Talent Symposium

Ming Wu joined WOS in December, 2018 as a Bookkeeper working alongside with the Executive Administrator and CFO to create a more effective and efficient way of data management. Before joining WOS, Ming worked as a staff accountant in Professional Bookkeeping Services, where he managed multiple clients’ bookkeeping services to ensure all data recorded are accurate in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Mr. Wolf brings over 30 years of experience in leading software engineering, product management, Information Technology, Information Security, Technology Architecture, Quality Assurance and Project Management to the Advisory Services leadership team. Mr. Wolf is a creative innovator, and passionate problem solver. He is an early pioneer in analytics and BI space, being named as the inventor of 10 patents related to Oracle Discoverer, on which Mr. Wolf was the Principal Engineer. Mr. Wolf is an expert in eDiscovery having led the creation of H5’s Information Retrieval and AI platforms, then led the enterprise architecture of H5’s eDiscovery Services. Mr. Wolf advises clients on the architecture, security, technical infrastructure, be it on site or in the cloud, applications, and application architecture needed to meet their objectives.

Patrick Spurgeon is the Systems Administrator for Talent Acquisition and is responsible for a wide variety of programs and systems used to identify and recruit diverse talent from local communities. He previously served as a Client Service Manager responsible for managing WOS programs in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.

Patrick is a 27-year veteran of the United States Navy Submarine Force, retiring as a Senior Chief Petty Officer before joining the WOS team in February 2013. He served on five different nuclear submarines, one tour with the Navy’s Ceremonial Guard in Washington, DC and two tours as a Navy Instructor at Naval Submarine Base, New London.

Dr. Addie M. Rimmer, Director of Student Learning, has designed and taught interpersonal skills courses for WOS since 2008. She previously served as a newspaper editor and journalism faculty member. She has a bachelor’s degree from The City College of New York, a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, and a doctorate in Adult Learning and Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Steve Petruk joined WOS on January 1, 2024 after twenty-seven highly successful years in the technical support sales and delivery industry. He served in multiple roles with IBM, starting as an advisory project leader, project executive, Director of Sales, West Region VP of Maintenance and finally Vice President Professional Services before retiring to join Toshiba Global Commerce. At Toshiba, Steve was responsible for global delivery of warrant and post warrant delivery as Global Senior Vice President delivery. Prior to joining WOS, Steve spent four years at Computer Generated Solutions, Inc. as President of the outsourcing division.

Steve’s deep experience in sales and delivery, will establish a solid foundation for success in his new role as Head of Managed Services Strategy, Sales and Marketing. He will report directly to Dr. Arthur M. Langer, Chief Executive Officer.

Steve resides in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is a proud parent of a daughter and son, and an even prouder grandfather of six grandchildren (2 boys and 4 girls). He is passionate about supporting homeless ministries, mentoring/coaching teenagers and young adults and dog training.

Alyse Nullmeyer joined WOS in March of 2022. Alyse has worked in multiple fields and industries, most recently as a Service Delivery Manager with BTL Surpass, where she fostered successful relationships with her clients.

Alyse graduated from Temple University with her Bachelor’s in Business Administration and got her start as a Bakery Team Leader at Whole Foods Market, where she learned that compassion and giving opportunities to people from all walks of life would allow them to find success and grow to their potential.

Cheyenne Nester joined WOS in November 2023 as a part-time Content Creator based in Reading, PA. In this role, she was responsible for developing engaging marketing materials that tell our story and inspire others. In June 2024, she transitioned to a full-time position as a Digital Marketing Specialist, with the added responsibility of managing and maintaining the company website.

Before joining WOS, Cheyenne most recently worked as a Marketing Specialist, focusing on trade shows and event logistics, registration, and coordination.

Cheyenne received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Design and Marketing from Waynesburg University in May 2019. She is a professional member of both AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) and AMA (American Marketing Association) and holds several certifications from HubSpot Academy. When not working at WOS, you can find her coaching color guard at her local high school.

Mayela Montano joined WOS as an HR Generalist/Office Manager in October of 2024. Mayela brings with her 15 years of HR leadership experience from both Non-profit and Corporate America. Mayela began her HR career working for the Texas Workforce Commission and with her most recent position in HR Operations for Corporate America.

Jessica Miller joined the WOS family in 2010. She directs all educational services and academic operations including curriculum development, relationships with universities, colleges, and other academic institutions, and new program implementations to develop the skills of untapped talent from underserviced and veteran communities. Jessica led and continues to oversee the adoption of Canvas as the WOS Learning Management System including moving all academic content and courses to Canvas which has been instrumental in providing continuity during the shift to remote training. She spearheads the various live, online training offerings including the Soft Skills Mastery Class and the Professional Development training. Previously, Jessica was responsible for managing all aspects of the WOS program in northeast Ohio from implementation to completion.

Jessica was named among the Top 50 Women Leaders for Ohio for 3 consecutive years (2024, 2023, 2022).  She holds an M.A. in Anthropology and Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College and a B.S. in Integrated Mathematics Education from Kent State University.

Wendy LaPlaca joined WOS in January 2018 as a Client Service Manager in Lincolnshire, IL. Prior to joining WOS, Wendy served as a Program Director for CASA Lake County, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing advocacy for abused and neglected children in the juvenile court system. In this role, she managed a professional staff and was responsible for overseeing the work of over 200 trained volunteer advocates. Previously Wendy worked on a national sales team at the IBM Corporation.

Wendy earned a Master in Educational Administration from Illinois State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Special Education and Psychology from Mac Murray College.

Sandy Kelton joined WOS as Service Desk Manager in September of 2024. Sandy brings over 20 years of experience in IT Service Desk Management. Sandy has successfully lead teams in global 27/7 environments, supporting thousands of end-users. Sandy has a proven track record in implementing process improvements, achieving cost savings, and enhancing customer satisfaction. Sandy is a driven Leader with a Customer Service mindset. Her experience includes incident management, change management, ITIL best practices, software licensing and team leadership.

Mike Keizur joined the WOS team in October 2009. Mike has been involved in the technology industry for over 20 years. Prior to joining WOS, he was the Program Director for the CIO Institute, an exclusive educational program designed to train and mentor future Fortune 1000 CIOs.

From 1999 through 2005 Mike served as VP of Infrastructure and Architecture at Nike, Inc. in Portland, Oregon, where he provided back-end services and project leadership in a $400M SAP BW implementation.

Harriet Hope joined WOS in October 2010. Her responsibilities include finance, human resources, data management, office administration, and special projects. Prior to joining WOS, Harriet was a manager in the department of quality management of a large New York City hospital, where she was responsible for completing and reviewing quarterly reporting of the hospital’s performance to the corporation’s Board of Directors. She acted as a liaison to multiple departments for the collection, reporting, and statistical analysis of hospital performance data.

Dr. Hedin, a leading expert in the assessment of the effectiveness of advanced search and analytics technologies, brings expertise in gathering the evidence that allows an assessment of the trustworthiness of a technology. In his consulting practice, he supports clients in the design and oversight of sampling and measurement protocols to validate the results of AI-enabled review technologies; he also provides guidance to clients seeking the most efficient, and scientifically sound, methods to demonstrate the trustworthiness of the technologies they have adopted. Dr. Hedin has contributed to several initiatives in keeping with his expertise, including a model ESI protocol, manifestos on the rule of law in the age of artificial intelligence, the IEEE’s Ethically Aligned Design, and US NIST’s Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) Legal Track.

Danilo Gutierrez Halder joined WOS in February of 2022 as a Director of Continuous Improvement responsible for analyzing process and procedures to develop improvement strategies for the Managed Services along with customer engagement.

Prior to Joining WOS, with over 20 years’ experience, Danilo occupied different roles in IT Management/Process Improvement for various fortune 500 companies.

Andrew Gold joined WOS in September 2012. He works on all aspects of finance and human resources, including special projects. Before joining WOS, Andrew spent many years as a corporate tax accountant for Mercer Consulting Group, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Insurance Company. He graduated from Rider University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a minor in accounting. He also has a master’s degree in education.

Amy Dolph, Educational Services Coordinator, joined the WOS team in January 2022, bringing with her a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector. With a strong background in both administrative roles and direct service, she is dedicated to enhancing educational services and supporting the organization’s mission.

Philip Curry joined WOS as Chief Financial Officer in March 2013. Philip is a seasoned financial professional with experience in global financial services, social entrepreneurship, and consulting. He trained as an accountant with Touche Ross in London; serving a broad cross-section of financial service clients as an auditor and a consultant.

Philip spent 15 years with ICAP, the world’s leading interdealer broker and market infrastructure group, most recently as CFO for the Americas, where he was responsible for the finance function in the United States, Latin America, and Israel. He was a member of the senior management team that rebuilt the North American operations, whose offices were destroyed in the September 11th terrorist attacks.

He has recently returned from the Bay Area, where he advised a number of start-up social enterprises, including Credibles and Carbon Offsets to Alleviate Poverty.

Philip received his B.S. in Mathematics and Business from the University of Warwick and is a Chartered Accountant.

Andrew Champion joined the WOS team in May 2023 as Systems Administrator responsible for the network/cloud infrastructure and information systems of WOS. Andrew separated from Military in 2018 serving in both the United States Marine Corps and the United States Army after 16 years of service as a Staff Sergeant.

He was previously an Operations Manager for Amazon.  He brings extensive networking, data science, and other technical experiences to the WOS team.

Jose Cabrera joined the WOS team in February of 2016 as a Talent Acquisition Associate. He is currently serving as the Associate Director of Talent Acquisition.

Jose joined the Marine Corp Reserve after the tragic events of 9/11. During this time he deployed to Iraq twice in 2003 and 2005.

Jose then used his Post 9/11 G.I. Bill to complete his Bachelors of Arts in History, while also completing a Teacher Certification Program at Hunter College.

Ms. Brickell, a lawyer, brings expertise garnered as in-house counsel and courtroom lawyer. Having served as general counsel of a technology company which deployed search and measurement expertise and technology to address ediscovery, data management, and compliance challenges, and deputy general counsel of a top consumer products company, Brickell has worked closely with business units on data security, privacy, data management, compliance, contracting, intellectual property, eDiscovery, and litigation. As faculty teaching the implications of the law to technology executives for well over a decade, Brickell communicates effectively with technology teams, advises on business processes, elucidates ethical issues in the use of artificial intelligence, and speaks and writes frequently on these topics.

Dr. Arthur M. Langer is the Chairman and Founder of Workforce Opportunity Services. He is serves in a number of roles at Northeastern University including Assoc. Vice-Provost and Director of the Center for Technology Management and Digital Leadership as well as Professor of Professional Practice at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the D-Amore-McKim School of Business. Dr. Langer also is Professor of Practice and Director of the Workforce Education and Development Advanced Certificate Program in the Department of Organization and Leadership at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Education (Teachers College). He also serves on the faculty of the Department of Organization and Leadership at the Graduate School of Education (Teachers College), and is the faculty director of the Workforce Education and Development Advanced Certificate Program.

Previously, Dr. Langer held multiple positions at Columbia University where he was Professor of Professional Practice, Director of the Center for Technology Management, and Academic Director of the M.S. in Technology Management programs at Columbia University.