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Overview

With everyone not sure of how to properly handle the return to the office, after the pandemic, please join us and learn. Listen to how companies are addressing these important issues and the role of the Board Member in those decisions.

Thank you to our National and Gold Chapter Sponsors!

Panelists

Rick serves as executive vice president at Leopardo Companies and is one of the most prominent construction executives in the region, as supported by his 2016 induction to the Midwest Real Estate News Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame. He also oversees Leopardo's tenant interiors group, which is responsible for build-outs, renovations and restorations of commercial spaces. With Rick at the helm, Leopardo's interiors business grew substantially in annual revenue and continues to be recognized by peers, clients and the media for its best-in class construction. 

Before his career in construction began, Rick was the drummer in a touring rock-a-billy band. His career with Leopardo began in 1983 when he was hired as a laborer and the company's fourth employee. Combining his passion for music and community, Rick is currently the drummer for Liquidated Damages, a charitable rock band comprised of musicians from Leopardo and its business partners. He also serves on the board of directors for the United Service Organization (USO) of Illinois, a nonprofit organization providing programs, services and live entertainment to United State military service members and their families. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and communications from Southern Illinois University. 

Thomas Cook is director, strategy and corporate development for Steelcase Inc., the global leader in the office furniture industry. Named to this role in December 2018, Thomas is responsible for working with the Steelcase executive team to develop, refine, and execute the company’s strategic plans, including pursuit of inorganic growth opportunities.

Thomas joined Steelcase in 2017 to support strategic initiatives and drive value creation for new acquisitions that included AMQ, Smith System and Orangebox. Before joining Steelcase, Thomas was a consultant with Bain & Company in Chicago.

Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Colby College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Elaine J. Eisenman, Ph.D., is Managing Director, Saeje Advisors, which provides strategic advisory services to companies seeking to capitalize on new growth opportunities and drive large scale transformation.

She is the President of the Private Directors Association®, New England chapter.

In addition, she is a member of the core faculty team at Entrepreneurship Policy Advisors to facilitate and support the implementation of entrepreneurial ecosystems, focused on growing and scaling companies around the world, with current clients in the US, LATAM, the Caribbean, and Atlantic Canada.

Dr. Eisenman is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Designer Brands Inc. (NYSE: DBI) With over twenty years of Board experience, Elaine began her Board service with UST, Inc (NYSE), and has since served on a number of private company, non-profit, family, Private Equity, and ESOP boards. She is a founding member and co-chapter chair of Women Corporate Directors. In 2011, she was selected by Agenda Magazine as a top 100 Diversity Board Members, and in 2012 she was named a “Director to Watch” by Directors and Boards magazine.

Most recently, Dr. Eisenman was Dean of Executive and Enterprise Education at Babson College. Previously, Dr. Eisenman held senior executive positions at both public companies such as American Express, Enhance Financial Services Co., and The Children’s Place, and private companies such as PDI International, a global consulting firm, where she both built and was general manager of the Northeast region, and Management & Capital Partners, a retained executive recruitment, management consulting, and venture capital firm, where she was Chairman.

Dr. Eisenman is co‐author of Betrayed: A Survivor’s Guide to Lying, Cheating, and Double Dealing, to be published by Forbes and released in Spring 2019. Previously, she co-authored I Didn’t See It Coming: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Avoid Being Blindsided in Business, published by John Wiley and Sons. articles featured in BusinessWeek, WSJ, Agenda, Directorship, Worth and Directors and Boards.

Her degrees include a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from New York University, MS from Columbia, and a BS from Boston University.

Moderator

Brett Perlman’s 25-year career has spanned senior positions in business, government as well as corporate board work and service to his community.

He is currently CEO and President of the Center for Houston’s Future, a well-established non-profit that focuses on developing consensus-based solutions to important social issues for the entire Houston region and on mobilizing leaders in the Houston community to implement those solutions. http://www.centerforhoustonsfuturedev.org/

Before his appointment, he was a Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government and in the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI), an innovative program composed of 50 experienced global leaders focused on developing new approaches to solving the world’s most pressing social issues. http://advancedleadership.harvard.edu/. He is a Fellow at Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy. https://www.bu.edu/ise/profile/brett-a-perlman/ and the University of Texas’ Energy Institute. https://energy.utexas.edu/energy-institute-fellows

Prior to his recent focus on community service, Brett has been recognized as a national leader for his roles as a business person, corporate director and public official in the energy and telecommunications industries.  

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