Communication

Howard Ross is lifelong social justice advocate, and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias.  Howard has delivered programs in 47 states and over 40 other countries to audiences including Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities, and major institutions within healthcare, government, and non-profit sectors. He authored the Washington Post best seller, Everyday Bias:  Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives, ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance. His latest  book, Our Search for Belonging: How the Need for Connection Is Tearing Our Culture Apart, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2018, received the Nautilus Gold Medal for Social Change and Social Justice. His next book, Building Belonging: 9 Pathways to Creating Inclusive and Joyful Organizational Communities, will be published in 2020.

Melissa DeLay is the award-winning founder and principal owner of TruPerception. With nearly two decades of strategic and corporate communication experience—including consulting for companies such as Ameriprise Financial and the State of Minnesota, as well as senior positions with 3M, Carlson Companies, Maytag and AmeriPride—Melissa knows how to deliver the right words in the right way to drive change, manage crises, boost engagement and build a stronger brand.

Her first book “The Truth About Scandal: The Everyday Guide to Navigating Business Crises,” details Melissa's years of first-hand experience coaching and consulting professionals through some of the toughest communications issues facing modern leaders today. 

Dr. Michael Baran is the CEO of Iris Inclusion, a global diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) firm. Dr. Baran draws on his own social science research to inform his DEI speaking engagements, writings, consulting, leadership development, and eLearning. After teaching at Harvard University, he has been supporting DEI in organizations for 20 years. His work has been covered in the New York Times, BBC, Forbes, CNN, NPR, and more.

His recent book, Subtle Acts of Exclusion, was named by Forbes as one of “The 11 Books To Read To Be A More Inclusive Leader” and has won several awards.

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.

Celia Swanson is notably recognized as the first female executive vice president at Walmart Inc., breaking the glass ceiling for women throughout the Fortune 1 company. Her deep expertise in retail, large-scale transformation, company culture, and multi-generational workforce engagement serves as the cornerstone of her career legacy. Celia was hand-selected by the Walmart U.S. CEO to co-lead a cost-savings and associate engagement strategy transforming store operations for 1.4 million associates. Learn more about Celia and her book, Gracious and Strong, at celiaswanson.com.

Gregg Lederman is a professional speaker, professor at the University of Rochester Simon School of Business, and the President of Employee Engagement for Reward Gateway.  Over the past decade, Gregg’s clients have witnessed more than 90% employee engagement, nearly three times the national average, and more than 65% have been noted on “best place to work” lists. 

In addition to being a sought-after, highly engaging keynote speaker, Gregg has written three award winning books and is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Gregg lives in Rochester, NY, with his wife, Karyn, and three wonderful daughters.

Tony Lee recently retired as vice president of content for the Society for Human Resource Management, where he oversaw all editorial functions and staff and focused on evolving SHRM's content strategy globally. Lee hosts two award-winning podcasts, All Things Work and People + Strategy, and is a recognized authority on recruitment trends.

Lee is a frequent conference speaker in the U.S. and internationally, and has appeared as a career guidance authority on a range of television and radio programs, such as those produced by NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX, NPR, CNBC, Huffington Post, WCBS and The Wall Street Journal, including “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America.”

Lee is co-author of “The Jobs Rated Almanac” (Barricade), and “Career Choice, Change and Challenge” (JIST Pub.), and has published more than 15 books through his career. He also is a columnist for a range of industry web sites, including RecruitingTrends, Jobboarders and Staffing Stream. He has written The Wall Street Journal's “Managing Your Career” column, and his articles have appeared in hundreds of newspapers and magazines globally. Lee also has served on the board of directors of the International Association of Employment Web Sites for many years.

Prior to joining SHRM, Lee was editor and publisher of CareerCast.com, an award-winning site he created for job hunters and the HR community. He also served as chief alliance officer of CareerCast’s parent company, Adicio Inc..Lee also is the founder and former publisher of The Wall Street Journal Online Vertical Network and all of the sites within that network, including CareerJournal.com, OpinionJournal.com, StartupJournal.com, RealEstateJournal.com, CollegeJournal.com and “Political Diary,” a paid email newsletter about politics. Under his leadership, those sites won a range of awards and accolades. Combined, the Network sites attracted an average of 2.5 million unique visitors and 20 million page views each month. Lee also was one of two finalists for the Newspaper Association of America’s annual Online Innovator Award. Prior to moving online, Lee was editor in chief of the National Business Employment Weekly and of Managing Your Career, both published by Dow Jones & Co. Lee started his career as Director of Publications for the Chicago Chapter of the American Diabetes Association.