Merry Lee Lison, SPHR, GPHR
Ed Wood, SPHR
Helen Englebert, SPHR
Diane Hamilton, SPHR
Connie Rank-Smith, SPHR, CEBS
Mary Oelstrom, PHR
Nora Werra, SPHR
Geri Fandrey, SPHR
Dale Scharinger, SPHR
Barbara Moberg, SPHR
Jeff Palkowski,MHRM, SHRM-SCP, PHR, PMQ
State Director
Ph: 414.467.5247
Em: statedirector@wishrm.org
Term Start: 1/1/2025
Jeff Palkowski, MHRM, SHRM-SCP, PMQ, PHR, recently retired from public service after several HR positions with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the State of Wisconsin. He has worked in private and public sector human resources roles and has been an active member of SHRM at the national, state, and local chapter levels since 2003.
Jeff will serve as the State Director of the Wisconsin State Council SHRM in 2025-2026, is the Ambassador for Individual Giving for the SHRM Foundation, and is a SHRM Foundation Leadership Circle member. He previously served as the Director of Government Affairs, District Director South West and South East, Communications and Social Media Director, State Director-Elect for Wisconsin State Council SHRM, and a volunteer leader for the Greater Madison Area SHRM and Blackhawk HRA chapters.
Jeff is active on social media and is Hootsuite Social Marketing Certified. He has been invited to serve on the SHRM Annual Conference Influencer Teams since 2019 and brought this concept to Wisconsin to establish the WI SHRM State Conference SMILE Team in 2021. He has appeared on HR-related podcasts, including We’re Only Human Show, HR Mixtape, SHRM HR Storytellers, HR Social Hour, Life in the Leadership Lane, HR Like a Boss, Be Well with Mel, and HR Break Room. He has also been cited in numerous media publications and is a contributor to the book “Drive with Purpose: Move Your Career from Success to Significance” by Bruce Waller. Jeff posts on his blog, HRSushiBar.com, and you can follow him on X (@JeffPally) and LinkedIn.
Jeff serves on the board for DisruptHR Madison and was a featured speaker for their 2024 re-launch event. He is an advocate and supporter of the HR Conference Cruise. Jeff received the HRUnite! Ambassador Award in 2022 and 2024 for volunteer service to the HR profession.
Jeff is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), SHRM People Manager Qualified (PMQ), and a State of Wisconsin Notary Public. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications-Journalism (BA) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM) with distinction from the Keller Graduate School of Management. Jeff has completed additional coursework at Cardinal Stritch University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
