Forum

Ed Boswell

President and Chief Executive Officer

Boston, MA

Ed is president and chief executive officer of Forum. In addition to his duties as CEO, Ed advises senior executive teams involved in major organizational transformation initiatives. Ed celebrated his 20th anniversary with Forum in 2009. Prior to joining Forum, Ed led sales and service teams for IBM and served as an organizational consultant for Human Systems.

Ed is co-author of Forum’s latest book, Strategic Speed: Mobilize People, Accelerate Execution (Harvard Business Press, June 2010). A recognized leader in the field of performance improvement, Ed often speaks at industry conferences and is quoted in the press on issues relating to leadership and organizational performance.

Ed earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, he earned a Master’s and a Ph.D. in psychology, as well as The Wharton School Certificate in business administration, all from the University of Pennsylvania. Ed has also received a President's Award from DuPont Mexico and a Forum Chairman's Award for his work.

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Alyson Brandt

Executive Vice President, Global Sales

New York, NY

An experienced business leader based in New York City, Aly has effectively driven regional and global sales and management initiatives since becoming an executive team member of the Forum Corporation in 2003.

She joined Forum in 1988, and has consistently been recognized as one of the company's top revenue producers. With over 20 years of global business development experience, she is well networked in the global leadership development industry. Aly currently heads regional sales teams in the UK, Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America. She advises Global 1000 executives and senior leaders on best practices in global sales force development, sales leadership and management and leadership initiatives.

Her clients have included a range of industry leaders, including Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Pfizer, Starwood, Covidien, Unilever, Canon, Bausch & Lomb and Chubb. Her prior roles included General Manager for the Northeast region, VP of Sales, Northeast and Senior Account Director.

Aly has served on multiple advisory boards, including a paid position as a Partner Development Board member at Deloitte. For over 10 years, she has served as Chairman of the Board of Naked Angels, a nationally recognized original work theatre group based in New York City.

Aly was awarded a B.A. in Philosophy at Boston University. Within her work, Aly has been awarded numerous Chairman's Awards, Sales Awards and Industry Awards, including an Excellence in Practice Citation from ASTD for work with Deloitte and an ISPI Award for Excellence in Outstanding Human Performance Intervention for work with Xerox.

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Ron Bohlin

Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Business Performance

Boston, MA

Ron brings more than 25 years of strategic consulting and entrepreneurial leadership to his consulting practice with clients and his role as Forum’s executive vice president of corporate development and business performance. A seasoned management consultant, Ron spent 11 years with McKinsey & Co., and was a partner and leader of the computer industry practice.

Following McKinsey, Ron was an entrepreneurial leader in IT-related consulting businesses. Ron served as senior vice president and practice leader for worldwide strategic services and learning services at Digital Equipment Corp. He also led the Digital Consulting organization in Europe. As a member of the senior executive team at startup Renaissance Solutions, Ron became a recognized expert in the application of knowledge management methods and technologies to improve core business processes, and helped lead the firm through a successful IPO. As co-founder and chief operating officer of Nextera Enterprises, Ron led that firm from initial strategizing through multiple acquisitions and a successful IPO.

Ron has an MBA from Harvard Business School and undergraduate degree in engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a past member of the board of advisors for WPI’s management department, and occasionally teaches a graduate level course in entrepreneurship at Plymouth State University in his home state of New Hampshire.

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Ellen Foley

Executive Vice President, Client Engagements

Palo Alto, CA

Ellen Foley is head of the delivery function for Forum. In this role, Ellen oversees the teams that deliver our client work, including Engagement Management, Consulting & Design, Publications, and our Resource Network (ResNet).

During her 18-year tenure at Forum, Ellen has held a variety of line and staff positions, including: leader of the people function; leader of Forum's Strategy Review Task Force; division manager; general manager of one of Forum's outsourcing alliances; manager of Forum's Training Organization Assessment Capability; engagement leader of Forum's largest training organization assessment and re-engineering project; leader of Forum's Learning Management Strategy Review Task Force; and learning consultant/designer.

Before joining Forum, Ellen spent 10 years in the financial services industry. As vice president and director of training and development for BayBanks, a regional bank in New England, she and her staff of training specialists were responsible for organization-wide training.

Ellen is a learning professional with nearly 30 years of experience. She has worked with clients in a variety of industries including financial services, high technology, healthcare, insurance, automotive, aerospace, and utilities.

Ellen has a bachelor’s degree from Williams College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. She is a published author of several supervisory and management workshops and video-based learning programs for the American Management Association, including Coaching for Top Performance, Giving Clear Directions, Follow-Up Coaching, Creative Thinking, and Where Do I Go From Here?

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Jocelyn Davis

Executive Vice President, Research & Development

Santa Fe, NM

A veteran of Forum since 1989, Jocelyn leads Forum's global research and development function. She is responsible for Forum's strategies regarding creating and leveraging intellectual property, which includes original research, learningware, consulting tools and protocols, as well as other core content. Jocelyn also provides design advice on client projects and has worked with clients such as Eli Lilly, GE, Bausch & Lomb, Coca Cola, Agilent, Microsoft, BankOne, Walt Disney, and Nike. Jocelyn is co-author of Forum’s latest book, Strategic Speed: Mobilize People, Accelerate Execution (Harvard Business Press, June 2010).

In the past decade, Jocelyn's teams have doubled the size of Forum's library with innovative learning curricula, including Leading Change, Leading Innovation, Leading Across Boundaries, Achieving Service Excellence, Sales Through Service, Leading Effective Sales Teams, Strategic Account Management, Senior-Level Selling, and Consultative Skills. She co-authored the research reports "Blended Learning Strategy" and "Principles of Workplace Learning," which offer new strategies and tools for improving performance in the workplace using blended learning methods. She has also evolved Forum's products and capabilities to make them more flexible, broader-ranging, and more attuned to client needs.

As a consultant with the Forum Corporation of Canada, Jocelyn previously led projects in the design and development of client-specific learning solutions, working with clients such as The Toronto Star, KPMG, MCI, GE Capital, and Unilever.

Jocelyn is the recipient of numerous awards including three of Forum's Corporate Excellence Awards, a Forum Manager of the Year Award, and two Human Resource Executive Training Products Awards for sales and teaming systems courses. She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy with high honors from Swarthmore College and a Master of Arts in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Will Milano

Vice President of Marketing

Boston, MA

Will joined Forum in January 2009, and leads Forum's global marketing function. In this role, Will is responsible for all aspects of global marketing including strategy, branding, and communications. Will focuses on various areas, including: messaging development; promotion of Forum's thought leadership and research; Forum’s Web presence and social media marketing; conferences and events participation; public relations; collateral and sales tools development; trade associations involvement, and customer relationship management.

Prior to joining Forum, Will spent more than five years with PRTM Management Consultants leading their industry and product marketing team in the U.S. Overall, Will has 15 years of marketing experience within professional services and high-tech product companies.

Will earned his bachelor's degree in business from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and an MBA from California State University Long Beach. He is an active member of The Professional Marketing Forum and the New England Direct Marketing Association.

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Melissa Davis

General Counsel

New York, NY

As General Counsel for Forum, Melissa is responsible for a variety of general corporate matters and ensures that client legal discussions and agreements are as effortless as possible. Melissa combines a responsive, client-focused mindset with a firm understanding of in-house corporate processes and business partnerships.

Prior to joining Forum, Melissa was an associate in the corporate practice at both Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Jones Day, specializing in mergers and acquisitions and private equity funds. Melissa advised clients on all aspects of corporate transactions.

Melissa earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and a JD from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

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