Board of Advisors

Lisa Huddleston 

Lisa Huddleston, sHRBP, CIR, PRC is the Talent Development & HR Director at BHC, a civil engineering and surveying firm headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. As a leader in Human Resources, Lisa has spent 20+ years leading teams and creating strategic partnerships with executives in international engineering corporations, including two large engineering, procurement and construction companies in Kansas City. Lisa is a certified recruiter, receiving certifications from AIRS, CIR and PRC. She managed multiple recruitment consulting offices in the Midwest, facilitating training on performance management, succession planning, retention and more. Lisa has been active in the community within leadership roles, they include serving as an ambassador for two city Chambers of Commerce, an ElevateHER AEC mentor and President of Century Club which raised funding for scholarships. At BHC she leads Talent Development, Human Resources, Internal Communications, administrative staff and business functions at the leadership level. Some of her proudest accomplishments are building a strong team of leaders and the company's two internship programs. 

Tadd Lucian

As a Talent Acquisition Manager at Black & Veatch, Tadd leads an award-winning Early Careers Recruitment team. Tadd has been with Black & Veatch since 2016 and has 8 years of human resources and recruitment experience in the construction and engineering industry. Tadd graduated from Pittsburg State University with a bachelor's degree in communication and marketing and a master's degree in human resource development. He lives with his wife in Lenexa, Kansas.

Lauren Bertram
Talent Acquisition Manager
TeamKC Board Co-Chair

Lauren Bertram is the Talent Acquisition Manager at Burns & McDonnell with over 16 years of recruitment experience in a variety of industries including healthcare, information technology, engineering, architecture, construction and environmental consulting.

She loves all things recruitment, candidate/employee experience, data analytics, STEM outreach and Diversity & Inclusion. Lauren leads an amazingly talented team of 30 employee-owners who share a like-minded passion for bringing the best talent to Burns & Mac!

Lauren is a Kansas City native who graduated from Baker University with a BS in Management and Marketing. She lives in Brookside and loves everything our city offers her and her family. She is grateful to be a part of the TeamKC board and excited for KC’s continued bright future!

Anna Knoblock
Talent Acquisition Director

Anna Knoblock is the Talent Acquisition Director at Children's Mercy. Anna has over 20 years of recruitment experience across several industries including healthcare, technology, and sales.

Anna is focused on attracting top talent and fostering a culture employees want to be a part of. The mission of Children's Mercy fuels her passion for the work she does every day.

Anna graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business. She lives in Overland Park with her husband and two boys. In her spare time, you can catch her at one of many area sports fields watching her boys do what they love.

Krista Gartelos
Manager, Talent Acquisition   

Krista has been in Talent Acquisition for 10 years and has recruited nationwide for all levels of roles, most recently focusing on adding talent to a national dairy cooperative. These roles range from member services, supply chain, finance, IT, manufacturing and human resources.

At Dairy Farmers of America, Krista is responsible for full cycle recruiting focused on adding talent to DFA’s corporate office and 90+ additional locations, both domestic and international. Krista also manages DFA’s internship and college recruiting programs. She is passionate about connecting talented candidates with a variety of job opportunities at DFA.

Krista graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in Management: Human Resources. Prior to joining DFA, she worked in the financial services industry.

Avery Adair
Assistant Manager, Human Resources

Avery Adair is an Assistant Manager within the Talent Acquisition function for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In this role, he supports the Bank’s recruitment functions with emphasis on programming related to entry-level talent. This support includes responsibility for campus and intern programs as well as various talent needs across the Bank’s seven state region.

Avery joined the Bank in 2015 and has held various leadership roles since 2019. He holds a bachelors degree in Management and a MBA in Business & Organizational Leadership from Pittsburg State University.

In her current role at Garmin, Caroline recruits intern and entry level talent, as well as managing the recruitment strategy for several core universities partnered with Garmin. Though raised on a farm in rural northwest Missouri, she has been a proud Kansas Citian for over six years. After graduating with her Bachelors in Public Communication from Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, she has gone on to gain over four years experience in HR and recruiting, first at Cerner Corporation and now at Garmin.

Steve Lawrence
Manager, Talent Acquisition

Steve Lawrence is currently a Talent Acquisition Manager at H&R Block, where he leads a team of recruitment professionals focused on filling positions across multiple corporate departments, including Information Technology, Marketing, Finance, and US Retail leadership.  In addition to leading this team, Steve is also responsible for the campus relations and recruitment activities at H&R Block and for leading its contingent workforce management process.

Steve has spent over 28 years in Human Resources in positions in Talent Acquisition and HR Project Management with companies such as Caterpillar, MasterCard, and AT&T.  His greatest achievement is seeing multiple people that he has led advance in their careers and accomplish great things.  Steve and his wife, Barb, live in Blue Springs with their two dogs and two college aged daughters – Abby  (Mizzou) and Jenna (Missouri State).

Erin Roebuck
Recruiting Leader

Erin is the Global Recruiting Leader for Hallmark Cards, and a founding member of the TeamKC Board of Advisors, with more than 17 years of experience in talent acquisition, creative, product development, talent development, and culture.

A designer by trade and a passionate people-person by nature, Erin brings a unique skillset to the talent acquisition space. She describes herself as a creative thinker, culture driver, community builder and curious connector, and enjoys bringing these talents to the recruiting space for one of the world’s most beloved brands.

Erin earned her BFA in Graphic Design from Iowa State University. She lives in Shawnee, KS with her husband Eric and three daughters, and enjoys hiking, camping, gardening, cooking, and eating local.

Michele Adams is a full-cycle Recruiter at Henderson Engineers. With more than 10 years of recruitment and talent acquisition experience, mainly focused in engineering, she has a passion for finding the best talent and matching them with their next great opportunity.

At Henderson, she helps lead recruiting efforts for the firm, both locally and nationwide. Michele loves building partnerships with firms' managers and really digging deep with them to learn all there is to know about that specific team and role.

Finding good talent is a hard job but Michele prides herself on making sure that the candidate and the firm are both happy with their decision. Her job is more than just “filling seats” but rather helping grow someone’s career while being a valuable player for the team!

She is excited about being a part of the TeamKC advisory board and looks forward to watching KC continue to thrive.

Kimberly Tholl
Talent Acquisition Manager

Kimberly is a Talent Acquisition Manager at Honeywell and has a passionate focus on Strategic Recruitment, HR Process Development, and Digital Transformation. Kimberly graduated from Ottawa University with her Bachelor’s in Human Resource Management and has experience in multiple Human Resources roles, alongside management and field marketing experience. Prior to joining Honeywell, Kimberly worked in Talent Acquisition and Field Marketing Departments at H&R Block from 2011-2017.

Amy Lee Sewell
AVP - Senior Talent Advisor

Amy Lee Sewell is an Assistant Vice President, Senior Talent Advisor for Human Resources at Lockton. She has been with Lockton since 2007 in various roles supporting talent acquisition. In her current role in the Lockton Founders Series she manages university relations and college recruiting for the assistant account management and summer internship programs, and leads the Lockton Recruiting Ambassador program.

Amy has a passion for supporting others and the community. At Lockton, she leads a high school workforce development program with local districts in the urban core to create educational and employment opportunities for students, and partners with Lockton's Empowered Associate Network (LEAN) groups on various initiatives. In the Kansas City community, she volunteers with Operation Breakthrough, Neighbors Who Care and is a co-founder of the non-profit Road Worthy.

Amy graduated from Kansas State University with bachelor's degree in Mass Communications.

Brandi Riggs is Vice President, Human Resources at McCownGordon Construction. She leads the Human Resource team to attract and retain the best industry talent through engagement and associate experience initiatives.  She also leads the Wellbeing Team, Inclusion Team (D&I), and Women in Leadership programming at McCownGordon.

Brandi’s background includes sales management, human resources, and organizational development. In addition to the TeamKC Advisory Board, she serves on the Board of Directors as Past President of the Society for Human Resource Management of Greater Kansas City, on the Avila Board of Counselors, as a member of the HealthyKC Workplace Wellness Action Team, and on the Board of Directors at her local church.

Brandi has a passion for volunteering in her community, giving back to her profession, serving those around her and seeking opportunities to help and mentor others.

Lacey Foster currently leads the Talent Acquisition Programs team at T-Mobile with a focus on ensuring the right systems, tools and resources are in place to support T-Mobile's hiring demands. With over 600,000 applicants and 20,000+ hires per year, it is essential to focus on the candidate experience. She has over 19 years of experience in the Talent Acquisition space and is responsible for everything from Talent Acquisition systems, pre-hire assessments, interviewing resources, background checks, relocation, and candidate experience. 
Lacey has grown her career at T-Mobile beginning in 2003 after graduating from Drake University. She started as a Recruiting Assistant and has held various roles such as University Recruiter, Program Manager and has been managing a team for the last 18 years. In her current role, she leads her team to solve business problems, implemented new system sand process and in turn enhance the overall experience for candidates, hiring managers and recruiters.