PRESIDENT - Karen Elliott, Great American Insurance

Karen Elliott is an IT leader experienced in solution development and project management.  Karen demonstrates a high degree of collaborative skills with delivery, project, process and operational management efforts.  Karen has spent the last 17 years employed at Great American Insurance Group, currently the VP of IT Governance and Compliance overseeing the PMO, BA Practice, and Risk and Compliance Teams.   Karen also has prior IT work experience as a programmer/analyst in banking and health insurance.  Karen has her PMP certification and is a graduate from Northern Kentucky University.  In the past, Karen has volunteered at her local Church and has served several terms as one of the parent elect SBDM council members at a local elementary school.

SECRETARY- Marge Kirkpatrick, Great American Insurance

Marge Kirkpatrick is currently a business analyst at Great American Insurance.  She has worked for Great American since 1982, currently serving as the Enterprise BA for the Enterprise Data Warehouse initiative and as a Data Steward in the Data Stewardship Council.  At Great American, Marge worked on projects involving workflow and process analysis, source application requirements and design, warehouse requirements and design and business intelligence requirements.  Marge is currently a lead requirements engineering BA, helping to select requirements management tools and to develop and implement requirements management processes at Great American. Marge holds a B.S. in Economics degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU®,) designation and a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) designation.  

VICE PRESIDENT OF PLANNING - Dawn Courtney-Sanders, FirstGroup American

Dawn Courtney-Sanders has over ten years consulting experience as an IT professional providing support and innovation to increase productivity and maintain defined business objectives. Area of discipline includes Business Analysis and Project Management; successful achievements in business process improvement, application architecture design and project leadership. 
Proven ability in managing complex IT projects and clarifying business requirements, performing gap analysis between goals and existing procedures/skill sets, and designing process and system improvements to increase productivity and reduce costs. Strong analytical and interpersonal skills, highly adept at diplomatically facilitating discussions and negotiations with stakeholders in an effort to develop business efficiency. 
Grassroots background merging IT Technology and community development. Worked five years with community and community leaders to provide ongoing IT training and other social services for underprivileged citizens. Licensed Minister with over five years active ministerial duties, in the areas of evangelism, women's outreach, benevolence outreach and youth development. Serving Greater Cincinnati, and surrounding neighborhoods. Currently, working for FirstGroup American as IT Business Analyst, for Field Operations. Primary duties include (yet are not limited to):

• Manages the ongoing relationship between the IT organization and the First Group America Field Operations business organization. 
• Responsible for developing and maintaining a working relationship with the Field Operations business and acting as their advocate for technology to support strategic and operational business goals in alignment with IT strategic goals.
• Analyses business and technology practices, methods and procedures and makes recommendations for improvement as appropriate.

Educational Background: BA MIS/Business Management; BS Theology; Currently pursuing MSM (Strategic Management) 

VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATION  - Melissa Wiseman, Great American Insurance

Melissa Wiseman graduated from Miami University in 1997 with a BA in Accountancy ands earned her CBAP certification in April 2008.  She has 12 years of business analysis experience implementing COTS and in-house developed applications to multiple industries including Retail Category Management, Airline, Telecommunication and Property & Casualty Insurance.  She is currently a lead business analyst at Great American Insurance.  Melissa is committed to growing the Cincinnati IIBA chapter and hopes to encourage more local analysts to become involved in the organization and earn their CBAP certification.

VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP -  Allen Middleton, MAX Technical Training

Allen Middleton is the Director of Business Development at MAX Technical Training, a nationally recognized leader in Information Technology & Process Solutions Training.  Microsoft recognizes MAX as an elite “Microsoft Managed Gold Partner for Learning Solutions”.  MAX is also an exclusive local partner to Boston University’s Corporate Education Center, as well as the prestigious ITSM Academy.  Allen is a member of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners (IAMCP), Project Management Institute (PMI) and serves on the Federal Club Committee of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Allen is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

VICE PRESIDENT OF CERTIFICATION - Aaron Whittenberger, Star Base Consulting

Aaron Whittenberger is a Senior IT Strategy Consultant at STAR BASE Consulting, Inc., concentrating in the area of Business Analysis.  He has 23 years of IT experience including 12 as a consultant and more than 12 years of Business Analysis experience.  He is an avid Business Analyst, Project Manager, Software Developer, Blogger, Mentor, Presenter and Trainer.  Aaron has been instrumental in creating new service offerings for STAR BASE including an IT Alignment and Optimization Audit and a suite of BA services that can be scaled to the individual client to move them on the path to a BA Center of Excellence.  Aaron is a member of International Institute of Business Analysis® (IIBA®), Tri-State Midrange User Group (TSMUG) and Lifetime Member of the Wright State University Alumni Association.  He is a graduate of Wright State University with a BS in Finance and BS in Accounting.  He holds 3 IBM Certified Specialist certifications and the Certified Business Analyst Professional® (CBAP®) certification. 

VICE PRESIDENT OF SPONSORSHIP - Thom Branning, HP

Thom Branning is currently a Global Account Delivery Manager with HP. Thom has over 20 years of experience in the IT field that include 5 plus years teaching systems analysis and computer science, 10+ years as the manager of enterprise systems at the national headquarters of the American Red Cross, and 8+ years as a business solutions delivery leader for major IT consulting firms. Thom’s education includes bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Administration and Computer Science. He is presently working on his doctorate degree in Management specializing in IT Operational Leadership. A strong believer in giving back to the communities he lives and works in, Thom has taken on a number of leadership roles in volunteer organizations over the years. A strong focus of these roles has been in communications including standing up and maintaining web sites, maintaining and using e-mail distribution lists for communications, and creation of newsletters with items of interest to organizational members. Thom’s focus on communications has extended to helping others see the value of the organizations he was part of and effectively leading marketing for those organizations. Thom is extremely interested in getting more engaged in the Cincinnati IIBA Chapter to help support and build the business analyst community in the Cincinnati area.