2026-27 Cohort
Jessica Baker
Jessica A. Baker is an accomplished human resources executive with deep expertise in total rewards, compensation strategy, health and wellness benefits, retirement programs and HR service delivery. She currently serves as assistant vice president of total rewards for the University of Missouri System, where she leads enterprise‑wide strategy and governance across compensation, benefits, retirement and shared HR services in a complex, multi‑campus environment. In her role, she partners closely with senior leadership to advance pay equity initiatives, modernize benefits programs, oversee large‑scale vendor and actuarial relationships and guide system‑level HR transformations, including ERP and benefits infrastructure implementations. Her work balances regulatory compliance, financial stewardship and employee experience, with a strong emphasis on transparency, sustainability and organizational trust. She is recognized for her strengths in change management, executive communication and talent continuity planning, often developing leader talking points and transition strategies for significant workforce changes. She brings a forward‑looking perspective to HR leadership and is actively focused on enterprise people strategy and organizational effectiveness. In addition to her professional experience, she has pursued executive‑level development and training, including participation in advanced HR leadership programs such as the TIAA Emerging Leaders Program and the HR Institute CHRO Academy, supporting her long‑term goal of progressing into a CHRO role.
Keisha Blevins
Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Keisha Blevins has more than 20 years of service at the University of Michigan. She currently serves as deputy chief of staff and senior HR advisor in the Office of the President, where she is a strategic advisor and operational partner to the chief of staff and president, with a focus on organizational effectiveness, HR strategy, talent management and workplace culture initiatives. She works closely with university executives, HR leadership and administrative units to advance university priorities and ensure strong execution of strategic initiatives. Previously, she served as chief of staff and senior advisor to the chancellor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where she was a key member of the chancellor’s senior leadership team and also served as the campus chief diversity and inclusion officer, supporting strategic planning and managing complex issues and emerging opportunities. She has held multiple HR roles on the Ann Arbor campus, including positions in staff human resources and Michigan Medicine human resources, as well as associate director of academic HR, with responsibilities that included administration of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) contract and counsel on academic personnel matters. She holds certifications in human resources, mitigating unconscious bias, DEI, mediation, positive leadership and executive coaching. She is active in the community through the Ann Arbor Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the Ann Arbor Chapter of The Links, Inc. She earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational studies from the University of Michigan and a juris doctor from Wayne State University Law School.
Sarah Bohman
Sarah Bohman is a senior organizational effectiveness and talent leader with more than 20 years of experience across higher education and nonprofit enterprises. She serves as director of organizational and leadership effectiveness at The Ohio State University, where she leads enterprise talent strategy to strengthen leadership capability, culture and the employee experience. A trusted advisor to executive leadership, she shapes HR strategy and leads complex, cross-functional initiatives that advance institutional performance and long-term sustainability. Previously, she served as director of institutional performance and as deputy chief of staff in the Office of the President, advancing presidential priorities and partnering closely with executive and governance leaders. Her earlier career includes leadership roles in talent management, learning strategy and organizational design at Ohio State and Kappa Kappa Gamma, where she led large-scale governance and workforce transformation efforts. She holds an Ed.D. in higher education and student affairs from The Ohio State University, is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), and is an active contributor to leadership development and the higher education profession through teaching and volunteer leadership. Outside of her professional work, she is a mother of three teenage daughters and finds joy in reading, traveling and cooking.
Joe Bohn
Joe Bohn is a seasoned human resources and organizational leadership executive with over 30 years of experience spanning higher education and the private sector. He currently serves as assistant dean for human resources and administration at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to this role, he spent more than a decade in progressively senior HR leadership positions within the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), ultimately serving as executive director of human resources. In this capacity, he led HR operations supporting over 3,000 employees across Illinois. Earlier in his career, he held multiple roles at the University of Illinois focused on labor and employee relations, as well as leadership positions at PepsiCo/Frito-Lay. At PepsiCo, he built a strong foundation in operations, change management and continuous improvement, earning both Continuous Improvement Master Trainer (CIMT) and National Continuous Improvement Master Trainer (NCIMT) certifications while leading large-scale training and organizational performance initiatives across North America. He holds a master’s in human resource development from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s in public policy and administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He is also a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).
Greg Brenner
Greg Brenner is the associate vice president of human resources for talent and organizational development at the University of Miami and UHealth, where he leads areas of the enterprise talent strategy across leadership development, organizational development and workforce engagement. With more than three decades of experience as a culture builder across hospitality, higher education, academic medicine and healthcare, he is known for helping organizations translate strategy into leadership behavior and measurable impact. He is a master’s-trained executive coach who works closely with senior leaders to navigate complex change, elevate team performance and strengthen organizational culture. He also plays a key leadership role in advancing the university’s comprehensive engagement program, partnering with leaders to turn insights into action.
Dale Cole
Dale E. Cole is a seasoned HR leader with over 30 years of progressive HR experience in healthcare and senior care settings. He currently serves as executive director of HR for University of California Irvine (UCI) Health, where he oversees HR operations for a combined workforce of over 14,000 across six hospitals, including two academic medical centers and multiple clinics throughout Orange County, California. His core strengths include strategic HR leadership, labor and employee relations, regulatory compliance, organizational change management and team development — skills he has honed across prominent institutions including UCI Health, Corona Regional Medical Center and United Methodist Retirement Communities. He holds a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from Michigan State University and has earned notable credentials including the SHRM-SCP, SPHR, Certified Mediator, Strategic HR Business Partner and Strategic Workforce Planning certifications, reflecting a deep and well-rounded expertise in the HR field.
Alex Gomez
Alex Gomez serves as director of talent acquisition and executive search at the University of California, Berkeley, where he leads campus-wide recruitment strategy and executive hiring. A UC Berkeley alumnus, he brings over 20 years of progressive HR leadership experience, including building centralized talent acquisition functions and founding Berkeley Executive Search to support senior leadership hiring across the UC system. His work focuses on aligning talent strategy with institutional priorities, advancing equitable hiring practices, and modernizing HR operations through systems, analytics and service innovation.
Emma Grigore
Emma G. Grigore is the executive director of Wharton human resources and people operations at the University of Pennsylvania, where she serves as a key member of the school’s leadership team. In this role, she leads the HR function for a 930-staff environment within a globally recognized business school, overseeing strategy, operations and the full employee lifecycle. She is known for modernizing HR functions to operate as strategic business partners, integrating data, technology and people strategy to strengthen organizational performance and workforce effectiveness. She advises senior leadership on organizational design, workforce planning and complex employee relations matters, while guiding leaders through change in dynamic and evolving environments. Prior to her current role, she served as the inaugural chief people officer at the Penn Graduate School of Education, where she built the school’s HR function from the ground up and aligned people strategy with institutional priorities. She has spent over a decade at the University of Pennsylvania and brings additional experience in healthcare HR within a unionized environment. She holds a master’s in law from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, with a focus on employment law, as well as a master’s of liberal arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
Stephanie Horton
As the director of employee and labor relations at Michigan State University, Stephanie Horton oversees labor relations strategy for both support staff and academic staff, including bargaining and contract administration for 14 collective bargaining agreements. She works closely with senior leaders on complex employee relations issues, navigates complex and often sensitive negotiations, and supports a consistent, values‑driven approach to labor relations across a large and decentralized institution. She brings more than 25 years of human resources experience, including 15 years as the HR director for the Michigan State Police. In that role, she led statewide HR strategy for a complex public‑sector organization, oversaw labor relations with multiple bargaining units, and guided organizational change, workforce planning and DEI initiatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human resource management from Michigan State University; is a SHRM‑SCP certified senior human resources professional; and holds a certification in design thinking and innovation from Harvard Business School. She is actively engaged in professional and civic service, including DEI policy development with the International Association of Chiefs of Police and service on the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Committee.
Mike Kaplan
Michael Kaplan is assistant vice president for human resources at the University of Iowa, advising the CHRO and senior leadership on HR strategy and operations across a portfolio that includes benefits, pay and well-being. He has served the university for nearly three decades, previously as senior director of HR systems and analytics, with a focus on enterprise HR systems, workforce analytics and operational modernization. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and completed MOR Associates leadership training in 2009. He is a recipient of the Iowa Board of Regents Staff Excellence Award.
Lisa Marranzini
Lisa Marranzini has spent the majority of her career at Penn State University, serving in progressively responsible roles within the institution. She was initially hired as an HR coordinator, then was promoted to director, strategic HR partner, senior director, and finally to her current role as assistant vice president for administration, Commonwealth Campuses. In her current role, she oversees a team that supports HR functions at 20 PSU campuses geographically dispersed across Pennsylvania. She holds two professional HR certifications, as well as a master’s degree in administration with a concentration in HR management.
Chanté Martin
Chanté Martin is associate vice president of human resources at the University of Arizona, where she’s been since 2016. She started her UA journey at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus as director of HR and later joined the division HR leadership team in 2019. Before joining the university, she supported the University of Arizona Health Sciences as a human resources integration business partner with Banner Health Systems. Her career has taken her across a variety of industries — from HR leadership and professional development roles with Abbott Pharmaceuticals, including Abbott Medical Optics and Abbott Nutrition, to hospitality as a training manager at Hilton Pointe South Mountain Resort. Earlier in her career she served as a Korean linguist and voice interceptor in the U.S. Army and spent time in higher education as an instructor at Illinois State University. Those experiences continue to shape how she approaches leadership, communication and people development. She holds an international MBA, a master of science in organizational communication and a bachelor’s degree in French and is a certified Professional in Human Resources and a Six Sigma Green Belt.
Brook Mercier
Brook Mercier has more than two decades of progressive leadership experience in human resources within both higher education and the private sector. He serves as assistant vice president for UF human resources at the University of Florida, supporting strategic planning and execution for initiatives that strengthen the employee experience and align HR practices with institutional goals. His role includes oversight of benefits, leave and retirement, employee relations, UFHR investigations and HR operations. Previously, he served as director of employee relations as well as associate director of classification and compensation. Before joining UF, he held HR leadership roles in manufacturing. He has an MBA from Georgia Southern University and holds SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications. He is also a graduate of the University of Florida’s UF Academy and Advanced Leadership programs and regularly contributes as a presenter on leadership and HR topics across the institution.
Andrew (Andy) Pujol
Andrew (Andy) Pujol currently services as assistant vice president for total rewards and family care initiatives at Carnegie Mellon University. In this role, his portfolio of responsibility includes compensation, benefits, HR services and compliance, data analytics, and the university’s Cyert Center for Early Education. Additionally, he serves as a key partner to executive leadership and the board of trustees on all executive compensation matters. Prior to CMU, he spent several years in the healthcare industry focused on broad-based compensation administration, career ladder development, and wage and hour compliance. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also holds numerous professional designations, including Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), Global Remuneration Professional (GRP) and Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS). Additionally, he has graduated from the Emerging Leaders Network and Leadership Pittsburgh as well as the Chief Human Resource Officer Program through the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Brandon Sullivan
Brandon Sullivan is the senior director of talent strategy at the University of Minnesota. With more than 20 years of experience spanning higher education, Fortune 50 corporate environments and consulting, he specializes in strengthening leadership, culture and organizational systems to maximize institutional impact. In his current role, he leads organizational effectiveness, leadership development, talent strategy and employee experience initiatives across the university’s five campuses. He serves as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, partnering with them to diagnose complex challenges and co-create practical, evidence-based solutions that improve clarity, collaboration and institutional effectiveness. Bridging the gap between administrative leadership and academic scholarship, he is also a senior lecturer at the Carlson School of Management, where he teaches in the MBA and Executive MBA programs. He holds graduate faculty appointments in both the School of Nursing and the Department of Organizational Leadership Policy and Development (OLPD), where he teaches courses on well-being in the workplace and serves on doctoral committees for students in human resources development. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota in 2013, he spent nearly six years at Target Corporation, where he led a team responsible for talent assessment and engagement survey strategies for a workforce of 300,000 employees. HGe holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His work sits at the intersection of organizational psychology and strategy execution, focusing on evidence-based practices that build organizational capacity and align talent with mission-driven goals.