Paula Sharp, SPHR, GPHR, CCP, CBP, GRP is vice president of human resources with Texas Petrochemicals, Inc. She has more than 25 years of experience in human resources strategic planning and process improvement, employee relations, labor relations, recruiting, succession planning, employee development, employee assessments, career development, training and development programs, compensation, payroll, benefits, policies and procedures, and Human Resources Information Systems. She is an active member of the Planning Committee for the 2008 Texas Total Rewards Conference.  She also has been active in the local HR Houston Chapter and the SHRM organization. Ms. Sharp has taught the "SHRM Learning System®" at DePaul University and Rice University since 1996 as well as the senior HR study program for over five years.

Ms. Sharp holds a BBA in management from Lamar University in Beaumont and an MBA with emphasis in human resources and labor relations from DePaul University in Chicago.   She has also taught graduate level courses in strategic compensation at the University of Houston, Clear Lake and the Keller Graduate School of Management in the Chicago area.

Bonnie Griffin has 19 years of experience in Human Resources with a current focus in Compensation.  She is currently the Compensation Administrator for Harris County, where she serves as Compensation and is also involved in projects involving Budget and HRIS data integrity.  She began her compensation and benefits experience at Texaco in 1990 and with the merger onto ChevronTexaco.  At Baker Hughes, she worked briefly for Baker Oil Tools before she began her work with Harris County. She earned her Professional Human Resource (PHR) certification in 2001, served as Secretary of Houston Compensation Association in 2002 & 2003, was on the HCA Board last year as 2009 Texas Total Rewards Conference Chair. As Chair of the Conference, she enjoyed planning and achieving with many of you as volunteers to make the 2009 Conference a success!  She is currently actively involved in setting up the Texas Total Rewards Alliance with the other Local Networks in Texas.  Bonnie received her graduate degree in Human Resource Management from Houston Baptist University.  She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Phoenix where she teaches undergraduate/graduate Human Resource Courses.  Her current goals include volunteering with Houston Compensation Association to ensure fellow professionals have the best opportunity to keep informed with current information regarding Compensation, Benefits and Work Life through educational meetings, interesting networking and other great training opportunities.

Amy T. Jones is a Consultant at hrQ and has previous human resources experience from organizations such as Deloitte & Touche, Compaq Computer Corporation, Administaff, and Texas Children’s Hospital.

Amy has extensive experience in designing, implementing and consulting around compensation best practices in a variety of industries. She is also highly skilled at utilizing total rewards to drive business goals while ensuring alignment to the overall human resources plan. She has worked closely with Compensation Committees to develop compensation programs to attract, retain and motivate top talent. In addition to her deep expertise in total rewards, Amy has also worked to integrate HR systems and performance management programs into an overall talent management strategy.

Amy is the current President of the Board of Directors for Houston Compensation Association. She also is a faculty member for WorldatWork where she teaches Base Pay Design and Performance Management to Human Resource professionals working towards their Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) Designation.

She holds an MBA from Sam Houston State University, a BS in Psychology from the University of Central Arkansas, and is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP).

Richard Smith, PHR, CCP

Richard has more than 17 years of experience in Human Resources in the areas of process improvement, recruiting, compensation, payroll, benefits, policies and procedures, and testing, recommending modifications, and implementing Human Resources Information System conversions and upgrades.

In his most current role as Sr. Compensation Specialist for Baker Hughes he maintained over forty pay structures for the Middle East region, had an incentive plan administration for three product lines, and conducted market analyses and salary surveys.

Richard has held corporate compensation positions for global employers in the energy services and financial services industries such as Halliburton, JPMorgan Chase, Van Kampen Investments, and the local health care industry with St Luke’s Episcopal Health System.  He also served as Chapter Webmaster for HR Houston in 1999-2000 and on their Membership Committee.

Richard holds a BBA from the University of Houston Downtown, current PHR and CCP HR certifications, and is currently working towards his Global Remuneration Professional (GRP) certification.

Fernando Herranz
High energy and enthusiastic, with more than 20 years of professional experience, 12 of which have been in areas of Human Resources, including Compensation, Benefits, HR Systems, Sales Compensation, Training, Performance Management and HR Generalist. Last 11 years have been with international responsibility.

Fernando’s recent experience has been in high tech industry, with positions held at Duracell Inc, Compaq Computer Corp, Hewlett Packard Co. and most recently BMC Software, where he currently holds the position of Sr. Mgr. Global Field Compensation.

Fernando holds a BBA from Universidad de Las Americas, an HR degree from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and an MBA from University of Houston, C.T. Bauer College of Business. Fully bi-lingual in English and Spanish.

Mark Gulyassy is a Lead Global Remuneration Advisor for Transocean’s Global Corporate Compensation Department in Houston.  He focuses on global broad-based employee compensation issues including job evaluation and analysis, market research, pay program design, implementation and special projects.

Previous consulting assignments include partnering with clients in the oil and gas, utilities, energy services, drilling, engineering, financial services and healthcare industries.  Mark also has experience conducting competitive market analyses and customized compensation surveys.  Mark has several years of consulting experience and has worked in corporate compensation management functions for global employers in the energy services, financial services and drilling industries.

Mark holds a BBA in Human Resource Management from Baylor University and a minor in Corporate Communications.  He is a member of WorldatWork and holds the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and Global Remuneration Professional (GRP) licenses.  He is looking to complete the Certified Benefits Professional (CBP) designation in 2010.

 Eric Neumann recently joined Air Liquide as a compensation specialist, with the responsibility for building the firm’s compensation function.  He has over twelve years of experience in providing consulting services and compensation management / program implementation for Fortune 500, private and VC-backed pre-IPO firms.

Most recently, he was a Senior Consultant with an independent / boutique firm (DolmatConnell & Partners) that provided executive compensation and employee total rewards consulting to companies in the life sciences, technology and alternative energy industries.  Previously, he worked as a consultant with Towers Perrin to analyze, design and implement Board of Directors’, executive and employee compensation plans (strategy, base salary, STI, LTI / equity, financial modeling) for large global / multi-national companies.  He was also part of Watson Wyatt’s Government Consulting practice working to bring market-based pay-for-performance to Federal agencies.

In addition, he helped rebuild the compensation function at a premier global marketing consulting agency, in Boston (Digitas) and make it one of the Best Places to Work in Massachusetts (#3 in 2004).  Eric graduated from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations with a B.S. in ILR.

Lindsey Ashworth joined Chevron's Total Remuneration team in May of 2008 as a Compensation Analyst. She supports two major North American business units and is responsible for analyzing Chevron's current compensation program to make recommendations on budgetary needs, the company's current competitive positioning and discussing compensation trends with executive leadership.

Prior to her most recent position, Lindsey served as an Executive Compensation Associate at Towers Perrin. Her extensive experience with both public and private organizations has allowed her work as a consultant on key projects from competitive analyses to short- and long-term incentive plan design. She is in the process of completing her CCP.

Katina Wilhite, CCP – Compensation Manager, Rowan Companies, Inc., a major provider of international and domestic offshore contract drilling services.  Katina joined Rowan Companies, Inc. in 2006. She is responsible for the development and administration of compensation and performance management programs worldwide. Among her accomplishments at Rowan, Katina has introduced a performance appraisal and development program, an annual incentive program, and has helped implement the SAP HRM software system. Katina collaborates with all levels of management, helping to ensure effective and efficient administration of the company’s reward programs. 

Prior to joining Rowan, Katina was Compensation, Benefits and Payroll Manager for Garden Ridge Management, Inc., where she developed the company’s first compensation administration guidelines and structures. During her tenure at Garden Ridge, Katina was instrumental in maintaining a low benefit plan cost structure for the company, while improving overall service provided to the employees. Katina’s career in Human Resources began at ABB Lummus Global, Inc., an oil and gas services company. There, she built a solid professional foundation, as she served as a Human Resources Generalist and Corporate Compensation and Benefits Analyst. Katina has had responsibility for a wide variety of Human Resources functions, including recruitment, employee relations, payroll, compensation and benefits. She has experience in multiple industries, including retail and oil and gas services.  Katina holds an MBA from the University of Houston, and a BS in Psychology from Texas A&M University at College Station. She is a member of WorldatWork and the Houston Compensation Association. Katina has served on the Hospitality and Communication committees of the 2008 and 2009 Texas Total Rewards Conferences, respectively, and looks forward to working with the Conference in the future.