Meet Our Team
Deborah Urbanik
Co-Founder and CEO
Deborah has spent over 25 years focusing on improving the employee experience with global fortune 500 partners across many industries including bioscience, pharma, retail, high-tech
manufacturing, oil and gas, and more. She founded D. Whitney Consulting in 2019 with a purpose of designing Inspired Human Connection at work so all can thrive.
She focuses her efforts on understanding how human dynamics are shaping employee performance, organizational culture, and results. Her approach is co-creative inviting leaders, managers, employees, and customers to share insights that reveal an organization’s cultural truths.
Deb is also a passionate and active mental health advocate. A previous Board of Directors member for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in New Hampshire and a NAMI National Support Group Facilitator Trainer. She co-created the organization’s first virtual support group in response to the pandemic and served as its facilitator for four years.​
Haley Urbanik
Co-Founder and COO
Haley has a BA in Business Management with a focus on Organizational Psychology from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst. She is passionate about engaging employees in culture-strengthening work. Her focus areas include workshop design and facilitation, data analysis, and preparing findings reports to offer clients valuable insights into their existing culture, deepening understanding and identifying areas for
improvement.
Haley also focuses on bringing mentally healthy practices into workplace culture. She was formerly the Chairperson on the Board of Directors for New Hampshire Family Network (NHFN), a program of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in New Hampshire (NAMI NH). She understands the vital role that leaders and managers play in fostering psychologically safe environments within their teams so people can perform and thrive.
Christina Itzkowitz
Principal Owner of BLUEPRINT BY DESIGN LLC Consulting
Christina Itzkowitz is a design-thinking and results-focused business consultant with a proven track record of engineering agile and scalable solutions to meet the business and workforce demands of the ever-changing market and industry landscape to propel an organization forward.
Christina is a seasoned practitioner with 20+ years of mastery in the multi-faceted spectrum of the employee journey along with expertise in process improvement, HCM implementation, project management, change management, and strategic internal and external global communications. She has a knack for mapping out customized business, culture, talent, people, and communication blueprints to align with the strategy and distinctiveness of each organization.
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Her global industry expertise includes Fortune 200 (ranks within the top 200 spots on the Fortune 500 list), Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 2000 companies (largest companies in the world (based on sales, profits, assets, and market value) in Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology, Global Operations, R&D, Retail, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Biotech, Real Estate Brokerage Services, Defense and Transportation.
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Christina’s motto is that a one-size solution “does not” fit all. When you partner with Christina, she takes the time to listen, learn, and collaborate with you and your organization in designing customized solutions to meet your strategic imperatives and business objectives.
Karen Taylor
Onboarding Practice Lead
Karen is a strategic HR program leader specializing in onboarding excellence. She transformed a global organization’s onboarding process—impacting 20,000+ employees—from a tactical checklist to an engaging, culture-driven experience. Her approach, integrating key pillars like Purpose, Values, and Inclusion, significantly improved first-year retention and long-term employee success.
Passionate about aligning onboarding with company culture, Karen has been recognized for her expertise in onboarding strategy, leadership development, and change management. Since 2021, she has shared insights with top companies, including Accenture, Google, E&Y, and SAP, through presenting at Onboarders conferences. A committed leader and mentor, she fosters inclusive, high-performing teams and thrives on driving impactful change.
Jenn Smith
HR Consultant and Career Coach, Flourish Careers
Jenn Smith is an HR consultant who partners with companies to craft and implement deliberate human capital strategies. Constantly researching the latest trends in business and talent and recognizing new ways companies design HR strategies is part of her DNA. She diligently integrates this research into her practice, serving clients with the most relevant information.
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As a former corporate HR leader, Jenn's progressive experience spans over 15 years across multiple industries – including Fortune 200 companies – in biotechnology, food & beverage manufacturing, and technology distribution/sales. Jenn is recognized for her high learning agility, trustworthy leadership, and natural ability to lead complex global projects. What this means to her clients is an unmatched combination of comprehensive strategic guidance, practical tips, and inspired thought partnership.
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When she's not working, Jenn can be found outside exploring with her husband, Jeremy, and beloved Newfoundland dog, Tula. They love getting outside and adventuring across the Western NY region.
Elizabeth York
Content Creator and Editor
Beth York is an experienced content creator and editor with extensive background in facilitating user-centered, engaging learning and training opportunities for a variety of audiences. Founder of Literacy That Works and author of a book by the same name, Beth also advocates an approach to teaching English that weaves career-relevant reading, writing and speaking skills together with mentorship from industry professionals to build students' capacity as effective communicators and their excitement about their futures. Whether engaged in a workplace or a classroom, Beth strives to enable excellence in learning and collaboration for all stakeholders through timely,
accurate and impactful communication.
