Business Acumen

Nathan blends data with industry trend analysis to share Indeed’s story and bring the value of the company’s programs and solutions to life. In his role, he focuses on crafting holistic, strategic solutions for clients to aid in solving their hiring challenges. With nearly ten years of experience within the HR and Staffing industry, Nathan still looks to challenge himself and learn from others every chance he gets. Prior to entering the private sector, Nathan worked for the Fire Department in Southern California for ten years. Nathan’s experience in public service is evident in his passion to deliver Indeed’s mission to “Help People Get Jobs.”

Heidi Laki is a product leader with a decade of experience with AI and its application across industries. She's passionate and committed to guiding and creating human-centered AI technologies and applications. At Indeed, Heidi focuses on using AI to improve recruiter efficacy with personalized messages, matching algorithms, and enhanced candidate evaluation.

Diane is PwC’s US HR Transformation Leader, helping organizations modernize their HR function to support changing business and workforce needs and expectations. With tenacious curiosity, Diane welcomes the opportunity to explore the art of the possible with organizations to shape HR’s contributions to culture, careers, collaboration, and community. Working across multiple industry segments, she is passionate about helping organizations rethink and reimage HR’s role through new services and modern technologies, inspiring new ways to engage and deliver services to leaders, managers, and employees.      

With over 30 years of consulting, Diane has been a speaker at numerous conferences and internal corporate leadership events. Prior to her role as PwC’s US HR Transformation Leader, Diane was the PwC Global Workday Leader, growing the business organically from inception and driving PwC’s Global professional services business in delivering Workday services. She was also the Diversity & Inclusion Leader for our Industrial Products and Services market segment.      

A math and computer sciences graduate of the University of Texas - Arlington, Diane is a past board member of the YWCA, Dallas helping low-income women achieve stability and higher levels of self-sufficiency. She is also a volleyball and tennis mother, supporting her family’s multiple interests. Diane married a Texas native and now lives in Dallas with her husband, Robert, and son.

Tisha Danehl is the SVP of Ecosystem Partnerships at LHH Recruitments Solutions. She is responsible for the growth and acceleration of human capital & talent solutions within the LHH verticals:  LHH Recruitment Solutions, LHH Career Transition and LHH Leadership Development.    She collaborates with US Sales leaders to identify opportunities across the Adecco Group Family of Brands ( LHH, Akkodis & Adecco) to create tailored solutions for companies across the US.  Prior to her current role, Tisha lead the charge with Ajilon’s brand expansion to 3 thriving practice areas today -Human Resources, Supply Chain and Healthcare.  With 20+ years of experience in the staffing industry, Tisha has developed a passion for connecting and collaborating!

As SVP, Head of Enterprise, Gretchen leads sales and delivery for General Assembly's upskilling, reskilling, and talent solutions business. General Assembly's products enable workforce transformation for the technology teams of global enterprises like Disney, Accenture, and Adobe.

Gretchen has spent the last 7 years at organizations developing innovative models to address the global tech skills gap. Prior to working in the education and talent space, she started her career in investment banking, and thus has first-hand knowledge of the grit required to execute a career pivot. She's passionate about unlocking the potential of every individual and every team to thrive in today's rapidly-evolving world of work.

Greg works with executive leaders who want to create a place people love working. He speaks at company events, association gatherings, and organizations where empowering
their people to live meaningful lives is a priority. His clients include some of the most prominent organizations, including Coca-Cola, Paycom, COX, TriNet, League of SE Credit Unions,
University of Oklahoma, and SHRM National Conference, to name a few.

With an approachable and vibrant demeanor, Greg possesses a unique ability to rattle the status quo and energize an organization's culture! As a result of his work, individuals have
a more profound sense of ownership, utilize a shared language, are energized about their mission, and work more collaboratively.

Greg lives to shape environments where everyone gets to contribute their best daily! In fact, in Greg’s upcoming book, he puts his years of leadership and real estate experience
together to share how to unlock an ownership culture in our new world of work. 

Sarah Beth Todd is the Pre-Sales Leader for the Employer Services – Workforce Solutions Division of Equifax. Sarah Beth is focused on helping Human Resources leaders solve their complex challenges - from hiring and onboarding to active employment and offboarding - with innovative solutions and industry data. The Pre-Sales organization includes technical subject matter experts and a training team that Sarah Beth built from the ground up. She has held various roles in sales and marketing throughout her career.

Kevin Cope is the #1 Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling author of Seeing the Big Picture: Business Acumen to Build Your Credibility, Career, and Company. A renowned trainer and speaker, Kevin has spent the last 25 years working with top organizations including 30 Fortune 50 companies. His 5 Business Drivers model and ideas, shared with millions through his book, articles, and courses, have been praised for being relevant and actionable; they help you come to the table prepared.

Tony Buffum is Vice President of HR Client Strategy at Upwork, where he is responsible for helping accelerate the growth of enterprise companies, helping them solve HR challenges related to finance, procurement and talent transformation. Tony brings over two decades of experience leading global HR teams as well as driving transformational change in company culture, organizational design, performance management, and employee integration and engagement. He joins Upwork following a series of leadership positions including chief human resources officer (CHRO) at FLIR Systems, VP of global human resources at STANLEY Security and VP of human resources at Stanley Black & Decker.

Global Speaker Sonia Aranza has presented on the international stage from Spain to Singapore.  She brings 27+ years of experience in Diversity, Inclusion & Global Leadership. Her clients include Boeing, CIA, McDonald’s and more. The U.S. Department of Labor describes her work as “Outstanding” and was selected to execute programs for landmark cases. SHRM featured her as a Diversity & Inclusion Expert in HR Magazine and she is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Leadership. She serves on the Faculty of Howard University’s Executive Diversity Program; named “100 Most Influential Filipina Americans in the United States” and honored “100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World.”