Our Associates

Julie Hile

hile@hilegroup.com
Julie, founder and president of Hile Group, has 25 years of experience assisting public and private sector organizations learn how to define for themselves and achieve exceptional performance. A world-class facilitator and safety advocate, Julie has made culture change a manageable and transformative experience for thousands of people from the seasoned executive to the newest hire through:

  • customized leadership development
  • courses in teaching, learning, collaboration, and safety
  • strategic planning processes
  • safety rule book revision
  • consultation in safety strategy and leadership
  • new hire orientation and work flow processes
  • guiding Human Resource functions away from training and toward performance management

Julie currently leads Hile Group’s service to U.S. railroads as a strong partner in the industry’s first-ever development and launch of a Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). She is plying her talents to implementation of C3RS at four FRA-funded demonstration sites, work which includes support of site-based Peer Review Teams, building of Multiple Cause Incident Analysis (MCIA) skills within the sites and beyond, development of mission-critical job tools and communication loops, and continuous linkage between the field and the project research team.

Julie's expertise has been incorporated in the following publications:

  • Broad, Mary L., ed. "Sleuthing Out Performance Consulting's Best Partners." Beyond Transfer of Training: Engaging Systems to Improve Performance. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2005.
  • Hile, Julie S. Five Minutes or Five Days: Strategies for Leading, Learning, and Collaboration. Ms. 2000.
  • Hile, Julie S. Leadership. Ms. 2000.
  • Hile, Julie S. Transformational Safety: Stewarding Safety Culture. Ms. 2002.
  • Ukens, Lorraine L., ed. "Transfer of Learning to Performance." What Smart Trainers Know: the Secrets of Success From the World's Foremost Expert. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001.

When not working projects on the road, Julie supports her customers and the industries they represent by developing the next generation of safety leaders and organization culture change agents at Hile Group’s offices in Normal, Illinois.

 

Aimée Bullinger

bullinger@hilegroup.com
Aimée, Hile Director of Technical Communications and Performance Consultant, uses her strong communication, writing, and visual editing skill sets to support the development of customers’ safety rule books, procedures, or operations manuals. At all times, Aimée serves the end-users, the people whose job—and maybe lives—will be affected by the development of organizational documentation. When managing projects, Aimée builds the confidence, abilities, and safety commitment of writing teams and key project stakeholders. She helps them achieve end products that provide a road map for strong safety and operational performance—every day. Aimée is interested in helping customers take advantage of technological conveniences without sacrificing personal contact.

 

Lora Ferraro

ferraro@hilegroup.com
Lora, Hile Group Process Manager and Marketing Director, is the person who introduces you to Hile Group services at professional functions, on the phone, or over email. In addition, Lora leads performance consulting assessments and facilitates systems improvements within Hile Group. She ensures that our company employs the same skills and strategies that serve our customers. A five-year veteran of crisis intervention in the social service and legal sectors, Lora lends her strong sense of service and justice to the work of small business management.

 

Christina Schulz

schulz@hilegroup.com
Christina, Hile Group Performance Consultant, acts as your ally in achieving improved safety, communication, and documentation at your organization. Her experience as a performance consultant, project manager, and facilitator positions you to own the successes you and your organization achieve. Christina stewards leadership development process, designs and facilitates Hile Group courses, and supports advancements in safety culture.