In 2012, drawing on their collective experience, Barbara Mitchell and Cornelia Gamlem penned a great resource, The Big Book of HR, for HR professionals, managers, business leaders, small business owners, and anyone who has to manage people. Since then, they’ve written The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook, The Conflict Resolution Phrase Book, the award-winning The Manager’s Answer Book, They Did What? Unbelievable Tales from The Workplace, and The Decisive Manager. They also collaborate on a weekly blog and contribute to The HR Exchange Network.
Both authors are influencers to the business and HR communities. They have been interviewed in major radio markets around the country, quoted in major publications, contributed to on-line media, and spoken to business groups. Among their writing awards, they are most proud of being 2020 Award Winners or The Manager’s Answer Book and a 2022 Finalist for The Big Book of HR, 10th Anniversary Edition from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest International Book Awards for Indie Authors and Publishers .
Cornelia Gamlem & Barbara Mitchell
Some of the places where Cornelia & Barbara have been Quoted and Featured
Cornelia Gamlem
Respectful workplaces. That’s what Cornelia is passionate about. It’s why she left an HR leadership role with a Fortune 500 IT services company to start her consulting practice, the Gems Group, to offer HR and business solutions to organizations wanting to develop and maintain respectful workplaces.
Highlights of Cornelia’s career include involvement with national employers' groups focused on workplace equality and diversity, serving on task forces that influenced public policy, testifying before the EEOC, and serving in national leadership volunteer roles with The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She achieved Life Certification as Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).
Education is important. Cornelia has a master's degree in Human Resource Management from Marymount University, Arlington VA, and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento.
An avid believer of giving back, Cornelia has served as an instructor to HR professionals at colleges around the Washington DC metro area and as a technical editor for McGraw Hill Education. She likes to bring HR professionals and fellow writers together to share their knowledge and experiences. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for SouthWest Writers in Albuquerque, NM where she lives and writes.
Find Cornelia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corneliagamlem/
Barbara Mitchell
Finding, hiring, engaging and retaining the best talent available is Barbara’s passion and the reason why she began consulting. The Mitchell Group offers clients solutions about people and talent management issues, and coaches people who want to make a career change.
Barbara gained her expertise working in finance, marketing, and operations with Sears and American Hospital Supply corporation, and HR leadership roles with Marriott International and Human Genome Sciences. She was also co-owner and Principal of The Millennium Group International, LLC.
Education also played a role. Barbara has a degree from North Park University, Chicago, Il, and has taken graduate-level business courses at UCLA, the University of Denver, and Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.
Community activism is also important. Barbara served on the board of directors of the Employment Management Association and led several SHRM chapters. In the broader community, she has served on the executive committee of the board of directors of the Northern Virginia Habitat for Humanity affiliate and the Loudoun County Literacy Council. Currently, she is a video docent at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum, and a board of trustees member and the HR council chair for The National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC where she lives and writes.
Find Barbara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchellbarbara/