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.

As the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for NTT DATA Services, Terri Hatcher leads the organization's implementation of a focused diversity, equity and inclusion strategy as a business imperative, supporting world-class innovation while fostering inclusion, advancement and retention at every level.  In her current role, she leverages her more than 20 years of experience in HR, driving HR programs and initiatives that support business objectives in leadership development, performance management and workplace violence awareness and safety. Terri has received recognition for her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, most recently being named WashingtonExec’s Chief Diversity Officer of the Year for 2023. Hatcher has a B.A. in Business Administration from Clark Atlanta University, an M.A. in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University, completed McKinsey Academy’s Black Executive Leadership Program, and her Senior Human Resource Professional (SPHR) certification from HRCI.

David is Senior Vice President of the Workplace division in North America at Texthelp and is dedicated to
Texthelp’s mission to help create a more inclusive working world for everyone.
Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, David has effectively leveraged his academic life and career to bring
awareness to the unique contributions individuals with diverse learning differences can make.
Prior to Texthelp, David held leadership roles at renowned organizations such as IBM, Duke Corporate
Education, Pearson, Dell, HP, Medidata, Twitter, and most recently Conde Nast.

Lara McLeod is a Global Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Business Leader, with 10+ years of experience helping corporations in tech and non-profit industries empower diverse teams to successfully create socially inclusive workplaces, products, and solutions that drive better business outcomes. 

A storyteller by trade, Lara started her DEI career as a lobbyist and advocate, using her personal story to pass groundbreaking federal legislation protecting sexual assault survivors’ civil rights. Since then, Lara has continued to leverage the magic of empathic storytelling to amplify underrepresented voices, foster meaningful connections, drive employee development and engagement, break barriers, and inspire corporate social action.

Lara has had the pleasure of leading DEI at several major tech companies, including Microsoft and Zillow, and Lara currently leads Inclusion, Equity & Belonging strategy and programming for Robinhood. Her strategic approach uses organizational development and human-centered design principles to ground DEI in a sense of purpose that manifests in a company’s mission and business goals. 

Believing successful DEI work must be tied to more than a moral obligation, Lara is particularly passionate about coaching leaders and employees through their DEI “aha” and “ouch” moments to ultimately recognize that DEI is more than a series of underrepresented employee programs – it’s an operational lens that, when applied consistently across all business systems, behaviors, and decisions, will achieve the best business results.

A District of Columbia native, Lara has always cared deeply about social justice, social impact, and equity efforts. That innate passion fuels her to create innovative approaches to solving DEI business challenges. 

Responsibilities: Carrie Theisen is Fannie Mae’s Senior Vice President of Total Rewards reporting to the Chief Human Resources Officer. In this role, Theisen is responsible for leading the design and execution of Fannie Mae’s Total Rewards strategy targeted at attracting, retaining, engaging, and rewarding talent in support of meeting the short-term and long-term workforce needs of the company.

Experience: Prior to her present appointment, Theisen was the VP of Global Total Rewards & People Operations at Medidata Solutions. She was responsible for directing global compensation, benefits, equity, sales compensation, and people operations functions. Before that, Theisen was a leader in Total Rewards for The Winebow Group, The Advisory Board Company, and the MidAtlantic Employers’ Association. Her work has included designing pay structures, job architecture systems, and compensation processes, along with providing compensation consulting services to clients. She designed and administered a holistic wellness program to promote employee mental, physical, and financial health; and delivered home-based self-care programs for a newly remote employee population due to COVID-19.

Affiliations: Theisen is active on the Board of Directors since 2012 for Touch the Nations. She has also served as a Pro Bono Consultant at the Children’s Law Center from 2015-2020, Reading Connection from 2014-2018, and KIPP Charter Schools in Atlanta and Austin from 2013-2014.

Education: Ms. Theisen has a Bachelor of Science in human resources from the University of Nebraska and has both her Senior and Global Professional in Human Resources certifications.

Liz Janssen is Vice President, Talent & Organizational Development at ICF International. ICF (NASDAQ: ICFI) is a global advisory and technology services provider with more than 9,000 professionals working in 70+ countries.

Prior to joining ICF in 2016, Liz enjoyed a rewarding career with Xerox Corporation, in multiple leadership roles across learning, general management, and sales. Liz's early career at Xerox was focused on sales, where she was recognized with 10 successive President's Awards for sales excellence. Later, she successfully led turnarounds for three different learning organizations, shaped Xerox’s workforce strategy, and ran the Federal services business unit.

Today, Liz spearheads learning, talent experience, leadership development, and transformation initiatives, ensuring that ICF has the right systems, strategies, and programs in place to enable a high-performing, diverse workforce and create an exceptional experience where employees belong, grow, and thrive.

Liz holds a BA in Economics with a minor in Psychology from Lafayette College, and her certifications include Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Advanced Organization Design, Designing Operating Models, Facet5 Accreditation, and Burke Learning Agility Inventory.

Tammy Kness has dedicated her career to serving the critical missions of federal, state, and local agencies, including 20 years of service in leadership roles at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). As senior vice president of human resources and corporate communications reporting to President Amy Gilliland, Tammy is responsible for GDIT’s people strategy, including talent acquisition, employee relations, benefits and compensation, learning and development, diversity and inclusion, HR operations and technology, and corporate communications. A strong advocate for a culture where people feel valued, empowered, and supported, Tammy works to ensure that GDIT consistently prioritizes employee well-being and champions professional growth and career mobility across an engaged workforce.

Prior to her current role, Tammy was vice president of operations for the company’s federal civilian division where she led contracts, subcontracts, risk management, data privacy, strategic planning and execution efforts across the portfolio. She also served as vice president and general manager of GDIT’s health solutions sector. Before joining GDIT, she held leadership and engineering positions at SYSCOM and Keane, Inc.

Tammy earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Maryland. She serves on the Board of Directors for Peter and John Ministries and as Treasurer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Maryland.

Brendan Johnson serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Adventist HealthCare. Since 2015 he has served within both hospital based and system level executive leadership roles. Adventist HealthCare is one of Maryland’s most comprehensive healthcare systems providing services along the entire continuum of care. 

Adventist HealthCare is comprised of three of the region’s respected acute care hospitals—Shady Grove Medical Center, White Oak Medical Center and Fort Washington Medical Center —as well as one of the premier facilities for inpatient rehabilitative medicine, Adventist Rehabilitation, within the national capital area. Adventist HealthCare also provides ambulatory and post-acute services through a network of physician offices, urgent care centers, imaging centers, and an award-winning home health agency. In 2020 Adventist HealthCare partnered with Howard University to manage operations at the historic Howard University Hospital located within our nation’s capital. 

During his tenure with Adventist HealthCare, Mr. Johnson and his leadership team have been credited with strengthening the organization’s commitment to employee engagement, EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and leadership development. Within the last two years Adventist HealthCare has received national recognition from Forbes and other independent organizations as a best employer and top workplace. In 2020 Adventist HealthCare received a national site visit for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award as recognition of their efforts to achieve performance excellence. 

Prior to joining Adventist HealthCare, Brendan served nearly 10 years in progressive leadership roles within the Centura Health system based in Denver, Colorado. These ranged from leadership roles in business operations and surgical services at Porter Adventist Hospital to overseeing revenue management departments and leading the orthopedic and spine service lines at Castle Rock Adventist Hospital. 

While residing in Maryland, Brendan has served on the Maryland Hospital Association Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Group and several Montgomery Moving Forward advisory groups relating to employer and workforce topics and early care and education for children. 

A native of Colorado, Brendan received his undergraduate degree from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska and his Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration from the University of Colorado. 

Brendan is deeply passionate about mission-based healthcare and has been a part of multiple mission trips to Belize and Nepal. He loves his day job but enjoys his role as a husband and father even more. 

Brendan and his family reside in Montgomery Village, Maryland. 

Avenica CEO Scott Dettman is a dynamic leader with a strong track record of driving growth through transformation and innovation in the human capital arena.

Scott joined Avenica in 2019 following a six-year stint with ManpowerGroup that included progressive leadership roles spanning analytics and transformation to general management and business development.

Scott has a master’s degree and Ph.D. (ABD) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and most recently completed an Executive Leadership program at Harvard Business School.

Bipin Mistry MD, MBA, MRCP, SFHM is board-certified internal medicine physician, a member of the Royal College of Physicians and a Senior Fellow in Hospital Medicine.  As the Chief Medical Officer of Alight, he oversees the quality and performance of clinical engagement programs, clinical AI personalization and innovation, provider network quality, client support and employee engagement. Prior to joining Alight, Dr Mistry was part of the leadership team in building Transcarent which included developing partner relations, savings modelling and clinical service solutions.

Dr Mistry has worked with Michael Porter and Robert Kaplan at Harvard Business School (HBS), MA, in evaluating the role of value-based healthcare in solving for the healthcare crisis. After his time at HBS, Dr Mistry went on to work at Remedy Partners and Signify Health, specifically working in new payment models of bundled payments and accountable care. Dr. Mistry obtained his medical degree at Kings College School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London, UK and MBA at Babson College, Wellesley, MA. Dr. Mistry continues to maintain his clinical footprint by providing hospital medicine services to acute and post-acute care settings in the Boston area. He brings a deep understanding of healthcare analytics and value-based care.

Kate Moher is the President of National Employee Health & Benefits at Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA), a business of Marsh McLennan, specializing in business insurance, employee health & benefits, retirement, and private client insurance solutions.

In her role, Kate sets both the long and short-term strategic direction for organic growth while aligning the needs of the local employee health & benefits practice across MMA regions. Fostering relationships with partner carriers, vendors and practice leaders across MMA’s footprint is critical to drive the successful execution of key initiatives. Kate is also accountable for fostering innovation and collaboration with counterparts at Marsh McLennan.

Prior to joining MMA, Kate spent 5 years as Chief Executive Officer at C2 Solutions, an equity-owned partnership with six independent employee benefit firms across the country. She also spent 13 years at UnitedHealthcare, culminating in the role of National Vice President of Broker Strategy and Business Development. In both roles, her collaboration with brokers and carriers to identify programs and solutions delivered strong financial value and better health outcomes for both employers and employees.

Amy Newbanks Letke is Senior Vice President, National HR Consulting Leader at Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA) providing human resources consulting and outsourcing. With over 20 years of experience, she has presented training seminars on effective leadership development, selection techniques, position description development, sensitivity awareness issues, managing organizational changes, goal setting, and coaching for top performance to national audiences including the Society for Human Resources Management and Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as being sought out for commentary on Fox and ABC News, and other local and national news networks.

Prior to MMA, Amy served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Consulting Services for the largest group benefits insurance firm in Louisville, KY. She has also served in senior HR leadership as Executive Vice President of Human Resources for one of Chicago area’s largest insurance software development firms, Applied Systems.

Amy earned her bachelors from DePaw University and her masters from St. Ambrose University. She is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) by the Human Resources Certification Institute. She also holds the SHRM-SCP Certification issued by the Society for Human Resources Management and she is a certified DiSC instructor/trainer.

Robert Grasty is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for Amtrak, serving in this role since June 2023. He directly oversees the Amtrak Human Resources Centers of Expertise and HR strategic planning to advance the company’s expansion initiatives. Groups reporting to him include Talent Acquisition, Talent & Organizational Capabilities, HR Integration, Total Rewards, Labor Relations, Inclusion & Culture, and Strategy & Solutions Delivery. 

Joining Amtrak in June 2022 as Senior Vice President, HR Strategy & Solutions Delivery, Robert focused on advancing the company’s People Strategy to invest in talent, strengthen culture and advance technology. This included implementation of enterprise-wide change management programs and HR transformation projects.

Robert also led HR initiatives in support of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has provided Amtrak with a transformative level of funding to improve existing service and advance vital infrastructure projects and fleet acquisitions. This investment dovetails with a company vision to expand passenger rail services to more Americans and has accelerated a need for employees across a variety of disciplines. 

Robert has over 25 years of business experience in designing and executing HR strategies in both domestic and international organizations spanning the transportation, health care, energy and financial services sectors. 

He has a record of leading organizations through major change to achieve business results. Robert spent several years prior to joining Amtrak serving in CHRO and operations and executive leadership roles for Fortune 100 and 500 companies.

Over his career, Robert has cultivated HR competencies in strategy and branding, culture transformation, HR/business operations, full life cycle talent management, talent acquisition, performance management, organizational design and development, executive coaching, change management, total rewards, and diversity and inclusion. 

Robert has served on the Board of Directors of the Broward County (Florida) Chapter of the American Red Cross since September 2021.

Robert earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Kutztown University and a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Development from Villanova University.

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.

La Vida A. Johnson, the Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in Edelman’s Workplace
Advisory practice, has over a dozen years in DEI experience shepherding clients through their DEI
journeys by developing strategic DEI plans with a focus on actionable implementation, workforce data
analytics and DEI reporting, and talent management.

La Vida brings deep subject matter expertise to multiple clients such as Disney Parks, Experiences &
Products, DIRECTV, Planet Fitness, Lilly, TJX, and VS&Co, focusing on creating business solutions that
foster inclusive working environments. She balances operational expertise with an understanding of
strategy, policy, and talent management to assist executives in transforming their organization, culture,
and processes to create solutions that improve the lives of employees.

Prior to joining Edelman, La Vida served as the Government and Public Services Industry Lead for the DEI
practice at Deloitte Consulting, LLP. In that role, La Vida provided strategic direction, leadership, and
project governance for their Inclusive Leader Program. She also designed and developed content,
program structure, and experience-based activities for DEI training that still impacts ~48,600 employees in
84 different countries at a Fortune 50 company. Additionally, La Vida spearheaded the Black Leadership
Summit, organizing a forum of hundreds of black senior leaders to increase inclusion efforts.

La Vida earned her BA in Political Science from The George Washington University and a Master’s in
Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Holly McIlwain is responsible for People & Culture at The Wolfe Companies, a Pittsburgh-based hub
for transformation in the gifting-industry. Wolfe exists to facilitate an expression of love between two
people, in the form of a gift card, and that makes sense for this people leader. 
 
Professionally, Holly has led the Talent Development platform at Winner Partners and is a subject-
matter expert in the usage of behavior assessments as part of coaching and development plans, in
addition to talent acquisition engagements. As a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, working with
individuals and organizations to build a better world and sustainable business solutions is her
passion. What’s not exciting about that? This enthusiasm comes with Holly into each coaching
session, team workshop, search opportunity, and speaking engagement. It carries right over into the
Brave Women Project, the nonprofit she founded. Nothing excites Holly more than inspiring women
to do brave things.
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Developing leaders who change lives is Holly’s passion and professional purpose. She has studied
and written about topics such as: Leadership and Mission, Bravery in Business, and Managing
Human Relationships. As a recognized subject matter expert, Holly has spoken at numerous
conferences and on Sirius XM Radio.  She holds an advanced degree in Organizational Leadership
from Robert Morris University, and is certified as a DISC Behavior Analyst and a Driving Forces
Behavior Analyst. She’s a three-time author, with two Amazon best-sellers, including For She Who
Grieves: Practical Wisdom for Living Hope.
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After studying with Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation, she invested her time and professionalism in
the Pittsburgh region, consistently seeking ways to challenge leaders to become fully engaged in
transformation. In 2020 she served as Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation Faculty and became a DDI
Certified Facilitator. Holly is an expert in the value of dynamic onboarding as part of the foundation
for fully engaged employees.  She and her husband, Kevin, are raising two young boys and residing in
the greater Pittsburgh, PA area.

Jennifer Christie serves as Chief People Officer at DocuSign where she oversees the global human resource function including the company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, the DocuSign IMPACT Foundation and more. She also plays an active role in the product and go to market strategy for its HR vertical.

Most recently, Jennifer served as Chief People Officer at Bolt, a fintech startup, where she oversaw the HR, Internal Communications, and Real Estate and Workplace teams, and was responsible for Bolt’s Conscious Culture organization focused on transforming corporate culture and defining the future of work. Prior to Bolt, Jennifer was the Chief Human Resources Officer at Twitter where she led the global People as well as the Real Estate and Workplace teams, and worked with the executive team and the board of directors to support the strategic direction of the company.

Jennifer has also held senior roles at American Express including SVP of HR for the Global Consumer Services Group, VP and HR Business Partner for Enterprise Growth Group and Chief Diversity Officer and VP, Global Executive Recruitment. Prior, she was a consultant at a leading executive search firm and also spent two years as a Special Assistant to the President of the United States in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.

Jennifer is a member of the board of directors for Special Love, a nonprofit organization that supports children with cancer and their families. She received a master’s degree in criminal justice from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I work with organizations to leverage their education benefits in a strategic way to align with their talent strategy. 
 
I believe in the power of education and its ability to transform the lives of individuals, families, and communities. 
 
When you invest in learning, training, and skill-building, you help your people unlock their individual potential. When you do it strategically, you also drive organizational performance, culture, and retention—and boost your ability to compete and win as an employer of choice.

Krissah Thompson is the first Black woman to hold the title of Managing Editor at the Washington Post, where she oversees the newsroom’s diversity and inclusion efforts, its hiring and recruiting operation and the Features and Climate coverage departments. She began her career at The Washington Post in 2001 and has held multiple roles including intern, Business reporter, covering presidential campaigns and writing about civil rights and race. Before becoming an editor in the Style section, she covered the first lady’s office, politics and culture. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism and College of Liberal Arts Plan II honors program. She also earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.

Millette Granville, CDP is the Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer for 2U, Inc., a global education technology company that partners with over 75 top-tier, non-profit universities to build, deliver, and support high-quality online degrees, certificates, boot camps, and short courses. In this role, Millette is responsible for providing strategic leadership on all global equity, diversity, and inclusion policies, programs, and practices. Millette is a trusted partner to senior leaders, Business Resource Networks, and Mosaic, the DEI council. She also partners with the business, human resources, and communications teams on strategy, program launch, and implementing initiatives to ensure the optimal attraction, development, and retention of diverse talent while infusing DEI principles and practices into 2U’s products, outreach, and philanthropy.  

Prior to joining 2U, Millette was the Vice President of Talent, Diversity & Inclusion and Organizational Development for Food Lion LLC, an Ahold Delhaize Company. In that role, Millette was responsible for the strategic implementation of diversity and inclusion, talent acquisition, as well as learning and organizational development strategies for Food Lion. Millette served on the Global Talent Network and the Associate Engagement Global Network.  She provided oversight for nine BRGs and two Business Diversity Councils. And in 2019, Millette completed the “Leadership Journey from Purpose to Legacy” at Harvard School of Business. 

Millette's previous roles also include VP of Diversity & Inclusion for Time Warner Cable, VP of Diversity & College Recruiting with Wells Fargo, and President/CEO of Granville & Webb HR Connections, Inc.

Millette serves on the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership Board.  She is the immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors for the Urban League of the Central Carolinas, and she serves on the Board of Advisors for BraveWorks. Millette was recognized in May 2022 by Women we Admire as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders in DC.  She has been recognized by the National Diversity and Leadership Conference as one of the top 100 Chief Diversity Officers in 2021.  She has been recognized by Radio One as a Top Woman of Excellence and named as a Savoy Magazine Most Influential Women in Business. Millette also received the Career Mastered National Diversity Leadership Award.  Millette is a member of the CALIBR Global Leadership Network. She is the author of the book The Exceptional Leader, a quick guide to personal branding and leadership development. 

Kristen Parisi is a reporter for HR Brew, specializing in workplace DE&I issues. She has been featured with other outlets including NPR, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, and CNN. Kristen began her media career in public relations, and spent nearly a decade coordinating media and messaging campaigns across business, technology, and consumer clients. She is also a passionate advocate for disability inclusion and representation in media, and earned a Gracie award in 2019 for these efforts.

Education: Indiana University, BA in Journalism and Spanish

Jonathan Murray is the Head of Empowerly for Business, a pioneering organization that provides college & career counseling to high school, college, and post-graduate students - blending AI technology with personalized one-on-one guidance. As a recognized leader in the post-pandemic integration of EdTech into Employee Benefits, Jonathan has authored impactful research on the effects of college & career planning on mental health, family wellbeing, and employee productivity.

In 2023, EdTech magazine honored him as a Trendsetter for innovations in distribution and Time Magazine named his product a ‘Best Invention of 2022’. He brings experience as a CMO, serial entrepreneur, and co-founder of multiple startups. Passionate views about community building, peer mentoring, and societal impacts of technology are a great way to spark a conversation.

David Bator thinks and writes about how work could work. David leads Achievers Workforce Institute, a strategic practice whose focus on Research, Community and Advisory empowers global executives with tactical, practical approaches to changing how the world works.

David is passionate about people, and has spent the last 20 years working closely and consultatively with HR, IT and Communications leaders to build programs that position individuals, teams and companies to grow.