December Virtual: The Arc of Change for 2024

Khalil Smith is the VP of Inclusion, Diversity, and Engagement at Akamai Technologies, a content-delivery network, cybersecurity, and cloud service company, providing web and internet security services.

Before joining Akamai, Khalil worked with NeuroLeadership Institute, a cognitive science consultancy, during which time he oversaw Consulting, Practices, and Research.  Prior to that, Khalil spent over 14 years in senior leader roles with Apple Inc., including leading a global Retail Training team of over 40 learning professionals, focused on expanding and strengthening the Apple culture across hundreds of retail stores in dozens of countries and languages. Khalil and his team were responsible for critical training elements for Apple, such as employee onboarding, technical skills, and product launches. 

Khalil holds an MBA with dual concentrations in Leadership and Strategy from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Khalil resides in Chapel Hill, N.C., with his wife and high-school sweetheart, Sandra, and two incredible sons, Kevyn, a recent graduate of Duke University, and Connor, his 6th grader.

Kenya Jacobs is the Head of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Trane Technologies.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the BBC, The Washington Post, Quartz at Work, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.

Giselle Battley is the Head of Global Emerging Talent, Talent Acquisition at Yahoo. She has a proven track record in leading global teams and executing large-scale initiatives. With expertise in recruitment, DEI programming, talent engagement, and leadership of Business Resource Groups (BRGs), she is recognized for her impactful contributions to organizational growth and inclusive cultures.

Giselle’s credentials include certifications as a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE), Certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Certified Lean Practitioner (CLP), and Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB). Her leadership has earned her notable recognition, including spots on The Power 100 List by Diversity Woman Magazine (2021) and RippleMatch’s Exceptional Leader for a Large-scale Enterprise award (2021-2023).

Specializing in global talent acquisition, strategic partnerships, and DEI programs, Giselle is a recognized expert in driving change through diverse and inclusive recruitment practices, executive reporting, and public speaking.

Peter Cappelli is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management at the Wharton School and director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources.  He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA, served as Senior Advisor to the Kingdom of Bahrain for Employment Policy from 2003-2005, was a Distinguished Scholar of the Ministry of Manpower for Singapore, and was Co-Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce from 1990-1998. He was recently named by HR Magazine as one of the top 5 most influential management thinkers, by NPR as one of the 50 influencers in the field of aging, and was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources.

He received the 2009 PRO award from the International Association of Corporate and Professional Recruiters for contributions to human resources and an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Liege in Belgium.  He is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and writes a monthly column for HR Executive magazine. His work on performance management, agile systems, and hiring practices, and other workplace topics appears in the Harvard Business Review. His latest book is The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We Face.

Marcus is an employee experience professional with more than 12 years experience designing, implementing and leading employee experience programs, and at Qualtrics he supports organizations in all industries in doing the same.

As an I/O Psychology practitioner, Marcus brings a focus taking real-world action based on employee research with emphasis on growth mindsets and instilling consistent practice for effective change. He is passionate about building XM maturity & storytelling within organizations through enabling and empowering leaders with easy to understand and insightful results and clear calls to action.

Chris Coultas, PhD is the Senior Director, Employee Performance & Engagement at McKesson Corporation.

Adam Weber is an executive coach who helps leaders manage pressure, sift through competing inputs, and assert meaningful change while leading as their authentic selves.

Adam knows the challenges of leadership firsthand. He’s co-founded and successfully exited two tech companies—Emplify, an employee engagement platform, and Bluebridge, a mobile app platform. With over 15 years of C-level experience in leadership and culture, Adam brings practical insights and deep expertise to his coaching practice.

He is the best-selling author of Lead Like a Human and has been recognized as a “Top Voice” by LinkedIn and a “Rising Star” by Business Insider. His expertise has been featured in HR Executive Magazine, Forbes, and Fast Company.

Adam holds a master’s degree in organizational communication from Ball State University. He lives in Zionsville, Indiana, with his wife, two sons, and their dog, Poppy. In his free time, he’s an avid pickleball player.

Kumud is Chief People Officer at Betterment. She is a strategic HR professional with a strong understanding of global business and the ability to help organizations strengthen and grow at a fast pace. She has over 25 years of human resources experience designing and executing world-class HR initiatives to align with and support business objectives. She has a reputation as a great collaborator, listener, and champion for diversity. Prior to Betterment, she held senior HR positions at high growth companies in tech, healthcare, and education. Kumud is an SHRM-Senior Certified Professional with a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management.

Jane Cha-Lee leads the Talent & Culture function at Nielsen - a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, shaping the future of media. She focuses on creating a compelling and connected approach to the talent experience to cultivate growth and a clear sense of purpose throughout the organization.

Jane brings over twenty years of experience in Human Resources and Organizational Development roles across multiple industries. Prior to joining Nielsen, the bulk of her roles have been in the Media and Entertainment industry supporting leadership teams and businesses during times of reinvention, including the mergers of ComcastNBCUniversal and ViacomCBS. 

At the core of her work, she believes in putting people at the center and applying systems thinking to solving problems and driving sustainable change. Her ultimate goal is to create meaning, connections, and lasting impact through her work and her team’s contributions.

Jane received her Bachelors of Arts in Economics and Psychology from Cornell University, and Masters of Organizational Psychology from Columbia University - Teachers College. She is also a certified Coach from the Co-Active Training Institute.

She resides in New Jersey with her husband and two young children.

Kate Balboni, Vice President of Sales, Sales Operations and Strategy of GiftCard Partners, Inc. and Engage2Reward™, LLC, has helped lead the expansion of GiftCard Partners for almost 15 years. GiftCard Partners empowers businesses to drive employee engagement, reward and incentive programs seamlessly through the Engage2Reward gift card ordering platform.

Kate and the team specialize in customizing gift card programs to meet each client's unique needs by providing comprehensive gift card program management services. Her expertise in building and managing profitable gift card programs by integrating with the merchants' operations allows clients to focus on their core business while maximizing the benefits of a
thriving gift card program.

Vivek has been researching and writing about team participation and remote team behavior for most of his career.  His focus has been on improving team participation so that everyone can be heard. ReTeam is focused on providing tools and processes to be used in course of everyday to improve interpersonal relationships, wellness, idea sharing and team participation without having to pull people away for offsite or meetings. 

Vivek is a published author having written several articles, and holds multiple patents for technical innovations.

Lisa Sharapata is the Chief Marketing Officer at The Arbinger Institute, the innovator of leadership development and culture transformation. At Arbinger, Sharapata taps into her 20 years of marketing experience to create strategies that engage and inspire audiences across the buyer journey. 

Prior to Arbinger, Sharapata served as CMO at BoostUp.ai, was the VP of Global Marketing at MindTickle, and held senior positions at 6sense and Aprimo.  

Sharapata has been widely recognized for her contributions in marketing, including being named as one of CIOLook's 10 Most Influential CMOs to Follow in 2023. She was also awarded the 2021 B2B Vanguard and B2B Innovator, and was named a "Woman to Watch” by DMN. 

Sharapata is passionate about making a difference. She serves as a GTM Partners Ambassador, lends her expertise as an advisor for Hushly, and plays a pivotal role as Co-Founder and board member of the PEAK Community. Outside of work, she thrives in the great outdoors, and enjoys watching soccer and spending time with her family and dog. 

With more than 25 years of experience consulting and working in HR, Paul Rubenstein has extensive expertise in leading the transformation of Talent Strategies and HR Functions, with work spanning M&A integration, corporate strategy, total rewards, outsourcing, and service delivery design. Paul most recently served as Visier’s Chief People Officer, and previously as Vice President of Advisory Services where he worked with senior executives from Global 2000 organizations to help them drive change through data-driven HR practices. Prior to Visier, Paul was a partner at Aon Hewitt, where he advised large enterprise HR leaders on talent and HR function strategy, and was the general manager of the leadership and assessment businesses. Paul’s experience includes global consulting at Mercer and working in the HR functions of Home Box Office, Scholastic, and Hyatt Hotels.

Mekayla Castro is the Head of Curriculum at Praxis Labs. In this role, she has the privilege of leading a team of learning and behavioral scientists to develop immersive learning journeys that help people become more conscious DEI advocates. Mekayla is a social-organizational psychologist who’s leveraged her training and interests in DEI, coaching, teams, employee engagement, and talent development to further organizational development goals and objectives in various capacities. She’s been an educator, held both internal and external consulting roles, and most recently led a team of learning experience designers at BetterUp. At the core of her work is the desire to create equitable and inclusive workplaces that foster human flourishing. In addition to being a servant leader, she’s a wife, mother, and lover of all foods hot and spicy.

Andy Serwer is Editor at Large at Barron's, covering a wide range of topics. Prior to Barron's, he led Yahoo Finance’s editorial team for nearly eight years. He spent 29 years with Fortune Magazine, rising to the position of managing editor, and was the business news anchor of CNN’s American Morning from 2000-2006. Serwer is the 2020 winner of the Elliott V. Bell Award for financial journalism.

Sherry Rais, CEO and Co-Founder of Enthea, has helped dozens of startups, non-profit organizations, academic/research institutions, and small businesses raise funds, operate according to their mission and values, and implement processes that enhance their overall efficiency.

Sherry believes in living and working in alignment with purpose and is currently focused on expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapy to alleviate human suffering. Enthea is a licensed, third-party administrator of health plan benefits with a mission to provide as many people as possible safe and affordable access to psychedelic therapy.  Before this, Sherry consulted for over 10 years with the United Nations and World Bank, implementing cash transfer programs at the national
level in over 35 countries.

Sherry holds a master’s degree in public policy and administration from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and international development from McGill University. She also completed the Certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Research from CIIS in 2021. In addition to being Enthea's CEO, she is the Executive Director of the Boston Psychedelic Research Group and the Grants Manager for CIIS.

Hector Hernandez is the Leadership Development Facilitator at ThinkHuman.

Michelle Eggleston Schwartz, CPTM, is the editor in chief at Training Industry, Inc. She has more than a decade of experience writing, editing and managing content strategy for the corporate training industry. Michelle is an award-winning media professional and co-host of Training Industry’s podcast, “The Business of Learning.”

Snorre Kjesbu is Senior Vice President & General Manager of Webex Devices at Cisco. He is a global citizen leading a worldwide organization responsible for the collaboration devices business ranging from IP phones to immersive video systems. Snorre’s passion for design with over 20 years of engineering experience are at the core of his belief in always providing authentic user experiences. Prior to his return to Cisco, Snorre was Executive VP of Design, Creation and Fulfillment at BANG & OLUFSEN in Copenhagen. His résumé also includes SVP at Tandberg and being responsible for R&D on wireless communication at ABB. He and his team at ABB were awarded the Wall Street Journal Innovation award for their work on wireless sensors in 2002. Snorre holds a Master of Science from the University of Bristol and has been a guest lecturer at the Stanford Network Research Center in Stanford University. He has obtained more than 20 patents in the areas of communications and video conferencing and is on the board of directors for several IT companies. When not working, Snorre can likely be seen on a pair of skis – whether on snow or water.

As a native North Carolinian, Courtney was raised in an equitable ecosystem of urban and rural life; embracing a legacy of what it means to be Tarheel born and Tarheel bred.

As a global business leader, executive coach, consultant, speaker, and community advocate, finding his purpose in life was an incredible alarm clock; leading to his life quote “If your presence doesn’t make an impact, then your absence won’t make a difference.” Currently, he serves as the head of North America human resources and global diversity, equity, and inclusion for BASF Agricultural
Solutions.

Having worked with top-tier organizations, across multiple industries, for more than two decades, Courtney’s career has been focused on helping people and organizations unleash greater potential, innovation, and performance to deliver sustainable social and economic impact.