Live 2024: Brooklyn

Joanne H. Rodgers is Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at New York Life. Under her leadership, the Human Resources function manages the company's efforts to attract, develop and retain top-tier talent while enabling New York Life's businesses and supporting its diverse and welcoming workplace.

Ms. Rodgers joined the company in 1994 in the Corporate Compliance department, where she assumed roles of increasing responsibility, including compliance oversight of the company’s broker dealers, investment advisory subsidiary, and international operations. She was promoted to Vice President in 2009 and played a lead role on the Corporate Strategy team.

From 2012 to 2015, she served as the company’s Chief Diversity Officer and in 2015, became the Senior HR Business Partner for the Insurance & Agency Group. She assumed oversight of Compensation, Benefits, HR Operations, Corporate Security, and Employee Relations in 2018, and in 2022 was named head of Human Resources. She also served as chair of the Women’s Leadership Program, now known as The Women’s Initiative.

Prior to joining New York Life, Ms. Rodgers served as an examiner at NASD (now FINRA).  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Franklin & Marshall College.

Maxine Carrington currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer for Northwell Health, New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer. 

In her role, she leads the people strategy for the 85,000+ team member organization with a focus on maximizing organizational effectiveness and performance -- in support of its mission and strategic direction.  She has been with Northwell since 2008 and has served in progressively responsible leadership roles.  Prior to Northwell, Maxine was a manager and attorney with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Labor Relations.

Like her Northwell teammates, Maxine is committed to service beyond her core responsibilities.  In addition to mentoring, she is an instructor with the Center for Learning & Innovation, Northwell’s corporate university and serves as a co-sponsor of the organization’s business employee resource groups.  She is also a trustee of the 1199 Pension Fund serving employees for the New York Region, serves on the board of the National Center for Healthcare Leadership - a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing healthcare leadership and organizational excellence, and on the New York Urban League’s Project Ready Mentor Program Advisory Board.

Maxine holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Africana Studies and a master’s degree in Educational Administration and Policy Studies from the University at Albany in New York.  She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School.  She is a graduate of Northwell’s High Potential Leadership Development Program, a prestigious succession preparation and leadership development program and the Health Management Academy’s GE Fellows Program.  Her recognitions include the Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Rising Star in HR award, Crain’s Notables in Healthcare list, and Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Women in Healthcare.

Maxine and her family reside in Stamford, CT.

Brie Harvey is a talent management leader and digital strategist who writes and speaks about trends within Human Capital Management and the future of work.

Having served in a variety of leadership roles for HR Technology companies over the last decade, she brings expert level knowledge of Total Rewards, L&D, talent acquisition, and how to cultivate workplace cultures that transform employee engagement and the Employee Value Proposition.

Passionate about the intersection between behavioral science, managerial effectiveness and technology, Brie has partnered with some of the world’s largest, most complex organizations to build high performance cultures centered around authentic appreciation, trust and inclusion.

In her role as an Employee Engagement Evangelist, Brie works with the research arm of Achievers, the Workforce Institute, to share data-based insights about how to enhance employee engagement and recognition strategies for a pandemic-era workplace.

Ralph Nader currently serves as Senior Vice President, Head of Talent at Mediabrands, the digital media arm of the Interpublic Group; where he leads a team of 50 individuals responsible for more than 3000 hires per year, across 7 Agencies. Ralph spent most of his career in the News and Entertainment Media industry where he held a number of leadership roles including Head of Talent at News America Marketing, a News Corp subsidiary; Director of Talent Viacom/CBS where he spearheaded digital recruiting across Viacom's large portfolio of brands including MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and SpikeTV. Ralph joined Viacom after spending a number of years at NBCUniversal where he was responsible for talent acquisition across NBC News and NBC's Digital properties; a portfolio that included Bravo, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, Fandango.com, and some of NBC's flagship News properties such as The Today Show, and Dateline. Prior to transitioning into the Media industry, Ralph was Director of Recruitment at Bench International, a boutique executive search firm within life sciences. Ralph also enjoys helping non-profit organizations, either through thought- leadership or volunteering opportunities, like Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Dress for Success, Taproot foundation, Jesra Foundation and many others.

Alex is a highly experienced employee engagement consultant, trainer and speaker. For over 15 years she has helped HR and business leaders implement strategies that drive true culture change.  Her wealth of knowledge comes from coaching and training thousands of managers from a wide range of industries across the globe. Alex focuses on providing organizations with proven practices that drive results for varied leadership styles and the multiple generations in the modern workforce. Her presentation will leave you motivated and better equipped to lead your organization on a path to a more engaged workforce, making the world a better place to work.

Jhneall Gardner is the Global VP, Talent Management at Warner Bros. Discovery.

Antoinette (Toni) Handler is the Chief People Officer at dentsu Americas and is a proven and passionate people leader with an exceptional track record in leading talent, culture development strategies, and diversity and inclusion. 

Prior to joining dentsu, she was the Global Head of Human Resources (HR) for Amazon’s AWS Global Services organization. In this role, Toni partnered with the AWS Professional Services and Managed Cloud Services to support senior leadership teams to develop a strategic talent and workforce management agenda. She led the organization by building capability through talent development and driving cultural transformation.  

Toni has held various senior leadership positions in human resources, including corporate vice president of HR for Avanade, where she led organizational development, compensation, benefits, and talent management globally, for the company's 35,000 associates. Before that, Toni worked at MetLife for seven years where she held senior human resources positions and was responsible for leading HR for Global Employee Benefits, Investments and Strategy. In addition to overseeing these areas for MetLife (including MetLife’s brand and marketing efforts), Toni also held the position of Chief Talent Officer and Chief Learning Officer for MetLife from 2008-2011 where she created and led a comprehensive talent management and organization effectiveness strategy that aligned directly with MetLife’s business goals. 

Prior to that, Toni spent nine years at Merrill Lynch including leading Merrill Lynch’s Talent Management and Executive Development team for Global Wealth Management. 

Toni received an M.A. degree from the State University of New York in business and policy studies and a B.S. degree from New York University in management and industrial relations. She lives in Warren, New Jersey with her two children and enjoys spending time with family and friends. 

Adam Mesh is a Vice President, People Business Partner at Mastercard. Adam has spent the past ten years at Mastercard in People roles supporting various parts of the business, including Services (Consulting, Data & Analytics), the U.S. salesforce, and a variety of global functions including Risk, Franchise, Strategic Growth, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In addition, Adam served as an HR Integration lead for a $1 billion acquisition.

Prior to Mastercard, Adam spent time in HR roles at Pfizer and Korn Ferry. He started his career as a consultant with Accenture. Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Studies from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University.

Adam lives Mastercard’s core value of doing well by doing good. He serves as a mentor in several mentorship programs, including the 30% Club (with the goal of developing female leaders at FTSE 100 companies) and the Her Honor Mentorship Program (helping female high school seniors in the NYC area prepare for college and life after high school). Adam is also an Advisory Board member at Airvet, the leader in the pet telehealth benefits space. In his free time, he can be found coaching his two daughters' basketball, flag football, or softball teams.

Melissa Doman, MA, is an Organizational Psychologist, Former Clinical Mental Health Therapist, & Author of Yes, You Can Talk About Mental Health at Work (Here’s Why And How To Do It Really Well). Melissa works with companies across industries around the globe – including clients like Google, Dow Jones, the Orlando City Soccer Club, Microsoft, Salesforce, Siemens, Estée Lauder, & Janssen. She’s spoken at SXSW and has been featured as a subject matter expert in Vogue, NPR, the BBC, CNBC, Inc., and in LinkedIn’s 2022 Top 10 Voices on Mental Health. Having lived abroad in South Korea, England, Australia and traveled to 45+ countries, Melissa calls upon her global experiences to inform how she works with companies around the world. She has one core goal: to equip companies, individuals, and leaders to have constructive conversations about mental health, team dynamics, and communication in the workplace. Her work and book aim to accomplish just that. To learn more about Melissa, her work, or the book, please visit www.melissadoman.com.

Ivelesse Mendez-Justiniano is a recognized figure in the field of organizational development (OD) and change management. She is known for her work on fostering inclusive practices within organizations and enhancing employee engagement through collaborative strategies. Mendez-Justiniano often emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural dynamics in organizational settings, advocating for tailored approaches that respect and integrate diverse perspectives. Additionally, she has contributed to educational programs that prepare OD professionals to effectively tackle challenges related to change and transformation in various organizational contexts. Her commitment to empowerment and leadership development supports organizations in creating sustainable and effective change processes.

Ms. Mendez-Justiniano serves as the Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Officer/Vice President at NYC Health + Hospitals, overseeing DEI strategy and initiatives, Language Access, Learning, and Talent Management. Under her leadership, the System has received global recognition in several areas, including: the Diversiton-International Diversity Champion and International Inclusion Awards; The Training Apex Top 100 Training Organizations; Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Best HR Team; Brandon Hall Gold Award, Best Learning Team; Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Award; and Training Top 125-Global Training Elite. Mendez-Justiniano has been named to the Chief Learning Officers & Influencers Forum: Hall of Fame, Europe.

Ms. Mendez is a fellow of America’s Essential Hospitals and pursuing her PhD in Organizational Development and Change.

With more than 20 years of experience guiding organizations toward workplace inclusion, Teresa Hopke brings a wealth of knowledge and wisdom on the importance of establishing cultures of belonging where everyone can thrive. Her unique, trusted, and proven insights on employee wellbeing, women's leadership development, and DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) make her an incredibly valuable resource as Talking Talent’s CEO and as a partner to her coaching clients. ​

​Teresa’s career has been focused on building up others in order to achieve the best results, both for the individual and the teams they work with. Her innovative ideas and determination to see real change are the reasons for her success over the last two decades.  She is a nationally recognized thought leader on the topic of inclusive leadership, and she has been featured in many top tier business publications and media outlets such as CNBC, the CBS Morning Show, NBC Nightly News, NPR, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, HR Magazine, Money Magazine, and others. ​

​

As a mother of four, Teresa understands the needs of working parents and caregivers. She also continually advocates for people who are underserved, undervalued, and underestimated in the workplace.

Anita Jivani is the Global Head of Innovation at Avanade. 

Laura Lomeli Russert is the Head of Executive Engagement at BetterUp.

Madhavi Vemireddy, MD is Cleo’s CEO, she has oversight of clinical and product strategy, product development, program outcomes, member operations, business intelligence and marketing teams. She previously served as Cleo’s Chief Clinical Officer. Madhavi is board-certified in Internal Medicine and has over 20 years of experience in advanced clinical analytics, population health programs, and digital health products. Madhavi joined Cleo through the CareTribe acquisition, where she was the cofounder and COO. At CareTribe, Madhavi applied her population health experience and her personal journey of caregiving for her eldest son to support family caregivers, irrespective of age or condition. Prior to CareTribe, Madhavi was Chief Medical Officer and Head of Product at ActiveHealth Management and Head of Program Design for Aetna Care Management (both CVS Health companies), where she led the development of digital health products, evidence-based analytics and services that served over 22 million Americans.

Lydia Dishman is Fast Company’s senior editor for growth and engagement. She has also written for CBS Moneywatch, Fortune, The Guardian, Popular Science, and the New York Times, among others.

Jenny Sucov is a journalist and editor who focuses on health and well-being. She has worked for companies and publishers including Hinge Health, EverydayHealth.com, Canyon Ranch, Real Simple, and Prevention.

Marta Bralic Kerns is the founder and CEO of Pomelo Care, a virtual medical practice built to address underlying risk factors to improve maternal and newborn health. Before Pomelo, she advised payers on value-based payment models at McKinsey & Company and was the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Flatiron Health. Marta holds a B.A. from Harvard University, and is passionate about eliminating health inequities and barriers to care. Marta is a mom of two, and lives in New York with her family.

Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, where she covers a wide range of topics. Before joining Business Insider, Stewart was a correspondent at Vox, where she hosted a short-form podcast and launched The Big Squeeze newsletter. Prior to Vox, she covered politics at TheStreet. Emily currently resides in Brooklyn.

Deborah Merkin, CEO and Founder of GiftCard Partners™, Inc. and Engage2Reward™, LLC, has led the expansion of GiftCard Partners for almost 20 years. GiftCard Partners empowers businesses to drive employee engagement, reward, and incentive programs seamlessly through the Engage2Reward™
gift card ordering platform.

Throughout the last decade, GiftCard Partners has been recognized on both the local (Boston - 5x award winner) and national (9x award winner) level as a Best and Brightest Company to Work For, and is a certified women-owned business (WBENC, WOSB). Deborah and her team specialize in customizing gift card programs to meet each client's unique needs by providing comprehensive gift card program management services to retailers and merchants. Her expertise in building and managing profitable gift card programs by integrating with the merchants and operations allows clients to focus on their core business while maximizing the benefits of a thriving gift card program.

Prior to founding GiftCard Partners, Deborah was an established marketing leader in the tech, finance, and retail industries. Throughout her career she focused on identifying revenue-generating B2B channel strategies, forging strategic partnerships, and driving marketing innovation. With over 20 years of C-Level experience in the payments industry, Deborah is a passionate leader committed to delivering proven results for employees, partners, and customers. Deborah holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Masters of Business Administration from Babson College.

Emtrain founder and CEO Janine Yancey is a passionate advocate for healthy workplace cultures. Janine’s unique approach blends technology, behavioral science, data analytics, and social media-inspired interactions to help inform and improve workplace behavior. Janine presides over a team of experts and an extensive library of content including courses, video, resource guides, checklists and analytic reports that define the modern workplace.

Janine is a proponent of neutral, third-party guidance and problem-solving. By orchestrating a publicly-accessible community interface for employee questions and concerns, Janine stays at the forefront of real-world, real-time harassment, bias, discrimination, and ethics issues.

A tireless visionary, Janine writes extensively, has provided expert testimony and advice to state legislatures, and helps leading companies implement harassment prevention, diversity, ethics, and compliance programs. Janine is a sought-after speaker and has been published and interviewed in the mainstream media including The Washington Post, Fast Company, USA Today, Bloomberg Business, TechCrunch, and Startup Grind. She’s presented at Society of Ethics and Compliance; Techstars FounderCon; Founders Network, and The Club.

Prior to founding Emtrain, Janine was a partner at Employment Law Partners where she specialized in solving labor and employment problems for high tech firms including Google, Intuit and a variety of start-ups. Janine also worked as counsel at Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, served as Board Member of the Northern California Human Resources Association, and authored The HR Handbook, designed to help young tech companies navigate workplace laws.

Janine earned her JD at the University of California Hastings School of Law and a BA in English and Political Science at the University of California Berkeley.

Emma Hinchliffe is a senior writer for Fortune, where she covers women in business and gender issues across business, politics, and culture. Emma is a co-author of the MPW Daily newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women and co-chair of the Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership. Before joining Fortune, she worked as a reporter for Mashable and the Houston Chronicle. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.

Rosa Meza Zambrio is director of AI strategy at S&P Global, the financial information and analytics company, which has more than 40,000 employees worldwide. In previous roles, she has focused on workforce strategy and people analytics at companies including Meta, Russell Investments, and Dow Jones. She earned her BA at UCLA and studied in the Harvard Business Analytics Program.

Lisa Moore is the Senior EVP, Chief People Officer at Yahoo!

Jonathan Davis is a results-driven leader with extensive experience in account management, customer success, and team development across a variety of industries. Currently at ezCater, he excels at building high-performing teams, fostering strong client relationships, and exceeding revenue goals. Previously, Jonathan held key leadership roles at Carta and PitchBook, where he consistently optimized processes, drove organizational growth, and nurtured top talent. His hands-on approach and strong communication skills have been instrumental in delivering exceptional customer outcomes. Jonathan completed his first half marathon this year and can be seen running around Brooklyn on the weekends, but if you ask him, he's definitely not a runner.

Niomi Sterling (she/her) is a Senior DEI consultant at Paradigm, specializing in Organizational Strategy and Learning. She brings an extensive background in business, talent management, and culture change, along with a global perspective gained from completing her MBA at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in the Netherlands. At Paradigm, Niomi supports her clients by employing research, coaching, training, and strategic advising to implement inclusive best practices that have a lasting impact. Her client profile includes companies such as Nike, Snap, Grubhub, Mazda, Samsung and more. 

Emma Burleigh is a reporter and writer on Fortune’s leadership desk, where she covers business, workplace issues, HR strategies, talent management, and Fortune 500 people executives. She is also the co-author of CHRO Daily, a newsletter that addresses pressing workforce issues and breaking news relevant to HR professionals. Before joining Fortune, she reported for the Observer and The China Project. She also received her M.A. from New York University, and B.A. from The College of William & Mary.