North American HR Executive Summit

Gena Smith is the Chief Human Resource Officer for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in North America and the head of Global Executive Recruitment.  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.

Prior to joining LVMH in September 2011, Gena was Global Managing Director at Karen Harvey Consulting, where she led the luxury & retail executive recruitment practice worldwide. She previously spent 10 years as an executive search consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates and Ray & Berndtson, working with many leading retail, luxury and consumer brands. Her earlier experience included several years in International Education.

Gena is a member of the Advisory Board for Tiffany & Co., and a member of the Board of Directors for Gabriela Hearst.  She is also on the Board of Governors for Parsons School of Design and on the Board of Governors of the Fashion Scholarship Fund. Gena holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Business.  She also studied French, Greek and Mandarin.

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

Tami is a transformational human capital leader who architects high-impact strategies that accelerate business success. Throughout her career, she has held top global HR roles at industry giants including Mars Inc. and Danone and served as CHRO and CPO at private equity-backed companies like 24-Hour Fitness and National Veterinary Associates, overseeing workforces ranging from 1,000 to 45,000 employees.

As a strategic change agent, Tami excels at creating winning cultures, building high-performance teams, and driving talent development that directly aligns with business objectives. She has successfully led large-scale organizational transformations while developing strategies that support rapid growth and value creation.

In October 2024, Tami joined LA28 as Chief People Officer, leading the comprehensive people strategy for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games. In this role, she’s building and preparing a dynamic workforce of employees and volunteers as the city of LA welcomes the world to the largest global sporting event.

Betty Larson joined Merck in April 2024 as the executive vice president and chief human resources officer. She is responsible for global human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion for the company.

She has extensive domain expertise with more than two decades in the health care industry. She most recently served as chief people officer of GE HealthCare, a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions innovator. She provided strategy and leadership for GE HealthCare’s human resources and corporate marketing and communications teams.

Betty also served as executive vice president and chief human resources officer of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) from 2018 to 2022, a global medical technology company, where work responsibilities also included strategy and leadership for communications and social investing. Betty joined BD through the acquisition of C.R. Bard Inc., a medtech company focused on vascular, urology and surgical specialty products. She served as C.R. Bard’s chief human resources officer responsible for human resources and communications from 2014 until the acquisition in 2017.

Betty spent the first 16 years of her career at Baxter International, a global medtech company. She was in human resources leadership roles of increasing responsibility in their pharmaceuticals, renal therapies, vaccines, bio pharmaceuticals and hospital products businesses.

She is on the board of directors for Baxter Credit Union. She has served on the board of Fortrea, contributing as a member of the nominating, corporate governance and compliance committee. Betty also served on the board for the Overlook Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support the New Jersey-based Overlook Medical Center in its mission to provide high-quality care to patients. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Illinois, and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.

Eric Dozier (he/him/his) is executive vice president and chief people officer of Eli Lilly and

Company.

Since joining Lilly in 1998, Eric has had a diverse career of assignments across the

organization and the globe. Prior to his current role, Eric served as vice president, ethics and

compliance and most recently as chief commercial officer for Loxo@Lilly. He has held

assignments within Lilly’s Diabetes, Neuroscience and Oncology business units and was chief

marketing officer and a neuroscience business leader in Japan. He also served as general

manager for Lilly Puerto Rico.

Eric earned a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University and a Master of

Business Administration degree from Indiana University.

Eric also serves on several civic boards within greater Indianapolis, as well as the Indianapolis

Airport Authority Board.

Katharyne Gabriel leads HR for Coca‑Cola’s North America Operating Unit, overseeing people strategies that support 6,200 employees across plants, warehouses, and offices—driving over $17 billion in revenue. With a reputation as a transformative HR leader, she has guided global organization design and talent strategy initiatives across corporate functions in more than 200 countries.

Prior to her current role at Coca‑Cola, Katharyne held senior HR leadership positions at several industry giants:

• Led global transformation efforts in operating model optimization.
• Advanced people strategies across vast networks during her time with IHG Hotels & Resorts and YUM! Brands, where she supported thousands of employees.
• Began her impactful HR journey at The Home Depot, contributing to M&A integration, employee relations, supply chain, and operations, and ultimately serving as Chief of Staff to the CHRO.

Katharyne is a respected voice in HR, frequently invited to speak on leadership and talent development—including guest lectures at Texas A&M’s Master of Engineering Leadership Series.

Mark is a passionate leader who brings more than 20 years of experience leading, mentoring and developing diverse teams.

At Starbucks, Mark is responsible for leading global strategies inclusive of performance and partner development, talent management, learning, talent acquisition, while guiding Starbucks to create opportunities for growth and career advancement for Starbucks partners (employees). By bringing talent and inclusion together as one system, Mark’s team is focused on building talent as a true competitive advantage for Starbucks.

Prior to joining Starbucks in 2021, Mark worked as an auditor at EY and held leadership roles in talent acquisition at Comcast Cable, Nordstrom, and Microsoft.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Sam Houston State University. Based in Seattle, he enjoys spending his free time unwinding by a lake or stream, as well as traveling and exploring diverse cultures.

Kimberly Morris serves as FIFA’s Chief People, Technology & Services Officer, playing a pivotal role in shaping a multicultural, high-performing organization that supports global football initiatives. With a law background and international HR leadership experience, she oversees key areas including talent management, technology integration, and employee services—aligned to FIFA’s mission to build inclusive and thriving cultures worldwide.

Since joining FIFA in 2012, Kimberly has been a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion. She co-founded the FIFA Women’s Network and helped launch the organization’s Family Network to support staff across life and cultural transitions. As one of just four women on FIFA’s management board, she advocates for women’s leadership and empowerment throughout the sport.

A Canadian-trained lawyer with early experience in international firms and law in Zurich, Kimberly also led FIFA’s integrity and compliance functions before expanding into broader HR and operations responsibilities.

Neena Potenza is the Global Strategic Initiatives Manager, People and Culture, at Ingka Group. In her role, Neena is responsible for the roll out and development of the Ingka Group people strategy that defines the global approach the company takes for its over 174,000 coworkers in 32 countries. In addition, she drives the culture and values work between Ingka and its franchisor, Inter IKEA. Neena has over 25 years of experience from various human resources roles within IKEA, starting in the UK in 1993. Potenza’s passion is people, and she truly believes IKEA co-workers to be the greatest asset of the company. She brings togetherness at the core of her leadership and fundamentally believes that all co-workers come to work to do the best they can. As a leader, Potenza is inclusive, open and passionate to move people and the business forward.

Theresita Richard (she/her)  is a visionary and purpose-driven leader fiercely committed to expansive liberation, humanity, and possibility. She is on a mission to transform the world of work, cultivating environments where humans can flourish in their fullness. She is the Chief People & Culture Officer and Global Head of Justice & Belonging for Patagonia and brings over 20 years of experience in diversity, equity & inclusion, organizational effectiveness, experience design, operations leadership, and human resources. Previously Theresita led Capital One’s Global Office of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, where she drove the work to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging across the company. She currently serves on the board of Out & Equal, a global convener, thought leader, and catalyst actively working to embed equity and achieve workplaces of equality and belonging.

Theresita’s career has spanned the consumer goods, retail, and fintech industries and she has positively impacted the full range of organizations from building anew to broad-scale transformation. She is known for propelling organizations forward with a deep focus on talent, culture, and innovation. Theresita is adept at delivering holistic people strategies that ensure businesses are equipped and enabled to achieve their mission while unlocking thriving customer and employee experiences. She sees problems as opportunities and her goal is to always approach with curiosity, creating sustainable solutions for the future and challenging the status quo to solve needs in new and meaningful ways.

Theresita started her career in operations after earning her B.S. in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from Cornell University. It was there that she discovered her passion for creating experiences around people and went on to pursue her M.A. in Human Resource Development from George Washington University. Over the years, she has worked with various Fortune 500 companies including Procter & Gamble, Target, Home Depot and Starbucks.

On a personal note, she loves great quotes, all things creative, impromptu dance breaks and real live books (there’s nothing like the smell of a new book). Her family is one of the best parts of her and they inspire her to be better every day. She is fueled by coffee and rich conversations (even better when those things come together) and is a lover of movement, color, texture, and depth…cue her deep passion for the arts and finding inspiration all around her.

One of her favorite quotes that she strives to live by is “As you think about your own path to daring leadership, remember Joseph Campbell’s wisdom: ‘The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.’ Own the fear, find the cave, and write a new ending for yourself, for the people you’re meant to serve and support, and for your culture. Choose courage over comfort. Choose whole hearts over armor. And choose the great adventure of being brave and afraid. At the exact same time.” – Brené Brown, Dare to Lead.