Business Acumen

Heather Johnston is the Founder of Renowned Recruitment Group (RRG) located in San Francisco. Heather comes with over 20 years of repeated success in designing and delivering world-class human capital strategies and programs that drive organizational change and operational excellence for startups to Fortune 500 organizations.

She is a spokesperson for numerous media outlets around the world and a sought-after speaker for topics that include employment trends, employee engagement, and marketplace forecasting.

Gary Ware, the Founder of Breakthrough Play is a corporate facilitator, keynote speaker, certified coach, and self-proclaimed Creative Catalyst. Gary has over 14 years of experience in the corporate word holding various leadership positions. Being a multifaceted individual Gary also comes with nearly a decade of experience as a performer in improv theatre. After experiencing burnout in his pursuit for success and happiness, he realized that what was missing was play. Committing to a life of play is what led Gary to discover his passion for facilitating. Gary uses the power of applied improvisation and other playful methods to assist people in unlocking creativity, confidence, and better communication. Gary was recently featured as one of the Top 100 HR influencers of 2020 by the Engagedly HR software platform. When Gary isn't leading workshops or speaking, you can find him learning magic or off an adventure with his wife Courtney and son Garrett.

Magi The Evolutionist

Catalyst for Positive Change

Personal - Interpersonal - Team - Organizational

Using a unique combination of experiential coaching, science-backed development tools, and actionable strategies, Magi empowers leaders to evolve themselves and their organizational culture to meet the moment. Whether it’s change initiatives, new leadership, or cultural transformation, she partners with teams to catalyze positive change.

Magi has spent her life reinventing herself. From a single mother at 19 working at the first Cable TV company, to leading one of the fastest growing consultancies and becoming a best selling author in her field of expertise, Magi has continually taken challenges and failure as lessons and learned to move beyond her limits (both real and perceived) to live a life that inspires and contributes. Her body of work cuts through the personal, group, and organizational malaise stifling happiness, joy, and fulfillment at work. Her uplifting talks and groundbreaking courses uncover, catalyze, and optimize human potential, unite teams, and raise organizational effectiveness. 

Beth B. De Lima, M.B.A., SHRM-SCP is the principal consultant and founder of HRM Consulting, Inc., where she provides expert testimony, FMLA/ADA training, and consulting in various HR areas. She is also CEO and co-founder of Leave Management Solutions LLC where her Integrated Leave and Accommodation Management SystemTM, coaching and online training for HR pros and non-HR managers and supervisors, help governmental and pseudo-governmental clients easily manage federal FMLA and ADA issues, as well as the critical California specific Medical Leaves and Accommodations in compliance with CFRA and FEHA. Ms. De Lima is nationally certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources, with a California specific certification (SPHR-CA) by the Society for Human Resource Management  (SHRM) and was appointed to sit on the Employee Health, Safety, and Security Special Expertise Panel. She is a  certified mediator, U.C. Berkeley, Extension Program and has been appointed to the Amador County Superior Court Mediation Panel.

Ms. De Lima will focus her training presentation at the Western Region IPMA - HR Conference services on how to pro-actively manage FMLA leaves and ADA accommodations in your workplace. Strategies, best practices and little known free and paid resources will be covered to help make managing FMLA, ADA, Pregnancy Disability and Baby Bonding as easy as possible for you, including worker’s compensation compliance requirements, if needed.

Ms. De Lima may be reached at 209-728-8905 or bdelima@hrmconsulting.com, or you may visit her websites at: LeaveManagementSolutions.com and HRMconsulting.com

Christopher “CJ” Gross is the author of the best-selling book What's Your Zip Code Story? Understanding and Overcoming Class Bias in the Workplace and the highly acclaimed Harvard Business Review article, A Better Approach to Mentorship. He is a TEDx Speaker and founder of Ascension Worldwide, a firm dedicated to DEI and cultural transformation consulting based in the Washington, D.C. area. CJ has 20-years of experience as an international organizational development consultant specializing in leadership development, and DEI transformation. CJ is a certified Social + Emotional Intelligence coach, trainer, Keirsey Temperament professional, and Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Administrator.

Dr. Gaurav Bhalla is a globally acclaimed leadership and customer-centric growth strategist who inspires organizations, teams, and individuals to undertake human-centric journeys of transformational leadership, cognitive diversity, and collaborative creativity.

Published in both business and literature, his most recent book, “Awakening A Leader’s Soul,” reimagines the purpose of leadership and leadership journeys.

What sets Gaurav apart from other speakers, workshop facilitators, and authors is: 

• his learning, unlearning, and relearning mindset
• his passion for translating knowledge into action, and 
• his purpose that values the humanity of people more than their executive brilliance.

Eric Ellis is President and CEO of Integrity Development Corp. Since 1991, his firm has served businesses, law enforcement agencies, and organizations by building cultures where Diversity, Inclusion and Respect flourish, driving business results.

One of our nation’s leading strategists on Diversity & Inclusion, Eric and his firm have won numerous awards, including the State of Ohio's Minority Business of the Year, and the NAACP President’s Award. Eric is a member of the SHRM Inclusion & Diversity Expert Panel.

Eric is author of the book, Diversity Conversations, 3rd edition, and co-hosts a weekly broadcast of the same name at www.1320thevoice.com or facebook live, every Saturday, 9:30 am EST @elliseric.

Jane leads the human resources, OD and training function for Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) the largest credit union in New England with over 1300 employees and 23 branch locations.  Jane possesses over 25+ years of human resources experience in a variety of organizations including the healthcare, insurance and business services sectors.  She holds a BS and MS degree from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI; a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree from St. Joseph’s College in Standish, ME and an MBA in Organizational Development from Upper Iowa University..  Jane has both her SHRM-SCP and SPHR certifications.

Erin is the Chief People Officer at Optimizely where she oversees Recruiting, People Ops, Real Estate and Workplace Operations at Optimizely. Erin’s more than 20 years of experience includes a decade leading recruiting, talent development, and employee success at Salesforce, as well as sitting on the board of the Horizons Foundation.