COACHING & CONSULTING

CWW Member Profiles

Ali Ahmed Khan

CEO USA Technology Consultants Bayonne, NJ

Bayonne, NJ — Ali Ahmed Khan, CEO, is being recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Distinguished Chief Executive Officer in the Information Technology Consulting field, acknowledging his work with USA Technology Consultants.

With 12 years of experience in his field, Ali Ahmed Khan is the CEO of USA Technology Consultants, an IT consulting business headquartered in Bayonne, NJ. The company provides IT consulting for federal and commercial services and has many ongoing government contracts with the Department of Defense, the United States Navy, and others.

Before embarking on his career in information systems management and IT security, Mr. Khan completed an information systems management degree conferred in the United Kingdom. He also holds an information security degree from Purdue University Global.

His most significant accomplishments are leadership roles and delivery services for the Treasury Department after securing a one billion dollar contract. Mr. Khan has received many awards as a career highlight, including the Digital Transformation Award from British Telecom. He has also been named as an ambassador by Amazon and Microsoft Corporations. Mr. Khan considers his key to success to be in constant development and progressing toward a “rock star” team.

Among his professional memberships and affiliations, Mr. Khan is associated with the Gartner Society, CIO Weekly, and conducts seminars in cloud computing security.

Lori Ann Hertel

Evaluation Therapist Serenity Psychology Services & Consulting Hays, KS

Hays, KS — Lori Ann Hertel, Ph.D., LCMFT, is being recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Woman of Influence in the Psychology field and acknowledging her work with Serenity Psychology Services & Consulting.

A licensed clinical marriage and family therapist, Dr. Hertel is an evaluation therapist at Serenity Psychology Services & Consulting in Hays, KS. The doctor excels in her current role, which she has held for the past four years. Dealing with the assistance, diagnosis, and recommendation of therapy services, she builds off her earlier experience as the manager of Hertel Therapeutic Services from 2010 to 2014.

In pursuit of higher education, Dr. Hertel earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Fort Hays University. She completed a Doctor of Philosophy in health psychology at Walden University. Dr. Hertel graduated in 1978, started working as a probation officer about six months later, and has worked in the psychology field ever since. She attributes her professional success thus far to her professionalism, integrity, and education, as well as to the relationships she established with community members.

Dr. Hertel considers her involvement in starting and organizing several human resource organizations in the community some of her most notable accomplishments— including the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program, established in 1970, where she served as the director. She was also involved in spearheading the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program in the area. The doctor also maintains membership with Love Women and her local Chamber of Commerce. Looking toward the future, Dr. Hertel aims to eventually ease into a well-deserved retirement and hopes to continue to dedicate her time and be involved in voluntary community activities and charities.

On a personal note, Dr. Hertel has dealt with a lot of loss in her life. She lost her daughter at the age of 17 to multiple pterygium syndrome. The doctor’s passion for her work has really helped her to move past it. She enjoys being involved in and starting community programs that aid others. She sits on many boards in her local area. Dr. Hertel credits her father for her success; he was her hero and her biggest supporter.

In her spare time, Dr. Hertel loves spending time with her family.

For more information, visit www.serenitypsc.com.

Thelma A. Sias

Founder/CEO The Sias Group LLC Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee, WI — Thelma A. Sias is being recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Distinguished Professional for three decades of outstanding Executive Leadership and continued dedication to community service.

A retired corporate executive, political consultant, and motivational speaker, Ms. Sias is a strong advocate for leadership development among women and minorities and numerous other civic causes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

A native of Mayersville, Mississippi, Ms. Sias was one of 11 children born to the late Roosevelt and Pauline Sias. She grew up on her family farm and learned the value of hard work and commitment from a young age due to her parent’s committed involvement in the civil rights movement. Ms. Sias shares that this exposure to their dedication instilled in her the drive to stand up to injustice along with the unwavering principles that have motivated her career. Often in her speaking engagements, she will illustrate her journey beginning in the cotton fields in Mississippi to standing in the White House of the United States. This trajectory, she explains, was all due to how her parent’s fought for her and her family to have a better life and the early lessons they taught of perseverance.

After high school, Ms. Sias furthered her education in Atlanta, GA, at Clark College (now known as Clark Atlanta University). She graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She participated in a congressional internship in Washington, D.C, during her senior year. Seeing African American leaders in power, such as Congressman Walter Edward Fauntroy, motivated Ms. Sias to follow in such footsteps of influence. From there, she moved to Green Bay, WI, where she became the supervisor of the Ethnic Heritage Recruitment Center, serving the needs of African-American and Native American students.

In 1986, Ms. Sias accepted a position with the electrical and natural gas company Wisconsin Energy Corporation (now known as We Energies.) By 2003, she had worked her way into the role of Vice President of Local Affairs, where she was responsible for working with community leaders and local government officials to further the utility company’s business initiatives and lead multimilliondollar projects.

Among her many career accolades, Ms. Sias was selected for the 2015 Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Hall of Fame. In 2016, she was named one of the Top Influential Women in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine, The History Makers’ Collection at the Library of Congress in 2017, and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2018.

Ms. Sias is a member of The Links and the Black History Makers. She is also the founder and CEO of her own consulting firm named The Sias Group, LLC. She serves on a host of community and civic boards, including the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha, where she was the first African American to sit on the board, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, the Sojourner Family Peace Center, and the African American Women’s Project.

In her spare time, she loves to travel and spend time with her family.

For more information and to inquire about speaking engagements, please visit www. athenacommunicationsllc.com/services.

Tushar Kaushik

Architectural and Solutions Consultant 13778355 Canada Inc. Toronto, ON, Canada

Toronto, ON, Canada — Tushar Kaushik is being recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Top Architectural and Solutions Consultant in the Solution Architecture and Product Delivery fields, acknowledging his outstanding work with 13778355 Canada Inc.

Mr. Kaushik is an architectural and solutions consultant with expertise in product delivery. He has been in his career for over 20 years. This year, he launched his own business in Toronto, an architectural and solutions consultancy firm named 13778355 Canada Inc.

With over two decades of experience, Mr. Kaushik is a solution technologist who has successfully mastered defining, managing, and delivering large-scale customer-centric solutions, product implementations, and architecture across multiple platforms and systems. Additionally, Mr. Kaushik is an exemplary leader possessing over 15 years of experience creating, stabilizing, coaching, and mentoring teams for design, delivery, implementation, and production support.

In pursuit of higher education, Mr. Kaushik earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Mumbai, India, in 1997. Among his licenses and certifications, he is certified in Microsoft Azure Fundamentals. Over the years, he has received several awards for his work, including the Neural Leadership Institute Award for Workplace Coaching, the Chairman’s Excellence Award for Delivery (2020, 2019, 2015, and 2013), the Tesla Award (2018), Going the Extra Mile Award in Running a Business (2017), and the Special Award in Business Management from Polaris (2012), to name a few.

Among his keys to success, Mr. Kaushik maintains a strong desire to learn more and grow professionally. He has an open mind towards achieving goals, believing that it takes about 1 percent ideas, 1 percent luck, and 98 percent hard work to make it. He also has an attitude of continual progress to learn from mistakes while minimizing and eliminating failures. “I always feel that I need to learn more,” Mr. Kaushik states. “Failures are good for progress, as long as the failures are converted to learning and are not repeated.”

Looking to the future, Mr. Kaushik’s fiveyear goal consists of establishing a full-time coaching career.