Kathryn Bennett

Chief Ingredients Officer

Kathryn Bennett, CPSM, is a versatile professional known for their expertise in proposal writing, project management, and technical writing. With a background in social and behavioral health, Kathryn's career spans technology, healthcare, and engineering/construction. As a Tech Co-Founder, Sales Enablement Community Builder, and TEDx Speaker, they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their speaking engagements. Kathryn's journey from overcoming burnout to reaching a director position inspires others to develop mental tenacity and resilience. With certifications in safety management, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and professional services marketing, Kathryn's expertise extends beyond proposals. They have been honored as a Young Professional of the Year and nominated for Marketer of the Year. Kathryn's publications, podcast appearances, and TEDx talks showcase their commitment to sharing knowledge and empowering others.

Ben Klein

Chief Recipe Officer

Ben Klein is a dynamic speaker and entrepreneur with expertise in sales response, community leadership, and operations consulting. As the Chief Recipe Officer at Proposal Industry Experts (PIE), Ben co-founded the platform to provide a safe and inclusive space for proposal professionals. With a proven track record, Ben has streamlined processes, saved clients substantial costs, and successfully managed complex multi-location infrastructure rollouts. His technical improvements have even earned him the title of "hero" from his team. Passionate about improving the human experience, Ben actively seeks opportunities to make a positive impact. With a Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies, Ben brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his speaking engagements. Prepare to be inspired by his insights and commitment to success in the proposal industry at the Recipes for Winning 2023 conference.

Rachelle Ray

Chief Bakers Officer

Rachelle Ray is a seasoned proposal management and AEC marketing consultant based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With expertise in strategic planning, marketing strategy, and strategic thinking, Rachelle collaborates with small and medium-sized businesses to develop targeted communication strategies and execute successful marketing campaigns. Specializing in the AEC industry, she excels in creating customized proposals that have proven to increase shortlist and win rates. Rachelle's unique ability to bridge the gap between creativity and business enables her to deliver impactful marketing solutions. As the owner of RMR Consulting, she helps AEC professionals strike a balance in their marketing workload and submit top-quality proposals while optimizing costs. With her strategic communication background and passion for problem-solving, Rachelle is a sought-after speaker who provides valuable insights and practical tips to propel professionals forward in the proposal management and marketing fields.

Frankie Nicoletti

Keynote Speaker

Frankie Nicoletti is a senior engineering leader, public speaker, and record-holding powerlifter based in Las Vegas. They are currently serving as VP of Engineering at SoLo Funds, an LA-based community finance platform on CNBC's Disruptors 50 list. Self-identified "fixer" and former accountant, they have extensive experience in early-stage startups across industries including e-commerce, marketing, big data, social media, and fintech. They believe tech is for everyone and that the most important part of your business is the people.

Ansa Edim

Keynote Speaker

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Bobbie Carlton

Keynote Speaker

Bobbie Carlton is the founder of Carlton PR & Marketing, Innovation Nights and Innovation Women, or, as she calls them, the day job, the night job and the dream job. Carlton is an entertaining, tell-it-like-it-is speaker who speaks extensively (and passionately) about public speaking and how it can be the driving force behind career growth and business success. She's a TEDx speaker; an entertaining startup event host; she's spoken at the United Nations; she's shared the stage with storytelling legend (and NPR's Snap Judgment host) Glynn Washington; and she's been on the main stage for some of the world’s best-known conferences for technical and professional women. Carlton has been featured on CBS News, in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, USA Today and other major media. She was previously the head of global PR at two different enterprise software companies and the head of marketing for a brand devoted to providing positive role models for preteen girls. She’s inspired thousands of technical, entrepreneurial and executive women to take control of their own speaking careers and has worked with event managers around the world to deliver diverse and inclusive events.

Courtney A Southern-Zahm

Speaker

An accomplished marketing and communications professional with 17 years of experience spanning a diverse set of industries including federal A-E contracting business development (research/analysis, strategy, proposal management, SF 330 development); advertising, public relations, community outreach, and social media; corporate communications; and web content development and management. Specializes in RFP compliance, messaging, writing to WIN.

Louise Pulini

Speaker

I haver over 25 years in proposal management experience. I have been Secretary of the APMP Liberty Chapter board for over 12 years. I am not retired but doing consulting and also teaching film courses in adult education settings.

Greg Atnip

Speaker

Gregory Atnip is an experienced RFP Proposal Manager currently working at DigiCert. With a background in technical proposal writing, Gregory brings expertise in crafting compelling proposals. Based in Dubuque, Iowa, Gregory has worked with reputable organizations such as COFENSE and Cartegraph, where he honed his skills in proposal coordination and business process improvement. Having held various roles, including Sales Development Representative and Project Advisor, Gregory has gained a comprehensive understanding of the proposal management landscape. His attention to detail, lean process improvement knowledge, and proficiency in proposal writing have contributed to his success in the field. Gregory's dedication to delivering high-quality proposals and his expertise in using lean six sigma methodologies and performance metrics make him a valuable speaker in the proposal management community. Attendees can expect to gain insights and practical tips from Gregory's session at the Recipes for Winning 2023 conference.

Lauren Leulu

Speaker

Lauren Leulu (pronounced loo-loo) has nearly 10 years of experience in the federal procurement arena, working in multiple business development positions such as marketing and proposal coordination and management. Currently she is the President and CEO of Lauren Leulu Consulting LLC, a small graphic design and branding consultancy focused on helping small government contractors and adjacent businesses. Her primary focus in her career has been on branding, graphic design, and proposal work. Her work experience, combined with her portfolio and her academic training, makes her uniquely qualified to translate small govcon needs into fluid, consistent brands. Lauren is also skilled in leading large, diverse teams of subject matter experts, writers, and other BD personnel in the proposal process, managing the proposal from before RFP release to submission, and even finding teaming and joint venture partners. Recent large proposals she has managed include multi-billion dollar GWACs such as NIH CIO-SP4 and GSA 8(a) STARS III, winning the latter. She also enjoys BD research and digging into procurement-related data. Lauren is currently a student in The George Washington University Law School’s Master of Studies in Law (MSL) program where she is studying government procurement.

Beth Fiset

Speaker

Beth Fiset has been a proposal professional for four years in the accounting industry. She has worked remotely since March of 2020 and is mom to two of the best kids you could ever meet. She loves connecting with other proposal professionals on LinkedIn and definitely wants to hear all about your favorite novel.

Caryn Kent Dean

Speaker

Caryn Kent Dean, MLIS, CP APMP, is the CEO & Founder of Once Upon an RFP, a Chicago-based proposal consultancy founded in 2018. She leads a team of 20, supporting solopreneurs through Fortune 500 clients to tame the proposal chaos and win business through bidding. Caryn started her career in proposals 25+ years ago after completing her Master’s in Library and Information Science specializing in Reference Services. Since then, she’s worked for companies in the SaaS, Professional Services, and IT Value Added Reseller industries. Her thought leadership includes appearing on the Government Coins, Baachu Scribble Talk, and Proposal.Works podcasts, speaking at conferences, and writing for APMP’s Winning the Business. In addition, Caryn is very active in the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a certified Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) and SBA-certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB).

Yvonne Gardner

Speaker

As a Proposal Management Professional, I have collaborated with numerous teams from various sizes and industries resulting in $1B+ in contract bookings across multiple competitive procurements. Either as a Consultant or on-staff employee, I have had the pleasure to worked with many firms, small, mid-sized and large. In addition to producing projects using traditional Shipley-based proposal principals, I specialized in Process Improvement of Training. I have also developed non-traditional methods of proposal management from an agile-based perspective, often used in smaller digital services IT companies and have trained larger businesses to produce their proposals in a streamlined, co-created process.

Nicole Robinson

NREF podcaster

Nicole Robinson is a 16-year Sales Operations and Enablement professional who specializes in Proposal Management. Over the span of her career, Nicole has led the response process for hundreds of RFP’s resulting in millions of dollars in business awarded across several industries. Currently, Nicole is the Sales Operations Manager – Bid Management at Cyderes, a global cybersecurity firm based in Toronto. Nicole supports the organization’s overall goals with her direct involvement on the Sales Operations and business development teams. She holds an honours degree in business Marketing has a deep love of film and TV production. She is currently 1 of the hosts of the No Really Everything’s Fine Podcast a podcast specifically for Proposal Professionals. She has also just launched the Proposal Manager’s Planner an organizational tool designed for Proposal pros, and she hosts and produces a podcast about movies and TV called Obsessable.

Ashleigh Eisinger

Speaker

Ashleigh Eisinger is a marketer who loves to research, analyze, write, and build relationships across an organization. She spent four years working closely with cross-functional teams on RFPs, RFIs, and proposals for small, large, and enterprise-size clients, including government and healthcare entities. Ashleigh now focuses on competitive intelligence, product marketing, and enablement. She lives in Nashville with her husband, three dogs, and an ever-growing collection of interests and hobbies.

Izane Cloete-Hamilton

Chief Inspiration Officer at nFold

Izane Cloete-Hamilton is a distinguished proposal expert and the Chief Inspiration Officer at nFold, a strategic proposal and pitch consultancy in South Africa. With over 20 years of experience in business development at global giants like IBM, Compaq, and Westcon, Izane has honed her passion for winning business through proposals, tenders, and presentations. As one of only 10 APMP-certified proposal professionals in South Africa, she has made significant contributions to the industry. Izane's past achievements include establishing the group bid office at EOH, an ICT company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, where she developed and implemented processes that grew the bid team to a 23-person unit supporting over 230 different business units. Her expertise in bid management has led her to present at international conferences like BPC Europe and the Smart Procurement World Indaba, as well as training entrepreneurs through the Lionesses of Africa social enterprise. A compassionate leader, Izane is known for inspiring success in others through thought leadership, training, and strategy development. Her impactful speaker profile positions her as a credible and influential speaker at global conferences.

Ceri Mescall

Work Winning Consultant

I’m a Work Winning Consultant based in Western Canada. I help organizations generate revenue through proposal services. I’ve worked in proposals for 17 years in the UK and Canada as part of global teams. I’m one of only 22 people globally (out of 12,000+ active members) that holds all four signature Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) certifications. I’m also an APMP 40 Under 40 Award winner (class of 2019) and an APMP Fellow (class of 2020). I love to talk (and write) about proposals so I’ve been a conference presenter, webinar host and panelist, article author, awards judge, and LinkedIn content creator.

Kristin Clark

Executive Design Coach

Having been a Graphic Designer for going on 30 years, Kristin has worked in a wide variety of industries ranging from corporate real estate to city government to AEC to international nonprofit to having her own freelance business. She has headed up workshops on design concepts and protocols, directed numerous brand campaigns and participated in mentor programs. Kristin has lead multiple teams over the years in RFP and interview prep guiding them to incorporate design thinking in to the process to elevate their success rate. She loves design of all kinds and brings that mindset to the table guiding people to think more creatively and bring a quality to a project that is more than just checking the boxes.

Brigitte Smalley

Senior Capture Manager

Bri is a Senior Capture Manager recently transitioned from Proposal Management. She has over 15 years' experience in Federal government contracting, having served in a variety of roles from project control where she was responsible for the budgeting, forecasting and tracking of multimillion dollar programs, to cost and pricing, capture, business development, marketing, and proposal development .As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), she provided Project Management support on a task order for INSCOM, responsible for the day to day contract operations, reporting, and performance success. Eventually she moved back into proposal management, supporting every size of business, from the multi-billion dollar players down to the just starting out 2-person shops (and everything in between!). Her experience in a variety of roles offers a multifaceted approach to proposals and capture.

Kimberly Spencer

Proposal Professional

Edtech Expert.