Ashley Christie is a manager in Katz, Sapper & Miller’s Real Estate Services Group and has been with the firm since 2008. Ashley’s primary responsibilities include managing client relationships, preparing income tax returns for partnerships, fiduciaries, S corporations, C corporations and individuals, and consulting and advising clients on their tax issues. She also prepares client financial statements, tax projections, estate planning, property tax returns and business plans as well as providing other general business and accounting services. Ashley is actively involved in training and mentoring the staff. Additionally, she is a participant in the firm’s Recruiting and KSM Bright Ideas committees.

Howard J. Ross is a builder of innovations in the field of diversity and inclusion and a unifier of people, organizations, and causes. He is founder & Chief Learning Officer of Cook Ross Inc. and an advisor to major global educational, corporate, philanthropic, and governmental organizations. Through his unique combination of a personal and system-focused approach, Howard is an advocate for high-performing organizational cultures that advance people, performance, and profits. He is the author of ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance.

Melissa Greenwell, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, leads human resources, communications and corporate social responsibility initiatives for Finish Line Inc., a national specialty athletic retailer. Melissa has applied her expertise in the design and development of organizations in many industries to help create high performance companies. Her career includes senior human resource leadership positions with Sallie Mae, Brightpoint North America, JP Morgan Chase, Oak Street Mortgage and Made2Manage Systems.

Darlene Slaughter is leading efforts to expedite and advance worldwide diversity and inclusion strategies, partnerships and initiatives working closely with community-based United Ways, as well as corporate and community partners.

Prior to joining United Way Worldwide, she served as the Principal Consultant and Chair of Linkage Institute for Leading Diversity and Inclusion where she trained corporate leaders on developing and leading diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. Before Linkage, she led an integrated strategy to utilize and support the talents at Fannie Mae and designed the first Executive Diversity Council as its Chief Diversity Officer.

Her work in diversity and inclusion has been recognized in various ways. She has won many awards and honors including SAVOY’s 2012 Top 100 Influential Women in Corporate America, Profiles in Diversity Journal’s list of Women Worth Watching, Black Enterprises’ Top Executives in Diversity and Heart & Soul’s Women of Substances in Finance. She is also a frequent speaker on topics such as changing management, women’s initiatives, financial literacy, leadership development and concepts on diversity and inclusion.

She holds a M.S. in Human Resource Management and Organizational Development from American University and a B.S. in Elementary Education from Howard University.

Don Cates is the President and CEO of 3 Rivers FCU, and $780 million, 70,000 member Credit Union in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  He joined the Credit Union in October of 2011 as the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer.  Prior to coming to 3River he was President/CEO and served on the board of Directors of AmericanTrust in Peru, Indiana.  At 31 he was the youngest Bank CEO in the State of Indiana, and served in that capacity for 10 years.   His previous experience includes sales management, branch administration and commercial lending.  He was Chairman of the Miami County Economic Development Corporation for 5 years, and has been active in Economic Development for over 15 years.   He is involved with the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnerships Regional Opportunities Council, United Way Campaign Cabinet Chairman, and is on the board for Junior Achievement of Northeast Indiana.

 

Laura Haynes is Vice President and Relationship Manager for Stock Yards Bank & Trust Commercial Banking division. She has worked in the commercial banking arena for more than 27 years. Laura has extensive experience and expertise in all facets of lending including middle market, small business, asset-based and floorplan lending.

Outside of banking, Laura keeps active in her community serving various organizations including being the Vice Chairperson of the Advisory Board for Mentoring Women’s Network in Indianapolis, Treasurer and Past President of the Central Indiana Chapter of the Risk Management Association (RMA), Rotary Club of Indianapolis member sitting on various committees and member of Executive Women in HealthCare. She was an active volunteer for the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana for 14 years where she served as troop leader and Treasurer for the Pike Township Service Unit. Laura is listed as one of the Outstanding Young Woman of America.

Laura is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Mathematics. She is married and has two daughters.

Melissa Buck is a Relationship Manager and Vice President for Comerica Bank in the Texas Market. She received her B.A. Degree from Florida Atlantic University with a major in Marketing and a minor in Retail Management. She started her career in clothing retail with Banana Republic and ran the third largest location in the country with over 14,000 square feet and over $14,000,000 in sales. She transitioned to banking in 2004 and helped establish a new bank in the Indiana market. Melissa has excelled in the transition winning numerous awards and in her first year of banking was awarded one of the top Branch Manager awards. Her success in banking started early, as she was asked to be on a panel that discussed the retail environment of banking to the executives of Charter One Bank just three months after her hire date. Melissa is a certified Business Banking Advocate and has spent the majority of her volunteer efforts being an advocate for women’s initiatives. She is an active member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) and Comerica’s Women’s Forum. In 2015, she was elected to serve as Chairperson of the Dallas chapter of Mentoring Women’s Network.

Patty has over 30 years of experience in partnering with organizations in the delivery of effective and measurable solutions to a variety of leadership development issues. She has assisted a broad base of client companies, both locally and nationally in both the profit and not-for-profit sectors, in growing, developing, and retaining their high potential leadership talent.
As a corporate executive with a multibillion dollar global organization for 12 years, followed by 20+ years as the head of a highly regarded career and leadership development firm, Patty has both experienced and understands many of the challenges and opportunities facing organizations and their key leaders today. Her expertise lies in an ability to assist leaders and teams in understanding themselves, the impact they have within their organizations and on others, opportunities for growth and enhanced leadership effectiveness, and action planning to meet both professional and personal goals. Her approach is collaborative and focuses on helping individuals build upon the strengths, skills and experiences that have contributed to their current success, while identifying opportunities and tools to help them significantly raise their leadership capital within the organizations they serve.
Patty is a recognized and active leader in the Indianapolis business community, sitting on a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit boards and is the immediate Past Chair of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. She believes strongly in the concept of “paying it forward” and that leaders have a responsibility to be role models and strong stewards in their communities.
Patty has a B.S. in Education from the University of Kentucky, as well as numerous post-graduate hours in career management and professional and leadership development. She is a Certified Integrity Coach and a graduate of the Marshall Goldsmith Leadership Development and Executive Coaching Academy. She is certified in numerous leadership assessment and developmental tools that she uses to both diagnose situations and create effective and measurable action plans.