Maral Kazanjian is the Chief People Officer of Moody’s Corporation – she is also a member of the Executive Leadership Team. In this role, Ms. Kazanjian is primarily responsible for setting and overseeing the execution of the Company's strategy to attract, grow, and retain extraordinary talent in service of our business. 

Ms. Kazanjian previously served as Chief People Officer for WeWork, where she led the People team and oversaw talent-related strategies, operations and workforce planning for 4,000 employees, in over 30 countries globally. From 2019 to 2021, Ms. Kazanjian held various people leadership roles at WeWork, leading into her role as Chief People Officer. Prior to that, Ms. Kazanjian worked at Moody’s for 11 years, in the Human Resources and Legal organizations, overseeing the Employment Law and Employee Relations teams. 

Ms. Kazanjian holds a J.D. from the Rutgers School of Law-Newark and a B.A. in government and psychology from Georgetown University.

Charles Abramo currently serves as Vice President, Human Resources Business Partner Function for Delaware North. In this role, Mr. Abramo is responsible for leading Delaware North’s HR Business Partner organization, Employee Relations, HR Shared Services, HR Operations, HR M&A activity, HR communications, and HR Help Desk. Prior to this role, he has help HR Leadership roles with Whole Foods Market, Crate & Barrel, and Gap Inc. Active in his community, he has mentored students in HR programs, been a guest lecturer at colleges and universities, and previously sitting on the board of PASCO, a nonprofit organization focused on providing leadership and HR education to small businesses. Abramo has graduated from the Stagen Executive Leadership Academy and holds a M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and a B.A. in Communications from Niagara University. He is active in many HR, Leadership, and Business communities.

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.

Derek Gordon is the Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Colgate-Palmolive.

Seema Bhansali is the Vice President, Employee Experience & Inclusion at Henry Schein.

Brent Vader is the Vice President, Human Resources at Verizon.

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.

Cara Stein is the Senior Vice President, Chief Talent Officer at NBCUniversal.

Ria Nicholls is the Head of Talent & Performance Management at Wells Fargo.

Morgan Bass Roper is the Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at BNY Mellon.

Lukeisha Paul is the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for GroupM US. She leads the company in creating and executing initiatives that champion diversity, promote inclusivity, and are purposeful in providing equitable opportunities to all employees. She serves as GroupM’s representative on WPP’s DEI Advisory Group, 4A’s Foundation Board member, Founding Board member of BRIDGE, and AdClub of New York’s steering committee for diversity and inclusion.
Lukeisha has a passion for people – namely their growth, development, advocacy, and most importantly, equity. At GroupM US, she created the GroupM Media Externship Program, a 10-week program providing media career training to diverse communities, which has led to job placement across GroupM and a wider diverse candidate pool for the industry. She also created GroupM’s Career Advocacy program helping mid-level people of color develop and pursue clear career paths of advancement. She actively mentors professionals across backgrounds and is committed to being an ally to others, including gaining certification as a #IamRemarkable facilitator, empowering women, and underrepresented groups to speak openly about their accomplishments in the workplace and beyond. As a certified ERG (Employee Resource Group) leader, Lukeisha oversees an ERG ecosystem across multiple companies and various diverse dimensions including Different Abilities, LGBTQIA+, People them a confidential space to be heard and directing them to professional help and support.
Lukeisha began her career in media at Saatchi & Saatchi, and in previous roles has worked with Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediaCom and GroupM overseeing publishing across luxury, pharma, retail, CPG, QSR, and finance accounts. 

Lukeisha’s passion for her work in media and DEI has made her a sought-after speaker and garnered her industry recognition: 
2022 - Ad Club of NY Rockstar Award, Cynopsis Top Women in Media
2021 - ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards Juror, LCW Culture Moment Podcast: Global Lessons in DEI Guest Speaker, The Inclusion Works Podcast Guest Speaker
2020 - Hive Learning’s Most Influential D&I NA Leaders, AEF Talent Champion, Adweek Executive Mentor, Hive Learning Panelist on Race, Diversity & Fueling Lasting Change at Work, Advertising & Society Quarterly Journal Roundtable: Equity & Inclusion Matters  
2019 - Advertising Week of NY Presenter “Bringing Equity to Light”, 4As Decisions 20/20 Panelist on DEI
2018 - Ad Club of NY President’s Award

Rose Fass is the founder and Chair of fassforward Consulting Group, a leading-edge business transformation firm. Rose works with executive teams from Fortune 500 companies. She is the trusted advisor to Mastercard, Verizon, Chick-fil-A, and more. Her work delivers thought leadership, methodologies, and tools to tackle challenging issues, solve complex business problems, execute strategies, and achieve tangible results. A dynamic speaker, Rose is frequently invited to speak at private and public sector events. She has been a guest on CNBC, and quoted in several bestselling business books. She is the author of The Chocolate Conversation: Lead Bittersweet Change, Transform Your Business, and The Leadership Conversation: Make Bold Change, One Conversation At A Time. Rose has been awarded the Great Companies & International Entrepreneurship Award 2024, featured in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women of 2022 and Entrepreneur 100 Women of Influence in Westchester. She is also listed in Forbes; 2012, Top 10 Women Business Leaders of New York.

Heather Tinsley-Fix is a Senior Advisor at AARP, where she leads the organization’s work on employer engagement and helps drive AARP’s focus on providing workers 50+ with the tools they need to thrive in today’s work environment.  With a background in marketing, innovation, and program management, Heather works with employers and job seekers, external partners, and academics to provide thought leadership on 50+ labor market issues and create practical resources that enable employers to build age-inclusive organizations that capitalize on the value of experience.  She holds a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Literary Theory, both from the University of Exeter.

Alyson Watson is the founder and CEO of Modern Health, a mental health benefits platform for employers. We are the first global mental health solution to offer employees access to one-on-one, group, and self-serve digital resources for their emotional, professional, social, financial, and physical well-being needs—all within a single platform. Whether someone wants to proactively manage stress or treat depression, Modern Health guides people to the right care at the right time. We empower companies to help all their employees be the best version of themselves and believe in meeting people wherever they are in their mental health journey. We are backed by investors like Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, John Doerr, Y Combinator, and Battery Ventures and partner with global companies like Lyft, Electronic Arts, Pixar, Clif Bar, Okta, and Udemy that are taking a proactive approach to mental health care for their employees. Modern Health has raised more than $170 million in less than two years with a valuation of $1.17 billion, making Modern Health the fastest entirely female-founded company in the U.S. to reach unicorn status. Prior to starting Modern Health, Alyson held leadership roles, including health industry strategy consulting at PwC, healthy behavior change management at Keas (acquired by Welltok), and partner point solution integrations at Collective Health. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in global environmental change and sustainability. Alyson has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 and Fortune 40 Under 40 lists.

Matthew Legere has been a Senior Vice President with Brown & Brown for the last 11 years and has 25 years of experience with employee benefits.  In his current role, he leads both the Manhattan, NYC office and Parsippany, NJ office for Brown & Brown, as well as serving as a senior Employee Benefits leader in the Boston area for Brown & Brown. 

He manages a team of over 20 leaders and consultants across the New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts area for Brown & Brown and believes that life is all about relationships.  As an Employee Benefits leader, he helps his teams and clients design innovative solutions that drive engagement, cost containment, and strategic innovation. 

Prior to his consulting experience (which started with Mercer), he spent 11 years working for insurance carriers (CIGNA, Aetna, and UHC) in a variety of roles including claims management, data analytics, underwriting, procurement, and operations. 

Matthew is also very passionate about making sure that diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts move from buzzword to action.  He is a Senior Leader with Brown & Brown’s LGBT Teammate Resource Group.  He also leads a monthly meeting design to talk about how to incorporate DEIB into our daily lives as HR, Compensation, Recruiting, and Total Rewards leaders.

Matthew feels that he has been put on the planet to encourage people and his favorite phrase to say is “we got this!”.  He believes that a good benefits consultant should have the heart of a teacher and be in the trenches to “do life together” with their clients.

Melissa Fridman is Visa's SVP, People Business Partner VISA North America and Global Merchant Sales & Acquiring. 

Marcus is the Lead Solutions Engineer for North America at Clinch, having joined the organization as a Software Developer almost 10 years ago in Melbourne Australia. He works closely with the customer and sales teams across multiple industries to help bring talent best practices to life. An avid rock climber and gaming enthusiast, he's currently based in NYC and after 5 years in the US still thinks of the weather in Celsius.

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. ​

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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.

As Director of Alumni and Employer Partnerships for General Assembly, I help companies accelerate and diversify their tech talent hiring at scale. We have the largest bootcamp community of alumni who we leverage for events, hiring, and more, and are amazing candidates for tech roles at all levels.

Joanne Mallia-Barsati is Vice President, Global Talent Management for Penguin Random House. A member of the Global Executive Committee and reporting directly into the Global CEO, Jo is responsible for continuing to advance Penguin Random House’s global talent management and development strategy. In addition, Jo oversees the Learning and Organizational Development function for the U.S. business.

With a pragmatic and collaborative approach, Jo and her team advise and support all aspects of talent management, learning, and organizational development in the U.S. and globally, delivering best-fit solutions for individuals, teams, and the organization. Jo is passionate about using coaching as a development tool and believes in the power of coaching skills in developing high-performing and empowered teams and cultures. As an accredited Associate Professional Coach with the International Coach Federation, Jo also works directly with talent internally to support them in reaching their goals and potential.

Jo joined Random House U.K. in 2011 to lead the Learning & Development function and moved to New York in 2014. Prior to that, Jo spent over 13 years honing her talent and learning expertise at the creative agency Leo Burnett, and The Walt Disney Company.