Todd Conklin spent 25 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Senior Advisor for Organizational and Safety Culture. Los Alamos National Laboratory is one of the world’s foremost research and development laboratories. Conklin has been working on the Human Performance program for the last 15 years of his 25-year career. It is in this fortunate position where he enjoys the best of both the academic world and the world of safety in practice.

Conklin holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of New Mexico. He speaks all over the world to executives, groups and work teams who are interested in better understanding the relationship between the workers in the field and the organization’s systems, processes, and programs. He has brought these systems to major corporations around the world. Conklin practices these ideas not only in his own workplace, but also in the event investigations at other workplaces around the world. Conklin’s best selling book, Pre-Accident Investigations: An introduction to Organizational Safety is a best selling book on safety. Conklin has several other books and a huge podcast following for his twice-weekly podcast of the same name. Conklin defines safety at his workplace like this: “Safety is the ability for workers to be able to do work in a varying and unpredictable world.”

Amy O. Cooke is the retired Chief Executive Officer of the John Locke Foundation and Publisher of Carolina Journal and founder of the public policy consulting firm East x West Strategies.

As Locke’s CEO, Cooke led the organization through the COVID crisis and merger with the Civitas Institute that transformed Locke from a think tank into a battle tank. Now in its fourth decade, the award-winning Locke is the most influential driving force for public policy that ensures all North Carolinians have the freedom and opportunity to thrive.

Prior to her move to North Carolina, Cooke served as Executive Vice President of the Independence Institute (II), Colorado’s free-market think tank. She was also Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Center at II, Locke’s sister think tank.

Dennis Unkovic is a senior partner with the law firm of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP.  He frequently briefs business executives, trade associations, and government leaders on high profile issues, and negotiates complex commercial transactions, including international mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures as well as advising on inbound and outbound investment projects.

Michael Grubich is President & Managing Partner at LAK Group. With more than 25 years of global leadership experience, Grubich is a seasoned Human Resources executive. He provides strategic leadership regarding all talent solutions and initiatives which enhance the performance of organizations, individuals, teams, and leaders.

Throughout his career, Grubich served in several global thought and operational leadership roles. As part of his responsibilities, he led a variety of Human Resources functions, including Talent Management, Leadership Development, Coaching, Culture Shaping, Organization Design & Development, Talent Acquisition, Succession Management, Learning & Development, Assessment Change Management, Strategic Planning, and Engagement Practices.

Gus Faucher is senior vice president and chief economist of The PNC Financial Services Group, serving as the principal spokesperson on all economic issues for PNC.

Faucher is frequently cited in international, national, and regional media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He serves on the board of directors of The Economic Club of Pittsburgh - the local chapter of National Association of Business Economics (NABE). He is also co-chair of the Financial Roundtable of NABE.

Faucher earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in labor economics and public economics. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Cornell University.

Stephanie Salmon provides advocacy representation for AFS in Washington, D.C. An experienced government relations professional, she has spearheaded AFS policy achievements on a variety of industry issues.

David Gilson is a commercial executive with experience across national and international responsibilities, markets, and accounts. He has expert qualifications in identifying and capturing market opportunities to accelerate organic growth, increase revenues, and improve profit contributions. He also has capabilities in identifying acquisition end market opportunities.

Reg Zeller has held executive roles from product management to acquisitions in four different Fortune 500 companies. In 2017 he acquired Ermak, and is now CEO and Founder of CaneKast.

Matt Fetter has been with Metal Technologies Inc. since it was formed in 1997, starting as Sales Manager and then Vice President of Sales and Product Engineering. He was named Chief Operating Officer in 2010, followed by President in 2016. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Toledo.

Susan Bear is responsible for accelerating and ensuring robust processes are available for Engineering, Quality Program Management, and Information Technology (IT) functions used by the Grede centers of operations and corporate teams. In addition, she provides strategy and vision for new engineering business development and is involved with customer-related concerns in the functions of Quality, Engineering, and Program Management.

Bear joined Grede in July 2018. Prior to that, she spent 14 years at Stabilus GmbH, where she served most recently as Director of Engineering and Program Management. She also held roles in Application Engineering, Program Management, and Sales Management. Bear began her career as a Design Engineer in the manual clutch division at ZF Sachs.

Kiley Eck Hayon started her career at Eck Industries in 2002 as a quality project manager, progressing with increasing responsibilities to become Vice President of HR & Finance in 2010, and then President in 2016. Hayon earned a BA in computer information systems and an MBA from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Hayon is a member of the AFS Board of Directors.

Liz Ulman is the Director of Employee Communications & Initiatives for MacLean Power Systems. She is responsible for an array of people-related activities including compliance, diversity, internal communications, and much more.

Prior to this role she served as Vice President of Dotson Iron Castings for several years.

John Link is a seasoned professional with a wealth of experience in consulting and insurance. A proud graduate of the University of Iowa with a BBA (’90), John has dedicated 35 years to the business world, 25 of which were spent refining his skills in insurance with Cottingham & Butler Insurance. Currently based in Dubuque, Iowa, Link is a trusted advisor for corporations ranging in size from $20 million to $12 billion in sales. The foundry team at Cottingham & Butler works with three dozen foundries, skillfully navigating the complexities of their insurance risks. When not immersed in the world of insurance, Link balances his time with his wife, Lauren and their 7 children (ranges in age from 8 months to 28 years old). In addition to balancing his family and career, Link is also known to be seen occasionally on a golf course, attending an F1 race or planning a trip to Disney.