Officers

Chair
Deborah Hicks 
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Chair-Elect
Dr. Thomas P. Flannery
Mercer HR Consulting

Secretary
Amy Fardella
The TJX Companies, Inc.

Treasurer
Marilyn Hausammann
Harvard University


Board of Directors

David C. Almeda, SPHR, GPHR
Christine Carmody
Vandy Densmore
Amy Fardella
John F. Lane
Jason Robart
Anne M. Slein-Joyce
Ed Hurley-Wales
Lisa Zankman

Senior Advisory Board

Daniel B. Klein, Esq.
Fred K. Foulkes, DBA

Board of Directors

		David C. Almeda, SPHR, GPHR Dave Almeda is currently vice president of human resources, US Stores and Distribution, at Staples, Inc. In his current position Dave is responsible for setting the overall human resources strategy and direction for the Staples US Stores and Distribution group.  This is Staples largest SBU with in excess of 40,000 employees and eight billon dollars in annual revenue.  Since joining Staples in 1994, he has held a number of progressively responsible positions in various areas within both the Retail and Contract portions of Staples, Inc. Dave has been responsible for building and directing industry leading field and home office Human Resources teams for Staples two largest SBUs.  He is best known at Staples and beyond as a bottom-line oriented and visionary leader with a passion for employees, results and the relentless pursuit of positively differentiated customer satisfaction. Dave has over 18 years of human resources experience in a number of different industries. He earned a BS in Marketing from the University of New Hampshire system and a MS in Human Resources from Rivier College.  In June of 2000, he was awarded the Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR) designation by the Society for Human Resources Management. In March of 2006, he was awarded the Global Professional of Human Resources (GPHR) designation by the same organization.  Dave resides in Nashua, New Hampshire and enjoys spending time with his wife Erin and his two daughters Shannon and Kathleen.

		Christine Carmody Christine Carmody has over 18 years of human resources experience and is currently the Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness at NSTAR. Chris, a member of the senior management team, leads the company’s efforts toward acquiring, developing and retaining diverse, quality talent, building employee engagement, and driving organizational change to achieve a customer-focused culture that inspires high levels of performance and improvements in service. Chris collaborates with the executive team to shape and implement NSTAR’s employee engagement plan, develop the leadership capability of the management team, and ensure the organization is aligned to achieve corporate goals and strategies. Since joining the company in 1996, Chris has held positions of increasing responsibility in human resources at NSTAR and Boston Edison. Chris also was an independent consultant specializing in leadership development, coaching, and organizational change with assignments in the telecommunications, health care and utility industries. Chris also formerly held HR positions at Talbots, Inc. and Bradlees, Inc. Chris holds a master’s degree in business administration from Anna Maria College, and a bachelor of arts from the College of Holy Cross.

		Vandy Densmore Vandy Densmore currently serves as the human resources manager for Comcast Cable – Southeastern Massachusetts region. She is responsible for overseeing the daily human resources operations for 900+ employees in various locations. Previously, she held the positions of Human Resources Manager for Caritas Home Care based in Norwood, MA and the Director of Human Resources at the Massachusetts Association for the Blind in Brookline, MA. She holds a Masters Degree in Human Resources Management from Lesley University and a Bachelors Degree in Business Management from Westfield State College. Vandy has been an active member of NEHRA since 1997.

		Amy Fardella Amy Fardella is Senior Vice President, Director of Human Resources, Marmaxx, a division of the TJX Cos. She has 22 years experience as a human resources professional, and currently has responsibility for aligning the appropriate Human Resource strategies to support the business objectives for Marshalls and T.J.Maxx, an $11 billion company with over 95,000 associates nationally. She has a background in Training, Organization and Executive Development in the mental health, retail, and Financial Service environments, and has been with the TJX Cos. for fourteen years. She serves on the board of Employers Against Domestic Violence, and volunteers in the area of adolescent sexual education and safety. Amy believes that exceptional leaders are driven by and stay true to ultimately, doing the right thing. She holds a Bachelors Degree from Miami University of Ohio, and a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Boston University. Amy resides in Arlington, MA.

		Dr. Thomas P. Flannery Tom is a principal with Mercer Consulting in Boston. He has significant experience in the financial services, manufacturing services and health science industries, with over 20 years in executive and employee level issues, including executive and employee compensation and benefits. Prior to joining Mercer, Tom was a partner with Ernst & Young and Andersen LLP where he led the New England Market Circle's human capital practice and was the co-champion of the people strategy and human resources management practice globally. Formerly, he was managing director with the Hay Group. Tom has published extensively. He was the lead author of the business best-seller, People, Performance and Pay (Free Press, 1996), and has edited two books on executive compensation, The Hay Guide to Executive Compensation (Pluribus 1989) and his most recent book, prepared for the American College of Healthcare Executives, Executive Compensation: Guidelines for Healthcare Leaders and Trustees (2002). Tom earned a doctoral degree in philosophy from Northwestern University in public policy and administration, a master's of arts in public administration from the University of New Mexico and a bachelor of arts in education from Arizona State University. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Human Resources Planning Society, World at Work, the Society for Human Resources Management and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals.

		Marilyn Hausammann Marilyn Hausammann is the vice president of human resources at Harvard University. Prior to this position, Marilyn was the global director of human resources for The Boston Consulting Group. Marilyn was senior vice president of human resources at Thomson Financial, a leading provider of information to the global financial community. Marilyn's human resources career spans more than 25 years. She has held senior level HR positions in the financial services, technology and information sectors. Marilyn's previous assignments include HR roles with Putnam Investments in Boston, Bank of New England and Prime Computer. Marilyn holds an MBA from Northeastern University and an AB from Emmanuel College.

		Deborah Hicks Deborah Hicks is the vice president of human resources for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Deb has over 20 years of HR experience, including leadership roles in human resources development, organization development, human resource operations, training and development, and talent management. She joined Harvard Pilgrim in 1988 and was appointed vice president of human resources in 1999. In this leadership role and as a member of the executive team, she has facilitated organizational change while ensuring the highest level of staff engagement and the overall development of a high-performing workforce. She has also lead efforts in the implementation of consumer directed benefit offerings, and driving choice around a variety of benefit options.  Deb’s professional experience has crossed varying industries and organizations in healthcare, retail and social services. She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology/Organizational Management from Antioch University and a Bachelors Degree in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She resides in Newton, MA.

		John F. Lane John Lane (Jack) was senior director, human resources at EMC Corporation until late 2006, where he directed the people programs for nearly 60% of the company's global employees. Focused primarily on customer facing employees in sales, service and support, Jack led the restructure of the company's go-to-market teams in support of a corporate strategy that has rapidly expanded the breadth of EMC's information management business. While at EMC from 1998 to 2006, Jack developed and implemented plans to support company growth from 6,000 to more than 20,000 employees; directed corporate HR services of compensation, benefits and HRIS; and played key roles in integrating several acquisitions including Data General Corporation. Prior to EMC, Jack was vice president of human resources with Computervision after having served as a practitioner and manager in the full range of HR disciplines for Prime Computer. Jack holds a BS in business administration from Northeastern University and earned his MBA at Suffolk University.

		Jason S. Robart Jason is a principal in Mercer's Boston office and is responsible for managing and growing Mercer's relationships with clients across all industries throughout New England. Jason has focused much of his recent work on supporting clients in various phases of the mergers and acquisitions process. He also serves as the marketing manager for Mercer's Northeast Zone and is responsible for developing and managing the execution of the firm's marketing activities in the zone. Jason brings nearly 20 years of client management and human resource consulting experience to his work at Mercer. Jason received a BA from Middlebury College and attended the Boston University School of Management.

		Anne M. Slein-Joyce As of July 2008, Anne Slein is Principal Director of Human Resources at Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. Most recently, Anne was HR director at Polaroid Corporation, where she was a business partner to the corporate vice presidents for research and development, operations, business development/corporate strategy, finance, HR and legal.  An HR career professional, Anne has held positions of increased substantive and managerial responsibilities. During her tenure at Polaroid, her significant contributions include collaborating with the Center For Creative Leadership in the design of the "Leading Creatively" program, development and implementation of a transition management program during a divestiture, the design and implementation an e-HR strategy, including the design of a global HR intranet site, the design, implementation and leadership of the HR Shared Services organization. During bankruptcy Anne was responsible for developing and executing transition management processes in support of the sale of the Polaroid business to One-Equity Partners. A member of NEHRA since 1997 and a respected HR professional in the Greater Boston area, Anne is often consulted about emerging HR trends, particularly in the e-HR and shared services area. She has been a featured speaker at IQPC's annual HR Service Center Conference and at the NEHRA Rhode Island Breakfast Seminar. She has been published in NEHRA's Insight Magazine. Other NEHRA contributions and recognition include: Volunteer Excellence Award recipient, 2002 Awards Committee Member 2002-2004 HRIC Program Development Committee Member, 2004;Chair 2001 Metrics Conference Committee Member, 2004 Professional Development Committee member 1997-2000 Anne holds a BA in education from Boston College and a MS in training and development from Lesley College.

		Ed Hurley-Wales Ed Hurley-Wales joined Workscape in 2001 as Senior Vice President, Human Resources. In addition to providing strategic and tactical direction to Workscape's HR department, Hurley-Wales is responsible for assuring that the company exemplifies world-class human capital management strategies that assist in maintaining its enviable leadership position through strong operational management and a forward-thinking approach to growth and expansion, both organically and through strategic mergers and acquisition activity. Prior to joining Workscape, Hurley-Wales was Vice President, Human Resources of Applix, Inc., a customer relationship management analytics software company. Before that, Hurley-Wales served as Senior Manager of Human Resources for Duracell, and also held several senior HR leadership positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, including regional sales operations, and led an emerging international networking enterprise group. He holds a Masters of Science degree in education from Cambridge College.

		Lisa Zankman Lisa Zankman is the senior vice president of human resources at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She is responsible for all human resources and organizational development activities for the Medical Center. Lisa has over 25 years of human resource experience in the health care, retail, financial, public and academic sectors. Prior to BIDMC, she held senior HR positions at Jordan's Furniture, Star Markets, Fidelity Investments, WearGuard, and Circles as well as in the public sector at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Lisa holds an MBA with high honors from Boston University and a BA from Simmons College.

Senior Advisory Board

		Daniel B. Klein, Esq. Daniel Klein is a partner in the Wage & Hour Litigation Practice Group of Seyfarth Shaw’s Boston office.  Mr. Klein’s practice includes the defense of collective and class actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state laws in federal and state courts.   Dan has represented private employers in litigation under the Federal Fair Labor Standards and the Massachusetts wage payment, overtime and tip statutes.  He also has conducted wage and hour audits and provided counseling to numerous employers on compliance with state and federal wage and hour laws. Since 1998, Dan has served as a member of the Board of Directors of The Resource Partnership, a non-profit organization that assists employers in the hiring of individuals with disabilities.  He received his B.A. (cum laude) from Colgate University, and his J.D. (cum laude) from Boston College Law School.

		Fred K. Foulkes, DBA Fred Foulkes, director of the Human Resources Policy Institute at Boston University's School of Management, is one of the most highly respected HR professionals in the country. A distinguished professor and researcher, he also has experience as a human resources practitioner. He is a consultant to several large companies and leads and participates in many company executive development programs. Fred received an AB degree from Princeton University and MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard University. He was a member of the Harvard Business School faculty prior to joining the faculty of Boston University, where he teaches courses in human resources management, strategic management and labor and personnel relations. He is program director of NEHRA's Senior Executive Forum and a senior advisor to the board.