Our authorsThe Top HR and Government experts

Joseph R. Huffman is the City Manager for the City of Pascagoula. Mr. Huffman has served for over twenty years as the Local Government Manager for Elkin, Havelock, Laurinburg, Goldsboro, North Carolina and Pascagoula. He has a Master of Public Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice.

Bob Stowe is the City Manager for the City of Bothell, a position he has held since January 2005. Bothell has a population of over 33,000 residents and a business population of approximately 25,000. Bob is the chief executive officer of a full service city with a 2013-2014 budget of $224 million and 300 employees. Before arriving in Bothell, Bob was the City Manager for the City of Mill Creek, WA for nine years and held other top administrator positions for two other Washington cities for an additional 10 years. Bob enjoys a reputation as a progressive and talented municipal manager, bringing stability and leadership to the cities he has served over the last 27 years in Washington State. Bob is a past president of the Washington City/County Management Association (2002-2003) and holds a bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University and a MBA from Seattle University.

Don Maruska founded and was CEO of three Silicon Valley companies and venture investor in startups that became public companies. He's now a Master Certified Coach and author of How Great Decisions Get Made with Foreword by Margaret Wheatley (American Management Association, 2004) and co-author with Jay Perry of Take Charge of Your Talent: Three Keys to Thriving in Your Career, Organization, and Life with Foreword by Jim Kouzes (Berrett-Koehler 2013) serving high-growth firms and Fortune 500 companies. He earned his BA magna cum laude from Harvard and his MBA and JD from Stanford and previously led projects for McKinsey & Company.

Charlie Martin is an experienced executive coach and leadership development facilitator. He is a Certified Executive Leadership Coach and focuses on Executive Development, Leadership Development, Workforce Contribution Management, Workforce Engagement, Individual and Organizational Change and Developing High Performance Cultures. Charlie is Founder and Head Coach at Think Change www.thinkchange.co and a member of the coaching and leadership development team at Virtual CEO Consulting www.virtualceo.com He is an experienced senior executive with over 35 years of successful experience leading, coaching and developing teams to achieve results through employee groups as large as 8,000, dispersed globally, to a few located locally. He has held CEO, COO, Sr. VP, and VP positions in a variety of functions and industries He holds an MA and BS from the University of Central Missouri, is certified as an Executive Leadership coach by Georgetown University (2002) and is certified as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by the International Coach Federation (ICF) He is the author of “From OK to Excellence, 7 Steps to a productive and engaged workforce” and is a Trained Facilitator of “Immunity to Change”

Tony Restell is the Founder of Social-Hire.com and a respected commentator in the online recruitment and social media sectors. A published author and Cambridge graduate, Tony is focused on helping recruiters and candidates make better use of social media.

G. M. Cox, a veteran chief of police of 32 years, brings the full spectrum of policing, managerial, and leadership experience to the role of leading a modern police agency. Overall, he has over 40 years of law enforcement experience starting as a law enforcement specialist in the United States Air Force. Upon his honorable separation from the USAF after 6 years of service, he entered Sam Houston State University and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Law Enforcement and Police Science. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and Alpha Chi. G. M. became a patrol deputy for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department (Texas) and was assigned to serve in the city of Oak Ridge North, Texas. After 18 months in this role, he was hired as the first chief of police for Oak Ridge North with only 30 days to create a fully functional and staffed law enforcement agency. Along with his education, his experience as an assistant shift supervisor, records manager and crime prevention specialist with the Air Force, G. M.’s patrol experience as a deputy made him uniquely qualified to head this city’s first police department. While performing duties as the chief of a small suburban police agency, G. M. earned his Master of Science degree from Sam Houston State University in Criminal Justice Management. His graduate paper, “Career Path Development in Small Law Enforcement Agencies” was published in the Texas Police Journal. This would prove to be the first of many articles published by G. M. in not only the Texas Police Journal, but also in the Texas Police Chief. G. M. served a short period as a city administrator and director of police services for Oak Ridge North before leaving for the Chief’s position in Lamesa, Texas. While there, G. M. attended the 165th Session (1991) of the FBI National Academy. He also started the long journey of achieving the coveted designation as a graduate of the Leadership Command College (LCC) of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas. After leaving Lamesa, he found himself in the middle of a community in crisis as the Chief in Corsicana, Texas. While in Corsicana, he was instrumental in the creation of the motorcycle, bike, Neighborhood Policing, Crime Interdiction, K9, and mounted units. He also was the founder of the 100 Club of Corsicana-Navarro County and the Corsicana Crime Commission. G.M. served as the President of the Texas Police Chiefs’ Association (2005-06) and was the first Chairman of the TPCA’s charity foundation. He served five years as the Texas Municipal League board member representing the TPCA. He was chosen as the Officer of the Year for 1996 and 1997 by the Navarro County Peace Officers’ Association. G. M. has also served as a board member of the YMCA in Corsicana and Chairman of both the Advisory Board for the Navarro College Regional Police Academy and Criminal Justice Curriculum committee. G. M. is also a court qualified mediator. He is a licensed law enforcement instructor and security inspector, with a Master Peace Officer certificate, issued by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education. G. M. was also a senior active Rotarian in the Corsicana Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. Besides his law enforcement duties, he has been an adjunct faculty member of several colleges including Howard College, Navarro College, Texas A & M University – Commerce and The University of Texas at Arlington. Most recently, Dr. Cox taught a graduate course in theoretical criminology and an undergraduate course in security systems in the spring semester of UTA. In 2003, G. M. was admitted to the graduate school at the University of Texas-Arlington in the School of Urban and Public Affairs to pursue his PhD in public administration. Dr. Cox, aka Dr. Chief, graduated in 2011 with a Ph.D. in Public and Urban Administration from UTA. His dissertation, Crisis in Police Recruitment: Public Service Motivation and Changes in Generational Preferences is the basis for work he is currently doing with the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, LEMIT, in its Texas Police Chiefs Leadership Series and 2nd in Command training programs. He is also working with the Leadership Command College of LEMIT in the area of emerging issues in law enforcement and policing. After over 15 years as the chief of Corsicana, G. M. retired from Corsicana on October 1, 2008. As of October 13, 2008, G. M. became the third full-time chief of police for the City of Murphy (Texas) where he is still serving as Dr. Chief.

Mike Kennerknecht, MPA, is Economic Development Coordinator and Assistant Director of State Relations for the University of Rochester. Mike has more than a decade of experience in government and public affairs, including serving as chief of staff to New York State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo. He also has significant private sector experience, working with a wide range of businesses​, nonprofit​ organizations​ and government clients as public relations supervisor at Tipping Point Communications.

Swati Srivastava , Assistant Manager Content at Naukrigulf.com (a part of Infoedge). She is an MBA, a career counselor and a writer by choice, with over 5 years of experience in the respective field. She is a follower of latest trends in the global job market and love to pen down her views on career domain for various reputed websites. She has a passion for music, travelling and meeting people.

Mike Bruni possesses over 17 years of experience in Human Resources, Recruiting & Staffing. Mike is heavily experienced within the Defense and Intelligence Communities. Mike joined SAIC (Now Leidos) in January of 2005 after spending 7 years in the staffing industry. Since joining SAIC/Leidos he has taken on many roles leading many initiatives to include Talent Acquisition Management, Sourcing, Capture Staffing, Direct Recruiting, and Veteran Outreach. As a Sourcing Manager, designed and built talent pipelines supporting programs throughout the IC. Provides staffing strategies in support of new business pursuits and proposals. Leads a candidate outreach effort to provide organizational and personal branding for Leidos. In December of 2009, Mike was instrumental in standing up a centralized SAIC/Leidos Military Recruiting Program, Operation MVP. This program was designed to be an SAIC/Leidos central point to recruit top talent from all Branches of the Military. He continues to lead this program presently. Mike has been quoted in HR Magazine, The Military Times, and USAToday. He’s been a guest on Federal News Radio’s “FedAccess” Show. Mike has also been a guest on the radio program “The Workforce Show”. He’s been featured on the Pentagon Channel’s “Hiring America” television show. Mike sits on the AFCEA EPIC Committee as well as the INSA ICC Committee. Both committees are industry professional associations. Mike is also the facilitator and leader for Project S.A.V.E. (Staffing Alliance of Virginia Employers) which is a networking organization for HR and recruiting professionals. Mike is currently working as a Talent Acquisition Manager with the National Security Sector of Leidos. He is based out of Reston, VA and supports programs and operations worldwide.

Bill Reilly is the Police Chief Coach™, bringing his command-level law enforcement and executive-level certified coaching experiences together for law enforcement professionals seeking greater effectiveness in the way they ‘Lead, Influence, and Achieve’. After attaining his degree in business and serving as a manager in a large corporation, Bill joined the Hartford (Connecticut) Police Department. As a police officer, he began his career in the patrol division – where he was decorated for protecting a family from a knife-wielding attacker – leading to a position on the Crime Suppression Unit (Street Crimes Unit). In his 20+ years as a certified instructor Bill has delivered training programs to thousands of police professionals throughout the United States. He is still a State of Connecticut P.O.S.T. certified instructor in the area of Leadership. Additionally, he holds active memberships in the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the FBI National Academy Associates (FBINAA). Bill is a graduate of the FBI National Academy’s 213th Session. For information on how Bill can help you ‘Lead, Influence, and Achieve’, call him at 860-647-7993.

Sarah Pfledderer has over a decade of writing and editing experience in magazine journalism and blogging. She specializes in lifestyle topics and occasionally dabbles in tech. By day, she is a content marketing specialist at Siege Media.

Michelle Agner blogs at Careertopia where she helps her fellow careerists find, excel in, and enjoy careers they actually like. You can check out their FREE ecourse “How to Find the Perfect Career Fit For Your Personality”.