Steven Haines

Steven Haines is the founder and President of Sequent Learning Networks and is the author of the groundbreaking book, The Product Manager's Desk Reference. Steven has over 25 years of corporate experience and has worked in the technology, health care, industrial products, consumer goods, and the defense electronics industries. He has held product management and marketing leadership positions at Oracle and AT&T. While at AT&T, he worked on a task force that carried out extensive benchmarking, the outcomes of which were used for professional development programs at AT&T, and later, when he founded Sequent. This ongoing benchmarking continues to be one of Sequent's hallmark activities, enabling Steven to place Sequent at the forefront of best-in-class product management and allowing Sequent to continue to develop its unique curriculum, advisory framework, and human capital management programs. Steven also spent 12 years as adjunct professor of Marketing and Management at Rutgers University. Steven has spoken at industry conferences and written articles for industry publications. Steven frequently works with Linda Gorchels at University of Wisconsin (Madison).

Lisa Hida

Lisa Hida is a Vice President at Sequent Learning Networks. Lisa's 20 years of executive leadership experience spans the business functions of finance, sales, marketing, and product management in the oil and gas, chemicals, and life science industries in companies such as DuPont, Conoco, and Kendro Laboratory Products. Her multi-industry, cross-functional perspective provides the depth and breadth of hands-on experience Sequent's clients rely on for facilitated guidance in its courses and advisory programs. In her last corporate position, she was Division Director of Marketing at Thermo Electron, where she effectively trained and led global cross-functional teams in the development of market focused strategies which spanned multiple business units. Lisa's passion for people, product management and marketing stand as a hallmark to her success in developing winning product portfolios and in empowering the teams which supported these endeavors.

Kimberly Hammons

Kimberly Hammons is Vice President of Business Diagnostics at Sequent Learning Networks. With over 25 years in leadership roles at DuPont, Sterling Diagnostic Imaging and Agfa HealthCare, Kim's functional experience includes engineering, manufacturing, sales, sales management, product management, marketing, and marketing technical management. Kim's proven skills have helped organizations solve a variety of business problems in many different settings. Most recently at Agfa HealthCare Kim implemented the first integrated business planning process leading to focused plans that further aligned strategy, key initiatives, processes, and people. Her diverse functional background and experience leading global, cross-functional and culturally diverse teams in North America and Europe enable Kim to achieve measureable improvements in organizational capability that drive business excellence. Kim is a certified Change Agent and a DMAIC master practitioner. Kim received the DuPont Departmental Marketing Excellence Award for her contributions to sales and market growth. Kim is passionate about helping organizations achieve business excellence by developing individual capabilities and improving organizational effectiveness.

Judy Iskovitz

Judy Iskovitz’s 25-year career spans product management, strategic planning, systems engineering, marketing, training, and coaching. Her success and experience is exemplified in the results she achieved in her career at AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and Avaya. As Director of Product Management, her focus on full stream life-cycle product management and business operations enabled her to drive dramatic revenue growth and bottom-line profitability improvement for the products she managed. Judy’s experience was enhanced through her participation in international business and marketing leadership programs through Duke University and Indiana University in the United States, France, and China. Currently Ms. Iskovitz is the President of Optimal Business Performance, a product management coaching and education company. She teaches product management and marketing to professionals through Sequent Learning Networks and at Rutgers University, both to undergraduates and MBA candidates, and at Montclair State University. Ms. Iskovitz is the president of the NY Metro chapter of the Product Development and Management Association.

Debra Albert

Debra Albert is the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Organizational Development at Sequent, with overall responsibility for Sequent's sales and marketing efforts. She also leads Sequent’s expanding Sales training and coaching programs. Debra has more than 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, and professional development in the information services industry and ten years of experience in the advertising industry. Prior to joining Sequent, Debra was Senior Vice President at TNS, a global market research company where she established a business development function and coached the organization through a very dramatic change. She was also a vice President at Datamonitor where she started-up the U.S. operation and set up five industry practice areas.

Art Brody, Ph.D.

Art Brody's 27-year telecommunications and technology management career encompasses strategic planning, product planning, market management and systems engineering. As President of A. T. Brody & Associates, Inc., a technology consulting company established in 1990, Art focuses on helping clients such as equipment manufacturers, software vendors, computer suppliers, service providers, universities and the investment banking community to realize opportunities and solve problems through strategic business consulting, market analysis and product definition engagements. Prior to establishing his consulting practice, Art was a member of the technical staff and a technical manager at Bell Laboratories, served as Vice President of marketing and sales for Technicom Systems, and was Director - new products for ADK Pressure Equipment Co.

Beebe Nelson, Ph.D.

Working Forums founder & President, Beebe Nelson, is a well-known and well-respected consultant in the field of product development and innovation. Beebe has helped develop and implement a systemic understanding of innovation which includes the processes of Portfolio Management, Life Cycle Management, Market Segmentation, Technology Mapping, and Voice of the Customer and Product Definition. She is Director of the IAPD, the Product Development and Management Association's corporate member program, where she works with member companies to explore and solve thorny issues in innovation and product development. Her latest publication, New Product Development for Dummies (Wiley, 2007), co-authored with Robin Karol, provides the important basics in this field. Other publications include "Listening for New Products: The Conversations of Product Development" (CQM Journal), "Seven Steps to Strategic Product Development," PDMA Handbook of New Product Development, 1st edition (Wiley, 1996), and "Product and Technology Mapping Tools for Planning and Portfolio Decision Making" with Richard Albright, in the PDMA ToolBook 2 (Wiley, 2005). Beebe is certified by the Product Development and Management Association as a New Product Development Professional (NPDP).

Lisa Brinton

Lisa Brinton has spent over 24 years in various leadership positions in marketing, sales and strategic planning throughout the US, Europe and Asia. Her big picture outlook, coupled with specific tactical implementations, makes her uniquely qualified to advise companies in the area of business development. She is a public speaker, published author and amateur painter. Early careers in reporting and public relations, lead her into the corporate world where she held various strategic marketing and sales assignments in AT&T and Lucent Technologies. She has lead sales teams, defined market strategies and lead cross functional teams through the identification and incubation processes of new service concepts. Her life’s experiences, creativity and ability to motivate and transfer knowledge, led her into the world of executive training, where for the past 3 years she has been working as a facilitator and executive coach, helping Fortune 500 executives in the areas of strategy, marketing, leadership and communications. Lisa’s contribution at Sequent focuses on organizational and professional development in product management, marketing, and business leadership

Jeffrey Carr

Jeffrey A. Carr is a marketing consultant and executive trainer specializing in strategic marketing analysis and planning. Jeff has consulted and lectured extensively in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States for a variety of clients and universities in areas of strategic marketing, brand management, competitor analysis, pricing, distribution management and integrated marketing communications. His recent consulting projects include: creating computer-based marketing simulations and planning tools to be used in executive marketing training seminars; developing and delivering workshops in channel management and advertising strategy for a leading technology company; and developing a customer service program for the Tanzania Revenue Authority. Jeff is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the MBA program at the Stern School of Business, New York University where he teaches strategic marketing and international marketing. In 1996 Jeff was honored with the Stern/Citibank Teacher of the Year Award. He is also on the faculty of the International School of Management (ISM) in Paris.

Gail Schlenger, Ph.D.

Gail Schlenger creates and delivers interactive workshops in human relations skills and team dynamics. In her workshops, she emphasizes communication skills, team building approaches, and successful negotiating tactics. Gail is utilizing her expertise in educational psychology as an academic advisor to Sequent Learning Networks. She is reviewing course content, instructional methodologies, and evaluative tools and techniques to make sure that each course establishes the appropriate goals and objectives, and that those goals and objectives are met.

David Sym-Smith

David is an advisor and consultant for Sequent Learning Networks. He brings more than 20 years of experience and supports Sequent's efforts the evolving, dynamic mobile communications industry. His proven results in many companies (Sprint, AT&T, Mobilnet, Command Audio, and TeleAtlas) in developing and implementing business strategies, have led to market leadership, rapid growth and strong bottom line results in highly competitive markets. David's practical, hands-on approach complements Sequent's hands-on methodology.

Bill Ausura

Bill Ausura was a tireless supporter of Sequent Learning Networks between 2001 and 2005. Bill's depth of knowledge and experience in product management and marketing practices, contributed to the formation of Sequent Learning Networks' curriculum. Bill had spent over 35 years in the fields of sales, marketing, and operations. His career ranged from hands-on product management and product marketing positions to executive leadership for a diverse portfolio of products and services. His leadership and track record helped drive business management excellence and performance improvements in every professional endeavor. Bill's last corporate responsibility was as a Director at Lucent Technologies where his team created a unique product management and product marketing professional certification program that had trained more than 1,200 employees. His organization was responsible for defining new product development and life cycle management practices and the creation of web based tools for product and portfolio management. Bill was a President of the New York chapter of the Product Development and Management Association and certified as one of PDMA's New Product Development Professional instructors. Bill's contributions to all he touched, and to the furthering of our profession, will be missed.