Our Team
Our Communications professionals are experienced, dedicated, responsive and creative. They're passionate about helping our clients have the right conversations with the right participant groups at the right time and in the right way-on a wide range of issues, including benefits, staffing, and organizational change. We'd be glad to talk with you any time to learn about the conversations you want to have at your organization:
- Joanne T. Burns, Senior Vice President, National Practice Leader: 212.251.5264; jburns@segalco.com
- Josh Meyer, Multiemployer Communications Specialist: 212.251.5400; jmeyer@segalco.com
- Lydia Moore, Vice President, Personalized Communications Practice Leader: 212.251.5068; lmoore@segalco.com
Susanne Antonucci Joanne T. Burns Dan Cabrera Randolph Carter Dorothy Charles Elena Charleston Laura Cochran Tupper Hillard Andrew Kaplan Shenoor Kara Marge Kray Lisa Lehr Colleen Magee | Joan McGrath Jillian Medoff Josh Meyer Lydia Moore Glenn Murray Erin Naumann Mindy Rosenthal Talia Schmidt Jennifer Schuster Diane Swisher Denise Festa Teague Diane Upshaw Helen Ye |
Susanne Antonucci—Production Manager
Susanne started her career in the advertising industry, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing & Communications from New York University. By the time she came on board as our Production Manager, she had over 15 years in print production, including time in the communications practice of AON, and at Bozell Eskew (a division of the Sawyer Miller Group), where she was their print production manager.
Why Susanne Loves This Business—"I love printing and the end product—ink on paper—is always exciting. I love to be totally immersed in a project. That's why you'll always see me on press to ensure a high-quality end product. In addition, I'm constantly in touch with my vendors to be sure I get the best product. My good relationship with them translates to quality and cost-effective deliverables for my clients."
Joanne T. Burns—Senior Vice President, National Practice Leader
Ms. Burns is a Senior Vice President and the National Communications Practice Leader in Segal’s New York office. She has over 20 years of experience working with clients on all forms of HR, benefits and compensation communications. Prior to joining Segal, Ms. Burns worked at another major actuarial and human resources consulting firm where she held multiple Communications Practice leadership roles, including positions as head of the Northeast Region communications group, and head of the Chicago and New York communications groups. She was involved with ground-breaking communications endeavors and was very successful at managing and expanding client relationships. Ms. Burns has also held communications positions with two major corporations.
Dan Cabrera—Associate Consultant
As an Associate Consultant, Dan is involved with all aspects of participant communications, from drafting newsletters to updating summary plan descriptions. Before joining the firm, Dan worked as an editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster where he corresponded with authors and agents, wrote sales materials and jacket copy, and helped shepherd books into production. Dan graduated from Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
Why Dan Loves This Business—"Health and welfare benefits are more important than ever, and helping people understand the importance and intricacies of their health coverage or retirement plans means a lot to me. Plus, getting the chance to write about so many different and interesting topics is a thrill. Each day is a new opportunity to make someone's life easier while broadening my own interests."
Randolph Carter—Senior Vice President
In addition to being a Vice President of the firm, Randy also has the distinction of being the very first employee of Marjorie Gross & Company (MGC), the communications consulting firm acquired by Segal in 2001. Before making the leap into that entrepreneurial environment more than 20 years ago, he was a communications consultant at Buck Consultants and Foster Higgins, for a total of 25-plus years in this business. Randy is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Why Randy Loves This Business—"First, there are the clients: one project is with a Fortune 50 corporation, another with a construction trades multiemployer trust fund, and another with a federal agency that serves employees from park rangers to Supreme Court justices. Then, there are the colleagues: I talk strategy with the VPs, compliance with attorneys, plan design with administrators, soundtrack with video editors. They don't get to live in each other's worlds, but I do. And in each of these worlds, it's my job to ‘get it.' I have to listen to everyone on the team and come up with the messages that make everyone say, ‘That's what I was talking about!' And every time they do, I know I'm in the right business."
Dorothy Charles—Desktop Publishing Associate
Dottie joined the firm as Office Manager. While her background was in travel and administration, our creative atmosphere was evidently catching. Dottie learned the design and production end of our business and is now an integral part of our Design Studio, with layout and desktop publishing responsibilities.
Why Dorothy Loves This Business—"I'm self-motivated, ambitious and love learning new skills. Seeing the quality of our work and the way the people here work as a team made me want to play a bigger role in the creative and professional side of our practice. Not every company lets you go for it, so I really appreciate the opportunities and support I get from everyone here."
Elena Charleston—Consultant
Elena joined our practice as a Consultant. Prior to joining our firm, she served as manager of both Proposal Business and Member Communications at First Health, and worked as a freelance writer, producing commercial ads and communications for contracted clients. Elena holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/ Communications from Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Why Elena Loves This Business—"In my position, I get the opportunity to develop communications that simplify the complexities of managed care for those individuals who may not otherwise understand their benefits or their role as health care consumers. Not only do I enjoy what I do, I am able to help others at the same time. How lucky is that?"
Laura Cochran—Senior Consultant
Laura is responsible for writing, editing and producing electronic and print employee communications, conducting focus groups and strategy sessions, preparing communications assessments and presentations and managing projects for clients in Washington, D.C., Boston, Hartford, Atlanta and Phoenix. Prior to joining our firm, Laura worked in graphics and communications at another consulting firm. Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from George Mason University.
Why Laura Loves This Business—"Communications consulting is the sensible way to be creative. It's a perfect outlet for your inner-starving artist while tapping the logical part of your brain at the same time. My daily activities can jump from problem-solving, brainstorming and interpreting legalese, to building relationships and picking out pretty colors to produce visually pleasing communications. That keeps the job from ever being dull, and keeps me in touch with my creative side."
Tupper Hillard—Vice President, Senior Consultant
Tupper joined the firm as a Vice President with responsibility for development, design, and implementation of communications strategies and initiatives for clients around the country. Prior to joining the firm, he served as communications practice leader and also as global communications leader for corporate restructuring and change (M&A) for Hewitt Associates. Tupper is a graduate of West Point and holds a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Why Tupper Loves This Business—"Helping people to better understand complex situations, whether it's about their healthcare, a merger, or some other significant change, makes this business so rewarding. It's more important than ever to keep employees both informed and educated—and when we help an organization reach its people and communicate clearly what's going on, I think we've added a great deal to everyone's ability to be engaged and productive. When we can get organizations to listen to their employees' needs, then we have added to their ability to deliver on what they promise as employers."
Andrew Kaplan—Vice President, Senior Consultant
Andrew has nearly 20 years of Employee Benefit and Human Resources communications consulting experience. He works with clients to develop communications strategies, action plans, media and events that help organizations talk with their employees about benefits, compensation and organizational change in a meaningful, understandable and resonant way. Before joining the firm, Andrew's consulting time was spent with Ketchum Communications, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Hewitt. Andrew earned a BA in Psychology from Stony Brook University and an MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of New Haven.
Why Andrew Loves This Business—"Every client opportunity is a chance to learn about a culture and its people and, in doing so, to help strengthen the employer/employee relationship through two-way communications. A key part of the learning process is talking directly to employees to understand communications issues from the inside out. By getting inside the heads of employees, I can learn first-hand what's going on in their worlds, from their points of view. That understanding allows for the creation of engaging and relevant communications that change thinking and behavior, rather than communications that simply transfer information."
Shenoor Kara—Personalized Communications Consultant
Shenoor joined the firm with more than 19 years of experience in the employee benefits field. Before that, she was an actuary with a world-renowned accounting firm. Shenoor has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from McGill University.
Why Shenoor Loves This Business—"I love working with people and numbers. This allows me to do both. I get to work with the most amazing clients and feel good that I am providing a service that is so valuable. Planning for a comfortable retirement should be everyone's goal and the fact that I can provide the tools for retirement planning to employees makes me happy."
Marge Kray—Senior Consultant
Marge began her career in benefit communications more than 25 years ago and joined the firm after working with three other international human resources and benefits consulting organizations. Over the years, she has added to her knowledge by taking on different roles, different projects and different clients. Marge has an MBA in Human Resource Management from DePaul University, an M.S. in Mathematics, a BS in Psychology and Mathematics from University of Illinois, and is a Fellow of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists.
Why Marge Loves This Business—"I love that this is a dynamic business. I love variety and the fact that human resources and benefits are always changing. It's a constant challenge to develop communications programs that make a difference—change an attitude or behavior—in the crowded world of messages around us. It's a great job to use my training in psychology and math at the same time. There's an elegance to taking a complex idea and making it simple so it can reach people."
Lisa Lehr—Personalized Communications Consultant
Lisa joined the firm as a Personalized Communications Consultant. Previously, she had more than 12 years of experience in human resources management and health and welfare plan design, compliance and administration. Her 20+ years of experience includes work in both the corporate and insurance provider sectors.
Why Lisa Loves This Business—"Where do I start? Two overriding reasons: First, I love the fact that I've had the opportunity to be on the other side of the fence and experience first-hand the challenges my clients face when it comes to communicating with their employees. Second, has to be the wide range of people I get to work with. There are so many people that play roles in our projects, from the SVP of HR, to the IT department, to the graphic designers and printers. Working with such a diverse group of people means you are always learning something new."
Colleen Magee—Consultant
Colleen joined the firm with more than 15 years of experience in the employee and human resources communications fields, working with a large international telecommunications firm; a local electric company; an international chemical company with plants in France that afforded her the chance to use her French-speaking skills; and an international pharmaceutical company—where her career began. Colleen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Delaware and a Publications Specialist certificate from George Washington University. She has won a number of IABC awards for benefits communications.
Why Colleen Loves This Business—"What do you do when you ‘want to help people' in your career, you major in English, but you don't want to teach? For me, benefits communication was the perfect solution. The opportunities to "help" employees by turning legalese into clear language about how their benefits work has never been more gratifying, since benefits are becoming more complex. Oh, and I also manage to have a lot of fun working on a variety of projects and doing everything from writing and graphic design to listening to employees talk about what's important to them. I'm eager to see what the next challenges will be and how I can help. And, I'm still amazed that I'm being paid to write! How many people can say that?"
Joan McGrath—Administrative Staff
Joan has been an executive/administrative assistant with the firm for more than 14 years. She performs a wide range of tasks relating to employee benefits, from reviewing and making edits on communications materials to organizing client and internal meetings. In addition, Joan is instrumental in coordinating the financials for several offices.
Why Joan Loves This Business—"As an administrative person, I have a wide range of responsibilities to keep me active. I love the variety and the fact that I help keep things on track. I like working in a field where I'm always learning something new and I get to help others to learn as well."
Jillian Medoff—Consultant
Jillian is an award-winning published writer who has worked on all types of participant, corporate and benefits communications throughout her career. Prior to joining Segal, she spent many years at Aon and Deloitte Consulting developing communications initiatives for organizations undergoing large-scale change. She holds an MFA from New York University and a BA from Barnard College/Columbia University.
Why Jillian Loves This Business—"I specialize in rewriting long, dense documents filled with arcane language so that anyone, regardless of their background, can read and understand them. It's complicated work, but also absorbing, interesting, and--believe it or not--endlessly satisfying."
Josh Meyer—Senior Consultant
When Josh joined the practice, he had already spent over 15 years as a strategic communications professional, working with labor unions, benefit funds, politicians, grassroots groups, non-profits and other organizations to help them achieve their objectives. Josh has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Masters of Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Why Josh Loves This Business—"The issues we deal with are critical to people's lives. By taking complex issues and making them easy to understand, we are arming people with the information they need in the format they want. Empowering people to improve their lives is what drives me. On top of that, we face a never-ending series of challenges—the issues are always changing and we work with a diverse group of organizations and people who have different needs and want their information in different styles—so our job is always new."
Lydia Moore—Vice President, Personalized Communications Practice Leader
Lydia is our Personalized Communications Practice Leader and first joined the firm as a benefits consultant in the Pension Systems Practice, becoming its practice leader a year later. Before that, Lydia had more than 14 years of experience as a corporate benefits manager and benefits consultant. Among her prior employers are a large New Jersey-based bank and two large benefits consulting firms. Lydia has an AB in Economics from Princeton University and an MBA in Human Resources from Indiana University.
Why Lydia Loves This Business—"In a time when we are all overwhelmed with information, I'm excited to deliver a service that helps employees quickly and easily understand the value of the benefits provided to them. Personalized Communications marries the general with the specific, the creative with the technical, to drive home in a powerful way, the client's message to employees. I love the gratification of a finished product that looks great and enhances comprehension of complex material."
Glenn Murray—Personalized Communications Consultant
Glenn joined us as a Personalized Communications Consultant. Prior to joining the firm, Glenn was a consultant for a global HR and benefits consulting firm, where he specialized in retirement and health and welfare plan valuation, design, compliance, administration and communications. Glenn has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Concordia University.
Why Glenn Loves This Business—"It's the unique challenges and opportunities involved in each project—not only does it keep the work interesting, but I also get a chance to problem-solve, be creative and learn from other team members."
Erin Naumann—Senior Consultant
Erin joined the practice after an internship with the firm's National Sales and Marketing Department. She graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University with a BS in Psychology and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Sigma Nu, Psi Chi and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies. Erin is currently pursuing an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business.
Why Erin Loves This Business—"I love that I learn something new every day. With each experience comes the opportunity to gain more knowledge. It's very fulfilling to know we are not only helping individuals but we are also helping entire entities run more smoothly."
Mindy Rosenthal—Vice President, Senior Consultant
Mindy joined the practice with more than 10 years of experience in Employee Benefit and Human Resources communications consulting, four of which were as president of her own firm. She has also managed human resources, communications and financial functions at CBS, HBO and the new media division of Winstar Communications. Mindy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Tufts University, and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Columbia University.
Why Mindy Loves This Business—"I'm one of those people who tackles analytical tasks and creative projects with equal enthusiasm. Give me a good paint-by-numbers to make my day. I can satisfy my need to quantify by studying the numbers—and then paint over the lines in bursts of creative energy. Communications Consulting is kind of like paint-by-numbers. I get to be seriously strategic one day and immensely imaginative the next. And it's especially satisfying on rainy days when there's nothing good on TV anyway."
Talia Schmidt—Associate Consultant
Talia joined the firm's Communications Practice after completing a political journalism fellowship writing for the AARP Bulletin. She spent a year of public service giving back through the AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program where she worked for a city-county public health department in Montana developing her technical writing and communication skills. She has worked for various news publications in Oregon and Washington State. Talia is originally from Seattle and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon.
Why Talia Loves This Business—"In my short post-college career, I've learned that there's nothing more important than clear, effective communications when it comes to watching a project succeed. My background as a journalist has fostered a love for storytelling, gathering information and interviewing a colorful assortment of key players to get a comprehensive picture. In communications consulting, you get to learn a client's utmost priorities and how to best convey those values to its members. The work is challenging, stimulating and very hands-on. It was important to me to find an environment where I could thrive creatively in the workplace, develop my writing for target audiences and pitch campaign ideas to clients—Segal has proved to be that outlet. I look forward to learning the culture, the clients and working hard to make a positive difference in communications consulting."
Jennifer Schuster—Vice President, Senior Consultant
Jen joined the firm with more than 15 years of experience. Jen has designed and implemented employee communication strategies and programs, and assisted many organizations with Web-based communications. She is particularly strong in healthcare and retirement, total rewards and change management communications. Before joining the firm, Jen was regional communications practice leader for another consulting firm, and also was director of employee communications at an international telecommunications organization. She holds a BA in Economics with a minor in English from the University of California and is a member of IABC and SHRM.
Why Jennifer Loves This Business—"You can count on me to think like an employee (at any level, in all roles) when working to develop communications solutions. I love the challenge to keep things simple—both the content and its presentation—and love demonstrating to clients how to leverage the right media to deliver the right information to the right employee every time."
Diane Swisher—Senior Consultant
Diane joined our practice with 10 years of experience helping organizations develop and execute employee communications strategies. Previously, Diane worked in the corporate arena designing communications strategies for companies in the telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries. She has significant experience in launching open enrollment, compensation, and performance management programs for both global and U.S.-based corporations. She holds a Master's Degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications from Fairleigh Dickinson University, a Bachelor of Administration in Business from Caldwell College, and is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
Why Diane Loves This Business—"I like to solve puzzles—putting all the pieces together to see the big picture. Developing communication plans is like finishing a huge puzzle. I enjoy every aspect of the process from planning and development to delivering the final product. The most rewarding part is that I help employees better understand information that is important to their personal and professional lives."
Denise Festa Teague—Personalized Communications Consultant
With a BA in Mathematics in hand, Denise joined the firm fresh out of Adelphi University more than 25 years ago and hasn't looked back since. First starting as a member of the firm's actuarial team, Denise has been a lead programmer and analyst for the Personalized Communications Practice for the past 15 years and is transitioning into the role of consultant. She is currently pursuing an MBA in Finance at Stony Brook University.
Why Denise Loves This Business—"For me, it all started out with a passion for problem-solving in a business environment, but it has turned out to be so much more. The ever-evolving changes in societal demographics and how they relate to pension and health systems are even more relevant now than they were 25 years ago. I feel very fortunate to be a part of a field that deals with critical issues that have not only national but global implications."
Diane Upshaw—Administrative Staff
Diane has been in the administrative end of the Employee Benefit field for practically her entire adult life. She is instrumental to our success and performs many tasks, from keeping us organized to making sure all our administrative functions, including word processing and billing, are running smoothly. Diane attended LaGuardia Community College.
Why Diane Loves This Business—"I love the fact that I'm very much needed as the administrative person to help run the department. I love speaking with clients on the phone and greeting them when they come to our office for meetings. My smiling face is one of the first things they see when they enter our office. Plus, I thrive on working in a fast-paced environment, and there's never a dull moment. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Helen Ye—Personalized Communications Programmer/Analyst
Helen joined the firm as an Application Software Developer in the Pension Systems Practice and moved over to Personalized Communications several years ago. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for a market research firm in New York as a research assistant. Helen holds a Master of Science degree in Information Systems from City College of the City University of New York and a Bachelor of Science in Material Science from the Textile Institute of Zhen Zhou in China.
Why Helen Loves This Business—"I love the whole process of taking data and creating personalized statements to be presented to individuals. I contribute my experience with pension calculation programming and my analytical skills to make it happen. This is a great place for me to challenge myself."
