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.

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.

Ankit Saxena is the Global Head of People Insights and HR Technology at PPG Industries. 

Veronika leads Employee Engagement for U.S. Bank which includes our employee surveys, lifecycle surveys, and action planning. She has been with U.S. Bank for 3 years and has led functions including HR Knowledge, Policy, Strategy, and Vendor Management. Prior to that, she was an HR Business leader at Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C. In prior roles, Veronika worked in consulting with Deloitte, Willis Towers Watson, and at a boutique HR consulting firm that specialized in Employee Engagement, Performance Management, and Leadership Development assessments. 

Sonya brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in HR and operations to her current position at Comcast as the VP of HR for the Technical Operations, Network, Engineering, and Construction teams in the West Division.

Sonya joined the Comcast team in 2019 as the VP of HR for the California Region. There she helped California earn the top spot for both YourVoice results and participation, as well as increase overall eNPS scores.

Prior to Comcast, she led Human Resources for 13,000 employees at DaVita Medical Group where she transformed culture, led integrations and technology deployments, and supported growth through mergers and acquisitions work.

She’s received several recognitions including “Woman of the Year” from the Northern California Chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT). She is passionate in her support of several non-profits that advocate for the advancement of women in STEM-related fields.

In her spare time, you can find her somewhere building interesting things with AI, taking a class in quantum computing, or spending time with her fun family and friends.

Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton joined The Denver Post in January 2022 as a business reporter, focusing her coverage on social inequities in business. She writes for Smithsonian Magazine, Delish, Eater and other publications. She covers the Hawaiian diaspora for Ka Wai Ola, a Hawaiʻi-based newspaper. She also serves as a faculty adjunct at Arizona State University, teaching Media Issues in American Pop Culture. 

For two years, she chased after lawmakers on Capitol Hill as Bloomberg Government's agriculture and trade policy reporter. Megan has covered the Venezuelan refugee crisis in Peru, parliamentary affairs in England, White House press briefings in Washington, D.C., and the cannabis industry in Colorado.

Lesli Stasiek is a human resources leader with 20+ years of human and animal health commercial experience. She is currently Senior Director Human Resources, MWI Animal Health supporting the MWI executive leadership team and organization guiding talent, culture and change strategies to advance the business forward. 

Previously, Lesli spent nine years at Elanco Animal Health in both marketing and human resources roles, most recently as the HR Strategic Business Partner supporting the US Commercial and Global Marketing organization. In this role she developed and led execution of people strategies for the US Commercial Farm Animal and Pet Health organization and led organizational design efforts as part of the Bayer acquisition. Prior to joining Elanco, she worked in sales and marketing at Eli Lilly and Company and AstraZeneca.

Lesli holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind., and a Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.  

Lesli is passionate about developing current and future female leaders and creating a culture that empowers women to achieve success. She is proud to have been actively involved in the foundation of WILMAH served as a board member since its’ inception. Her passion has grown as a result of her favorite role of raising her two beautiful girls Adeline and Gwendolyn and her desire for them to pursue their dreams without glass ceilings.

Jenny Cotie Kangas, Director of Talent-Centered Transformation at Eightfold AI, specializes in HR technology and fostering the future of work. With a robust history in corporate HR where she has helped companies navigate and embrace transformation. Renowned for her expertise in unlearning and human-centered design, she advocates for adaptive and innovative organizational change. In 2020, a significant head injury reshaped her cognitive process, removing her design bias and enriching her problem-solving skills. This unique perspective enhances her ability to dissect complex challenges and engineer practical solutions. Known affectionately as “JCK,” her clarity in communication and extensive HR network underline her influential presence in the industry.

Jeff Williams, Aptia US President and CEO, is responsible for Aptia’s benefits administration services book of business based in the Boston headquarters. Prior to  joining Aptia, Williams served as a Corporate Officer as Vice President, Enterprise and HR Solutions for Paychex where he drove record revenues. Williams is a graduate of the General Management Program at Harvard Business School, earned an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at Western University, and a BA in Business Administration and Political Science from Brock University. In his spare time, Williams actively contributes to his community by serving on a number of charitable boards including Habitat for Humanity.

Jake Fishbein is a New York City-based Executive Coach & Facilitator who helps corporate executives become better leaders by improving their communication, navigating conflict with confidence, and supercharging their growth through reflection. In addition to his work in the corporate sphere, Jake runs men’s coaching groups to help men build better relationships at work and at home. Jake is an ICF-PCC accredited coach and is currently part of the 2024-2025 cohort of Forefront—a premiere mentorship program for the next generation of leaders in coaching, leadership, and talent development powered by Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches. In addition to his work as a coach, Jake is preparing to publish his first novel—a story about a fictional men’s group he’s been working on since 2016. 

Steve has spent the last ten years of his career building technology that helps people to learn, grow, and connect. Before starting Campfire, he spent 5 years at Instructure building a talent management platform focused on career development and human performance. He worked with product, marketing, sales, and strategy teams to grow the business from the ground up to $27 million in annual revenue. While with Instructure, he worked with teams at Disney, Tesla, Lululemon, Johnson and Johnson, and other global brands to strengthen their talent management practices.

Now, Steve is focused primarily on finding ways for people to learn and grow through connected learning experiences called Campfires. The business has strong investment and is responsible for training hundreds of managers in the key skills needed to effectively lead teams. Steve’s experience in technology, content, facilitation, and talent management provide a rich mix of skills for solving these challenges.

Campfire was founded in 2020 at the very beginning of the pandemic and has benefitted from the changes and shifts that allow for us to consider new ways of connecting and working with each other. Steve has three co-founders - Todd, Taylor, and Marinne - who are all passionate about the mission of providing universal access to connected learning experiences.

Caroline Mikhail, a Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner and Director of Advisory Services at Linezero, brings deep expertise in elevating employee experience, driving engagement, and leveraging the latest technologies, including AI and immersive technologies, to drive business innovation. With over 20 years of experience across diverse industries, Caroline empowers leaders to build connected, motivated workplaces and realize the ROI of an engaged, thriving culture. When she’s not strategizing with the Linezero team, you’ll find her experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, enjoying a moment at the ballet bar, or playing a lively game of tag with her three kids.

Sloan Kendall is a SaaS partnerships leader with nearly two decades of experience developing partnership strategies & teams. Sloan has vertical expertise ranging across marketing automation, customer success, gig-economy and employee experience. In her current role as Head of Global partnerships at Blink, she is responsible for building and scaling a global partnership strategy & program that will help customers deliver on a best in class employee experience. In her time away from the office you'll find her trying to keep up with her 2 boys, taste testing new restaurants or scheming new interior design plans.

Based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, JJ Carpenter is currently a Senior Account Executive at Rippling. Throughout his 3.5 years of tenure at Rippling, he has worked with 1,000s of multi industry Mid to Enterprise sized businesses. With over 10 years of total HR related expertise, JJ has consulted with leaders in HR, IT, Finance, and Operations around strategic planning. Prior to joining Rippling, JJ worked for ADP, Robert Half Staffing and Kforce Staffing. Combined, these experiences allowed him to develop a unique perspective on the HR industry. Throughout his experience, JJ has found that there are a lot of commonalities and patterns across business processes. JJ’s speciality is focusing on enhancing scalability, streamlining systems, and process improvement.  

Haeli Harris is the director of clinical operations at Nivati, a licensed mental health therapist, yoga instructor, health and wellness coach, and mindfulness practitioner dedicated to helping others through holistic health and healing. She takes a client-based, solution-focused approach helping the client to find their own solutions that are within them and building on their own strengths. Haeli has specialized training in combining yoga and mental health including using a trauma-informed lens when working with her clients. She is also a mother to teenagers and a lover of chocolate and dancing!

Kristen Baller is the Head of Talent Acquisition at DISH Network, where she leads diverse facets of the recruitment process, including University Relations, Employer Branding, Recruitment Marketing, Sourcing, Diversity Recruitment, and Referral Programs. 

Geeta Mahindroo is Vice President, HR, Finance, and Shared Services Global Technology Leader. Since joining Estee Lauder Companies (ELC) in July 2022, she partners with stakeholders to learn about their business objectives and helps drive strategic technology decisions to enable the digital transformation journey and establish new ways of working. With over twenty years of technology strategy and operational experience, she has collaborated with executive leadership teams at ELC, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, and other companies across CPG, Healthcare, and the Telecom industry.

Ardie Sameti is the Senior Director of AI & Automation at Accolade.

Ritu Shrivastav is the Senior Director Human Resources at Sony Interactive Entertainment

Angie has enjoyed roles as a Talent Acquisition Lead and HR Manager for various organizations throughout her career. Angie joined Arcadis in 2011 and has been a lead system implementor along with managing global teams. Her experience includes being a team lead for the implementation of 3 ATS (recruiting) systems within Arcadis as well as leading multiple projects including Employee Referral, Onboarding, Global system alignment, and process improvement. Most recently, Angie led the global implementation of a Skills Based TA tool that works with the ATS to help shift the hiring into a skills-based approach.

Angie finds passion in her work in collaborating with people globally across an organization. Connecting with people of all backgrounds and nationalities is what makes Arcadis a very interesting place to work and it is something that keeps her job interesting. She has lived and worked in Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia with a prior employer.

Angie lives in Denver, CO where she enjoys all things outdoors. Biking, snowboarding, hiking, and traveling top the list. She is an advocate for rescue animals and has 2 of her own, Charlie and Ellie. Angie holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and, as a fun fact, completed the Ironman Florida in 2005.