Secret HR & CFO Strategies for Surviving a Strange Economy

Karl Ahlrichs, ExpertSpeaks

The world is chaotic and getting more so by the day, and a big part of your sustainability will hinge on you getting the people part correct. This discussion explores how finance professionals can collaborate with HR to navigate today’s unpredictable financial landscape.

This session shares advanced approaches for aligning thinking styles, advancing sustainability, tackling human capital challenges, and sharpening communications to drive organizational resilience and, hopefully, growth. Attendees will gain actionable tactics to bridge the gap between financial stewardship and people strategy for long-term success.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze key differences in HR and CFO thinking styles and learn strategies for effective cross-functional communication and decision-making.
• Distinguish methods for integrating sustainability and human capital initiatives with financial objectives to support organizational resilience.
• Identify some secret and effective “Next Practices” on how to communicate financial programs to HR leaders, building strategic alignment and high productivity.
• Select actionable plans for fostering a strong HR–CFO partnership that enhances employee engagement, mitigates risk, and supports business growth during economic uncertainty.

It's time to network with colleagues and visit sponsor tables.

Legal Insights: Navigating Contracts, Capital, and Compliance

Jeffrey J. Kirk, II, JD, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Jeff will share his insights as an attorney representing privately held companies and answer the questions he gets from the financial executives and employees of those companies. Jeff will give you insights into the documents you are likely to see across your desk frequently—vendor contracts, non-disclosure agreements, employee contracts, etc. Learn what to look for, what to insist on, and what to refuse.

It's time to network with colleagues and visit sponsor tables.

Corporate Insurance Best Practices

Bruce Klineman, CPCU,CIC, Shepherd Insurance

Insurance is a key component of corporate risk management—and CPAs are often the first to spot gaps. In this session, Bruce Klineman, CPCU, CIC, a veteran insurance professional with over 35 years of experience, will share best practices for protecting your business through smart insurance planning. You'll learn which coverages are essential, what types of transactions should trigger a call to your broker, how often to shop your policies, when to file a claim, and how to avoid common coverage pitfalls. This session will help you better advise your organization or clients on strategic insurance decisions.

It's time to have lunch with colleagues and visit sponsor tables. Lunch is provided for in-person attendees.

Trump, Tariffs, Fed, Inflation, Interest Rates, Economy, Recession?

Kevin Brinegar, Wellington Performance Partners

Where are we headed and how will it impact your clients, their operations, their decisions, and what advice you give them?

It's time to network with colleagues and visit sponsor tables.

Navigating 401(k) Success: Fiduciary Roles and Building a Better Plan

Leah Sylvester, Shepherd Financial, LLC

As retirement plans continue to evolve, so does the responsibility of those who manage them. This session will explore the distinctions between fiduciary and non-fiduciary roles within 401(k) plans and the personal liability that can come with each. Attendees will gain insights into how to effectively manage these responsibilities and reduce risk. We'll also unpack the key attributes of a well-run 401(k) plan—what defines success from both the employer and employee perspectives—and how finance professionals can assess and improve their plan's performance.

It's time to network with colleagues and visit sponsor tables.

Ethics in the Real World

Toby Groves, PhD, Cognificent Learning

To improve ethical behavior, we build ethics codes, conduct ethics training, and emphasize an ethical “tone at the top.” Research shows, though, that these traditional initiatives too often harm ethical reasoning more than they help. We inaccurately predict how people will respond to behavioral initiatives and teach ethics using ineffective approaches. This class explains what actually works in the real world and what doesn’t. We will answer questions such as why we make choices that contradict our own ethical beliefs and why we falsely recollect our decisions as being ethical when they were not. We’ll apply what we learn to be able to improve our future ethical behavior at the individual and organizational levels.