NACS Human Resources Forum

Joanne M. Loce, Managing Partner of Fortify Leadership Group and President of Loce Consulting LLC, is an executive coach, consultant and speaker on topics related to strategic human resources, organization and leadership development, culture, change management, and talent management. She brings over 25 years of experience partnering with business leaders to create Human Resources strategy and delivering people related processes that contribute to the bottom line in a variety of industries, including financial services, automotive, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, insurance, chemicals, non-profit, and public agencies and education. Her current coaching and consulting clients include Fortune 500 companies in various industries, state government, and leaders in small to mid-sized firms.

Ms. Loce served as a Program Director for The Conference Board, leading ten industry conferences on talent management, performance management, and the development of emerging leaders. Her most recent corporate role was the Vice President of Talent Management and Organizational Development for Genworth Financial. Ms. Loce was responsible for leading talent management strategies and processes, recruiting, succession planning, and leadership development across global Genworth. Prior to joining Genworth Financial, Ms. Loce worked for Capital One Financial, General Motors, and the Federal Reserve System where she held a variety of roles in which she coached and consulted with senior executive leadership, provided Human Resources strategy and support for her clients, and led enterprise-wide talent management, leadership development, and cross-functional change efforts.

Ms. Loce holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Providence College, a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, and a Leadership Coaching Certificate from Georgetown University. She resides with her husband and four children in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

Henry Armour is the president and CEO of NACS. He grew up working in his family’s retail businesses, Armour Oil Company, rising to the position of vice president and COO in 1977. In 1980, he joined The Standard Oil Company of Ohio, where he served as manager of development strategies. He later founded West Star Corporation, which grew to include 59 NOW! convenience stores, truck stops and quick-service restaurants in the Pacific Northwest until he sold the company in 2004. In 1988, Armour founded Epoch Corporation, which operated retail enterprises in California.

He became president and CEO of NACS in July 2005, having also served as the association’s chairman in 2002 and 2003. Armour earned a BA in economics from Stanford University, an MSc in economics from the London School of Economics, and an MBA and PhD in economics from Stanford University.

Stacey Ferreira is the CEO of Forge, a talent sharing network that empowers businesses to offer more hours and flexibility to their hourly employees, and co-¬author of 2 Billion Under 20: How Millennials Are Breaking Down Age Barriers & Changing the World. Previously, Stacey was the co--founder of MySocialCloud, an SSO company whose investors include Sir Richard Branson, Jerry Murdock, and Alex Welch. In 2013, she and her brother (and co-¬founder) sold MySocialCloud to Reputation.com.

Ferreira has received recognition for her entrepreneurial achievements in addition to her other accomplishments at a young age, including being a US State Department Speaker on Entrepreneurship and being one of twenty Thiel Fellows selected for the 2015 Thiel Fellowship.

Ferreira has been featured on and contributed to several news outlets, including the cover of Seventeen Magazine, The Huffington Post, Women 2.0, Business Insider, TechCrunch, and Forbes. She has spoken at popular technology conferences, including TEDxYouthSanDiego and GRAMMY Media Week, and she has been a guest contributor to Women 2.0 and Forbes.

Bob Graczyk is Vice President, Human Resources for QuickChek Corporation located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. Prior to QuickChek he held positions as Manager, Human Resources, for Amerada Hess Corporation; and with The Southland Corporation, 7-Eleven, in human resources and retail operations.

Bob served four years in the U.S. Navy and attended George Mason University graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He then earned his MBA from Lehigh University; and attended Saint Joseph’s University completing his MS in Human Resource Management in 2007. Bob holds the SPHR certification from the Society of Human Resources Management.

He began his convenience store career as a part time team member with 7-Eleven, moving on to other positions within the company as Store Manager, Area Supervisor, and District Manager before accepting a training instructor position at a regional training facility. Prior to his departure from 7-Eleven in 1991, he held positions of Division Training and Division Personnel Manager. In that same year, Bob accepted a Retail Training Manager position with Amerada Hess and then was promoted to Manager Personnel Administration and finally to Manager, Retail Recruiting and Development. In September 1997, Bob joined QuickChek Food Stores as Director, Human Resources and in 2002 was promoted to Vice President, Human Resources.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Financial Resources Federal Credit Union.

Bob Graczyk retired as a Commander in 2004 from the U.S. Naval Reserves and lives with his wife Terrie in Wescosville, PA. They have two grown sons and four wonderful grandchildren.

Valerie Kostecka is the Director of Human Resources, Payroll, and Workers Compensation for Vintners Distributors, Inc., and its partnering companies (West Coast Convenience, LLC., and Prohas Enterprises, Inc.) which owns and operates over 130 Shell and Chevron fuel stations across California with over 1,300 employees.

Valerie has multiple BS degrees in Human Resources, Labor Relations, and Business Law. Her career started over 25 years ago in recruitment for large Fortune 100 company. For the last 15 years of her career, Valerie has focused her expertise on employment law/compliance and consulting companies/senior management in compliance and automation. Valerie is on the Santa Clara County Board of Human Resources and serves as a consultant for many in the Human Resources industry. One of Valerie’s passions is staying on top of the numerous California regulations, along with the ever-changing Federal regulations.

Kim Lazerus is the Vice President, Human Resources at Maverik. Her responsibilities include talent acquisition, learning and development, training, culture & employee engagement and general human resource functions.

Kim has been in the retail industry for her entire career, with a focus on people and people development. Prior to joining the Maverik team, Kim was the Regional HR Director for Best Buy’s Southeast region. She began her career with Target, which included opening the Salt Lake City market with the new SuperTarget store concept.

Kim holds an MA, with an emphasis in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Arizona State University.

Kim lives in Bountiful, UT with her husband Jeff and her step-son Nicholas. Outside of work, she enjoys camping and four-wheeling.

Jeff Lenard oversees NACS’ industry-wide campaigns to enhance the image of the convenience and fuel retailing industry, particularly the association’s new reFresh initiative. In this role, he develops resources and toolkits, explores new partnerships with like-minded organizations and shares success stories with the industry and media. Lenard also serves as lead spokesperson and has conducted more than 5,000 media interviews about trends and innovations at the nation’s 154,000-plus convenience stores. In addition, Lenard is the creator and co-host of the association’s popular weekly podcast, “Convenience Matters.”

Prior to joining NACS in 1999, Lenard served in communications and marketing functions for several energy-focused associations. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. in marketing from Syracuse University.

George (Trey) Reeves is a partner in the Columbia office. His practice primarily involves representation of management in employment and labor litigation involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA); wage and hour litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); and employment litigation under state law for workplace torts such as defamation, wrongful termination, invasion of privacy, and negligent hiring or supervision. George also represents employers in audits and investigations by federal and state agencies investigating or challenging employers’ wage and hour practices and worker misclassification issues.

George is a frequent presenter on employment and labor issues for local and state Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) chapters, chambers of commerce and other professional organizations. Prior to attending law school, George served in the United States Navy.

Joan serves on the advisory board of Gender Fair, an organization that measures companies on four facets of gender equality, including women in leadership roles, employee benefits, advertising images, and corporate philanthropy.

Her most recent role was as founding president and CEO of the Network of Executive Women (NEW), the premier women’s leadership community in the retail and consumer goods and services. NEW’s mission is “To advance women, grow business and transform our industry’s workplace through the power of our community.” Under Joan’s leadership, NEW grew from a start up to more than 10,000 members, 100+ corporate partners, and 21 regional groups across the US and Canada. Prior to leading NEW, Joan was an executive in the B-to-B media industry, focused primarily on retail and consumer goods and services for print, digital and events.