Rewards NW

Jen Mueller | Producer, Sports Broadcaster and Founder, Talk Sporty to Me
Jen Mueller is an Emmy-award winning producer and sports broadcaster. She is heading into her 15th season as the Seattle Seahawks sideline radio reporter and is a member of the Seattle Mariners television broadcast team on ROOT SPORTS. Jen specializes in building relationships, delivering meaningful content in short bursts from the sidelines and dodging Gatorade baths during post-game interviews. Throughout her 23-year career she has been on the sidelines of NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA and college football and basketball games. Jen was honored for her work in the industry in 2022, as the recipient of the Keith Jackson Media Excellence Award presented by the Seattle Sports Commission. In addition to her work on the sidelines, Jen is established as a business communication expert and the founder of Talk Sporty to Me. She delivers keynote presentations that motivate and inspire. Jen works with companies that want to level up their communication skills and provides actionable conversation strategies based on her locker room experiences and interviewing skills. You could say it’s an outside the box approach. Jen would call it thinking outside the box scores and she’s outlined her approach in the three books she’s published.

Scott Cawood | CEO of WorldatWork
Scott is the CEO of WorldatWork, the world’s largest association for total rewards. Prior, Scott was the Global Leader for Organizational Effectiveness at WL Gore, the maker of Gore-Tex and has served as the President of Synygy, a global sales compensation software company where he began as its Chief Human Resources Officer. Scott has also held executive positions including the Vice President of Global Talent at Revlon, and the Great Place to Work Institute, which selects Fortune magazine's 100 Best Places to Work. Scott holds four degrees, including his doctorate from the Graduate School of Education, and Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. As a Wharton Fellow, Scott received distinction on his dissertation that mapped the precise moment new hires became enculturated to their new organization. He also studied labor and industrial relations at Michigan State. He has completed five WorldatWork certifications and has donated every single dollar from his bestselling new book, The New Work Exchange to the WorldatWork Foundation.

Matt Johnson | Senior Compensation Consultant, Microsoft; Board Member, Total Rewards PDX
Matt Johnson has over 20 years of progressive compensation experience in industries ranging from pet healthcare to childcare, transportation and logistics to insurance. In that time he designed sales plans, administered merit and incentive pay, conducted pay equity training and education, consulted on large broad-based compensation projects, and dabbled in executive compensation. Matt’s primary focus is to become a “Trusted Partner” in all things Compensation-related with his client base, which he achieves by establishing guiding principles, conducting listening sessions, and getting to know personally the people with whom he works in order to build solid working relationships. Matt lives near Portland and outside of the (home) office, is an avid gardener and musician and after a pandemic hiatus, can occasionally be seen playing bass at various dive bars in the Portland area. He’s also obsessed with making pizza and is currently planning out a wood-fired oven for his backyard. Matt and his wife Heidi have a 6-year-old son, Alfred, who keeps them on their toes and in fits of laughter. Matt currently works for Microsoft, or as he likes to call it: “a small construction startup in the Seattle area: we make Windows” and is part of a passionate and hilarious team that shares his enthusiasm for the Compensation discipline, as well as educating and working with business leaders to create mutual success.

Amy Beacom | Founder and CEO, Center for Parental Leave Leadership
Dr. Amy Beacom is the founder of the field of parental leave coaching and consulting. She draws on her 25+ years in executive leadership development and coaching to work with Fortune 100 companies, international organizations, working parents, and more to transform the way our companies and our country engage with the parental leave transition - from policy to practice. She is also the co-author of the first book to offer an evidence-based framework for navigating leave: The Parental Leave Playbook.

David Cichelli | Revenue Growth Consultant, The Alexander Group
David Cichelli is a revenue growth consultant. David helps companies achieve their sales objectives through a variety of solutions, including improved segmentation, channel design, sales ROI, sales metrics, quota allocation, selling models and sales compensation. David is widely recognized for his work in linking sales compensation to management's objectives, He is author of McGraw Hill’s Compensating the Sales Force and AGI Press’s Revenue Growth Model: Chief Revenue Officer’s Guide to B2B Sales Success. He is an instructor/author for WorldatWork’s classes on sales compensation. Mr. Cichelli holds an undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University and a graduate degree from Michigan State University.

Jennifer Ferris | Principal Solutions Consultant, Payscale
As a Principal Solutions Consultant at Payscale, Jennifer offers a diverse background shaped by various roles both within and outside the organization. Her extensive experience includes consulting for a broad spectrum of clients ranging in industry and size, encompassing both for-profit and non-profit sectors. Jen's expertise spans the foundational aspects of compensation philosophy and strategy development to adeptly navigating the change management process. Driven by her passion for the field of compensation and education, Jen aims to inspire and empower fellow Compensation and HR professionals. She serves as a WorldatWork faculty member, drawing from her wealth of real-world experiences and deep understanding of industry dynamics to instruct courses year-round. Jen holds a BA from the University of Washington and earned her Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) certification in 2011. When she's not immersed in the world of compensation, she enjoys traveling, interior decorating, and spending time with her family

Ryan Fowler | Director of Compensation & People Analytics at Symetra
Ryan Fowler serves as the Director, Compensation & People Analytics at Symetra, a Financial Services company, based in Bellevue, Washington. In this role, Ryan leads the Compensation team, overseeing the design and administration of base and incentive pay programs, while also leveraging people analytics to optimize compensation strategies. A seasoned compensation professional with extensive experience in the financial services and insurance sectors, Ryan brings a proven track record of developing innovative and employee-centric compensation programs. Ryan's expertise extends beyond Symetra, encompassing prior experience in compensation consulting, professional services, and establishing effective compensation structures for diverse organizations across various sizes, geographies, and industries.

Jenni Marquez | Director of Compensation, Accolade, Inc.
With over a decade of experience, Jenni Marquez has successfully navigated the realms of both consulting and corporate practice, where she has designed and implemented innovative compensation programs for numerous small to mid-sized companies across the United States and Canada. Jenni obtained her Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation in 2014, marking a pivotal moment in her commitment to excellence in the field. Currently the Director of Compensation for a healthcare organization, Jenni leads the strategy, design, and development of the company’s compensation programs for base salary, bonus, and equity. Throughout her career, Jenni has contributed extensively to the field, providing thought leadership through training sessions and webinars to educate both internal and external clients, as well as industry professionals. In addition to her full time role, she also serves as a faculty member for WorldatWork, teaching courses throughout the year on compensation fundamentals and best practice.

Brent Schlosstein | Founder and Senior Partner, Alera
Brent’s an entrepreneur and recognized, employee benefits expert focused on building high performance health plans for progressive and employee-focused organizations. Passionate about transforming health care in an environment of transparency, collaboration, and professionalism. As a Founder and Senior Partner at Alera Group, Brent’s responsible for driving growth and building a world-class consulting organization. He's brought innovation to the employee benefits industry for over thirty years. His experience with self-insured plans, strategic planning and leadership gives him a unique ability to address the most complex challenges with practical, often ingenious, solutions that deliver results. Today, the Alera Group is one of the largest, privately-held insurance brokers in the U.S.

Andrew Schpak, J.D., SHRM-SCP, SPHR | Co-Managing Partner, Barran Liebman
Andrew Schpak is the Co-Managing Partner at Barran Liebman, where he has represented management in employment litigation, provided advice to employers, and performed fact-finding employment investigations for over 19 years. While Andrew spends the majority of his time representing clients in state and federal court proceedings and before state and federal administrative agencies, he also provides employment law advice, drafts and updates workplace policies and handbooks, and employment, partnership, and independent contractor agreements. He is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) and as a Senior Certified Professional (SCP) by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). He graduated from Reed College and received his J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Serilda Summers-McGee | Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Workplace Change
Serilda Summers-McGee is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Workplace Change, a Human Resources firm created to guide, advise, and encourage the business world through internal as well as external growth and transition, while incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into HR systems. Serilda has been an HR/DEI innovator for over 17 years, honing her ability to identify challenges and opportunities while teaching the masses how to be better leaders. She has inspired thousands to create, embrace, and mobilize lasting organizational change.

Dan Walter | First Vice President, FutureSense
Dan Walter is a First Vice President for FutureSense. He is a Certified Executive Compensation Professional (CECP), a Fellow of Global Equity (FGE), and Certified Equity Professional (CEP) who has provided solutions for compensation for more than 30 years. Dan is considered one of the compensation industry’s “go-to” experts on the topic of equity compensation. Dan has extensive experience with both executive and broad-based programs with an emphasis on the design and management of performance shares and units. Dan founded Equity Compensation Experts (ECE). He is also a former Board Member for the NCEO and an award-winning member of the NASPP. He is an active member of World at Work, Global Equity Organization (GEO), the Society for Certified Equity Professionals, and many other organizations. A prolific writer, Dan has written hundreds of blog articles and whitepapers. He has also authored or coauthored the following books: “Performance-based Equity Compensation”, “Everything in Compensation is Communication”, “The Decision Makers Guide to Equity Compensation”, “If I’d Only Known That”, “GEOnomics 2011”, and “Equity Alternatives”.