2014 Conference Speakers and Presentations

We really hit a high this year with a fantastic mix of local and international speakers. To re-live the experience, please see conference presentations and bios below.

Jennifer McClure is President of Unbridled Talent LLC, a consulting and advisory firm providing services to clients in the areas of recruiting & human resources strategy, employment branding and leadership/career development. Jennifer is a popular speaker who has spoken at over 175 industry-related conferences and events and she’s provided workshops and training for HR, recruiting and leadership teams at a variety of organizations – including Fortune 100 clients.

In both her consulting work and at speaking events, Jennifer brings perspective and prior experiences as a Human Resources executive in privately held and Fortune 500 companies, as well as experience as an Executive Recruiter and Executive Coach. Throughout her career, she has partnered with business and executive leaders to develop the best strategies to find, attract, recruit and develop the talent needed in their organizations to achieve business objectives.

Today’s human resources professional breaks stereotypes. She is more than just an administrative taskmistress who implements dress code policies and faxes job descriptions to the local newspaper. The field of HR encapsulates business partners, specialists, risk managers and transformational leaders who are redefining the complex world of human capital management.

And some of these leaders are even men.

This keynote will focus on the five strategic pillars that define the modern human resources leader. We will explore HR leadership trends-from talent analytics through business forecasting-and define the ways in which HR intersects with ever-changing business priorities in IT, procurement, finance and the C-Suite.

If you are naturally geared towards understanding the “big picture” of your company or if the future of your HR career is focused on business and management strategy, workforce planning, compensation and board strategy, labor relations and risk management-this developmental session will help you grow, learn, and claim ultimate accountability and leadership in your HR function.

Coco Chanel once said, “I don’t do fashion. I am fashion.” You are a human resources leader. You don’t do HR. You are HR. And it’s time to shine.

This presentation will focus on where we’ve been in the past year – a look back at how Millennials continue to shape the workforce and how HR professionals continue to adapt to meet the interests and needs of this generation – as well as look at what’s coming post-Millennials. Members of Generation Z are now entering their 20s and will quickly be entering the workforce.  We’ll spend time reviewing the unique attitudes and mindset of these up and comers, discussing what companies will need to do in order to competitively recruit and retain these young professionals. Known as a career coach and television personality, Ryan is the founder of The Hired Group, author of Hired! The Guide for the Recent Grad, and star of Hired on MTV Networks.

Kate White is an internationally known expert on leadership and success and a New York Times bestselling author of several influential books on work and careers, including, most recently, I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion and Create the Career You Deserve and Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do. Her advice is based on her extraordinary career running five major magazines. For 14 years she was the Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, which was the bestselling monthly magazine on the newsstand during her tenure and was published in 64 countries.

Kate ‘s career in the magazine business began when she won Glamour magazine’s Top Ten College Women contest and appeared on the cover.  She earned a position at the magazine and quickly rose from editorial assistant to feature writer and columnist. After holding major jobs at several other magazines, she was tapped to be an editor-in-chief, first for Child Magazine and then later Working Woman and Redbook. She took the helm at Cosmopolitan in 1998. Under her leadership at Cosmo, guaranteed circulation grew by 700,000. She also oversaw Cosmo Books, Cosmopolitan.com, many digital projects, and the Cosmo fashion line introduced at J.C. Penney.

She regularly speaks at conferences and events around the country and was recently named one of the 15 Best Career Experts to Follow on Twitter by CEOworld.com

In addition to writing non-fiction, Kate is the author of the New York Times best-selling Bailey Weggins mystery series (including If Looks Could Kill—which was selected as Live with Regis and Kelly’s first Reading With Ripa book-club pick and shot to #1 on Amazon) and two stand-alone thrillers, Hush and The Sixes. Her books have been published in 20 languages. Her next novel, a psychological suspense called Eyes on You, is scheduled for release this June.

She is married and the mother of two children.

In her session she will share three strategies for not only finding success but giving it legs, and also truly savoring it. I’ve learned these strategies in my award-winning career as media leader and the New York Times author of thirteen books, including the most recent career book, I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve. My upcoming suspense novel, Eyes on You, will be out in June.

Tara Tvedt-Pearson is a GALLUP® Certified Strengths Coach, a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Image Consultant with more than 15 years of experience in human resources, training, hospitality, mental health and project management.

Tara leads SquarePeg Ltd. and is the only GALLUP® Certified Strengths Coach the Caribbean. Strengths Based Development moves away from antiquated template leadership programs and weakness fixing and looks at the individual, their talents, power and potential.

Tara is dedicated to serving the local community as the Health and Well-Being Committee Chair of The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Grand Cayman, Committee Member of the Joanna Clarke Excellence in Education Award and Secretary of the Cayman Islands Orchid Society.

Mrs. Tvedt-Pearson has a BA in psychology with a minor in Spanish from St. Mary’s University, Winona, MN. Tara is bi-lingual in English and Spanish.

Mr. Shomari Scott holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration with a Marketing Major from Stetson University in Florida. He is the Marketing Director for Health City Cayman Islands. Prior to joining the medical facility, Mr. Scott spent worked with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism for 18 years. He began his career as an intern in 1996, joining full time upon completing his undergraduate studies progressing through the department until he achieved the post of Director of Tourism. Scott’s strong tourism background and understand is a key asset to leading the marketing department of Health City Cayman Islands, a medical tourism facility.

Scott is a keen sportsman and he is passionate about basketball — he played on the Cayman Islands National team for 10 years and over the past seven years has coached both youth and men’s basketball in his free time.

Through the influence of his father, who has been director and continues to work at Bonaventure Boys Home, and his mother, a teacher, he has used basketball as a way to give boys a positive focus, channeling energy into sport versus less productive behaviors.

Shirlaws Cayman is a team of Business Coaches who create clear, quantifiable outcomes from your investment with us. We deliver our clients: “More Money… More Time… Less Stress”. We work with businesses, organizations and individuals in Cayman and globally. Two factors that are common to all Shirlaws clients are that they are already successful and that they’re open to new ideas. Everyone from CEOs to entrepreneurs, from start-ups to global businesses and professional service firms seek us out to partner with them on conceiving, planning and implementing innovative change. Shirlaws Cayman as a team live the belief that it is the combination of Cultural Intent and Commercial Vision that drives transformative and sustainable value. Our commitment to living our culture (our Intent and Values) is absolute. To achieve our Commercial Vision, we constantly use and reference the innovative Shirlaws tools and frameworks within our own business as we do with our clients. Shirlaws Business Coaches work with our unique hybrid model of coaching, training, consulting and other management skills to provide a blended approach that is applied to meet client needs. It is the combination of our tools and frameworks, along with our coaching /consulting hybrid model, that gives us the ability to drive such high value for our clients around the world.

Graham Pearson is the co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Paragon Bermuda Ltd.: CEO of ignition Bermuda Ltd President of Paragon Advanced Development (PARC) USA Inc, based in Atlanta GA: President of Paragon Advanced Development Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Director and Manager of Ignition Cayman Ltd. All of these entities are commonly referred to as the Ignition Technology Group.  Graham has spent more than 30years in the technology sector establishing IT Companies from start-up through growth and sustainable revenue modes. His past experience of providing CIO level advice to senior management in the reinsurance and finance sectors has helped to shape Ignition’s portfolio of products and services. These services meet the everyday demands of clients who strive to improve bottom line contribution through the use of technology.

Among his significant positions, Graham has served on several boards and committees in the IT, telecom, finance and government sectors. After spending 24 years in Bermuda, Graham moved to Cayman with his wife Tara in 2005 in order to expand the business throughout the Caribbean region.

Eric has worked in the field of management and business consultancy for over 20 years. He specializes in Management & Leadership Development, Strategic Planning, Organization Development and Change Management. Eric is also experienced Investors in People Adviser and Assessor, and has assisted many organizations in Northern Ireland, Bermuda and Scandinavia to achieve recognition. He is also licensed by Investors in People UK to deliver training on their behalf.

Eric holds an MSc in Management from the University of Ulster and is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and the Chartered Management Institute. In his free time, Eric works with the Amy Biehl Foundation in South Africa to improve the life chances of young people affected by poverty and social exclusion.