Deborah Olson is a lead strategist with over 25 years of experience in designing and implementing systems that empower employees to maximize their strengths and thrive both personally and professionally. After consulting across Canada, Deborah relocated to the US, where she spearheaded transformations at Kaiser Santa Clara and Stanford Children’s Health before transitioning to the biotech sector.

At Genentech, Deborah oversees workforce mental health and well-being strategies, shaping business practices that enhance the holistic well-being of the US-based workforce. Under her guidance, Genentech has been named Company of the Year for excellence in mental health by Lyra Health and received a platinum designation for workplace mental health with a perfect score from Mental Health America.

Deborah leverages insights from neuroscience to enhance the employee experience while driving innovation, diversity, and inclusivity. Her profound commitment to fostering purpose, connection, and health among employees underscores her expertise in creating high-performance and inclusive work environments. Deborah's work ensures that employees and teams prioritize mental health and well-being, enabling them to thrive.

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.

Phyllis Stewart Pires is a leader in helping organizations navigate the rapidly changing dynamics of how people live and work. Phyllis brings a personal passion for ensuring the work environment addresses the changing needs of today’s workforce and their dependents; knowing it’s possible to have effective and productive work in a compassionate and caring environment.

Phyllis came to Stanford in 2012 with an extensive background in providing pragmatic, comprehensive programs to improve the workplace for working families. Phyllis spent many years designing, building, and managing corporate child care centers, she founded the award-winning Family Services programs at Cisco, and served as the Global Head of Diversity for SAP. Phyllis made significant progress in diversity, engagement, and values-driven culture alignment initiatives during her tenure.

As AVP of Employee Support Programs & Services in Stanford’s human resources function, Phyllis is responsible for the strategic direction, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programs for several university-wide people-centric functions. Under her leadership are comprehensive wellness programs, dependent care and worklife programs, flexible work implementation, mental health services, and employee listening and experience. Her organization stewards one of the largest and most complex child care systems in higher education. Phyllis expanded the scope and scale of the childcare system with the design and building of two additional childcare buildings, increased the reach of the childcare-focused financial support programs, and increased the overall quality of the early education programming.

Phyllis served as Board President for College and University WorkLife & Family Association, has served on the Conference Board WorkLife Leadership Council, the Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Working Group on the Future of Work, Families and Work Institute Corporate Leadership Circle Advisory Board, and the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network Board of Directors. She’s currently serving as a Fellow for the Futures program sponsored by Stanford’s Center for Longevity.

Phyllis has an Early Childhood Degree and Elementary Education Credential from the University of the Pacific and her Master’s Degree in Human Development from UCLA.

Stacey Olson is a Global Wellness Leader and Director of Sustainable Design at Gensler, specializing in measurable impact, ESG strategies, and high-performance design. A LEED Fellow and Certified Interior Designer, she is also accredited in EcoDistricts and Fitwel, bringing a data-driven approach to enhance workplace, real estate, and facilities performance.

With expertise spanning workplace, education, aviation, sports, hospitality, retail, and healthcare, Stacey collaborates with organizations to align sustainability, wellness, and business goals, quantifying design’s impact on health, productivity, and operational resilience. Her work transforms spaces into high-performing environments that support employee well-being, organizational culture, and long-term asset value.

Stacey frequently presents on ESG and wellness design, design excellence in sustainability, and the future of healthy buildings. Her approach empowers HR, facilities, and real estate professionals with actionable strategies to create resilient, people-centric, and performance-driven spaces.

Melissa Tuscano joined BASF 13 years ago in Compensation. Over the years, her career has grown and evolved with time spent managing Compensation for the North American region as well serving as a HR business partner within one of BASF’s global operating divisions. With a passion for the rewards space, she took on leadership of total rewards for the US & CA in 2021. Since then her role has evolved to include all of rewards as well as operational areas (payroll, leave of absence and data management) for the US & CA. Melissa loves her role for the impact it has on overall employee well being and the employee experience BASF offers.

She has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Villanova University (go Wildcats!) and a master’s in business administration from NYU Stern School of Business. Prior to joining BASF, Melissa held roles in Compensation within the Financial Services industry. Melissa lives in NJ with her husband and two children and prides herself that her family always comes first. As a working mom, she enjoys mentoring working moms earlier in their career.

Sarah Quirk leads the Revenue team at Northstar, a financial wellness benefit for employees. With 14 years of experience in B2B marketing, Sarah has built brands at both early stage-startups and established organizations. Having started her marketing career in content and communications, Sarah is passionate about brand positioning and messaging. Sarah has built and scaled marketing teams and played a key role in business transformations, including rebranding and acquisitions. Prior to joining Northstar, Sarah consulted for several startups and led the marketing team at Managed by Q, which was acquired by WeWork. In her current role, she oversees the go-to-market strategy for Northstar to help connect employees with trusted financial advisors at no cost to them. 

Kathleen Davin is the Director of People Operations at Maven, the world’s largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health. In her role at Maven she focuses on building intuitive and progressive rewards, systems, and programs for employees. Kathleen previously led benefits programs at Harry’s and Union Square Hospitality Group. She is a graduate of Cornell University and holds her Group Benefits Associate designation from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

Alicia Archer is a Master Trainer at STRETCHIT. With over a decade of teaching experience, Alicia Archer thoughtfully guides users through comprehensive stretching, mobility, and flexibility sequences, in order to unlock their movement potential. Alicia is Group Fitness Certified by AFAA (The Athletics and Fitness Association of America) and a Certified FRC® (Functional Range Conditioning) Mobility Specialist by Functional Anatomy Seminars. Her qualifications also include a BFA in Dance from Fordham University/The Ailey School.

Lisa Leighton is Cariloop's Vice President of Strategic Development, leading new business acquisition and growth strategy to maximize the company’s reach and support as many caregivers as possible. She is passionate about helping organizations strengthen their benefits offerings while making a real impact on employees' lives.

Lucy Avsharyan is the Vice President of Benefits at United Talent Agency (UTA), based in Beverly Hills, California. Known for her people-first approach, she is committed to fostering a supportive workplace culture.

With over 17 years of experience, Lucy oversees global employee benefits and retirement programs, ensuring UTA’s workforce has access to comprehensive well-being resources. She specializes in designing programs that attract and retain top talent.

Passionate about family support benefits, she advocates for policies that help employees balance their careers and parenthood.

Her expertise in benefits strategy, employee support, and workplace culture makes her a key voice in HR and organizational well-being.

Linsey Walker, VP Member Engagement Marketing, leads a team of marketing experts responsible for data and insight driven campaign strategy and execution that effectively engages Members across all customers and Accolade solutions, with the goal of engaging every eligible member so they can discover and take advantage of all their Accolade benefits.

Mary Lasky is a passionate advocate for health equity and an employee-centered leader known for infusing compassion into benefit programs. With a wealth of experience, she spearheads the development and execution of comprehensive benefits strategies at Accolade, Inc., designed to attract top talent while prioritizing the well-being of every employee.

Kavita Vora is the Community Manager at ThinkHuman.

Heather Ostrowski is the Director, Global Benefits at Keysight Technologies.

Jessica Zucker is a Los Angeles-based psychologist specializing in reproductive health and the author of the award-winning book I HAD A MISCARRIAGE: A Memoir, a Movement. Jessica is the creator of the viral #IHadaMiscarriage campaign. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Vogue, and Harvard Business Review, among others. She’s been featured on NPR, CNN, The Today Show, and Good Morning America and earned advanced degrees from New York University and Harvard University. Her second book, NORMALIZE IT: Upending the Silence, Stigma, and Shame That Shape Women’s Lives, is out now and available everywhere books are sold.

Neha is the Director, Total Rewards at WW.

Lynne Peeples is an author, speaker, and journalist covering science, health, and the environment. She is the author of the new book, “The Inner Clock: Living in Sync with Our Circadian Rhythms.” Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Scientific American, Nature, HuffPost, NBC News, The Atlantic, and other publications. Peeples herself has appeared on various podcasts, as well as local, national, and international television and radio including MSNBC, NPR, BBC News, and ABC Radio Australia. Before becoming a journalist, she crunched numbers as a biostatistician for HIV clinical trials and environmental health studies. Peeples is a recipient of an MIT Knight Science Journalism fellowship and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation book grant. She also holds master’s degrees in biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health and in science journalism from New York University. She lives in Seattle.

Kerri Costa is the Sr. VP, Commercial & Growth at Cleo