Speakers/Presentations
Norm Smallwood
Co-Founder | RBL Group
Norm Smallwood is a recognized authority in developing businesses and their leaders to deliver results and increase value. His current work relates to increasing business value by building “outside in” organization, leadership and people capabilities that measurably impact market value. In 2000, Norm co-founded The RBL Group with Dave Ulrich. Norm partners with clients to increase the contribution of people to the business by aligning the organization to foster a high-performance culture that resonates with customers. Outputs include distinctive organization capabilities and a recognizable leadership brand. Success is defined as increased confidence in the future by investors, customers and employees. This translates in publicly traded firms to a higher stock price and a strong reputation for the business.
Doug Hammond
Chairman and CEO | NFP
Doug advances initiatives that ensure “NFP” is synonymous with a leading, full-capability insurance broker and consultant that cares deeply about its employees and clients’ well-being. He’s held several leadership roles at NFP since 1999, including chief operating officer and general counsel, and has over two decades’ experience in executive management, operations, underwriting and law. Doug is committed to building exceptional leadership teams that embody NFP’s dedication to trust, transparency and communication, and to delivering clients a broader range of high-quality solutions. In 2013, he led NFP’s pivotal $1.4 billion go-private transaction with Madison Dearborn Partners LLC (MDP), a leading private equity firm. In early 2017, Doug led a recapitalization of NFP with HPS Investment Partners, which valued NFP at over $3 billion. This transaction provides NFP with significant opportunities for future growth. Prior to NFP, Doug practiced corporate insurance law at a national firm, where he represented NFP’s founding capital partner before and during its startup phase. Doug is a member of the MDP Financial Services Advisory Board and serves on the board of directors of Kestra Financial Inc., one of the largest retail independent broker-dealers in the U.S. He’s also a member of the Board of Trustees at Fairfield University and serves on the Advisory Council of the Dolan School of Business of Fairfield University. In addition, he co-authored Reinsurance Law, a leading subscription treatise on reinsurance practice and legal trends. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Fairfield University and his Juris Doctor from St. John’s University School of Law.
Jeff Dyer
Co-Author and Founder | The Innovator's DNA
Jeff Dyer (Ph.D UCLA), is the Horace Beesley Professor of Strategy. He was recently ranked #1 on a list of most impactful management scholars in the world (based upon citations and Google searches) among those who received their Ph.Ds after 1991. He was also ranked as the 4th most cited management scholar from 1996-2006, and his “Relational View” article in Academy of Management Review was the 2nd most cited article in business from 1998-2008. Jeff is the only strategy scholar to have published at least five times in both Strategic Management Journal and Harvard Business Review. His Harvard Press book, The Innovator’s DNA, has been published in 12 languages and is a business bestseller, and his research has been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Economist, Fortune, BusinessWeek and The Wall Street Journal.
Jeffrey Scott
VP, Retirement | NFP
Jeff is a director in NFP’s Corporate Benefits division. He has over 18 years of industry-related experience and is passionate about helping employers create successful employee benefits and retirement savings programs. Jeff has been recognized by NAPA as one of the most influential plan advisors/consultants in the country for his contributions to the defined contribution plan marketplace. Prior to joining NFP, Jeff worked at FirstWest Retirement, a privately held real estate asset fund, Great-West Financial and UnitedHealth Group. Jeff earned his bachelor’s degree in finance and MBA from the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University. Jeff maintains his Series 6, 63 and 65 licenses and earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor designations.
Lynn Avitabile
Managing Director | Multi-Asset Solutions
Lynn Avitabile, Managing Director, is a client portfolio manager within Multi-Asset Solutions, based in New York. There she focuses on target-date fund solutions and leads educational efforts on that topic. An employee since 1984, Lynn spent 20 years within Human Resources. She headed HR for J.P. Morgan Global Investment Management and served as a member of the investment company's senior leadership group for six years prior to joining Multi-Asset Solutions. Lynn earned a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from Quinnipiac College and an MBA from Duke University. She is Series 7 and 63 licensed.
Lori Fischler
Counsel, Benefits Compliance | NFP
Lori Fischler, Counsel of Benefits Compliance at NFP, works closely with advisors to provide assistance with benefits-related compliance issues. Prior to joining NFP, Lori worked at Aetna, where she managed claim disputes involving members, providers and health plans. In that capacity she monitored regulatory and legislative developments related to the ACA to better understand the law’s impact on the industry. Additionally, she managed regulatory investigations and instituted internal compliance-related processes to address recent health care reforms. Lori also worked as a health care attorney at Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP, a private firm in New York, and clerked for the Honorable Severiano Lisboa of the New Jersey Superior Court in Hudson County, NJ. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and is a member of the State Bars of New York and California.
S. David Jackson
Managing Director | NFP
Dave has over 30 years’ experience working in employee benefits and human resources consulting. He works with some of Utah’s most notable public and private employers. Dave is a nationally known health reformer and has been instrumental in the development, implementation and promotion of Utah’s health system reforms that predate the Affordable Care Act by several years. He’s been a consultant to the State of Utah for health system reform matters and was appointed by Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. to the Utah Defined Contribution Risk Adjustment Board as the citizen representative. Governor Gary R. Herbert reappointed him in the same capacity. Dave currently serves as its vice-chairman.
Hugh O'Toole
Senior Vice President | MassMutual Financial Group
As Head of Workplace Distribution, Hugh leads all distribution and customer acquisition functions for MassMutual’s retirement plans and workplace insurance businesses, including the retirement and worksite sales teams, sales engineering, advisor engagement and the Viability Advisory Group.
Jovan Hackley
Head of Advocacy and Engagement | Student Loan Genius
Jovan is the Austin-based inventor of the first complete student loan employer benefits solution. He leverages his 15 years of marketing, advocacy and public relations expertise to help crush America’s $1.3 trillion student loan problem. A graduate of the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, Jovan works to help to connect companies, legislators, financial institutions and media with the real-life data, stories and opportunities related to student loan debt. When he’s not leading Student Loan Genius’s brand development, lobbying and demand generation, Jovan works to help nonprofits and social impact organizations leverage digital platforms and events to help solve major problems.
Conference presentations will be posted here after the conference