Our authorsThe Top HR and Government experts

John R. Stoker is the author of “Overcoming Fake Talk” and the president of DialogueWORKS, Inc. His organization helps clients and their teams improve leadership engagement in order to achieve superior results. He is an expert in the fields of leadership, change, dialogue, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence, and has worked and spoken to such companies as Cox Communications, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and AbbVie. Connect with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

Marc Plooster is an Accountant for the County of Ottawa, MI. Prior to joining Ottawa County, he worked for the City of Grand Rapids, MI in multiple roles including as a John H. Logie Fellow. Marc was the Grand Valley State University 2014 Most outstanding Public and Nonprofit Administration Student and earned a double major in political science. Currently Marc is a graduate student at Grand Valley State University and expects to earn his Master of Science in Accounting in December 2017.

Named by Inc. as one of the top 100 leadership speakers, Shelley Row, P.E., CSP is an engineer and former SES government executive. Shelley engineers leaders to see beyond the data to add relational skills to their technical skills for more effective delegation, decision-making and communication. Learn more at www.shelleyrow.com.

Howard Risher has 40 years of experience as a consultant and HR executive with clients in every sector. His early focus was compensation and performance management. In those years he managed the consulting practices for Mercer in Manhattan and for Watson Wyatt in Washington and Philadelphia. He began working privately in the early 1990s. He also started working with Wharton’s Peter Cappelli to plan and manage conferences for the Center for Human Resources. That put him in contact with the nation’s HR thought leaders which triggered his interest in the practices that are redefining and expanding HR’s role. His public sector clients have included a number of federal agencies, several states from Hawaii to Vermont, counties, cities and Pennsylvania court system. In 1990 he managed the project for OPM that led to the Federal Employee Pay Comparability Act and the switch to locality pay. He has also consulted with the UN’s ICSC and the OECD in Paris. He has published frequently in HR journals and websites. He is the author or co-author of six books and a growing list of ebooks. The most recent is Building the Workforce Government Needs. He is associated with Grahall Consulting Partners. He has a BA in psychology and an MBA and PhD from Wharton.

RedStar Resume is a world-class provider of resume writing and career documentation services. Our talented staff of professional writers have many years of experience writing resumes and CVs for virtually every industry, including Sales, Project & Program Management, Information Technology, Software Development, Healthcare, Government, and many others. The primary goal of RedStar Resume is to increase the professional branding and marketability of our valued customers. Whatever your career goals, we have writers specially qualified to develop a resume guaranteed to generate new job interview opportunities.

Executive directors and organization presidents consult with Carolyn when they want to get their community projects completed. She marries her experience and expertise with emotional intelligence to ensure project leaders and their teams have a consistent and cohesive project plan that builds trust and gets completed in a timely manner. Visit the THOUGHTful LEADERship blog at www.leaderswhoconnectandinspire.com or join @carolynophermozell on LinkedIn to say hello and get more of her leadership insights and tips.

Meiko S. Patton is a writer for the federal government and the Author of Amazon #1 Best-Selling Book, How a Postage Stamp Saved My Life.

Mark F. Weinberg is a retired California and Washington State City Manager with over 40 years of local government experience. He has served as a consultant to cities on organizational structure, management, human resources, finance, public safety, and community and economic development. Mr. Weinberg has served on a number of Boards and Commissions for government, private and local non-profit organizations. He is a regular contributor to both online and print media publications on topics related to governing.

Beth Beutler is the founder and executive director of HOPE Unlimited, a dedicated network of independent contractors offering collaborative virtual assistance, operations support resourcing and professional development mentoring/education designed to Help Overwhelmed Professionals Excel. Beth has been featured in FIRST for Women magazine and blogs regularly at BethBeutler.com on topics related to teamwork, communication, productivity and values.

April Miller is a senior technology writer at ReHack Magazine. She is particularly passionate about sharing her expertise with people in professions such as government and education, helping them implement technology into their professional lives to increase their productivity, efficiency and personal enjoyment of their work.

Eleanor Hecks is a senior HR and business writer at Designerly Magazine. After growing up with parents who both worked in the public sector, Eleanor is passionate about specifically applying her insights to those in the government and education professions. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow Designerly on X for business and design insights.

Juliana Weiss-Roessler is co-owner of Weiss-Roessler Writing. She’s a professional resume writer and often offers job-related advice. When she’s not helping people get hired, you’ll usually find her walking her two dogs or hanging out with her husband and baby son. Josh Weiss-Roessler is a freelance writer and co-owner of Weiss-Roessler Writing who frequently shares his knowledge of the job market and career planning. He lives and works in Austin, TX, with his wife, baby boy, and two adorably destructive dogs.