Karen Lemon
At&T
Vice President of Outsourcing and Service Management
Throughout her 23-year career with AT&T, Karen has held a number of leadership positions in customer service, operations, and sales. She is currently the Vice President of Outsourcing and Service Management. In this position, she is responsible for AT&T’s multi-national customers, owning the service relationship, and the network management and performance for these strategic clients to ensure their end-to-end experience is satisfactory.
Karen joined AT&T in 1987. She has held positions in Sales, Sales Training, and Sales management. She has managed a call center, and has held strategic planning positions in customer service and operations. Karen joined Concert, a joint venture between AT&T and BT, for two years where she was responsible for the operational support of Concert’s global distributors.
Karen has been instrumental in transforming the business and has worked on M&A, sales force transformation, and challenging how AT&T provides service management to its clients. In her current position, she leverages that experience helping customers to improve network performance while lowering their total cost of ownership.
Karen holds a Bachelor of Art’s degree in Mathematics Education from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, she currently resides with her family in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.
Gary Richardson
Richardson Consulting
President and CEO
Gary Richardson is President and CEO of RICHARDSON CONSULTING that specializes in Diversity Education. He is a Certified Diversity Facilitator and lead Air National Guard instructor for the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute in Cocoa Beach, FL. Gary is also a Certified Mediator for both the Department of Defense and the Onondaga County Court System and has conducted several mediation sessions resulting in positive resolutions.
Since 1999, Mr. Richardson has trained and educated organizations on sensitive topics such as sexual harassment, conflict resolution, and diversity and inclusion. He trains over 1000 participants on an annual basis and delivers an entertaining presentation that keeps audiences engaged from start to finish. In 2004, he was appointed as the Equal Opportunity Officer for 174th Fighter Wing, Air National Guard Unit in Syracuse, NY and in 2009, he was chosen as the Air National Guard Equal Opportunity Officer of the Year. He has been the Honorary Speaker for Empire State College Commencement Ceremonies and is regularly invited as a Keynote Speaker on college campuses across the State of New York.
Mr. Richardson is an 18-and-a-half year veteran of the New York State Police and serves as Station Commander of the SP Schuyler Barracks in Frankfort, NY. Gary is also the Diversity Chairperson for CNY SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management).
Gary resides in Clay, New York with his wife Sheila.
Dr. Zina Berry
Berry Good Dental Care, P.C.
Dentist
Dr. Zina Berry is a graduate of Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, TN. Dr. Berry visited Syracuse on a job interview. She was impressed by the community’s embrace of professionalism and felt that patients were interested in honesty, integrity and the quality of the work by a dentist, instead of gender or ethnicity. Dr. Berry was also raising two children and felt that the New York public schools would provide them with a good education. Living in Onondaga County would provide the quality of life she wanted for herself and her children.
The dental practice located at 407 University Avenue was purchased by Dr. Berry in November 1990. Dr. Berry decided that her dental practice needed a name and enlisted the help of her patients to come up with one. Berry Good Dental Care, P.C. was born December 21, 2000 named by her patient, Elaine Arnold.
After 6 years of hard work, Dr. Berry purchased property at 325 University Avenue. Berry Good Dental Care moved into its new location January 2, 2006.
Berry Good Dental Care offers individualized, high quality dental care. Emphasis is placed on esthetic dentistry and the promotion of good health through regular dental care. Berry Good Dental care provides dental services for all ages—orthodontics for children and adults, TMJ treatment, oral surgery, endodontic treatment, implants, and Cerec or porcelain crowns. Oral cancer screening is provided.
Dr. Berry is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) , The WISE Advisory Board, and the Board of the Onondaga Historical Society. She is also a member of the Crouse Hospital Executive Council. She loves to cross-country ski, golf and paint.
Liz Waidelich
Rochester Midland Corporation
Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Liz spent 12 years with the Foreign Service division of the U.S. State Department, before entering the human resources profession. During this period, she was assigned to positions overseas in U.S. embassies and consulates in Oslo, Barcelona, Helsinki, and Berne. Her Foreign Service career also included assignments in Washington, DC.
Her years in human resources have included leadership positions in Michigan and New York manufacturing companies. Her present position is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Rochester Midland Corporation (RMC), an international manufacturing company whose corporate headquarters is in Rochester, NY. With the changing world of business influenced by constant economic, regulatory, and societal challenges, Liz finds the human resources profession becoming more and more interesting, exciting, and demanding.
RMC has three manufacturing facilities in the U.S., located in Rochester, Aurora, IL, and Ontario, CA. RMC also has a customer service center and distribution warehouse in Greensboro, NC, and two other distribution warehouses, in Dallas, TX, and Saginaw, MI. RMC has a subsidiary in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, comprising a manufacturing facility and corporate services for the Canadian operation, as well as a small subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Liz has HR responsibility for all the company’s U.S. and Canadian locations and has HR overview for the UK subsidiary.
RMC was established in 1888 and is one of the few companies in the U.S still owned and managed by its founding family. Liz was brought to RMC in 1998 as a change agent to reengineer the human resources function and has done that, while establishing the HR function as an equal partner in the Company’s leadership. In the first five years of her tenure, she led a team to benchmark, choose, and implement a new HRIM which was Y2K compliant and provided state-of-the-art HR functionality, including management of personnel records, complete and fast report generation, and in-house payroll production; benchmarked, chose, and implemented a completely different and modern design for the Company’s 401(k) and ESOP retirement plans; designed and implemented the Company’s first-ever career management system, including a compensation administration program; led a team which developed a leader development program; hired the Company’s first director of training and established a formal training program, “Rochester Midland University.”
The most recent innovation was the establishment of a wellness program, which Liz and her team conceived, designed, achieved buy-in from and support by the Corporation’s senior leadership team, and rolled out to the employee population. Because of participation and accomplishments in the first 18 months of the program, RMC’s “Fit for Life” program was awarded in June 2011 a “Wealth of Health” award, recognition given annually in the Rochester business community for selected employers who have made the greatest impact with wellness initiatives.
Besides earning a bachelor’s degree in management and supervision from Central Michigan University, Liz is accredited as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Human Resource Certification Institute, the credentialing arm of the Society for Human Resource Management. She is one of a small team of Rochester HR executives which is part of the HR Advocacy Group, an initiative sponsored by the Business Council of New York State to interface with New York’s state legislators to educate them on the negative effects of pending legislation, if passed, on the New York business community.
Liz is active in community activities including partnering with local schools in the PENCIL program, serving on the human resources committee for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester, and supporting Company-sponsored charitable activities such as United Way and One Community. She was chosen as a finalist for the 2009 Athena Award sponsored by the Rochester Women’s Alliance and Athena Internationl. She resides with her family in Victor, New York.
Rod Colón
RodColon.com
Career Coaching
Rod Colón has a unique perspective on what it takes to succeed in today’s global economy. Rod shares his 24 years of experience as a corporate HR management insider, outside agency recruiter, professional networker and career coach through an unusual yet common sense approach to networking and career management. His in-depth knowledge of international staffing, recruiting and networking gives Rod a unique ability to both coach and consult today’s professionals and executives around the world.
Rod uses his passion, energy, and creativity to support others. He coaches professionals in the art of leveraging relationships that maximize personal networking opportunities. Rod also uses this hands-on approach with corporations as they confront the new business paradigm in which an organization’s success requires professionals to optimize their use of both internal and external networks. As he reminds his members, mastering the subtle techniques of using these networks is vital to the success of both the professional and the organization.
Career Coaching with Rod Colon is an example of Rod’s unique and creative approach to fostering the critical career skills of trust, accountability, and integrity in all his clients. Through sessions designed to teach both basic cookbook job search techniques as well as advanced network development strategies designed to long outlive the current search, Rod reveals the depth of his career management experience and shares the wisdom he has acquired over the years. He demonstrates the power of networking as a giving and sharing activity, and aggressively challenges professionals to be relentless in building their networking skills while managing their careers as the CEO of ME, Inc.
Today Rod Colon leads the way in the education of networking as a core career management activity through networking events, career coaching programs, conference calls, training seminars, job openings, channel partnering and networking libraries. Rod encourages members to share their networking experiences and questions through conference calls and urges members to become proficient with networking-oriented applications such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs and Facebook.
Rod is a published author. His first book, Win the Race for 21st Century Jobs, discusses the need for networking and human relationships as a major part of any job search and career management strategy. Rod also co-hosts a new and interactive weekly call-in program entitled Your Career is Calling: Your Weekly Appointment for Career Choices, Decisions and Success from Rider University’s 107.7 FM.
Rod is a graduate of Georgian Court University and a board member of the Georgian Court University Alumni Association. He has been featured on ABC-TV “Tiempo” with Joe Torres, Latin Trends, Newark Examiner, Princeton Review and has received numerous awards and citations in both print and online media. His innovations have attracted a growing audience of business professionals who recognize and appreciate his gift for leadership, his command of both traditional and emerging business trends, and his unfailing desire to mentor, coach, train and advise in all matters related to career management and personal growth.
Margaret Ireland, CCEP
National Grid
Ethics and Compliance Professional
Margaret Ireland, CCEP (Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional), is a 25-year employee of National Grid. For the majority of her career, she worked in Human Resources. For the past four years, she has worked in National Grid’s Ethics & Compliance department. She currently is the only National Grid employee in the US that has the CCEP designation.
Margaret received an Associates Degree in 1985 from Cayuga Community College. She returned to school years later and received a Bachelors in Management from University of Phoenix in January, 2005. She was enrolled the Master’s program at Keuka College and has left the program temporarily due to family health issues. She and her husband Jeff, own and operate a farm in Skaneateles, NY. They are also the proud parents of a daughter, Hayley, who recently graduated from Marcellus High School.
Margaret is an active member in the ECOA (Ethics & Compliance Officers Association) as well as the SCCE (Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics).
Eric Rodriguez
Onondaga Community College
Nursing Faculty Member
My name is Eric Rodriguez and I was born in Santa Clara; Cuba. I came to the United Stated in August of 2001 just after my 21th birthday. The idea was to start a new life and to achieve the “American dream”; and also to help improve the life of my family back home. One of my main goals was to learn English and become an active participant of society. Learning English was not an easy process, but taught me an important lesson about perseverance. Perseverance, however, was not the only thing I learned in my path to the” American Dream”. After struggling to learn English, learning to live in America, learning the culture and, most importantly, struggling with the sadness of having no family in the United States; I was accepted at Onondaga Community College as an English as a Second Language student (ESL). Later in 2007, I was able to graduate from the Nursing Program at the same college. But since learning is a life long journey, I decided to further my education by obtaining a Bachelor in Nursing. Today, I’m not only working on Master Degree in Nursing, but I’m also honored to be a Nursing faculty member at Onondaga Community College. Eric Rodriquez has his BS degree and is a graduate student for his master degree at SUNY Upstate College of Nursing.
Dr. Rachna Zirath
Upstate University College of Medicine
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine
Dr. Rachna Zirath is a medical doctor who has practiced in Syracuse since 1999. She also serves as an associate clinical professor of medicine at Upstate University College of Medicine. She is associated with the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Internal Medicine.
Charlene Young
Syracuse Veterans Hospital
Bed Coordinator
Charlene Young, RN, MSN is employed at the Syracuse Veterans Hospital. She serves in the role as the Bed Coordinator. Charlene is the mother of two daughters, one son, (and the late Sadatrius M. Hamilton). She is also a proud grandmother of four grandchildren. Charlene enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends. She acknowledges her family, church family and close friends because they have played an important role by providing support and lifting her up in prayer.
Charlene Young graduated from Le Moyne College School of Nursing with her Master’s in Nursing Education on May 22, 2011. While pursuing her academic endeavors she was inducted into Le Moyne’s College Nursing Honor Society. In addition, she is an active member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society and Syracuse Area Black Nurse Association (SABNA). She currently serves as president of the usher board at New Life Temple of Praise.
Charlene is humbled and awed by God and all that he is doing in her life. Thank You God, for your faithfulness and loving us so much. She states “to others and particular to young women that God will do the same for you just trust him”. Prayer coupled with faith, and enduring hard work is the key to my success!
Dave Wall
Onondaga Community College
Director of Corporate and Public Partnerships
Dave Wall is currently the Director of Corporate and Public Partnerships at Onondaga Community College. He is responsible for several college departments, including the Public Safety Training Center, College for Living, Small Business Development Center, JOBSplus!, Continuing Education and Workforce Development; and recently the Sustainability Institute at OCC.
He is also an adjunct instructor for Onondaga Community College, Keuka College and the NYS Child Advocacy Resource Center.
Prior to assuming his position at OCC, Wall spent two years working at the Public Safety Training Center at OCC assisting in the development of the Emergency Management program and other public safety related educational programs.
Prior to Onondaga Community College, he spent four years working as a Transportation manager for a large regional grocery distributor.
Wall retired as a Chief Deputy for the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office after twenty five years of service. In this position he was responsible for all administrative functions of the Sheriff’s Office.
Wall has a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University, a Masters in Management Science from Keuka College and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Wall has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Central New York, McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Site, Huntington Family Centers, Inc., the Rape Crisis Center of Syracuse, Home Aides of Central New York and The Syracuse Onondaga County Youth Bureau.
Christina Granato
Onondaga Community College
Professor of Nursing
Christina Granato, Professor of Nursing @ Onondaga Community College has been a nurse educator at Onondaga Community College since 1986, as an adjunct and a full time professor.
She holds a Master degree in Nursing from Syracuse University, a Family Nurse Practitioner degree from SUNY Upstate College of Nursing , and is a licensed professional registered nurse in NYS as well as a certified nurse educator with the National League of Nursing. Her clinical background is primarily in critical care nursing holding a nurse manager position in Coronary Care for over 10 years. She currently maintains her clinical and leadership skills as a part-time Administrative Supervisor, along with being a full-time professor of nursing.
Her current position at Onondaga Community College is professor and Chair of Nursing and continues to teach courses in the final level of the nursing program preparing students for graduation and the professional role as a registered nurse .
Drake Harrison
Onondaga Community College
Director, Collegiate Science Technology Entry Program (CSTEP)
Mr. Harrison has supported students for over twenty years in higher education and his innovative approach to student services is clearly seen in the success of his students. In 1993, he created a merit-based student scholarship at Onondaga Community College to help ease the financial burden of pursuing a college degree. Through his leadership, CSTEP has greatly expanded opportunities for students in the areas of research and internships. As a founding member of the New York Upstate Alliance, Onondaga Community College, along with Clarkson University, Cornell University, Monroe Community College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology and Syracuse University, make it possible for students to participate in science and technology based research. His professional development series has prepared students for educational and professional opportunities. He believes one important element for successful student achievement is “peer-to-peer” support. He is currently working on the development of a Peer Mentor Manual that incorporates CSTEP’s “best practices”. If you talk CSTEP students, they will tell you that Mr. Harrison’s philosophy is grounded in his conviction that all students have the potential to be successful.
Darris W. Williams
Onondaga Community College
Program Coordinator, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
Darris W. Williams is a lifelong native of Central New York. He was employed at the Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. and Constellation Energy for over thirty-two years in various management positions, that include: business analysis, work week manager, and engineering program manager at a nuclear power plant. After attending SUNY Delhi, Darris continued his education at Syracuse University’s Utica College campus and received a B.A. in Urban Planning. While employed at Niagara Mohawk Power Company, he served as a certified diversity trainer, responsible for training hundreds of employees. Darris continued to develop himself professionally by obtaining his PHR certification from the Society of Human Resource Professional. While working as a work week manager at Constellation Energy’s Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station he obtained his MBA at LeMoyne College. Today he is pursuing one of his passions to work with young people and is now employed at Onondaga Community College’s CSTEP Office, assisting motivated AALANA students to continue their academic careers in STEM majors. Darris has a long history of volunteering to guide and mentor our youth as the Committee Chairman of Boy Scout Troop #27, as a coach for those enrolled in the Educational Opportunity Program, and as a member and Treasurer of the 100 Black Men of Syracuse mentoring young African American males. Additionally, Darris is one of the first recipients of the YWCA Diversity Achievers Award in Central New York. Darris and his wife of 38 years, Mildred Williams, have three adult children and four grandchildren.
Corey Hudson
Onondaga Community College
Director, Educational Opportunity Program
Corey Hudson is a native from Long Island, New York who has participated in diversity seminars and trainings for over twenty-one years. As an alumnus of the University at Albany and the Ronald McNair Scholars Program, he focused his career in supporting students from all aspects of society with a special focus on the underrepresented sectors, to attain, retain and enhance skill sets that will help their success in their community. Currently, Mr. Hudson serves as the director of the Educational Opportunity Program at Onondaga Community College. This program focuses on helping students from limited backgrounds in achieving their academic and personal goals. Mr. Hudson is alum of the B.U.T.Y. program (Bring Unity to Youth), recipient of the 2008 Ann Felton Multi-cultural Leadership award at Onondaga Community College, a certified trainer for the National Coalition Building Institute, and an inductee of the 2009 YWCA Academy of Diversity Achievers. Finally, Mr. Hudson is known by his students for the belief that “all students learn best when challenged by high standards.”
Davine Bey
Global i365
CEO
Davine Bey has 15+ years of talent acquisition, B2B development, strategic consulting and supplier operations experience.
Over his career Davine has managed multi-million dollar recruitment process outsourcing engagements, and has designed diversity recruitment best practice strategies for fortune 500 and multinational organizations. Prior to becoming a founding member of Global i365, Davine held various roles including the former Director of Staff Recruiting & Development for Proskauer Rose, LLP, a tier one global law firm. Throughout his career, Davine has held leadership and consultative roles with such notable organizations as Proskauer Rose, LLP, Spherion, Corning, MCI WorldCom, The American Red Cross and Cablevision to name a few.
Davine has conducted workshops and facilitated panel discussions to include: The Johnnetta B. Cole Chief Diversity Officers Forum, Cornell University, The Community Wide Dialogue To End Racism, and the Council On Diversity Executives (CODE). Davine is also the co-founder of The Central New York Conclusion Conference, a subsidiary of The iConference, which promotes diversity and inclusion conferences in various cities across the U.S.
Outside of work, Davine dedicates his time to various charities and organizations, such as The Prince Hall Masonic organization, NAAAHR, SHRM, and One Hundred Blackmen to name a few. Davine received his Bachelor’s degree in English from Le Moyne College and currently resides in Syracuse, New York, with his three sons, Bilal, Malachi, and Anan.
Julie Leedom-Gaidis
Ericsson
Certified Senior Project Manager
Julie Leedom-Gaidis is a Certified Senior Project Manager within the Project Management Office at Ericsson. She completed a dual degree at the University of Pittsburgh in Pre-Law and Administration of Justice. She later obtained a Certification from the Project Management Institute. Her professional background has been leading large scale deployments. Her first assignment was as Lead for the Alcatel-Lucent deployment and integration of EVDO Rev 0 and Rev A in the Upstate New York region. She was then a member of the Affiliate Network Modernization Program in the Alcatel-Lucent markets and worked in many of the same areas as in the EVDO project. After two years she was made Program Lead for all capacity add efforts across the US. Most recently she was named Program Lead for the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Central New Jersey regions for new products and technology. In her career prior to joining Sprint she was a Technical Project Manager and Disaster Recovery Manager for Nextel Partners and was responsible for large scale recovery efforts and preparing the wireless network for man-made or natural disasters.
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