Global & Cultural Effectiveness

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.

Anne Comer is a Vice President with Senn Delaney, a Heidrick & Struggles company. She has helped clients ranging from small non-profits to Fortune 500 companies shape healthier, higher performing cultures in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. With over 25 years of experience in human resources and corporate leadership, consulting and education, Anne now focuses on her passion for guiding leaders, organizations and teams to create a healthy environment in which all people can thrive and enjoy the satisfaction of achieving strong and sustainable results.

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Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.

As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. Recognized as one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” for 2024 by Savoy Magazine and one of the “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."

Mr. Taylor's career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/InteractiveCorp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

He is the author of the national bestseller, RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which immediately upon its release in September 2021, was in the top three of The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling hardcover business books.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees and serves on the corporate boards of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO), Flores & Associates, and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the Trump Administration.

The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) named Mr. Taylor as one of its 2023 Trailblazers in Gender Equity and Diversity for his work to achieve equal position, pay and power for all women in business. In 2020, he received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and he was named 2021 ALA Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update.

He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C.

Executive Director, partner and founder of MOT Training and Development, Inc a consulting company based in Miami, USA and Sao Paulo, Brazil, that holds a portfolio of international large companies since 1995.

Recognized by the T&D international community as one of the top professionals in the global industry, he is a leader in pioneering new models of learning and performance and people development at workplace, generating improvement of the business results in global companies. Alfredo is a multi-lingual Euro-Brazilian consultant, keynote speaker, board director, MBA professor and business books writer.

Amongst his extensive experience at global/international arena, evidenced through awards and invitations to make presentations at international T&D conferences, Alfredo Castro has travelled the world spearheading leadership models and learning solutions at business environment, mainly in the areas of change management, storytelling, corporate governance and consultative sales.

His 35 years of professional experience has given him the recognition from international T&D professionals and associations, after designing and implementing blended learning programs in more than 120 companies in more than 25 countries (Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas). His business agenda makes him travel about 40% of the year, making presentations or MBA classes, coach, consult and lead international projects at diverse cultures. After having a successful career as an executive (highlighted by a fast upward trajectory from consultant to international partner-director) along 17 years, in 1995 he became a founder of MOT Training and Development.

His top-notch expertise fully justified his nomination as the Chairman of the 2010 ATD Advisory Committee. He is the only non-north American T&D consultant who chaired the largest T&D association advisory committee, in 70 years of ASTD history.

Passionate about art, like performing humanitarian work for NPOs and carries out free coaching for professionals beginning their careers, in order to guide new gen-professionals on their goals.

Giselle is the Practice Lead in Optimus SBR’s Learning & Development Group with over 25 years experience as a sought after resource to industry leaders across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors dedicated to building strategies and programs that help clients target, motivate and engage employees in order to increase performance and productivity.

Giselle has devoted more than 20 years to researching the impact that generational differences have on organizational performance, creating solutions and programs in four areas – leadership, high performance teams, early career talent, and reinforcement & sustainment of learning. Giselle has co-authored two books and completed her Master of Arts Degree in Communications Studies at the University of Windsor.

She is Chair of the Board at The Institute for Performance and Learning (I4PL), co-chair of the Cross Academy Association and Advisory Council member at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Heather Tinsley-Fix is a Senior Advisor at AARP, where she leads the organization’s work on employer engagement and helps drive AARP’s focus on providing workers 50+ with the tools they need to thrive in today’s work environment.  With a background in marketing, innovation, and program management, Heather works with employers and job seekers, external partners, and academics to provide thought leadership on 50+ labor market issues and create practical resources that enable employers to capitalize on the value of experience. 

Rehana works cross-departmentally to implement and support the successful hiring, onboarding, and retainment of Fair Chance Talent at Checkr. Checkr has over 5% full-time engagement of Fair Chance Talent with an 85% retention and 34% promotion rate throughout the organization. Rehana works one-on-one with Checkr's Fair Chance Talent to support their personal and career growth and to develop leadership.

Brigadier General (Ret.) Carol Eggert is SVP, Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal. She provides strategic leadership to all aspects of Comcast NBCUniversal’s programs and outreach to the military and veteran community. Carol completed her distinguished military career in 2014 as the Assistant Adjutant General for the Pennsylvania National Guard and the Deputy Commandant for the Army War College. She served in a variety of command and staff positions and completed numerous overseas deployments, including a 15-month combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as Chief of the Women’s Initiatives Division and Senior Liaison to the U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, and received numerous military awards and commendations, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. 

Passionate Industrial Engineer with a 12+ year career in Human Resources leading strategic multicultural teams. Achieved ambitious results in dynamic international work environments while empowering professionals to help achieve successful career growth. Working first as an HR consultant for Cegos Group, then as an HR Director in the clothing industry (retail and wholesale) for brands such as Gant, Barbour, Belstaff, True Religion, La Martina in the Spanish market areas. And now at Cosentino, leading the Talent Management function facilitating the international business transformation across 5 continents and helping to solidify Cosentino as the global leader in the surface building materials market worldwide.