Communication

Christine is Vice President, Human Resources for SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment in Orlando, which includes SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica and Discovery Cove.   

Christine’s Human Resources career began in cosmetics and retail.  Immediately committed to helping drive professionalization of the Human Resources field at the time, she rapidly attained her PHR and SPHR certifications.  

In 1999, Christine joined Anheuser-Busch, previously the parent company of SeaWorld.  As part of Anheuser-Busch, Christine held positions of Human Resources and Labor Relations leadership in three domestic breweries as well as the corporate offices. 

Very active in the community, Christine serves as President of the Board of Directors for Canine Companions for Independenc- Southeast Region, is a member of the Board of Directors for the Animal Alliance of Greater Orlando and sits on the Orange County Tourism Development Council. 

Additionally, Christine enjoys riding horses, running and taking advantage of all the arts, entertainment and fine dining Orlando has to offer.

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.

Deb Dagit is a sought-after consultant and speaker on the topics of diversity and inclusion. She started Deb Dagit Diversity LLC in 2013 to deliver the practical, just-in-time services and products she wished were available when she was a Chief Diversity Officer.

As Merck’s CDO for almost 12 years, Deb was responsible for global equal opportunity, employee relations, recruiting and staffing, and diversity and inclusion. Under her leadership, the company was recognized for its exemplary work in diversity and inclusion by a wide range of business publications, government agencies, and professional organizations.  Prior to joining Merck, Deb was the leader of Learning Communications and Diversity at Silicon Graphics and head of Strategic Cultural Initiatives for Sun Microsystems.

She played a key role in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act through her lobbying efforts, and testified before the U.S. Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee in 2011 regarding best practices for improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities. 

Mister Manners, Thomas P. Farley, is an etiquette expert, speaker and author who’s helping America’s professionals master essential manners for success in the workplace—and in life. His workshops for banks, law firms, universities and Fortune 500 companies are engaging and memorable, offering employees strategies for getting along and getting ahead.

Mr. Farley is a regular and popular guest on the Today show, where he speaks on matters of modern-day etiquette—subjects from “avoiding awkward hugs” to “what not to wear at a company beach outing.” His insights appear regularly in other media outlets as well, including the CBS Early Show, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Wired and Money magazines, USA Today, CNN, ABC and on radio stations across the country.

Throughout 2011, he served as an ongoing guest-host for the daily call-in program Living Today on the Martha Stewart Living Radio network. He also helped launch that channel’s “Manners Monday” segment, which focused on matters of contemporary etiquette.

Mr. Farley was the “Social Graces” editor for Town & Country magazine for the better part of a decade and has been a guest lecturer at New York University’s School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. He is also the editor of the anthology “Modern Manners: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Social Graces.”

Eric C. Peterson, MSOD is a Senior Consultant with Cook Ross Inc. He is a recognized facilitator and educator in the Diversity & Inclusion space with over 15 years of experience in Unconscious Bias, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), Learning Strategies, and Organization Development. Eric is certified in the use of both the Predictive Index and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and is a graduate of the Facilitation Learning Partners Program of Healing the Heart of Diversity. He has been published in Profiles in Diversity Journal and Echelon Magazine, and has been sourced as a D&I expert by CNN, National Public Radio, USA Today, The Bloomberg Group, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times.

Joe Gerstandt brings greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts.

Joe has worked with Fortune 100 corporations, small non-profits, and everything in between. He speaks at numerous conferences and summits, and blogs at joegerstandt.com. He is a featured contributor for the Workforce Diversity Network Expert Forum and his insights have been published in Diversity Executive, HR Executive, and numerous other print and on-line journals.

A strong advocate for resetting the diversity and inclusion conversation, Joe sees these issues as poorly understood and often misunderstood.

Liz Bentley is the founder of Liz Bentley Associates, a consulting firm specializing in leadership development programs for both individuals and companies.  Drawing upon her background in psychology, 10 years of experience in sales and management, and a lifetime of experience in competitive sports, Liz has a unique appreciation of mindset and the power it has to change patterns of behavior. To her presentations, seminars, and one-on-one coaching, she brings her own experience and insights and combines this with the most current research on how people perform best. 

Liz works with high-level corporate executives and entrepreneurs within organizations and corporations of all sizes across a range of industries. She helps companies with their leadership development by providing team skill-building workshops, management training, communication skills seminars, mentoring programs, and 360º feedback reviews. Recent clients include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Wells Fargo, IBM, Newsday, Sotheby’s International Realty, KORG-World Leader of Musical Instruments and Farmingdale State College. 

Liz received her coach training from the New York University Certificate in Organizational and Executive Coaching program, and the David Rock Results Coaching System. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia. Prior to coaching, Liz worked in advertising sales for Condé Nast Publications and CBS Network.  She has also been a competitive athlete her whole life. She played Division I Soccer and Lacrosse at the University of Virginia. She taught skiing at Aspen Highlands in Aspen Colorado, has run the NYC Marathon twice, and currently plays competitive tennis, platform tennis and ice hockey. 

What makes Liz so effective as a coach, consultant and speaker is her deep insight into people’s behavior patterns along with her straightforward, yet tactful style. She provides clients with the focus, insight, accountability and support system they need to achieve success.

Marla Bradley founded Bradley Lambert (BLI) in 1979, with a vision to improve the performance of organizations by developing skills and knowledge of individuals who work and manage in them. Ms. Bradley leads the organization in developing learning solutions, consulting with clients on their training needs; designing individual training products for clients and helping in their implementation.

Ms. Bradley is a much sought after facilitator and public speaker. She has facilitated thousands of meetings from Board of Director planning meetings to rescuing teams that are failing to make progress. She is asked to give key note speeches on organizational improvement issues at corporate off site meetings and planning sessions. She and her team regularly conduct workshops for the clients or facilitate high level presentations by client executives and senior staff to employees.

Ms. Bradley has been an adjunct Professor at Loyola Marymount University in their Executive MBA Program. She has been a lead instructor and program designer for the Certificate in Management Effectiveness, an executive program offered through the University of Southern California (USC), Graduate School of Business Administration. She also has conducted seminars for the Instructional Television Network at USC.

Ms. Bradley received her Bachelor of Science and a Master in Business Administration from USC.

For more than twenty years, David Maxfield has led high-leverage research initiatives that uncover causes of and solutions to managerial, cultural, and operational inefficiencies that directly affect the bottom line. David’s career began with his doctoral work in psychology at Stanford University. Since then, his impact on organizational performance has been wide-reaching as he’s helped clients such as General Mills, Harvard Medical School, Pizza Hut, and Spectrum Health increase organizational effectiveness and become measurably more vital.

Terri Hartwell Easter is a seasoned executive and management consultant, HR expert, and executive coach with nearly 30 years’ experience and a trademark for delivering innovative, informed thinking to some of the toughest HR management challenges in highly regulated, competitive industries, such as utilities, energy and power.

Terri is a well regarded organizational change strategist for leading professional services firms, commercial banks and the White House alike. Understanding that at the heart of every organization is its people, Terri’s signature employee engagement approach moves beyond elusive measures with limited impact to actionable best practices that grow the bottom line.

Before establishing her consulting practice, Terri was the Chief Operating Officer of a major Washington, DC law firm. During her tenure, the firm’s financial results doubled placing it among the top 200 in the national AmLaw rankings by profitability. The firm is regarded as one of the best financially managed firms among those annually surveyed by Citibank and Wachovia Bank.

Terri is a regular on the national speaking circuit. Recent topics include: Making Diversity Work: Building a New Culture of Inclusion to Attract and Retain Top Talent, Managing a Multi-Disciplinary Team, Measuring the Effectiveness of Human Resources Initiatives, New Strategies for Law Firm Revenues, Business Planning for Legal Professionals, Making the Transition from Law School to Law Practice, and Managing Real Estate Today. Notably, Terri was recently selected to present at the 2014 National SHRM Diversity & Inclusion Conference on the topic of diversity as a way to achieve employee engagement. In addition, Terri is the keynote speaker at Delaware Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) statewide diversity conference in July 2014. She will be speaking to DE SHRM members about “Diversity & Inclusion: Moving Beyond the Numbers.” Previously she has spoken to local SHRM chapters, including DelMarVa SHRM. She has been quoted as an HR expert in publications including The Legal Times, Human Resources Executive Online, and ABA Management Magazine.

Terri is a graduate of Southeastern University, with graduate coursework in business administration from Howard University and Harvard University and specialized training in business process re-engineering and service quality management from the Disney Institute and Stanford University. She is a former trustee of Southeastern University, former chair of the Human Resources Section of the Association of Legal Administrations (Capital Chapter), and past member of Commercial Real Estate Women.