Spring Seminar 2013 Speaker Summary and Bio’s
Dr. Kathleen Cannon
Session 1: You don't have to outrun the bear: Creating resumes that help you stand out for the
competition
Remember the story about the two guys who are hiking and spot a grizzly bear? One guy calmly sits
down on a rock and takes his running shoes out of his backpack. His friend looks at him and shouts, “Are
you nuts? You can’t outrun the bear.” The friend looks up at him and continues to tie his shoelaces and
calmly says, “I don’t have to outrun the bear. I only need to outrun you.”
In this 50-minute session you’ll learn what you can do to create resumes (yes, I said plural “resumes”)
that help you outrun the bear—and the competition. You’ll find out how to identify and promote your
personal brand, develop a personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis,
determine if you’re a good strategic fit for an organization, and use your network to uncover nonadvertised positions.
Dr. Kathleen Cannon Bio:
Dr. Kathleen Cannon is an experienced marketer and career strategist. Her business is divided into two
parts: The Cannon Agency (www.thecannonagency.com), a communications consulting company that
offers external business-to-business and internal employee communications services, and
SheSaidWhat.com, the women’s career strategy and publishing arm of the business.
In her 25-year career she has consulted for Korn/Ferry International, has held two Vice President of
Marketing positions in printing and publishing, and was a Content Director at a Fortune 100
company. She publishes the “She Said What?” series of books containing quotes from women leaders
through the ages. Dr. Cannon has a doctorate in organization development from the University of St.
Thomas. Her dissertation topic was The Perfect Storm: Why Women Leaders Opt Out. She can be
reached at kcannon@thecannonagency.com or kcannon@shesaidwhat.com
Lesley Wyckoff
Session: Leadership Styles – Do you know yours?
It takes a variety of different leadership styles for your organization to be successful. Learning about
your style and that of others you work with helps you handle different situations. We will discuss
what is means to be a leader and when you need to adapt your leadership style. Practicing leadership in
SWE might be one of the most important transferable skills you can bring back to the workplace.
Lesly Wyckoff Bio:
Lesley Wyckoff has been a SWE member since 2004. She has held multiple positions within the SWE
Professional Section and is currently the MN Newsletter Editor. This is Lesley’s 2nd year as a SWE
Leadership Coach. Lesley works as a Project Manager at Starkey Hearing Technologies and has a
bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.
Whitney Giga and Noi Keothammakhoun
Session: Utilizing Social Media to find a job, appropriate dress code for Interviews
Whitney Giga Bio:
Whitney is a Principal Talent Acquisition Specialist at Medtronic, in Minneapolis. She has been recruiting
for almost 10 years, with a stint as a headhunter before getting into the Corporate Recruiting space. In
her 8 years at Medtronic, she has hired for virtually every job function at Medtronic, but has spent most
of her time recruiting for scientific, technical and PMO functions. She is passionate about ensuring the
organization and candidate have the “right fit” to ensure business results, as well as aligning progressive
recruiting tools and technology to business sourcing goals and strategies.
She is with us today because she helped design Medtronic’s social media recruiting strategy and is a selfproclaimed LinkedIn “evangelist” and has spoken to other corporate recruiting teams about how to
incorporate social media use easily and strategically, into their recruitment strategy. Whitney is active
on Twitter and has over 2,600 direct connections and 15,319,000 in her searchable LinkedIn network
and she can share how recruiters use these tools to find/research talent, and offer best practices on
how to get noticed.
Noi Keothammakhoun Bio:
Noi Keothammakhoun joined Medtronic, Inc. in 2005 as CRDM College Programs Coordinator where she
was responsible for the onboarding of interns as well as supporting CRDM Talent Acquisition. She is
currently a Principal Talent Acquisition Specialist on the Strategic Talent Sourcing Team where she is
primarily responsible for managing relationships/sponsorships with professional diversity associations
including SWE, SHPE, NBMBAA and NSN. Noi executes diversity career fair participation Medtronic
wide. Other programs she oversees are the Medtronic Diversity High School Intern Program and Project
SEARCH, a business-based model of training and employment for students with disabilities.
Prior to joining Medtronic, Noi was employed at Wells Fargo. She began her career as a Diversity Intern
Trainer where she was responsible for coordinating diversity and inclusion seminar trainings. Noi later
moved into a Staffing Specialist/Recruiter role where she was responsible for staffing Wells Fargo Home
Mortgage processing centers across the country.
Noi holds a degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing/Management from St.
Catherine University in St. Paul, MN.
She is an active member of many of Medtronic’s employee resource groups and enjoys volunteering her
time at organizations such as Feed My Starving Children and most recently, the Camden Promise.
Kristy Larson
Session 1: Social Styles:
50 years of research by Tracom Group has documented four unique SOCIAL STYLEs. Each Style is defined
by observable patterns of behavior. Understanding these patterns and each Style's preferences and you
will see results in more productive interactions.
Session 2 : How to Conduct yourself in an Interview:
What to be prepared for during your interview. What recruiters are really looking for in the interview.
1. Prepare
2. Dress
3. Questions
Kristy Larson Bio:
Kristy Larson, Director of Talent Management, has worked at Starkey Hearing Technologies for more
than 15 years. During this time, she has focused on increasing employee engagement and productivity
through the effective attraction, retention and development of talented people. Focusing on serving
customers, knowing the business, and continuously improving Starkey Hearing Technologies methods,
she plans for Starkey Hearing Technologies to continue to be recognized as a “Great Place to Work and
Grow”. Larson has passion for empowering people to reach their potential. She earned her
undergraduate degree in human resources management with a minor in training and development from
Winona State University and her MBA at the University of St. Thomas.
Kirk Froggatt
Session 1: Leadership Foundations: Setting Ourselves AND our Organizations Up for Success
New graduates in science and engineering enter the workforce with well-developed technical skills.
While technical expertise is necessary for successful career, it is not sufficient. In this workshop we will
explore the leadership mindset and five keys to success that will help you accelerate your own career
success AND the success of your employer. This “win-win” approach will help you fit in as a valued team
member AND stand out as an outstanding contributor.
Session 2: Leading with Emotional Intelligence
Just as great technologies aren't successful without an effective business model, great technologists
aren't necessarily going to be great leaders because of their technical expertise alone. In the past
decade we've learned a lot about the role that emotional intelligence (EQ) plays as a complement to IQ
in differentiating the best performers from the rest, especially in leadership roles. In this workshop we
will explore the impact and practice of EQ as a key enabler of leadership effectiveness.
Kirk Froggatt Bio:
Kirk holds the Gemini Chair in Technology Management at the University of Minnesota’s Technological
Leadership Institute. Prior to joining TLI, Kirk spent 27 years in senior talent management, leadership
development and organization effectiveness roles at HP, Silicon Graphics, Yahoo!, Agilent Technologies
and Ecolab. The common theme throughout Kirk’s career has been helping technical experts become
more effective innovation leaders capable of building teams that translate technical ideas into customer
solutions and business models to generate profitable growth.)
Kim Groshek
Session 1: Win by leading.
Courage is the ability to face difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being
deflected from a chosen course of action. Participate in hands-on activities to develop courage and new
ways of overcoming obstacles. Learn from an amazing woman who rose to different levels in companies
and expanded her own awareness in her personal life. Learn from her successes and failures, and see
how you might one day follow in your own new footsteps.
Session 2: Set goal. Make plan. Get to work. Stick to it. Make it happen! Shock every single one of them.
Focus is the ability to know what you want to do and making it happen without letting the outside noise
get in the way or deflect you from your course of action. Participate in this hands-on workshop to get a
start on developing your focus and new ways of approaching what you want to achieve. Learn from an
amazing woman who rose to different levels in companies and expanded her own business by staying
focused on what she wanted to achieve. Learn advice and see how you can take these with you and
continue to focus when you leave, making progress in your daily life.
Kim Groshek Bio:
Kim is a consultant, currently the Chief Security Officer and Project Portfolio Manager with State
Government. She is a partner with Dragonfly Consulting, Business Owner at GC-Strategies and Producer
at Creatively Canny. She has published several books. Her most current is Win by Leading and she is
producing a Kids Television Show calledSMART Kids TV. Kim has been active in SWE since 2009 and
currently holds Section Representative Region H, Leadership Coaching Committee, and participates in
Region X.
Megan Brogger and Victoria Littlefield
Session 1: Personal Leadership Styles
Your personal leadership style is how you go about interacting with and influencing others. It is a
combination of who you are as a person, your intentional and unintentional approaches to leading, and
(most importantly) what others see and believe about how you lead. In this workshop, you will learn
how you and those around you interact to produce the style that we call “personal leadership.”
This workshop will start with “you” and expand that to cover:





It’s all about you: Self-awareness and intentionality;
It’s all about them: Situational leadership ;
It’s not what you intend, it’s what they perceive;
Lessons from “Lean In”; and
Leading up, down, and laterally.
Session 2: Building and Maintaining Effective Teams- 10+ years
Team building is not just trust falls and ropes courses - it is something that happens (or should happen)
every day. In this workshop, you will learn key components of team development and will walk away
with strategies you can put in place immediately to improve team effectiveness:
1. Communication and recognizing diversity on your teams;
2.
3.
4.
5.
Understanding what’s motivating, rewarding, and satisfying to each person on your teams;
The impact of your leadership style on your team;
The Tuckman Model of team development; and
How to pay attention to processes & people, not just to tasks & content.
Megan Brogger Bio:
https://app.box.com/shared/static/oh0xm4fi1h2ntg7d2zzf.doc
Victoria Littlefield Bio:
https://app.box.com/shared/static/pj8gnafifluyz4gk9dps.doc
Allison Pederson
Session: Strategies to Combat Technical Management Challenges:
Do you deal with ambiguity on a daily basis? Do you struggle with providing feedback to team
members? If you are interested in getting tips and tricks on handling the challenges related to a
management role, including building a strong team through providing clear feedback, and making
decisions quickly with limited information, then this session is for you. Allison will focus on issues she
deals with daily and provide strategies that have worked for her and can be applied to any situation
when working on a team.
Allison Pederson Bio:
Allison Pedersen is an Engineering Manager within the Air Data Systems Center of Excellence at United
Technologies Aerospace Systems (UTAS). In this role, Allison is responsible for the software team which
focuses on software design, modeling, and certification support for multiple projects. She has worked at
UTC Aerospace Systems for 15 years and has also been an active SWE member for 19 years. Since
graduating from the University of North Dakota with a bachelor’s of science in Electrical Engineering,
Allison has been active in the SWE-Minnesota section, where she has held numerous positions on the
Executive Council and also has been a member of the SWE-MN Outreach Committee for several years.
She has also held several national positions, including SWE Outreach Committee Chair and SWE
Curriculum Committee Chair.
Barry Cordaro
Session: Resume Writing for Experienced Professionals
Rules change when your job and life experience grow. No longer does your resume have a one page
limit, your numerous projects may take more than just a few minutes in an interview to explain, and
sorting through titles like "assistant" and "intern" when job hunting may be a bit tedious for
distinguished professionals. This session explores how to find a career that fits your skills, how to sell
your skills and experience and how to land the job you really want.
Barry Cordero Bio:
Barry Cordero is the National President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the
Lean Sigma Deployment Leader for Medtronic’s Energy Component Center. Barry has been an active
leader in SHPE for 10 years where he has served in varying leadership roles. A Lean Sigma Master Black
Belt, Barry manages the Lean development strategy for MECC and works as the site’s full time project
coach. He has served as a leader within Medtronic’s Global Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement (GIDE)
program for 2 years where he helped establish the first ever SHPE Medtronic Professional chapter and
co-chaired the Medtronic Latin Cultures Network Employee Resource Group. Four-Time winner of
SHPE’s President’s award for service and one of Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce “Top 20 on the
Rise”, Barry has been featured in magazines for his passion for diversity in STEM. When not working for
SHPE or Medtronic, Barry practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and lives with his beautiful wife and new baby girl
in Minneapolis.
Cathy Krier and Melinda Shiek
Session: "Influencer: exploring the new science of principles and skills that help create quick and lasting
change."
Cathy Krier Bio:
Cathy holds a Biomedical Engineering degree from Milwaukee School of Engineering and an MBA.
Working as a field and quality engineer at Ohmeda, she brought the voice of the customer to design and
manufacturing teams. With Ohmeda and Medtronic, Cathy’s engineering responsibilities increased with
several global product releases. She mentored engineers in a variety of career stages. With 15 years in
the industry, Cathy’s responsibilities at Medtronic swelled into risk and commercial release management
as she supported the release of complex implantable device therapies and improved the
commercialization process across several businesses. Cathy also served as a business leader that
influenced organizational change in talent acquisition while developing and implementing corporate-wide
recruiting strategies. Her sourcing increased the percentage of talented diverse engineers and
executives hired at Medtronic.
Cathy has advanced the mission of SWE in the workplace as well as local, regional and global
communities. Her SWE section contributions began in SWE-WI and continued with SWE-MN in parallel
with establishing the SWE Employee Network at Medtronic. In FY13, Cathy served as Region H
Treasurer while serving her second year as a Society Committee leader for the SWE LCC, a 30 member
committee that provides coaching and influence across SWE.
Melinda Shiek Bio:
Melinda began her career at Medtronic in 2001 as an intern while completing her graduate degree. She
participated in a Leadership Development Rotational Program and was a Project Manager in eSolutions,
a Talent Acquisition Consultant in Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management and a HR Business Partner in
Vascular and Corporate. For the past four years, Melinda has been an Organization Development
Consultant in Corporate. She is certified as a Change Acceleration Process Master Change Manager
and has completed the Organization Development Certificate Program offered through National Training
Laboratories. She earned a BS degree in Sociology and Psychology from North Dakota State University
and a MAIR degree from the University of Minnesota.
Patricia Walker and Lynn Davenport(SWEnet)
Session: Strategic Communication: How to Say the Right Thing at the Right Time
When you get your big chance with management, do you ever wonder if you say the right thing? Did you
say too much, too little? This workshop will teach participants tools to adapt messaging and
communication style to an audience to seamlessly transition from a hallway conversation with peers to
a big presentation in the boardroom. The session will leverage concepts related to situational
leadership and communication styles to help participants manage their strengths to be confident and
impactful in any conversation.
Patricia Walker Bio:
Patricia Walker graduated in 2000 with her Bachelor of Science from Iowa State University in
Engineering Science - Biomedical Engineering and then in 2002 with a Master of Science from the
University of Iowa in Biomedical Engineering. She has worked in the cardiovascular device space since
graduation and has enjoyed design, product development, manufacturing and now quality engineering.
She currently works at Medtronic in Brooklyn Park, MN as a Principal Supplier Quality Engineer working
with one of their largest contract manufacturers of cardiovascular cannulae and beating heart therapies.
In her spare time, she enjoys travel, volunteering in her community and spending time with family and
friends.
Lynn Davenport Bio:
Lynn Davenport has been a member of SWE since 1999. She joined as an undergraduate at
Northwestern University where she received her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. She
stayed loyal to the Big Ten and attended Purdue University for a Masters in Biomedical Engineering.
Lynn has spent her career at Medtronic, Inc., including 4 years as a scientist studying cardiac pacing
algorithms as well as more than 5 years in her current role as a system engineer in
Neuromodulation. Outside of the office, Lynn stays busy with her family including her husband, two
young boys and one fuzzy dog.
Maura Steblay, MAEd, CLU, ChSNC
Session: Understanding my 401(k) and getting a jump on retirement.
Understanding planning options for your 401(k)
Lifestyle – target funds
Drivers of economy
Fundamentals of your risk tolerance
How much time of your month should be spent on planning?
Diversification: pre-tax and after tax accounts
You’ll know how to help your money work for you!
Maura Steblay Bio:
Maura Steblay, Partner, of The Minneapolis Financial Group is dedicated to educating and inspiring
clients to take action toward a more secure financial future. Maura and her staff pride themselves in
establishing personal, long term relationships with their clients for all insurance and investment needs.
Maura received her “Chartered Life Underwriter” & “Chartered Special Needs Consultant” designations
from The American College. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Masters Degree
of Education. Maura is licensed in many states to sell mutual funds and other securities as well as life,
long term care and disability income insurance policies.
Alyse Stofer
Keynote: Work – Life Balance
Engineers make a world of difference, yet many of us continue to struggle with burnout and finding
work/life balance. Misperceptions, stereotypes and unconscious bias contribute to work/life
imbalances. Alyse will help dispel myths and share her work/life balance strategies and choices.
Alyse Stofer Bio:
Alyse is an Engineering Program Manager at Medtronic, the global leader in medical technology devices.
She is leading product development projects in the Neuromodulation business sector from concept to
global commercialization. Alyse served as the FY13 (and 50th) President of the Society of Women
Engineers (SWE). She served on the SWE Board of Directors for five years, and prior to that in multiple
region and section leadership roles. She was recently elected to the Executive Committee of American
Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) Board of Directors, and began her three year term on
January 1, 2014.