Juan Suarez, the VP of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Southwest Airlines, is a trusted advisor and business practitioner in the areas of inclusion and belonging. Juan serves as Southwest Airlines’ executive-level champion for both internal and external DEI-related organizational goals and is responsible for creating and driving the development of diversity and inclusivity initiatives that align with Southwest’s business objectives, policies, and practices. Juan partners closely with his peers throughout the organization on DEI efforts related to supplier diversity, diversity hiring and recruiting, training, and community outreach. He serves as the Executive Sponsor for the Diversity Council, leads Southwest’s DEI Executive Steering Committee, and is an active member on both Southwest’s Social Topics Committee and Employee Experience Design Team. 

Prior to his role as Vice President of DEI, Juan served as Southwest’s Managing Director, and Deputy General Counsel for six years. Before that, he held the position of Associate General Counsel-Labor & Employment for seven years and a labor and employment attorney for nine years. Before joining Southwest, Juan worked as an associate for a national law firm, a lobbyist for a Dallas-based heavy-steel manufacturing company, and a prosecutor with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. 

Juan values his ties to the community and seeks ways to give back through his personal engagement and involvement. Juan was the former Chair of the Board for Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity and remains an active member of the Board. Additionally, he currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Diversity Council and the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation. Previously, Juan was a member of the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce serving on the Diversity in Leadership Sub-Council. He also served as an Education Advocate for Dallas County Foster Youth, a Trustee for The Hockaday School, a member of the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of Tejas Council for North Texas, and the Clayton Dabney Foundation for Kids with Cancer.

Juan graduated from Cornell University Law School with a Juris Doctorate and the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration. He holds an Executive Certification in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion from the National Diversity Council and is a graduate of Leadership Dallas through the Dallas Regional Chamber. In 2022, Juan was recognized with the Corporate Counsel Diversity Award by the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association.

Yetta Toliver is the Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Xerox, where she has held a variety of leadership positions for nearly 14 years. She earned her Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree from Walden University, an MBA from Dallas Baptist University, and a bachelor's degree in accounting and business management from Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in Baton Rouge. 

Will Maddox is the senior writer for D CEO magazine and the editor of D CEO Healthcare. He's written about healthcare fraud, Texas’ slow march toward marijuana legalization, and the future of healthcare in North Texas.

Christine is the editor of D CEO magazine and its online platforms. She’s a national award-winning business journalist who has covered the DFW region since 2000. She grew up in northern Michigan, has an identical twin sister, and two sons. Now a downtown Dallas denizen, she went car-free in 2018.

As executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Associa, a property-management company, Chelle is responsible for developing the company’s people strategy, which includes all aspects of the employee experience for Associa’s more than 14,000 team members worldwide. Under her leadership, Associa has been recognized as a Great Place to Work nationally for six years in a row along with being one of the nation’s “Best and Brightest” employers.

Additionally, the company regularly receives recognition for its training and development efforts, including receiving multiple educational grants from the Texas Workforce Commission and awards from the Association of Talent Development and Degreed for innovation in Learning Technology.

Chelle also has prior experience in the finance and healthcare industries, working for Fortune 500 organizations including Humana and GM. Her career has always centered around improving organizational culture through the implementation of leadership development and training programs, as well as change management and operational improvement initiatives. Her passion is to work with the business to simplify and translate strategy into the achievement of specific employee behaviors and results.

Paula Descant Moore is a Managing Director for JLL’s Global Consulting practice.  Paula leads the Global Experience Stategy which helps determine the purpose-driven workplace.  Paula specalies in advising HR, IT and Real Estate on how to integrate their teams to deliver the best employee experience.  Prior to joining JLL, Paula was a leader in the Workforce Transformation group at Deloitte.  Paula brings more than 20 years of Human Capital experience with a specialty in Onboarding, DEI, Learning, Employee Experience and Future of Work Strategies.

Jennifer Chopelas has more than 17 years of experience in Human Resources Management, and for the past 7 years has been an HR Business Partner at Merlin Entertainments, the world’s second largest visitor attraction operator. Jennifer has a demonstrated history of success in the entertainment industry, as she began this chapter of her career supporting a single site and today her remit has grown to include dozens of attractions, a new theme park and multiple iconic brands across the country.
 
Jennifer currently sits on multiple committees that speak to her specific passions, including Learning & Development and Diversity & Inclusion. She is passionate about building strong, cohesive teams by investing in training and employee engagement activities, as well as elevating diversity and inclusion programs to ensure a supportive workplace environment for all. Jennifer leads with conviction, and always gets a genuine thrill when a team member reaches a new goal or progresses in their career.
 
When she’s not working, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her son Adler, as they look for their next adventure in camping or a new roller coaster to try!

Shenece Garner Johns is the Head of Inclusion and Diversity for JCPenney, the icononic retail company that operates more than 650 stores across the U.S. Based at company headquarters in Plano, Texas, she leads a team focused on building an inclusive and diverse strategy for the future for JCP Associates, Customers, and the Communities
served. Her priorities include advancing diverse representation at all levels, accelerating L&D competencies across the organization, and integrating L&D throughout the business. Most importantly, she is focused on creating a culture of
inclusion where all thrive, and through the unleashing the power of people, programs, and principles to bring I&D ambitions to life at JC Penney.

Prior to joining JCP, Shenece has over 20+ years of leadership experience and has worked in various industries such as banking, consulting, and medical devices in change management and transformation, organization design, and talent management roles. Shenece earned positions of increasing responsibilities at Lockheed Martin, Alcon, Deloitte Consulting and Accenture Consulting respectively.

Shenece earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Austin Peay State University and holds a master’s degree in Human Resource Development from Vanderbilt University. Shenece is active in her community. She is an active member of the DFW Mid-Cities Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. where she has held various leadership roles. She is also an active member of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is the proud wife of Terry Johns and mother of three
(Maya, Zachary, and Sydni).

Rudy Rodriguez, JD, is the Chief Legal and Human Resources Officer and Corporate Secretary of CEC Entertainment, which consists of more than 10,000 employees at 650 owned or franchised Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza locations in 47 states and 17 foreign countries or territories. Previously, he served in corporate legal roles at JCPenney and American Airlines. He has a BA degree in political science from Texas A&M University and earned his law degree at Harvard Law School.

Elizabeth Jenswold is SVP and global head of people, corporate functions, for CBRE, the global leader in commercial real estate services and investments. The company has more than 500 offices in 100 countries, with a workforce of 115,000 employees. Before joining CBRE, she served as executive director of HR for commercial banking at JPMorgan Chase, where she worked for nearly a decade. She has also held roles as an HR leader at Discover Financial Services and Morgan Stanley. Elizabeth earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and HR at Texas Christian University, where she is currently chair of the board of visitors at the Bob Schieffer College of Communications. 

Rob Catalano is WorkTango’s Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer. Rob has spent the last 20 years building HR Technology companies. He was on the founding team at Achievers, where he spent the majority of his 10+ year tenure leading their Marketing function as well as the final few years leading their global expansion out of the UK. Rob’s passion for improving the employee experience led to him co-founding WorkTango in 2015 to help companies collect and act on authentic employee feedback. He has been named as a top 101 Global Employee Engagement Influencer every year since 2017, and has had the privilege of speaking to HR leaders at conferences in over 45 cities. Rob is an avid hockey fan, traveler, once played guitar in a metal band, and is a self-proclaimed ‘pointaholic’ – collecting loyalty points for anything and everything. Get in touch with Rob at rob@worktango.com.

Chris Jarvis is a co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Realized Worth, a consulting firm focused on the design and implementation of transformative employee volunteering and giving initiatives. His work with organizations of all sizes from around the world is helping mobilize employees to make meaningful contributions in the communities where they live and work.

In 2015, Chris and his partner, Angela Parker, launched the RW Institute (RWI), a think tank focused on advancing the practice and theory of corporate citizenship. RWI is a collective of diverse stakeholders from around the world, committed to bringing evidence-based approaches to employee engagement in giving and volunteering using neuroscience, social sciences, transformative learning theory and other related academic disciplines.

Alcynna Lloyd is the Economic Reporter at Insider.

Jamie has been in the Employee Benefits and Healthcare Industry since 2004 in a variety of Leadership roles.  His focus at Anco Insurance it to passionately and tirelessly serve employers and their employees providing unparalleled service.  Specific healthcare strategies include Cost Containment, Alternative Funding and Captives, Compliance, HRIS Technology, and helping employers drive Culture and Employee Presentism.

Prior to joining Anco Insurance, Jamie was in Sales Leadership for two Fortune 500 companies, Guardian Life, and also served on the National Healthcare team at Gallagher consulting for large Hospital Systems across the country.

Jamie’s deep relationships in the industry, as well as extensive experience are integral pieces to the Anco Insurance growth strategy.

Jamie resides in Houston with his wife Erica and their four children where he is active serving within the community.

Jeff joined SkillCycle in 2021 to lead the continued evolution of the SkillCycle platform that makes it easy for employers to provide their employees with seamless access to personalized, continuous learning. He brings over 15 years of experience delivering innovative and market-leading solutions across e-learning, assessments and analytics, with experience leading product development efforts at Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Taskstream (now Watermark Insights).

Carol currently serves as the VP, Benefits for Mr. Cooper Group.  She joined Mr. Cooper in February 2022 after relocating from Houston to Dallas, TX.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business degree with a concentration in human resources and have worked as a HR professional for more than 30 years. She is also a Certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and hold the Society for Human Resource Management SHRM-CP certification.  She a HR Generalist specializing in Global Health and Welfare, Retirement, and Pension plan administration.  During her career in HR she has demonstrated her ability to exceed entrepreneur and corporate objectives in a variety of executive and senior HR management and entrepreneurial roles.

She is an active member the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans (IFEBP), DallasHR, HR Houston, Houston Compensation & Benefits (HC&B), and the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR).  She is also the past Committee Chair of Ascende Charitable Trust (ACT) and has chaired various ERG and customer experience initiatives during her career.  Carol McBride is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Carol McBride Group, LLC (CMG) and the author of HR, Where’s Your Freaking Sense of Humor?  She is also sponsored her own HR Consortium to share knowledge and experiences with the HR community. She invited as a human resources subject matter and motivational public speaker in the Houston and the surrounding area.

Max has spent his career launching and building businesses. Most recently he co-founded and served as Chief Executive of The Conversation. Prior to that he co-founded and served as Managing Director of Paperstone, one of the first online suppliers of office products.

Barb Dehn is a practicing Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, award-winning author, and nationally recognized health expert. She holds a B.S. from Boston College and earned her Master's degree at the University of California, San Francisco. She is certified by the North American Menopause Society and is a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Kristy Jones, the driving force behind Employee Success at Achievers in Toronto, Canada, is dedicated to reshaping the global work landscape through her commitment to fostering belonging. As a DDI Certified Facilitator and Strategic Business Partner, Kristy brings her infectious enthusiasm to every speaking engagement, leadership training, coaching session, and strategic initiative.

As an Advisor of Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI), Kristy collaborates with customers, prospects, and employees to explore how to harness workforce science, smart technology, and practical approaches. Topics such as Recognition & Reward, Belonging, DEI, Culture & Engagement, Employee Experience, ERGs, Manager Empowerment, and HR strategy are central to her engagements.

Kristy’s daily exposure to the transformative impact of recognition on employee engagement fuels her dedication to creating a workplace where every individual feels welcomed, known, included, supported, and connected—#belonging.

Kristy's passion extends to enhancing manager effectiveness and fostering leadership development for the future. Her unwavering commitment to DEBI (Diversity, Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion) empowers employees to unleash their full potential, cultivating an environment where they can deliver their best work.

Professionally, Kristy has led teams through transformations, growth, and rightsizing, overseeing programs that align employee experience with company results. With a Bachelor's of Commerce focusing on Human Resources Management, she not only leads but also advocates for mental health awareness, embodying empathy and support in her leadership style to nurture her team's development and growth.Kristy Jones: a leader, an advocate, and a catalyst for positive change in the world of work.

Dr. Harpreet Nagra, PhD is a licensed psychologist, applied behavioral scientist, and clinical researcher. She has 17 years of experience in the behavioral health field, working in a variety of clinical and behavioral intervention roles.  She specializes in digital health psychology,  dedicating herself to support people living with mental health differences, and in developing programs that lessen associated systemic inequities.

 She is a leader in building equitable and inclusive designs in digital health and clinical interventions and is an avid reinforcer of techquity (the strategic effort to employ technology to advance health equity). 

She is presently the Senior Director of Clinical Oversight at Supportiv, and Executive Education Faculty at Harvard Extension School.

Justin Dile is the VP, Sales at SkillCycle

Shelly Hagan is an economic development and government reporter at Bloomberg News, based in Dallas. She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Missouria-Columbia and is pursuing her MBA at the University of Texas at Austin.

Lauren has dedicated the last 15 years of her life to solving healthcare's biggest challenges.  Primarily advocating for self-ensured employers and individuals who desire better quality benefits.  Lauren has experience with onsite health centers, wellness portals, claims analysis tools, health navigation, family caregiver concierge support and more recently, on-demand mental health and EAP.  Lauren lives in Prairie Village, KS with her son Thomas and dog Hapollo.  

Liz Pittinger is the Vice Prsident of Global Customer Success for Stork Club Family Building Benefits.  She has been working with HR leaders for the past 7 years specifically on how to include digital healthcare solutions to their benefits portfolios and over 9 years experience managing accounts both domestically and internationally.  She has experience working closely with HR teams with jumbo, enterprise, and mid-market employers across industries and geographic locations to help understand trends HR leaders face when choosing, implementing, communicating, and achieving value from their benefit solutions. She was an international project manager for the federal government, has Fortune 100 experience, holds two master’s degrees (Political/Economic Development; Exercise Physiology/Health Promotion), and enjoys working with start-up companies to create customer-centric account management teams.  Liz currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her family. 

Jonathan Pride is the Executive Director at NPower.

Calli Hartman is the Head of Customer Success for Blackbaud’s Corporate Impact division. Calli leads the team that helps Blackbaud customers maximize the impact of their employee engagement, CSR, and ESG programs through YourCause and EVERFI solutions.

Paul Son is the Customer Success Manager at Enboarder. 

Dr. Lia Rodriguez is a board-certified pediatrician with extensive experience in community healthcare, clinical quality and managed care. She is passionate about improving the lives of children and their families.  She joins ActiveHealth after her tenure at Aetna as Senior Medical Director of Clinical Quality for Medical Affairs.

Previously, Dr. Rodriguez led the clinical oversight and operations of the utilization management department for Texas Children’s Health Plan, a provider-led Medicaid/CHIP managed care organization. She also previously served as the medical director of pediatrics for Legacy Community Health, one of the largest Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers in Texas.

Dr. Rodriguez received her Bachelor of Science in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later completed medical school at the University of Miami. She completed her residency training in pediatrics at Jackson Memorial Hospital. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her family.

Natasha Wahid is the Head of Content at Blueboard. She’s a natural storyteller who found her niche helping companies connect to their audiences through thoughtful communication. She believes in building spaces—both personal and professional—where people can be their full selves without fear or shame. She’s a seasoned speaker who’s presented at marketing conferences across the U.S. and is an alum of the incredible Shine Bootcamp (google it!)

When she’s not writing words for work, you’ll find Natasha hiking in the BC mountains, reading, laughing with friends, guzzling black coffee, and chasing sunshine.

Elena is a market strategy and product growth leader who is passionate about delivering quality, high-engagement and equitable digital health solutions to the market. She is responsible for all new and existing client growth, marketing, and product collaborations at First Stop Health.

Elena has worked in and held leadership positions in employee-focused digital healthcare since 2014, with experience in operations management, product and business development at Compass Professional Health Services (now Alight Solutions) and digital health venture as a former Rock Health Research Fellow and Flare Capital Academic Scholar. Elena has also supported growth, financing strategy, and new market research for several leading digital health entities, investment firms and clinical providers as an independent consultant.

Elena has earned a BS in Spanish, Biology and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, an MBA and Business Analytics Certificate from University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, and an MPH in Health Policy and Management from University of California, Berkeley.