more than 130 countries with over 1 million fans worldwide. Megan designs effective human resource strategies leading to greater productivity, increased employee morale, and maximized corporate performance for her 300 plus employees. For seven years, she headed human resources at NTT Data, and also worked in human resources for over six years for EDS/HP. She holds a B.A. in Computer Graphics from Texas Christian University and an MBA from SMU.
Megan Murden, PHR, is the University Relations, Student Programs Manager, Talent Acquisition and Campus Recruiting for L3 Technologies, a publicly traded defense contractor which supplies communications, surveillance, avionics, aerospace and navigation products to the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, NASA, government agencies, and telecom customers. Megan is a certified HR professional with more than 15 years of talent acquisition experience working in government, nonprofit, and aerospace/defense industries. Megan’s expertise is recruiting, program management, and university relations. Megan builds strategy and programs for multiple sectors in L3 to hire top talent from more than 50 universities where she builds relationships with student associations and university leadership. She has previously worked in recruiting and hr roles with Boy Scouts of America, Tennessee Valley Authority and Richardson Electronics. She holds a BBA from Robert Morris University.
Valerie Freeman is the CEO of Imprimis Group, Inc. whose services include staffing, search, outsourcing, project management and consulting. Imprimis operates under the brand names Imprimis Staffing Services, BravoTech, FreemanLeonard and ANSERteam with operations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The companies previously have been named to the Inc.500/5000, Dallas 100, WPO Fastest Growing and Cougar 100 (Univ. of Houston). Recently Valerie was named to D CEO’s Dallas 500 Business Leaders, Power 50 women in Dallas by the Texas Diversity Council and in past years received the Tech Titans Community Hero Award, Women of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts, Maura Award from the Dallas Women’s Foundation, Athena Award from the Dallas Regional Chamber, and Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alliance of Technology and Women. She was previously inducted into the Women’s Business Enterprise Hall of Fame.
Stephanie Bowman joined BenefitMall in early 2015 as Chief Financial Officer. She comes to us with more than 20 years of experience in the finance, retail, and insurance industries. Stephanie’s extensive background in corporate finance management, cost-benefit analysis, and operational leadership will provide a solid foundation to BenefitMall as we begin the New Year. Stephanie will oversee Accounting, Finance, Corporate Treasury, Financial Planning and Acquisitions, as well as, HR services for the corporate and administrative teams. Prior to joining BenefitMall, Stephanie served as the Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Tuesday Morning Corporation. In this capacity, she oversaw the company’s financial, accounting, treasury, planning, investor relations, legal and HR functions. Bowman is a CPA and received a BBA in accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington, and is a Texas native. Bowman currently serves as Director on the Board of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Dallas Affiliate.
Maria Madrigal joined BenefitMall in 2016 and now serves as the Vice President of Human Resources, where she oversees Human Resources, recruiting, and training functions for BenefitMall. Prior to joining BenefitMall, Madrigal served as Director of Human Resources for Copart as well as other various HR roles at Greatwide Logistics Services, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, and Heritage Bag Company. With over 20 years of experience serving as an HR business partner, Maria demonstrates the ability to apply change management principles to significantly enhance the Human Resources function and drive organizational results. Maria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources Management from DePaul University, a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Dallas, and a PHR certification.
Debbie Dennis is the Chief Customer Officer and SVP HR with Oncor. In her current role she has responsibility for customer service, community relations, economic development, branding and communications, as well as all human resource planning, policy, performance management, rewards strategies, sourcing, talent management and employee and labor relations. She is also responsible for the strategic direction of Oncor’s philanthropy, community involvement and employee engagement initiatives and their alignment with the Company’s business goals. This includes serving as the executive sponsor of Oncor’s employee volunteer programs and Oncor’s signature volunteer program, Oncor Texas Trails. Dennis also serves as the Loaned Executive Director for the Dallas Mayor’s Youth Fitness Initiative, a public-private partnership with the City of Dallas with a vision to make Dallas kids the healthiest kids in the nation.
Angela Guillory, VP Human Resources & Corporate Affairs at Oncor, provides strategic direction and leadership to the workgroups responsible for customer care, revenue management, retail electric provider relationships, market advocacy, and other supporting operations functions. She drives the effective and efficient operation of the Texas deregulated electric market while ensuring that Oncor meets their corporate objectives and delivers a quality experience to their customers.
Rob Causey serves as Managing Director of Employee Benefits of Higginbotham & Associates LLC(also known as Higginbotham & Associates, Inc) and served as its Managing Director of Dallas. With 28 years of experience in the employee benefits and insurance industry, Rob serve as a health and welfare benefits strategic consultant for our clients and service teams. He strives for innovation and creativity while delivering excellence in client service.
Paul Nason, JD, Partner at Locke Lord LLP, has focused his entire career on employment and labor law litigation. For more than 25 years, he has exclusively represented national, regional and local employers and management in state and federal court cases involving employment discrimination, wrongful dischange, wage and hour, breach-of-contract, employment torts, and unfair competition matters. Paul also represents management in labor law matters. He has extensive experience in collective bargaining, unfair labor practice litigation, and union avoidance campaigns.
Ron Chapman, Shareholder with Ogletree Deakins is Board Certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and represents employers in all areas of labor and employment law, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, class and collective actions, non-competition and non-disclosure covenants, leaves of absence, employment agreements and policies, union campaigns, collective bargaining, unfair labor practices, and workplace safety. Ron successfully coordinates work throughout the firm’s many offices for clients with multi-state and multi-national operations, ensuring responsiveness, consistent quality, and efficiency. Ron previously served on the Firm’s Board of Directors.