President's Award for 2007

The winner of the 2007 prestigious "President's Award" was presented to Greg Vos, SPHR, at the December 2007 HRA Annual Meeting.

Greg Vos is Human Resource Manager with Paychex, Inc., a leading national provider of payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses. Greg has nearly 20 years of Human Resources experience in both the Healthcare and Business Services industries, with a focus on HR Strategy and Employee and Labor Relations.

In addition to his responsibilities at Paychex, Greg is a volunteer and board member for the Community Career Center in Naperville, which provides job search assistance for individual seeking employment. He has been the Secretary for the Human Resource Association of Greater Oak Brook for the past two years. He will assume the role as Vice President (President-Elect) for calendar year 2008.

Greg has a Bachelors of Business Administration degree from Northwood University and is certified by the Human Resource Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.

President's Award - Past Recipients

President's Award for 2006

Thomas D. Callan, SPHR
(HRA Treasurer)
Chief Operating Officer at Blackman Kallick

Tom Callam is the Chief Operating Officer for Blackman Kallick. Prior to joining Blackman Kallick, Mr. Callam served as a Chicago region human resource manager for a Chicago-based accounting firm, a human resources director at a Chicago-based accounting firm and as a human resources manager at a Big Four accounting firm.

Mr. Callam received a Bachelor's degree in history from Michigan State University in East Lansing and a Master's degree in industrial relations from Loyola University in Chicago. He is certified by Development Dimensions International as a training instructor and by the Human Resources Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.

Mr. Callam serves as Treasurer of the Human Resource Association of Greater Oak Brook, is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and is an affiliate member of the Illinois CPA Society.

President's Award for 2005

Colleen Buck
(HRA Workforce Readiness Director 2004-2005)
Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Assessment at Kensington International

Colleen Buck is the Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Assessment at Kensington International, of one of Chicago's largest privately held providers of Retained Search, Outplacement and Executive Coaching.  It also ranks among the largest and most successful combined Search, Outplacement and Executive Coaching firms in the US.

Colleen joined the Human Resources profession in 1992 in IT staffing.  She joined Kensington International in 1994, and has been a key driver of its growth over the last 12 years. She built and now leads Kensington’s executive search operations, developing and implementing staffing processes and models focused on quality initiatives and high touch customer service. She also manages Kensington’s recruiting staff. She is a certified assessment facilitator and regularly consults to companies on staffing function reorganizations and best practices.  

Colleen has been an active member of HRA since the late 1990’s and served as the Benedictine Chapter President during graduate school.  She took over the HRA's Board position of Workforce Readiness Director in 2002 where she created a program to reach out to the student community to educate and create awareness of the Human Resources profession as a career opportunity.  She has implemented a student intern program with many of the local high schools and has worked with the Business Professionals of America to help support its state competition program in human resource- related areas.  She has also developed a program for HRA members to work with Junior Achievement.  For 2006, she has assumed the HRA Officer position as Vice President and as HRA's President-Elect to assume the HRA President's role in 2007.

Colleen is also very involved in community outreach programs, both personally and professionally. She works with the local high school business students on resume preparation and interviewing techniques and provides interviewing and resume preparedness to many state funded and volunteer organizations.  She is also involved in local programs including youth soccer.  She lives with her husband and two children in Darien.

Colleen obtained her B.A. in Political Science from Illinois State University in 1992, and her Masters Degree in Organizational Behavior from Benedictine University in 1999.

President's Award for 2004

Jim Kartsounes
(HRA College Relations Director 2005 & Student Chapter Liaison 2003-2005)
Vice President and Director of Human Resources, Clark Dietz, Inc.

Jim is currently Vice President and Director of Human Resources for Clark Dietz, Inc, a consulting engineering firm where he is responsible for all aspects of HR for 6 engineering offices in IL, IN, and WI.  Prior to Clark Dietz, he served as Human Resources Director for the Alliance of American Insurers, a trade association with membership of over 250 property/casualty insurance companies located throughout the U.S. The majority of his career was with ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) where he was responsible for all HR activities of a 33 state geographic area, with over 1500 employees, servicing over 190 company owned marketing branches, offices and distribution centers.  Jim is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a degree in HR. 

He has been a member of HRA for more than 15 years and currently serves as the College Relations Director working closely with the Elmhurst College HRA Student Chapter (ECHRA). In addition to this position with HRA, Jim has accepted the position of Director of College Relations for the SHRM State Council of Illinois beginning in January, 2005.

President's Award for 2003

K. C. Lewis
(HRA Membership Director 2003-2001)
CSI Staff, Director Corporate Administration  

KC Lewis holds the position of Director Corporate Administration and has been with CSI Staff for 6 years.  She began her work in HR in 1991 with responsibility for a field office of 60 people.  Today at CSI Staff, she is responsible for over 130 employees and the functions of payroll, benefits and human resource issues.

KC has been a member of HRA for 4 years and took over HRA's Board position of Membership Director in May 2001 where she implemented membership drives in support of SHRM, initiated "HRA Bucks" a program to encourage networking and increasing HRA membership, and a discounted membership for unemployed HR Professionals.  KC is committed to advancing her professional development and is pursuing CEBS certification.  For 2004, she has assumed the HRA Officer position as Vice President and as HRA's President-Elect to assume the HRA President's role in 2005. 

She champions the corporate citizenship efforts at CSI Staff where she administers an affiliation with the American Heart Association and has served as company leader for the West Suburban American Heart Walk for the last 3 years.  On a personal note, she is committed to fund raising for the American Cancer Society's Cancer Relay Walk of DuPage County.

President's Award for 2002

Roger Hart
(HRA Past President - Term 2001)
Human Resources Management Systems, LLC, Sr. Vice President of Sales & Marketing  

Roger Hart's commitment to excellence and relentless pursuit to be the best is obvious to everyone who knows him. Roger is a true believer in relationship marketing and has brought that theory and energy to Human Resource Management Systems.

Roger Hart is recognized as a pioneer in the area of Networking and Officer Call Management programs. At Merchants Bank of Aurora, he initiated the first Officer Calling program in the area and led the way in the development and creation of Advisory Boards for all of Merchant's branches. These innovative programs were featured in many bank-marketing periodicals. In 1985, Roger was named President of the Bank Marketing Association, Northern Illinois Chapter, which was the largest chapter in the United States.

As Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Human Resource Management Systems, LLC. Roger brings over thirty years of marketing and business development experience for the benefit of Human Resource Management Systems' clients.

Roger takes an active role in civic and community activities. Roger is past President of the Community Career Center, immediate past President of the Valley Human Resource Association and past President of the Human Resource Association of Oak Brook. He was Chairman of the Events Committee of the Oak Brook Association of Commerce and Industry (OBACI). He has chaired fund-raising events for many charities including the United Way of Aurora, the Fox Valley Symphony, Aurora University and the Paramount Arts Center. Roger is on the Board of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Aurora University School of Business and the DuPage Workforce Board. He sits on the Collins Law Firm and Industry Elf Advisory Boards and is on National SHRM's College Relations Committee.

President's Award for 2001

Leanne Evans
Human Resources Administrator, Credit Suisse First Boston  

Leanne Evans currently holds the position of Human Resources Administrator for Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and is responsible for providing  support, administration and is the point of contact for all aspects of the human resources function at her division. She has effectively grown staffing levels, implemented new hire orientation procedures, automated  manual tracking systems, new benefits implementation and updated employee  policy. Previously, she has been involved in workforce reduction programs and restaffing campaigns associated with two corporate mergers since 1999.

She is currently pursuing her AAS in Human Resources Management and Employee Training & Development Certification at Moraine Valley College (Palos Hills) where she has maintained a 4.0 GPA since 1999 and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa international scholastic order.  After this degree is achieved in Fall 2002, PHR/SPHR certification is her next goal.

Leanne is also very involved in community outreach programs, both personally and professionally, through needy family donation, collection and delivery programs as well as participation in collection efforts for Credit Suisse First Boston's Foundation Fund that raised over $4 million dollars, nationally, to aid the New York victims of the 9/11 tragedy.

Leanne joined HRA in 1999 and joined our Board of Directors as 2001 Board Secretary, improving communication and record keeping activities. Leanne has recently been elected to Board Vice President for 2002 and has been a member of SHRM since 1999. She has also been a member of the Association of Professional Mortgage Women since 2000.

President's Award for 2000

Howard Nelson, SPHR
Workforce Planning Manager, Exelon Corporation

The recipient of HRA's 2000 President's Award is an HR professional with over 26 years of human resources, operations and staff experience. Following nearly 10 years of progressive engineering and operations experience, our recipient entered the HR field as a technical recruiter and has progressed through assignments in leadership and management development and training, employment programs, strategic staffing and workforce planning.

He is currently the Workforce Planning Manager for Exelon Nuclear, which is now the country's largest owner/operator of nuclear generating plants as a result of the recent merger between Unicom Corporation (parent of ComEd) and PECO Energy in Philadelphia.

Professionally, this year's recipient is a past member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Minority Engineering Advisory Board for the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Human Resource Management Association of Chicago; and is currently a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and the Employment Management Association.

Our recipient has also served his community through a variety of volunteer positions with local organizations, including the community ambulance squad, the American Red Cross, youth baseball and soccer leagues, school district curriculum and technology committees, local Cub Scout and Boy Scout groups, and most recently as an Executive Board member with Scouting's Rainbow Council in Morris, Illinois.

This year's recipient has been a member of HRA for nearly three years, and has served on our Board of Directors for the past two years and is currently our out-going Vice President. Howard will continue to be involved in the newly formed Student Chapter at Elmhurst College and participates in their mentoring program.

Howard holds a Bachelor in Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Michigan and a Masters in Business Administration from Benedictine University in Lisle. He is also a Senior Professional in Human Resources and a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois.

Howard, his wife Sandy and their two sons currently reside in Minooka, Illinois.

President's Award for 1999

Debra Guerin
General Manager for PROS/MacNeal Health Services Corporation

The "President's Award" recognizes the efforts of an individual who has provided outstanding leadership, demonstrated creativity and shown high performance with a direct impact in the field of human resources.

This year's recipient is Debra Guerin, who has been a member of HRA since 1992. Debra has previously served as Newsletter Director, HRA Liaison to the SHRM/Benedictine University Student Chapter and on the Membership Committee.

Debra has also been a member of the DuPage Chapter of SHRM since 1989, and has served as their Treasurer and Membership Director.

As General Manager for PROS/MacNeal Health Services Corporation, Debra has been instrumental in bringing best practices in recruitment, placement and sales to PROS/MacNeal in an effort to expand MacNeal's Chicago-area market.

Debra has served HRA during the past year as Secretary and is stepping down from the HRA Board to focus her efforts on PROS. We wish her the best in her future endeavors.

Ms. Guerin was presented the award at the December meeting by the Gail Wasserstein, HRA President, Howard Nelson, Professional Development Director, and 1998 recipient Carrie Gurski.

President's Award for 1998

Carrie Gurski
Human Resources Manager at ACXIOM/May & Speh

Congratulations to Carrie Gurski, the recipient of the 1998 President's Award from HRA of Greater Oak Brook. Ms. Gurski was presented the award at the December meeting by the previous recipient Ken Windisch. Upon accepting the award, Carrie said, "This is a great ending to the great year that I've had."

Carrie Gurski has been a member of HRA since the 1980's. She has served on the Board of Directors over the past five years as Newsletter Director, Public Relations Director and Secretary and is this year's 1999 Vice President. Some of Carrie's significant accomplishments for HRA include development of a public relations program to promote chapter awareness, including exposure in SHRM's HR News magazine, "One Step Ahead" newsletter and the "Chapter Chatter" column, several local newspapers and CLTV news. Carrie also implemented a "What's Happening" column in our "Herald" newsletter to highlight significant accomplishments of fellow HR members. Perhaps her most significant achievement for HRA was her development and management of a web site for HRA with information for prospective members and links to SHRM and other HR resources on the Web. HRA is one of only two Illinois chapters that have a web site.

In 1998, Carrie obtained her Bachelor's of Science degree in business administration cum laude from Elmhurst College, passed the Professional in Human Resources certification examination from HRCI, became a member of SHRM's Grass Roots Network and attended SHRM's Leadership Conference.

Since Carrie's arrival in April of 1998 at Acxiom/May & Speh in Downers Grove as Human Resources Manager, her accomplishments include the revamping and development of an on-line new associate orientation program, conversion to an HRIS reporting process and serves as a key member of the acquisition and integration service team. It was recently announced her new position for the organizational development team is a continuous improvement role for the Outsourcing Division.

In her community, Carrie is an ardent environmentalist and an activist for charitable causes. She has been a member of the Villa Park Environmental Concerns Commission since 1992 and is currently chairperson of that commission. She has developed a Web page for that group, publishes a bi-annual newsletter and writes a quarterly news column for a local newspaper to invoke environmental awareness. Additionally, Carrie has developed a residential backyard composting program - the first and only program of its kind in DuPage County.

Carrie has also implemented an Environmental Concerns Kid's Club to encourage children to participate in clean-up events. She participates in Lyons Club events, volunteers for the American Cancer Society annual "Walk and Roll" event, and numerous projects sponsored by the DuPage Conservation Foundation. Carrie is truly a leader and doer in her work life and her personal life as well.

About the President's Award

Each year the President's Award recognizes the efforts of an individual in the HR field who has provided outstanding leadership, demonstrated creativity and high performance with a direct impact in the field of HR management. Past recipients are:

To determine the recipient of award, nominees are asked to provide examples of their accomplishments in some or all of the following areas:

Of the nominees for consideration, many substantial accomplishments were cited including professional certifications requiring significant personal time devoted to professional development; continuing education, both credit and non-credit; exceeding expectations on a regular basis in terms of job performance; extensive community involvement demonstrating valuable leadership and many hours of service devoted to the HRA and the SHRM/HRA Affiliated Student Chapters in diverse capacities.

During the past several years, HRA has recognized the talent and achievements of individuals who represent the determination and commitment of so many HR practitioners within our chapter. We look forward to continuing this annual award and further demonstrating to our peers and the general public the value and impact of the HR field on the quality of commerce and the standard of living.