Matthew Burr

Owner, Burr Consulting, LLC

Owner and consultant of Burr Consulting, Matthew Burr has worked in the human resources field with over nine years of experience and increasing levels of responsibility.  His experience in both specialist and management level roles in a variety of business verticals provides a diverse understanding for what is required to drive key metrics in HR.

Jane Clark

Vice President of Member Services, NationaLease

Jane Clark is Vice President, Member Services for NationaLease. In this position, she is focused on managing the Member Services operation, as well as working to strengthen member relationships, reduce member costs, and improve collaboration within the NationaLease supporting groups. Prior to joining NationaLease, Jane served as Area Vice President for Randstad, one of the world’s largest recruitment agencies, and before that, she served in management posts with QPS Companies, Pro Staff, and Manpower, Inc. Jane received a B.A. degree in Communication from North Central College and an MA in Communication from Northern Illinois University.

David Collet

CPA, Partner, RubinBrown LLP

David Collet is a Partner in RubinBrown’s Assurance Services and Manufacturing & Distribution Services Groups. His previous experiences and specialties include several large multinational audits acting as a member of the lead engagement team, audits of internal control over financial reporting, income taxes, revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, derivatives, acquisitions and purchase accounting, restructurings, financial statement consolidations and SEC reporting. He has additional experience in performing audits on financial information that is published under International Financial Reporting Standards.

Alicia Dickens

Associate Vice Chancellor of Workforce & Economic Development, Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City

Dr. Alicia Dickens is the Associate Vice Chancellor of Workforce & Economic Development at Metropolitan Community College located in Kansas City, Missouri; a public speaker having presented at regional and national conferences; a former faculty member at the University of Phoenix, Ottawa University, and Kansas City Kansas Community College; a published author, featured in national magazines and on at least two cable television shows; and a contributing writer to an international blog for women of color. Previously she worked in the capacity of Executive Director, Operations Manager, Clinical Director, Director of Technology & Workforce Development, Director of the Entrepreneurial Innovation Center, Intervention Specialist, Instructor, Trainer, and Counselor with various organizations. She has personally assisted numerous for profit and not-for-profit businesses in organizational start-up and growth.

Dr. Dickens’ governmental experience includes having served as the Senior Constituent Services Aide to Congressman Dennis Moore and State Legislative Aide to Senator David Haley supporting her knowledge base for helping contractors obtain state and federal contracts and miscellaneous certifications.

Esther George

President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Esther George is president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and leads a workforce of close to 2,000 employees in Kansas City and its branch offices in Omaha, Denver and Oklahoma City. As the region’s representative on the Federal Open Market Committee in Washington, President George participates in monetary policy deliberations and provides a perspective based on more than four decades of experience as a banking supervisor. Her policy views are informed by regular contacts with the region’s business leaders, workers, financial institutions and community leaders. President George also leads the development of the FedNow Service, which will provide financial institutions with the ability to settle payments in real-time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Elizabeth Hyers

Associate Director of Industry Relations for the Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA)

Elizabeth Hyers currently serves as Associate Director of Industry Relations for the Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA). Elizabeth has been with TRALA for four years and is responsible for managing policy initiatives impacting the truck renting and leasing industry on issues related to transportation, tax, insurance, the environment, and rental security. Prior to joining TRALA, Elizabeth served as Director of Operations for former Congressman Tom Marino of Pennsylvania where she oversaw office activity and determined his entire schedule while also driving several policy initiatives on the Congressman’s behalf. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University.

Richard J. Leibfried, ARM

President, RJL Insurance Services

Richard Leibfried has been an insurance professional since 1976. In his current position with RJL, Leibfried provides insurance and risk management consulting services to the middle market business community. Acting essentially as a “part-time” risk manager for his clients, Leibfried brings both traditional as well as innovative, proprietary risk management strategies to these companies. Leibfried’s experience is extensive. As an underwriter, broker and consultant he has been involved in the design, evaluation, and ongoing management of insurance programs for a wide range of businesses. Additionally, Leibfried has been directly involved in the formation and management of nine captive insurance companies as well as a variety of other self-insurance arrangements for his clients.

Tim Johnson

CPA, Manager, RubinBrown LLP

Tim Johnson is a Manager in RubinBrown’s Assurance Services Group and Professional Standards Group. Tim works with a variety of clients in industries including life sciences, manufacturing and distribution, private equity and public sector. He specializes in analyzing technical accounting standards related to complex transactions.

Tim’s previous experience includes a senior accounting policy role at a large publicly traded telecommunications company.

Brianna Lawrence

Vice President, Programs, Gladstein, Neandross & Associates

Brianna Lawrence is a Vice President at Gladstein, Neandross & Associates (GNA), a leading consulting firm specializing in market development for alternative fuel vehicles, infrastructure, and fuels. Building upon her background in sustainability and philanthropic consulting, Lawrence's role at GNA consists of tracking incentive programs and regulations related to advanced transportation technologies, strategically identifying and preparing grant applications, and ensuring that projects remain in compliance. Lawrence received a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jim Still

Partner, FORVIS

Jim Still is a member of FORVIS National Construction & Real Estate Group and is the Kansas City office leader for the real estate industry. He also serves as Tax Director of FORVIS Kansas City, Des Moines and Madison offices, managing the tax practice of each office and providing quality control, oversight, and consultation to assist other FORVIS professionals. Still has more than 18 years of experience providing tax compliance and consulting services to real estate entities and professional service organizations as well as health care entities. As a tax specialist, he focuses on the area of partnership taxation.

Dean Vicha

President, NationaLease

Dean Vicha began his career with NationaLease as a National Account Executive for the Midwest in 2005, where he substantially grew the National Account Program to more than $447 million in term sales. In 2008, he became Vice President of Member Services, executing a strategy that provided a sustainable competitive advantage to NationaLease members and growing the membership base. In 2010, Vicha became the Vice President of National Accounts, leading that team to a record-breaking year in sales. In 2012, Vicha was named President of NationaLease, where he helps members increase their market share and decrease their cost of business. Since becoming President, Vicha has grown the company in terms of size and scope in the last decade. In 2012, locations peaked just over 700 and fleet count over 115,000. Today, NationaLease has more than 1,000 locations and fleet count over 184,000.

Sharon Weaver

Founder/CEO of Smarter Consulting

Sharon knows technology and business. She was selected by Microsoft to participate in a select group of external advisors known as the Microsoft Regional Director Program. According to Microsoft, this makes her one of the world's top technology visionaries chosen specifically for their proven cross-platform expertise, community leadership, and commitment to business results.

Solving both process and technical problems, Sharon has the unique ability to listen and uncover her client's pain points and develop a plan to not only build the needed solutions, but to drive change, adoption, and education in a way not typically seen from technical consultants. 

Sharon is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, Six Sigma Black Belt, and Certified Business and Systems Analyst. She also has a Bachelor's degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of Kansas.