HR Executive Peer Forum 2026

Louis Ansari

Executive Counselor, McLean & Company

Louis Ansara brings 25 years of business operations and HR leadership experience to the Executive Counselor role at McLean & Company, where he will support and guide HR leaders to map out their HR strategy and prioritize HR initiatives that will make a measurable impact on their businesses.

With deep experience in several different industries including Retail and Manufacturing & Transportation, Louis has supported and led teams ranging from 6,000 to 30,000 employees. He has deep expertise in talent management, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, change management, compliance, and strategy & culture. His passion resides in developing others to achieve their career goals while also making a positive impact on business results and growth in the skills of team members.

In partnership with the COO and SVP operations, Louis led an organizational restructure that resulted in growing the company from eight regions to twenty, improved results and growth opportunity for employees at all levels, and set the foundation for the operating model of the company today. He has completed expatriate assignments in Australia and Japan as a business operations leader.

Louis attended the University of Toledo studying business administration. He holds certifications from Gallup University in their Great Managers and StrengthsFinder programs, and the Stephen Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People course. He is pursuing certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the University of South Florida.

Kelly Berte

Research Practice Lead, McLean & Company

Kelly Berte is a Practice Lead, HR Research & Advisory Services, with McLean & Company. She brings energy to translating scientific concepts to real-world application for HR leaders, promoting human-centered change that helps organizations support their people to be at their best.

Kelly started her career and worked for over a decade in employee wellbeing before expanding her scope into a variety of cross-functional HR projects focused on culture and systems thinking. Her expertise lies in culture, change management, HR strategy, HR metrics and analytics, and leadership strategy.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Health Promotion from the University of Iowa, as well as a Master of Science degree in Organization Development and Leadership from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.

Maureen Cahill

Senior Managing Partner, McLean & Company

Maureen is the Senior Managing Partner of McLean & Company's Executive Services team. Maureen is a progressive executive with nearly three decades of experience as a human resources practitioner, consultant, advisor, and a business leader. As a former Chief HR Officer and strategic partner to dozens of HR executives, Maureen is uniquely positioned to lead McLean & Company’s team of Executive Counselors and Advisors as they deliver the highest level of support and service to our members.

Prior to joining McLean & Company, Maureen served as Chief HR Officer for two notable health care organizations. She has worked as an HR executive in for-profit, non-profit, privately held, publicly traded, and P.E. backed organizations. She is highly skilled in building the HR infrastructure and teams needed to enable growth and ensure a positive employee experience. Maureen has extensive experience working with Boards of Directors on all talent related matters and has counseled through numerous executive level changes, including multiple CEO transitions.

Maureen has deep expertise in translating a company’s strategic business objectives into people priorities, action plans and results. She is passionate about positioning HR leaders and their teams to optimize talent investments through development of business aligned HR strategies, effective business case development, and sound project execution. Maureen has also served in leadership roles outside of HR, having had P&L and revenue generation accountabilities in large advisory, consulting, and outsourcing organizations.

Maureen has served on the Board of Directors for several non-profit organizations. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management from North Central College and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management. She is also a professional and executive coach, receiving certifications from Duquesne University and The University of Georgia.

Sally Cornet

Executive Counselor, McLean & Company

Sally Cornet believes that at the core of a thriving, successful, inclusive workplace is a high-performing, data-driven, analytical HR team that is connected to the business, its leaders, and its employees.

Prior to joining McLean & Company Sally led Human Resources teams at iconic, high growth global retail, financial services, tech, and customer experience organizations known for world-class HR practices. Her empowered, strategic HR teams have been able to make significant contributions domestically and globally to business results by elevating leadership effectiveness, decreasing turnover, and increasing employee engagement. Sally led an HR structure, process, and technology transformation project at one company that provided support for a 75% headcount increase without adding HR headcount. A cultural transformation project at another company enabled a 39% reduction in employee turnover while boosting employee engagement and customer satisfaction results by 26%.

Sally holds an MBA from the University of Central Florida and a BSBA from the University of Wisconsin. She also holds a Senior Professional of HR certification and a Global Professional of HR certification.

She is a recipient of the “Excellence in HR Award” from South Florida Business and Wealth Magazine, and her culturally transformational contributions at a prior company are highlighted in “The Amazement Revolution” book by Shep Hyken.

Sally is also active in the HR community, acting as a mentor and advisor for new HR professionals. Additionally, Sally has acted as an Adjunct Professor of human resources at Capella University and Nova Southeastern University.

Sally is pleased to bring this expertise to her role as Executive Counselor at McLean & Company, where she supports and guides CHROs to be strategic business partners in achieving organizational and professional success.

Rob Garmaise

VP, AI Research, InfoTech Research Group

Robert was most recently the Chief Innovation Officer at Fasken, where he was responsible for transforming firm operations by pinpointing the products, process improvements, and business model changes that would best position Fasken for future success.

Robert has led major business transformation projects and held senior positions at McKinsey, Microsoft, Workbrain Corporation, Blockbuster Canada, and TheGuarantors.

Robert holds an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Harvard University and an MBA from Northwestern University.

Lisa Highfield

Principal Director, Human Resources Technology and Artificial Intelligence, McLean & Company

Lisa Highfield is the Principal Director, Human Resources Technology and Artificial Intelligence for McLean & Company. Lisa creates and delivers practical HR research and advisory services to help leaders drive strategic results. She is a progressive leader with over twenty-five years of strategic, technical, and operational experience in human resources, IT, and finance. As a former Research and Advisory Director of Enterprise Applications for Info-Tech Research Group, Lisa is uniquely positioned to assist organizations around HR technology and operations.

Lisa has knowledge across several HR disciplines, including HR strategy, HR technology, HR operations, culture, and learning & development. She has expertise in helping organizations connect their business, HR, and IT objectives into priorities, action plans, and results. She is passionate about positioning HR leaders and their teams to optimize investments by developing digital HR strategies.

Leveraging her experience in client advisory and research, Lisa is well-versed in guiding members through their application lifecycle, including application portfolio management, strategy, selection, optimization, and operations. Lisa has expertise in many software categories, including human capital management, payroll, learning and development, workforce management, recruiting, and enterprise resource planning (ERP).

A lifelong learner, Lisa has an Executive MBA from the University of Fredericton in Global Business, a degree in HR from Ryerson University, a post-graduate certificate in Information Technology from Lambton Colleges, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph. Lisa has also embraced the field of Artificial Intelligence, which she is studying through courses at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Will Howard

Research Practice Lead, McLean & Company

Will is a Director, HR Research & Advisory Services with McLean & Company. Will is passionate about driving organizational success using HR technology, data and analytics, and uncovering and communicating the people trends affecting organizations and employees. He leads research publications, including McLean’s annual HR Trends Report, and supports McLean members in achieving their goals by applying the research through advisory calls and group facilitation.

Prior to joining McLean & Company in 2017, Will supported qualitative research at the post-secondary level, managing a Canada Research Chair Program-funded research lab to train and support researchers across fields at the University of Prince Edward Island on qualitative data analysis using a variety of technologies. Will also has a background in the education sector, and exposure to the non-profit sector through his volunteer work serving on the Board of Directors for a local charity.

Will holds an MBA with a specialization in Human Resources from the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Prince Edward Island as well as certifications in advanced analytics and big data from York University.

David McLean

Executive Counselor, McLean & Company

David McLean brings over 25 years of experience as an HR and business leader to his role as Executive Advisor at McLean & Company, where he supports and guides HR leaders to map out their HR strategy and prioritize HR initiatives that will have a measurable impact on the business.

David brings a diverse background to McLean & Company. His HR experience encompasses leadership roles in both the public and private sector, with expertise in organizational development, change leadership, organization culture, learning & development, HRIS implementation and HR strategy. His HR leadership experiences include holding the CHRO role for both a private and public sector organization. His industry experience spans the Transportation, Healthcare, and Higher Education sectors.

He is passionate about leadership development strategies that create organization capabilities and culture that enable organizations to win in the marketplace. With his client-focused approach and growth mindset, David has earned a reputation as a strategic thinker and a life-long learner with a deep knowledge of what it takes to build a culture in which employees will thrive. He is a recipient of the “Presidents Award for Leadership” from London Health Science Centre, for his work in leading culture change initiatives.

David holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western University, a postgraduate certificate in Human Resources, and a Master’s degree in leadership from the University of Guelph. He holds a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designation.

Leanne Meyer

Author, Educator, Business Leader & Executive Coach

With more than thirty years of senior-level consulting and executive development experience with global Fortune 100 companies, Leanne’s mission is to help leaders reenergize their lives and their work with passion and purpose, using evidence-based methods to change business practices around the world. Leanne has worked in corporate, academic and non-profit settings as a business leader, entrepreneur, educator and coach. She is the author of Climbing the Spiral Staircase, How Women Can Navigate Their Careers and Accelerate Success. She is currently the Director of the prestigious Carnegie Mellon Women's Executive Leadership Academy and former Director of their Accelerate Leadership Center at the Tepper School of Business. Leanne's clients include Salesforce, LinkedIn, EY, SAP, gsk, KraftHeinz, KeyBank and many more.

Shalini Phillips

Executive Counselor, McLean & Company

Shalini Phillips is an experienced Global CHRO with over 10 years of leadership expertise in transforming human resources strategies across mid-size companies (4,000 employees) to enterprise-level organizations (100,000+ employees). As a trusted advisor to CEOs and executive leadership teams, Shalini excels in aligning HR operations with business goals, driving organizational transformation, and fostering high-performing, inclusive cultures.

Shalini has led large-scale HR transformations in diverse industries, including healthcare, financial services, insurance, media, and consulting. She has guided companies through complex scaling challenges, culture shifts, and leadership development programs. Her expertise includes succession planning, executive coaching, and HR technology integration – ensuring that organizations are equipped for sustainable growth and leadership continuity.

In addition to her extensive corporate experience, Shalini is actively involved in board work, advising organizations on strategic HR initiatives and governance. She is committed to developing the next generation of executive leaders and guiding businesses through cultural transformation and change management.

Shalini is pursuing an MBA in Human Resources Management from the University of Cumbria and is recognized for her ability to lead HR functions that enable business transformation in global, multi-cultural environments. Her ability to foster collaboration and align talent management strategies with organizational objectives makes her a valued partner to the clients she serves at McLean & Company.

Janet Pogue McLaurin

Global Director Workplace Research, Principal Gensler Design Research Institute

Janet Pogue McLaurin is a global leader of Gensler’s Work Sector practices and research initiatives. As the firm’s Global Director Workplace Research, which is one of the six centers of the Gensler Research Institute, she has been instrumental in leading Gensler’s global Workplace Surveys and Workplace Performance Index® (WPIx) client tool, which measures space effectiveness and workplace experience on projects. She is active in developing workplace strategy and designing innovative workplace environments for a wide variety of clients, including Vanguard, GSA, Capital One, Gallup and The Coca-Cola Company. Janet has spent nearly four decades in Gensler’s Denver and Washington, D.C. offices. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a registered architect, who has served on the Gensler’s Board of Directors for the past two years and currently serves on Gensler’s Practice Area Management Committee.

Stacey Shepherd

Executive Counselor, McLean & Company

Stacey is a sought-out, trusted HR advisor to senior leaders with over 30 years’ experience working with both public and private sector employers, helping organizations navigate complex business transformations and successfully manage through change. With extensive experience coaching and guiding leaders to successfully execute on their strategic agendas, she operates with integrity, authenticity, and a keen sense of humor.

Prior to joining McLean & Company as an Executive Counselor, Stacey held senior HR leadership roles across many diverse industries, including newspaper and magazine publishing, financial services, law enforcement, and municipal government.

She brings a passion for elevating the HR function and team and has specific experience in leading and influencing HR modernization and transformation programs across businesses, positioning HR as a true strategic business partner.

Stacey holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Advanced Leadership Program at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Chicago.