Diane Williams – President
Diane has more than 25 years of experience in human resources development and training and just completed her one-year term as the vice president of marketing and communications for the Greater Detroit ASTD Chapter. Currently, Diane is the lead internal consultant for DTE Energy’s leadership and employee development function. In this capacity, she is responsible for identifying leadership competency gaps and solutions across the enterprise.
Prior to joining DTE, Diane was the director of organizational development for Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center. In this role, she was responsible for talent acquisition and development. She focused on creating leader roles and engaging leaders to deliver outstanding patient care and achieve high patient satisfaction scores.
Diane also served as the manager, human resource operations, for Amerisure Companies, located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. During her tenure with Amerisure, she progressed through a number of roles, including recruitment, employee relations, HRIS, and payroll & benefits delivery. She also led the creation of a Business Partner Model within the human resources function. Diane holds a master’s degree in business administration from Davenport University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.
Larry Gelfund – Past President
Larry brings more than 25 years of training and development experience to ASTD. He has been an active member of the Greater Detroit Chapter for several years and has been a guest presenter at monthly meetings. Additionally, he served as vice president of membership and has served on several committees. Currently, Larry is the Director of Organizational Development for the Rehmann Group. He is also principal of Laredo Learning LLC, a company specializing in management development, strategic thinking and performance improvement. Larry has held top training positions at Comerica Bank, Handleman Company, A&W Restaurants, The Coffee Beanery and Metro Media Restaurant Group. He also has served on the board of directors of several national charitable organizations.
Larry holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and business psychology from Western Michigan University.
Alan Jaros – Vice President of Membership
Becky Bozek – Vice President of Career Development
Becky is a corporate human resources leader with more than 15 years of experience leading a full range of human resource programs and services. Currently, she is an independent human resources consultant and career coach.
Her roles in human resources at Carlson Marketing and Clear!Blue Communications have allowed her to develop her skills in management development training, team-member coaching and group facilitation. Becky also has experience on client-facing teams managing the design, development and delivery of multiple classroom, web-based and distance learning solutions.
In addition to her work experience, Becky volunteers as a student mentor for Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and Winning Futures, where she actively facilitates both career preparation and leadership activities.
Becky has a bachelor’s degree in business/human resources management from Oakland University.
Christopher Carline – Vice President of Technology
Christopher is the lead trainer and technical writer at Cirrus Group LLC, located in Rochester, Michigan. In this role, he plans, develops and delivers online training programs and training materials for the company’s software application, Daycare Works. Christopher has been a member of the Greater Detroit ASTD Chapter since 2010.
He has a bachelor’s degree in human resource development with a minor in training and development from Oakland University.
Michael Jacobson – Vice President of Finance
For more that 15 years Michael has focused his career on Learning & Development including design, development and facilitation. Michael currently supports Learning & Development efforts for the Purchasing & Supplier Quality organization at Chrysler. Prior to making the transition to the auto industry, Michael spent the majority of his professional career working in finance, most recently for Citizens Bank in Flint.
Prior to that, Michael spent 14 years workingfor Charles Schwab where he started as a licensed stock broker and held various positions including Director of Learning & Development where he was responsible for implementing individual & leadership development programs.
Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in management and organization from the University of Colorado Denver and a master’s degree in information learning technologies from the University of Colorado Denver.
Susan Johnstal, Ph.D. – Vice President of Programs and Events
Sue has more than 27 years of experience in the training and performance field having held multiple roles in the Facility Management and General Services Department at Chrysler. Sue’s positions also included material control and customer service manager for the facility maintenance operation, housekeeping manager, mailing services manager, and various positions in the graphic services operation.
Her projects include: a core leadership role in applying and training others in world class manufacturing principles within a service organization; team leader and trainer for Total Process Reliability in Maintenance Inventory Controls; and co-chair of a local technical training committee (a joint UAW/Chrysler initiative for maintenance skilled trades workers); process improvements and training for a facility management call center; facilitation of a five-month facility management organizational review; and development of a customer satisfaction measurement guideline.
Sue earned a doctorate degree in education from Capella University, a master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Davenport University. Sue’s dissertation, titled “Transfer of Learning in Leadership Development: Lived Experiences of HPI Practitioners” highlights her passion in the areas of leadership development, transfer of learning and evaluation of learning or performance improvement initiatives.
Patricia Howard – Member at Large
Patricia joined the Greater Detroit ASTD Chapter in 2010. She is a master’s degree candidate at Wayne State University’s School of Education and will graduate in August 2011. As a student in the instructional technology program, her degree focus is on interactive instructional design and human performance improvement. After graduation, Patricia plans to develop classrooom and online learning as a Learning Management System Administrator.
Before entering the field of instructional technology, Patricia earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art at the University of Southern Colorado and transitioned her professional focus to the web design and graphic art field. Throughout her career, Patricia has worked with children and adult students in both fine art and the use of technology. Currently, she is a member of two committees within The Michigan Council of Women in Technology – Foundations, Mentoring and K-12. She facilitates a mentoring program for professional women and teaches web design to girls who wish to pursue a career in technology.
Sherita Jackson - Member at Large
Sherita L. Jackson is a training and development professional with a record of accomplishments in performance improvement and organizational development. Sherita holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oakland University in Human Resource Development with a Specialization in Training and Development. Sherita also earned a Master of Arts Degree in Training and Organizational Development from Oakland University. Sherita has over a decades worth of experience developing training interventions for companies including EDS, Ford Motor Company, and Deloitte. Sherita currently holds the position of Instructional Designer and Developer at AAA- The Auto Club Group. The company was awarded Training Magazine’s Top 125 Training Organization in 2011. Sherita’s areas of research include performance improvement, diversity, and emotional intelligence. Sherita recently authored a chapter entitled Leveraging Intergenerational Diversity to Meet Business Goals in the upcoming Handbook of Research on Workforce Diversity in a Global Society: Technologies and Concepts (IGI Global).
Scott Liebold – Member at Large
Scott has extensive experience in proprietary software and systems training and is certified in business development and sales training. His more than eight years in a full-time training role has been an important part of every position Scott has held since, including director of marketing, general manager, account executive and business development manager.
Fred Meinberg – Member at Large
Fred is the president of Troy, Michigan–based Techworld Language Solutions, a full-service language company that provides translation, language training, cultural awareness and interpretation services. He has more than 18 years of experience in the language industry and leads Techworld’s training and quality initiatives, oversees information systems and supervises staffing. Fred also is actively involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of all the company’s accounts and projects. Prior to Techworld, he was vice president of Nexco Technical Services, a tier one contract engineering firm.
Fred 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, and Marketing and Sales Executives of Detroit. He also is the Past President of the Royal Oak Foundation for Public
Education. Fred holds an associate’s degree in business administration from Oakland Community College and has studied electrical and computer engineering at Wayne State University.
Cathy Peterson - Member at Large
Cathy Peterson brings over 25 years of experience as a strategic Learning and Development leader. She has expertise in assessing, developing and implementing leadership and organizational development solutions including: training and non-training interventions, consulting, coaching, mentoring and talent management. Cathy is currently supporting TD Auto Finance’s learning and development initiatives.
In her past roles as Vice President of Employee and Organization Development with GMAC and the Director of MSX International’s Corporate University, Cathy partnered with leaders, business units, teams and individuals to ensure success. She consistently demonstrated the ability to think strategically, set vision and strategy and execute to the detail level. Prior to her time with these organizations, Cathy held multiple and progressive leadership roles at MSX International and Compass Learning, formerly Jostens Learning.
Cathy is certified in Targeted Selection®, behavioral interviewing and Zodiak: The Game of Business, Finance and Strategy®, business acumen. Cathy has also served as a mentor for Menttium® Corporation since 2005. Cathy holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Education, from Michigan State University.
Cheryl Dry – Greater Detroit ASTD Account Manager
Cheryl is the account manager at Meeting Coordinators, Inc., the leading association and meeting management firm in Southeast Michigan. Cheryl's experience in the meetings and hospitality industries started when she was a catering sales manager, working at the Hilton, Marriott and Ramada hotels in Florida, New Jersey and Michigan.
Meeting Coordinators, Inc. is proud to manage the daily logistics and administrative activities for the Greater Detroit Chapter of ASTD. In addition to GDASTD and several other associations, they also manage and coordinate corporate meetings and conferences.