With a love for coherence and efficacy, Dion works as a strategist and coach to help organizations operate in alignment with their values. Currently, Dion serves as Bravely’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Strategy Lead, helping to integrate those lenses within the employee experience, the customer success, and social impact functions.

Prior to joining Bravely, Dion has spearheaded DEIB, strategic planning, learning and development, and operations within New York City government. Throughout his career, Dion has led with a passion for enhancing the power of people and communities to drive systemic change. Dion holds his BA in Human Development and Social Relations from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, MI.

Marion Brooks is Vice President & US Country Head, Diversity & Inclusion at Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

Marion Brooks has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, of which 19 have been with Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Over the years, Marion has taken on roles of increasing responsibility and diversified his experience to include Sales, Training & Development, Sales Leadership, Marketing, and Patient & Specialty Services.

He is currently the Vice-President and US Country Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Novartis, where he leads the development and implementation of the diversity and inclusion strategy for all Novartis companies in the US. Most recently, he held the position of Sales Director West for Xolair, where he led his sales team that covers the West half of the U.S. to #1 for two consecutive years.

Over the years, Marion has demonstrated outstanding performance winning numerous awards including Director of the Year, ABL of the Year, Training Excellence, World Wide Franchise Award, and numerous Business Excellence Awards.

Homegrown in Texas, Marion has remained committed to people and their development. He stays true to this passion through his volunteer work in the community and numerous mentoring relationships. As chairman of the African Ancestry ERG, he developed the Owning Your Career Workshop and the AACE Mentoring program both designed to develop and retain key talent. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sunshine’s Open Door Foundation, an organization focused on supporting foster children.

In addition to his work at Novartis, Marion is an internationally certified executive coach, and best-selling author of What You Don’t Know IS Hurting You: 4 Keys to a Phenomenal Career.

Marion has a 21 year old daughter, and three nieces who he has raised as his own.

Adia Harvey Wingfield is the Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor of Arts & Sciences and Associate Dean for Faculty Development at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research examines how and why racial and gender inequality persists in professional occupations. Dr. Wingfield has lectured internationally on her research in this area, and her work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals including Social Problems, Gender & Society, and American Sociological Review. She is a former President of Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) and the current President of the Southern Sociological Society (SSS), the largest regional professional sociological association in the US. In addition to her academic scholarship, Professor Wingfield writes regularly for mainstream outlets including Slate, The Atlantic, Vox, and Harvard Business Review. She is the recipient of multiple awards including the 2013 Richard A. Lester Award from Princeton University for her book No More Invisible Man: Race and Gender in Men’s Work; the 2018 Public Understanding of Sociology award from the American Sociological Association; and the 2019 C. Wright Mills Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems for her most recent book, Flatlining: Race, Work, and Health Care in the New Economy.

Ryan G. Polly, PhD currently serves as the Interim Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for MaineHealth in Portland, Maine and is the Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. Ryan is a recognized thought leader, educator and author with over 20 years professional experience in organizational and leadership development, diversity and inclusion, and college-level teaching.

Ryan’s personal triumphs in the face of adversity, as both a transgender man and a first generation college student coming from poverty, have provided him with unique insights into the complexity of the human experience. It is these experiences that Ryan draws upon to inspire people to move through challenges and achieve genuine transformation. Modeling vulnerability and perpetual growth, Ryan makes genuine connections with people, sharing stories of failure, resilience, and victory. His contagious passion for positive transformation leaves people feeling empowered to employ tools and techniques in their personal and professional lives for lasting impact.

Ryan holds a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies, and a Master’s Degree in Adult Education and he is an ordained Interfaith/Interspiritual Minister (One Spirit Interfaith NYC).  Ryan has been recognized for his leadership contributions with a “Rising Star” award (2018 Vermont Business Magazine), and a Champion in Workplace Learning & Organizational Development award (Vermont Association for Talent Development, 2015). In addition, he developed a globally recognized leadership development program, “Compass,” (2017, HR.Com). and a spiritual informed leadership development program “Emergence” (One Spirit, NYC). Both programs leverage innovative experiential design to graduate leaders who are capable of leading social transformation in their organizations and their communities.