Staff Bios
Vilma E. Colón
Human Resources Consultant
Vilma is president of Transition Matters®, a human resources
group that she established in 1997 after completing 25 years
of federal government service. Prior to establishing TM she
spent one year working for the Commonwealth of Virginia as the
Director of a federally funded program to help displaced federal
workers reenter the workforce. Vilma is Hispanic, bilingual
and is involved in the Hispanic business and federal community.
As President of TM, she has served as the primary focus for
a business that has grown significantly due to client satisfaction
with quality service and TM's commitment to innovative approaches
blended with traditional foundations. Her background as a former
high-level manager in both human resources and operational organizations
brings an expertise and understanding that is appreciated and
sought by TM clients. Vilma brings a passion for the possibilities
inherent in every organization and a desire to help the individuals
that make up the organization uncover and tap those possibilities.
During her federal career she was a division director for the
Federal Protective Service (GSA), in the area of human resources
and law enforcement training. As the first female director of
a traditionally male organization she experienced first hand
the resistance an organization can experience when faced with
new circumstances or ideas.
She later established and directed a pilot career transition
center for the Interagency Advisory Group (IAG), Office of Personnel
Management (OPM), as part of President Clinton's career
transition initiative to help federal employees being affected
by downsizing. Through these experiences she has fostered an
awareness of and appreciation for the difficulties individuals
and organizations experience as they traverse life's transitions.
This prompted her to seek professional certifications in a variety
of wide-ranging programs that address both transitional and
change issues.
She spent several years early in her federal career as an
intelligence analyst with the National Security Agency.
In addition, she has a Masters degree in Human Relations and
Counseling from Webster College, and is also a certified facilitator
in the Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator (MBTI), Stephen Covey,
"Seven Habits for Highly Effective People", William
Bridges, "Managing Organizational and Personal Transition",
and "The Change Cycle Locator" programs.
Lynda Welborn Poll
Southeast Liaison, Performance Consultant
Lynda became associated with Transition Matters after completing
a successful 31-year career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). She has served as Senior Associate and is sought after
by clients as a problem-solver offering insightful, sound, targeted
solutions or advice, and training interventions in a wide-range
of skill areas.
Lynda's experience has been developed on both sides of the
table having served for 15 years as a senior level manager responsible
for high profile work in a demanding, time-sensitive, real world
setting, as well as in the classroom instructing and guiding
senior and executive level managers.
She served for seven years as a primary advisor on organizational
development issues to several FBI executives. She also facilitated
extensive, organization-wide studies to look at the "Role
of Women in Law Enforcement" and "Performance Management
and the Millennium". She served as primary coordinator
for the Total Quality Management (TQM) process in the two largest
divisions of the FBI and as one of three organizational coordinators
of TQM for the entire FBI. She served as the point of contact
for the National Performance Review's "Performance Based
Organizations" (PBO) concept in the FBI, and coordinated
the initial consideration of PBO for selected portions of the
FBI.
Lynda also has experience in the private sector having participated
in a workforce development project for Resource Consultants
Incorporated, and in the non-profit field through her pro-bono
work in assisting several arts organization's Executive Board
of Directors with strategic planning.
Lynda is committed to lifelong learning and has numerous professional
facilitator certifications in programs such as, the Myers Briggs
Temperament Indicator, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People, William Bridges' Managing Organizational Transition
Programs, Change Cycle Locator Programs, and, ODI's Process
Improvement and Teamwork Programs. She received a degree from
George Washington University in 1982 and has recently completed
additional course work in sociology and psychology.
Mickey Skibinski
Human Resources Consultant
Mickey is a Human Resources Consultant with more than 35 years
of Federal Government service. She has been active in the human
resources field for more than 20 years, in both field and headquarters
locations. Through this she has developed a hands-on service
provider perspective at the operating level, and an end-user/customer
perspective at a management level.
As a Division Director she managed diverse workforces and designed
and coordinated broad scope workshops and conferences. She also
developed and conducted training courses on topics such as new
employee orientation, diversity, ethics, and supervisory and
managerial skills. She brings her extensive experience in human
resources management, as well as program and executive management
when serving clients. Her many years as a high level manager
provides a breadth of knowledge that is conveyed to clients
in consultations, and with participants in the classroom. Her
experience, confidence and extensive background makes her highly
sought after by TM clients. She is creative in finding solutions
to assist managers in streamlining their processes in order
to become effective, value-added organizations and in helping
front-line employees develop their skills and competencies to
meet new requirements. She stays abreast of ongoing policy and
competency developments in the human resource field and is very
adept at translating those new requirements in to "Monday
Morning Application."
Mickey has continued her pursuit of professional development
opportunities as a TM Associate and is a certified facilitator
for William Bridges' "Managing Organizational and Personal
Transition" course. Mickey graduated with a BA in personnel
management from DePaul University in Chicago and obtained a
Masters of Public Administration from American University, Washington,
D.C.
Sally Kraus Marshall
Human Resources Consultant
Sally Marshall is president of Human Resource Solutions, a
firm she established in 1994 following a 20-year career with
the federal government. She serves as a consultant, facilitator,
lecturer and trainer for a broad range of clients. She specializes
in managing change in public sector and non-profit organizations.
She is a senior consultant to the Center for Human Resource
Management of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public
Affairs has appointed her a Maxwell Fellow.
She is a guest lecturer for a number of universities and public-service
establishments, including the Brookings Institution, the University
of Southern California, American University, and the Federal
Executive Development Centers.
She was Assistant Director of the U. S. Office of Personnel
Management before launching her own business. At the OPM, she
was Director of Systems Innovation. She designed a wide array
of research and demonstration projects that improved and simplified
federal human resource management.
She joined the OPM following a two-year stint as founding
Executive Director of the Public Service Consortium. She assumed
that position following nine years of service as Personnel Director
for the General Services Administration. At GSA, she designed
and implemented a downsizing and restructuring project that
reduced employment rolls from 40,000 to 20,000, with a minimum
of dismissals.
From 1974 until 1976 she served as Assistant Director of the
Labor Relations Training Center of the U. S. Civil Service Commission,
where she designed and delivered a broad range of labor relations
programs. For the next three years she was Labor Relations Officer
for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where she negotiated
many contracts with 17 unions.
She has been awarded an honorary lifetime membership by the
International Personnel Management Association and was elected
President of the Federal Section and served as a member of the
IPMA Executive Council. She is past President of the Society
of Federal Labor Relations Professionals. Sally is a member
of the Advisory Council for the Professional Managers Association.
She is a member of the Board of Directors of The Public Manager,
formerly known as The Bureaucrat.
Her many honors include the Presidential Rank of Meritorious
Executive, the GSA Meritorious Service Award and the Treasury
Department's Outstanding Labor Management Relations Award. She
was awarded the Hammer Award by Vice President Al Gore for her
contributions to the reinventing government efforts.
Dennis J. Sullivan
Career Counselor
Dennis is a career transition counselor and trainer who has
assisted thousands of adults with job search and career change
issues. He is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) and Career
Counselor (NCCC) who possesses a Master's in Counseling and
a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. Dennis
is also a certified facilitator for the Myers-Briggs Type Instrument
(MBTI), the Strong Instrument Inventory, and other career assessment
tools.
Dennis' related professional experience includes developing
the Metro Area Re-employment Project Centers - for displaced
federal workers - in Wheaton, Maryland and in Fairfax, Virginia;
overseeing The American University Career Center's Alumni Career
Program and The Career Resource Area; co-development of an award
winning Career Assessment Unit at The Montgomery County - Private
Industry Council (PIC). In his work with the federal employees,
he has specialized on individual counseling, administering career
assessment tools, developed and conducted workshops in the Career
Assessment and Job Search skills areas.
Mr. Sullivan's professional commitment is to help customers
develop clarity and focus around their career decision-making
and goal-setting. A variety of assessment tools (MBTI; Strong
Interest Inventory; Skillscan); interviewing techniques; and
career resources are utilized in reaching this objective.
Dennis is a long-time Washington area resident who grew up
in a Navy family, and currently resides in Northern Virginia
with his wife Yvette and five children - daughters, Alexandra
and Alicia (twins) and Gabrielle and sons, D.J. and Robert.
Darma Castro Paden
West Coast Liaison, Job Developer
Darma is a certified career coach and job developer primarily
working with college students. She works at Mt. San Antonio
College, a southern California college that serves over 40,000
students a year and is the third largest college in the state
of California, the first two being UCLA and University of Southern
California. She has a degree from California State University,
Fullerton, and has worked as a social worker, probation officer,
and a park director. She has developed and conducted workshops
in the job search skills and retention area, career transition,
and job readiness.
Her commitment is to help students seek and find meaningful
employment that will lead to job placement and independent living.
She is devoted to helping women to gain independence through
education. She has partnered with private sector companies to
place students with on-the-job training (OJT) assignments and
established internships that have led to permanent placement.
Darma develops the workshops so that the participants walk away
with the skills and tools to find employment at any stage of
life. Darma is certified in Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counseling
working directly with a rehabilitation center and the California
Department of Rehabilitation. She volunteers also for a rape
hotline and has done lay counseling. She is Vice President of
the local Toastmasters and addresses many community organizations
on the various current market trends and promoting skilled employable
students.
As the West Coast liaison, Darma markets and coordinates workshops
for Transition Matters® consultants and trainers in all
areas of career transition and human resources. She is an active
member of the International Association of Career Management
Professionals and the Community College Placement Association.
Her professional accomplishments are complimented by her devotion
to her family, church and the disabled community.
Michael J. Masternak
Michigan Liaison, Human Resources Consultant
Mike was the Human Resources Director for the state of Michigan's
13,000 employee Family Independence Agency. As HR Director,
a position he held for 14 years, he was responsible for managing
all aspects of the Human Resources function, including labor
relations, recruitment, selection, classification, compensation,
benefits administration, and training and professional development.
Prior to the Director's position, he spent 18 years managing
the Labor Relations Department, and has a wealth of hands on
experience in collective bargaining negotiations, grievance
administration, arbitration, employee discipline and general
contract management.
As a Director, he was committed to implementing HR's new role
in his organization. He knows first hand of the challenges and
rewards of moving HR from the traditional role to today's new
HR model. Mike finds that teaching these new roles helps keep
him focused on moving his HR organization into the 21st century.
Mike has his BA in Economics from Indiana University and his
MA, also in Economics, from Michigan State University. While
at MSU, he completed all requirements except for the dissertation
for a PhD in Labor and Industrial Relations. He was an Instructor
at MSU while working on his PhD, and in recent years has served
on the faculty of Lansing Community College, where he taught
classes in Grievance and Arbitration, and Negotiations and Collective
Bargaining.
Tom McGrath
Southeast Liaison, Human Resources Consultant
Tom is a human resources consultant who recently completed
a 26 year HR career as a generalist with the General Services
Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE).
For the last 13 years he was the New England regional director
of HR for both agencies under a unique interagency agreement
for joint servicing. In this capacity he managed all HR activities
for both agencies, in addition to EEO responsibilities for GSA.
Tom has had significant experience in transition activities,
particularly a long term shift from in house staff performance
of GSA mission to outsourcing for agency products and services.
This ten year transition resulted in a reduction of New England
employee population from 1300 to 400. It also required shifts
from traditional management styles to team and total quality
methods. Throughout this period he was heavily involved with
management decision making, RIF management / implementation,
and outplacement services. Key to successful transition was
communication with affected employees, labor representatives,
out placement providers, and potential employers. Tom organized
and frequently led seminars, focus groups, skills and transition
training, labor management forums and similar activities to
facilitate smooth transitions.
Tom served on the GSA's national strategic planning group for
HR, which crafted solutions for long and short-term success.
This group implemented a centralized processing center and transition
to new computer systems, created significant tools for measurement
of efficiency and cost of HR which led to internal customer
financing of HR activities, and streamlined internal methods
in various HR disciplines. Besides helping develop these innovations,
Tom was responsible for explaining changes to New England regional
management and securing their support for the efforts.
Tom has directed a full service HR office where a small staff
delivered all HR services to regional employees and managers
in two agencies. He has performed all HR functions including
staffing, position classification, employee relations, labor
relations, retirement and benefits counseling/administration,
EEO and diversity, performance management, employee development,
and employee assistance coordination. He has also represented
management in MSPB and FLRA hearings and reviews, collaborating
with legal counsel in advising management, devising strategy
and preparing formal filings.
Tom has a Bachelor's degree in English from SUNY Cortland,
and completed all course requirements for the Master's
in English. He is past president and frequent officer of the
New England Personnel Council. With the Council he helped organize
and present joint HR/EEO annual conferences which brought national
players to the field, and provided numerous technical seminar
and training opportunities. Prior to his federal career he taught
high school English for five years in New York State, served
in the U.S. Army as a journalist, and worked in public relations.
An avid fisherman, Tom is married, has two grown daughters,
and resides in North Carolina.
