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The Speakers
Featuring:
Serena Williams
Tennis Grand Slam Champion, Entrepreneur, Investor, Philanthropist
Serena Williams embodies style, power, beauty and courage. The longest ranked #1, the most successful female player of the Open Era and prized WTA player of all time, Serena has overcome insurmountable odds to win 23 career grand slams. Not only is she remarkable at tennis, her success with endeavors outside of the sport include film, television, and fashion. Her tennis ability combined with her off-court presence makes her one of the most recognizable names and faces in the world – an icon.
Jaclyn Ahearne
Global VP of Human Leadership and Business Transformation, BISSELL Homecare, Inc.
Jaclyn Ahearne, Vice President of Global Human Leadership and Business Transformation, joins us with a 30+yr. career. She is a visionary trailblazer, experienced leading digital transformation, Human Resources, Information Technology, Enterprise Program Management, M & A, Global Talent Management, and Supply Chain teams through transition in consumer device and highly regulated environments of global pharmaceuticals and U.S. hospitals. She also has a strong history of directing internal and external projects globally, having lead teams in Israel, Australia, Mexico, China, and the UK. She is passionate about designing and implementing transformational initiatives that use technology and the best of individual potential to drive insights or new ways of working.
Sarah Alter
President and CEO, Network of Executive Women
Sarah Alter is President and CEO of the Network of Executive Women, a nonprofit learning, leadership and gender equality advocacy organization of over 13,500 members (representing nearly 900 organizations), over 300 national and regional corporate partners, and 22 regional groups in the United States and Canada. NEW advances gender equality and diversity across many industries, including retail, consumer goods, financial services, and technology. Alter joined NEW in 2017, and has wide-ranging executive leadership experience in the markets NEW represents.
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Mariana Atencio
Peabody award–winning journalist and author
Mariana Atencio is a motivational speaker, Peabody award–winning journalist, author and influencer, included in AdWeek’s “Young Influentials”, as well as the co-founder of Go Like, a multimedia production company. Mariana’s TEDx Talk What Makes You Special? is one of the top 10 most watched on YouTube and translated into 13 languages. Her first book, Perfectly You, was an Amazon Best Seller and selected as an Audible Editor’s Pick and AppleBooks “Must Listen.”
Nicole Balkenbusch
Head of Finance for Amazon's North America Customer Service Operations
Nicole Balkenbusch is Head of Finance for Amazon's North America Customer Service Operations, leading a team across 5 countries and has been at Amazon for 3 years. Amazon Customer Service prides itself on serving customers with Amazon’s mission to be “earth’s most customer-centric company.” Previously, Nicole worked at Procter & Gamble for 11 years (relocating 4 times), having experiences across manufacturing, supply chain management, corporate consolidations, and sales/marketing. She graduated from The Ohio State University with an Accounting degree and got an MBA from Xavier University. Nicole is also the Executive Co-Chair of the Network of Executive Women's Pacific Northwest chapter, where she drives initiatives to Advance All Women, in conjunction with her personal legacy statement to be a “strong business woman who helps others break down barriers.”
Dr. Angie Beeman
Associate Professor, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Affiliate Faculty, Black and Latino Studies, Baruch College-CUNY
Dr. Beeman's research examines the evolution of racism, its intersection with economic inequality, and how this process affects institutional practices, identities, and interracial organizing. Her work has addressed how organizations can build more equitable environments as well as the challenges diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives pose for faculty of color. Her forthcoming book, Liberal White Supremacy addresses the role progressives play in silencing racial and class oppression and examines differences between liberal and radical organizing. Dr. Beeman's research has appeared in Harvard Business Review, both online and in the journal, Forbes Magazine, Sociological Forum, Social Science Quarterly, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Violence Against Women and as chapters in several edited volumes. She has also written for Counterpunch Magazine and Racism Review. Her research on what she has called "emotional segregation" received an award from the American Sociological Association (ASA) and was published as the lead article in Ethnic and Racial Studies. This work was noted in the 2018 Presidential Address for the ASA.
Steffi Behringer
Partner, Palette Group; Co-Founder Allyship & Action
Steffi - born and raised in the Black Forest - transitioned to the US in 2014 after graduating University in Augsburg, Germany. She spent four years on the Brand side at a Fortune 500 automotive company, before she started her production career in New York City. She builds, produces and executes one-of-a-kind events, immersive experiences, brand activations or exclusive pop-ups - IRL and virtually for clients like BMW, MINI, Google, YouTube, Forbes, Foot Locker, Under Armour, NBA and more.
Maurice Biriotti
Founder and CEO, SHM
Maurice Biriotti is founder and CEO of SHM, a firm that specializes in using innovative approaches in the Humanities and Social Sciences to solve business and organizational problems. SHM was built on the insight that human motivation is at the root of all business success and is critical to business innovation and the delivery of competitive advantage. Maurice has personally been senior advisor to a number of senior executives in the C-suite of major global corporations.
Leilani Brown
Corporate Executive, Author, Speaker
Leilani M. Brown is a corporate executive, an author, a public speaker and a champion for participation and inclusion for all. With nearly 30 years of experience in global businesses, she serves as a board member, a consultant and advisor to companies and executives on strategy, communications, public relations, crisis management, the future of work and inclusion and equity. Leilani is the former senior vice president of strategic partnerships and external engagement at Stride,Inc. (formerly known as K12, Inc.) the largest and leading online learning company serving kindergarten through 12th grade students. In this role, Leilani built the company’s first partnership program with leading companies, industry associations, non-profit organizations, and institutions of higher learning.
Lynn Clark
Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Perdue Farms
Lynn Clark is Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. She joined Perdue Farms in 2021. In this role, she is responsible for all aspects of Perdue Farms human resources strategy that engage and develop talent, shape culture and focus on associate well-being through active talent management, organization development, inclusion and diversity and total rewards, including Perdue HealthWorks®. Lynn has more than 30 years of experience in a variety of industries and geographies with human resources leadership across pharmaceutical, medical device and diversified industrials. Lynn holds a bachelor of science degree in education and a master of science in college student personnel from Bowling Green University in Ohio.
Mimi Dixon
Director – Brand Activation & Content, Crayola
Mimi Dixon is a highly motivated and dynamic thought leader with +20 years of expertise in Integrated, Shopper & Sports marketing for leading global brands. She describes herself as a “Big Idea Generator, Activation Master, Strategic Thought Leader and Passionate Marketer”. Currently, she is Director – Brand Activation & Content at Crayola. In this role, she spearheads Advertising, PR, Shopper Marketing, National marketing campaigns and Digital & Social Content & Imagery. Most recently, she led the development & activation of Crayola’s 2020 Colors of the World skin tone crayon launch which garnered over 3 billion impressions to date and has gone on to win various marketing, diversity & inclusion & product industry awards including a TOTY (Toy of The Year) award for Creative Toy of the Year. Mimi also serves as the Chair for Crayola’s first Diversity & Inclusion Council & is hard at work in building the council’s foundation for both the council and the company.
Amelia Dunlop
Chief Experience Officer and US Customer Strategy & Applied Design Leader, Deloitte Consulting, LLP
As Chief Experience Officer at Deloitte Digital and leader of the US Customer Strategy and Applied Design practice for Deloitte Consulting LLP, Amelia Dunlop helps companies develop winning strategies that combine innovation, creativity, and digital strategy. Amelia received Consulting Magazine’s 2020 Top Women in Technology Award for Excellence in Innovation. She is author of the forthcoming book, Elevating the Human Experience: Three Paths to Love and Worth at Work.
DJ ETrayn
Entertainer
Eddie Traynor (DJ ETrayn) is a DJ, Multimedia Host, Brand Ambassador, and Entrepreneur from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the Official DJ / Host for the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, and the Cincinnati Bearcats. Having performed across 48 states, Eddie has had the opportunity to share the stage with artists like Ne-Yo, Usher, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Big Sean, Diplo, and 50 Cent. As well as performing at events such as, Usher's Super Bowl Party, Major League Baseball's All Star Week, 50 Cent's Effen Vodka Tour, and The Cincinnati leg of Jay-Z & Beyonce's "On The Run Tour". Eddie has also DJ’d, hosted, and partnered with corporations such as JDRF, Kroger, Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati Film Commission, Saks Fifth Avenue, Luxottica, Nordstrom, Lululemon, and many more.
Andrea Faccio
Chief Marketing Officer, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company
Andrea Faccio is Chief Marketing Officer for Nestlé Purina PetCare Company. She has been with Nestlé for nearly 25 years, holding Marketing positions in Brazil, Switzerland, Australia and the U.S. Andrea came to Nestlé Purina in 2012 as Director of Marketing, Latin America & Caribbean, and was promoted to Vice President, Marketing & Category Channel Sales Development, LatAm, in January 2016. Later that year, she was named Vice President, Golden Products. She assumed her current role in October 2017.
Lex Gillette
Paralympic Track and Field Athlete, Team USA
Lex Gillette is a globally recognized Paralympic track and field athlete for Team USA. Competing primarily in the long jump, Lex has amassed five Paralympic medals, four world championships, and he is the current world record holder in the event. He is the only totally blind athlete on the planet to eclipse the 22-foot barrier in the long jump. He is fresh off a silver medal win in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Lorraine Hale
VP Marketing, Bimbo Bakeries USA
A passion for food, wine and brand marketing led to a career that has filled homes across America with deliciously satisfying breads, desserts, and the wine to pair with them. With a start as an Account Executive in a small Retail Agency Lorraine learned the basics of consumer engagement developing local TV and Print advertising and handling Sales calls with Regional Car Dealers and Appliance Retailers. Following this, Lorraine moved to Kobrand Corporation, marketer of fine wines and spirits. During her twelve years at Kobrand, Lorraine managed superior wine brands such as Louis Jadot, and worked with wine makers, restaurants, and hospitality clients to develop award winning programs and events featuring a diverse roster of celebrities such as Julia Child, Roy Lichtenstein, Twista and Kate Pierson. Lorraine also launched the Alize de France specialty cognac brand for which she was named Brand Marketer of the Year by Brand Week Magazine and Woman of the Year by Bartender Magazine.
Phil Hansen
Artist, Speaker, Author
Referred to by his fans as “the Artist for the People”, Phil Hansen is an internationally recognized multimedia artist, speaker, author and innovator - at the forefront of bringing art to a wider audience. Crashing irreverently through conventional boundaries, Phil works at the intersection of traditional art, electronic media, offbeat materials, and interactive experiences. He is most widely known for his meta-art, videos that document the creation process (sometimes even through destruction), showing millions that art is action, not just result. Hansen's work also extends deeply into traditional media with features on the Discovery Channel, Good Morning America, the Rachael Ray Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, Glamour and many more. His work is sought-after by many influential clients including the Grammy Awards, Disney, Skype, Mazda and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Laurie Henneborn
Accenture Research Managing Director, Team Lead - Accenture Operations
Laurie Henneborn is a Managing Director at Accenture, a leading global professional services firm. Based in New York, Laurie leads global research and thought leadership development in the Accenture Research organization that is focused on raising awareness and taking actions pertaining to disability inclusion and equality. To that end, she led the research for the Enabling Change study you’ll hear about in her session. Laurie sits on the board of directors for the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and on the Global Disability Inclusion Advisory Council at Accenture. Finally, she is especially passionate about coaching and mentoring colleagues with “invisible” or non-apparent disabilities - drawing from her own experience since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2004.
Sue Ann Hong
President and CEO, Center for Asian Pacific American Women (CAPAW)
Sue Ann Hong joined the Center for Asian Pacific American Women (CAPAW) May 2018 as the interim Executive Director. As of January 2020, she is the President & CEO. Her career was with State Farm Insurance Companies for over 28 years, including Data Processing, Diversity & Inclusion, Corporate Business & Technology Portfolio Management and P&C Auto Claims. She’s led up to 600 employees in multiple locations, managed 1000 contract employees and supported customers and State Farm agents in 23 states.
Jeremy Hunter, PhD
Founding Director, Executive Mind Leadership Institute
Jeremy Hunter, PhD is a global authority on mindfulness and leadership as well as the great-grandson of a sumo wrestler. He serves as the Founding Director of the Executive Mind Leadership Institute as well as Associate Professor of Practice at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. He leads the Mindfulness and Effective Leadership certificate for the Weatherhead School of Management’s Executive Education Program and is also co-founder and partner of Transform LLC in Tokyo, Japan.
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Kelly Jackson
Musician
Kelly Jackson is an international award winning Native American artist. Her edgy and soulful pieces have decorated stages across the United States, Europe, and Canada. Her music has gained admiration for its unique flare, soulful vocals, and remarkable ability to inspire and empower her listeners. Her debut album, Spirit of a Woman earned a NAMA for best Americana Album of the Year, her second, Renditions of the Soul, also received international recognition. Her single, After All This Time, earned a #1 spot on XM World and Indigenous Music Countdowns.
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W. Brad
Johnson, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Department of Leadership,
Ethics and Law; United States Naval Academy
Clinical Faculty Associate, Graduate School of Education, Johns Hopkins University
W. Brad Johnson is Professor of psychology in the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the United States Naval Academy, and a Clinical Faculty Associate in the Graduate School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. A clinical psychologist and former officer in the Navy’s Medical Service Corps, Dr. Johnson served as a psychologist at Bethesda Naval Hospital and the Medical Clinic at Pearl Harbor where he was the division head for psychology. He is a recipient of the Johns Hopkins University Teaching Excellence Award, and has received distinguished mentor awards from the National Institutes of Health and the American Psychological Association.
Jeff Kearney
Global Head, Sports Marketing, Gatorade
Jeff Kearney is Global Head of Gatorade Sports Marketing overseeing a team that manages the brand’s sports marketing portfolio, including all league, team, event and athlete partnerships and negotiations around the world. A 16-year veteran at Gatorade, Kearney has worked across many facets of the Marketing organization. From managing partnerships with key sports practitioners to overseeing the brand’s youth platforms, to serving as Brand Manager, leading cross-functional teams tied to customer programs and product innovation.
Leslie Lee
Vice President, Digital Experience, Hormel Foods
Leslie Lee is vice president, digital experience, bringing more than twenty years of CPG and marketing experience to the role. Lee leads the company’s growing digital and e-commerce business strategy, which has seen significant growth in the last few years as more consumers look online for their favorite brands and products. Lee oversees digital marketing, e-commerce operations and data management and analytics for the company’s portfolio of consumer-facing and foodservice brands.
Linda Lee
Chief Marketing Officer, Meals & Beverages, Campbell Soup Company
Linda Lee was appointed Chief Marketing Officer in December 2019. Linda has full marketing and brand responsibility, in addition to P&L accountability, for Campbell’s U.S. retail Meals & Beverages division. She and her team are responsible for driving demand for Campbell’s U.S. brands, leveraging new consumer-driven models across traditional and digital media channels along with a disciplined innovation approach.
Abbe Luersman
EVP and Chief People Officer, Otis Worldwide Corporation, Otis Elevator Co.; NEW Board VP
Abbe Luersman is the EVP and Chief People Officer for Otis Worldwide Corp., based out of the Netherlands through June of 2021 and as of July, Atlanta, Georgia. Otis is the world’s leading elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service company, moving 2 billion people a day and maintaining more than 2 million customer units worldwide. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 69,000 people strong, including 40,000 field professionals, all committed to meeting the diverse needs of its customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
Nancy Lyons
Founder and CEO, Clockwork Interactive
Nancy is an outspoken advocate for making work better. More inclusive, flexible, and adaptable. No one does great work if they're worried or if they can't bring their whole self to work. And she learned this the hard way: by having terrible jobs and not fitting in. Things many of us can relate to. But how do we create workspaces like that? It's on us: leaders, employees, teams. People. We all have to take responsibility for creating cultures and spaces that actually work for humans, with all their complexities, nuances, and intricacies. And in doing so, we will make better products, better experiences, and have better work lives. Her first book was Interactive Project Management: Pixels, People, and Process, a human-centered approach to producing digital products. Her current book, Work Like a Boss: A kick-in-the-pants Guide to Finding (and Using) your Power at Work, is the little book everyone needs to remember the actions, attitudes, and attributes that will make work better, for individuals and everyone around them.
Arist R. Mastorides
President, Family Care, Kimberly-Clark North America
A 30-year veteran of consumer packaged goods industry, Arist is the President of Kimberly-Clark’s North American Consumer Tissue Business building our Cottonelle, Kleenex, Scott, Viva and private label brands. Arist is passionate about building a diverse/inclusive culture, developing great talent, building strong brands and driving growth for our categories and Kimberly-Clark. Prior to this role, Arist was the VP/GM for Kimberly-Clark’s North American Huggies business where he helped create and lead a strategic business transformational plan, premiumize the business and integrate brand plans across diapers and wipes.
Dr. Tsedale M. Melaku
Sociologist, Author, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow, City University of New York
Dr. Tsedale M. Melaku is a Sociologist, Author, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas & the Caribbean (IRADAC) at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her recent book, You Don’t Look Like a Lawyer: Black Women and Systemic Gendered Racism (2019), reflects the emphasis of her scholarly interests in race, gender, class, workplace inequities, systemic racism, intersectionality, organizations and diversity. She earned a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Sociology from The Graduate Center, City University of New York and a B.A. in Sociology and Africana Studies from New York University.
Nate Nichols
Founder & Creative Director, Palette Group; Co-Founder Allyship & Action
Nate started his career in 2012 at The Agency Inside Harte-Hanks on the social strategy team, managing the Hyundai Veloster’s launch campaign – or, as he describes it – ‘selling cars on Twitter.’ Today, Nate, Creative Director, Founder, and the Palette Group specialize in branded content, commercial production, and experiential/event production for brands domestically and internationally. The agency and roster have worked with Fortune 500 and 100 brands including Foot Locker, Hyundai, GM: Chevrolet, Google, and more. The team also works with start-ups such as SAXX Underwear, Cora Women, and Ten Percent Happier. In 2020, he co-founded Allyship & Action, a virtual summit series rooted in reversing systemic racism and discrimination in advertising.
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Kev O’Sullivan
Senior Partner, Global Creative Leadership, FleishmanHillard
Senior partner Kev is one of the creative leaders at global creative powerhouse FleishmanHillard. As well as transformative campaigns spanning from London to LA, Kev dedicates his time to mental health, education and women’s equality charities, using his PR skills to better the world one Instagram post at a time. When he’s not bettering the world, he’s bending it for clients such as Samsung’s, Lowe’s, AT&T, Salesforce, Unilever, fitbit and Krispy Kreme.
Lanell Ohlinger
HR Business Partner for Supermarkets, Retail Operations and Administration, Kroger
Lanell provides strategic HR support for Kroger’s senior vice presidents of Supermarkets, Retail Operations and corporate administrative teams. Lanell began her career with Kroger in 2000 as a co-manager in the Michigan Division. Since then, she has held many leadership roles within the division, including Grocery coordinator, store manager and Labor Relations manager. She was promoted to HR Leader for the Michigan Division in 2011 and relocated to Cincinnati to take on her role as director of Human Resources at General Office in 2014. She was promoted to vice president of Business Unit Human Resources in 2016 and vice president of Talent Development in 2017. Lanell was promoted to her current role in 2020.
Cory Onell
President, U.S. Sales, The Kraft Heinz Company
Cory Onell joined Kraft Heinz in August 2020 and currently leads the U.S. Sales organization. He brings more than 20 years of CPG Sales experience, which includes his most recent role as Head of U.S. Retail, Customer and Commercial Business Teams at J.M. Smucker Company. He honed his expertise in the field through positions at other industry leading companies including Campbell’s, Kimberley-Clark Corporation, Mondelez International, Hershey’s and Kraft Foods.
Shane Ortega
Co-Founder, Spart*a
Shane Ortega is the first openly serving transgender military service member. He was featured in the HBO documentary The Trans List and on the History Channel’s History now. Shane is a mixed American Indian enrolled in the Skaroreh Katenuauka Nation, a retired disabled combat Veteran (Marines and Army) of over 11 years and a Two-spirit (Transgender) man. He has a 12+ year record of championing human rights legislation and policy. As an advocate, consultant, author, speaker and educator in topics such as LGBTQ equity, indigenous rights, disabled veterans’ rights, MMIW, two spirit education, land sovereignty and colonial/tribal law relationship. He is most commonly known for his work repealing the transgender military ban and co-founding the non-profit organization Spart*a. He also assisted with education for the “Road Home Program” at Howard Brown Health in Chicago.
Sarita Rao
President - Integrated & Partner Solutions, AT&T Business
Sarita has responsibility for leading AT&T’s business development and specialized sales efforts for next generation technologies to help business customers, across industry verticals, achieve their desired outcomes through innovation. Additionally, Sarita leads the organization working to help Communication Service Providers and Solution Providers deliver for their customers in AT&T Partner Exchange and Wholesale. Sarita and her team also enable sales across AT&T Business by providing tools, insights, and support.
Kim Reed
President & CEO, ITG Brands, LLC
Kim Reed is the President and CEO at ITG Brands. She is responsible for the US business, leading over 5500 and a $3B+ business as the largest market for Imperial Brands. She recently was the EVP of Sales where she designed and oversaw a comprehensive sales transformation strategy that encompassed ITG Brands’ largest ever external recruitment for field sales while prioritizing a diverse and inclusive culture. Kim has 32+ years of experience in key leadership positions within the CPG industry. She has held key leadership positions with Kellogg’s as the General Manager of US Sales and Pepsi Bottling Group of increasing responsibility and oversight, before joining ITG Brands.
Melody Richard
Merchandising VP, Pets, Walmart; NEW Board Co-Chair, Strategic Value
A passionate leader that is committed to delivering results and driving diversity and inclusion, Melody Richard is the VP/DMM of Walmart’s US Baby Business. She leads a cross-functional team to deliver upon customers’ needs and serve the ~11K babies that are born in the US every day. Prior to joining Walmart, she held leadership roles at Coca-Cola for 20 years in Operations, U.S. Sales, International Commercial Leadership, and Emerging Brands. At Coke, she led the Midwest D&I Council, served as Vice President of Women’s LINC, and led the NEW Regional efforts.
Teresa Sande
CEO & Founder, Mirror Mirror Strategies
Teresa Sande is passionate about equity in the workplace, healthy corporate cultures, and ensuring people are valued and rewarded for their contributions—those seen and unseen. She is the CEO and Founder of Mirror Mirror Strategies, a Talent consultancy focused on creating effective, inclusive leaders and high performing organizations. The name Mirror Mirror comes from Teresa’s coaching style where she ‘holds up the mirror’ for people to gain awareness and clearly see their talents, where they want to go, and what it will take to achieve their vision. Once you see something you can’t un-see it!
Danit Schleman
Consultant, DLS Consulting
Danit Schleman is an independent consultant focusing on strategy and organizations. She applies her extensive experience to the education, non-profit and corporate sectors, helping organizations understand how DEI impacts their organization and building roadmaps to align their organizations with their mission, business strategy and values. Danit acquired a strategic, data-driven toolkit over a decade of leading management consulting projects at Oliver Wyman. She balances her analytic toolkit with an outcomes-oriented, operational mindset developed over six years of leading talent strategy projects and building an Inclusion and Diversity team at Oliver Wyman, including launching a sponsorship program for women that resulted in a 60% increase in female Partner promotions. Danit holds an M.B.A. with Distinction from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and B.A. magna cum laude in social studies from Harvard College.
Jayshree Seth, Ph.D.
Corporate Scientist & Chief Science Advocate, 3M
Jayshree Seth is a Corporate Scientist at 3M and leads Applied Technology Development for Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division. She joined 3M in 1993 after an MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University, New York, and she currently holds 72 patents for a variety of innovations with several additional pending. Jayshree was appointed 3M’s first ever Chief Science Advocate in 2018 and is using her scientific knowledge, technical expertise and professional experience to advance science and communicate the importance and benefits of science in everyday life.
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Pamela Stewart
President, West Operations for the North America Operating Unit at The Coca-Cola Company
Pam has spent over 20 years across the Coca-Cola System in various key senior leadership roles in the areas of global, national and regional sales; operations; finance; revenue growth management; general management; foodservice on premise and B2B retail business segments. She currently is President, West Operations for the North America Operating Unit at The Coca-Cola Company responsible for 81M consumers, 600+ customers, 20+ bottlers, franchise leadership, operations and all routes to market for the West geography. Prior to this, Pam led large global and U.S.-based club and grocery retail customers as Senior Vice President, National Retail Sales at The Coca-Cola Company. Prior to Coca-Cola, she spent several years in finance across the Telecommunications industry. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of GLAAD; Co-Chair of Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms LGBTQ Advisory Councils; Board member of The Coca-Cola Scholarship Foundation; Board member of 3DE by Junior Achievement; Member of the Coca-Cola Retail Research Council, Executive Sponsor of The Bridge by The Coca-Cola Company and Board member the Global Advisory Board of OUT Leadership.
Julie Swift
SVP of Business Development, Waypoint
In addition to leading business development at Waypoint, Julie serves on the Advantage inaugural seven-member Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Board. She is also the executive team lead for Waypoint’s Culture Champion Team and DE&I Council. Her passion for foodservice is matched by her dedication to fostering a more diverse and inclusive industry overall. A veteran to the foodservice industry, Julie has held varied leadership roles across sales, marketing and business development. Before joining Waypoint, Julie spent 25 years with The French’s Food Company and McCormick. Throughout her well-rounded career at French’s Julie held various marketing and sales leadership roles, led corporate distribution and pioneered the non-commercial channel for French’s. Julie is a three-time TWIG (Top Women In Grocery) award winner and named Biz 417’s “Women Who Mean Business”.
Michael Tchong
Futurist & Author
Michael Tchong is on a never-ending quest to decode the future. His latest book, Ubertrends — How Trends And Innovation Are Transforming Our Future — offers a peak into a society transformed by Michael’s unique framework of Ubertrends, massive waves that change market behavior. His ability to ride waves early led to four innovative startups, including MacWEEK, which mainstreamed desktop publishing, ICONOCAST, which rode the digital Marketing wave, Atelier Systems, the creator of a groundbreaking CRM software, and CyberAtlas, an early tracker of the internet economy.
Misty Tripoli
Creator of BodyGroove™ and the Founder of The World Groove Movement™
Misty is a global force of inspiration and a self-proclaimed truth warrior. She has been on the road inspiring and moving people for over 20 years. She has become one of the most sought after luminaries, speakers, instructors and body image truth talkers of our time. Her raw, realistic and common sense approach to health, wellness and consciousness along with her passion for dance and creativity has quickly spread across the globe. Her inspiring message and simple techniques help people jump outside of the box, gain new perspectives and move their bodies in ways they never thought possible.
Monica Turner
President – North America, P&G
Chair, NEW Board
Monica leads P&G’s North America business, the Company’s largest and most profitable region which accounts for 47% of net sales. Her organization serves 370 million consumers in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, spanning sales offices, technical centers, manufacturing plants and mixing centers across the region. In this role, Monica builds on her track record of transformational results in businesses, organizations and the CPG industry. Monica joined P&G in 1987, progressing in sales, strategy and planning roles and making a significant impact across categories, channels and customers. In her prior role as President of Sales for North America, she led market growth and value creation across 10 categories and 65 brands.
Mirna Valerio
Author, A Beautiful Work in Progress and Fatgirlrunning
Mirna Valerio is a native of Brooklyn, NY, a former educator, cross-country coach, ultra-runner, speaker and author of the best-selling memoir A Beautiful Work in Progress. Although she began running in high school, she recommitted to the sport after a health scare in 2008. It was then that her love for running was reignited. She started the blog Fatgirlrunning, about her experiences as a larger woman in a world of thinner athletes. Mirna’s athletic story was later featured in the Wall Street Journal, Runner’s World, on the NBC Nightly News, CNN, on the CW Network and in the viral REI-produced documentary short, The Mirnavator.