SPEAKERS DETAILS & BIOS:
Alexandra Pastor
With passion and resolute efficiency, Alex serves as an Engagement & Program Manager at AWE providing critical and timely support to the team, clients, and her community. Alex strengthens the human connections in all her work adapting and pivoting with laser focus to deliver at every level of support she provides. In her multidimensional role, she facilitates all communication connections with AWE programs, troubleshoots and solves operational issues, drives our internal processes, and program efficiency with quiet calmness and confidence. She is the “wizard” behind the curtain, strengthening everything she touches and flexes as needed on a daily basis in support of others.
Alex comes to AWE with a dynamic background, with a B.A. in Spanish and Global Communications and a minor in French from Roger Williams University. She is bilingual in English-Spanish and pretty “darn good” in French. Following her dual passions, she taught horseback riding and English in Barcelona, Spain. She has deep experience working in the non-profit field overseeing, managing, and cultivating donor relations. She currently supports the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Society for Human Resources (RISHRM) and Youth Pride Inc. Alex is a native of Long Island, New York and currently resides in Providence with her partner, Ben, and their family. She is an avid gardener and employs sustainable practices daily.
Alia Anderson
Alia Anderson is an HR Support Specialist II at Gilbane Building Company. She also holds the role as Emerging Leader Sub-Committee Chair of Rhode Island SHRM’s College Relations Committee. Alia has held various roles at Gilbane over the last 5 years including time with the HR Solutions Center Team, the award-winning Gilbane University Team as an Instructional Designer, and as an HR Business Partner overseeing the New England Division including operations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. She is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and majored in Human Resource Management. Early in her career, Alia was an intern at Gilbane and benefited from experiential learning, mentoring and opportunities for career growth and exploration which ultimately allowed her to discover her professional strengths and career aspirations. She is most passionate about providing strategic support to the development of similar programs and partnerships to bolster both Rhode Island SHRM and Gilbane’s young professionals and emerging leaders experiences and opportunities.
Amie Dalton
Amie Dalton is a Human Resources Generalist for Johnson & Wales University. She is currently the JWU Chapter Liaison for the SHRM College Relations Committee. Amie has just shy of 10 years’ of experience within Human Resources. She has been working with Johnson & Wales University for going on 4 years now, and prior to her time at JWU she worked for several years in the construction industry. She is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University where she earned a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management.
Mary Fox
Mary Fox began her career in retail and commercial banking at Fleet Bank, upon graduation from Providence College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. After several managerial positions, she became an Area Manager of three branches and three loan production offices leading over fifty employees. In 1991 Mary moved to the Human Resources Department, where she worked as a Training Specialist, Recruiter and finally Vice President of the centralized employee relations department of fifteen, servicing over 40,000 employees at Bank of America.
In 2008 Mary joined FM Global, now a $6.6 billion mutual corporate property insurer that insures more than one out of every three FORTUNE 500 companies. Since joining FM Global, Mary has served as a Recruiter, Business Partner, Manager in Organization Development and AVP, Diversity and Inclusion Manager. In July 2020 Mary began her current position as AVP, Sr. Corporate Social Responsibility Consultant working in Marketing.
Mary is an active member of The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)-RI. She is certified as a Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR) and Senior Certified Professional (SHRM- SCP). She is a member of the College Relations Committee and leads the HR Corporate Experience Day Program.
She also serves on the executive board and membership committee for the United Way of Rhode Island’s Women United Group and the Entertainment Committee for the Dunes Club. She was recently on the Advisory Board for Boston College’s Center of Work and Family Roundtable, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Corporate Partner Council Co– Chair, the Client Advisory Board for AWE (Advancing Workplace Excellence) and the Reunion Committee for Providence College. She also volunteers at St. Gregory the Great Church. Mary lives with her husband and one of her four children in Warwick, RI.
Josh Varone
In 2019 Josh took over the Human Resources function at Rhode Island Medical Imaging as the Chief Human Resources Officer. In this role, he established an employee first strategy to enhance the culture and develop more employee centric programs and policies. Prior to that he had been with AAA Northeast for over 7 years and served as the Director of Human Resources. In this role, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Human Resources Business Partner group, Regional Human Resources group and the Talent Acquisition function. This included aligning HR activities for consistency, policy deployment and staffing. He was responsible and accountable for overseeing the activities, projects, processes, and outcomes of Talent Acquisition, implementation of HR and organizational programs, Human Resources partnering with Business Line management and a wide variety of support regarding people and organizational issues. Additionally, Josh coordinated all activities with Human Resources specialists in Compensation, Benefits, HRIS, Training, Communication & Engagement, Safety and related areas; ensuring consistency in application of policy and values.
Prior to his role at AAA Northeast, Josh held various positions in Human Resources over a 10 year span at Swarovski North America, Brinker International and West Marine. These companies provided industry experience in retail, casual dining, direct sales and consumer goods while focusing on HR support of all operational areas and support functions. His roles at these companies included Learning Manager, Training and Organizational Development Specialist, Human Resources Specialist and Corporate Talent Acquisition Manager. In these roles Josh had various responsibilities, including serving as a business partner to the organization on employee relations, performance management, staffing process and recruiting. He worked to acquire, develop and mobilize talent by establishing processes, coaching to the process and skills required, monitoring progress and recommending and participating in interventions. Additionally, he was responsible for development and facilitation of training programs to Professional and Supervisory employees as well as all retail/field employees through a blended approach of instructor led and web-based learning.
Josh’s educational background is in the Liberal Arts, receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts- Dartmouth in History and a Master’s Degree in American History from Providence College. In addition, he is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management, as well as being a member of the local chapter and holds the designations of SHRM- CP, PHR and PRC. Josh is certified to use the WorkPlace Big Five Profile to engage employees at work by gaining insight into individual personalities and motivations, build stronger teams and resolve interpersonal conflicts. Additionally, he is certified in Instructional Design, Training Facilitation and High Impact Presentations.
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Susan Breen
Susan Breen is a Membership Relations Specialist for the Employers Association of the NorthEast (EANE). She also holds the role as Mentor Coordinator on the RI-SHRM College Relations Committee. Susan oversees Rhode Island and East of Worcester, MA for EANE. She has been with EANE for 4 years now and knows enough about HR to be dangerous.
Prior to her role with EANE, Susan was Director of Marketing and Operations for the RI Society of CPAs where she focused on Learning & Development for 5 years. Susan also serves on the Greater Providence Chamber Legislative Committee and a Board member for BallouLife Communities, a nursing home facility in Woonsocket.
THANK YOU to our SPONSOR
Looking ahead at RI SHRM additional Programs:
April 28th& 29th: 2021 Tri-State SHRM Virtual Conference!
Visit the Events Page for all the details
