Elissa Sterry retired from ExxonMobil in 2017, following a 37-year career during which she held a number of senior leadership positions at the corporate and business unit levels and was responsible for identifying and developing senior leadership talent and managing highly diverse teams. Through these experiences, Elissa gained a passion for leadership excellence and additionally became a recognized speaker on ExxonMobil’s outlook for energy and energy-related issues. She has traveled around the world to speak with government officials, government agencies, think tanks, NGOs, investors, national oil company executives, and university students on energy-related matters. Elissa holds bachelor of science and master of engineering degrees from Cornell University.
Adrienne M. Harrison has spent twenty years as a military leader and private sector executive. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, she held a variety of leadership positions as a multifunctional logistics officer across three combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Adrienne played an integral role in the Army’s change management process aimed at completely transforming the way logistics and life support operations are conducted on the battlefield to meet the challenges posed by the complexities of the War on Terror. She subsequently served as an assistant professor of American history at West Point. Her military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, two Bronze Stars, and the Combat Action Badge.
Adrienne holds MA and PhD degrees from Rutgers University. She has lectured extensively on the colonial period, the American Revolution, and George Washington’s presidential administration. She is the author of A Powerful Mind: The Self-Education of George Washington (University of Nebraska Press). Additionally, she has authored book chapters and articles and appeared as a featured expert in documentaries aired on the History Channel, C-SPAN, and Fox News. After concluding her Army service, she entered the corporate world and held several executive roles, most recently acting as chief of staff at East Coast Warehouse and Distribution Corporation.
Adrienne resides with her family in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and is the chief operating officer and a senior historian of Battlefield Leadership, LLC.
adrienne.harrison@battlefieldleadership.com
315.955.3126 tel
A 30-year armor officer who commanded at the platoon, company, and squadron levels, Col. Gian Gentile is a combat veteran of two tours in Iraq, a former chief of military history and professor at the US Military Academy at West Point, and a visiting fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of the University of California-Berkeley with an MA in military arts and sciences from the School of Advanced Military Studies and a PhD from Stanford University. With specialized knowledge in the history of airpower in the United States, Gian is also a counterinsurgency expert currently employed by the Rand Corporation.
A former chief of international history and full professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Colonel McDermott served 27 years in command and staff positions, including as commander of the largest artillery battery in the army. A graduate of West Point, with MA and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Pilar has had essays and books published in the United States, Spain, and Italy. She has received several fellowships, including one from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Upon her retirement from the army in 2013, Pilar received the Compass Award from the Women’s Leadership Exchange, given to those “who have shifted the paradigm of how women are perceived as leaders.” Pilar leads Battlefield Leadership’s women’s leadership studies and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
James Czupil is a former human resources executive at The Hershey Company with 25 years of experience in global executive development, diversity, and compensation. He also worked for Bank of America where he developed executives from across the enterprise. A graduate of Penn State University with a BA in marketing, James also holds an MA from Saint Francis University in industrial relations. At both Hershey and Bank of America, he excelled at facilitating strategy and business development sessions with global teams. His role at Battlefield Leadership is to ensure that our team fully explores clients’ leadership and business challenges and helps them create workable plans to move their companies forward.
While at Merrill Lynch (and later Bank of America), Everett was responsible for global leadership and talent programs under Merrill Lynch University, where he led the design, development, and delivery of programs across all lines of business. Everett retired from Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2012 and joined Battlefield Leadership, where he serves as a program facilitator. In addition to co-facilitating Battlefield Leadership’s Antietam, Gettysburg, Little Bighorn, Washington’s Crossing, and Normandy programs, he delivers the Shackleton Leadership Experience to global audiences throughout the world.