History of the GDASTD
Detroit Michigan was a hotbed of training during World War II. Beginning in December 1941, men were quitting their employment and joining the military in a steady stream, leaving huge job vacancies in most organizations. To replace those enlisting, thousands of new workers, primarily women, were hired into factories and other Detroit area workplaces. An alarming educational and training vacuum appeared because Detroit was a hub for the United States military readiness. Automobile factories were converted to produce tanks, airplanes, and military motor vehicles and “Rosie the Riveter” (the patriotic symbol of women entering the workplace to help out with the war effort) needed to learn how to produce the military equipment. Much of the rest of Detroit’s business, industry, financial, and other organizations geared up to support this war effort. There was an urgency to prepare those not leaving for war to serve their county making military equipment…
2009 Board of Directors
- President
- President Elect
- Secretary
- Vice President of Administration
- Vice President of Finance
- Vice President of Marketing and Communications
- Vice President of Marketing and Communications (Co-VP)
- Vice President of Membership
- Vice President of Programs and Events
- Vice President of Technology
President
Fred Meinberg
Fred is the President of Techworld Language Solutions, a full-service language company that provides translation, language training, cultural awareness, and interpretation services. He maintains active involvement in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of all of the company’s accounts and projects. Fred has spent 18 years in the language industry. He leads the Techworld training and quality initiative, oversees the information systems, and supervises staffing.
Prior to Techworld he was vice president of Nexco Technical Services, a Tier 1 contract engineering firm.
Fred studied electrical and computer engineering at Wayne State University and holds an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Oakland Community College.
He is active in the Translation Company Division of the American Translators Association, the South Oakland Boys & Girls Club, On My Own of Michigan, the Optimist Club, Marketing and Sales Executives of Detroit, and is the Past President of the Royal Oak Foundation for Public Education.
President Elect
Julie Fraser
Julie Fraser is the Manager of Learning and Development for Chrysler Financial Services responsible for the development of more than 2,000 employees. In addition, Fraser was an intergal part of developing the "Coaching Culture" within Chrysler Financial over the last 5 years. Prior to joining Chrysler Financial, Fraser spent 16 years in the Telecommunications Industry in a variety of sales, marketing and customer services roles. Fraser has always been focused on creating an environment in which others can be successful at reaching their true potential through learning and continued development.
Secretary
Susan Anderson
As Secretary, Susan provides record keeping of all meeting minutes, writes chapter correspondence and ensures communication of chapter proceedings and records.
Her work and academic background include:
HR Analyst, Chrysler Financial, September 2007
Business Systems Analyst, Chrysler Financial, June 2006
Quality Manager, Chrysler Financial, May 2005
Supervisor, Chrysler Financial, May 2003
Account Manager, Chrysler Financial, March 2002
Supervisor, Global Crossing, November 1999
Sr. Analyst, Global Crossing, November 1997
M.S.A. Human Resources Administration, Central Michigan University
B.A. Organizational Communication, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
Vice President of Administration
Diane Williams
Current Position: Sr. Organizational Effectiveness Specialist
DTE Energy, Detroit, Michigan. In this capacity, leads leadership and executive development strategies and programs for DTE Energy.
Prior to joining DTE, held positions as Director of Organizational Development with Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center, and Manager, Human Resource Operations, Amerisure Companies, located in Farmington Hills.
Hold a Bachelors degree from University of Michigan, and an MBA from Davenport University.
She resides in Northern Macomb County with her husband and two sons.
Vice President of Finance
Tom Caiati
Tom Caiati joined Gradepoint in 2000 where he is currently Chief Operating Officer. Tom brings more than 25 years of technical and managerial experience in information systems technology. Prior to joining Gradepoint, Tom held a variety of leadership roles with EDS, most recently providing IT services to Delphi and General Motors. In addition to his activity in manufacturing IT, Tom serviced fortune 500 clients in transportation, logistics, finance, insurance, and publishing. While at EDS, Tom also led an organization, which served as a corporate center of expertise and was responsible for the introduction and adoption of advanced application technology. Prior to EDS, Tom held positions in application development with General Motors.
Tom holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Michigan State University and an M.S. in Computer and Information Sciences from Oakland University.
Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Julie Gieraltowski
Julie Gieraltowski has 12 years experience in the training industry and is currently the Operations Manager at Learning Designs, Inc.(LDI). She works with organizations in both the private and public sectors to help them improve the performance of their employees. LDI, headquartered in Troy, MI, has been helping organizations achieve high levels of performance for over 25 years.
In 2001, Julie received her M.B.A. from Wayne State University with a concentration on marketing. She has been the lead in large training projects and recently coordinated a team training sessions for over 3,000 attendees.
Julie lives in New Baltimore, MI with her husband and two children.
Vice President of Marketing and Communications (Co-VP)
Mia Shaffer
As a Project Manager and Performance Consultant at Innovative Learning Group, Mia has nearly 15 years of experience in the performance improvement field managing, designing, and implementing blended learning solutions for a variety of audiences. She also has vast experience in various facets of the automotive industry, such as product engineering, manufacturing engineering, marketing, and dealer operations.
Mia has designed and implemented processes and supporting tools for the entire gamut of instructional design tasks, from conducting needs assessments to developing training assets to evaluating learning outcomes. In addition, she has created tools for evaluating the readiness and competence of instructors.
Mia holds a master’s degree in training and development and a bachelor’s degree in human resource development, both from Oakland University.
Vice President of Membership
Larry Gelfund
Larry brings 23 years of performance management/training and development experience to the board. He has held directorships of training in service, retail supply chain industries and Financial institutions in five companies in his tenure, most recently at Comerica. He currently speaks professionally for organizations in leadership development, change management and life skills. He has served as an adjunct instructor at Oakland University and frequently consults with organizations in process improvement, motivation, succession planning and creating a learning culture for success. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Sturge-Weber Foundation and often speaks pro-bono in the charitable cause arena specializing in coaching, counseling, perseverance, tenacity and personal strength.
Vice President of Programs and Events
Bernie Reuter
A lifelong learner and educator, Bernie Reuter brings many years of experience in education and training and leadership and organizational development to the ASTD Board. His background in the field is varied and extensive, including teaching at the high school, college and university levels, serving as an HR and Training administrator for a utility, and working in mid-size and large consulting and training firms in new business development, project management and leadership roles. For the last ten years he has managed his own performance improvement company, CORE Skills, Inc. In his role of performance improvement facilitator and coach, Bernie specializes in helping people understand the relationship of human performance to individual and organizational success; he intends to bring the same focus to the programs position for GD-ASTD.
Vice President of Technology
Jon Trelfa
After serving 8 years in the US Navy, Jon has been either developing, delivering, or supporting training since 1999. His clients have included automotive manufacturing workers, insurance agents, medical practitioners, and college students. Jon has also spent the last 12 years developing web sites and applications.
Jon is currently supporting the SumTotal Learning Management System with Gradepoint, Inc.