Global & Cultural Effectiveness

Michele Whitehead, PHR
manager of HR Services
Berkshire Associates, Inc.
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Michele Whitehead is Senior Manager of Client Services at Berkshire Associates. In her position, Michele is responsible for overseeing, developing, and implementing training and consulting services related to affirmative action and pay equity analysis.

With over 20 years in the human resource industry, Michele is an expert in HR practices and procedures. This experience allows her to develop and present training sessions to educate clients on the latest affirmative action, applicant management, compensation, and workforce analysis topics and trends. She has a true passion for educating fellow HR professionals, which is why she has been an active speaker throughout the country at conferences and meetings including the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Talent Management and Annual Conferences.

Michele has a Master of Business Administration in Human Resource Management and Management Skills from New York State University at Buffalo. Michele holds both SPHR and SHRM-SCP Certification and is a member of the national Society for Human Resource Management.  

SESSIONS:
Eric Peterson, MSOD
Senior Consultant
Cook Ross Inc
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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.

SESSIONS:
Minjon Tholen
senior consultant
Cook Ross Inc
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Minjon Tholen is a Consultant and Training & Development Lead at Cook Ross Inc. She has over a decade of experience in facilitation & curriculum design, and specializes in creating and facilitating trainings on diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, leadership development, and cultural competency. Minjon has developed and led workshops for corporations, educational institutions, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and other clients in the US and around the world. Her clients include EMC-EMEA, the Royal Bank of Canada, T. Rowe Price, Bank of America, Genentech-Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Mitre Corporation, USDA, Kellogg’s, Tata Communications, George Washington University, Community Health Network of Connecticut, the Roosevelt Institute, and the Human Rights Campaign. Minjon has been a speaker at a number of conferences, such as the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles annual event, SHRM Diversity & Inclusion Conference, and Linkage Institute for Leading Diversity & Inclusion. She also served as an international witness at the first European diversity conference dedicated to addressing racial and ethnic differences in the European Diversity & Inclusion space. Minjon’s other responsibilities at Cook Ross include the onboarding and learning & development programming for consultants, delivering Train-the-Trainers, curriculum design, and managing the pro-bono and charitable giving initiative of the organization. Born in Sri Lanka, raised in the Netherlands, and further educated in the United States, Minjon graduated cum laude from the University of Utrecht for her Bachelor’s degree, and holds a Master’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining Cook Ross, Minjon was a New Leader at the Center for Progressive Leadership and the National Council of Women’s Organizations. She has also worked at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington D.C., and served as a Pipeline Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute in New York.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 - 3:15pm to 4:30pm
Elizabeth Campbell
director, Diversity and Inclusion
Campbell Soup Company
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Elizabeth is an attorney, HR professional, and diversity practitioner.  Effective July 16, 2018, she joined the Campbell Soup Company’s D&I team and will work on the  development and execution of key components of a new D&I strategy. Previously, Elizabeth was Partner/Chief Diversity Officer for Andrews Kurth Kenyon in Houston. Before joining the law firm in 2007, Elizabeth was VP Employment Relations/Corporate Diversity Officer for ARAMARK in Philadelphia. Elizabeth is a frequent speaker, training facilitator and author on D&I and employment law. Elizabeth received her J.D. from University of Michigan and her B.A. from American University.

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Shilpa Pherwani
principal/CEO
IBIS
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Shilpa Pherwani is an organizational psychologist by training and the Principal and CEO of IBIS Consulting Group, Inc. She has expertise in the areas of cultural competency, diversity and inclusion, organizational development and e-­learning.  As a consultant and trainer, Shilpa provides guidance to organizations to develop and achieve their D&I business goals.  She provides subject matter expertise in change management, organizational development and diversity to help organizations align D&I with business strategy. Shilpa heads the design and development team at IBIS for diversity e-­learning tools. She has led the team for several highly effective programs for clients such as Aetna, Boeing, Campbell Soup, Grainger, ESPN, Nestle, Microsoft, Sun Life Financial, and Xerox. Shilpa’s work with global organizations has included conducting diversity assessments, diversity and cross-­cultural training, leadership development, and implementation of diversity strategic plans. Shilpa received her Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Springfield College with a focus on Organizational Development.

 

SESSIONS:
Katy Jo Meyer
Senior Global Diversity & Inclusion Manager
Microsoft
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As a part of the Global Diversity & Inclusion team, Katy Jo partners with Business and HR Leaders in two of Microsoft’s engineering groups that include 25,000 employees worldwide to attract, retain, and develop diverse talent, as well as create an inclusive work environment where all employees can reach their potential.  Katy Jo also acts as a D&I liaison with Microsoft’s Staffing Consultants globally for hiring and onboarding people with disabilities.  Katy Jo continues her passion for working with People with Disabilities by representing Microsoft on the Corporate Advisory Board for the United States Business Leadership Network (USBLN). 

Katy Jo has been at Microsoft for 15 years.  Prior to working in Global Diversity & Inclusion, Katy Jo spent 7 years in another Organizational Development role where she built and launched Microsoft’s integrated worldwide talent platform for managing and developing employees across the entire company, known as the career model.  She also drove alignment of the talent and leadership development strategy with the overall business strategy to ensure high business impact.

Prior to working with career models, Katy Jo spent her first 5 years at Microsoft within the Staffing organization, where she co-created the Explore Microsoft Program. Designed to increase the Computer Science graduation rates among females and diverse students, this program provides freshman and sophomore college students a meaningful introduction to a career in the technology industry and remains a pipeline of diverse technical talent for Microsoft.   

Katy Jo received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from Carroll College in Helena, Montana and her graduate degree in Organization Systems Renewal from Seattle University. 

SESSIONS:
Joe Gerstandt
speaker, author
Talent Anarchy
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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.

SESSIONS:
Lindsey Gardner
HR Manager
TZ Insurance Solutions
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Lindsey Gardner has a variety of HR and I/O experience as a generalist, analyst, administrator and consultant. She has worked with businesses of all sizes ranging from locally owned start-ups to the Fortune 100.  She holds an MBA with a concentration in Human Resources Management and is currently conducting research towards her PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. She is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, American Psychological Association and Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology.  

SESSIONS:
Edward E. Hubbard, Ph.D.
Personal Pronouns
He/Him/His
President & CEO
Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc.
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Dr. Edward E. Hubbard, President and CEO of Hubbard & Hubbard, Inc., an International Business Performance Consulting Corp. specializing in Business Improvement, Diversity Return on Investment (DROI®) Measurement/Analytics, and organizational development.  Author of more than 59 DEI ROI and Business-related books, Dr. Hubbard is an expert in Organizational Analysis, ROI Measurement, Strategic Planning, and more. Dr. Hubbard was an honoree at the Inaugural International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals Living Legends of Diversity Award Ceremony in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico where he received the “Living Legends of Diversity Award” for creating the “Diversity ROI Analytics” and “Diversity Measurement Fields and their associated Disciplines” and is recognized globally as the creator of these unique sciences and fields of study. 

Dr. Hubbard received the “Excellence in Global Leadership Award” from the World HRD Congress (the highest individual professional award given), the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award from The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences, the Sentry Award from the U.S. Pentagon, and many others.

Dr. Hubbard serves on the Harvard Business Review, Diversity Executive Magazine and Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management (SDIM) magazine Editorial Advisory Boards and serves on the Board of Directors for The Ohio State University African American Alumni Society. He also holds a Practitioner Certification and Master Practitioner Certification in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), a Neuroscience discipline. Dr. Hubbard earned Bachelors, Masters Degrees from The Ohio State University and earned a Ph.D. with Honors in Business Administration.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 - 10:15am to 11:30am
Alexis Terry
Director of Diversity and Inclusion
ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership
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Alexis Terry is the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership. Her main responsibility is to develop and facilitate a strategic, organization-wide initiative to ensure that ASAE & The Center represents a diverse and inclusive organizational model for the association community and to support the membership in their efforts to embed such practices into their own organizations. She also supports the work of ASAE & The Center’s diversity committee, a body of ASAE & The Center members who guide the organization’s diversity and inclusion initiative, and work with DELP (Diversity Executive Leadership Program) scholars to assist in their continued professional development and involvement in the organization. 

Prior to joining ASAE & The Center, Alexis held a variety of roles at BoardSource, a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing the public good by building exceptional nonprofit boards and inspiring board service, based in Washington, DC. Alexis is the author of BoardSource’s 2008 Next Generation and Governance Findings Report and served as project manager of BoardSource’s Diversity and Next Generation Initiative, a multiyear effort designed to reach and prepare diverse, next generation leaders for board service. 

A graduate of Pepperdine University, Alexis holds a degree in communication and a certificate in nonprofit management. She is currently pursuing an executive certificate in diversity strategy from Georgetown University.

SESSIONS:
Miguel Joey Aviles
Personal Pronouns
He/Him/Él
Chief Belonging Officer
MJA & CO, LLC
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Miguel is the Chief Belonging Officer of MJA & CO, a Minority-owned consulting firm helping leaders leverage DEI as a catalyst to improve recruitment, engagement, and retention.  Recognized as a LinkedIn's Top Voice in Racial Equity, Top 15 Champion of Diversity by Diversity Global Magazine, a Top 100 Executive by Diversity MBA Magazine, and featured as an Inclusion Innovator by SHRM.

Miguel served as the first civilian Chief of D&I in the history of the US Coast Guard.  He started his career as diversity recruiter and for over a decade held several leadership positions in 3 major Federal Departments. Miguel is a TEDx speaker, featured at the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and Telemundo.

 You can learn more about him by visiting www.migueljoeyaviles.com

SESSIONS:
Monday, October 13, 2014 - 3:15pm to 4:30pm
Ramona Royal, PHR, CPCU
manager of Employment and Employee Integration
Amica Insurance
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Ramona manages the employment section in Human Resources at Amica Mutual Insurance Company in Lincoln, R.I., which focuses on diversity, engagement and employment issues. She works with Amica managers across the country to improve the company’s diversity and engagement footprints, and to ultimately support the corporate mission, which is to create peace of mind and build enduring relationships.

Ramona, who has more than 15 years of HR experience, holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She also has earned the insurance industry’s Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) professional designation and the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification.  Additionally, Ramona is a mentor for the Year Up program and holds a board position for Diversity and Inclusion Professionals in Providence, R.I.

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