Women in Leadership: Influence and Impact

Module 5: Influence Through Coaching, Mentorship and Sponsorship

Mignon Early is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Fresenius Medical Care. She has more than 25 years of experience in the nephrology industry and has held numerous leadership roles, including regional vice president, group vice president, general manager, and vice president of clinical quality. She has served as a mentor and leader to others, providing coaching and guidance to help each become the best they can be while pursuing their goals. Mignon holds a master's degree in nursing from Drexel University and has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years.

In her spare time, Mignon has spent countless hours serving others, volunteering for organizations that serve at-risk and minority communities. Outside of work and volunteering, Mignon enjoys cooking, experiencing new foods and wine, and spending time with her family. She is a proud new grandmother.

Module 1: Leadership Starts From Within

Alison Hansen is a Senior Director of Learning Design and Development at PepsiCo Foods North America. In this role Alison drives the capability strategy and curriculum for field and frontline employees. Alison started her career at Accenture in human performance consulting. She spent 10 years at global consumer goods company Mary Kay Inc. in learning, change leadership, and marketing. She joined PepsiCo in 2015 as a director in the PepsiCo global learning center of excellence, Pep U. There she led learning strategy for five global functions and created a team focused on improving the global learner experience at PepsiCo, including launching PEP U Degreed.

In 2020, Alison joined PFNA leading broad-based leadership capability programs including CORE, PFNA’s flagship leadership experience, and created a portfolio of innovative offerings for thousands of CORE “graduates” to continue building skills. She launched PFNA’s first Advanced Strategy Program, modernized popular training programs such as DiSC, and served as a LeAD and Accelerated Leadership Program coach. She was instrumental in creating Leadership and Talent and Learning Portals, and managed regular communication about development and career programs for all employees. Alison led a new team to create an innovative Global Business Services (GBS) onboarding experience for new hires in Hyderabad and beyond. Most recently, she led GBS, Sales and Supply Chain learning teams to create best-in-class onboarding for designate new hires and key roles, including launching refreshed Supply Chain new employee orientation, and innovative ways to build in-role capability.
 
Away from work, Alison loves to cook and spend time with her 9-year-old son Spencer and husband Mike. She’s a member of the Children’s Medical Center Complex Care pediatric advisory board and a Junior League of Dallas sustaining member. She has a dual bachelor’s degree – Journalism and Spanish - from Baylor University and a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from Southern Methodist University. She was a Fulbright Scholar, holds a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional accreditation, and recently completed an eCornell HR Essentials certificate.

Module 4: Cultivating Psychological Safety, Trust, and Team Engagement

Wendy Hultmark, CPC, ACC, is a certified executive coach who is passionate about helping women succeed and find fulfillment in leadership and in life.

Wendy’s career spans over two decades, as an HR leader and then as a coach, guiding and supporting all levels of leaders-from first-time managers to executives running $500 million dollar businesses, and everything in between.

She attained her CPC (certified professional coach) certificate from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC), an ICF-accredited program. Additionally, she holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Development and Communication from Suffolk University.

Wendy lives north of Boston with her husband Eric and Jack Russell Terrier, Posy. She is an avid reader and enjoys hiking the beautiful North Shore area of Massachusetts.

Module 1: Leadership Starts From Within

Kara Schillaci is a global talent development and transformation executive who is passionate about creating future-ready leaders and organizations.

She is currently the Vice Preside of Talent Development and Transformation at Rexel, USA. Kara has had many roles inside large organizations leading learning, talent management, leadership development, and functional capability building.
She has also supported large and small organizations as a consultant.

She regularly coaches and mentors, facilitates workshops, speaks at conferences, and is a resource for teams. Her special talents are in employee engagement, culture change and community building.

Kara is a proud SMU alumna who resides in Dallas and volunteers in her local community for Jubilee Park and Community Center and The Melville Family Foundation.

Module 2: Developing Strategic Insights—From Staff to C-Suite

Mina Shams is an HR leader with over 30 years of diverse experience in the healthcare, biotechnology, and defense industries, which included over 20 years of progressively greater management responsibilities. Those included developing and leading initiatives that align leadership, culture, talent, and total rewards.

In 2018 Mina set out on her own to start OH Consulting with the aim of providing comprehensive expert advice in the areas of human capital strategies and functional operations in support of business strategies for VP and C-Level clients.

Mina earned her bachelor’s in business management and a master’s certificate in HR management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She lives in Poway, California, with her partner Keith. Mina and Keith have three daughters together: Laela, Sarah, and Arianna (two of whom also work in the HR field).

Module 3: Communicating for Influence

Laura Wooten has spent her career working to empower women both professionally and personally as a strategic problem solver, consultant, marketer, and coach. Over 15 years, Laura built her own consultancy helping small and mid-sized businesses, nonprofits, and corporate clients turn their expertise into revenue streams. Laura is a skilled facilitator, guiding organizations, teams, and individuals through strategic planning, process improvement, and effective communication. Laura has taught professional education at Southern Methodist University, facilitated team building sessions, and presented online webinars on writing and marketing for a variety of organizations. Laura is an active community member, serving on the Allen Library Board, the local PTA, and other nonprofit organizations. She has a Master’s Degree from Northwestern State University of Louisiana.