Deborah (Debbie) L. Balli, CRP, GMS 
Board Member
Executive Vice President and President, Global Relocation Services
SIRVA Relocation
Plymouth, Minnesota United States
Deborah (Debbie) L. Balli, CRP, GMS, was named president of SIRVA’s Global Relocation Services in May 2008 following her role as senior vice president of operations, which she assumed in mid-2007. She originally joined SIRVA in 1996 and has over 15 years of relocation and real estate industry experience. She has served in numerous roles crossing most customer-facing and functional aspects of the business including transferee counseling, client account management and consulting, supplier-partner relations and leading multiple operating regions.
Debbie holds the Certified Relocation Professional (CRP) and Global Mobility Specialist (GMS) designations. She has served on Worldwide ERC’s Coalition Board and National Relocation Conference Planning Committee and is currently serving on Worldwide ERC’s Government Relations Council.
A native of Northern California, Debbie attended Sonoma State University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. She resides in Minneapolis with her husband Richard (Dick) Laumer and is the mother of three. She and her family are avid outdoors’ enthusiasts and enjoy sharing good books.
Anita Blanchett
Board Member
Global Vendor Manager for International Mobility
BP International Ltd.
Middlesex, England United Kingdom
Anita Blanchett is the Global Vendor Manager for International Mobility for BP International Ltd. and is responsible for strategy, selection and management of workforce mobility-related services such as expatriate health care and relocation services for both expatriates and domestic transferees in 100 countries. She has more than 25 years of experience, having started her career in IBM and subsequently worked for CARTUS establishing the supplier alliance function.
Anita has lived and worked in three countries including the USA. She is married, has two children and lives in rural Berkshire in the UK. She travels extensively and enjoys motor racing not just as a spectator, but also as a pit crew member to her husband’s historic saloon car racing team.
Lisa M. Caravella, CRP, GMS
Board Member
Allen, Texas United States
Lisa Caravella was Senior Vice President, National Sales Executive for Bank of America Home Loans. She has been in the workforce mobility industry for over 19 years and is directly responsible for all facets of the Relocation and Corporate Services division of Bank of America Home Loans.
Lisa’s responsibilities included business development, client account management, marketing and loan origination. Prior to joining Bank of America, Lisa held numerous leadership positions at a third party relocation company, a leading mortgage company and was responsible for a wholly owned mortgage subsidiary. She holds the Certified Relocation Professional (CRP) designation, has earned the Worldwide ERC®’s Meritorious Service Award and recently served on the WERC U.S. Advisory Council.
Lisa has spoken at numerous regional industry events and has served on the Global Workforce Symposium Program Planning Committee. She currently serves on the Worldwide ERC® Government Relations Council.
Lisa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of South Florida and resides in Allen, Texas.
David F. Gage, SCRP
Board Member
Federal Government
Baltimore, Maryland United States
Dave Gage, SCRP is Chief of the National Relocation Program Office for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and is responsible for managing the Department of Defense National Relocation Program (DNRP). David has over 30 years experience in all aspects of relocation management, including policy consultation and relocation services program management for corporations and government agencies.
Prior to joining the Corps of Engineers, Gage held management positions with several relocation management firms, and was a principal with SYNAXIS, a management consulting firm specializing in employee mobility solutions, with a special focus on federal relocation contracting. David serves on Worldwide ERC®’s U.S. Advisory Council and Public Policy Management Committee, and is a recipient of WERC®’s Distinguished Service and Meritorious Service Awards.
Christopher H. (Chris) James
Board Member
Chairman, Global Advisory Council
The HR Bridge Group
Williamsburg, Virginia United States
Chris James is Manager HR Global Services for the Bechtel Corporation, and is responsible for all international employee assignments and HR services.
Chris James has extensive experience in international human resources, security and general administrative management. This experience is in a broad range of industry sectors, including high technology, manufacturing and service, both as a staff member and as a consultant. He has worked outside of the United States for more than 18 years.
He holds a Master’s degree in human resources from George Washington University in Washington D.C.
Bob Kelly, SCRP, GMS
Ex-Officio Board Member
Chairman, WERC Foundation for Workforce Mobility
Director of Sales
New World Van Lines, Inc.
New World International
Aurora, Colorado United States
Bob Kelly, SCRP, GMS is Director of Sales of New World Van Lines and New World International, and is responsible for global corporate business development and account management within the company’s Midwest Region. Bob has over 27 years of diverse household goods relocation experience in both domestic and international moving activities.
Bob is a long time active member of Worldwide ERC® having served on the Industry Advisory Council, Conference Planning Committee and CRP Certification Review Board, as well as having been a speaker at a number of Worldwide ERC® conferences. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Worldwide ERC® Foundation for Workforce Mobility.
Bob holds the Senior Certified Relocation Professional (SCRP) and Global Mobility Specialist (GMS) designations from Worldwide ERC®. He is active in regional relocation groups having served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Relocation Council. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Relocation Council. Bob received the Meritorious Service Award in 2001 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2010.
Bob is a retired Colonel from the United States Marine Corps Reserve after having served 30 years. He holds a B.S. in marketing from the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management at Boston College and is a graduate from Command and Staff College, Marine Corps University.
Bob is married, has two 2 boys and lives in Aurora, Colorado. He loves spending as much time with his family, as possible. He also enjoys his affiliation with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Kay J. Kutt, SCRP, SGMS
Board Member
Managing Director
Asian Tigers Mobility Ltd.
Wanchai, Hong Kong
Kay Kutt is the Asia Pacific Managing Director of Asian Tigers Mobility Limited. Kay’s experience includes time served as the Director of Global Implementation Services with responsibility for Global Business Development for the Northeast US region for GMAC Global Relocation Services (now Brookfield GRS). She served as the Managing Director, Asia Pacific, for Paragon Relocation Resources Limited based in Hong Kong.
In 2003, Kay transferred to the US to take on responsibility for business development in the eastern region as the Regional Vice President, Global Business Development with Paragon. She also served as Managing Director Asia Pacific for Cendant Mobility (now Cartus) as well as Director of Operations for both Regus Business Centers Regional Asia Pacific Office and HQ Business Centers in Hong Kong.
Born in Canada, Kay has spent more than18 years in Hong Kong and has moved 19 times throughout her life to locations including Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec in Canada; Portersville, New Jersey, San Diego, California and Newtown, Connecticut in the US; Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Singapore, Beijing, China and most recently, Hong Kong. Kay holds the Worldwide ERC® SCRP and SGMS designations, as well as the Society of Human Resources (SHRM) Global Professional Human Resources Certification (GPHR).
Mike Piker
Partner, Lead Human Capital International Consultant
Board Member
Mercer
New York, New York United States
Mike Piker is a Partner with Mercer and located in New York. He is the lead international consultant for the human capital business, which provides end-to-end consulting to clients in the areas of human capital strategy and change management, rewards, talent management and human capital operations and technology solutions.
In his role, Mike is responsible for leading the human capital international consulting capabilities to serve global and multinational clients. In that capacity, he works closely with international consultants in retirement, risk and finance, health and benefits, and information products and solutions across Mercer worldwide.
Mike joined Mercer in 2010 after 20 successful years in HR consulting and corporate HR. Prior to joining Mercer, Mike was the Head Global Reward and Head LATAM HR for Syngenta based in Switzerland and Brazil. His other corporate HR experience spans Alcoa and Cisco Systems in various generalist and specialist roles. Mike also worked for Buck Consultants and ORC Worldwide in several regional market and client facing roles.
Mike has lived and worked in eight countries and is fluent in Japanese. He has authored numerous articles and spoken extensively on global HR topics. He is also a member of WorldatWork and The Conference Board.
Mike received his BA degree from Dickinson College and Kansai Gaidai University. He has also completed a HR certificate at IMD.
Gail H. Plummer, SCRP, GMS
Board Member
Chief Executive Officer
Altair Global Relocation
Plano, Texas United States
Gail Plummer serves as Chief Executive Officer and is the majority stockholder of Altair Global Relocation. Altair is headquartered in Plano, Texas, with offices in Walnut Creek, California; Shelton, Connecticut; Minnetonka, Minnesota; and London. As Co-founder, Ms. Plummer’s hallmark has been the establishment of a performance-based culture that develops merited partnerships with suppliers and customers. She currently leads the development and execution of corporate strategy.
Prior to co-founding Altair, Ms. Plummer established a successful career in real estate sales, culminating as Director of Relocation Services for a major north Texas real estate firm. She is a member of Worldwide ERC®, the premier global professional association for workforce mobility, earning her Certified Relocation Professional (CRP) designation and awarded the association’s Meritorious Service Award and Distinguished Service Award for participation on numerous committees, and her continued active support. Ms. Plummer is also a frequent speaker and editorialist in the relocation industry.
A member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Ms. Plummer was also inducted into the Dallas Business Journal’s inaugural Women in Business program in 2008, honoring exemplary women business owners in the Dallas/Fort Worth area as key contributors to the global economy. Away from the office, Ms. Plummer serves as Second Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of The Chiapas Project.
Pandra Dickson Richie, SCRP, SGMS
2012 Vice Chair - Finance
Vice President, Corporate Real Estate Services
Long & Foster Companies
Chantilly, Virginia, United States
Pandra Richie began her real estate career more than 25 years ago, and has held many positions within the industry. She moved to the corporate side of the real estate industry in 1988, focusing on relocation and REO. Since that time she has served has a vice president with four major real estate companies, including her current position at Long & Foster, the largest independently owned real estate company in the United States.
She has earned Worldwide ERC®'s Meritorious Service Award, four Worldwide ERC® Distinguished Service Awards and was inducted in to the Worldwide ERC®'s Hall of Leaders in 2010. Pandra holds the Senior Certified Relocation Professional (SCRP) designation and the Senior Global Mobility Specialist (SGMS) designation. In addition to serving on the Worldwide ERC® Board of Directors, she also currently serves on Worldwide ERC®’s Foundation for Workforce Mobility. She has served on numerous other Worldwide ERC® committees and written several articles for MOBILITY magazine.
Cynthia (Cindy) D. Salter, SCRP, SGMS
Board Member
Executive Vice President, Client Services
Prudential Real Estate & Relocation
Scottsdale, Arizona United States
Cynthia D. (Cindy) Salter, SCRP, SGMS is senior vice president of Global Government Sales and Account Management for Prudential Real Estate and Relocation. She has been in the relocation industry for 32 years and is an accomplished workforce mobility expert with broad experience in the military, U.S., Canadian and U.K. governments; and in working with global corporations. At Prudential, she is responsible for the government business, client services and retention, revenue growth, strategic planning, entering new markets, and assessing and offering new services and solutions to government agencies. She also leads Prudential’s relocation team in Washington, DC, which provides sales and account management support to the local area government clients. Prior to joining Prudential she was with Cendant Mobility for more than 25 years and is one of the premier leaders in our industry.
Cindy is the recipient of the NAACP Community Service Award, Worldwide ERC’s Meritorious and Distinguished Service Awards, was named as one of the Top 50 Powerful Women in Relocation, and won the General Services Administration’s Award for significant contributions to the Government Relocation Advisory Board. She has served on the Board of the Washington USO Metro for over 10 years, the National Minority Supplier Diversity Board of Directors and is an active member of the NAACP. Was previously appointed to a Congressional committee to redefine relocation for the federal government and spent two years lobbying on Capitol Hill for relocation benefits on behalf of the industry.
Cindy holds the Senior Certified Relocation Professional (SCRP) and the Senior Global Mobility Specialist (SGMS) designations from Worldwide ERC®. She has authored several articles for Mobility Magazine and served on various committees. She is currently on the Board of Directors of Worldwide ERC®, a member of its US Advisory Council, and the recipient of Worldwide ERC®’s Meritorious and Distinguished Service Awards.
Susan Schneider, SCRP, GMS
2012 Chairman
President
Plus Relocation Services, Inc.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Susan Schneider, SCRP, GMS is the President of Plus Relocation Services, Inc. Her primary responsibilities include strategic leadership, organizational management and growth, program innovations and solutions, and employee development.
Susan grew up in the workforce mobility industry, with two parents mentoring her along the way. She joined PLUS in 1990 as a destination consultant after earning her bachelor degree in communication and sociology from Luther College, Decorah, IA. Susan continued to work her way up through various positions at PLUS and became the company’s president in November of 2005.
In addition, Susan served on WERC’s 2007 Industry Advisory Council, and holds the Worldwide ERC® Senior Certified Relocation Professional and Global Mobility Specialist designations. She has participated actively in Worldwide ERC® as an author and presenter, and earned the Meritorious Service Award in 2005 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2009. As a member of the Board of Directors, she has served as WERC’s 2009 Secretary-Treasurer, 2010 Vice President and is currently serving as Worldwide ERC®’s President.
Susan also is enthusiastically involved in her church and has served as a church council member. Through her own efforts or group opportunities with PLUS, Susan donates her time to many events and causes, such as the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer, Walk for Crohn’s Disease, and Steps of Hope. She lives in Plymouth, MN, with her husband Mark and two children, Jack and Ellie.
Pat Sparks
Board Member
Relocation Manager – Domestic and International
Sprint Nextel Corporation
Lenexa, Kansas United States
Pat Sparks is Relocation Manager - Domestic and International for Sprint Nextel Corporation in Lenexa, Kansas. During her 30 year career in HR, Relocation and Mobility Management at Sprint she has managed and led the relocation program and has worked with a number of dynamic senior HR and business leaders to link their talent management and resource deployment initiatives. She has been involved in virtually all of Sprint’s global mobility initiatives, group moves, policy redesign, vendor selection and benchmarking. Pat has a thorough knowledge of both international and U.S. domestic moves.
Pat has been active in Worldwide ERC since 1987. She has served on numerous Worldwide ERC® committees such as the Industry Advisory Council, eBusiness Advisory Committee, Awards Committee and the Fall Workshop Planning Committee. She has been a moderator and panelist at the Management Symposium and also served as a corporate benchmarking facilitator. She has received the Meritorious Service Award in 1992 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2000.
C. Matthew (Matt) Spinolo, SCRP, SGMS
2012 Vice Chair - Finance
Chairman, WERC Government Relations Council
Executive Vice President
CARTUS
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Matt Spinolo is executive vice president with CARTUS. He entered the mobility industry when he joined Primacy in 1995 as CEO, and was responsible for the growth and development of Primacy on a worldwide basis. Prior to joining Primacy, Matt was a commercial lender and then senior credit officer for commercial lending of a regional US bank. In addition to membership in Worldwide ERC®, Matt holds the SCRP and SGMS designations. He has participated actively in Worldwide ERC® as an author of articles in MOBILITY, presented at various symposia, received service awards, and was a member of the former Coalition board of directors. He is currently serving as Worldwide ERC®’s Secretary-Treasurer.
Matt is actively involved in other for profit and not-for-profit boards and his church, and resides in Tennessee with his wife and three children.
Michael Washbourn, SCRP, SGMS
Ex-Officio Board Member
Chairman, WERC U.S. Advisory Council
Senior Manager of Global Mobility Operations
Pfizer Inc.
Peapack, New Jersey, United States
Mike is Senior Manager of Global Mobility Operations for Pfizer Inc. He has been in the workforce mobility industry for 17 years and is directly responsible for overseeing the International Assignment policy and service delivery administration for more than 400 international relocations annually. He also is a licensed real estate referral agent in the State of New Jersey. Prior to joining Pfizer, he held numerous positions at a third party relocation company, including the management of a fully outsourced team at a major corporation.
He holds the Senior Certified Relocation Professional and Global Mobility Specialist designations and has received the Worldwide ERC® Meritorious and Distinguished Service Awards. A frequent speaker at Worldwide ERC® and local regional conferences and other industry events, he is currently the Chairman of the New Jersey Relocation Council. As a member of the Worldwide ERC® Board of Directors, he has served as WERC’s 2008 Secretary-Treasurer, 2009 Vice President, 2010 President and 2011 Board Chairman. He is currently serving as Worldwide ERC® U.S. Advisory Council Chairman.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Villanova University.