2025 Speakers

Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, Chief Diversity Officer and Corporate Vice President of Talent Development, Microsoft, leads the company’s strategic efforts and systemic solutions to advance diversity and inclusion and create equitable access to opportunity for all employees at Microsoft. The work she drives is guided by a commitment to be mission-driven, outcome-oriented, globally informed, science-based, and culturally competent. Under her leadership, her global team of human resources professionals and employee engagement strategists are driving the adoption of Microsoft’s Core Priority for Diversity & Inclusion, taking a holistic and intentional approach to talent development motions at all levels, cultivating thriving employee communities, building leadership capability, scaling enterprising solutions to advance inclusive behaviors, and helping leaders and managers apply a growth mindset and adaptive approach to talent development and diversity and inclusion.

With over 20 years managing human resources from revenue-generating commercial businesses to vast global servicing organizations, Kim has a demonstrated ability to architect transformation, forge connections, deliver insights and link talent to strategy. Kim is a trusted advisor and thought partner and has successfully built world-class business teams across different industries, functions, geographies and environments. She is a leader with people operations expertise and ensures that the employee side of the business equation enables execution of strategic objectives.

Kim wholeheartedly believes that talent, leadership and culture are the keys to successful businesses. Therefore she focuses on the quality of the talent in the business, the culture being created, the effectiveness of programs and policies, workforce dynamics, change strategy and inclusive leadership, among other key levers. A lifelong curiosity about what makes people join, perform, contribute, stay and elevate has made her a valued partner to senior leaders who understand that strong talent and the right culture are the ultimate competitive advantages.

Kim’s expertise is rooted in strong business acumen and forward-thinking HR strategies in the areas of talent assessment, succession planning, organizational design, performance management, labor relations, benefits, acquisitions, divestitures and coaching. Kim is often asked to speak to a variety of audiences globally on all of these topics as well as her personal leadership philosophies.

Kim joined Etsy to drive global strategy in all areas that impact the company’s talent. She oversees all aspects of the company’s human capital plan, with a strong emphasis on talent, leadership, diversity and organizational effectiveness.

Prior to joining Etsy, Kim served as Chief People Officer at WW where she developed and delivered impactful human capital strategies.
Prior to WW, Kim held successively progressive roles at American Express, Home Depot and General Electric.

Kim currently serves on the Board of Directors of RHR International and the Board of Trustees for Fisk University, a Historically Black College/University. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, and Bloomberg and speaks on Leadership and Culture globally.

Shammara serves as Vice President and Global Chief Talent Officer at McDonald’s Corporation. In this role, she is responsible for talent attraction, performance management, leadership development and organizational effectiveness. She’s been a part of the McFamily since 2017 and most recently served as Senior Director, Corporate Human Resources.

Shammara is an accomplished human resources professional who draws on her experience and passion for talent and diversity to create high-impact people strategies. In her role as Senior Director, Corporate HR, Shammara led McDonald’s corporate people initiatives for the global functions, providing leaders with support and advice for cultivating high-performing, agile teams.

Prior to joining McDonald’s, Shammara had a dynamic career with more than 12 years in human resources positions within the retail industry, including roles at PetSmart and Walmart. Throughout her career, she has built strong HR leadership experience in corporate and field HR, distribution, talent and diversity.

Shammara holds a dual degree in Psychology and Sports, Health, Leisure & Physical Studies from the University of Iowa. She also holds a master’s degree in Human Resources and Employee Relations from Penn State University. Shammara is committed to lifelong learning and development and represented McDonald’s in the 2018 cohort of the Leading Women Executives program.×

Kim Cockrell is chief human resources officer for Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), responsible for TMNA’s human resources (HR) function. In this role, she is responsible for the setting the vision and strategic direction of human capital across the North American Region. Her organization delivers solutions to enhance team member engagement for areas including Compensation, Benefits, Talent Development, Talent Acquisition, Strategy & Workforce Planning, HR Technology & Analytics, HR Communications, and Labor Relations.

Prior to Ms. Cockrell’s current position, she served as vice president of Human Resources, Toyota Motor North America.

Ms. Cockrell joined Toyota Financial Services (TFS) in 2006, as HR manager for the company’s Eastern Customer Service Center (CSC) and, later, its Western Region and Sales, Marketing & Product department at Toyota’s national headquarters. In 2011, Ms. Cockrell was promoted to national HR manager for CSC Operations & Field Services, providing leadership and strategic direction to operations teams nationwide. She was also national manager of business readiness & change management for an enterprise transformation program before joining the TFS service operations team in 2013 as the General Manager for service operations strategy, planning & support.

Ms. Cockrell began her career in recruiting, training, and development at Lehman Brothers, where she worked with senior management to develop strategies and created a continuing education curriculum for the company. She later continued with the HR teams at Yahoo, First Data Corporation (Fiserv), and BearingPoint Inc., where she held the role of HR manager.

Ms. Cockrell serves on the board for North Texas Food Bank, Southern Regional board for Step Up Women’s Network and serves in several ministries at Fellowship Dallas Bible Church. She was recognized by Who’s Who in Black Dallas in both 2018 and 2019.

Ms. Cockrell earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and her Master of Science in Counseling from Fordham University in New York.

Sara Bowen is vice president of Global Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Employee Listening & Organizational Research at The Boeing Company.

Sara is responsible for developing and executing the company’s global strategy on equity, diversity and inclusion, ensuring Boeing fulfills its promise of equal opportunity, and strengthening a culture of belonging. She also leads the Employee Listening and Organizational Research team, which harnesses the power of employee voice to drive business excellence.

Prior to joining Boeing, Sara led Starbucks’ Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility team, which included the company’s first-time public achievement of 100% pay equity in 2018. Sara also worked as an employment lawyer for two decades, helping companies fulfill their promises of equal opportunity.

Sara earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University and her law degree from Stanford Law School.

Christopher Shryock serves as Sam’s Club’s Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer. In this role, he oversees all aspects of human resources for Sam’s Club and is responsible for attracting, developing, rewarding, and retaining talent as well as building a diverse and inclusive organization.

Prior to Sam’s Club, Christopher spent nearly 14 years at PepsiCo in a variety of global HR leadership roles in Plano, Texas; Geneva, Switzerland; Moscow, Russia; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and New York. Most recently, he was senior vice president of human resources for the PepsiCo Foods North America sector’s Commercial organization where he led the HR agenda across the sales, marketing, and strategy and transformation organizations.

Christopher earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Xavier University (OH) and a Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University.

Joel spends his time partnering with business leaders and HR colleagues to design and implement innovative and scalable HR solutions across the full people spectrum (talent management, org design, recruiting, compensation, inclusion & diversity and change management) to name a few.  He is a vital partner in ensuring the growth and development of the leaders and employees in these businesses.

In October of 2022 Joel began providing HR support for all of the General and Administrative (G&A) businesses across Amazon which include Security, Legal, Finance, HR, Communications, Public Policy & Corporate/Business Development.

Prior to this role he supported the AWS business which included Applications, Region Services, Migration and Control Services as well as Security across all of Amazon.  He was also involved in providing HR support for the HQ2 location in Arlington and provided oversite and guidance for many of our East Coast based businesses.

Joel started his career with Amazon in the North American Consumer business.  These businesses included Selling Partner Services, Seller Recruitment and Development, Alexa Voice Shopping, Digital Commerce and Content Services and Amazon Search.  All in this represented nearly 10,000 employees across 10 countries and 15 sites.

Before Amazon, Joel was the EVP of HR for Red Ventures, a rapidly growing technology and digital sales marketing company.  He provided valuable insights and built critical infrastructure to this start-up firm.

Joel was also an HR executive with Capital One Financial for 13 years. He served as Managing Vice President HR Enterprise Services/Staff at Capital One. These groups provided support for all lines of business across the Bank, Card and Financial Services Divisions as well as all the core technology and infrastructure for the company.

Before Capital One, Joel worked at Citigroup and Allied Signal Aerospace.  He has 28 years of experience in HR working with senior leaders developing and implementing people strategies.

Mr. Martinez graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in Psychology and an MBA.

Stephanie Lundquist was named chief human resources officer (CHRO) of Cargill in April 2022. As a member of the Executive Team, Steph oversees all aspects of human resource strategy and execution for our 155,000 employees in 70 countries.

As a seasoned HR and business leader, she brings expertise in aligning strategy, capabilities, people and culture to deliver results and accelerate growth. She focuses on delivering leading people and culture practices that create a preferred, diverse and inclusive workplace. Steph also fosters a ‘one team approach’ and learning culture that fuels innovation, curiosity and agility. Purpose and people driven, she brings her astute and savvy talent management expertise to every role, building high-performing diverse teams.

Prior to Cargill, Steph spent more than 15 years with Target [NYSE: TGT], a Fortune 30 company and one of the world’s most recognizable brands. She held a variety of roles in HR, as well as the company’s transformation office, before becoming a member of their Executive Team as CHRO, supporting a global team of more than 350,000 employees. Most recently, she served as the first-ever President of their food and beverage business.

As Independent Board Director for Sysco Foods from 2019-2022, Steph served on the Compensation and Leadership Development, Technology and Corporate Social Responsibility committees. Steph is also a member of Concordia College’s Board of Regents. She is passionate about contributing broadly within her industry and community, serving on various industry and community organizations.

Steph attended the Board Governance Executive Education Course at Harvard Business School and received her B.A. in Business and Communication from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Charbonnier has over 30 years of experience helping organizations function at their best to achieve business growth. He is passionate about attracting and mentoring talent and is a thought leader on HR trends including employee engagement, labor relations, talent development, and the future of work. He has worked in HR leadership positions at global organizations including L’Oréal, Towers Watson, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, American Express and McDonalds in Europe and in the United States. In his most recent role as CHRO, Charbonnier pioneered a data-driven talent strategy which resulted in a strong talent pipeline. He was an advocate for developing a holistic approach to employee wellbeing inclusive of mental, physical and financial wellness offerings. Charbonnier also championed DE&I efforts leading to a more diverse workforce and a more inclusive workplace. Charbonnier is a solution-oriented leader with proven success building and leading multi-disciplinary HR teams within dynamic organizations. Charbonnier holds a degree in Human Resources from the Institute of Social Management in Paris. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New York chapter for the Arthritis Foundation and the Advisory Board of AceUp, a platform making executive coaching accessible at all levels. He is a regular speaker on people related topics across the globe, frequently presenting at industry conferences and contributing to HR trade publications.

Tish Archie-Oliver is the Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging for Unilever, North America.  In this role, she oversees the integration of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in the business and talent agenda for the United States and Canada.  In addition, she leads the organization’s mission to achieve equity in all forms – talent, brand, and supplier diversity.

Before joining Unilever, Tish served as the Second Vice President of Enterprise Diversity & Inclusion at Travelers Insurance. She was responsible for integrating diversity and inclusion strategies into talent acquisition, retention, and development practices and processes across the enterprise.

She has over 20 years of talent acquisition, talent management, and diversity and inclusion experience in the financial services, consumer-packaged goods, and luxury retail industries.

Tish dedicates her life to serving the community and developing the next generation of leaders. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Jack and Jill of America, Scholarship Chair for the National Coalition of 100 Black Women’s Bergen-Passaic chapter, and Advisory Board member of BRIDGE and HACE. Tish received her bachelor’s degree from Claflin University, a Master of Business Administration from American Intercontinental University, and an advanced certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University.  She is also Intercultural Development Inventory certified.

Tish was recently recognized as Mindr’s 2023 Women of Influence and by Savoy Magazine as a 2023 Most Influential Executive in Diversity & Inclusion.

As Chief People & Organization (P&O) Officer of Novartis, Rob Kowalski leads the company’s strategy to unleash the power of its people and ensure it has the diverse talent, skills and organizational capabilities to deliver on its long-term priorities and purpose as a focused medicines company.

Rob is passionate about fostering an Inspired, Curious and Unbossed culture that drives innovation and performance, and ultimately impacts how Novartis reimagines medicine for patients. Since taking his current position in 2021, he has played an instrumental role in implementing a new structure and operating model designed to support the company’s next phase of innovation and growth.

“Through the work we do in P&O, we have an impact on shaping our organization and fostering a culture that influences the way we learn together, the way we grow, the way we challenge and build on each other’s ideas and the way we empower our people to reach their individual and collective potential. Our culture is our catalyst to innovation that fuels our purpose.”

As part of his strategic focus on culture, Rob is committed to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment where all employees can fully apply their talents and energies. He is responsible for delivering on the company’s pledge to the United Nations (UN) Equal Pay International Coalition to achieve gender balance in management and further improve pay equity and transparency processes by 2023.

Known for his skill in building and leading diverse organizations, Rob draws on 30 years of experience in regulatory affairs and drug development roles in the pharmaceutical industry and has led teams to successfully develop and register dozens of new medicines. Prior to his current role he was Global Head of Regulatory Affairs for Novartis. He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US.

Outside of Novartis, Rob loves spending time with family and friends and enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities with his wife and two children, including water sports and skiing.×

Caroline Jecko-Parkes joined Airbus Americas in July 2022 as the VP for the Human Resources and Workplace function including HR, Facilities and Environment Health & Safety. She is responsible for the design and execution of the strategy, plans and policies to optimize organizational effectiveness and performance, leveraging a multi-tiered, geographically diverse team of HR Business Partners & COE Experts.

Prior to joining Airbus, Caroline has held leadership positions across the financial services, healthcare, BPO and aerospace industries. Her areas of expertise include HR transformation, strategic planning, shared services and outsourcing, business process improvement, M&A and customer relationship management. Her background in Customer Service management and Sales and Account management is at the source of her drive for service excellence and her philosophy of continuous process improvement. She is bilingual (English / French) and has extensive experience working around the globe.

Caroline holds a BA in International Business from the ESLSCA Business School, Paris, France and a Postgraduate Diploma in Administrative and Information Management from Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Lanell Ohlinger, vice president and HR business partner for the Kroger Family of Companies, leads the strategic HR direction and support for Kroger’s supermarkets, retail operations and corporate teams. With more than 20 years of experience, Lanell is a people champion focused on attracting, developing, rewarding, and retaining talent.

Lanell began her career with Kroger in 2000 as a store co-manager in the company’s Michigan division, going on to hold many leadership roles in the division both in stores and within the HR team. Since 2014, Lanell has been a leader on the corporate HR team, serving as director of Human Resources, vice president of business unit Human Resources and vice president of Talent Development before being promoted to her current role in 2020.

Lanell holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Adrian College and is the recipient of the Progressive Grocer Top Women in Grocery Senior-level Executive Award in 2021 and Progressive Grocer Top Women in Grocery Rising Star Award in 2014.

Jennifer Weber is chief human resources officer and chief diversity officer for ADM and a member of the company’s Executive Council. In this capacity, she oversees all human resources functions for ADM’s global workforce of more than 38,000, including the company’s global activities to support diversity and inclusion.

Weber has an extensive record of strong human resources leadership and strategic management, leading companies during times of significant transformations, mergers and acquisitions, and growth initiatives. Prior to joining ADM in 2020, she served as executive vice president of human resources at Lowe’s Companies, where she drove strategic efforts spanning talent acquisition, development, culture and broad-based business transformation. She also led human resources for companies including Scripps Networks and Duke Energy, and began her career in HR at Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson), where she became managing principal of the firm’s Cincinnati office.

Weber is active in community and volunteer groups and serves as the 2020 board chair for the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, and a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Suzanne brings almost 20 years of HR experience in business partnering, talent acquisition, performance and talent management, operations, compensation, and enterprise transformation initiatives, having held HR leadership roles in the technology and asset management sectors.  She is energized by the opportunities at HP to apply her interests, passion, and experience to unleash the potential of our employees to realize HP’s vision and mission.

Suzanne has a master’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University and was recognized by the National Academy of Human Resources for her work on performance management.  Outside of work, Suzanne is a doting aunt to her nephew and three nieces and enjoys applying a growth mindset to her tennis game.

Rosa Santos is the Vice President Talent Management and Organization Effectiveness PepsiCo Beverages NA for PepsiCo, a position she has held for almost nine years now. She is also the co-founder to the Color Forward Podcast: Advancing Multicultural Women. Prior to joining PepsiCo she worked for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Inter American Development Bank, and the Work Bank. She holds a number of post-secondary degrees from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross school of Business, the Fielding Graduate University, the University of East London, and the Universidad de Salamanca.

Jane Forman is the Human Resources Vice President, Workforce Management for PepsiCo. She joined PepsiCo 15 years ago, and has held roles of increasing seniority ever since within the HR organizations in both the United States and the UK. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Jane gained experience in labor relations at The Walt Disney Company. She has a B.S. in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Andre Joyner is the senior vice president, chief human resources officer at JCPenney. Andre is responsible for the development and execution of strategic human capital decisions and leads the Company’s human resources functions.

Andre brings more than 20 years of innovative human resources and management experience in retail, health care, and consumer packaged goods industries. Most recently, Andre served as the senior vice president, head of human resources at Victoria’s Secret where he led the brand through its most significant organizational transformation. Earlier in his career, he held HR leadership roles at Merck & Co. and Pepsi-Cola Bottling Group.

Andre holds a Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Committed to lifelong learning through ongoing education, Andre holds designations as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)

Joan McGrail is a proven Human Resources executive with extensive experience in all facets of the department. She assumed her current role, Chief Human Resource Officer for New Balance Athletics, Inc., in May of 2020 and currently oversees all global HR operations for the company’s more than 9,000 worldwide employees.

Joan is responsible for leading her team’s strategic HR planning and execution, with particular focus on diversity and inclusion; organizational effectiveness; talent development; culture enrichment, and HR operation data and analytics. She promotes agility and innovation, striving to unlock new ways of working that will transform the organization. Additionally, she is a member of New Balance’s senior leadership team, which is responsible for the creation and implementation of a corporate strategy for more than $5 billion business.

Before accepting her current role, Joan served as the Vice President of Global Human Resources for New Balance beginning in 2014, earning the title after nearly a decade of driving change as an integral member of the NB HR Leadership Team. Prior to New Balance, she 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.

Joan is a member of Boston’s CHRO Governing Body; 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.

Ken Moses has been leading Cascade’s HR function since 2017.  A forward-thinking and performance-driven global strategi an hands-on Human Resources Executive. Proven trusted advisor, team builder, and results oriented leader. Driven to align the function to the business and achieve results and exceed expectations to ensure Cascade’s long-term and sustained success. Prior to Cascade, Ken was the CHRO for Penhall Co and prior to that, he spent 10 years as Sr Dir, Global HR for Quest Software which was acquired by Dell, for which he led the People integration efforts. Ken earned a Master’s of Science in Organizational Psychology from Cal State University at Long Beach.

Jason leads a global team responsible for recruiting, developing, and celebrating diverse top talent. He is focused on building and maintaining a people-first culture for more than 3,500 team members across the world. He also helps cultivate a culture that attracts, motivates, and retains talented collaborators. He has been a People leader at Dawn since 2014.

Jason has a strong background in global HR and operations with companies including Philips, GE, and Armstrong World Industries. He continues to build on his experience of valuing intangibles for an organization like, culture, work environment, engagement, wellbeing, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Christina currently acts as a Global HR Senior Advisor in public and privately held organizations. She has worked within a variety of successful organizations and industries to scale & transform HR in early-stage growth and companies with extensive global reach.  Christina creates organizational momentum partnering with the business to support the strategic direction and coaches leadership to align initiatives with P&L goals. She has combined her strong international law background with HR compliance and program development to deliver total rewards and talent management programs to support succession planning, workforce planning, and Human Resources Business Partner Models. Christina has extensive experience leading M&A due diligence & integration with public and privately held organizations spanning in size from 350 to 50,000 employees. She provides Executive and Senior leadership coaching, partners with the business in defining and cultivating successful and differentiated cultures, employer brands as well as university programs mentoring. Christina is a key member of several advisory boards and has attended the Wharton Executive Program. She holds an MBA, Human Resources, Capella University and a BS, Business/Human Resources Management, Southern Connecticut State University and BSN, Florida State University.

Dr. Johné Battle has been recognized by the LA Times as a Top 100 DEIA Leader, and twice by the National Diversity & Leadership Council has one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers for 2021 and 2022. He is renown as a global Business Executive and thought leader who brings the powerful combination of skillful talent development and human capital expertise. His deep understanding of human relations, personal branding, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and organizational performance have led to a successful track record of business transformation and human capital counseling.

He currently is the founding partner and CEO of The Greatness Factory, LLC, and the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for Dollar General Corporation, a $38+ billion-plus retailor with more than 18,000 convenient, easy-to-shop stores in 47 states. Dr. Battle owns the strategy for diversity, equity, and inclusion for over 157,000 associates; working across the organization using belonging indexes, talent flow analysis, inclusive leader assessments and other data to make data-based decisions. Prior to joining Dollar General, Dr. Battle was a Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry where he led clients through large-scale cultural transformation and assisted with holistic DEI leadership development, employee engagement and employee branding efforts that enabled clients to
attract, develop and retain their talent while meeting their business goals.

As the Global Director of Talent Development for Johnson Controls, a $30 billion-plus global diversified technology and multi industrial leader, Dr. Battle was responsible for the development of global strategy related to career development; culture and employee engagement, including diversity and inclusion solutions; an external executive coaching program; performance management; and components of onboarding. He established the tools and approach to help employees navigate their careers successfully, ensuring leaders understand and fulfill their roles in the career development of their teams. As Senior Partner of J.E. Battle & Associates, LLC. Dr. Battle headed up talent development, leadership development and change management interventions for MTV Networks, SAIC and Clayton County Public Schools – Leadership Academy.

Earlier, Dr. Battle was with Walmart Stores, holding concurrent roles of Senior Human Resources Director, Merchandising and Distribution, and Co-Chairman of Talent Development, UNITY Associate Resource Group. He was recruited to be the strategic business partner and executive coach for three senior vice presidents and one vice president in the merchandising business unit, with a combined 30,000 associates and more than $100 billion in annual revenue. He partnered with executives to develop talent management strategies that are still in operation today.

At J Rushman Group, a boutique consulting firm operating exclusively in the retail sector, Dr. Battle was Senior Director of Strategic Processes and a Human Capital Consultant. His primary client was TJX, a multinational off-price retailer that owns T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods brands. He was leader of a team working closely with senior leadership on the Corporate University Global Strategy for Leadership Development.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Battle was Senior Vice President of Operations for Gridiron Technologies LLC. This was the first company to leverage the EA Sports John Madden video game technology to create virtual reality simulators to improve player/coach communication. The technology was launched with Louisiana State, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Colorado and the University of Maryland. After early success, the NFL adopted the technology with the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints. Dr. Battle was recruited to oversee all operations in the U.S. and held P&L and budget responsibilities for $16 million and 17 direct reports. This position followed Dr. Battle’s time with MSL Combines LLC, a company that created on demand talent management technology to allow major colleges and universities to source for student-athletes to provide scholarships.

Prior to this, Dr. Battle was Director of Human Resources for L3 Technologies LLC, a professional technology firm. He began his career as Director of Artist Repertoire and Marketing with Warner Bros. Records, where he established artists such as Prince, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Eric Benet, and oversaw the soundtrack for “A Thin Line Between Love & Hate.” Dr. Battle’s community involvement is extensive, including being a Student Athlete Mentor for Georgia Institute of Technology, a Guide Right Program Coordinator for Kappa Alpha Psi, a Leader with Taskforce for Alignment at Goizueta Business School and a member of OCA Atlanta Chapter. He has been an Adjunct Professor at the UPENN CLO for Executives, Webster University Business School, and Mercer University Penfield College. He is also a guest lecturer, key note speaker, master facilitator, and a sought after speaker and thought leader at industry conferences on the topic of Intentionally Building Inclusive Leaders!

Dr. Battle received his doctorate in Work-Base Learning Leadership from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also earned a Master of Education in Learning Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, a Master of Business Administration in Organizational Behavior from Emory University Goizueta Business School and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Leadership from Mercer University. He holds several education and leadership certificates through the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Anthony C. Hood serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for First Horizon Bank. In this role, he provides strategic leadership and executive oversight for the corporation’s enterprisewide DEI strategy. He also serves on the corporation’s Operating Committee.

He previously served as the Director of Civic Innovation in the Office of the President at UAB as well as an Tenured Associate Professor of Management in the Collat School of Business at UAB.

An electrical engineer by training, Dr. Hood enjoyed a 10 year career with BellSouth and AT&T supporting startup telecom companies in the firm’s wholesale division. He was honored with the Pinnacle Award, the company’s highest honor for productivity and leadership.

He left AT&T to pursue his PhD full time at the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!). Since completing his PhD in only 3 years, he has completed studies at the Harvard Business School, Stanford and the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Dr. Hood received his undergrad and MBA from UAB (Go Blazers!). In 2019, Dr. Hood was honored by the UAB Alumni Association with the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award.

Dr. Hood is a board member of a number of organizations including the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, Birmingham Education Foundation, and Urban Impact. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District, the largest affordable housing provider in the state.

Loyalty to the Ace Hardware Corporation for 19 years has served Mary well.  Mary has had the opportunity to serve in diverse levels of Human Resources including recruitment, employee services, training and project management.  Currently, she serves as the Corporate VP of Human Resources for the Ace Hardware Corporation and is responsible for leading a team of HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition Partners and Organizational Development, Benefits, Compensation and Human Resources Information Systems professionals.  Her teams develop and execute on diverse HR tasks including company branding, strategy surrounding talent recruitment and retention at a variety of levels, quick and confident resolution of employee relations issues, facilitation of human resources related training and conception, performance management, succession planning and the development and execution of various projects keeping Ace progressive and employees engaged.  She has also had the unique opportunity to have oversight for the Ace Foundation.  The Ace Foundation is the hub to which Ace retailers, vendors and employees alike join forces to raise millions of dollars for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, the American Red cross for Natural Disaster Relief and the Ace Helpful Fund.  She earned her PHR in 2013 and SHRMCP in 2015 and holds a bachelor’s degree from Elmhurst University majoring in Organizational Communications and Sociology.

Jessica Jones specializes in helping companies establish fair policies and procedures that help support employees while protecting the company. With Alliance, she has helped the company with dramatic growth and shifting its HR/business operating strategies. Jessica has redesigned all aspects of the company’s Human Resource structure (on-going project), while ensuring the protection of the Company’s values and building culture. She enjoys all facets of HR from benefits and compensation to employment and labor law. She has extensive experience with greenfield and turn-around projects, HR project management and analytics, acquisitions and culture transfer.

Marisol Ramirez has been the Vice President of Human Resources for Berry Corporation (bry) (Berry) since September 2020. She is a key member of Berry’s executive team reporting directly to the President & CEO. Marisol was previously the Director of Human Resources and had joined the predecessor company LINN Energy in 2014. Marisol currently is responsible for the leadership and management of the Corporate Human Resources Department including Organizational Behavior & Development, Talent Acquisition / Retainment, Corporate Policy Development / Implementation and Payroll & Wellness of over 1300 employees. Marisol has vast experience creating and establishing successful human resources departments to operate as a standalone strategic partner. Marisol’s proven leadership has contributed to successful M&A activity with the most recent acquisition of C&J Well Services in which she led and managed the transition of over 950 employees in 30 days.
Marisol has 20 years of human resources management experience primarily in the oil and gas industry. From June 2012 to March 2014, Marisol served as the Senior Human Resources Manager for BPS Supply Group. In addition, she has served as the Senior Human Resources Manager and Consultant with Ivanhoe Energy Holdings Inc. from 2009 to 2015, responsible for the US and Latin America divisions. Marisol’s career path began in global communications and the hospitality industry.
Marisol holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management with a human resources concentration from National University. Marisol is proficient in Spanish, and she is dually certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Society of Human Resources Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). Marisol serves on Ally’s (formerly Pink Petro) Global Community Council and is proud to be a member of local organizations that support growth in minorities and women such as Latina Leaders of Kern County and Kern County Women in STEM.

Taheti is a trusted partner and advisor in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Human Resources, leadership development, and people-centered strategies. She has dedicated her career to enhancing lives, transforming organizations, and empowering communities. Her unwavering commitment to fostering employee engagement, cultivating strong leadership, and promoting inclusive conversations is at the core of her work.

Currently serving as the Chief of People Officer for Canopy Children Solutions, Taheti is a driving force in effecting transformative change within the organization and a catalyst for breaking down barriers and championing equity, inclusion and belonging.

Taheti is actively shaping the future by fostering safe spaces for meaningful conversations and promoting equity and inclusion where everyone can thrive.

Taheti’s holds a bachelor’s degree in human resources from Belhaven University and a master’s in Workforce Training and Development from The University of Southern Mississippi. She a Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), and Certified Diversity Executive (CDE®). She is also a certified facilitator for Bold and Inclusive Conversations, provided by The Winters Group, and a Gallup Strengths and Myers Briggs (MBTI) coach, helping individuals and teams discover their strengths and reach their full potential.

Kathy has been practicing Human Resources for more than 20 years over her career. She has been the Director of HR at Chris-Craft for five years and, prior to joining Chris-Craft, she was Director of HR at L-3 Technologies for twelve years. She is a member of the senior leadership team reporting directly to the President. While she has responsibility for many facets of HR, she really enjoys developing strategies around talent development and wellness. Kathy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Resources Management and a Master of Business Administration. She is dually certified with a PHR and SHRM-CP and leads community outreach at Chris-Craft. She also is a member of SHRA (Sarasota-Manatee HR Association) and sits on the Board of Directors for SAMA (Sarasota-Manatee Manufacturers Association).

Marla Franz is a Strategic Global Human Resources Leader, accomplished at aligning business and people strategies and delivering HR solutions to ignite human potential.

Currently, she is the Vice President of People at Curium, executing a purpose-driven workforce strategy in North America through total rewards and competencies. Throughout her career, Marla has been a driving force in HR leadership at Centene Corporation, Spire Inc. and Monsanto Company.

Marla’s notable certifications and highest degree are Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR), Prosci © Change Management Practitioner, Achieve Global Trainer and Master of Labor Relations and Human Resources (MLRHR).

As Senior Vice President of Employer Sales, Steve has overall accountability for the sales and distribution of Garner Health’s
product offering

Prior to joining Garner Health, Steve held a wide variety of sales and leadership roles during his 10+ year career at United Healthcare. His
most recent position at UHC was the Vice President of Specialty Sales, for the Northeast Region.

Overall, Steve is an experienced sales leader with strong market knowledge and vast experience across many commercial insurance products and segments.

Jeff is the Chief Human Resources Officer for Grain Craft.  The company is the third largest flour miller in the US and 9^th largest globally.  As the largest independent flour miller in the nation, Grain Craft offers premium bulk and bagged flours for the baking, food service, tortilla and pizza industries.

Jeff’s professional experience began in 1981 in sales with Fortune 100 companies including Procter and Gamble, Pepsi-Cola and Mars, Incorporated.  In the midst of his 20 year career with Mars, Jeff transitioned to Human Resources in 1997 and held numerous leadership roles in multiple manufacturing sites that ultimately brought him to Chattanooga area in 2007.  His professional passion is Talent and Leadership Development, Coaching and Change Management.  Jeff also holds his CPC and ELI-MP certifications in coaching.

He is married to Nancy, his wife of 38 years. Jeff graduated from Wake Forest University and enjoys playing golf and pursuing all aspects of fin, fur and feather in the outdoors

Toni Howard Lowe is a global diversity equity & inclusion and human resource executive practitioner with 20+ years of innovative, transformational leadership experience supporting Fortune 100 and world-class companies. As a trusted people advocate, she challenges organizations to maximize their full potential, create value, and advocate for a inclusive employee experience. With experience working across multiple industries, Toni is seen as an advisor to CEOs, executive teams, and boards of directors on workplace culture, diversity, organizational change, and talent strategies. A modern leader, Toni is known for engaging and growing top talent and creating high performing, dynamic and diverse teams. Because of Toni’s years of championing diverse professionals, she has been an invited lecturer, panelist, instructor, workshops facilitator on issues of equity, Inclusion and diversity at multiple institutions of higher education, corporations and professional organizations. Toni’s LinkedIn courses on the topics of DE&I have garnered more than half a million learners globally. In addition, Toni’s insights have also been featured in many national media outlets.

Sarah Larson is an HR Executive with 20+ of experience in both management consulting roles and in-house HR and Operations Leadership roles, currently she is the head of Talent Management at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Sarah’s first chapter of her career was in management consulting, starting with the Boston Consulting Group, and then at a series of large and small firms, including her own, Larson & Associates. Her next chapter started in 2009 when she was hired by her client the MITRE Corporation.  There she refined her ability to deploy initiatives collaboratively with speed and agility using a results-oriented approach. She prides herself on being an innovative yet practical executive, focused on proactive change with a bias for action.

Sarah is an ICF, Invite Change Certified Coach.  Sarah lives in MA with her husband and her three children. She enjoys cooking, playing with her family and going to the beach to swim on Cape Cod.

Amy Steigerwalt is the Senior Vice President, Human Resources responsible for OraSure Technologies’ global talent strategy, diversity and inclusion, total rewards and employee experience. Ms. Steigerwalt joined OraSure in 2017 with many years of Human Resources leadership experience in various industries. She has an extensive and proven background building successful HR teams focused on talent development, employee engagement and driving best practices in talent acquisition and people management. Prior to joining OraSure Technologies, Ms. Steigerwalt spent three years at Air Products in a Global HR leadership role. Prior to that, she held progressively increasing leadership roles at Knoll from 2006 to 2014, as well as additional Human Resources leadership roles at Estee Lauder and Polo. She holds a B.S. from University of Pittsburgh. Ms. Steigerwalt was recognized in Lehigh Valley’s 40 under 40 as a top leader and was recognized in 2022 for LVB Women of Influence.

Miycol is passionate about the employee experience – inspiring leaders and employees to connect to the values and mission of the organization. She has over 17 years of experience across all aspects of Human Resources. In 2021 Miycol was a recipient of Columbus Business First’s HR Impact award. She was recognized for her leadership of the HR function through the pandemic while also going above and beyond to support various talent initiatives through the company’s rapid growth. Miycol was selected as a part of the class of 2023 Signature Program through Leadership Columbus where she completed a 10-month program focusing on community stewardship and civic engagement. Miycol manages a budget of $5M across HR Operations, Employee Engagement including DEI and Learning & Development.

Dynamic 20 years plus HR executive leading both large and small HR organizations in support of business goals with a demonstrated history of aligning people solutions with business strategies in the pharmaceutical, supply chain, manufacturing and retail industries. Skilled in Employment Branding, Employee Culture, Talent Planning and Development, Leadership Coaching, Employee Engagement Analytics, Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations and HR Policies.

Oliver has been at Spark Therapeutics for over 5 years. He is the Head of Talent Development & Organizational Effectiveness. In this role, Oliver leads a team that focuses on developing and implementing strategies and solutions to support the business in retaining & developing talent and building organizational effectiveness thereby supporting each employee (leaders, manager and individual contributor) to achieve/exceed their business goals & objectives. Prior to Spark Therapeutics, Oliver worked at Merck, Shire, Pfizer and Wyeth. He earned his B.S. Chemistry at Northeastern University.

For more than 25 years, Marybeth Gray has worked on behalf of employers across the country to reduce the cost of healthcare and improve quality. Marybeth was recognized as a 2023 Top Women Leaders in Pennsylvania, and she was also awarded as Employee Benefit News’ 2017 Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising: 30 leaders whose unique client management strategies, innovative data manipulation and other industry-leading skills are transforming the field. She has also been featured on the 2019 Marquis Whos’ Who Lifetime Achievement. Marquis Who’s Who identifies and endeavors to profile the leaders of American Society; those men and women who are influencing their nation’s development and influencing the people of today in their industry.

In her professional career, she has succeeded in reducing insurance costs and employer liability due to her deep understanding of the insurance marketplace. Marybeth currently serves as a Senior Vice President of Health and Welfare Benefits with Trion, a Marsh McLennan Agency, supervising the overall account management for her clients. Skilled at analyzing companies’ health care utilization data and cost trends in the benefit programs with a focus on pharmacy for large, self-insured clients. Marybeth is a key thought leader for Marsh McLennan Agency — presenting at more than ten national conferences each year.

One of the essential elements she brings to her clients is a special understanding of future key cost drivers. She helps employers understand the emerging cost implications of pharmacogenomics, new to market specialty medications, and gene therapies. Her goal is to improve member health in the population while lowering the cost of healthcare for both the members and the employer.

Prior to Marsh McLennan Agency, Marybeth was a Vice President with AON Consulting and a National Account Manager with Aetna, Inc. Marybeth was responsible for overall account management regarding financial and operational perspective for clients with more than 10,000 employees operating in multiple locations. She detailed plan design opportunities for clients as well as monitored the ongoing financial implications to plans. In her time at Aetna, she served on the Aetna Presidents Roundtable Committee, fostering communications between clients and the president’s office regarding suggested changes that would improve Aetna’s operational procedures.

Sam Shaddox is the VP & Head of Legal and interim head of people at SeekOut, a Series C unicorn and the leading solution for hiring, growing, and retaining talent while focusing on diversity, technical expertise and other hard to find skillsets. Sam has counseled technology companies ranging from startups to Fortune 10 companies on a broad range of legal matters for over a decade. After starting his legal career as a corporate associate at Perkins Coie, Sam moved inhouse to provide on the ground guidance to rapidly scaling companies. As a member of SeekOut’s executive team Sam oversees the company’s approach to rapidly developing legal and HR areas such as privacy and ethical use of AI systems.

Jon Lowe is Chief People Officer at DailyPay, the leading on-demand pay company. Lowe joins DailyPay after serving as Head of U.S. Human Resources at eToro and Head of Human Resources at Revolut, two prominent global fintech companies. He also spent more than seven years as an HR leader at Amazon. Jon’s work as a leader within the HR space was integral in supporting the organizations through periods of hypergrowth and navigating rapidly-evolving talent and business environments.Lowe is a graduate of Queen’s University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Sociology. He holds a Ted Rogers MBA in Strategic Human Resource Management from the Toronto Metropolitan University. Lowe is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), as well as a former committee member with the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA).

After more than 20 years as a corporate executive, Barbie is one of the few women who broke through the glass ceiling to the C-suite. As an award winning CHRO, Barbie has influenced the transformation of organizations and their cultures by delivering a people centered approach to strategy & leadership.

In 2020 Barbie launched The Business of HR, bringing her vast experience in varied industries and corporate structures to organizations around the globe providing support as a Fractional CHRO, Culture & Values strategist, Leadership Training & Development Facilitator, HR Product & Services advisor and Talent Acquisition transformation expert. With a passion for coaching and supporting others, especially women in the workplace, Barbie launched a podcast, The Executive Woman, providing insightful, authentic and meaningful insights into how women can improve their well being and trajectory in the workforce. Barbie is a sought after speaker, author, podcast host, business & people strategy consultant and coach.

Kristen has dedicated her life’s work to building TA organizations that drive business success. Prior to joining Paradox, Kristen spent 12 years at Amazon, last serving as Director of Talent Acquisition. Now, she is responsible for building the teams, systems, and strategies that help Paradox scale. And yes, that means thinking about how we use Paradox tech at Paradox!

Yesenia Gallegos is a partner in the Employment group at McDermott Will & Emery. She focuses her practice on a wide range of matters, including restrictive covenants, wage and hour law, discrimination and harassment claims, executive employment agreements, leaves of absence, employee terminations and reductions in force. She represents employers in employment litigation—including class actions—pending in both state and federal court. She also represents employers in actions against former employees in trade secret and embezzlement actions that require immediate restraining orders, injunctions and/or liens. She is frequently sought after to conduct and oversee workplace harassment and discrimination investigations and wage and hour audits.

Yesenia is the General Counsel of the Hispanic National Bar Association and former regional president for the Southern California region. She received her Bachelor of Arts from UCLA and her Juris Doctorate from University of San Francisco.

Stephania C. Sanon is a partner in the Employment group at McDermott Will & Emery. She is a trusted advisor to U.S. and international companies on matters ranging from complex M&A transactions and internal investigations to compliance with federal, state and local employment and labor laws.

Stephania regularly advises clients on their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, issues relating to pay equity and pay transparency including serving as lead counsel during pay equity audits, and the impact of these matters on ESG reporting. As a leader within the Transactions and Executive Contracts Employment Subgroup, she provides strategic advice on employment matters arising in the M&A context such as workforce restructuring and drafting and negotiating executive employment and separation agreements. Stephania also has significant experience conducting investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination against executive level employees and senior managers and directors.

Mike Xavier is the Sr. Director of Financial Health at Comcast NBCU. In this role Mike is responsible for design and strategy of various Financial Wellness programs including Financial Coaching Services, Banking at Work, Tuition Reimbursement, and other Voluntary Benefits. Mike also manages aspects of the Employee Stock Purchase Program and the 401(k) plans.   Prior to joining the Comcast NBCU Global Benefits team, Mike worked in the Comcast Cable Central Division and was responsible for Labor Relations, Employee Relations, & Employee Engagement. Mike is passionate in ensuring his programs deliver a great employee experience but pragmatic about his programs providing ROI to the organization.

Mike earned his MBA from the university of Massachusetts Lowell and holds the SPHR certification from HRCI. Mike resides in the Miami / Fort Lauderdale area with his family.

Nicole Goldman is Vice President of Talent Acquisition at Mission Technologies, an HII Company. Her 30-year career spans intelligence, defense, aerospace, federal, cyber and wireless industries with experience in progressive HR, Talent Acquisition, Operations, Diversity & Inclusion, and change management. Nicole is also passionate about mentorship and is a certified Gallup StrengthsFinder coach.

Jess Marble serves as Director of Care for Business, the enterprise division of Care.com . In her role, she advocates for comprehensive, equitable and scalable caregiving benefits to support leading employers and their workforce, ultimately increasing productivity and retention.

Mindi Cox works to connect people with purpose to deliver human-centered business results. Currently serving as O.C. Tanner’s Chief Marketing & People Officer, she believes an organization’s potential is intimately tied to its sense of humanity. After more than two decades in Sales, Marketing and as a Human Resource Executive for O.C. Tanner, her core goal remains that same: to help cultivate workplace cultures where individuals feel connected to the greater purpose and impact of their work, inspiring people to seek personal and professional progress.

Mindi has been honored with various awards for her work including Human Resource Executive of the Year by the Stevie® Awards for Great Employers and Human Resource Executive of the Year by Utah Business Magazine and was recently named among the 30 Women to Watch in Utah Business. She is also a member of the Forbes Human Resource Council. Professionally, she is most proud of her role in the leadership and culture work that has resulted in O.C. Tanner being named three times to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list and what that means for the workplace goodness the people of O.C. Tanner experience every day. She is frequently sought after to add her perspective on workplace issues and business solutions by trade and business publications and has contributed to several books on workplace culture. She is SPHR and SHRM – SCP certified and also holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism along with an M.B.A. from the University of Utah. She is the proud mom to three busy sons and is grateful for the perspective her crew gives her on work, life, wellbeing and whole-life awareness as a business priority.

Shane A. Yount is a nationally recognized thought leader, author, and President of Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), an international Business Transformation consulting firm which pioneered the acclaimed organizational development system known as Process Based Leadership®. Since 1991 he has led the offices of CSI in becoming one of the nation’s most recognized Business Transformation consulting firms, personally working with such organizations as The Department of Defense, 3M, Colgate Palmolive, Bristol Meyers Squibb, and many others.

Monne serves as Handshake’s Chief Impact Officer. Prior to joining Handshake she was a Partner at McKinsey & Company based in Atlanta. She advised and served clients across a variety of sectors on topics such as transformation, culture, change management, executive team development and capability building.

Prior to joining McKinsey Monne served as Marketing Manager for the Boston Red Sox. She currently also serves on the board of directors for Reaching Out, an organization committed to developing the LGBTQ leaders of tomorrow.