Our Team

Patrick Palerme, C.A

Patrick Palerme, Managing Director, North America and co-founder of Global Change Leaders, brings expertise in the management of organizations and strategic development. He generates exceptional results in terms of profitability and growth, innovates by way of developing new areas of activity and leveraging corporate acquisitions, promotes the notion of the entrepreneurial team and has established for his businesses a reputation as a high performance-based employer.

Patrick was CEO of GE Capital Canada for 6 years, COO of GE Capital Solutions Canada for 9 years and CFO of GE Capital Equipment Finance Canada for more than 8 years. Prior to GE, Patrick worked for one of the big Canadian banks as CFO for the largest leasing company in Canada at the time and as Deputy Chief Accountant for the bank. At the beginning of his career, Patrick worked for Price Waterhouse for over 5 years in Public Auditing of large corporations.

Patrick holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from HEC Montréal (University of Montreal) and the designation of Chartered Accountant (CA) of Canada since 1982. He has attended numerous GE training programs including the Business Management Course as well as Leadership, Innovation & Growth at GE’s Leadership Development Center; Change Acceleration Process; Work-Out and Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.

Patrick is a Canadian citizen and currently resides in Montreal, Canada. His language skills include French (fluent), English (fluent) and Spanish (conversational).

He is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Beverly Solinger

Beverly Solinger, Managing Director, Europe and co-founder of Global Change Leaders, brings expertise in all aspects of Human Resources. She works primarily with small and medium size companies in any sector to address their people issues including employment practices, organization design, leadership assessment, performance management, change acceleration and acquisition due diligence, to mention only a few. She also works with organizations of all sizes to assist in internal dispute resolution. She is an accredited Workplace Mediator and also undertakes investigations and chairs grievance and disciplinary hearings and appeals.

Bev has 25 years HR experience with GE in the US and Europe in variety of financial services and industrial businesses and an additional 8 years as a consultant with Global Change Leaders.

In 2015, Bev joined the Board of Peterson's Fund for Children, a local charity which supports children who struggle with mental and physical disabilities by providing funding for therapies and equipment not easily accessible elsewhere.

An honors graduate from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, Bev also holds an MBA from the same institution. She has attended numerous GE training programs including the Human Resources Leadership Program, Advanced Human Resources Development Course, Management Development Course, Change Acceleration Program, Designing Organizations for Growth, and Executive Coaching. Since starting Global Change Leaders she has attended several other courses and seminars to enhance her HR and consulting skills.

Bev is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and the Institute of Directors. She is a US and UK national, currently resides in London, England and is fluent in English.

She is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Roman Oryschuk

Roman Oryschuk, Managing Director and founder of Global Change Leaders, is a proven growth-driven business leader with strong strategic skills and a passion for customer service, operating excellence and engaging employees to deliver world-class performance.

Roman was a Vice-President of General Electric Company and the President & CEO of GE Capital Solutions Europe, a business operating in fifteen countries with some 5,000 employees and assets of approximately $25 Billion. Roman joined GE in 1993 when it acquired National Bank Leasing Canada where Roman had served as President & CEO since 1988. Roman led a reverse integration of the GE Capital Canada Commercial Equipment Financing business into his organization. During the ensuing years, Roman and his team significantly grew the business, dramatically improving revenues, operating costs and ROE. Roman previously worked at the Royal Bank of Canada in a variety of managerial positions providing him with experience in acquisitions and major change projects.

During his career at GE, Roman was involved with several acquisitions through the strategic review, due diligence, board approval, negotiation and integration phases. An excellent strategist, he has also developed strong skills to manage and integrate businesses in a multi-country and multi-cultural environment.

Since retiring from GE in 2010 Roman has joined HEC Montreal as an adjunct professor and also acts as an advisor to companies.

Roman studied at McGill University where he obtained his B.Com in Marketing and International Business with Great Distinction in 1976 and completed his MBA in Finance and Accounting on the Academic Achievement List in 1983. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers. Roman has attended numerous GE training programs including Business Management Course; Executive Development Course; Leadership, Innovation and Growth; Executive Leadership Development Symposium; Change Acceleration Program; Inclusive Leaders Workshop and Global Inclusiveness Leadership Summit. He also obtained his Six Sigma Green Belt Certification. Roman was recognized with a GE Chairman’s Leadership Award for his innovative work in applying Lean to services and a GE Commercial Finance Leadership Award.

Roman is a Canadian and UK national and currently shares his time between Montreal, Canada and London, England. He is fluent in English and French and also has basic skills in Ukrainian, Russian and German.

He is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Wendy Fagan

Wendy Fagan is an experienced HR executive with an outstanding track record of delivery in challenging and complex Human Resources initiatives, globally. Wendy is well versed in managing large projects including mergers and acquisitions throughout Europe, Middle East and the Far East; large corporate reorganisations, TUPE transfers, outsourcing and integrations.

Wendy led the integration of Universal Studios into the American broadcaster throughout Europe, involving sixteen countries and navigating through differing legislative environments; together with leading the significant reorganisation of GE Capital IT Solutions within the UK and launching of Al Jazeera, the English Language Channel, in Kuala Lumpur, Qatar, United Kingdom and the United States. She also defined the HR proposition for acquisition and outsourcing of a major insurer within the UK by TATA Consulting Services.

In 2005 Wendy moved to Qatar to become the HR Director for Al Jazeera Network, focused firstly on the launch of the English Language Channel, involving four main broadcast locations, supported by over sixty five news bureaux throughout the globe. She then also held responsibility for Arabic, Sports and Documentaries Channel within the GCC. After two years Wendy moved from Al Jazeera and joined al khaliji, a start up bank, which successfully acquired BLC Bank within France and four locations within UAE within the first twelve months of its operation. Wendy project managed and led the Human Resources integration.

She currently provides Human Resource Consultancy, across a range of businesses, through LionHeart Change Management.

Wendy holds her qualification through the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She is a UK national and currently resides in London. She is fluent in English and is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Peter Forrest

Peter Forrest is a highly experienced growth leader, with strong track records in commercial leadership and senior P&L management. His commercial leadership expertise includes emphasis in Sales Force Excellence, sales training, deployment, go-to-market and USP strategy design and execution, and building the support organization necessary to engender success. Having transformed under-performing sales teams in different countries and market segments, he is an acknowledged cross-cultural change leader with high levels of external focus and inclusive communication skills. He served as Managing Director Benelux and most recently Managing Director Pan European Leasing, both roles including extensive business integration, organizational re-design, and cultural change.

Peter has over 30 years experience in leadership roles in GE Capital, in the United States, France, United Kingdom, and in Benelux. He has deep customer relationship-building skills, and also broad knowledge of risk and collections, finance, marketing, differentiated pricing strategies, human relations, employee retention and development, works council negotiations, operational excellence, and profitability management. Metrics-based, he is experienced in CRM implementation and contact strategy execution. He grew sales productivity four-fold in his years in the U.K, in three distinct market segments. Peter has also pioneered new product, and new market penetration in multiple sectors.

Having graduated with BSc. (Hons.) from United Sates International University, with majors in Finance and Marketing, Peter has also participated in many GE training courses, including Six Sigma Green Belt, Experienced Manager Course, Remote Leadership, Change Acceleration Program, Executive Leadership Programme, and Leadership, Innovation, & Growth.

Peter is a UK and US national and resides in Brussels, Belgium. He is fluent in French.

He is available for assignments worldwide.

Paul Harrison

Paul Harrison is an international HR leader, executive coach and mediator. He has extensive experience in organisational change and HR outsourcing.

He has 33 years experience in senior HR positions including GE, Unisys and Sun Microsystems. He has built and led culturally diverse global HR teams for these major companies. Paul led a team of executives that successfully designed and managed the implementation of a global HR organisation, moving from a country/regionally focused operation to a global delivery model. This involved over 500 HR employees in 50 countries with an overall budget spend of over $100 million. He also led a global restructuring change project reducing headcount from 44,000 to 27,000 in 50 countries.

Since leaving Sun Microsystems in 2010, Paul established Mediare Mediation Services with 2 ex-GE colleagues offering workplace, commercial, community and family mediation services.

Paul is has an honours degree in Economics from the University of Bristol. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. In 2010 he completed a Masters degree at Ashridge Business School.

Paul is a UK national and has lived in the UK, US, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. He is available for assignments in any geographical location.

Gloria Van Houten

Gloria's GE experience spans both Information Technology and Financial Operations, including experience on senior management teams reporting to the business leader.

During her 15+ years with GE, Gloria's Information Technology experiences included strategy development and planning, governance and compliance, portfolio, program and project management, organizational design, talent advisory and team building and security.

She has also managed financial shared service operations in Canada, Mexico and Argentina, including Accounts Payable, Travel and Entertainment, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, Benefits Administration, Pension Administration, General Accounting, Invoicing, Corporate Reporting, Tax Reporting, Fixed Assets and some administrative functions.

Gloria was a member of GE Volunteers (formerly known as Elfun) and held positions on the Canadian Board as secretary and as chairperson, helping to drive volunteerism throughout GE in Canada.

Recently Gloria has branched out to start her own consulting business, using her Information Technology skills and experiences to help companies understand technology and how it impacts their business.

Gloria holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto, majoring in Computer Science. She has continued her professional development by attending numerous GE training programs including Experienced Information Management Program, Experienced Manager Development, Finance for Non- Financial Professionals, Facilitation Skills, Negotiation Skills, Change Management and Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.

Gloria is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Isabella Reggio

Isabella Reggio is a senior leader with over 16 years of experience mainly with GE, and a proven track record in delivering complex change and project management initiatives across a variety of countries, businesses and functions.

Her functional knowledge has developed through roles held in Operations, Asset Management, Finance and Six Sigma, with country or pan-European remit.

Isabella’s expertise and passion lay in Operational Excellence and change management, comprising all phases of strategy setting, process assessment, improvement identification and execution through selected tools, including Lean Six Sigma methodology, digitisation, Process Management. Other specialties include project management; organisational due diligence; post merger processes integration and design; outsourcing and centralisation including the management of Centres of Excellence; strategic and financial planning; implementation of governance and performance measurement systems.

Isabella holds a degree in Business Administration and Economics from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. She is also a graduate of the GE Financial Management Program (FMP).

Since leaving GE in 2010, Isabella has been focusing on project work in her areas of expertise. She is an Italian national resident in the UK. Her language skills include Italian (mother tongue), English (fluent), French (fluent) and Spanish (conversational).

She is available for assignments in all geographic locations.

Robert Weese

Robert Weese brings a wealth of experience in government relations. His twenty-one years as Vice President of Government and External Relations at GE Canada was preceded by seven years as a senior official of the federal government, seven years as a senior official in a provincial government, and three years on Parliament Hill as an intern and caucus research officer.

His knowledge of government and his relationships with governments in Canada is unequaled. The “Hill Times,” Canada’s parliamentary newspaper, has named him one of Canada’s top lobbyists.

As an active member of GE’s global government relations team, Bob has worked closely with GE’s Washington office and with the company’s government relations specialists in countries around the world. His work has involved advocacy in government policy, legislation and regulations; securing government support for capital investments, training, and R&D; and supporting sales to governments and government agencies. He has worked closely with all the GE businesses – Energy, Healthcare, Aviation, Capital, and the rest.

During his career at GE, Bob has been able to take advantage of many of the executive leadership programs for which the company is justifiably admired. He spent a month in Southeast Asia on the Business Management Course and has taken various courses related to Work-out, change acceleration, diversity management, and Six Sigma.

Bob has been a valued member of business and community organizations – as a Director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the United Way, the Canadian Foundation for Chinese Heritage Preservation, and the Eye Research Institute of Canada. He is a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for community service and the Ontario Volunteer Service award.

Bob has an Honours B.A. in political science from the University of Western Ontario and an M.Sc.Econ. from the University of Wales. He did further postgraduate work at King’s College, University of London.

He is a Canadian citizen, living in Toronto. He is fluent in English and has a working knowledge of French.

Bob is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Marc Saperstein

Marc is a senior executive who brings broad and deep expertise in strategic Human Resources initiatives. During his 33-year career in GE, Marc worked in many business sectors including aircraft engines, appliances, entertainment, financial services, power systems, healthcare and transportation.

Prior to retiring in 2007, Marc served as Senior Executive VP Human Resources NBC Universal (2004-07). Other senior roles included Senior VP Human Resources NBC (2003-04), Senior VP Human Resources GE Capital (1999-02) and VP and General Manager Human Resources GE Medical Systems (1993-99). From 2002-2003 Marc served as GE’s first VP of Corporate Citizenship and President of the GE Foundation. Other senior positions include Manager Executive Consulting and head of GE International Human Resources.

Marc led a number of acquisition due diligences and integrations while working in GE Capital and Medical Systems, and played a significant leadership role in the integration of NBC’s acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment.

After leaving GE, Marc started up his own consulting company, Executive Development Initiatives, focusing on executive assessment and coaching, organizational development and structuring and succession planning processes.

Marc is a graduate of Binghamton University with a BA in History and MA in Organizational Behavior. He attended numerous GE executive training courses including Management Development Course and Executive Development Course, a number of courses in Organizational Development and has extensive experience in GE’s Six Sigma program.

Marc is a US national and fluent in English. He is available for assignments in most geographic locations.

Jane L. Wexton, Esq.

Jane L. Wexton practices in the area of corporate criminal and regulatory law with a focus on international and domestic compliance, regulatory and governmental affairs. Ms. Wexton served for 18 years in the private sector as senior vice president and chief compliance officer of GE Money and chief global anti-money laundering officer at Citibank. In those positions, she developed prevention, detection and mitigation processes related to anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, antitrust, OFAC, data privacy and consumer protection. She has extensive experience in conducting due diligence and internal investigations and has worked in over 108 countries. She has trained senior executives, boards of directors and senior government officials all over the world. She is a former prosecutor and has significant experience in investigating white- collar crime.

Jane established Wexton Advisors Inc. in 2008 where she focuses on corporate compliance (anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, conflict of interest, ethics, anti-trust, OFAC, data privacy, controllership); internal investigations and due diligence; mergers and acquisitions; risk analysis and fraud detection.

Her numerous activities include the American Bar Association, International Bar Association, Ethics and Compliance Officers Association, Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, and the US Delegation to the G-7’s Financial Task Force.

Jane is a graduate of Hofstra University School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review, and a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University (M.A.T.) and City College of New York (B.A.).

Anne Nohara Abaya

Anne Nohara Abaya brings expertise in all areas of Human Resources gained through 28 years of experience at GE. She worked in several GE businesses in the industrial as well as financial services sectors, and held assignments at GE’s corporate headquarters and at the Global Research Center as head of Human Resources.

Since 1995, Anne worked in GE Capital, initially overseeing Human Resource activities for a number of GE Capital businesses worldwide, with primary emphasis on the Consumer and Commercial Business segments during a period of acquisitions and organic growth. In 1998, Anne focused on GE Capital’s rapid growth in Japan with responsibility for due diligence oversight, acquisition integration and leadership assessment and staffing. From 1998 to mid 1999, GE Capital’s employment in Japan grew from approximately 250 to 14,000 and she was subsequently promoted as head of GE’s HR operation for all of Asia and relocated to Tokyo. In December 2002, Anne was promoted to Vice President-Human Resources for the newly created GE Consumer Finance, and was appointed a GE Company Officer. In this role, she oversaw HR activities for approximately 55,000 employees in 50 countries.

In March 2006, family and personal desires required her to return to Hawaii and she was appointed as Consultant-Executive Development with primary focus on the development of GE’s Asian leaders. Anne retired from GE in 2009.

Anne holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Hawaii and a MA in Human Resources Management from Pepperdine University. Anne is a graduate of GE’s Human Resources Leadership Program and completed numerous HR courses including the Advanced HR Leadership Program, Executive Coaching, and Change Acceleration Program. In addition she completed all three of GE’s top leadership courses, Management Development Course, Business Management Course and Executive Development Course.

Anne has lived in a number of American cities as well as Tokyo and London. She currently resides in Honolulu, Hawaii and is fluent in English and Japanese.

She is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Linda Sharkey

Linda D. Sharkey, Ph.D. is an HR Executive and Strategist with over 25 years of experience designing and implementing leadership and organization development initiatives aimed at improving business performance. She has experience in Fortune 10 companies including GE and HP. Linda is a recognized expert, speaker and author in the area of organization change, leadership and talent development, and cultural transformation. Her most recent book Optimizing Talent: What Every Leader and Manager Needs to Know to Sustain the Ultimate Workforce is considered a definitive book on talent management. This practical and researched based book, that she co authored with Paul Eccher, Ph.D. lays out the prescription for building talent rich organizations proven to deliver real and lasting business results.

Currently, Linda is Founding Member of the Marshall Goldsmith Group a leading firm focused on coaching, leadership development and change. Here she works primarily with Executive Teams to improve their performance. Prior to MGG, Linda was the Chief People Office for Hewlett Packard responsible for implementing their global talent management strategy, executive development initiatives, and performance improvement approaches including career development and diversity. At HP she launched a ground breaking executive assessment process the improved the leadership talent in the company. Prior to HP Linda held numerous Senior Human Resources roles at GE. She is responsible for designing and teaching the Executive Leadership Development Symposium (ELDS) named a “Best Practice” by GE CEO Jack Welsh.

Dr. Sharkey has coached over 100 Executives at GE and HP and done succession coaching preparing executives for the C-Suite roles. In addition she is a skilled Executive Assessor and has taught internal executives and HR leaders how to become effective talent assessors and coaches. She has led numerous cultural integrations as companies and departments merge. Her integration approach has proved to increase the speed and ease of the integrations.

Linda holds a Ph.D. in Organization Development from Benedictine University and a Masters in Business Administration from Russell Sage College. Additionally she is a Malcolm Baldrige based examiner and Six Sigma trained.

Linda resides in the San Francisco area. She has worked all over the world and is available for global assignments.

Barry Simmonds

Barry Simmonds is an international HR professional specializing in organizational design, culture change, M&A, HR strategy, and high potential identification, assessment, and development.

Barry qualified as an accountant before graduating in business studies and pursuing a career in human resources. After six years in the telecommunications industry with ITT, he moved to Schlumberger Ltd, the oilfield services and energy management company spending ten years in senior, international appointments. Following periods with Control Data Corporation in Operations and then GE, where he was VP HR International, he was appointed as EVP to the Executive Board of the privately held Corange/Boerhinger Mannheim group, a $7B revenue global healthcare and pharmaceutical company.

In 1996 Barry moved into executive search and has grown his own business specializing in executive search and coaching throughout Europe. He also advises and lectures on talent/high potential identification and development. He is founder member of a global executive search association.

In addition in 2010 he established, together with two ex-GE colleagues, a UK consultancy offering conflict resolution services.

A British national, Barry has lived in Holland, US, France and Japan and is available for assignments in any geographical location.

Lynn Fergusson

Lynn’s GE experience includes business integration, change management, Six Sigma process improvement, corporate and strategic initiatives, sales, marketing, compliance, product strategy, P&L management, and leading employee volunteerism. Her experience is across corporate, financial, healthcare, and manufacturing businesses in Canada, including two Canadian senior leadership teams and the Canadian National Executive Committee, reporting to the Chairman & CEO, GE Canada. She’s a quick study, equally effective at strategic and tactical levels and working with employees at all levels in the organization.

Lynn is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and certified Black Belt. She led the Six Sigma initiative across GE businesses in Canada, taught 10-day Six Sigma training, mentored employee projects and delivered process improvements. Lynn also led “boundaryless selling” (cross-selling), working with sales leaders across the GE businesses in Canada, to educate and facilitate doing business together.

Lynn led the successful Canadian integration of a global healthcare acquisition. She’s also led product strategy and development for a start up GE business. In any capacity, she is ever-mindful of team dynamics and ensuring the infrastructure and communication rhythms support a healthy team.

After 17 years at GE, through 2H2M Services where she is Founder and Managing Director, Lynn’s focused on Corporate Social Responsibility, particularly in the area of employee volunteering and community giving, helping companies develop and execute strategic giving programs that engage employees and meet business objectives. Her employee volunteering experience started at GE, where she was a member of the GE Volunteers (formerly Elfun) Global Board, developed the organizational structure and led employee volunteering across Canada.

Lynn completed GE’s intensive 3-week Manager Development Course at Crotonville. She holds an honours business degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business (UWO), MBA from Schulich (York), and certificate in Adult Training & Development from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. She’s a graduate of the Bay Area Community Leadership program, run by Volunteer Hamilton, and now is a key member of the team delivering that program. She has often been a guest lecturer at local universities.

Lynn has been recognized with various coveted General Manager’s and President’s awards at GE, for top sales, change management projects and overall contributions to the business.

Lynn’s fluent in English and available to work locally or globally.

Bob Muir

Bob Muir is an international HR leader with a unique background of strategic leadership skills and experiences gained during a career that spans three global companies. During his 26 years with GE, Bob held numerous senior positions in GE Corporate, GE International, GE Plastics and Advanced Materials.

Before retiring from GE in 2009, Bob was VP Compensation, Benefits and Pensions - Corporate Human Resources. Prior to that, he was VP Human Resources GE Advanced Materials; VP Executive Development, Corporate Human Resources; and VP Human Resources GE Plastics. He was elected a GE company officer in 1996. Bob has also held a number of senior Corporate Human Resources roles focused on GE’s international businesses, including organization and structure assessment, key global talent assessment and development, as well as international and domestic US labor relations.

Bob has conducted numerous acquisition and divestiture due diligence studies including leading subsequent integration teams. He also has extensive experience in executive assessments and developing coaching sessions for senior leaders.

Bob holds a BA in Communications and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He completed GE’s key leadership programs, Management Development Course, Business Management Course and Executive Development Course, and has extensive experience in GE’s Six Sigma initiatives.

He is a US national, fluent in English with basic skills in Spanish.

Bob is available for assignment in any geographic location.

Chris Cleary

Chris Cleary is an accomplished Mergers & Acquisitions leader who has closed over $60 billion of global acquisitions, as well as a proven GE business leader who executed a complex integration for a $3 billion inventory finance business while meeting its profit objectives during the 2009 financial crisis.

Chris was a Senior Vice President - Mergers & Acquisitions of GE Capital Solutions from its formation in 2005 until early 2009. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President - Mergers & Acquisitions of GE Capital Vendor Financial Services from 2002 through 2005. Over his 8-year career at GE leading M&A teams, Chris closed acquisitions and dispositions worth more than $60 billion of financial assets across more than 200 transactions in the United States, Canada, Chile, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, Thailand and China. Chris also led various transactions that outsourced existing or formed new vendor financing captives for manufacturers, including Terex, IKON, Ingersol Rand, Canon and others.

Chris and his acquisitions team worked with the selling or acquiring GE Capital businesses to develop granular integration plans; Chris has developed expertise based on this broad experience in adapting integration plans to cultural, business model and economic realities, and in adapting financial expectations accordingly.

In 2009, Chris left M&A to manage GE Capital Americas’ commercial wholesale finance platform focused on Construction, Agriculture, Transportation and Industrial markets. Chris led a complex integration of CitiCapital’s inventory finance platforms into 4 different GE platforms, resulting in a consolidated IT system and a single HQ location. Chris also led the regulatory training effort to ensure the platform’s inclusion for funding as part of GE’s commercial bank in Utah.

Since retiring from GE in 2011, Chris has acted as an advisor to companies, developing acquisition and disposition strategies, and partner relationship management.

Chris graduated from The Colorado College with a degree in Biology. He has attended various GE training programs including Business Management Course; Leadership, Innovation and Growth; Change Acceleration Program and Inclusive Leaders Workshop, and obtained his Six Sigma Green Belt Certification. Chris received the GE Capital Chairman’s Award for M&A excellence.

Chris is based in New York and is available for assignments worldwide.

Giulia Ranzuglia

Giulia Ranzuglia is an international HR professional with strong experience in talent development, performance management, organisation design and effectiveness and coaching. Her background spans from holding various international roles in GE to providing HR consulting to family businesses going through re-organisation, integration and generational gap management. In her most recent role at GE as the Organisation & Staffing leader for the Global Business Services business, Giulia lead organizational effectiveness and design, talent management, staffing and engagement initiatives across 30 countries in Europe.

Since leaving GE in 2010, Giulia has been involved in projects in her area of expertise and is leveraging her global experience to provide career coaching and guidance for professionals interested in pursuing an international career. Giulia is a university lecturer having designed and delivered the “Managing Global Talent” course at the London based Thames Valley University MBA programme and a guest lecturer at Ancona University (Italy) where she delivers seminars on employee motivation.

Giulia holds a bachelors degree in Business and Economics from Växjö University (Sweden) and a masters degree in Business Administration from Ancona University (Italy). She also under took additional studies in Recruitment, Evaluation, Training and Human Resources Development. She is a graduate of the GE Human Resources Leadership Program (HRLP) and is a Career Coaching Institute trained coach.

Giulia is an Italian national, fluent in Italian and English and with conversational skills in Spanish and French. Having previously lived and worked in the UK, Sweden and Hong Kong, she is currently residing in Italy.

She is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Stan Makson

Stan Makson is a seasoned international deal-making professional with more than 25 years of GE experience. He began his quarter-century business development role acquiring credit card portfolios and structuring asset-based financing, securitizations, and debtor-in-possession financing for GE Capital’s Consumer Finance division (later to become GE Money.) While at GE Capital’s private equity arm, Stan was responsible for identifying, sourcing, structuring, and closing minority equity positions in strategically significant companies to GE Money. In 1998, he moved back to GE Money to focus on international Mergers & Acquisition activity serving as lead negotiator and Executive-in-Charge in successful transactions across the globe including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, The Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia among others. As the “point” person and relationship owner, Stan’s input and guidance were critical to the pre-closing due diligence approach and the post-closing integration planning. On a volunteer basis, Stan also served as the Chief Ombudsman for GE Money globally – 56 countries with over 60,000 employees. Since his retirement in 2009, he has served as Business Development advisor for financial institutions.

Stan holds a Bachelors degree from Northeastern University and has attended M&A and Finance programs at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and Wharton. In addition, he has attended various and numerous Leadership and Management training programs while at GE. He is Six Sigma Green Belt Certified.

Stan Makson is Connecticut-based and is available for assignments globally.

Kim Harvey

Kim Harvey has over 20 years experience in the design and delivery of leadership and talent management programs. Kim is a strong and dynamic facilitator and has worked with senior leadership teams to help them shape the vision and strategic direction of their business and work more effectively as a leadership team.

Kim was employed as UK Training Manager for GE Capital and then latterly as European Organisational Development Specialist from 1999 – 2002. Whilst employed at GE she developed a European mentoring scheme aimed at developing top talent as well as a graduate leadership program to build talent in the field of sales and risk management. She also acted as a coach to senior leaders helping them to further develop their leadership skills.

Since leaving GE in 2002, Kim has worked with a number of blue chip companies in developing their leadership capability and the integration of employees into the company’s corporate culture.

Kim is a preferred supplier for the provision of leadership facilitation on a number of GE corporate EMEA programs especially ‘Foundations for Leadership’ and is a coach on the ‘Advanced Manager Course’. Kim works with clients within the Aviation, Healthcare and Finance communities of GE delivering programs such as:

• Influencing and persuasion
• Building Essential Leadership skills
• Facilitation skills
• Inclusive Leadership Program
• Presentation skills
• Change Acceleration Process
• MBTI
• EQi (Emotional Intelligence quotient)

Kim holds an MA in Management and is a Master Practitioner in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

Kim is a UK national and lives in the Cotswolds. She is a fluent English speaker and is available for assignments within the EMEA region.

Anki Arctaedius

Anki Arctaedius brings expertise in all areas of Human Resources gained through 20+ years of experience in international businesses with Nordic presence. She worked in several businesses in the IT-industry as well as the financial and insurance service sectors.

In her roles, Anki has worked on strengthening the cross country synergies between Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland for companies working in a global environment.

During her seven years in GE she became familiar with leveraging HR tools in the field of mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, and integration of acquired businesses. Seven year at Apple Computers also gave her strong knowledge in building a global business focused on people culture and business results, leadership assessment and staffing.

Anki has her own consultancy helping businesses build strong leadership teams with clear linkage to business goals, performance management and people agenda.

Anki holds a BA in Sociology from Umeå University and has also completed numerous leadership courses including Executive Coaching and Change Acceleration Program. Green Belt certified, Anki has participated in a number of LEAN events making her a true change agent with a portfolio of CAP tools.

Anki lives in Stockholm and is available for assignments in any geographic location in the Nordic region.

Valérie Lardy

Valérie has over 15 years of Human Resources experience with a truly international focus and a particular expertise in Talent Management.

Valérie's latest role was with NBCUniversal International, from March 2009 to August 2011, where she set up the Organization Development function for all NBCU businesses outside of the US. She had joined NBCU in September 2004 as HR Director for CNBC EMEA, the Financial News Channel of the US Media and Entertainment multinational.

Prior to joining NBCU, she worked for GE Capital's Commercial Finance business, where she held the post of European HR Manager, Finance and Sales as well as GE Reinsurance, working as UK HR Manager and HR Integration Manager.

Valérie was awarded a Diplôme Grande Ecole, a Masters in International Business and a Diplom Kauffrau from the ESCP Europe Business School, studying in Paris, Oxford and Berlin. She also has a Post Graduate Degree in Human Resources Management from the Université Dauphine in Paris.

Valérie graduated from the GE Human Resources Leadership Program in November 1997.

Valérie is based in Paris and London and is fluent in French, English and German. She is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Hani Ayoub

Hani Ayoub brings 40 years of GE & other experience in sourcing, product & project management, business development, offsets / industrial regional benefits, marketing and sales in domestic and international markets. He worked in industrial and lighting product businesses and led GE Canada corporate cross business sourcing and industrial regional benefit programs.

Hani Ayoub has extensive product management, marketing & sales experience in Industrial products in Canada. He led GE lighting Canada international export sales activities.

Hani initiated & led GE cross sourcing programs across industrial and Capital businesses in Canada. He led travel and fleet sourcing requirements for GE in Canada, delivering several million dollars of saving annually.

Hani led all of GE industrial regional benefits (offsets) in Canada, Australia and South Africa, delivering over $ 2.5 B of completed programs.

Hani is based in Toronto and is available for assignments worldwide.

Sue Hossack

Sue is an extremely articulate and professional consultant who specializes in Commercial Leadership and Personal Brand. She has 12 years experience at GE Capital focused on Commercial Training, Career Coaching, Sales Force Effectiveness and Business Performance Management. Sue is known for having a strong, inspirational personal brand and a natural ability to bring the best out of leaders to ensure they lead their teams effectively. Her sector experience has been Finance, Fleet, Leasing and Customer Service industries.

Sue has held senior positions in GE including Commercial Leader (Fleet Services), Operations Leader (Equipment Services), Integration Leader (Capital UK), Commercial Excellence Leader (Capital UK), and Operational Excellence and SFE Leader (Capital UK). Prior to GE, Sue worked for National Car Rental and Avis Rent A Car.

Sue has developed workshops that focus on Career Planning and Personal Branding which incorporates a methodology she has always been inspired by – PIE (performance, image and exposure). She has solid experience in developing delivering training and bespoke workshops for Commercial teams ensuring they have the right skills and the right tools to manage the right customers effectively (Commercial Academy, Deal Management, Creating Client Value, Six Hat Thinking).

A UK resident, Sue is fluent in English and is available for assignments in Europe.

René Jolicoeur

René Jolicoeur, Senior Associate with Global Change Leaders, brings expertise in all aspects of Human Resources including organization design and effectiveness, leadership development, change acceleration, acquisition due diligence, as well as labour relations, positive employee relations and internal mediation. He also brings broad experience in providing advice and counsel to external clients in financial, commercial and industrial environments, and has developed specific expertise on the subject of Workplace climate assessment.

René has conducted due diligences and integrations on several targets in Canada, the United States and in France. He has 33 years HR experience with GE in Canada in a variety of financial services and industrial businesses.

When he retired from GE in 2011, René held the position of SVP Human Resources for GE Capital’s Canadian operations. He has also held the position of VP of HR for Uni-Select, supporting 6,000 employees across North America.

René holds the professional designation of the Chartered Human Resources Professionals of Canada and holds a Bachelor’s degree (Industrial Relations, Laval University). He is a certified SOQ (Situational Outlook Questionnaire) practitioner. He has attended numerous GE training programs including the Human Resources Leadership Program, Union Relations Management, Experienced Manager Development, Advanced Commercial Leadership Program, Change Acceleration Program, CAP Train-the-Trainer, Finance for Non-Financial Professionals, Inclusive Leadership, Leadership, Innovation and Growth and Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.

René is a Canadian national and currently resides in Montreal, Canada. He is fluent in French and English.

He is available for assignments in any geographic location.

Sylvie Matz

Sylvie is an experienced executive and consultant with strong track record in driving profitable growth in financial and business services. She has 20 years of experience gained in private equity assignments and senior international executive roles at GE and THALES.

Sylvie is a growth and innovation expert. Her domain of excellence includes strategy planning, transformation program design and execution, business and acquisition integration, new product development, communications, sales force and marketing effectiveness. Throughout her career, she has developed and maintained broad knowledge of finance, pricing, performance measurement, management retention and development, work council and anti-trust commission negotiations, operational excellence, profitability and cash management.

Sylvie was an Operating Partner during 6 years with TDR Capital, a UK based private equity firm investing in mid-market opportunities in Europe. Sylvie was recruited by TDR Partners to drive value creation at Algeco, the global modular construction business. Working in partnership with the portfolio management, Sylvie led significant synergies and operational improvements in areas such as revenue enhancements, new products, pricing and post-acquisition integration.

Before that, Sylvie held functional and team management responsibilities at GE and THALES, delivering creative and differentiated value-add services to profit center leaders. She served as Corporate Communications Director of THALES Underwater Systems. Previously Sylvie was with GE European Equipment Finance in different positions such as New Product Development Manager and e-business Leader before being promoted to European Marketing and Communication Director.

Prior to her operational experience, Sylvie acquired deal origination and transaction experience working on more than thirty deals over 6 years. She worked in Business Development for GE Capital, helping to source, negotiate and execute a number of acquisitions and investments in many financial and business services. Early career saw Sylvie in M& A and private equity associate roles with Banque Hervet, part of HSBC.

Sylvie has effective stakeholder relationship-building skills. She is hands-on and results-driven with a deep experience in leading transformation projects, change and initiatives in different geographies and business segments. Adept in listening to customer and company needs, she has earned strong credibility with colleagues and clients to identify key issues, assess alternative solutions and recommend most appropriate way forward. Sylvie’s approach is pragmatic and metrics driven.

Sylvie graduated from ISG School of management in Paris before completing a Master’s in Economics at EHESS in Paris. During her time at GE, she has taken many world-class training courses in Leadership, Growth and Process Improvement. She is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt. She is an active member of the French Institute of Directors (IFA). She will be a certified Non-Executive Director by May 2013.

Sylvie is a French citizen and currently resides in France. She is fluent in English and French and speaks very good German. She is available for assignments across Europe.

Gemma Ferguson

Gemma Ferguson is a highly experienced Learning & Development professional with over 15 years in senior L&D roles in the banking, finance and insurance industries. Gemma worked at GE between 2004 and 2009 as European Learning & Development Leader for the Fleet and Capital Solutions businesses, and also as Commercial Excellence Manager for Capital Solutions Europe.

With extensive experience in managing the end-to-end L&D process, Gemma’s strengths include strategy development, curriculum re-design, program design and facilitation. She has designed and implemented successful people development solutions across most media (classroom training, event-based, web-based, video, self-directed) and a broad range of skill areas, including:

• Sales, Sales Leadership, Sales Assessments, Commercial Excellence
• Leadership Development and Leader Assessments
• Coaching for Leaders
• Managing Change, Coping with Change, Resilient Leadership
• Personal Development and Behavior Change
• Performance Management
• Employee Engagement
• On-boarding and Induction Programs
• Strategy and Planning Workshops
• Matrix Working, Stakeholder Management
• Product and other knowledge training
• Team Communication and Process Management.

Gemma also has experience in designing and managing large leadership and sales team events. She is a CTI trained coach and qualified to administer the FIRO-B psychometric assessment for individuals and teams.

Gemma holds a Bachelor of Business (Human Resource Management) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Training and Organizational Development.

An Australian national, Gemma has lived in the UK and Germany since 2004 and is currently based in London UK where she works as a freelance consultant and business/personal coach.

Gemma is available for assignments in Europe or Australia.

Zoe Chambers

Zoe Chambers is a senior communications professional with over 13 years experience with international organizations in the finance, travel and retail sectors including 7 years at GE Capital focused on organizational change, mergers and acquisitions, employee engagement, communications strategy, branding, executive communications and coaching. Most recently Zoe has also worked on PR, advertising, digital and social media. Zoe is known for her inclusive manner and has a track record of bringing clear thinking, expertise and imagination to communication during large change programs. She has also formulated, led and delivered communications strategies and teams to support business goals and set standards of quality and accuracy for deliverables.

Zoe has held senior positions in GE including Head of Brand and Communications and Head of Internal Communications. Prior to GE, Zoe worked in a variety of Internal Communications and Project Management roles for Virgin Atlantic, Airmiles (now Avios), The Body Shop and Homebase.

A UK resident, Zoe is fluent in English, conversational in French and is available for long term assignments in the UK and short term assignments globally.

Claire Dibb

Claire Dibb is a Chartered Management Accountant with over 15 years of varied commercial finance experience. Claire worked with several different GE businesses for 10 years, including Global Consumer Finance, Rail Services, Lighting and Commercial Finance.

Immediately prior to starting her own finance and process management consultancy, Claire worked in GE Commercial Finance as European Pricing Director. Claire established this new business function across several European countries, improving financial reporting, controls and processes, stabilising finance margins and driving income growth through collaborative financial reviews with external customers.

Previous GE roles have included profitability, risk and financial planning of several private label credit card portfolios (GCF), transforming the traditional accounting functions of two European asset leasing businesses into one, consolidated team (Rail Services), and leading the European Commercial Finance team for a large manufacturing business (Lighting).

Since leaving GE, Claire has built her own business, specialising in providing part-time/interim CFO consultancy, along with process management consultancy utilising Six Sigma techniques.

Online Retail (Germany based)

• Cashflow Management & Analysis (inc. cash injection forecasting)
• Inventory Analytics & Management (inc. sourcing & supply chain processes)
• Sales Campaign Profitability

Banking & Finance

• Restructure of Finance Team & integration into business
• Pricing/Financial Support on M&A
• Project Management of Business Relocation

SME Legal Business

• Six Sigma Process Re-Engineering generating 20% savings
• External tender process, generating 45% savings
• Support Staff Productivity

Claire resides in Leeds, UK, and is available for assignments in any geographic location.