Jennifer Christie

Rhonda Morris

Rhonda J. Morris is vice president and chief human resources officer for Chevron Corporation and has led the company’s human resources, health & medical and diversity & inclusion groups since 2016. She also serves on the company’s Executive Committee.

Prior to 2016, Morris held a number of roles of increasing responsibility in human resources, global marketing and international products.

In 2014, Morris received the Industry Leader Award from the Professional Businesswomen in California recognizing her work to advance gender equality in the workplace. Morris serves on the boards of Techbridge and the East Bay Agency for Children.

She previously served on the boards of A Better Chance, a national organization dedicated to opening the door to educational opportunities for thousands of young people of color in the United States, the Math Engineering and Science Association at the University of California at Berkeley and the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.

Morris joined Chevron’s Human Resources Development Program in 1991. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis, in 1987 and a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University in 1991.

Kamy Scarlett

Kamy Scarlett is the chief human resources officer and president of U.S. retail stores for Best Buy Co. Inc. In this role, she oversees talent development and the health and well-being of the more than 125,000 Best Buy employees worldwide, as well as being responsible for the execution and operation of all domestic Best Buy store locations.

Kamy joined Best Buy in 2014. She has served in a variety of retail, operations, marketing and human resources leadership roles since beginning her career in retail more than 30 years ago. Prior to her current role, she was senior vice president of retail and chief human resources officer for Best Buy Canada. She was responsible for sales and profits in more than 180 stores in addition to developing and enacting the human resources and talent management strategies for the Canadian operations.

Kamy has a proven record in driving great customer experiences and financial results, as well as the creation and execution of HR and operations strategies and organizational transformation. This has led to great success in building strong cultures with high employee engagement, succession planning, training and development, and productivity improvements.

Prior to joining Best Buy, Kamy was the chief operating officer at Grafton-Fraser Inc., a leading Canadian retailer of men’s apparel. She also previously held leadership roles at Loblaw Cos., Hudson’s Bay Co. and Dylex Inc.

Kamy serves on the boards of the Best Buy Foundation and Greater MSP, an economic development partnership for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Gena Smith

Gena Smith is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Head of Global Executive & Creative Recruitment for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. A highly experienced human resources executive, Gena ensures that LVMH is best in class at selecting, developing, and retaining senior executive and creative talent. During her tenure with LVMH she has helped to further develop talent at all levels of the organization, including through attracting accomplished senior-level executives, instituting learning and development programs to prepare executives to meet business needs, and promoting mobility for high performing executives across the LVMH brands. She led the first ever Diversity & Inclusion initiative for LVMH launching it across North America in 2012. She has also led the Group’s regional gender diversity initiative, EllesVMH which included the Regional CEO’s signing of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles.

She currently resides in New York City with her husband Carlton Smith and two children, Madeline and Gage.

Lars Minns

Lars N. Minns is the Chief Human Resources Officer of North America for Mercedes-Benz, with responsibility for the USA, Canada, and Mexico. He leads the organization in designing and implementing HR strategies that directly align with the company’s strategic objectives related to the marketing, sales, distribution, and customer service for all Mercedes-Benz products in the region.

He and his team played a pivotal role in the company’s transition from New Jersey to Georgia, including the successful onboarding of 300+ new hires since his arrival in March 2015. This included the largest single year of hiring in the company’s 50+ year history. He is now poised to lead one of the world’s most admired brands through a large-scale transformation.

Prior to joining MBUSA, he served as the Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for The Home Depot’s Home Services division, commonly referred to as the “Do it for me” business. He led his team in executing talent acquisition strategies for the company’s fastest-growing business segment.

Lars spent 10 years with The Home Depot and served in roles of increasing responsibility. Most notably serving as the Senior Manager of Talent Management for Operations, Services, Finance, and IT. He led all facets of Talent Management and supported those business areas in several efforts aimed at increasing overall operational efficiencies. He supported the company’s Supply Chain from 2010-2012, where his talent management and consulting skills were dedicated to the logistics side of the retail business. His primary responsibilities included: talent assessment, selection, development, and succession planning.

Early in his tenure with the company, he led the design and execution of the company’s executive coaching program, the CEO’s merchandising and USA retail focus groups, various exposure and leadership development programs, along with other enterprise-wide initiatives.

Before joining The Home Depot, Lars held various roles in IT consulting, sales, and recruiting during the “.com” and “Y2K” eras.

He is a current board member of SHRM-Atlanta and Page Turners Make Great Learners.

Lars is a sought after presenter and facilitator and spends considerable time communicating the importance of cultivating the right talent for business success.

Lori Costew

Lori Costew is honored to serve as the Chief Diversity Officer and Director of People Strategy at Ford Motor Company. Her portfolio focuses on the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts to cultivate an environment where all employees feel a sense of belonging, while integrating DEI into the corporate strategy.

For nearly three decades Lori has leveraged her expertise across Ford in roles including marketing, UAW negotiations, Equal Employment planning, and organizational development. She also led human resources for the Lincoln Motor Company and the Mobility division.

Currently, the most important priorities for Lori and her team are to identify and remove the barriers impacting women and minorities while fostering understanding amongst all employees. This is integral towards Ford’s aspiration of becoming the world’s most trusted company.

She is also an accomplished author, writing two award winning novels that provide inspiration and tools against bullying. Lori has a master’s degree in human resources from The Ohio State University and a certification in executive coaching from the Hudson Institute.

Maria Lucila Cuello

Maria Lucila Cuello is the Chief People Officer, KFC Latin America & the Caribbean for YUM! Brands where she leads human capital strategy for more than 35,000 employees and Franchise associates across 40 countries in the region. In this role she has developed and implemented an in-depth end-to-end HR consulting framework for Franchise partners and has helped increase employee engagement levels at both the restaurant and corporate level. Prior to joining YUM! Brands, Lucila held roles of increasing responsibility at country, region and global level within Kraft Foods and its eventual successor Mondelez International in three different countries over the course of 16 years.

Angela Santone

Angela Santone oversees AT&T’s global human resources strategy, which supports employees across four business units around the world. She leads a team of HR experts who are rethinking talent development practices, total rewards and benefits programs, and culture initiatives to engage employees of an evolving modern media company.

Santone was appointed to this role after serving as Chief Administrative Officer for AT&T, where she managed initiatives tied to the Office of the Chairman and the Board of Directors. She was previously Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer for Turner, where she led a global HR strategy aligned to Turner’s portfolio of brands and businesses – and developed and engaged top talent around the world. Her executive oversight included talent acquisition and retention, learning and development, employee engagement, workplace culture, wellness, corporate responsibility, diversity & inclusion and succession planning and global security.

She joined Turner in 2001 and has held several positions within the HR organization at Turner. Previously as senior vice president, human resources, Santone was responsible for the HR strategy and support for Turner’s corporate division. As such, she was pivotal in leading an integrated talent management strategy to grow high potential talent and increase engagement. Throughout her career at Turner, she has served as a key human resources partner to leaders across Turner’s entertainment, sales and corporate divisions. Prior to Turner, Santone was the education/documentation manager and HR generalist for S2 Systems, Inc.

A 2018 HR Hero Award recipient, Santone has been recognized as a top human resources leader by the “Atlanta Business Chronicle.” Continually active in the community, Santone is a Southwest Trustee for the Boys and Girls Club of America, and a member of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Hope Circle. She’s also a former board member for the Atlanta nonprofit organization Cool Girls, the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests, Atlanta Jumpstart for Young Children, and the American Heart Association Metro Atlanta Heart Walk. Additionally, she serves on the national board for Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) as the head of the Governance Committee and the Florida State University Seminole Torchbearers, and was the previous chair for the Atlanta CHRO Leadership Summit. A former mentor for WICT’s Southeast Chapter Agnes Scott mentor program and executive sponsor for Turner Women Today’s mentoring program, Santone has a passion for fostering women in the industry.

Santone earned an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and a master’s degree in counseling from Troy University. She is a 2010 graduate of the Pathbuilders Achieva class and Class XXII fellow for WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute. She is a certified facilitator for the Benchmark 360 assessment by the Center for Creative Leadership and a qualified facilitator for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

Rob Chesnut

Rob Chesnut is General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer with Airbnb, Inc., a $30 billion private global travel and payments company that operates an online marketplace and hospitality service for people to rent short-term lodging including homes, apartments and rooms, and to participate in local experiences. The company has over 4 million lodging listings in 65,000 cities and 191 countries and has facilitated over 500 million guest check ins.

Rob is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia. He worked for 14 years with the U.S. Justice Department, including 10 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in Northern Virginia. As a federal prosecutor, Rob ran the Major Crimes unit and prosecuted a wide variety of cases, including bank robberies, kidnappings, murder, and drug trafficking organizations. He handled the prosecution of CIA, FBI and other employees of the intelligence community for espionage, including CIA employee Aldrich Ames. He is the recipient of the Justice Department’s John Marshall Award for litigation, and the CIA’s Outstanding Service Medallion.

In 1999, Rob left the U.S. Attorney’s Office and moved to California to become eBay’s third attorney, handling a wide variety of litigation, IP and regulatory/compliance matters for the company globally. Rob was promoted to run the company’s North American legal division in 2001, and in 2004 he was promoted to eBay’s executive leadership team as Sr. Vice President of a newly created Trust and Safety department. As the founder and head of eBay Trust and Safety, Rob was responsible for overseeing all site rules and policies for the eBay global community of over 150 million users. Rob and his team built eBay’s fraud detection and prevention infrastructure, and his team of over 2000 employees reduced reported fraud and counterfeiting activity on eBay’s 20+ sites by 60% over 4 years. Rob was eBay’s spokesperson for site policies and fraud, and he was interviewed in over 200 television, newspaper, radio, and magazine stories for his pioneering role in combating Internet fraud. He left eBay in the fall of 2008 to become the General Counsel of LiveOps, Inc. in Santa Clara, CA, and moved to Chegg in 2010 as the general counsel and the company’s first lawyer. Rob set up Chegg’s legal department, and as a member of the executive team helped transform the company from a physical textbook rental site to a multi-service digital learning platform. He led the effort to take Chegg public on the NYSE in the fall of 2013, where it enjoys a market cap of over $4 billion.

Rob joined Airbnb in the spring of 2016, where he has grown the legal team from 30 to over 150 legal professionals in 20 offices around the world. His team leads initiatives to promote home sharing and address regulatory issues with local governments and landlords around the world. Rob developed a popular interactive employee program, Integrity Belongs Here, to help drive ethics throughout the culture at the company.

Angela Roseboro

As a 20-year Diversity and Inclusion, and Human Resources veteran, Angela Roseboro was recruited by Riot Games as it’s first Chief Diversity Officer to evolve and transform the culture of the company. Driven by the philosophy, be the change you want to see in the world, Angela has spent her career building and executing strategies that increase representation for women and people of color in leadership, ensure fairness and equity in process and programs, and that foster a culture that empowers employees to do their best work. Named as 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business by the Network Journal and 50 Out Front for Women in Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion, she has worked at such Fortune 500 companies as T. Rowe Price, Jones Lang LaSalle, and the Whirlpool Corporation. Angela received her bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University in Illinois. A Chicago native, Angela is a wife, and mother of two daughters.

Pat Rowan

Since joining P&G in 1987, Pat Rowan has worked in a variety of Site, Regional and Global Human Resources roles within our Product Supply (PS) organization throughout the U.S. She earned her M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in Psychology from Syracuse University. Pat is HR Director of Global Corporate Functions Product Supply which includes Human Resources responsibilities for Purchasing, Engineering, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Innovation Diamond Management, Supply Network Operations and PS Learning and Development. Two of the most exciting P&G initiatives Pat is currently working is Manufacturing of the Future and Product Supply Skills for the Future. Pat has two sons and currently resides in Cincinnati, OH.

Kelly Staup

Kelly Staup is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Lindsay Corporation. She leads the global people strategy and programs for the company and is passionate about creating talent development opportunities for the employees who work at Lindsay across the globe. Kelly is an Omaha native who has landed back in Nebraska after obtaining a degree in Psychology from Northwestern University and working in the recruiting industry in Chicago and San Diego. She is a mediocre runner, mom, musical theater addict and lover of anything that is titled “personality assessment”.

Lesley Brown

Every day, Lesley Slaton Brown inspires and drives C-suite leaders to embed diversity and inclusion strategies across their organizations and demonstrate impact from the boardroom to the business unit. As an agent of change, she has the unique ability to disarm leaders to have difficult and candid conversations around diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Lesley strongly believes that “time for talk is over, time for action is now.” She has led key efforts to address the digital divide and build sustainable enterprise in Senegal, West Africa and is passionate about social impact and human rights.

Lesley served as the Principal Investigator for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) Computing Project and is the Co-founder of Curated Pathways to Innovation (CPI), a collective impact model focused on broadening participation and access for minorities and women in STEM education and careers.

Lesley was named one of the Most Powerful Women in Corporate Diversity by Black Enterprise, a Woman of the Year in Technology by Silicon Valley’s Chapter of National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. and a Top Influential Woman in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine. Most recently, Lesley was named Diversity and Inclusion Champion of the Year by Girls in Tech. She is a highly sought-after speaker and has spoken on the mainstage of the Consumer Electronics Show and keynoted Silicon Slopes Technology Summit in Utah.

Lesley believes strongly in giving back to the community. She serves on the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Business Deans Roundtable and BlackComputeHER Advisory Board and is on the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees, where she served as the 2017 Commencement Speaker.

Lesley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Boise State University with an emphasis in Marketing. She was a NCAA Scholarship recipient where she lettered in Women’s Basketball. Lesley lives in Morgan Hill.

Nzinga Shaw

Nzinga “Zing” Shaw is currently the global chief inclusion & diversity officer for Starbucks Coffee Company. She leads the inclusion & diversity (I&D) organization and concurrently serves as a member of the Americas leadership team reporting to the chief operating officer. Zing provides strategic guidance across the enterprise to promote inclusive practices in every facet of the business. She has developed a strategy to embed equity in all programmatic activities, governance and daily administration of the global retail organization. She is focused on building a foundation that will advance this strategy as a core component of Starbucks’ brand, and to drive the business across every global market. The I&D strategy extends to external customers, community partners and to every partner within the workforce. Currently, Zing is helping Starbucks achieve 100% global pay equity by working with experts to develop best practices and tools to address systemic barriers impeding equal pay for equal work.

Prior to joining Starbucks, Zing has been at the forefront of leading organizational change through diversity. She was the first person to hold the chief diversity & inclusion officer position in the National Basketball Association, serving in that capacity for the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena franchise for 5 years. She also served as senior vice president of diversity & inclusion at Edelman, the world’s largest and most profitable public relations/integrated marketing agency. While leading diversity at Edelman, Zing concurrently served as senior vice president of human resources for the southeast and southwest regions. Throughout her career, Zing has worked as a human resources practitioner across a multitude of industries including publishing, sports entertainment, public relations and retail.

Zing is a recipient of several industry awards including Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 and Game Changers awards, Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 and Women Who Mean Business awards, The Network Journal 40 Under Forty and Top 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business awards, PR Week 40 Under 40 award, and many more. She was selected by 39^th United States President – Jimmy Carter to serve a 3-year term on the Board of Councilors of The Carter Center.  Zing is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, currently serves on the Leadership Council of UNCF Seattle, and is a member of the Leadership Tomorrow (Seattle) class of 2021. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and The Links, Incorporated. Zing is an alumna of Spelman College (BA), the University of Pennsylvania (MLA) and was a study abroad scholar at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

Glenda Newton

Melanie Steinbach

Mary Lynn Elizondo

Lisa Gross

Laurie Shakur

Pragashini Fox

Peter Neufeld

Valerie Love

Valerie Love currently serves as the Senior Vice President Human Resources Coca Cola North America effective August 2019. Prior to joining Coca Cola, Valerie served as the Global Vice President Human Resources supporting Johnson & Johnson Consumer Supply Chain and Global Quality. Valerie also served as Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Worldwide Vice President Human Resources. Valerie joined Johnson & Johnson in April 2013 with over 20 years of Finance, Operations, Labor Relations and HR experience.

Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Valerie was the Vice President Human Resources at Tyco Integrated Security (Tyco International). While at Tyco, Valerie supported the Global Thermal Controls Division and Commercial Security operations.

Valerie started her professional career at General Motors and during her 20 year tenure she spent time in both local and international assignments (Argentina and Germany) where her levels of responsibility increased with each new appointment to include roles within finance, operations (manufacturing) and HR: global compensation, leading and providing overall direction and coordination of salaried HR activities for Sales & Marketing, Global Design, Global Research & Development and Strategic Initiatives; growing the talent base of both technical and leadership staff; providing HR consultation advice and support during the design and implementation stages of new facilities in emerging markets (key leadership role in launching Greenfield sites (startup plants) in China, Thailand, Poland, Brazil, Argentina and Tel Aviv, Israel).

At J&J Vision Care (JJVC), Valerie served as co-Executive Sponsor for JJVC African Ancestry Leadership Council (AALC) and Executive Champion for JJVC Diversity & Inclusion Council and she currently serves as National Co-Chair of the J&J AALC.

Valerie also served as a Board Member for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) North East Florida chapter, and currently serves as Board Member National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC).

In her spare time, Valerie enjoys running (has completed 3 marathons), reading, exploring different cultures and spending time with family.

Valerie has a BA from Tennessee State University and an MBA from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Julie Murphy

Julie Murphy serves as the executive vice president of People for Walmart U.S., leading the journey to become Employer of Choice for over 1.5 million associates across the United States, current and future. With the mindset that the associate truly makes the difference, she leads the charge to have great people in great jobs on great teams. Julie’s focus includes working with her business partners to drive results, investing in Walmart’s associates, and empowering them with technology — in the stores, distribution centers and in the home office including the merchandising, marketing and supply chain teams.

Julie began her career with Walmart as an hourly management trainee. As an advocate for her associates and customers, her Walmart career progressed from an assistant store manager to eventually the role of executive vice president for the Walmart U.S. West business unit – a $130 billion business.

Prior to her current role, Julie led the strategy, daily operations and format reinvention of Walmart U.S. Neighborhood Markets as executive vice president.

Julie’s passion for developing people continues to be a priority even outside her current Walmart U.S. responsibilities. She is a mentor and sponsor for growing leaders as well as a member of the board of directors for the Walmart Foundation, a member of Walmart’s Women’s Officer Caucus, and the executive sponsor for the Women’s Resource Community.

Julie holds a degree in marketing and management from Missouri State University.

Lars Minns

Lars N. Minns is the Chief Human Resources Officer of North America for Mercedes-Benz, with responsibility for the USA, Canada, and Mexico. He leads the organization in designing and implementing HR strategies that directly align with the company’s strategic objectives related to the marketing, sales, distribution, and customer service for all Mercedes-Benz products in the region.

He and his team played a pivotal role in the company’s transition from New Jersey to Georgia, including the successful onboarding of 300+ new hires since his arrival in March 2015. This included the largest single year of hiring in the company’s 50+ year history. He is now poised to lead one of the world’s most admired brands through a large-scale transformation.

Prior to joining MBUSA, he served as the Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for The Home Depot’s Home Services division, commonly referred to as the “Do it for me” business. He led his team in executing talent acquisition strategies for the company’s fastest-growing business segment.

Lars spent 10 years with The Home Depot and served in roles of increasing responsibility. Most notably serving as the Senior Manager of Talent Management for Operations, Services, Finance, and IT. He led all facets of Talent Management and supported those business areas in several efforts aimed at increasing overall operational efficiencies. He supported the company’s Supply Chain from 2010-2012, where his talent management and consulting skills were dedicated to the logistics side of the retail business. His primary responsibilities included: talent assessment, selection, development, and succession planning.

Early in his tenure with the company, he led the design and execution of the company’s executive coaching program, the CEO’s merchandising and USA retail focus groups, various exposure and leadership development programs, along with other enterprise-wide initiatives.

Before joining The Home Depot, Lars held various roles in IT consulting, sales, and recruiting during the “.com” and “Y2K” eras.

He is a current board member of SHRM-Atlanta and Page Turners Make Great Learners.

Lars is a sought after presenter and facilitator and spends considerable time communicating the importance of cultivating the right talent for business success.

Melissa Howell

Melissa Howell has been Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, Kellogg Company, since June 2016. She is a member of Kellogg Company’s executive committee. Prior to joining Kellogg, Ms. Howell was Chief Human Resources Officer for Rockford, Michigan‐based Wolverine since 2014. Prior to Wolverine, Ms. Howell spent 24 years with General Motors where she led a team of 2,800 Human Resources professionals worldwide, supporting a global business at one of the top automotive companies in the world, and also among the largest public corporations. Ms. Howell joined General Motors as a Labor Relations Representative at its Ypsilanti, Michigan, assembly plant in 1990. Over the following years, Ms. Howell served in a series of key human resources leadership roles in Europe, Asia and U.S. leading teams on six continents across an array of functional areas. She was promoted to Executive Director of North American Human Resources in 2011 and subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources. Ms. Howell received a Master of Arts degree in Industrial Relations from Wayne State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Employee Relations from Michigan State University. Ms. Howell serves on the Board of Directors of Autism Alliance of Michigan and is a member of the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations Advisory Board at Michigan State University.

Ken Barrett

Ken Barrett leads General Motors’ Global Diversity and Inclusion portfolio including workforce diversity strategy, empowering employee resource groups, and fostering an inclusive culture that promotes diversity of thought, to help GM compete and win in the marketplace.

Since joining GM in 2012 as the company’s first Global Chief Diversity Officer, Barrett has introduced key initiatives resulting in increased diversity hiring, greater accountability through actionable metrics, and leveraged employee resource groups (ERGs) to support employees and sell cars among their respective constituencies.

As Ken says, “It’s not about counting heads, it’s making heads count”.

Barrett strives to set the bar high and is regarded as a thought leader and subject matter expert in global diversity. Under his leadership, Barrett returned GM to DiversityInc.’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity, along with garnering a number of awards including the #1 Diversity Council in the U.S. from the Association of ERGs & Councils, scoring 100 percent on both the Corporate Equality and Disability Equality Indexes, Global Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award, ranking the Best of the Best Corporations for Inclusion, as well as best places to work for African Americans, Hispanics/Latinas, LGBT, Veterans, Native Americans and People with Disabilities.

Prior to joining GM, Barrett, a retired Navy Captain, served as the Under Secretary of Defense’s acting director of the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity in Washington, D.C., where he set the D&I agenda for 2.1 million military personnel. Prior to that, he had five years of award-winning performance as the U.S. Navy’s Diversity Director, where he achieved historic levels of minority and female officer additions and transformational work-life balance initiatives. Further, through his leadership, the U.S. Navy was selected as the Top Federal Agency by DiversityInc. For his efforts as lead of the Navy’s Task Force/Life Work, Barrett and his team were recognized with the Ted Childs Work Life Excellence Award by Working Mother.

A Worcester, Massachusetts native, Barrett holds a bachelor’s in political science from Holy Cross, a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College and an executive master’s degree in business administration from the Naval Postgraduate School. Additionally, he was Navy’s Federal Executive Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Olin Institute and a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College.

Ken serves on several boards including Advancing Minorities’ Interest in Engineering (AMIE), National Organization on Disability (NOD), Families and Work Institute (FWI), Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), New Detroit, Inc. and the editorial board of “Insight into Diversity.”

Fenella Chisholm

Fenella Chisholm is SVP and Global Head People & Organization for the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR).  In this role, Fenella partners with leadership across the 6000 strong global early discovery science unit to operationalize the Novartis People strategy in service of the vision to Reimagine Medicine and deliver better patient outcomes. In 2019 and 2020 a few key areas of focus for Fenella and team are shifting the culture toward “Inspired, Curious and Unbossed”; reimaging performance management to performance development; ensuring a robust and diverse talent pipeline; and building strategic capabilities to support the new, cool and soon-to-be-imagined science of the future.

Fenella joined Novartis in 2004 as Global Head Talent Management and Organization Development for Gerber and previous roles include Head Human Resources, Animal Health North America, Head Human Resources, OTC Europe, and Global Head Human Resources Global & Corporate Functions.  Fenella started her career as an Occupational Psychologist for Ford Motor Company before moving to Bristol-Myers Squibb where she held roles of increasing responsibility in HR in both a specialist and generalist capacity.  Fenella’s passion and leadership-purpose is to build sustainable organizations and help others grow and develop and reach their individual potential.

Fenella is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and received a BSc in Mathematics and Psychology and an MSc in Occupational Psychology.  She is a British national and has lived and worked in the UK, US and Switzerland.  She currently lives in the Boston area with her husband, Aaron; two amazing daughters, Meghan and Madeleine and their dog, Marmite.

Melissa Harper

In this leadership role, Melissa is responsible for developing, transforming and executing global talent strategies that drive a high-performance culture of innovation and inclusion at Bayer.

Melissa brings her nearly 10 years’ experience at Monsanto, acquired by Bayer, to lead enterprise wide talent transformation. Through best in class operational capabilities and analytics, Melissa developed a global function at Monsanto responsible for attracting talent, development, ensuring an inclusive environment, shaping a digital culture, and delivering talent needs that align to strategic business goals and preparedness for the future workforce.

She has been recognized as a Diverse Business Leader and as a Top Executive in Corporate Diversity. Melissa began her career at Spencer Stuart Executive Search and later served as Senior Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Whirlpool Corporation and Wachovia.

Melissa is from Chicago, IL, and received her BA in Psychology from Roosevelt University, and her MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management. She is on the Boards of the YMCA, Junior Achievement and the St. Louis Opera.

Allan Church

Dr. Allan Church is the Senior Vice President of Global Talent Assessment and Development at PepsiCo. He is responsible for setting the enterprise talent assessment and development strategy for high-potential identification throughout all levels of the organization, and strengthening the leadership pipeline via the talent review process. Along with leading the global strategy and execution of these efforts, Allan and his team also deliver 1-1 internal assessment and development to the top 200 executives in the company. In 2018, PepsiCo’s state-of-the-art multitier LeAD Program, which Allan has owned and championed since its design, was awarded the prestigious HRM Impact Award by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP).

Previously he held a number of VP positions in the talent management and OD areas at PepsiCo. During the past 19 years he has designed and delivered many of the company’s world class processes and tools including performance management, talent planning and review, employee surveys, 360 feedback, and several leadership competency models. Although he has spent the majority of his career as a Center of Expertise leader for the enterprise, he has also held the Corporate relationship manager role on two separate occasions leading the functional and Global Groups OD agenda in that part of the organization.

Allan joined PepsiCo in December 2000. Previously he spent nine years as an external OD consultant working for W. Warner Burke Associates where he designed 360-degree feedback and organizational survey interventions to support large scale culture change initiatives for Fortune 100 clients. He also spent several years at IBM in the Communications Measurement and Research, and Corporate Personnel Research departments where he worked on advertising insights and global surveys.

On the side he has served as Chair of the Mayflower Group and has spent 12 years on the SIOP Executive Board in various leadership positions. Currently he serves as Membership Services Officer for SIOP, and sits on the Conference Board’s Council of Talent Management and the Board of Directors for SHRM’s Executive Network HR People & Strategy. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University where he teaches Strategic Talent Management. He is on the editorial board of several journals including Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Consulting Psychology Journal, Journal of Social Psychology, Journal of Business and Psychology, and the OD Practitioner. He is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.

An active writer, he has authored seven books, 30 chapters and 150 practitioner and scholarly articles. His latest books include The High-Potential’s Advantage with Jay Conger from Harvard Business Review Press, and The Handbook of Strategic 360 Feedback from Oxford University Press.

Allan received his Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, the American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science. In 2018 he received the SIOP Distinguished Professional Contributions Award in recognition of his sustained, significant and outstanding contributions to the field of I-O psychology.

Jenna Susanke

Jenna currently leads the People & Culture (Human Resources) function of the Latin America & Canada region for Phillip Morris International. In her role, she works with leaders in Latin America and Canada to shape strategies, processes, systems, and cultures that deliver organizational and talent solutions as PMI continues to accelerate its journey towards a Smoke-Free Future.

Jenna has built a global career spanning over 20 years across multiple geographies in the areas of organization effectiveness, people development and change management that she built by leading multiple transformations in companies experiencing large-scale business model and organizational change.

She started her journey in Human Resources working for Hewitt Associates where she held HRBP and specialist roles, including leading the design, development and execution of the talent management & development strategy for the Asia Pacific region, spearheading the focus on talent differentiation and focused development within the firm. Jenna continued her career in PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she helped lead engagements with Fortune 100 companies with specific focus on M&A transactions, operating model transformations, workforce planning, and change management.

In 2011, Jenna joined PepsiCo as Sr. Director Change Management for Global Categories & Functions. Her most recent role at Pepsico was Head of Talent Management and Organizational Development for Asia Middle East North Africa Region, where she led the integrated culture transformation for the region, based in Dubai, UAE.

Jenna received her Bachelor’s degree in African History and her Master of Science in Learning and Organizational Change, both from Northwestern University.

Jennifer Saavedra

As SVP of Dell Technologies Talent and Culture organization, Jenn accelerates business performance with leading edge strategy, innovation and signature practices across the talent and culture ecosystem including succession planning, learning and development, performance and career, surveys, assessments and culture strategies all powered by predictive, analytical insight.

Jenn joined Dell in 2005 and has held several roles in HR focused on organization design, talent management, HR business partner, analytics and culture. Prior to joining Dell, Jenn was a lead practice consultant for global clients across multiple industries.

Jenn is originally from San Francisco, California and currently lives in Austin, Texas.

Patrick Curry

Pat has been with the LEGO Group since 2012 and is currently the Head of Partnering & Operations for the Americas. In this capacity he serves as the People Operations lead for the LEGO Group’s Americas Hub in Enfield, CT, and as the Strategic People Partner for the Americas Market Group. Prior to his current role, Pat served as the People Partner for Latin America and LEGO Brand Retail, North America.

Prior to joining the LEGO Group, Pat worked at The Hartford Financial Services Group for 10 years.  He worked in a variety of functions including Group Benefits, Corporate Relations and Human Resources, where his highlight was managing The Hartford’s scholarships and internships for students from the city of Hartford.

Pat attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and his Master’s Degree in Public Policy. He lives with his wife and two children in Glastonbury, CT and if he’s not at work or at home, you’ll probably find him on a basketball court or baseball field, coaching youth sports.

Sharon Goodwine

Sharon Goodwine is an executive vice president of Human Resources (HR) at Wells Fargo, leading the Enterprise Talent team. She is responsible for a holistic end-to-end view of enterprise talent planning while she and her team ensure that we are well-positioned to meet the needs of today and the future by focusing on trends for talent acquisition, development, planning, and organizational effectiveness from a team member lifecycle perspective. The team also oversees the creation of talent-related products and tools.

Holding various Human Resources positions at Wells Fargo since 2000, Sharon was most recently the senior HR leader for Wholesale Banking. In this role, she and her team identified and capitalized on common advantage points, including talent intelligence, movement and development, diversity and inclusion, and long-term human capital strategies. Under her leadership, Sharon’s team successfully built effective partnerships with HR Centers of Excellence and line-of-business partners to leverage efficiencies, drive innovation, manage risk, apply metrics, manage annual processes, and develop implementation plans for business priorities.

Sharon has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Spelman College in Atlanta, and is a certified diversity practitioner through Elsie Y. Cross & Associates.

Active in her community, Sharon currently serves on the board for Freedom School Partners. She also regularly volunteers at her daughter’s school and with local nonprofit organizations. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and two daughters.

Craig Robinson

Craig Robinson is Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for NBCUniversal. He reports directly to NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke.

Robinson is responsible for defining and building a corporate culture that values diversity of backgrounds, talent, experiences and ideas across the company’s portfolio. He serves as the main liaison between NBCUniversal and key local and national organizations, collaborates with the businesses to foster an inclusive work environment, oversees the company’s eight internal Employee Resource Groups and co-leads the industry-leading Comcast NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Council.

NBCUniversal was recently ranked in the Forbes list of Best Employers for Diversity for 2018. Comcast NBCUniversal was also recognized by Fortune as one of the 50 Best Workplaces for Diversity, by DiversityInc as a Top 50 Companies for Diversity, and by LinkedIn in their list of Top Companies for 2018.

Robinson was named to his position in August 2011, having previously served from 2008 as President and General Manager of KNBC-TV, the NBC Owned Station in Los Angeles where he oversaw all aspects of the television station including news, sales and community relations.
Previous roles include President and General Manager of WCMH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio; Vice President of Sales for WRC-TV, NBC’s Owned Station in Washington, DC; and Local and National Sales Manager of KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. After studying Political Science at UCLA and a brief stint in retail sales and management, he took an entry level job at KCBS-TV (then KNXT-TV) in Advertising Sales and quickly realized that broadcasting and entertainment was where he wanted to spend his career.

Raised in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, Robinson’s interest in public service was sparked at an early age by his parents. His Chinese-American mother retired after a long career in public service, much of it in support of low-income families through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. Robinson’s father was one of the first African-American consultants for the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC), where he investigated allegations of racial, gender and age discrimination in housing and employment. Race, equality and civil rights were frequent topics at the Robinson dinner table and those discussions continue to inform and drive his commitment to diversity and inclusion today.

Chevalier Cleaves

Chevy Cleaves is the inaugural Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory.  A four-time CDIO (Higher Ed, Industry, Government, R&D), Chevy is an experienced and transformational executive leader skilled in building and influencing coalitions to help further connect the application of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) to an organization’s core strategy and goals. He has proven experience leading high-profile initiatives across national / international landscapes.  Chevy is an expert in optimizing best practices across large government and private sector organizations, enabling increased collaboration, innovation, and productivity. He helps leaders develop a clear vision of how to maximize D&I across employee and operations life cycles to leverage all talent, enhance performance and create a strategic advantage.

As the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer for the United States Air Force, Chevy was also a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service.  In this role, he was responsible for leading D&I transformation for the Air Force’s 500,000 uniformed and 140,000 civilian workforces.  This transformation included creating sustainable change while integrating visionary leadership with operational and talent management strategies / processes.

Chevy was previously recruited to become the first Chief Diversity Officer and to lead D&I from inception to implementation for an innovative Fortune 300 company in a highly regulated industry.  He partnered with the Board of Directors, CEO, Chief Human Resources Officer, Division Presidents, and the Executive Committee to create and deliver a transformational competitive advantage. His team’s efforts immediately improved benchmarking results while identifying markets where lines of business could be further penetrated to increase topline earnings.

Prior to this role, Chevy was nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to lead the Air Force Academy Admissions Directorate, where the Superintendent selected him as the first Head of Diversity and Inclusion.  He worked directly with the Academy leadership team, Board of Visitors, Association of Graduates, Falcon Foundation, and Congressional leaders to identify, select, advance, and graduate the best and most well-rounded talent from every state in the nation. He presented his team’s tremendous results to the Congressional Tri-Caucus and the Military Leadership Diversity Committee, leading to widespread acclaim from senior Air Force and Congressional leaders.

Chevy retired from active duty after a career as an instructor pilot, commander, and airpower strategist, and was the lead T-38 Evaluator for the B-2 Bomber Initial Cadre selection process.  He played a critical role in the response to 9-11 as the lead Checkmate (USAF Air / Space Strategy Division) team chief, commanded a total force flying squadron and later as a Joint Staff division chief responsible for delivering Integrated Joint Special Technical Operations capabilities to unified commanders while driving formation of the Information Operations Career Force. Chevy has an MS degree in strategy and planning from the National Defense University, an MA degree in human resource development from Webster University, and a BS degree in basic sciences from the Air Force Academy, and is a Cornell University Certified Diversity Professional / Advanced Practitioner.  He is the recipient of multiple awards and decorations, including the Defense Superior Service Medal.

Celeste R. Warren

Celeste Warren is Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence. As the leader for Merck’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence, she is responsible for working with Merck’s global leaders to advance and embed diversity and inclusion as a strategic approach to maximize business performance and create a competitive advantage.

Ms. Warren joined Merck in 1997 and has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility within its global organization.

Prior to joining Merck in 1997, Celeste worked for nine years in Human Resources at Kraft Foods, Inc. and General Foods.

She has been honored with many awards, including Black Enterprise’s “Top Executives in Global Diversity and Inclusion”, Savoy Magazine’s “Most Influential Women in Corporate America”, “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” and Diversity Global’s “Influential Women in Global Diversity.”

Celeste attended the University of Kentucky where she earned her B.S. degree. She received her Masters Degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

She is the wife of John Warren and the mother of two children, Christina-Celeste and John Steven, Jr.

Stefond Harris

Stefond began his UPS career in 1984 in the Missouri District as a part-time package handler. While in the district, he held a variety of operations and staff assignments before concentrating his focus on Human Resources. He served in all aspects of Human Resources as a supervisor and manager in the district before being promoted to Iowa District Human Resources Manager in 1996. He later held the same position in the East Bay District, Northwest Region Office, Metro Chicago District, and CACH.

In 2008, Stefond became the North Central Region Human Resources Operations Manager, and in 2011 was promoted to the Central Region Human Resources Manager. He held the same position at UPS Freight before joining the Supply Chain Group in 2016. In 2018, Stefond accepted the assignment of Vice President of Human Resources for U.S. Operations, supporting H.R. transformation efforts and planning and implementation of the H.R. operating model.

Later in 2018, Stefond was promoted to Vice President, U.S. Operations Human Resources, responsible for all facets of Human Resources activities including hiring, training, retention, employee relations, and wellness and safety for UPS’s U.S. small-package business unit, UPS Airlines, UPS Freight, and The UPS Store.

In January 2019, Stefond accepted the assignment of Vice President, Human Capital Strategy.

Stacey Calvert

After years as a practicing employment lawyer, both as a litigator in a national law firm as well as in-house legal counsel partnering with Human Resources professionals in the aerospace, technology, and manufacturing industries, Stacey Calvert took a new career path and moved into a Human Resources role.

She is currently Vice President, Human Resources for the North American aerostructures business of GKN Aerospace, part of a U.K.-based global engineering services and manufacturing company which traces its legacy back to 1759. Prior to this role, she was with a private equity-owned global industrial manufacturing business as Corporate Director of Employee Relations and Division Vice President of Human Resources and previously held other roles in the Legal and Compliance function within the technology and manufacturing industries.

Stacey earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Alabama School of Law and has a Master’s degree in Organizational Management.

She holds the SHRM-SCP credential from the Society of Human Resource Management. Stacey has lived and worked in the Dallas, Texas area for the past 21 years.

She is married to Jim, a clinical psychologist and Lecturer at SMU, and has two teenagers.

Tiffanie Boyd

Tiffanie is the newly appointed VP of Human Resources for North America Retail where she will lead the talent and organization strategy for the segment. Her experience spans talent management, leadership development, HR transformation, organization design, change management, labor/employee relations and employee engagement.

Tiffanie joined General Mills more than 20 years ago as an Associate HR Manager and quickly accelerated through positions of broader responsibility in several manufacturing sites (Toledo, Covington, and West Chicago). She spent three years in the International Division of General Mills prior to relocating to Canada in 2006 to become the VP HR for General Mills Canada. In 2010, upon repatriation to the US, she was promoted to VP HR for the Convenience and Foodservice segment. In 2013 she was promoted into the VP HR role for the Supply Chain organization. Tiffanie was appointed to VP HR, North America Retail in July 2019.

In addition to her General Mills experience, Tiffanie also worked at Hewitt Associates (currently Alight) and has internship experiences at Blue Cross Blue Shield, General Motors Acceptance Corp, and Dow Chemical. She has an MBA and BBA from the Michigan Ross Business School and currently serves on the BBA Program Advisory Board.

Outside of talent and organization related work, Tiffanie’s passions include youth education and health & wellness. She dedicates her volunteer time to non-profit board work focused on closing the achievement gap. She is also a newly certified yoga sculpt fitness instructor. She is most proud of her thriving family which includes a 22-year marriage to Colbert and two teenage sons, Evan and Ian.

Mayank Bhatnagar

Mayank Bhatnagar is Executive Vice President, Human Resources of GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the $40 billion commercial aircraft financing and leasing unit of GE.

As head of HR for GECAS, Mayank is responsible for people strategy and execution and leads a global team. He is based in Norwalk, CT, USA.

Mayank first joined GE in 2002 at GE Capital International Services (now Genpact) and was their Assistant Vice President HR, based in India. He left Genpact in 2005 to join Novartis Pharmaceuticals at their HQ in Basel, Switzerland. Over the next 5+ years at Novartis, Mayank was in diverse roles, from leading HR for a Commercial BU to global leadership development. He rejoined GE in 2010 as Director & Head HR for GE Healthcare India and South Asia, where he led HR for his fast growing and complex organization comprising sales, marketing, manufacturing and technology.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from NIT Tiruchirappalli, India and his post-graduate degree in Human Resources from XLRI School of Management, Jamshedpur, India.

In his free time, Mayank likes to read, travel and cook. He is involved in and is passionate about the education of girls, especially in developing countries.

About GECAS

GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) is a world leader in aviation leasing and financing with 50 years of experience. The GECAS portfolio comprises a wide range of aircraft types including narrow bodies, wide bodies, regional jets, turboprops, freighters and helicopters. GECAS offers multiple financing products and services including operating leases, purchase/leasebacks, secured debt financing, capital markets, engine leasing, airframe parts management and airport/airline consulting. GECAS owns or services a fleet of over 1,900 aircraft+ in operation or on order, plus provides loans collateralized on an additional ~400 aircraft. GECAS serves ~ 250 customers in over 75 countries from a network of 25 offices.

www.gecas.com

Barbie Winterbottom

A strategic and insightful business leader with experience building healthy, people centered cultures and strong diverse leadership teams in fast-paced, goals-driven corporate environments. She has built and realigned HR teams to meet the needs of very demanding businesses both in start up and multi-national Fortune 500 companies. Her strengths and experience include, talent acquisition with expertise in high-volume recruiting and call center, retail, medical esthetics, healthcare, TV, IT and more, employee relations, executive and management coaching, talent management and employment branding/marketing. She has experience leading high performing agile HR teams across multiple locations, virtual teams across the globe. She understands the businesses. She supports and establishes HR practices and policy to help drive optimal people experiences, business goals, strategies and objectives. Known as a true partner to my business leaders, she has earned a seat at the table and she ensures HR and People remain a relevant voice, driver and strategic partner.

Pat Rowan

Since joining P&G in 1987, Pat Rowan has worked in a variety of Site, Regional and Global Human Resources roles within our Product Supply (PS) organization throughout the U.S. She earned her M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in Psychology from Syracuse University. Pat is HR Director of Global Corporate Functions Product Supply which includes Human Resources responsibilities for Purchasing, Engineering, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Innovation Diamond Management, Supply Network Operations and PS Learning and Development. Two of the most exciting P&G initiatives Pat is currently working is Manufacturing of the Future and Product Supply Skills for the Future. Pat has two sons and currently resides in Cincinnati, OH.

Karla Younger

Karla Younger is the Vice President of HR Services for Coca-Cola Business Services North America where she is accountable for human resource services and transformation. She has been in shared services for over 18 years and has contributed to the Coca-Cola system for 25 years in total. During her tenure, Karla has launched Payroll Shared Services within Coca-Cola Enterprises’ Finance Shared Services start-up, led the North American HR Shared Services operations at launch, and contributed to the start-up of a multi-function Business Services organization within Coca-Cola Refreshments. She has a continuous focus on elevating the employee experience, improving efficiency and effectiveness, and delivering value to customers.

Angela Roseboro

As a 20-year Diversity and Inclusion, and Human Resources veteran, Angela Roseboro was recruited by Riot Games as it’s first Chief Diversity Officer to evolve and transform the culture of the company. Driven by the philosophy, be the change you want to see in the world, Angela has spent her career building and executing strategies that increase representation for women and people of color in leadership, ensure fairness and equity in process and programs, and that foster a culture that empowers employees to do their best work. Named as 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business by the Network Journal and 50 Out Front for Women in Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion, she has worked at such Fortune 500 companies as T. Rowe Price, Jones Lang LaSalle, and the Whirlpool Corporation. Angela received her bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt University in Illinois. A Chicago native, Angela is a wife, and mother of two daughters.

Machelle Williams

Machelle Williams has 24 years of experience in the Volkswagen Group of America.

Offering a blend of strategic and operational strengths, Machelle has worked to align the company’s diversity and corporate giving strategies with overall corporate objectives. During her tenure she has implemented initiatives that impact talent strategies, employee engagement and represent VWGoA’s commitment to serve the communities where they operate.

Under her leadership, VWGoA has been recognized by DiversityINC as a Top 25 Noteworthy Company and as a Best Place to Work by the Human Rights Campaign achieving a 100% score on the Corporate Equality Index several years running.

In 2017 she was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of the 25 Women Who Mean Business in D.C ; and by Network Journal as one of the 25 influential Black Women in Business. In 2014, The Rainbow Push Coalition honored her as an “Emerging Leader,” and in 2012 she was recognized as “Woman of the Year” by the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers. She was also named by Savoy Magazine as one of the most influential black women in corporate America.

Machelle served as the Chair of the INROADS Mid Atlantic Regional Board from 2014-2017 and is currently serving on the INROADS National Board of Directors. She serves as the Co-Chair of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Women In Business Council, and is the Vice Chair of Together We Lead, and initiative of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

Machelle received her B.A. from Drake University, where she majored in Magazine Journalism. She is the founder of Machelle’sVoice, an audio book narration business, and is the proud pet parent of two Boston Terriers Daphne and Lilah.

Laura Blythe

Laura Blythe currently serves as the Human Resources Leader for the North America Vision Care team. In this role, Laura leads and implements the regional HR strategy in support of the North America organization. She is responsible for strategic leadership to the business leaders with a primary focus in the areas of Talent, Organization Effectiveness and Culture.

Laura joined Johnson & Johnson with over 12 years of work experience, both within Consumer Package Goods and Academia. Laura was most recently with PepsiCo, as a Frito Lay HR Director in their Supply Chain. Prior to that Laura was with General Mills where she spent over 6 years. She supported multiple manufacturing sites and her most recent role was supporting the Global Innovation, Technology and Quality function.

Laura has a passion to leverage individuals’ strengths to coach and elevate the people and organizations she supports by creating effective, energized, Agile teams. She is motivated by driving collaboration and introducing new ways of working. She has been awarded for her robust experience in talent development and engagement. She is certified in Labor Negotiations and Change Management.

Laura received her Bachelor’s Degree in Human and Community Development and a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations both from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Laura’s greatest passion is spending time outdoors. Laura lives in Jacksonville with her husband, Austin and two boys, Leo and Fitzgerald, and soon to be new daughter.

Kimmy Reinking

Kimmy serves as a trusted business partner to top executives at WWE with over 15 years of HR experience in Engineering, Financial, Government, Media Sports and Entertainment industries.  Kimmy has a talent for building strong relationships with business executives in order to establish people strategies and drive business results. In her three year tenure with WWE, Kimmy has driven notable projects to advance the HR function at WWE.  Specializing in HR strategy and organizational design, Kimmy also redesigned WWE’s annual performance management process and helped to build XFL’s HR function, an affiliate of WWE.

Prior to joining WWE, Kimmy spent 8.5 years with Bloomberg partnering with various businesses such as Bloomberg Government, Bloomberg Technology, Bloomberg Tradebook, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs.  During her time with Bloomberg Government in Washington DC, Kimmy acted as an integral member of the management team to provide input on the HR implications of strategic and operational decisions impacting employees at Bloomberg Government.  In addition, Kimmy spent 4 years at Lehman Brothers where she supported the Fixed Income Department.  In her final year with Lehman Brothers, she focused on the organizational design to manage strategic reductions in force for the declining business.

Kimmy received her Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and she received her Master of Science in HR Management from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Jim Viola

Jim Viola is the SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer at Party City Retail Group, responsible for providing the leadership for all HR value streams and supporting a talent culture that drives the strategic business objectives of the company.

Jim has been a leader in the HR, Talent Management and Learning space for over 25 years. Prior to joining Party City, Jim was the SVP, Chief Learning Officer at Sleepy’s, and an SVP, Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness for Saks Fifth Avenue. Jim’s prior experience includes over ten years as the Vice President of Human Resources at Lord & Taylor where he started his career.

Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Management from New York University and has certifications as an SPHR and Human Capital Specialist (HCS). He has received numerous awards for his efforts in building a diverse workforce from national and local organizations.

Jim resides in New York City and is an avid sports fan, golfer and all around competitor.

Rhonda Davenport

Rhonda Davenport is the Chief People Officer for Cain Watters & Associates (CWA).  She focuses on the design, implementation and execution of meaningful HR strategies to foster a company culture conducive of attracting and inspiring excellence.

Prior to joining CWA, Rhonda served in a number of HR leadership positions including both functional and business partner roles supporting multi-state and international businesses across public and private sectors.  With over 17 years of HR experience, she is known for her dynamic, business minded approach to HR.

Rhonda received a Bachelor of Science in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis on human resources development from Texas A&M University.  She resides outside of Dallas, Texas with her husband, Bo and coonhound, Gracie. Rhonda enjoys bowhunting, CrossFit, and volunteering in her church.

Cindy Blendu

Although Cindy’s recent experience is in HR leadership roles, she has held several roles in other areas and beyond traditional HR. Cindy has diverse and hands-on experience in driving large scale change and transformation, including post-merger integrations, organization and operating model redesigns, and global systems implementations. Cindy’s career has been primarily focused in the technology, technology services, professional services, and healthcare industries.

Cindy is currently the Chief Transformation Officer and Chief HR Officer at Clearwater Analytics, a high-growth global SaaS Fintech company based in Boise, Idaho. Prior to Clearwater, Cindy launched Headpoint Consulting to support companies looking to accelerate growth and transformation.

Formerly, Cindy has held IT and HR leadership roles at Solera Holdings, Advantia Health, and CSC (now DXC Technology) with the common theme that these were all companies undergoing accelerated growth and/or transformation. These companies range from startup-mode to a global Fortune 500 company.

Cindy also worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for 10 years. While at BCG, Cindy led many large scale change efforts successfully and was BCG’s IT in PMI topic expert globally. While at BCG, she spent time as BCG’s Global Manager for Transformation / Accelerated Change. Before BCG, Cindy worked at Deloitte Consulting with a focus on post-merger integration projects.

Cindy holds degrees from MIT Sloan School of Management and Miami University (Ohio) and spent two years at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Kate Reed

Kate Reed is the Chief Human Resources Officer of American Modern Insurance Group, a Munich Re company. Kate oversees human resources, facilities and internal communications functions. Kate began her career at the company in 2001. Starting in the Legal Department as the employment attorney, Kate has provided legal counsel regarding employment-related issues for all levels of management in each business unit. She also developed her skills in numerous disciplines by leading strategic projects in the areas of training, compliance and benefits, and organizational transformation.

She has served in leadership roles for the Compliance Council, Pension and Savings Committee, American Modern Women’s Network and Green Team Employee Resource Groups, American Modern Talent Council, AMIG University and the US Regional Talent Acquisition team. Throughout her career she has held numerous leadership roles in contribution to community and philanthropic efforts, including the Board of Directors for Insuring the Children, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected children, and the American Modern Charitable Giving Committee. Kate received her B.S. in political science from Ohio University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati. She also holds a certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.

Kate resides in Mason with her husband Ken and daughter Annika

Patrice Dudley-Aviles

Patrice Dudley Aviles has led executives in Fortune 100 to success in areas of human resource strategy, organizational effectiveness and diversity inclusion. Spanning nearly 20 years in career management and executive coaching, Patrice has set the pace for change and established precedence in strategies for career success. Patrice’s valued expertise in human capital solutions and strategy defined her success in a variety of industries to include oil and gas, publishing, pharmaceuticals and most recently bio-technology where she is currently Head of Human Resources for Pharma Technical Operations North America and the Global Business Partner to the Drug Substance Biologics Manufacturing organization at Genentech. As an advocate of diversity and inclusion, her stewardship of women — in particular women of color — enables Patrice to serve as an advisor and mentor to many. She is led by a deep personal commitment to excellence in self and others and can be found working tirelessly to serve the call for those in career crisis. A 2008 recipient of “40 Under 40 ” by the Providence business news is a testament to Patrice’s work in industry. Patrice has also served as a board member of the Arts and Business Council of Rhode Island, Corporater – William Backus Hospital – Connecticut, past member of CARE New England Quality Committee, Year Up and past member of the Providence College Business School Advisory Council. Patrice holds a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and lives with her teen-aged daughter Maya and their 4 year old Australian Shepherd Luna in the East Bay.

Nan Weitzman

Nan Weitzman is the Global Head of Talent for HP based out of Palo Alto, California.  In this role, she drives the strategy, delivery and operations associated with attracting the best and brightest talent in the world from interns to executive level roles. This includes workforce planning, strategic sourcing, organizational design and selection, talent scouting, university relationships, talent management and employer branding. Previously, Nan led talent for North, Central and South America where she was responsible for the strategy and delivery of talent acquisition, relocation, immigration and workforce management.

Nan is a results-focused Human Resources executive with significant experience in leading large, progressive regional and global HR talent acquisition teams.  She has extensive experience in human resource business transformation, talent assessment, succession planning, strategic organizational design and solutions across multiple industries for HP and other global, multi-national organizations and entrepreneurial start-ups.  Prior to joining HP in 2007, she held leadership positions at Knightsbridge Solutions (acquired by HP), Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Brandi Khoury

Brandi Khoury is currently the Head of Internal & External Resourcing – Americas for Shell Oil company. She assumed her current role in October 2018. The role (newly constructed in 2018) includes internal staff resourcing, external recruitment and the management of Shell’s contingent workforce. The role expands across Canada, the U.S. and Latin & South America. In her 23 years with Shell she has held roles in HR in the Business, HR in Country, Talent, Policy, Processes & Systems and now Resourcing. She has worked in a number of Shell’s businesses and led local, regional and global teams. Brandi joined Shell in 1997 from New Mexico State University after completing her Bachelors in Human Resources Management and International Business. Brandi is the Executive Sponsor for EnABLE, the persons with disabilities network in the U.S. Brandi is originally from Wyoming, went to school in New Mexico and worked in both Houston and Louisiana. Her husband also works for Shell and has a daughter at LSU and a son in 5th grade.

Tonya Hallett

Tonya Hallett is a human capital professional with more than 20 years of broad ranging experience in Human Resources.   Tonya is the Executive Director Human Resources, Global Manufacturing for General Motors where she is responsible for leading the people strategies to support the continuous dynamic evolution of where, how and why we manufacture around the world.

Tonya began her career with General Motors in 1996 and progressed through several different assignments in Labor Relations and field HR leadership positions, including an international assignment in Germany.  Prior to Tonya’s current role, she was the Vice President of Human Resources for TouchTunes Interactive Networks, the largest digital out-of-home interactive entertainment, advertising and music-related commerce network in North America.

She holds a Master of Science in Manufacturing Management from Kettering University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Tonya is married and a proud mom of 3 vibrant and thriving young men.  She enjoys supporting initiatives for enhancing educational opportunities for at risk youth, the Arts, and breast cancer research.

Elizabeth Musico

A bi-lingual and results driven Human Resources Executive Leader that values the sustainable impact of a business focused, accountability driven, and solution-oriented people agenda. Notable for the ability to lead change across functions. Highly focused with the ability to inspire strategic thinking to enable positive change while promoting the company vision.

Liz Musico is Vice President, Talent Acquisition for McKesson Pharmaceutical, a $208 B business unit of the McKesson corporation serving 700 M customers annually Ranked Fortune 7.

In this role, Liz is responsible for leading and overseeing the recruiting and selection services of people leaders and employees across the US and Canada. She also partners with McKesson leaders to ensure the talent acquisition strategy aligns with key business objectives.

Over her career, Liz has held positions at a number of global companies, including PepsiCo where she spent 12 years and served as an HR Executive who led HR teams to support National Sales and Operations. Liz also held senior HR roles at Towers Perrin and DHR International.

Liz received her BA at the UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS and studied abroad at the UD Rome, Italy Campus
Other notable education programs include:
Wharton – U Penn Executive Education Program
Dartmouth College-Executive Education-Tuck Business School ASCENT Multi-Cultural Women in Corporate America

Christine Krull

Christine “Chris” Krull is Head of Diversity and Inclusion and a member of the Diagnostics HR Leadership team for the North American Diagnostics division of Roche, headquartered in Basel Switzerland.

In her role, she consults with others across the Diagnostics organization to develop strategies that will increase diversity and inclusion within the business. This includes influencing workforce talent management strategies and workplace practices, and implementing corporate initiatives that have demonstrated positive impact on Roche’s culture, workforce diversity, and business performance. Chris has a passion for creating an inclusive environment where all employees feel a sense of belonging and purpose. She believes this kind of environment is necessary in order for people to contribute at their fullest potential.

Under her leadership, Roche Diagnostics has adopted a stronger and more focused approach on diversity and inclusion, the company has seen increased employee engagement and involvement. Through the organization’s seven Business Resource (BRGs) they have engaged nearly half of their employee population to be a part of the Diversity and Inclusion strategy. In addition, they have made significant progress in talent acquisition and development, building an inclusive culture, and leveraging the power of diversity and inclusion for business impact.

Chris has spent most of her nearly 20-year career at Roche in leadership roles providing oversight to operations, developing service- and customer-focused strategies, and championing inclusive leadership to build high-performing teams.

Chris has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Purdue University. She resides in Carmel Indiana with her husband and two daughters.

Jon Tice

Jon Tice is the VP of Global HR at IMMI. Under Jon’s leadership, IMMI began its global initiative “IMMI Serves,” which gives team members two paid days to volunteer at charitable organizations within their community. Jon is a certified SHRM-SPC specialist and holds a MA in Counseling. He is a work group member of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation through Governor Holcomb’s office in partnership with Slovakia. He’s written several books, including The Golfer’s Guide to Understanding & Loving Your Wife. His passions include continuous learning and intentional mentoring.

Erika Lance

Erika Lance is a distinguished leader with 25+ years of experience in Human Resources. Currently, Erika is the Senior Vice President of People Operations at KnowBe4, one of the fastest growing cybersecurity companies in the country. When she stepped into her role at KnowBe4 a year and a half ago, there were only about 400 employees; now there are 750+ and KnowBe4 is valued as a billion-dollar company. Erika ensures this hyper-growth organization continues to run properly while maintaining a unique and fun company culture. She has turned KnowBe4 into a philanthropic organization, highlighting at least one philanthropic activity every month. She has also championed the growth of inclusivity within the workplace by ensuring there is a focus on diversity in all aspects of the company, starting with hiring; resulting in a workforce of over 40% women, more than double the industry average. In 2018, Erika was awarded Tampa Bay Busines Journal’s People First Award for her countless contributions to the People Operations department at KnowBe4.

Prior to KnowBe4, Erika worked as the Chief Information Officer for Nationwide Title Clearing where she was responsible for all software development and infrastructure for the company. She also served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Nationwide Title Clearing, where she was instrumental in the organization earning the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s award for one of the Best Places to Work for 4 years.

For the past 5 years, Erika has served as the President of the Center of Academics for Business Administration and Management (CABAM) at Palm Harbor University High School, which helps students learn practical business skills and earn industry certifications. She is also a published author who does work with local non-profits “Wordier Than Thou” and “Ink Slingers Guild”; both focused on supporting local authors.

Ina Lankenau

Ina is a senior HR leader with 20 years of experience leading and supporting cultural transformations for some of the most complex organizations in the U.S. including Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Cedars-Sinai Health Systems, Deloitte Consulting LLC, and The J. Paul Getty Trust.

At The Franklin Institute, one of the top science centers in the country, Ina is responsible for working with the CEO and senior management team and overseeing the employee and volunteer functions to cultivate exceptional talent and create an enlivened work culture to drive business performance. With 763,000 visitors from the region and around the world visiting The Franklin Institute in 2018, it is the most visited museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Ina received a BA from Scripps College and an MBA from Claremont Graduate University. She is certified in behavioral and personality assessment tools (DiSC, PDI Profilor), diversity management, as well as process improvement and change management methodologies (Prosci, Kotter).

Sandy Buchanich

Sandy Buchanich, SPHR, SHRM-SCP currently serves as the Vice President of Human Resources for Byrne Electrical Specialists. Sandy is responsible for facilitating organizational design initiatives to better align Byrne’s structure with business and customer needs. She has completely transformed the HR function by hiring a team to align HR to the Vision, Values, and strategic direction of the organization. More importantly she has aligned HR to carry on, grow, and emphasize the “Honoring Tradition, Pioneering Change” and “1 of 1” culture at Byrne. Sandy Buchanich has over 28 years of experience in the Human Resources field in a variety of industries and organizations. She has worked in large family owned businesses, such as Amway, smaller family owned businesses, such as Nucraft Furniture and Byrne, and also Fortune 500 companies, such as United Parcel Service, Kimberly-Clark, and Alcoa.

Sandy’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications, a Master’s Degrees in Labor Relations and Human Resources from Michigan State University, and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Communications from Western Michigan University.

Kymberlee Dwinell

Kymberlee Dwinell is the corporate director for Diversity and Inclusion for Northrop Grumman. She is responsible for the strategic direction, implementation, and alignment of the company’s integrated diversity and inclusion initiatives around the world.

Ms. Dwinell manages initiatives designed to foster inclusive workplace behaviors, create educational vehicles for expanding diversity knowledge, and develop employee networks and strategic communications plans for diversity. She has recently testified before Congress on the topics of Women Parity and Women in the 21^st Century Workplace.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Dwinell served as director, Diversity and Inclusion, EEO/Compliance, Corporate Citizenship, as well as Environmental, Health and Safety, as part of her center of excellence in Northrop Grumman’s Information Systems sector. She was previously director, Human Resources, of the former Information Technology sector’s Enterprise Infrastructure, Commercial, State and Local and Defense business groups.

Before then, Ms. Dwinell served as HR director for a number of divisions within Northrop Grumman’s former Mission Systems sector, including Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Information and Technical Services. Ms. Dwinell joined Northrop Grumman in 1991 and before that held HR positions with the National Rifle Association of America and Mobil Oil Corporation.

Ms. Dwinell holds a bachelors of arts from Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, and has attended postgraduate courses at Cornell, Fordham, the University of Virginia, and the University of Michigan. She also holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certificate from the Human Resources Certificate Institute. She completed the advanced leadership program, Creating the Future at the Darden Graduate LEAD1NG One Northrop Grumman leadership program.

In addition, she is a certified coach for the Personnel Decisions International Profiler 360, is Myers-Briggs Type Indicator qualified, and certified to facilitate the Drexler-Sibbet Team performance model, Prosci change management learning systems, as well as William Bridges and Associates Leading Organizational Transition.

Modeane Walker

Dr. Walker is evolving the City of Houston’s approach to strategic workforce planning and organizational development with programs and experiences which highlight the skills and capabilities that are needed. She believes in and fosters a “People First” strategy – from creating talent-centric learning experiences to championing efforts that focus on the employee experience.

She has earned designations as a(n) SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Certified Public Manager (CPM), International Public Management Association for Human Resources Certified Professional (IPMA-SCP), Performance Management Innovation Certification (PMI), Strategic HR Business Partner Certification (sHRBP), Strategic Workforce Planning Certification (SWP), and Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+).

Dr. Walker earned a Bachelor of Criminal Justice and Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources Management from Grambling State University. She also earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Technology from Mississippi State University.

Valerie Fulbright

Valerie is a Human Resources executive with 30 years of HR, Community & Business expertise, in Manufacturing, Telecom, Healthcare, and Financial Services. Currently as VP, Community Engagement & Program Development, at First Home Bank in St. Petersburg FL, Valerie leads the banks community engagement and program growth activities. Before launching The Fulbright Method, her own consulting firm, Valerie served in an executive level at; Well Care Health Plans, GTE Financial, Truman Medical Center, and UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Received BA from University of Michigan in 1982 and her master’s from Webster University in 1993. Valerie is an experienced Certified Professional Coach (“CPC”). She is also a Senior Professional Human Resources, (“SPHR”) certification.

Dawn Frazier-Bohnert

Dawn Frazier-Bohnert joined Liberty Mutual Insurance in the spring of 2013 to shape the new office of Diversity and Inclusion. As Senior Vice President, Global Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Dawn is responsible for leading the design, development and implementation of Liberty Mutual’s diversity and inclusion strategy and programs. This includes enhancing employees’ D&I capability and skills, internal and external communications, metrics and measurements, benchmarking, external partnerships and the development of employee resource groups.

Prior to joining Liberty Mutual Insurance, Dawn was Chief Administrative Officer and Partner at Global Novations, a Korn/Ferry International Company, where she developed their human capital strategy and led their post-merger company culture-shaping efforts. Before employment with Global Novations, she was at The Gillette Company as Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion, where she developed and led their Global Diversity Strategic Plan. Dawn has also held HR leadership positions at Lotus/IBM, Fidelity Investments and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

Growing up in an Air Force family as an Air Force brat, Dawn lived and traveled all over the world. She believes that these experiences helped her to develop the ability to be effective in most any culture. Building her cultural dexterity has enabled her to learn to navigate new organizations and to value and appreciate differences.

Dawn attended Mount Holyoke College and graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. She served on the Board for the Black Achievers Branch, YMCA of Greater Boston and was a volunteer Big Sister for over 10 years. She served as a member of the Women’s Network Advisory Board for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Dawn is on the GK100 list of Boston’s 100 Most Influential People of Color, a list the Boston Globe reports, “showcase(s) minorities who are shaping the region across various sectors, including academia, business, health care, and philanthropy.” Dawn is also a four-time recipient of the Profiles in Diversity Journal Diversity Leader Award. She was awarded the Race Amity Medal of Honor in 2017 and recognized in 2017, 2018 and 2019 on the Black Enterprise List of “Top Executives in Corporate Diversity.”

Sue Wall

Suzanne Wall is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources. She first joined Chapters Health System as the Associate Vice President of Human Resources in January 2016, and was promoted to her current role in September, 2018.

Sue came to Chapters Health with over 15 years of experience in human resources, 12 of which were in health care. Prior to joining the health care system, she was the Vice President of Human Resources with St. Joseph Health System in Orange, California and was responsible for overseeing human resources, recruitment, compensation, benefits and payroll functions, as well as strategic development for over 2,700 employees at multiple locations throughout California. Additionally, Sue served as an instructor in Human Resources Management at California State University Fullerton-Extended Education.

She received a Bachelor degree in Management of Human Resources from St. Joseph’s College and her Master in Human Resources and Organizational Development from Azusa Pacific University.

Joe Pollina

Joe Pollina currently serves as the Director of Human Resources Operations at Tutera Senior Living. In his current role, he is responsible for the entire function of HR as it relates to recruitment, retention, and employee engagement spanning over 69 senior living communities across 9 states as well as the corporate headquarters in Kansas City, MO. In his previous Tutera position, as the Regional Human Resources Director, he was responsible for 29 Skilled Nursing Facilities and Assisted Living Communities over 5 states. Joe has been with the Tutera organization since July 2009 and has worked in several different HR positions over the last 10 years. His most memorable and greatest achievement took place while he learned nursing home operations, for the first time in his healthcare career, by working at a Kansas City Tutera skilled nursing home in 2014 as the Employee Relations Director. Doing so, it gave him key and valuable experiences of nursing home operations. More importantly, it gave him the opportunity to learn and see, first-hand, the struggles and frustrations that CNAs, Nurses, and Management teams go through while caring for the residents that they serve. Joe is now better poised with assisting nursing professionals with their concerns, in his current role, due to the great experience of working alongside with the people that he now serves.

Prior to Tutera Senior Living, Joe was the Regional Director of Human Resources at AseraCare Hospice & Home Health. While at AseraCare, he directed the implementation of HR initiatives and provided liaison between operations and human resources for the Home Health and Hospice divisions of this $2 billion national provider of healthcare services.

Joe started his professional HR career at Payless Cashways in 1996, which was where he made the transition from Assistant Store Manager to Regional Human Resources Manager. Payless Cashways was a national supplier of hardware and building supplies to both contractors and to do-it-yourself retail customers.

His initial love was to be a store manager, which is why he began his professional retail career at Montgomery Wards and later worked at a local grocery store chain. Eventually, he achieved his goal as the Store Manager of a Wal-Mart Vision Center in 1992 as he was chosen from a group of competing experienced vision center professionals to open a new store in Olathe, Kansas.

Joe speaks fluently in Italian since his parents were born in Italy and Sicily. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, exploring different cultures, and spending time with family.

Joe has earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from University of Missouri – Kansas City.

Katie Spahnie

Katie is a Human Resources executive with over 15 years of HR and Employee Benefits expertise. Currently serving as a Vice President of Human Resources and Safety, Katie is focused on developing and implementing effective HR strategies to provide the best alignment of people and company’s mission, and to support a high-performance culture of delivering results through teamwork and effective leadership.

Prior to joining Midwest Industrial Supply, Inc. in 2017, Katie served as a Corporate Human Resources Director for ALL Family of Companies, the nation largest privately-held crane rental company with approximately 1,300 employees in the US and Canada.  There, having built the Human Resources function from the ground up, Katie was responsible for human resources policies and strategy, total rewards programs, employee relations, and delivery of business partner services.

Katie holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through HR Certification Institute (HRCI) and a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) through Society for Human Resource Management, and is always looking for opportunities to learn.   Katie volunteers her time serving on the HR Advisory Board at the University of Akron, and the Board of Directors of the Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio.  Katie and her husband reside in the Cleveland, OH area and are parents of three adult children.  Katie enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, and long walks with her three dogs.

Mary Flesch

Mary Flesch is a Regional Human Resources Director at Tutera Senior Living, a national long-term care corporation that owns and manages more than fifty skilled nursing homes. Mary has been with Tutera for three years, specializing in recruitment and retention. She has a Master’s in Human Resources Management from Indiana Wesleyan University, and is an active member of SHRM. Prior to working with Tutera, Mary served as an Assistant Executive Director with Meridian Senior Living. She has now been in the long-term care industry for more than ten years.

Andrew Suchoff

Andrew Suchoff has been with Stallergenes Greer since 2015, prior to the merger of the two companies and leads Global People Operations and Talent Development. He has over 25 years of experience, which includes living and working in US, Asia, UK and Switzerland. Over his career, Andrew has led HR in high-growth companies of 30,000 employees, built HR infrastructure, led key integrations of acquisitions and overseen dramatic cultural transformations. In addition, Andrew has worked in entrepreneurial ‘start up’ environments complimenting his experience in life sciences and consumer product global organizations.

Prior to Stallergenes Greer, Andrew was Chief HR Officer at inVentiv Health a leading global provider of clinical, commercial and consulting services. Earlier in his career, for 7 years, he worked at Serono International (acquired by Merck KGaA in September 2006) in a variety of senior HR leadership roles. Prior to Serono, he worked in both Financial and HR roles at The Gillette Company, for 12 years.

Samantha Rogers

Samantha started her corporate Human Resources journey at VIVO Cannabis Inc. and has been with the company for over two years. Samantha’s time at VIVO has afforded her valuable “in the trenches” experience in a multitude of Human Resources facets, all of which she now leads strategically as the Head of Human Resources Operations. She has grown with the company through two major acquisitions and will support the company from the people perspective as it expands internationally.

During graduate school Samantha began providing Human Resources consulting services to small business in her community, an impactful learning experience and passion that she still pursues today. Samantha earned her Masters of Industrial Relations and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Queen’s University. She is an avid equestrian and spends as much time in the saddle as possible.

Stephane Charbonnier

Stephane Charbonnier is Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer for L’Oréal USA, as of February 2017. In this role, Mr. Charbonnier is responsible for driving leadership and learning initiatives, developing talent and building an HR team with an “employee first” approach. He serves on the L’Oréal USA Strategic Committee and Human Resources Management Committee and reports to L’Oréal USA President and Chief Executive Officer, Frédéric Rozé and Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Jean Claude Legrand.

Charbonnier is a solution-oriented leader with proven success building and leading multi-disciplinary HR teams within dynamic organizations. In 2013, he joined L’Oréal USA as the Vice President of Human Resources for the Company’s Consumer Products Division. Under Charbonnier’s leadership, his team supported digital transformation with the redesign of the Marketing and Integrated Marketing Communications teams and successfully integrated employees from NYX and the Multi-Cultural Beauty Division, which includes brands such as Carol’s Daughter and Softsheen-Carson. Prior to joining L’Oréal USA, he worked more than two decades in key HR leadership positions at Towers Watson, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, American Express and McDonalds in Europe and in the United States.

Stephane holds a degree in Human Resources from the Institute of Social Management in Paris and a Bachelor in Economy from the University of Limoges. He has served in the Creenshaw Associates advisory board and currently serves in the Board of Directors of the NY chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.

Rhian Grespan

Rhian Grespan is SVP, People and Development, Global Corporate Shared Services and Supply Chain plus NY/NJ Facilities at Ralph Lauren Corporation. She leads a team of P&D professionals providing strategic business leadership for over 5,000 employees across all global corporate functions at Ralph Lauren. She is also responsible for Ralph Lauren’s New York and New Jersey facilities and leads the Chief People Officer’s special projects. Her support for these corporate functions includes organization design, change management, internal communications, talent acquisition and development and day-to-day client partnerships. Prior to joining Ralph Lauren, Rhian worked for Macy’s, Ann Taylor Loft and Gap Inc.

Mike Prutting

Mike Prutting is Chief Human Resources Officer and VP IT & Travel for FUJIFILM Holding American Corporation, based in Valhalla, New York.  He has enjoyed a notable career at Fujifilm, where he has led numerous, significant initiatives and developed a reputation for achieving results by designing and implementing approaches that “make things work”.

Mike began his career in business with Federated Department stores, and is a graduate of Rutgers University. Mike is known for his strong functional skills, direct leadership style and abiding commitment to both the employees and the business.

Since he began working at Fujifilm in 1996, he has held progressive HR and general management roles at several divisions. Most recently he has been involved in the acquisitions of 10 new businesses and is playing a key role in Fujifilm’s entrance into the life sciences area. He has also developed and successfully implemented Fujifilm’s North American Regional HQ concept and shared services function. Mike has also led the implementation of a global talent management program as well as the introduction of Fujifilm Way Training.  This global training effort was designed to provide a common business language and methodology to Fujifilm associates worldwide.

Mike serves as a Board member of the American Heart Association, Westchester County Chapter.  He has worked closely with several school boards in the Diocese of Bridgeport.  He is the father of 5 boys, which has played a critical role in the development of his coaching skills.  He and Donna, his bride of 29 years, live in Fairfield County, CT.

Cindy Carlisle

As Vice President of Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Cindy Carlisle is the Human Resources leader of the North America region for the Diagnostics division of Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. She is also a member of the Roche global Human Resources Diagnostics Leadership Team. Cindy’s focus is to create a unique culture that fosters accountability and innovation coupled with an unwavering commitment to customers and the patients they serve. This commitment is visible in Roche Diagnostics’ cultural beliefs and through the company’s involvement in efforts to enhance people’s health and quality of life in the community. Known for developing and executing creative corporate strategies and for leadership development, Cindy is an imaginative problem solver with the ability to build an inclusive team environment while encouraging talent. Her goal is to empower others to reach their full potential by helping them gain awareness of the capabilities they possess. Cindy is a member of the CEO’s leadership team, the North America Diagnostics Executive Committee, where she works directly with the CEO and other senior leaders to craft Roche’s unique value proposition to the marketplace. Prior to her current role, Cindy was Senior Human Resources Director of Janssen Pharmaceutical North America, Johnson & Johnson. She was responsible for leading strategic human resources for the Janssen Therapeutics Infectious Disease Business Unit, Janssen Biotech Central Nervous System (CNS) Business Unit, and their leadership teams. Prior to that, she worked in roles of increasing responsibilities in Human Resources, Marketing, and Finance in the Medical Device, Consumer, and Corporate sectors at Johnson & Johnson. Before joining the Johnson & Johnson group of companies, Cindy was with General Electric. Cindy earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and a Master of Science in adult technical education from Marshall University, Huntington, W. Va. She is a certified Master Black Belt (Six Sigma, Lean and Design Excellence). Cindy volunteers in the community to develop youth through sports and education. She enjoys attending sports and music events: NFL, NBA, NCAA, youth sports, and musical concerts.

Larry Brand

Larry Brand serves as Chief Human Resources Officer at Elkay Manufacturing, a 100-year old global producer and designer of sinks, water delivery systems, cabinets, and restaurant interior systems with over 5,000 employees worldwide. He is a versatile HR executive with leadership experience serving CEOs, Board of Directors, and global leadership teams. With over 20 years of business experience with increasing levels of responsibility, Mr. Brand compels leadership and boards to adopt business driving people strategies. He is an accomplished leader of talent, strategy, mergers & acquisitions, and board of directors’ relations. Prior to his current role, he served as Chief Human Resources Officer for Sparton Corporation (NYSE: SPA), an industrial manufacturer. Mr. Brand holds an MBA in Management and a BS in Business Administration from the University of Evansville in Evansville, IN and holds SPHR and SHRM-SCP professional designations.

Barbie Winterbottom

A strategic and insightful business leader with experience building healthy, people centered cultures and strong diverse leadership teams in fast-paced, goals-driven corporate environments. I have built and realigned HR teams to meet the needs of very demanding businesses both in start up and multi-national Fortune 500 companies. My strengths and experience include, talent acquisition with expertise in high-volume recruiting and call center, retail, medical esthetics, healthcare, TV, IT and more, employee relations, executive and management coaching, talent management and employment branding/marketing. I have experience leading high performing agile HR teams across multiple locations, virtual teams across the globe. I understand the businesses I support and establish HR practices and policy to help drive optimal people experiences, business goals, strategies and objectives. Known as a true partner to my business leaders, I have earned a seat at the table and I ensure HR and People remain a relevant voice, driver and strategic partner.

Laura Robblee

Laura Robblee has served as GoPro’s Vice President of People + Places since May 2017 and as Senior Director of People from June 2015 to May 2017. From November 2013 until May 2015, Ms. Robblee served as the Senior Director, Global HR Business Partner and Head of Talent Development at Lithium Technologies. From 2011 to 2013, she held several human resources roles at Electronic Arts, and prior to that served as an executive consultant from 2006 to 2011. Ms. Robblee holds a master’s certificate in executive coaching and a B.A. in Psychology and Communication from University of Colorado at Boulder.

Camye Mackey

Camye Mackey is the first Chief People Officer for the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena. As the company’s top Human Resources executive, Ms. Mackey leads the team responsible for strategic development and implementation of the People Philosophy and Culture for the Atlanta Hawks. Ms. Mackey’s priorities are leadership development, employee culture and providing the essential link between employee engagement and guest experience. This includes the overall implementation of the company’s S.M.I.L.E. service philosophy, which is rooted in southern hospitality and employee empowerment.

Ms. Mackey’s background includes more than 25 years of leadership and experience in human resources management where she has established a proven track record of leadership experience in diverse companies, industries, cultures and environments including positions with MGM Resorts International, Walt Disney World, Special Olympics International and B. F. Saul Hospitality Group (owned and operated Hilton, Marriott International and Intercontinental properties). In addition, she owned and operated a full-service HR Consulting firm that serviced notable clients such as The American Red Cross, Walt Disney World, George Mason University, Health Central Hospital and Special Olympics Florida.

Ms. Mackey holds an M.A. in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a B. B. A. in Business Management from Howard University. She has spoken at several human resource conferences and served on the board of directors at Virginia Tech’s Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management and Special Olympics Florida.

Ms. Mackey is based in Atlanta and enjoys an active lifestyle with her husband and three daughters.

Mike Clementi

Mike Clementi began his career with Unilever in 1994 as a management trainee. His passion for creating an emotional connection between employees and Unilever has led him to work across multiple divisions and geographies acquiring a broad range of HR skills and experiences.

Mike returned to the United States in 2015 as the Vice President of HR North America and Global Customer Development for Unilever after 3 years in the United Kingdom, where he supported several global functions including Finance, IT, Legal and Global Business Services as the VP HR – Global Functions. Before moving to the UK in 2012, Mike served as the Vice President of HR for Unilever’s Supply Chain in the Americas.

Through Mike’s continued focus on cultivating diverse talent and encouraging diversity of thought, Unilever once again was named one of the Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality by the Human Rights Campaign and named #1 employer for Working Mothers. Unilever has also been recognized with The AD Club Action Award, which honors champions of diversity and inclusion.

Mike holds a Masters of Business Administration from Fairfield University & Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Montclair State University.

In his personal life, he is married to his wonderful wife, Robin, and has two beautiful daughters, Lauren & Kaitlin. He enjoys all sports but is passionate about American football, baseball and golf.

Jon Williamson

Jon Williamson is the Head of Human Resources for Johnson & Johnson North America. In this role, Jon has strategic oversight of the Human Resources function across the J&J Enterprise in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Jon joined Johnson & Johnson’s Medical Devices and Diagnostics Sector (MD&D) in 2007.  During his tenure at J&J he has led global HR teams and participated on the senior management teams for three MD&D business, including Advanced Sterilization Products, Ethicon Women’s Health and Urology, and Ethicon Biosurgery.  Jon led several portfolio changes in the sector, including integration of several acquisitions made by Johnson & Johnson in the aesthetic and ENT surgery segments.  He has also led enterprise-wide convergence efforts, including serving as the HR Head for the President’s Council.

In 2011, Jon was appointed Vice President Human Resources for Janssen’s Global Pharmaceutical R&D Operations organization, supporting a global employee base for over 5000 employees across 46 countries responsible for driving J&J’s late stage pharmaceutical pipeline.  In this role, he led a transformational business model shift focused on reducing the cost of pharmaceutical product development globally. He subsequently took responsibility leading HR for Janssen’s North America Pharmaceuticals business where he shaped a rapid expansion of this business during a period of unprecedented portfolio growth, resulting in Janssen being named the fastest growing pharmaceutical company in the US.

Jon has over 18 years experience in human resources in both line and staff roles. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Jon held various roles with General Electric Company, Honeywell, House of Blues Entertainment and SGL Carbon Group in both domestic and international assignments.  Raised near Los Angeles, California, Jon also spent a number of years early in his career as an expatriate international project manager based in Germany.

Jon holds an MBA from the Henley Management College, London, UK and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt and also holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources certification from the HR Certification Institute.  He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Jon is an avid outdoor sports enthusiast and stays connected with his home state through collecting wines from the various regions across California. He lives in Westchester, NY with his wife and two sons.

Ancy Paul

As Vice President and Head of People & Culture, Ancy Paul leads the Foundation’s work on talent acquisition and development, organizational culture, workforce diversity and inclusion, and benefits administration and management. Ancy has over 17 years of human resource experience in global and domestic environments. Most recently she worked at Discovery Communications as Vice President of the Human Resources team responsible for supporting executives with organizational design, workforce planning, diversity initiatives, training and talent management programs. Prior to joining Discovery, Ancy held HR positions at Winchester Homes, Deposition Services and Axis HRD. She holds a BS in Engineering from the University of Mumbai and is certified through the Human Resource Certification Institute as a Senior Human Resource Professional (SPHR).

Michelle Williamson

Michelle Williamson is the Vice President of People and Culture for Levi Strauss & Co. She partners with the business to deliver people solutions that meet the company’s needs, engage employees, and make LS&Co. a great place to work. Specifically, Williamson is responsible for talent acquisition, learning and development, employee engagement and leadership development. She is a member of the company’s Global HR Leadership team.

She is a seasoned HR leader with more than 15 years of experience in the retail sector, having spent her early career with Gap Inc. Williamson has deep experience across HR disciplines, including HR Business Partnering, Talent Acquisition and Talent Management.

Passionate about finding the best talent and providing a great employee experience, Williamson has held her current role since 2014. She brings a transformational mindset to leading and developing the company’s People & Culture function to drive positive cultural change while enhancing individual and collective performance. Williamson’s team has introduced innovative tools for managing and engaging employees, resulting in high levels of engagement and low levels of regrettable turnover.

Williamson holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego. She’s a lifelong Californian who lives in the Bay Area with her family.

Tiffanie Boyd

Tiffanie Boyd is currently Vice President of Human Resources for the global Supply Chain at General Mills.  She has more than 20 years of experience in HR and is known for her ability to build talent and leadership development programs that maximize performance.

Prior to General Mills, Tiffanie was a consultant with Hewitt Associates.  She has an MBA and BBA from the University of Michigan Ross Business School. She has served on various community boards and dedicates her time to initiatives focused on closing the education achievement gap.

Tiffanie is originally from Detroit, MI and now lives in Minnetonka, MN with her husband Colbert and their sons, Evan and Ian.

Meg Newman

Meg Newman is Chief Human Resources Officer for Keurig Dr Pepper. She joined Keurig Green Mountain in 2017 as Chief Human Resources Officer, prior to which she served as Chief People Officer of Home Depot Supply. She previously held key human resources roles in Conseco Insurance and Sears Roebuck & Company.

Meg holds a BA in Psychology from Coe College and an MA in Liberal Arts from the University of Wisconsin. She is a Director of Core & Main, and is a member of the HR Leadership Forum, the Society for Human Resource Management and the HR Policy Association.

Megan Taylor

As Senior Director of Business Partnering within Adobe’s Employee Experience organization, Megan Taylor has helped reshape the employee experience as the company has transformed its business model and global presence. While at Adobe, Megan has acted as lead business partner to nearly every member of the company’s executive suite, advising them on talent and organizational strategies. As Adobe’s culture continues to evolve, Megan and other senior leaders of Employee Experience are focused on advancing the company’s business while retaining the core values that have contributed to it being recognized as an exceptional place to grow, develop and make an impact.

Prior to Adobe, Megan held multiple roles at Fidelity Investments in Boston focused on talent selection and management effectiveness. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the College of Wooster.

Mayank Bhatnagar

Mayank Bhatnagar is Executive Vice President, Human Resources of GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the $40 billion commercial aircraft financing and leasing unit of GE.

As head of HR for GECAS, Mayank is responsible for people strategy and execution and leads a global team. He is based in Norwalk, CT, USA.

Mayank first joined GE in 2002 at GE Capital International Services (now Genpact) and was their Assistant Vice President HR, based in India. He left Genpact in 2005 to join Novartis Pharmaceuticals at their HQ in Basel, Switzerland. Over the next 5+ years at Novartis, Mayank was in diverse roles, from leading HR for a Commercial BU to global leadership development. He rejoined GE in 2010 as Director & Head HR for GE Healthcare India and South Asia, where he led HR for his fast growing and complex organization comprising sales, marketing, manufacturing and technology.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from NIT Tiruchirappalli, India and his post-graduate degree in Human Resources from XLRI School of Management, Jamshedpur, India.

In his free time, Mayank likes to read, travel and cook. He is involved in and is passionate about the education of girls, especially in developing countries.

About GECAS

GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) is a world leader in aviation leasing and financing with 50 years of experience. The GECAS portfolio comprises a wide range of aircraft types including narrow bodies, wide bodies, regional jets, turboprops, freighters and helicopters. GECAS offers multiple financing products and services including operating leases, purchase/leasebacks, secured debt financing, capital markets, engine leasing, airframe parts management and airport/airline consulting. GECAS owns or services a fleet of over 1,900 aircraft+ in operation or on order, plus provides loans collateralized on an additional ~400 aircraft. GECAS serves ~ 250 customers in over 75 countries from a network of 25 offices.

www.gecas.com

Rob Sklans

Rob Sklans is a business leader and trusted adviser to executive teams and boards of large, global companies, and an architect of skilled, productive, and high-engagement workforces, with 20+ years of experience serving the health care, medical device, consumer product, specialty chemical and technology industries. He has managed global projects up to $400M and transformed HR functions into best-in-class, strategic enablers of business growth. Rob’s expertise in strategic and tactical organizational and individual development; organizational redesign; merger integration activities; and process improvements informs all his work.
As CHRO at Innophos (Cranbury, NJ), Rob reported to the CEO and led a team of 27 people. During his tenure, he created and launched a 4-year global HR strategy to enable the company to meet its 2022 vision to grow into a $1.25Bn company. He implemented a US Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) pilot to reduce time to fill and recruiting spend, and created Total Rewards & Talent Management centers of expertise to strengthen employee engagement/retention and enhance the leadership pipeline. In close partnership with the Board’s Compensation Committee, he also refreshed Short and Long-term Incentive plans.
Previously, as Chief Human Resources Officer at Elementis (East Windsor, NJ), he led the global HR function and served as Supervisory Board Member for Elementis Specialties, Netherlands BV. In this role, he redesigned and implemented Short- and Long-term Incentives for Director level and above, by partnering with the UK-based Board Remuneration Committee; successfully directed HR due diligence, internal communication strategy and talent integration plan for the SummitReheis acquisition; and partnering with the CEO, flattened the organization. Rob created a unified global function (a first for the company) that built critical capabilities; improved bench strength, harmonized all jobs across the enterprise, and enabled incentives to be tied to career levels globally.
Before joining Elementis, Rob served as VP of HR, North America (NA) Region for Royal DSM (Parsippany, NJ), leading an organization of 50+ people. Earlier, he was as Director of Talent Management, NA Region, for Evonik Industries (Parsippany, NJ).
Previously, Rob served in a variety of leadership roles for Johnson & Johnson (2002 – 2011), the last as Director, Global Talent Management, Medical Device & Diagnostics (New Brunswick, NJ).

Rob earned an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and a BA in Psychology from Connecticut College. He and his family reside in Metuchen, NJ.

Alan Schmadtke

Alan Schmadtke is a writer, leader, strategist, negotiator, collaborator, planner and husband. He is also Chief People Officer at Launch That, LLC, a privately held Orlando-based company that fosters innovation through its digital marketing and technology ventures.

His champions Launch That’s I Am EPIC culture, heads up leadership and team member training and development, and directs the Human Resources and administrative teams. Day to day, his goal is to provide a servant leadership style to a young, dynamic workforce and to inspire fellow executives.

He also produces LaunchCon, an annual digital marketing and technology conference that features renowned speakers who inspire, motivate, and foster skills-based growth.

At his core, Alan is a writer. For nearly three decades, Alan was an award-winning sportswriter, editor and digital news pioneer. He spent more than two decades as a reporter, first at The Alabama Journal and then at the Orlando Sentinel. His focus was college athletics, where he covered Stetson University, the University of Central Florida, and Florida State University as a beat writer. As a senior reporter, he was the paper’s lead college reporter, covering numerous college bowl games, NCAA Tournaments, College World Series, and a number of Super Bowls and NASCAR events. He covered the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars before becoming the paper’s NFL editor and digital editor.

Alan then moved into a role as deputy digital editor, where he managed the paper’s online resources, staff, and home page. He was responsible for teaching writers how to optimize their stories and and generate readers online. He served as the paper’s criminal justice editor during the Casey Anthony murder investigation.

He switched careers in 2011, trading journalism to marketing when he joined AMAG (now Launch That) as an editor for the company’s online properties. After being named content director, he co-led the company’s internal marketing agency before being elevated to Chief People Officer in 2015.

A former president of the Football Writers Association of America, Alan holds a degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He has two published books, including a recently released mystery novel, “Dead Odds,” under the pen name David Ryan.

Wendy Kagan

Wendy Kagan is the Executive Vice President, Director of Employee and Community Engagement at BankNewport. In her role at BankNewport, Wendy oversees Human Resources, Marketing, Community Relations and Corporate Communications. Wendy has been with BankNewport for over twelve years. Prior to BankNewport, Wendy was the Vice President and of Employee Engagement at Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG). During her time at CFG, Wendy also provided Human Resource consulting to multiple business lines throughout the organization. Prior to CFG, Wendy was the Vice President of Human Resources for Child and Family Services of Newport County.

Wendy holds a BA in psychology from the University of Michigan and a MS in Human Resource Management at Northeastern University. Wendy is most recently an adjunct professor in the business administration department at Salve Regina University and is an IPEC certified Executive Coach and the legislative Co-Director for SHRM Rhode Island.

Joan McGrail

Joan McGrail is a proven Human Resources executive with extensive experience in all facets of HR. She assumed her current role, Vice President of Global Human Resources for New Balance Athletics, Inc., in 2014 and oversees all global HR operations for the company’s 8,200 worldwide employees. Today, Joan is responsible for leading her global team’s strategic HR planning and execution and her top focus areas include workforce planning and development, organizational effectiveness, benefits and compensation, recruiting, talent development and HR operation data and analytics. Ultimately, her team is responsible for the growth, development and inspiration of the organization’s people to drive extraordinary business results.

Additionally, she is a member of New Balance’s senior leadership team, which holds responsibility for the creation and implementation of the company’s corporate strategy for the more than $4 billion business.

Before serving in her current role, Joan was a member of the NB HR Leadership Team since joining the organization in 2005. Prior to that time, Joan held Human Resources roles at Helix Technology, Fidelity Investments and Hitachi Data Systems. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the Lesley University in Cambridge. She is a Women Unlimited graduate and member of the organization’s alumni group; executive council member of The Partnership and a member of The Boston Club.

Kerry Held

Kerry brings 15 years of culture, leadership, customer and employee experience work to Siegel+Gale’s worldwide clients. She is an expert in culture, change management and connecting people to ideas, to each other and to brands.

A passion for people informs her work at Siegel+Gale, helping companies deliver better customer experiences through leadership development and culture change. She has worked across healthcare, retail, B2B and finance/banking, partnering with clients such as EmblemHealth Advantage Care Physician’s Group, Delta Airlines, David Yurman.

Prior to joining Siegel+Gale, Kerry helped to found and lead Danny Meyer’s consulting group, Hospitality Quotient. She has since worked as head of business development at leadership consulting firm YSC, and most recently as the SVP of Employee Experience at CLEAR.

Having lived in Spain and Australia, Kerry currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband and 2 kids.

Kerry holds a BA in History and International Studies from Boston College and has received Executive Coach certification from Baruch College.

Archana Nirwan

Archana Nirwan is Senior Director, Human Resources of Qualcomm India and is based out of Bengaluru, India. Archana has more than 17 years of experience in varied aspects of human resources management. She has played a strategic role in providing human resources expertise in employee relations, coaching, development, compensation, conflict management, organizational development, training and more.

At Qualcomm, Archana has led HR initiatives in managing legal, operations and contingency planning. She has initiated programs to drive performance management, career development frameworks, career road maps and development plans. Archana has contributed in the re-designing of performance management systems. Along with this, she was a catalyst in facilitating processes for creation of business strategies. Her other expertise includes, planning, implementation and integration of acquired organizations at Qualcomm India.

During her tenure, Archana has coached business leaders on leading and managing their organizations effectively. Prior to joining Qualcomm, she held HR leadership roles at several key organizations across verticals.

Archana holds a master’s degree in business administration from Pune University, India and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Nowrosjee Wadia College, Pune, India.

James Parker

James Parker is the Vice President – Talent Management & Organization Development at Church & Dwight, a consumer products company with ten power brands including as Arm & Hammer. He is responsible for developing and driving the enterprise’s talent agenda. James leads the Talent Acquisition, Learning & Employee Development, Employee Engagement and Talent Management organizations globally.

Prior to joining Church & Dwight, James held various leadership positions with BASF, GE Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson. In these roles he drove organizational change and performance within talent management and business partnering roles.

James is actively involved in community service as a Board Member of Send Hunger Packing Princeton (SHUPP) and sits on the steering committee for the Conference Board’s Succession Management Conference.

James has lived and worked globally in the United States, Europe and Asia. He holds a Master’s in Human Resources from the University of Minnesota, a Master’s in History from King’s College London and a Bachelor’s Degree from Cornell University.

Michele Bousquet

Michele Bousquet is Head of People + Places  at Brandless, the San Francisco-based startup that is on a mission to make “better-for-you” quality products more widely accessible and affordable for everyone. Named “Most Innovative Company” by Fast Company, and “Startup of the Year” by AdAge, Brandless is fueling a movement to democratize access to goodness. Michele has spent her career in leadership excellence, talent development, and organizational effectiveness, where she focuses heavily on growing inclusivity, intrinsic motivation, understanding, and leading with heart. Prior to Brandless, Michele has held various people and culture roles such as, Sr. Director of Organizational Development at GoPro, and SVP, Chief of Staff and Head of HR at a privately-held asset management firm. Michele holds a BA in English from San Diego State University.

Jana Lee

Jana Lee’s professional and Human Resources experience spans over 20 years, initially in HR Systems related roles leading to significant large scale, enterprise-wide change management leadership in all areas of HR.  Currently, as a member of the CEO’s senior leadership team at DARCARS, a multi-state Automobile Dealership Group with over 1,800 employees, she is responsible for overseeing the Human Resource function.  Her working career is marked with successes in recruiting and talent management, systems implementation, succession planning, employee relations, and total rewards.   Jana has tapped into the creativity of her team and peers to solve business problems within every area of HR, and is currently transforming how HR partners with operations to meet sales and profitability goals.

Jana graduated from the University of Maryland University College, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Information Systems Management. She is passionate about passing knowledge and opportunity on to emerging leaders, as illustrated through the creation of multiple, respected employee resource groups and formal mentoring programs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn, she loves to talk about all things HR.

Pat Rowan

Since joining P&G in 1987, Pat Rowan has worked in a variety of Site, Regional and Global Human Resources roles within our Product Supply (PS) organization throughout the U.S. She earned her M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in Psychology from Syracuse University. Pat is HR Director of Global Corporate Functions Product Supply which includes Human Resources responsibilities for Purchasing, Engineering, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing, Innovation Diamond Management, Supply Network Operations and PS Learning and Development. Two of the most exciting P&G initiatives Pat is currently working is Manufacturing of the Future and Product Supply Skills for the Future. Pat has two sons and currently resides in Cincinnati, OH.

Maria Randall

As Vice President Human Resources of Club Assist, Maria has accountability for all HR activities in North America. This includes implementation of all HR initiatives and recommendations on HR strategy, plans, projects and activities, along with translating business strategies and objectives into the appropriate HR actions and initiative.

Maria joined Club Assist in 2016 with more than 25 years of Human Resources experience. She brought with her impressive business acumen, punctuated by her experience as a key leader in HR roles for such respected organisations as University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Penn Central, Draka Holdings, Rinker Materials and American Financial Group. She has a proven record as a change agent for increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and improving productivity and organisational effectiveness. Maria’s impressive background touches all aspects of Human Resources including recruiting, compensation, benefits, HRIS, staffing, organisational development, conflict resolution and employee relations for both domestic and international business environments.

Maria has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Dayton and has lived in the Orlando Florida area for the past seven years.

Jeff Zierenberg

Jeff Zierenberg is the Vice President of Human Resources at Grain Craft, the third largest independent flour milling company in the United States. He joined Grain Craft in 2014 and since that time Jeff has built a wide-ranging Human Resources team to lead the strategic HR initiatives between the 14 mills, two corporate offices and the eight union mill facilities. In this role he oversees all people-centered solutions including talent management, learning and development, benefits, organizational health and communications. He is also responsible for cultivating and managing the united business culture of Grain Craft’s High-Performance Organization focus.

Jeff’s professional experience began with various Fortune 100 companies including Procter and Gamble, Pepsi-Cola and Mars, Incorporated. During his 20-year career with Mars, Jeff transitioned to Human Resources in 1997 where he held expanding leadership roles in multiple manufacturing sites in the pet, food and snack businesses that ultimately brought him to the Chattanooga, TN area in 2007.

Jeff is currently active in multiple conservation entities to preserve habitat and wildlife for hunting, fishing and outdoor enthusiasts.

Alison Schoonover

Alison Schoonover is the HR Director for PepsiCo North American Beverage Manufacturing (NAB). NAB Manufacturing is comprised of all bottling sites throughout North America, including Pepsi, Gatorade, and Tropicana products. In this role, she is responsible for leading the HR function and strategy for NAB Manufacturing HQ.  Alison serves as advisor and coach with business leaders to identify and diagnose talent and organizational issues, develops solutions and strategies for success, measure impact and ensures positive results.

Currently, Alison is developing a STEM talent strategy to attract and retain highly talented individuals using a new approach to prepare for the digitalization and/or automation of manufacturing.  In addition, she is working on a strategy to modernize and infuse new talent.

Alison joined PepsiCo in early 2016 as Senior HRM leading the HR/People agenda in Roanoke Virginia.  In this role, she stabilized the market, transformed the culture and removed significant risk from hot spot areas.  Prior to joining PepsiCo, Alison was an HR professional for Kraft Heinz in both Illinois and Wisconsin holding HR roles with increasing responsibilities.

Alison holds a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor’s degree in Management with a concentration in HR from Millikin University.

Jimmy Zhang

Jimmy Zhang is the Head of Workforce Strategy and Analytics at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In his role, Jimmy is responsible for establishing the Workforce Strategy and Analytics CoE, with a focus on our strategic workforce planning and people analytics capabilities. This is a critical component of the HR Operating Model/Future of Work that will continue to evolve HR capability and the global Vertex employee experience.

Jimmy has previously held multiple leadership roles within HR. Most recently, he was the Head of People Planning and Analytics at Biogen, responsible for people analytics and strategic workforce planning. His role was quickly expanded from Global Head of People Operations and Centralized Learning Services responsible for employee services and process improvement globally. Before joining Biogen, Jimmy held HR positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific and Liberty Mutual with increasing responsibilities within the Human Resources function.

Loreli Wilson

Loreli Wilson is a University of Missouri graduate. She serves as the Director of Diversity & Inclusion Programs at Veterans United Home Loans, directing the diversity and inclusion initiative, including diversity recruitment, programming, and college relations. She is dedicated to promoting an inclusive workforce conducive to Veterans United’s unique culture, and ultimately strives for each employee to feel comfortable in their own skin. She was acknowledged in CBT’s (Columbia Business Times) 20 under 40 class of 2017, and has contributed to Veterans United Home Loans diversity initiative being recognized in 2018 with the MBA’s (Mortgage Bankers Association) Residential Leadership Award for Diversity and Inclusion, the 2017 Corporate Leader of Inclusion + Innovation nationally by the Society of Diversity and locally by the City of Columbia with the Columbia Values Diversity 2018 award. With a background in Human Resources and Recruiting, she has volunteered her skills to such organizations as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Missouri as a Board Member, Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) MO as Director of Diversity, and currently serves as the President of the Inclusive Impact Institute.

Leah Avery

Leah Avery is a Talent Management leader with 12+ years of diverse HR experience across multiple industries, corporate structures and business life-cycle stages. She is dedicated to finding simple and relevant solutions that allow employees to maximize their potential while achieving business results. Leah currently leads the HR Business Partner and Talent Team for Money Mart Financial Services based in Malvern, PA. Prior to joining Money Mart, Leah held progressive HR and talent roles at Sunoco and ARAMARK.

Adam Ross

Adam is the Vice President of Talent & Organizational Effectiveness for Tenneco in Lake Forest, IL. He leads Tenneco’s global operations for Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Culture & Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion, Learning & Development, and Change Management. Since joining Tenneco in April 2018, Adam has been leading Talent activities for the acquisition of Federal-Mogul and spin of two new companies in Q2 2019, with a focus on assessment & selection of C-Suite leaders. Prior to joining Tenneco, Adam held leadership positions in HR and Talent Management at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Monsanto, and NASA.

Lori Garmus

Lori Garmus is the Human Resources Director for Raytheon Missile Systems Core Product Lines and Program Management Excellence. Garmus assumed this role in July 2015, and is responsible for the development and execution of human resources strategies and initiatives. Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2017 sales of $25 billion and 64,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Prior to her current role, Garmus was Sr. Manager, Human Resources for Raytheon Corporate supporting Finance and Corporate Affairs and Communications. Lori assumed this role in January 2014 and was responsible for supporting the development and execution of HR strategy, including talent management, change management and the execution of all human resource programs and processes.

Lori has over 20 years of experience in human resources and organizational development. She joined Raytheon Missile Systems in October of 2007 as a Human Resources Generalist within the Engineering function. Raytheon Missile Systems is the world’s premier missile maker, providing defensive and offensive weapons for air, land, sea and space, including interceptors for U.S. ballistic missile defense. The business also builds net-enabled battlefield sensors and includes Raytheon UK. Missile Systems capabilities include air and missile defense, electronic warfare, space solutions, naval solutions, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Missile Systems is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona and employs 11,000 people. She transitioned to the Core Product Lines in January 2012 to serve as the Human Resources Business Partner supporting the four core product lines including Air Warfare Systems, Land Warfare, Naval Area Mission Defense, and Air and Missile Defense.

Prior to joining Raytheon, Lori held the position of Sr. HR Consultant for U.S. Aerospace and Headquarters for Alcoa Fastening Systems (AFS) in Torrance, California. AFS is a business unit of Alcoa Inc. In this role, Lori provided HR guidance and strategy for the business unit serving a dual role as the Human Resources Lead for U.S. Aerospace and Human Resources Manager for the Torrance Headquarters. She participated in the implementation of strategies associated with the company’s HR and People Systems and processes including: performance management, employee relations, talent management, coaching and succession planning. Lori also served as the business unit’s single point of accountability for all training and development needs including the Training Coordinator role for the Learning Management System.

Lori holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Development and Communication from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Organization Leadership from Argosy University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lori also holds certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).

Helena Josue

Helena Josue is Vice President, Human Resources at The Wendy’s Company, where she oversee the HR teams that lead people and organization initiatives for North America Operations, Marketing/R&D, Global Development and International.

Helena joined Wendy’s as Senior Director, Human Resources in 2013 to provide human resources leadership for several Corporate Functional groups based in the Dublin Restaurant Support Center. She and her team have provided support for Finance, Development, Marketing/R&D, IT, Legal, and Communications/QA working directly with most of the Company’s Senior Leaders.

Prior to Wendy’s, Helena worked for Procter & Gamble for 17 years where she was accountable for several assignments of increasing responsibility across five countries in Europe and the United States.

A native of Portugal, Helena started and owned a company while attending and attaining her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration at the Catholic University of Portugal.

Annie Paquet

Annie Paquet is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in Human Resources. At BRP since 1997, she is now Vice-President, Human Resources, and as such, oversees all HR matters for BRP’s three facilities in Mexico. In addition, she is leading the company’s global Health, Safety & Security efforts. Annie is based out of the company’s Dallas office, and fluently speaks French, English and Spanish.

BRP is a global leader in the world of powersports vehicles and propulsion systems built on over 75 years of ingenuity and intensive consumer focus. The company’s portfolio of industry-leading and distinctive products includes Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft, Can-Am on- and off-road vehicles, Alumacraft and Manitou boats, Evinrude and Rotax marine propulsion systems as well as Rotax engines for karts, motorcycles and recreational aircraft. With annual sales of CA$4.5 billion from over 100 countries, BRP’s global workforce is made up of around 10,500 driven, resourceful people.

Deby Rossignol

Deby Rossignol leads Talent Management and Organization Effectiveness for Eaton’s Electrical Sector and has enterprise responsibility for engagement and retention at Eaton. She has over twenty years of global experience in the Talent Management field. She has held senior Talent Management roles at Eaton, Goodyear, Sara Lee, AIG, and Chubb Insurance. Deby received a BS in English from Illinois State University and a MBA in Human Resources from DePaul University.

Eaton is a power management company made up of over 98,000 employees, doing business in more than 175 countries.

Isis Suria

Isis Suria, Vice President of Human Resources for Amerijet International, Inc., has dedicated her entire career to the development and administration of Human Resources, with consistent success in the public and private sector.

Isis brings more than 25 years of professional experience in all areas of Human Resources, with extensive work in the areas of labor relations, benefits management, organizational restructuring, and conflict resolution.   Since her graduation from college, she has, for most of her career held high-profile senior executive positions in various industries such as banking, manufacturing, government and international air cargo.