Lori George Billingsley is the Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer for The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC).  In this role, she leads the company’s DEI Center of Excellence, all directed to enable a more engaged global workforce, mirror the markets served, and support a more inclusive culture to best position the employees of the company to drive growth.

She has been with the company for 19 years, having spent most of them in a variety of roles with increasing responsibility within Public Affairs and Communications.  Most recently, she was the Vice President of Community and Stakeholder Relations for Coca-Cola North America.  Lori has over 30 years of public affairs, issues communications, community and stakeholder relations, and diversity, equity and inclusion experience in developing and implementing breakthrough strategic initiatives that meet organizational goals, target audience needs and produce results. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, she led her own public relations consultancy, LG Communications; was a vice president at Porter/Novelli, a leading public relations firm where she co-founded their Multicultural Communications and Alliance Building practices; and a senior public affairs specialist for the District of Columbia Government’s Office of Human Rights and Minority Business.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (Chair), NAACP Foundation, ColorComm, The Coca-Cola Foundation and Arete Executive Women of Influence.  She formerly served on the Boards of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, United Way of Greater Atlanta, Atlanta Mission and Leadership Atlanta.  She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Director’s (NACD) Center for Inclusive Governance Advisory Council, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Partnering for Racial Justice in Business Advisory Council, WEF’s Community of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officers, Howard University School of Communications Board of Visitors and the former Co-Chair of American University’s Women’s Network.  She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and Co-Chair of the TCCC’s Political Action Committee.

Lori is a featured speaker globally and has received numerous national awards, including the Alumni Award for Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement from Howard University, PUSH for Excellence, Dr. MLK Jr. Corporate Award, Atlanta Business Chronicle Top Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Atlanta Business League’s Top 100 Black Women of Influence, Academy of Women Achievers’ YWCA of Greater Atlanta, Inaugural Bravo! Award for Diversity and Inclusion from the Hispanic Public Relations Association, Chairman’s Circle Leadership Award from the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Inc., Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Order of the Phoenix Award and is a Georgia PRSA Hall of Fame Inductee.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in public relations at Howard University and her Master of Arts in public communications at American University.  In 2019, she completed a 13-month Executive Leadership Experience Program at Harvard Business School; and in 2021, she completed Stanford University Graduate School of Business Directors’ Consortium.  Lori is an ordained minister.

As the university’s first chief diversity officer, Henderson helps lead the realization of Emory’s vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion by working with campus leaders and representatives to define community goals, establish guiding principles, and create a strategy for moving forward and communicating progress. Henderson partners with Emory’s leadership, students, faculty, and staff to reimagine and strengthen comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the university and to create mechanisms for communicating the institution’s commitment to these principles and practices. She also serves as the public voice on these issues, helping to shape the discussion in the Atlanta metro area, nationally, and internationally.

Henderson joined the University of Delaware faculty in 1995 and served as the university’s vice provost for diversity beginning in 2014. In that role, she oversaw and promoted diversity efforts across the university and provided strategic leadership in advancing diversity as an institutional value and an academic priority in all facets of the academic community.

A widely recognized scholar and specialist in African American literature, Henderson also was professor of English and Africana studies at the University of Delaware, and served as interim chair and chair of the Department of Black American Studies from 2010 to 2014.

Her authored and edited volumes include Imagining the Black Female Body: Reconciling Image in Print and Visual Culture (2010), America and the Black Body: Identity Politics in Print and Visual Culture (2009), James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain: Historical and Critical Essays (2006), and Scarring the Black Body: Race and Representation in African American Literature (2002).

Henderson holds a BA from the University of California–Los Angeles, an MA from California State University of Dominguez Hills, and she received her PhD from the University of California–Riverside.

Julia Levy  is the Head of Global Talent Acquisition at CommScope.

Jeri Hawthorne joined Aflac in 2019 as the vice president of Corporate Human Resources at Aflac, Inc. She became SVP, CHRO of Aflac in 2023. In her current role, she leads all facets of the Human Resources functionfor Aflac. She has more than 20 years of human resources experience,specifically as a strategic HR leader, a talent management expert and inglobal human resources.

Prior to joining Aflac, Jeri was the Managing Director/Head of HumanResources for Campbell & Company, a quantitative hedge fund based in Baltimore, where she led their HR, administration teamsand community outreach. Jeri worked at Exelon from 2010-2017, where she was the director of Talent Management and Leadership Development and the HR Director for Exelon’s commercial organization. Jeri worked inHR and talent management at T. Rowe Price and has broad experience in global human resources. She was director of Global HR and Employment at the U.S. Pharmacopeia, leading the HR strategy for their global expansion efforts. Jeri was an expatriate in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she worked as an International HR consultant at Novo Nordisk. She started her HR career working as a cross-cultural trainingmanager at GMAC-Global Relocation Services and Berlitz Intercultural Services in New York, NY, and Princeton, NJ, respectively.

Jeri holds both the SPHR and GPHR. She is a Global Fellow in Talent Management (the Wharton School). She has an MSc in Social Policy fromthe University of Bath (United Kingdom) and a BA in Political Science from Wheeling Jesuit University.

Pam Pujo is a Diversity Advocate for Affirmity.  She has nearly a decade of experience developing and leading successful diversity strategies and innovative D&I programs. Her expertise spans diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility, with an emphasis on data, metrics, and benchmarking. Ms. Pujo has managed and led diversity awareness education programs across functional and departmental lines, including talent management, professional development, and business development.

In her role at Affirmity, she helps clients optimize their diversity and inclusion programs through deployment of its diversity benchmarking and reporting tools.

Ms. Pujo holds a Master’s in Humanities and Communications. She currently serves on the Greater Dallas Advisory Board to the Texas Diversity Council.

Emily Bianchi is the Goizueta Term Associate Professor of Organization and Management at Goizueta Business School. She holds a PhD in Management from Columbia University and a BA in Psychology from Harvard University. Bianchi's research examines how the state of the economy shapes attitudes and behaviors ranging from individualism to ethics. Her work also looks at how economic conditions in early adulthood influence later job attitudes, self-concepts, and moral behavior. Her research has been covered by The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR's Marketplace, USA Today, The Financial Times, Businessweek and others. Prior to graduate school, Bianchi was a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Lynette Bell is president of the Truist Foundation, an organization committed to collaborating with innovative companies and investing in communities to build better lives. In this role, she is responsible for strategic philanthropy, deepening strong partnerships with nonprofits and strengthening local communities in the areas of leadership development, economic mobility, thriving communities and educational equity.

Bell has served as a board member of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership and National Church Residences.

Bell received her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and certification as a compliance manager from the University of Georgia and the Georgia Bankers Association.

David Adamson, MD, FRCSC, FACOG, FACS is a reproductive endocrinologist and surgeon, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ARC Fertility, and Clinical Professor at Stanford University and University of California San Francisco.

Dr. Adamson practiced clinical medicine for more than three decades, helping thousands of patients on their fertility journeys with compassionate care, supportive emotional counseling, and treatment using the most sophisticated reproductive technologies. He has more than 300 peer-reviewed and scientific/medical publications on topics including evidence-based standards of care, cost effectiveness, optimizing outcomes, emotional aspects of fertility, access to care, affordability, and gender equity. He led the development of several innovative digital health care tools that are now used globally and in the ARC Fertility employer program. He is an internationally recognized leader in infertility, fertility care and family building.

Based on his extensive and deep experience, in 1997 Dr. Adamson founded ARC Fertility, the leading national network of family building specialists. The ARC Fertility Employer Family Building Program provides inclusive, supportive, comprehensive, cost-effective quality navigation and care with validated superior outcomes.

Before joining ARC, April was VP of IT Product Development and Support Services in a specialty field of healthcare information.  Her role was developing and delivering IT systems solutions to enhance clinical and healthcare business efficiency. Prior to that, April spent several years working with OB/GYN physicians. Currently, April has more than 19 years of experience in fertility business development and IT healthcare systems. She now directs the ARC Employer Program, assisting employers to optimize their reproductive healthcare benefits through increasing access to high-quality, cost-effective fertility care.

Maya Lawrence (she/her) is the founding Allyship Program Director & Resident Artist at the Alliance Theatre.  She is a NYC born- Atlanta based artist and activist, specializing in theater, performance, and poetry. She uses her superpowers of creativity, curiosity, and compassion to develop the Allyship Program for youth & families, corporations, and organizations in pursuit of becoming the most authentic, empathetic versions of themselves. As a proud Spelman College alumna, Maya is on a mission to liberate the world through art using Love to light the path.

With more than 25 years of HR industry experience, Jennifer is passionate about guiding organizations and senior leaders on how to celebrate, connect, and coach their people and teams helping people discover their full potential to do the best work of their lives. Prior to Workhuman, she served as the VP of Total Rewards for Symantec Corporation, where she was responsible for setting and leading Symantec's global total rewards strategy.

Today, at Workhuman, she consults with HR leaders on how to build high performing cultures with measurable results, leveraging the power of recognition. Through Workhuman’s award-winning Social Recognition and Continuous Performance Management solutions, she helps more than 6 million people around the world have a more inclusive, positive employee experience at their workplace. Jennifer frequently presents at HR industry events, including WorldatWork's Total Rewards conference, CEB Evanta and Workhuman Live.

Rohini Shankar is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Ciox Health.

Vivian Greentree, Ph.D., is a Senior Vice President and Head of Global Corporate Citizenship and President of the Fiserv Cares Foundation at Fiserv, where she has created award winning employee-centric programming while driving diversity and inclusion and community investment efforts and culture-development. In her current role, Vivian oversees the strategy and implementation of Fiserv’s strategic philanthropic, diversity and inclusion, employee and community engagement efforts. Vivian joined Fiserv through the Fiserv acquisition of First Data in 2019, where she served in the same capacity. Before launching First Data’s Office of Corporate Citizenship, she joined First Data as the Head of Military and Veteran Affairs in February 2014. In that role Vivian created First Data Salutes, a company-wide military engagement strategy to provide the military community with access to career opportunities and best-in-class education resources, while offering premier business solutions to veteran-owned businesses. In recognition of First Data’s success under Vivian’s leadership, First Data was ranked #1 on Military Times’ Best for Vets: Employers in 2017 2018, and again in 2019. Prior to joining First Data, Vivian co-founded Blue Star Families, the largest national military family organization in the country where she created and oversaw BSF’s groundbreaking and now annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey, which examines a broad spectrum of issues affecting modern-day military families, including a military community civic health index.

Vivian is a Navy veteran and military spouse with nearly 2 decades of leadership experience across public, non-profit, and private sectors. In 2019 she was accepted into the prestigious Presidential Leadership Scholar program, designated a City of Alexandria “40 Under 40,” and was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a “Veteran Who Means Business.” In 2020, she was awarded Corporate Citizen of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Vivian is dedicated to creating positive spaces for citizens to thrive and firmly believes organizations and communities are powered by people and that human capital management is the key for effective organizations and a flourishing, civically engaged society. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Dog Tag Bakery, a veteran entrepreneurship incubator, is on the Board of Advisors for Girl Scouts of America’s Greater Atlanta Council, and the Alumni Association Advisory Board for the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. Most recently, she joined the Board of Directors for the Red Cross of Georgia. She is a proud military spouse, married to a Naval Aviator, and together they have two boys, ages 16 and 13.

April King has more than 25 years’ experience designing and delivering strategic leadership development initiatives internationally, to support organizations in developing high-potential leaders at multiple levels.

She has consulted with senior executives to create and manage succession planning and performance management processes through the identification of success profiles and competency modeling in order to develop a pipeline of future leaders. April also has significant experience in coaching senior leaders and high-potential executives on their personal development opportunities and action plans.

April joined DDI as a senior consultant in our Hong Kong office, and lived and worked in Asia for nine years, supporting various global and local clients across Asia. She currently lives in Fargo, North Dakota.

Davida leads Product Management & Sales for E4E Relief, expanding the field of employee relief through our offerings, future enhancements, and innovating grants to individuals around the world.  Coupled with her philanthropic consulting background, Davida has a deep understanding of corporate social responsibility.

She is recognized as a national expert in employee relief, including compliance with program policies and IRS regulations. Through the Napa Valley Disaster Response Fund and Brave of Heart Fund, she has led efforts for applying relief more broadly to communities in crisis. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has completed the Essentials of Business for Nonprofits through Wake Forest University.

Guy Assad is the CEO of Clerkie, a debt automation platform that he cofounded in 2016. Guy is an engineer with 15+ years of experience in Deep Tech (Deep Learning, Robotics) and Finance (Consumer / Retail Banking). After receiving his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Howard University, he earned a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from USC and a Master’s in Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to Clerkie, he was a rising junior partner at McKinsey where he spent 5 years implementing digital solutions at major banks in the US.

Dr. Wendy Whittington has spent 30+ years in healthcare in clinical, administrative, and consulting roles. Throughout her career, she has been passionate about changing healthcare for the better. That desire to make a difference led her to Cariloop as a board member in 2018 and now as their first Chief Care Officer. Cariloop is a caregiver support platform and service with a mission to relieve the stress and anxiety felt by all caregivers.

Dr. Whittington is a board-certified pediatrician and practiced in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. She began the transition into the information technology and business sides of healthcare as a physician champion for EHR adoption in the 1990’s and has held various positions in the acute care and industry settings including CMIO, CIO and CMO. She brings her broad healthcare, information technology and teaching background to Cariloop knowing that family caregivers are integral to the health and wellbeing of their loved ones and deserve our recognition and support. A long-time student of healthcare policy and process, she is thrilled to help articulate how supporting family caregivers is not only the right thing to do but solves some of our healthcare system’s biggest problems, particularly over-spending while seeing suboptimal outcomes.

Dr. Whittington completed the Masters of Medical Management degree program at Carnegie Mellon University in 2009.  She received her MD degree in 1990 from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Having experience in healthcare delivery, administration, revenue cycle, consulting and academia, she brings a diverse point of view to the national discussion around how we best support caregivers. Recent roles include telehealth strategy, clinical effectiveness, healthcare process optimization and clinical decision support consulting.

Ayanna Cummings is the Director of Diversity + Inclusion at Compass Group.

Valerie Norton is the Chief People Officer at Habitat for Humanity.

Vijay Swaminathan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Draup, an AI-Driven Reskilling and Talent Intelligence Platform. Vijay has extensive experience in the areas of Product Ideation, Concept to Productization, and Platform enablement. He brings a wealth of expertise in the areas of Data Analytics, Operations Research, and Strategic Management. He has developed numerous quantitative models and heuristics related to global talent, business analytics, and strategic business initiatives.

Vijay is also the co-founder of Zinnov (a leading research & advisory firm) and TalentNeuron (acquired by CEB a Gartner Company (NYSE:IT)). Prior to co-founding Zinnov and TalentNeuron, Vijay held senior positions at Hewitt Associates and KPMG Consulting. He is passionate about translating business ideas into tangible Intellectual Property.

Rick Kearney has been with Rise Against Hunger since 2007. Bringing a background of banking, teaching, ministry and missions, Rick has applied his diverse skills and experiences in various roles within Rise Against Hunger. Beginning as a Community Engagement Manager in Eastern North Carolina, Rick launched Rise Against Hunger’s second meal packaging location and subsequently worked in logistics, distribution, operations and community engagement. Rick is currently the Chief Operating Officer, working with the organization’s supply chain, operations, process improvement and community engagement teams. Rick strongly believes that passion may draw a person to Rise Against Hunger, but purpose and fulfillment will sustain them. Rick graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 1983 with a B.S. in Business Administration.  Rick lives in Kinston, NC, with his wife, Susan, and son, Samuel.

Kelly Yamanouchi is a business reporter covering airlines and the airport for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She started at the AJC in 2008, joining the paper from The Denver Post. She has also worked as a business writer for newspapers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Honolulu. She has a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Bria R. Griffith is the Inclusion and Diversity leader for Honeywell Building Technologies and Honeywell Connected Enterprise both headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Bria is a fearless Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) advocate. She approaches her work by promoting inclusive education, advocacy, leadership development and sponsorship. Bria is an award-winning management consultant, influencer and executive practitioner for JEDI efforts across business, government, nonprofit and education promoting JEDI values for the development of work in these sectors and to the benefit of the communities they serve. A thought leader and strategic planner, Bria has successfully initiated results-oriented programs, workshops, trainings and discussions for senior leaders, people managers and staff that encourage reflection, awareness and understanding ultimately inspiring organizational growth and progress.

Cierra Chuly Boyd leads the Global Communications for Diversity, Equity Inclusion (DE&I) at Cummins Inc.

As the DE&I Communications leader, Cierra is responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies in support of company-wide and external initiatives that embed Cummins Diversity and Inclusion values – to help engage, inspire and empower employees in these efforts and amplify DE&I work externally.

Cierra has long experience in both communications and diversity and inclusion. She started her career as a TV Reporter in Columbia, MO and later served as a Marketing/PR Communications Specialist for TV-Publica-Canal 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She then held various Corporate and Marketing Communications roles at Guess Inc., Kellogg Company, Brambles Inc., and WellStar Health System. While at Kellogg, Cierra had responsibility for diversity and inclusion communications, and she served as a consultant for Kellogg’s Diversity and Inclusion Employee Resource Groups. Cierra is also the Founder and Executive Director of Obioha Communications Inc., working with clients including The Scholarship Academy (a nonprofit and AmeriCorps partner) and Fulton County Schools.

Cierra holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Spanish from the University of Missouri and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Business with a focus in Executive Leadership from Liberty University. She is proudly married to real estate professional Tommy Lee Boyd, Jr. They have a lovely 19-month-old daughter Chiamara and will soon welcome their second child mid-summer.

Alexis Hauk has written for outlets, including TIME, The Atlantic, The Bitter Southerner, Garden & Gun, Atlanta magazine, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ArtsATL, American Theatre, and more. In 2024, she won the Atlanta Press Club award for best arts writing. Alexis spent a decade living in cities scattered across the U.S. (New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Los Angeles) before heeding the siren song to return to her place of origin, Atlanta, in 2018. Along with freelancing, she currently serves as Director of Communications for Emory Heart & Vascular and previously worked as a health communications specialist at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). Other passions include theater, comedy, film, animals (particularly cats and sharks), and travel.

Jamie Hillegass is the Director of Talent, Development and Learning at White Cap. She has 10 years in the Leadership and Org Design space across multiple industries. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human and Org Design from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from The Ohio State University.

David Malmborg is VP of Marketing & Community at Nivati, a leading mental health platform for employees. He serves on the Board of Directors of Utah Digital Marketing Collective, a non-profit organization promoting marketing education in the intermountain region. He has over 15 years of experience in various marketing initiatives. Previous to his role at Nivati, David ran agency operations and performance marketing at two different marketing agencies focused on travel and tourism and has worked with multiple world class ski resorts, and convention and travel bureaus.

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!