About Us
The leadership team at The CRO has more than 50 years of combined experience leading global business media organizations.
Leadership Team
Jay Whitehead
President & Publisher
Since 1982, Jay has led business media companies in seven domains: venture capital, law, human resources, finance and accounting, investor relations, computing, and now corporate responsibility. He has been a founder or senior business leader of 17 business publications, including PC Magazine, CRN, UPSIDE, Research, San Francisco Daily Journal, California Republic, HRO Today, HRO Europe, FAO Today and now CRO Magazine. He has also founded and run several industry-leading conference businesses, including HRO World and HRO World Europe (acquired by LRP Publications in January 2006) and FAO World. He was a founder of the not-for-profit HRO Association (www.HROAssociation.org). Jay has also worked in broadcast, with TV stints at KTTV in Los Angeles, PBS-TV (NJN), and regular guest appearances on CNBC’s On The Money, and a syndicated show on Business America Radio. Jay holds a BA in History and Russian from UCLA (1981) and a Strategic Finance certificate from the Harvard Business School (2006). A dual US-French citizen, Jay is married, has 3 children and lives in New Jersey. Jay can be reached at jay.whitehead@SharedXpertise.com.
Richard Crespin
President Member Services, SharedXpertise Forums
Executive Director, CRO Association
Richard Crespin is the President of Member Services for the SharedXpertise Forums and the Executive Director of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association.
The CROA is the trade association for corporate responsibility professionals, service providers, policy makers, and influencers in the areas of corporate governance, sustainability, and citizenship. The Association works to advance the state of corporate responsibility by fostering a community of practice though advocacy, programs, events, publications, and professional development for its members.
The SharedXpertise Forums manages the CROA, the Finance & Accounting Officers Association, and the HROA. The FAOA is an exclusive organization for heads of finance and accounting functions looking to dramatically improve the operations and value of F&A to the enterprise. The FAOA is an independent body that sets standards and practices, the research agenda, and organizes on- and offline networking through membership and conferences. The HROA is the only independent organization for all those who practice, purchase, provide, or advise on HR transformation and outsourcing. The HROA accelerates the growth and maturation of the HR services and outsourcing market through standards and practices, research, and its peer-to-peer networks.
In addition to serving as President of Member Services for the SharedXpertise Forums and Executive Director of the CROA, Mr. Crespin has worked with some of the largest finance and logistics enterprises in the world, including the world’s largest supply chain organization, the US Transportation Command, and in the back-offices of several large multinational banks. Before coming to SharedXpertise, he founded The Delve Group, Inc, a premier marketing and branding firm. He also worked for American Management Systems where he headed the company’s Defense Strategy Consulting Practice.
Mr. Crespin is an alumnus of both the George Washington University and the Harvard Business School. He currently serves as President of the George Washington Alumni Association, with responsibility for the University’s nearly 220,000 living alumni around the world. He is a sought after speaker on brand building, customer satisfaction in supply chain organizations, and the management of non-profit organizations. You can learn more about SharedXpertise at www.sharedxpertise.org and the CROA at www.thecro.org. Richard Crespin can be reached at:
richard.crespin@sharedxpertise.org
Dirk Olin
Vice President & Editorial Director
Dirk serves as editor-in-chief of all the company’s content businesses. Dirk is an internationally-recognized journalist and editorial leader who over three decades has served as National Editor of The American Lawyer, Editor of California Lawyer and The Daily Journal, reporter at The New Republic, book editor of Congressional Quarterly and columnist for the New York Times, Newsweek.com, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, and broadcast contributor at KQED-TV. Immediately prior to joining SharedXpertise, Dirk since 2005 served as Founding Director of the Institute for Judicial Studies and Editor of JudicialReports.com in New York City. Olin holds a MA in Journalism from the Medill School at Northwestern University and a BA in Literature from Dartmouth College. Dirk is married, has 2 children and lives in New Jersey. Dirk can be reached at dirk.olin@sharedxpertise.com
Debbie Bolla
Managing and Online Editor
Before joining The CRO in January 2009, Managing and Online Editor, Debbie Bolla, managed three health and lifestyle titles that highlighted New York and New Jersey counties. Prior to that, she covered everything interior design as an associate editor for the regional publication New York Spaces and as a freelance writer for Chicago-based Interiors magazine. Debbie holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in sociology from the Penn State University.
She can be reached at Debbie.Bolla@SharedXpertise.com.
Anne-Sophie Ribault
Chief Marketing Officer
Prior to The CRO, Anne-Sophie played a similar role at SharedXpertise Media, LLC, publishers of HRO Today, HRO Europe and FAO Today magazines. Prior to Outsourcing Today, Anne-Sophie was the Marketing Director at pioneering internet HRO firm, EmployeeService.com. Before joining EmployeeService, she was a Bank-Marketing Manager at Sumitomo Bank and California Bank & Trust in San Francisco. Prior to her time spent in banking, Anne-Sophie was the San Francisco-based General Manager of international special-interest magazine publisher Winning International--publishers of sports and entertainment titles including Premiere Magazine, Triathlete Magazine, and Winning Bicycle Racing. A native of France, Anne-Sophie earned a Masters in Business Administration from Catholic University of Leuven in Brussels, Belgium, and a Bachelors degree in International Business Management from ICN in Nancy, France. Anne-Sophie can be reached at aribault@SharedXpertise.com.
Vince Albergato
Vice President, Membership Development
Vince joined the CRO in 2008 after 15 years at Kenexa, a leading human resource solutions and outsourcing provider. At Kenexa, Vince’s role included global business development and client management in the Talent Management practice. Vince can be reached at valbergato@SharedXpertise.com
Jennifer Ilko
Director Membership Services
Jennifer Ilko is a business services professional with 15 years of diverse experience in client/member management, outsourcing, and recruitment and selection. In her current role as Director of Membership Services on SharedXpertise Media’s SharedXpertise team, Jennifer drives innovative member programming, ensuring the membership receives maximum benefit from their engagement with our associations. Prior to joining SharedXpertise Media, as one her responsibilities as a Consultant with Towers Perrin, Jennifer championed the HRO Buyers Group, directing event programming and overseeing operations for their semi-annual, multi-day senior-level client summits. Before joining Towers Perrin, Jennifer honed her business services skills during eight years at Hewitt.
Jennifer earned a B.A. in Psychology (emphasis in physiology) from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Jennfier Ilko can be reached at:
jennifer.ilko@sharedxpertise.org
Members of the Firm
In addition to CEO Jay Whitehead, other voting and non-voting members of the firm include:
James Lincoln, CEO, Illuminated Funds Group, Inc. and Lincoln, Blynken & Nodd Asset Management
As both an investor and social entrepreneur, James Lincoln has been a leader in advocacy for business ethics, corporate responsibility, socially responsible investing and sustainable enterprise for two decades. On behalf of his family foundation, he has spearheaded organization of the Lincoln Institute for Applied Ethics at both Arizona State University and the Thunderbird School, one of the nation’s leading academic programs in the field serving thousands of undergraduate and graduate students annually. James also serves on the board of Investors Circle, as Vice President of VIKA Corporation, Venture Capital; and COO of LFM, Real Estate Holdings. He also serves on several corporate boards, including Entac (Chair), First Affirmative Financial Network and the Land Advisors Organization. James earned his BA from Whitman College and is a resident of Cave Creek, Arizona.
Elliot H. Clark, Chief Executive Officer, SharedXpertise Media LLC
Elliot Clark is the Chairman and CEO of SharedXpertise Media LLC, the media leader in HR, Finance and Corporate Responsibility, owners of HRO Today, HRO Europe, FAO Today and CRO Magazines and online properties, and the Finance Forum and FAO Today conferences. Elliot has had a long and distinguished career in the Business Process Outsourcing industry. Prior to Outsourcing Today, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Kenexa Corporation (Nasdaq KNXA), a leading provider of HR software and outsourcing services, where he oversaw corporate operations and directly managed the outsourcing division. Elliot worked at Kenexa from 1991 until 2006 and was instrumental in growing the company from 12 to 1200 employees. As a key member of the executive team, he was deeply involved in 15 acquisitions, three private equity financings and an IPO. He served on the Board of Directors of Kenexa from 1997 until 2006.
Elliot was instrumental in the development and strategy of the "Employment Process Outsourcing" offering of Kenexa, personally overseeing sales and operations. He leadership resulted in the Kenexa team being named the top provider in Recruitment Process Outsourcing by multiple industry analysts and publications, including HRO Today magazine. Elliot is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.S. Economics in 1983 where he majored in Human Resources. He also served on the National Board of Directors of the Wharton Alumni Association from 1997 to 1998.