INSTITUTE FELLOWS

  Melissa Macaulay Federico, Fellow - Branding & Marketing

William E. Hoefle, Fellow - Corporate Renewal & Theory of Constraints

Frank Kassel, Fellow - Governance, Risk & Sarbanes Oxley

Frank Kassel is a senior-level manager with over 20 years of experience as an external auditor, IT auditor, ERP project manager and IT strategist, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Sec. 404 project management, and SOX/Ethics training/curriculum planning, course development and delivery. He has hands-on experience in planning and delivering Sarbanes-Oxley Risk/Control Assessments, developing related web-based and instructor-led training courses, E-Business, B2B and IT Strategy Workshops and related business case, business planning, valuation and IT architecture services.

Frank has recent Big-4 experience in working with client finance and IT organizations, internal teams, C-Level executives, external and internal auditors and consultants re: SOX Sec. 404 projects and COSO/CobIT ERM tool implementation, SAS 78/99 audit/control assessment and remediation, business and IT/B2B/B2C strategy, IT and SAS 70 audits, and ERP, Shared Services and Business Intelligence implementation with emphasis on internal controls, security and process improvement.

He was a senior product manager for Oracle’s Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM) product family solutions that included: Activity Based Management, Balanced Scorecard, Financial Forecasting, Value Based Management (EVA/CFROI) and Enterprise Data Warehouse architectural solutions. Frank was also a key development architect of Oracle’s Project Manufacturing suite.

He is a frequent lecturer and counsel to senior management on Governance, Sarbanes-Oxley and risk/internal control issues. He has taught Accounting and Auditing courses as a university adjunct professor in the areas of intermediate accounting, management accounting and auditing, and has taught the Auditing & Attestation section of a CPA Review Course. Frank is a CPA (licensed, Illinois), a CISA and CMA, has Masters Degree in Accounting (MAS) from a top-ten ranked university, and is a Goldratt Jonah (Theory of Constraints).

Dr. Donn J. Novotny is a member of the and is President of The Goal Institute his own consulting firm. Dr. Novotny founded The Goal Institute after a 16 year tenure as a partner of the Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute, founded by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, author of The Goal. The Goal concepts have since evolved into the Theory of Constraints, which is the formulation of an overall theory for running an organization. Dr. Novotny is involved in the development, dissemination, and application of the many powerful tactical solutions that have been derived from this theory.

Dr. Novotny has lectured at many prestigious universities in North and South America and Institute programs have been incorporated into many of the curriculums. He also serves on the Education Task Force for the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico as well as the advisory council for many other universities.

Richard C. Putz, Managing Director & Senior Fellow - Leadership, Ethics & Organizational Development

Richard is one of the founding members of the . he is an executive level; roll up your sleeves advisor to the global 2000 and many entrepreneurial based companies. Richard is a, coach, leader and nationally recognized speaker with twenty-five years plus of experience and dedicated service in the financial industry and the world of technology. His core programs are Leadership: The art of leading quietly and achieving results! & Governance: The art of Managing Risk, Policies, Compliance and ETHICS: The foundation of Corporate leadership and Integrity. Richard provides insights into the working know-how of Compliance, Governance and the Leadership required to achieve sustainable market share and operational efficiency while practicing good governance. As a coach he is a noted expert on Quiet Leadership, technology and decision-making processes for managing risk. He often speaks to groups of middle managers, line managers and emerging entrepreneurs on his 3 R’s of Quiet leadership: Live the Best Practices.

Richard collaborates with Dr. Joseph Badaracco, PhD of Harvard University on the on-going development of his seminars and keynotes called: Think Like a CEO: Govern & Lead Quietly. The core content is based on Dr. Badaracco writings and books specifically “Leading Quietly” & ”Defining Moments” and the on-going research of the “ ” and “The Goal Institute” in leadership models for line mangers and middle management. In addition Richard has developed a Management Skills Workshops based on the themes: Understanding the 3 R’s: Roles, Responsibilities and Relationship when leading quietly & Appling the 3 R’s to Compliance, Governance, Management and Leadership.

Richard is often interviewed and quoted by “The Deal, Computer World, Community Banker, Banking Journal, Bank Marketing” and other publications regarding his insights on leadership, best practices for middle management banking, capital markets, insurance, real estate and technology management organizations. Richard draws on personal experiences of real life situations based on the bank where he was the CEO and grew the bank at such a rapid pace without sacrificing customer service, governance or quality and yet managing the core foundation and principles of “Think Like a CEO”.

Richard has delivered his presentations and keynote addresses to bankers, board members, groups of private investors, line managers, insurance executives, members of trade and professional associations, corporations and investment bankers. Richard has traveled to Paris, London, Belgium and Milan, Australia, China, and Singapore and in every major city in North America delivering his message and insights.

Richard has served as both the CFO and Chief Strategy Officer of C-bridge, a publicly traded software & consulting firm based in Cambridge MA which specialized in Real Time Enterprise applications and Business Intelligence for financial institutions. The Chief Strategy/Marketing Officer of Excelon, a publicly traded company of “real time” business intelligence Software Company in Burlington MA. In addition, Richard was the CEO/President of Security Federal Bank & Trust an innovative and leading regional bank in the Midwest that grew to national prominence in the mortgage arena by capitalizing on technology and process innovation creating a totally Customer Centric Bank. The bank became known as the “home of personal banking and “the trusted advisor” of middle market America”.  

In the world of technology, Richard has served as Vice President and Director of Strategy & Organizational consulting within the Industry practice of Oracle Corp. A Partner/Director at Coopers & Lybrand and Laventhol & Horwath International; while at Coopers & Lybrand he was the Director for Technology Advisory Services focusing on financial institutions, Business Intelligence, Process Improvement in Governance and Compliance with a special emphasis on fraud deterrence in corporations.

As a professional speaker, few can match his expertise when it comes to discussing the trends and struggles of day-to-day life for corporations. His talks and workshops are based on actual experiences that allow him to relate to any group of management and professionals, from the tellers of a bank to the board of directors of the Fortune 500.

                                                                                                        Ralph A. Rodriguez, Senior Fellow - Technology Innovation Best Practices

Geary is a member of the and is the Principal in firm Logical Management Systems, Corp. Mr. Sikich focus is the development of business strategies, resolution of high profile business issues, strategy mapping, organizational change and transition management, crisis management; continuity and disaster recovery planning; intelligence studies; human intelligence; security; counter-terrorism; supply chain continuity, competitive intelligence analysis. 

Highlights: 

• US Army Intelligence Officer – Designer of US Army National Training Center (NTC)
• Strategic Resilience Planning, Enterprise Assurance Planning, Business Continuity and Crisis Management expert 
• Principal of global business strategies, continuity planning and enterprise assurance solution provider

Background Information: Mr. Sikich leads Logical Management Systems, Corp.’s enterprise assurance, strategic mapping, crisis management, continuity and disaster recovery consulting services. Geary is a impact-based planning expert. His client list spans private sector industries and public sector entities at all levels. He has consulted with organizations in healthcare (Health Care Service Corporation, Abbott Laboratories); in information technology and telecommunications (Motorola, Avaya); in financial services (American Express, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Wells Fargo, Discover Financial Services, World Bank); and in a variety of other industries such as transportation (Greater Orlando Airport Authority, Federal Aviation Administration, Illinois Central Railroad), utilities (Nicor Gas, Idaho Power Company, ComEd, Leclade Gas, Gas Technology Institute); heavy industry (US Steel Group, Inland Steel, CF Industries, Liquid Carbonic Industries); energy (Amoco, Mobil Oil Corporation, UNOCAL, Sun Company, Triton Energy, Agip Nigeria, Ltd., Texaco Latin America/West Africa, Shell Nigeria, Chevron Nigeria); as well as Government of Ontario, City of East Chicago, Indiana, Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources, Wackenhut, Aon Services Company, American Petroleum Institute, The Field Museum of Chicago, University of California Berkley, George Washington University, and others. Geary focuses his consulting practice on impact-based Strategic Planning, Managing Emerging Technologies, and Strategic Decision Support and Knowledge Management Systems.

Prior to his career in management consulting, Geary developed a broad base of experience in business strategy and management with the U.S. Army as an intelligence officer. He has a B.S. in Criminology from Indiana State University, M.Ed. in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Texas at El Paso. Geary speaks at industry conferences worldwide, and has been a guest lecturer at George Washington University and University of California Berkley.

His main research interests are in the areas of organizational strategy, decision theory, managerial decision making, and risk management technologies. He has written over 160 academic and applied papers which have appeared in journals ranging from the John Liner Review to Continuity Insights to Supply & Demand Chain Executive. His first book It Can’t Happen Here: “All Hazards” Crisis Management Planning (PennWell Publishing, 1993) received an extensive profile in Disaster Recovery Journal and Disaster Resource Guide. He wrote The Emergency Management Planning Handbook (McGraw-Hill, 1994) which discusses decision making in crises situations (profiled in Contingency Planning & Management). This book was translated into Spanish in 1995 and has received accolades from Spanish speaking continuity planners throughout the world. He wrote Integrated Business Continuity, Maintaining Resilience in Uncertain Times (PennWell Publishing 2003) focusing on integrating strategic, grand tactical and tactical aspects of continuity planning. He currently is finalizing a managerial book about potential economic consequences of a pandemic titled The Great Wreckoning (currently negotiating with several publishers).

He is recognized internationally as a speaker and symposium leader, having developed executive level courses on crisis management; continuity planning; vulnerability; risk and threat assessment; regulatory compliance; supply chain business continuity, terrorism and workplace violence prevention.