Breakfast Club

Sharon M. Daniels
President and Chief Executive Officer
AchieveGlobal

Sharon Daniels has overall responsibility for managing AchieveGlobal. Daniels first began her tenure with AchieveGlobal in 1991. Since that time she also served as chief operating officer and chief executive officer of two other training companies in the industry during an absence from AchieveGlobal. During her four-year absence from AchieveGlobal, Daniels served as president and CEO of Communispond. Daniels’ career prior to her work in the training industry was in the field of banking. In her 15 years at Southeast Bank, she held numerous roles in operations, mergers and acquisitions, branch management, and training and consulting. She holds a bachelor’s in education from the University of Florida and a master’s in training and organizational development from the University of South Florida. She has more than 25 years of experience in general management and sales leadership roles.

Robert H. Dean
Vice President, Learning and Talent Development
Heidrick & Struggles

Robert H. Dean is vice president of learning and talent development for Heidrick & Struggles. Dean and the global learning and talent development team are responsible for designing, developing and delivering learning solutions to Heidrick & Struggles’ consultants and staff around the world. Dean combines business experience with a passion for learning and career development. As a senior learning executive, he has been a catalyst for learning innovation that drives business impact in two major professional services firms. Additionally, Dean has implemented blended learning solutions through a variety of delivery channels. Before Heidrick & Struggles, Dean served as Grant Thornton’s chief learning officer. He was responsible for the firm’s learning vision and strategy, as well as management of Grant Thornton University and the strategic learning team. At Ernst & Young, he served in the firm’s audit practice, was national director of audit professional development and director of industry learning. He led the firm’s learning and technology innovation initiatives in the 1990s.

Michael E. Echols, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives
Bellevue University and Bellevue University's Human Capital Lab

An internationally known thought leader on evaluating and improving ROI on human capital, Dr. Michael E. Echols' three books on the subject are must-reads in CEO, COO and CLO suites around the globe. Named one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals” in the United States by Training Industry Inc., Echols earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Carnegie Mellon University, his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and his Ph.D. from the College of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. His thesis was in operations research and information process.

Dan Heffernan
Vice President, Learning Products
Element K

Dan Heffernan is vice president of learning products at Element K. The learning products business delivers a broad range of e-learning, instructor-led, blended learning and performance support solutions to corporations, universities and government agencies. Prior to joining Element K, Heffernan worked for Paychex, a payroll and HR outsourcing company, where he led the leadership development and e-learning teams. He published an article in the Journal of Organizational Excellence describing how his team used leadership development programs to reshape the company’s leadership culture by setting expectations and building competencies for proactive problem solving, collaboration and accountability. Heffernan is a graduate of Colgate University.

Norm Kamikow
President and Editor in Chief
MediaTec Publishing Inc.

Norm Kamikow is president and editor in chief of MediaTec Publishing Inc., which publishes Chief Learning Officer magazine,Talent Management magazine, Diversity Executive magazine and Certification magazine, along with targeted supplements, special reports and electronic newsletters for each publication. Chief Learning Officer was named "Best New Publication" by the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). Norm also received the 2005 Innovation Award from Media Business Magazine, which honored him as Top Publisher of the Year.

Norm has more than 30 years of magazine and direct marketing publishing experience. Since beginning his career with Seventeen magazine, Norm has worked either directly or as a consultant to many consumer and business-to-business magazines. With a specialty in new magazine development, he has played a key role in the launch of OMNI magazine, SPIN magazine, Game Players magazine, CD-ROM Today, Internet World and Web Week. He contributed to the redesign of such magazines as Financial World and CD-ROM World. As president/CEO of Decks Inc., he worked with several major publishing companies to develop revenue resources from alternative media. This client base included BusinessWeek, Fortune, Money Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, The Journal of the American Dental Association and Dun & Bradstreet reports. Norm is a recipient of the Tempo Award from the Direct Marketing Association and is a biographee of Marquis Who's Who in the Midwest and Who's Who in Advertising and the Media.

ESI International Director, eContent Strategy
01/14/2010
The Director, eContent Strategy is responsible for providing ESI’s executive team with strategic-level direction to implement alternative blended learning delivery formats to our worldwide client base.

Senior Manager, Global Learning & Talent Development
11/19/2009
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) is an organization of member firms devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice. We are focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries.

Director, Leadership & Organizational Development Parkland Health & Hospital System
10/26/2009
Parkland Health & Hospital System (www.parklandhospital.com) located in Dallas, Texas has been voted one of "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report for 16 consecutive years and recently named one of the "Top 100 Hospitals to Work For" by Nursing Professionals Magazine.