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Speakers at the IT Leadership Conference |
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Sharon Getz
 Sharon Getz
joined Zebra Technologies, Inc., a digital specialty printing
solutions company and Auto-ID market leader, in 1993, and has been
responsible for Zebra’s world-wide IS Organization for the last six
years. Before joining Zebra, Sharon worked in various industries
including defense, nuclear power, consumer marketing, aerospace and
consulting. Sharon holds a B.S. degree in Computer Information
Science and a MBA from Cleveland State University.
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 Mark Hattas
Mark Hattas co-founded Geneca in 1998 as a young, 26-year old
entrepreneur. Today, as Geneca’s CEO, he is at the helm of one of
the fastest growing IT services firms in the Chicago region. Geneca
is a trusted technology partner to many Fortune 1000 companies and a
destination workplace for Chicago’s brightest IT professionals.
Mark is a charismatic leader widely respected for his commitment to
his clients, employees, community, and family. With a career
largely devoted to raising the bar on the delivery standards of IT
services firms, Mark and his team work passionately to help IT
organizations predictability deliver business value.
Mark is an active member of the Board of Directors for the
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, i.c.stars, and the Charles Tillman
Cornerstone Foundation. He is the recipient of a Young Executives
Award and an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist. He has
led Geneca to its receipt of numerous awards including the Inc.
5000, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce’s Workplace Excellence Award,
and Crains Best Workplaces. Mark is an invited speaker on topics
such as Generational Theory, business and innovation strategy, and
the role of IT in delivering business value.
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 Irene Rozansky
Irene
Rozansky is the founder and CEO of R&A Crisis Management Services. Irene
is an international speaker, consultant and author with an extensive
background in business continuity, project management and organizational
change and communications. For more than 15 years, Irene has worked with
disasters first-hand, by assisting organizations prepare for, mitigate,
and successfully avoid or recover from critical events. Before forming
her own consulting firm, Irene was responsible for developing,
implementing and managing business continuity consulting services for
Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq Computer Corporation and Comdisco,
Inc. Currently, Irene also teaches project management at the Lake Forest
Graduate School of Management in Illinois.
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 Lars
Linden
Lars
Linden is the Vice President of Corporate Strategy at GlassHouse Technologies,
Inc. Lars has more than 15 years of experience as an IT executive. Prior to
GlassHouse Lars led the development and maturation of infrastructures services
at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA). While at SSgA, he was awarded a laureate
award from Computerworld and the award for Predictive SAN Change Management from
InfoWorld. Lars also had a variety of different roles in the software
development space, including customer facing business applications, as well as
corporate systems with IT at Liberty Mutual, as well as Liberty International
Holding Inc where he worked as part of a startup team that grew Liberty's
international business operations from two companies in the UK to 27 companies
in 21 countries over the course of four years and more than $1 billion (USD) in
revenue. Lars’ speaking credentials include delivering educational
presentations at many industry events. He has a BA degree from
Northeastern University.
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 Greg Ambrose
Greg
serves as managing director of Chicago area based Catalyst Search Group and
recruits high impact talent to companies in the software, hardware, and
technology services sectors, as well as information technology professionals
in a variety of industries. Greg has been quoted as an authority in leading
local and national media and is a frequent guest lecturer for business,
leadership, and academic groups throughout the area. Prior to joining
Catalyst, Greg served with Heidrick & Struggles International and was an
active member of the firm’s International Technology, CIO and Medical
Technology Practices. Prior to his tenure with Heidrick & Struggles, Greg
was a manager with a Fortune 100 healthcare information technology company,
HBOC (later merged with McKesson). Earlier, Greg served as Executive
Director of a non-profit corporation in Denver. Greg received a B.A. degree
from the University of California at Los Angeles, and is active in several
Midwest based leadership and civic organizations.
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 Sheleen Quish
Sheleen
Quish is
the former VP & CIO for US Can Corporation. There, she was responsible for the
global infrastructure, three data centers and a wide variety of applications to
support the $750 million company in 24 locations in six countries. Ms. Quish's
background is unique in the CIO world. She has 20 years of Marketing and
Operations experience in healthcare and insurance. In 1993, Ms. Quish assumed
her first position in an IT role as a CIO. Over the last 13 years she has
developed a set of IT management principles and techniques that support both the
business objectives and create a viable environment in which IT professional can
thrive. Some of the business systems solutions she has managed and led include:
the development of a paperless claims filing solution in the health insurance
industry that developed into a profit center offering services, hardware, and
software; and major business systems integration in a national affinity
marketing company delivered on time and on budget, avoiding a $1 million a month
penalty. Sheleen is currently speaking, writing and consulting as well as
working with a number of IT managers as a coach.
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 Darlene Carrao
Darlene
Carrao joined Thomas & King, Inc in 2005 as VP and CIO. Thomas & King, Inc.,
(T&K) is the 8th largest restaurant franchisee with annual
revenues exceeding $200M. Darlene is responsible for all aspects of
technology including research, investments, delivery as well as support of
the infrastructure throughout all stores and corporate office. She came to
T&K with more than 25 years of business and information technology
experience. Prior to joining Thomas & King in 2005, she held positions at
Tellabs, Inc as Global Information Services Strategic Planning Director and
Applications Development Director. Darlene also held various leadership
positions while at SBC/Ameritech. She is involved as a board member for
several non-profit organizations and participates in many community
initiatives. Darlene and her husband Jeff, have three sons and a daughter.
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 Divakar (Dave) Kamath
Dave
joined IDEX as their CIO in Jan 2004. IDEX is a one billion dollar global
manufacturer of pumping, dispensing and other engineered products and provides
solutions for diverse markets. Dave is responsible for delivery of IT services
across the IDEX portfolio of 34+ companies. Prior to joining IDEX, Kamath was
the vice president and Chief information Officer at IMC Global Inc, a global
manufacturer with annual revenues over $1.5 billion. Before IMC Global, he served
as the VP-IS at SunSource Industrial Services company and VP- Materials/
Logistics Planning at one of its subsidiaries after having progressed through
increasingly responsible operational positions.
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Doug Lee
Doug joined Option Care in September 2004 and serves
as Chief Information Officer. In his capacity he is responsible for the
Company’s day to day and strategic Information Services at both Corporate and
Field offices. Prior to joining Option Care, Mr. Lee was Chief Information
Officer and Partner for Technology Extension Consulting, Inc, a national
consulting practice for six years, which provided interim senior level IT
management for organizations. Prior to this Mr. Lee was the Production
Delivery Manager for Ameritech Long Distance for two years and held positions
with CBIS for 7 years including Information Systems Manager and National Account
Manager. Mr. Lee earned his Masters in Business Administration from Aurora
University and Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Planning and Business
Administration from Ripon College.
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 Gint Dargis
Gint
has served as CIO for a number of enterprises. Most recently he was Senior
Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Richardson Electronics, a
publicly held international distributor and manufacturer. Gint has held
similar positions at Hub Group Distribution Services (a distribution service
e-business) and Publicis – Frankel (a leading promotion and marketing
agency). In his CIO roles and in management roles at larger enterprises
such as Ameritech (now AT&T) and Zurich Insurance, he has gained practical
experience on how different companies approach business and IT planning.
Gint earned his Masters in Business Administration from the University of
Chicago and Bachelor of Science in Economics and Chemistry from the
University of Wisconsin.
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 Frank
Mallinder
Frank
has a broad background that includes executive leadership, management
consulting, meeting facilitation, sales, writing and seminar leader. He has
both domestic and international work experiences.
As a skilled coach, he has
assisted executives to achieve high levels of success on a professional and
personal level. Frank has coached at multiple levels in organizations
including, CEO, CIO, VP, as well as managers at many different levels. He
obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Washington & Jefferson College. He has
received extensive training in the behavioral sciences and industrial psychology
including graduate courses at Illinois Benedictine College.
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