As Chief Veterans Experience Officer, John Boerstler leads the Veterans Experience Office (VEO), the Secretary’s customer experience (CX) insight engine supporting and enabling the Department in providing the highest quality experiences in the delivery of care, benefits and memorial services to Service members, Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors. In this role he provides executive oversight of VEO’s many innovative projects and programs, working collaboratively within VA’s leadership to help achieve greater access, outcomes and experiences for all VA’s customers. Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Combined Arms, a collaborative backbone organization whose purpose was to connect Veterans to thousands of government and non-profit services.

With a background in Geography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Tim began his career 15 years ago with MapInfo Corp, consulting for Home Depot as well as national restaurant chains such as Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, and Pollo Tropical. As Director of Retail Strategies & Head of Vivalociti at La Macchia Group, he brings an increased understanding of how successful national retailers view markets. Tim believes in the power of data supported by in-market intelligence to predict viability of new branch locations. Since joining La Macchia Group, Tim has become an expert in the industry, participating in industry colloquiums, focus groups, and round tables.

EJ Kritz is a seasoned strategist, trainer, and keynote speaker with extensive experience working for some of the finest brands in Financial Services, Retail, Call Center, Franchising, and Media. As the Executive Vice President of apc’s Training, EJ supports banking organizations of all sizes to build and deliver world-class training solutions focused on such critical topics as Customer Experience, Leadership, Management, Needs-Based Sales, Employee Engagement, Problem Resolution, and more.

As Senior Manager of Solutions Commercialization, Kelly Harlin identifies and vets solutions for Sharp NEC Display Solutions that complement its existing display portfolio in the areas of IoT, software, and analytics. In her three years with Sharp/NEC, she has worked on key solution launches including NaViSense and Analytics Learning Platform (ALP). Kelly has over 20 years of experience in marketing and merchandising and holds degrees in English and elementary education from Western Washington University.