As Head of Customer Care at the Chrysler Group, Paul is responsible for customer and dealer support including inbound and outbound contacts for approximately forty lines of business.

Paul has been with the Chrysler Group for 25 years and has had responsibilities within the Finance, Manufacturing, Sales & Marketing and Service & Parts functions.  The majority of Paul’s career has been spent in the International Operations team.  He and his family have lived in South America, Europe and Asia.  Paul was responsible for Chrysler’s operations in Venezuela and China and has worked in the regional organizations supporting markets outside North America.

For the past two years, Paul has been in charge of leading Chrysler’s transformation in Customer Care for turning the company towards the customer.  This has involved the establishment of brand specific services, significant expansion of outbound programs and full integration with the Fiat Customer Care Organization.

Paul holds a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.  He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Michigan Chapter of the American Diabetes Association.

Location: Auburn Hills, Michigan, HQ.

 

Tim Bakke has nearly 20 years of professional experience in various areas of the technology industry.  Always with a focus on innovation and the user experience, Tim’s background includes product development, R&D, user experience and system design, facilitating requirements workshops, marketing and training within the software, internet and contact center industries. During the past several years Tim has been working closely with Microsoft and some of their key clients, helping build Avtex to be a leading partner in providing technologies that provide exceptional customer experience. He has delivered solutions for companies in the Fortune 500 as well as mid-market organizations and non-profits.  He is an expert in emerging technologies revolving around speech, gesture, touch, video, unified communications and how these technologies impact the customer experience. Whether delivered in the cloud, via voice or a mobile application, Tim strongly believes the customer and their experience is central to the success or failure of the project. 

 

 As Vice President, Customer Experience and Loyalty Research, Randy is responsible for Maritz Research’s point of view on customer experience and loyalty measurement and linkage strategies.

Prior to joining Maritz, Randy was Senior Vice President and Practice Leader for both customer loyalty & relationship management and linkage & integrations services Burke, Inc.  He has assisted more than 100 manufacturing and service firms in Australia, Canada, Korea, Europe, Mexico, and the United States in designing and implementing approaches to (a) customer loyalty and relationship management; (b) strategic performance measurement and management, and (c) development of comprehensive and integrated decision support.

Randy was a member of the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from 1993-95, and served on the Alumni Board of Examiners for the Baldrige Award from 1999-2000. He has made over 200 presentations at national and international conferences since 1988, and has published articles in a variety of academic and professional journals. Randy is a member of Maritz’s Research Leadership Council, and works with sector and marketing science experts in the company to formulate and document our point of view on customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and employee engagement research.  In addition, he works very closely with other Maritz business units to help our clients utilize the full range of Maritz products and services to achieve their key business goals.

Dr. Brandt holds a B.S. from Purdue University, an M.A. from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.  He is a member of the American Marketing Association, and American Society for Quality, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Location: Fenton, St. Louis, Missouri, HQ.

 

Ilya Bukshteyn is a senior director in the Speech group at Microsoft Corporation. His team is responsible for product management, product marketing and partner alliances for Microsoft’s speech technologies, which include the Tellme IVR service and the Tellme speech technologies integrated into Microsoft products such as Windows Phone 7, Xbox Kinect (formally Project NATAL), and Exchange Server 2010.

Ilya has been with Microsoft since 1994, originally joining Microsoft Canada as a senior consultant with Microsoft Consulting Services, and later moving to Microsoft’s corporate campus in Redmond as a lead program manager within the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) group. In 2000, Ilya was a group program manager with the .NET Developer Solutions Group at Microsoft, managing a team responsible for delivering technical expertise and architectural guidance to Microsoft’s corporate customers. He then worked as the director of communications for SQL Server, managing press and analyst relations, advertising, web presence and customer evidence.  Ilya most recently worked as the senior director in the Windows Embedded Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. His team was responsible for product management, product marketing and partner alliances for the Windows Embedded CE, Windows Embedded Standard, Windows Embedded Server, Windows Embedded Enterprise, Windows Embedded POSReady, Windows Embedded NavReady and Windows Embedded Automotive product lines.

 

Don Donahue is a divisional senior vice president in Health Care Service Corporation’s (HCSC) Subscriber Services Division (SSD). With more than 13 million members, HCSC operates the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Overall, HCSC is the fourth largest health insurer in the country, and the largest owned by its customers. SSD oversees the processing of some 750,000 member claims each day, and the fielding of thousands of customer service inquiries.

In his current role, Donahue creates and implements strategies for HCSC’s claims administration and customer service operations. He also oversees the management of membership and eligibility processes for plan members, and ensures that HCSC complies with government and other mandates governing customer service and claims processing. Donahue’s career has been devoted to the health care/insurance industry and he has led patient accounting and practice development initiatives for a number of hospital and professional providers.

Mr. Donahue received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1977 and his master’s degree in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant in 1990. Donahue lives in Chicago’s western suburbs with his wife and three children.

 

Kevin Martin is the vice president of Manufacturing Quality for Nissan North America, where he is responsible for all aspects of full vehicle quality of over one million vehicles produced annually. This position encompasses all of manufacturing at four facilities located at Smyrna, Tennessee, Canton, Mississippi, Aguascalientes, Mexico and CIVAC in Cuernavaca, Mexico. In addition to full vehicle assembly, Martin also has the quality leadership of over 400 suppliers supporting the America’s manufacturing facilities.

Martin started his career with General Motors in 1985, working at both the Arlington, Texas and Oklahoma City facilities in production engineering. He then held the role of general manager for Quality Division at Toyota Engineering and Manufacturing. While at Toyota from 1988 to 2006, Kevin held various leadership roles in manufacturing, production control and production engineering.

Martin joined Nissan North America in 2006. Prior to his position as vice president of Manufacturing Quality, he held the role of vice president of Total Customer Satisfaction which oversaw all customer touch points at Nissan and Infiniti. The role of Customer Satisfaction organization outlines the responsibilities for obtaining customer information as well as providing methods and procedures on how to provide the best ownership experience throughout the ownership cycle. Martin has been part of the executive management for Nissan’s America’s region for the past five years.

Martin is a 1985 graduate of Western Carolina University with a bachelor of science in manufacturing engineering.

 

Troy Mills is the leader for Walgreens Customer Care Operations.  In his role, he is accountable for the strategic direction as well as the service delivery for customer care across the business.  Walgreens services over 1 Billion calls annually across it’s 7800 stores and 25 contact centers.   In his role since early 2011, Troy is charged with leading the Customer Care Transformation, which supports the company’s goals to be the leading Health and Wellness company in the country. He reports directly to the CIO as well as the Chief Customer Experience Officer and is based at the Walgreens corporate office in Deerfield IL.

Prior to joining Walgreens, Troy was Vice President of Operations, Quality and India Benefits Services for Hewitt Associates.  He was accountable for leading the 6100 person Shared Services organization for the Benefit Outsourcing division as well as leading both the LEAN Quality Office and the Benefits Outsourcing Business Transformation Program.  Troy has over 22 years of experience in Operations, IT and Quality, the vast majority of it spent with General Electric where his last role was V.P. - Global Operations & Collections Leader for the consumer banking division GE Money. 

Troy graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1990 with a degree in Organizational Communication.  He is also a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and was a graduate of GE’s prestigious Management Development Program as well as Executive Leadership Development Program.

 

Barbara Porter is Vice President, Business Development & Customer Service, Nicor National, a subsidiary of Nicor Inc. and an affi liate of Nicor Gas.* In this customer-centric role, she is responsible for a 250-agent Call Center which serves the warranty, energy management, and HVAC needs of the company’s customers. Under her stewardship, the Call Center has been recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for providing “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience” four years in a row.

In addition, Barbara oversees the performance of Nicor National’s Client Relations area, which ensures that the expectations of its utility partners are met, as well as leads business development initiatives that are designed to help the company realize its national expansion plans. Prior to joining Nicor National in 2005, Barbara served as President of IBT Services, a leading call center in the utility/energy industry, which she founded in 1991. When Nicor National acquired IBT in 2005, she was named General Manager, and subsequently promoted to her current position in 2008.

Barbara is a frequent speaker at industry forums all across the country. She is an ardent believer in the positive impact that employee engagement can have on customer service, as well as the bottom line. She has published several articles for industry publications, including “Employee Engagement: Its Impact on Profi tability and the Customer Experience.”

In the past, Barbara has been a member of the American Gas Association and currently serves as co-chair of the 2011 Southern Gas Association’s Customer Experience Committee, and supports CSWeek.com, a national organization that promotes and celebrates exceptional customer service. She is also a member of WomenCorporateDirectors, a global organization that espouses best practices in corporate governance.

Barbara earned her B.A. in English in 1981 from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

 

Alice Spinella is a Senior Vice President of Webster Bank, headquartered in Waterbury Connecticut. With $18 billion in assets, Webster is a full-service regional commercial bank serving Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Westchester County New York. Alice currently is the director of the Customer Care Center and, over 30 years with Webster Bank, has held several senior positions including heading up the residential loan division, managing the retail branch network, and distribution planning.

Alice holds bachelors degrees in Computer Science and Business Management from the University of Connecticut and the Phoenix University. Alice resides in Connecticut with her husband Ralph. 

 

Kim Suarez is the Associate Vice President of Medical Operations and the Consumer  Experience for Priority Health.  She has responsibility for all medical management activities including care management, behavioral health wellness and pharmacy as well as the call center and consumer experience.  Suarez has been with Priority Health since 1997 and reports to the Chief Executive Officer.

Suarez has been in health care her entire career starting as a radiology technologist in 1982.  She worked in urgent care centers and physician offices prior to starting with her first managed care organization in 1989. 

She is also active in the community and participates in several charitable organizations including serving on the Board at Harbor Hospice of Muskegon- Oceana, Leadership Michigan, Tomorrow’s Child/Michigan SIDS.

Ms Suarez received her BS from Western Michigan University and has achieved the professional certification from the Academy of Healthcare Management.  She is a 2000 graduate of the Leadership Michigan program and is currently pursuing an MBA at Grand Valley State University.

 

Marc Tamres is the Director of Product Planning for Customer Care at Microsoft’s Speech Group.  In his role he is responsible for product vision and strategy to deliver speech-driven business results within the broader scope of consumer and enterprise care initiatives.  
 
Marc joined Tellme Networks in 2005 which was later acquired successfully by Microsoft Corporation.  He has championed Tellme and now Speech product initiatives, driving expanded product offerings and capabilities.  Marc brings 15 years of technology and product management experience in both entrepreneurial and other industry leading companies, such as Sun Microsystems and Ford Motor Company.  He has envisioned and launched a variety of products spanning enterprise infrastructure, consumer offerings and cloud based services.  
 
Marc is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MBA, MSME) and the University of Michigan (BSME).