Shirley Porter, Keith Porter, and Christine Bennett are the authors of Me, Myself and I, Inc.: 10 Steps to Career Independence (1998). As a wife-husband-daughter partnership, they bring strong relationship and teamwork skills to their work. In 1995 they founded WorkVantage, Inc, a California-based workplace training and consulting firm which provides training and development, coaching, career counseling and organizational development consulting to help employees and employers alike discover ways to survive and thrive in the chaotic new work world.

 

Clients include major employers in a variety of private sector industries, such as Advanced Micro Devices and Franklin Templeton Investments, and public agencies such as the University of California at Davis and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.

Shirley Porter earned a BA in Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, NJ, an MS in Educational Psychology from California State University, Hayward, and a graduate certificate in Career Development from John F. Kennedy University, California. She was a guest lecturer in career development research and practices at the University of East London in England, and a community college counselor in California.

 

She maintains an active private practice as a career counselor. Shirley has published articles in the San Francisco Examiner, and on several websites. She has been a featured speaker for a variety of job-search assistance organizations and a workshop presenter at numerous professional conferences.

Keith Porter has nearly 40 years senior management experience in telecommunications, business development and operations, and human resources and organization development. He holds an honors BS degree in electrical engineering from University of the Pacific, a graduate certificate in telecommunications management from University of Southern California, and has done additional graduate work in systems thinking. Until 1990, he held a variety of line and staff senior management positions at AT&T and Pacific Bell during the dynamic Bell System divestiture years.

 

As President of PacTel Cable UK, Ltd., he established, operated and later divested multiple cable television/telephone franchises in the United Kingdom. As Executive Director for AirTouch International, he directed the successful application for a cellular license in Spain, and was start-up COO and a member of the Board of Directors for Airtel, Spain's second wireless service provider. He has been a featured speaker for a variety of job-search assistance organizations and workshop presenter at numerous professional conferences.

Christine Bennett has 18 years experience in training, instructional design, technical writing and editing. She holds a Phi Beta Kappa BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley. Before co-founding WorkVantage, Chris worked for several small and large employers, including Pacific Gas & Electric and IBM. She is also a Master ESL Trainer, and taught English in Tokyo, Japan.

 

She has presented workshops at numerous professional conferences, including the International Career Development Conference and Western Association of Colleges and Employers, and has been a featured speaker for American Society for Training and Development, Women In Consulting and Drake Beam Moran. In May 2001 Chris co-authored a breakthrough book based on primary research with women in the Silicon Valley entitled Strong Voices, Real Choices: Professional Women Speak Out About Their Decision To Work Less.