About Us

Meet our Team

Workplace Dynamics believes the best way to provide our clients with a broad range of human resources knowledge and experience is to partner with veteran business consultants.  Depending on the project needs, we may work independently or collaboratively as a team.  We may also bring in additional experienced consultants to support specific projects. Utilizing the expertise of highly experienced and specialized consultants, we distinguish ourselves with our hands-on, personal approach to handling your human resource needs.

Debra Milstein Gardner, President, founded Workplace Dynamics LLC as a women-owned and operated human resources consulting firm in 1990 utilizing her 31 years of experience gained while working in the public and private sectors in various human resources roles.

Prior to starting Workplace Dynamics, Debra worked for Marriott Corporation in various capacities for over eight years.  In her last position as Director, National Employment and Compliance, she administered all human resource functions for an operating division with 250 restaurants in 12 states, $258 million in annual sales and 9,000 employees.  Prior positions included working as an EEO Specialist and Manager of Affirmative Action.  She designed and managed the affirmative action compliance program for 17 business lines covering 240,000 employees.  With a staff of three, she ensured the development of affirmative action plans, directed and participated in OFCCP compliance reviews throughout the country.  In these compliance roles, Debra was responsible for the training design and facilitation for new managers across division specialty areas.

Debra began her career working for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as an investigator and an auditor.  She conducted operations audits and prepared findings reports of EEOC field offices to ensure compliance with regulatory procedures.  While working out of the Chicago District Office, she investigated and resolved discrimination charges. 

Debra is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Chesapeake Human Resources Association, Baltimore Industry Liaison Group (BILG), and the National Industry Liaison Group.  Debra has been a regular presenter at the Hunt Valley Business Forum; the American Council of Engineering Companies (CEC) of Maryland, Human Resources Committee; Project SAME (Staffing Alliance of Maryland Employers); and the Chesapeake Human Resources Association.

Debra holds a BS in Counseling from the University of Maryland.  She is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) ™, a validated culture-neutral instrument that measures an individual’s level of cultural competence.  Debra is also a co-author of the Diversity and Inclusion Profile for ELLA® (Employment Labor Law Audit) and has been published in the Baltimore Business Journal on employment related issues.

On the personal side, Debra is actively involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and would love for you to learn more about this disease and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease affecting approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States.  The mission of the CF Foundation is to assure the development of the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis and to improve the quality of life for those with the disease.  Please support the CF Foundation in its efforts by making a donation through the Workplace Dynamics Great Strides webpage.

Carol Rovello, lead consultant and FLSA / Performance Management / OD expert, is also President of Strategic Workplace Solutions, LLC and has over 32 years of leadership experience, including 26 as an HR/OD consultant. She started her career in public school education and then served as the Executive Director of a private, non-profit corporation for six years before formally entering the management consulting profession in October of 1984. Carol works with clients in both private industry and the public/private, non-profit sector, including higher education. She performs a wide range of client engagements related to human resource management, organization development initiatives, and professional development programs for leaders and employees.

In addition to consulting, Carol has taught the following undergraduate courses: Principles of Management, Human Resource Management, Non-Profit Management, and People Skills. She wrote a series of management articles for "Modern Medical Office Manager," a subscription newsletter for physician practices in the Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania regional area and appeared on a local cable program to discuss sexual harassment. She is also a frequent speaker for professional association meetings and conferences.

Carol earned a Bachelor's Degree in Education from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), a Master's Degree in Administration from Rider College (now Rider University), and her certification as a Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR) in 2003, with recertification in 2006 and 2009. She is a charter member and past president of the Western North Carolina Human Resource Association, district 1 director for the North Carolina Society for Human Resources Management, and a member of the Society for Human Resources Management.  She is also Vice Chair of the Center for Diversity Education Board and a member of the Leadership Asheville Planning Council, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Asheville Downtown Association.

Carol has received the distinguished honor of the 2009 NCSHRM State HR Professional of the Year Award.  This award is given to one professional in recognition of his/her service to the HR Community for service to the HR profession, leadership in the business community, and service to the civic communication.

Peter Bye, lead consultant and diversity expert, is also the President of MDB Group, Inc., a consulting firm that developed the Business-Aligned® diversity and inclusion strategy.

Peter applies practical, proven diversity and inclusion technologies to build the workforce and workplace that deliver business results.   A leader in the fields of diversity, inclusion, and executive coaching sine 1995, Mr. Bye applies a strategic business perspective to his consulting work.  In 2008, the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) selected Mr. Bye as one of the 100 distinguished global thought leaders from business, education, and government at its Global Leadership Summit on Diversity and Inclusion.

Mr. Bye is an acknowledged expert in planning and implementing Business-Aligned diversity and inclusion strategies, policies, practces, communication plans, websites, and employee network groups.  He is an accomplished executive coach specializing in people and workplace issues who also has a strong business P&L and R&D experience.

Prior to founding MDB Group, Peter was Corporate Diversity Director at AT&T. He created and deployed the new corporation's diversity and inclusion strategy, focusing on business growth while increasing workforce diversity and improving productivity and innovation. He expanded the relationships iwth the employee network groups, emphasizing business partnerships.  Peter was the company's primary workforce diversity subject matter expert.

Peter was an executive coach to the senior leadership team of a Lucent Technologies Business Unit on people and work environment issues. Before that, he held positions as a business manager with P&L responsibility for a $350 million product family and in business and strategic planning. He started his career in product engineering at Bell Laboratories.

Peter is a coauthor of the Diversity and Inclusion Profile for ELLA®.  He is a frequent speaker and workshop leader at Conference Board and other conferences.  Peter has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, by SHRM, and in many other print and online media.  His articles on planning and implementing diversity and inclusion strategies have appeared in many journals, including Diversity Facotr, Profiles in Diversity Journal, and Workforce Diversity Reader.  He is a past member of the SHRM Workplace Diversity Special Expertise Panel and a past program chair of the Conference Board Diversity Council.

Peter received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University and a Certificate in Diversity Management from the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science. He is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and has also completed the Penn State University Executive Management Program.

H. Winton "Wynn" Watkis, Consultant,  is a proven human resource executive with more than 25 years of experience solving complex business challenges. His career encompasses senior EEO/affirmative action, human resource and diversity business partner roles in both field operations and corporate staff positions with leading organizations such as Marriott International, Sodexo and Fannie Mae.

Wynn worked in various EEO, affirmative action and human resources generalist roles with Marriott International for over 12 years. In 1998, he joined Sodexo North America as Senior Manager for Workforce Diversity, where he launched the new company's affirmative action function, and was promoted to Director, Affirmative Action, where he oversaw development and implementation of hundreds of annual affirmative action plans. In addition, as Director, EEO Compliance at Marriott and, later, Director, Diversity at Sodexo, Wynn led various training, talent development, employment branding and other core HR initiatives, several of which were recognized as corporate best practices by organizations like the National Urban League and Diversity Inc. More recently, at Fannie Mae, Wynn designed and led corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives including leadership training and mentoring programs that drove recruiting, retention, culture change and corporate branding outcomes.

Wynn is known for helping leaders and teams to leverage diversity and inclusion at work. He has demonstrated success in diversity management, equal opportunity/affirmative action, HR program planning and administration, staff training, leadership development and talent sourcing. Currently, Wynn facilitates the Beltway Region Affinity Group for the State of Maryland’s Professional Outplacement Assistance Center (POAC), where he develops and delivers management education programs for executive and professional job seekers.

Wynn is a member of Leadership Montgomery, where he has served as a board member and Vice President for Program, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Alejandra Hernandez, Spanish Translator, was born and raised in Mexico City, studied Englsh as a second language.  She worked in Human Resources for Motorola Mexico for 1 1/2 years covering Mexico and Latin America.  She also was a Corporate Purchaser for 4 years with Grupo Chartwell, a hotel management company.  For the past six years, Alejandra has conducted Spanish conversation classes and offered Spanish translation and interpreting services to organizations in the medical, food services, travel, real estate, mortgage, and legal arena.  Alejandra has a bachelors degree in Business Administration form ITESM (Instituto Technologico y de Estudio Superiores de Monterrey).  She also enjoys teaching Reiki classes.