Global & Cultural Effectiveness

Michelle Kim is a fierce immigrant queer woman of color entrepreneur challenging the status quo in tech.

Michelle is the co-founder and CEO of Awaken (www.visionawaken.com), a leading provider of modern, experiential diversity and inclusion workshops that go beyond just “checking the box.” Awaken creates compassionate and inspiring learning experiences to empower leaders and teams to lead fearlessly and inclusively in today’s dynamic workplace.

Prior to Awaken, Michelle had a successful career in both tech and management consulting, working with C-/VP-level executives to build high performing organizations around the world.

Michelle has been a lifelong social justice activist and has served on a variety of organizations such as the LGBTQ Speakers Bureau, SF Human Rights Commission's Advisory Committee, and LYRIC nonprofit’s Board of Directors.

Michelle graduated from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business with a passion for social entrepreneurship. Michelle is a passionate keynote speaker and writer -- she was named “Top Writer in Diversity” by Medium for her thought leadership and is a contributor to Quartz at Work.

James Wright of JamesWantsToKnowYou.com is a dynamic and compelling leader with a track record of delivering practical roadmaps for increasing Inclusion and Diversity in global corporations such as Apple Inc., LinkedIn, NBCUniversal, and Time Warner (now WarnerMedia). A featured guest on NBC and FOX, Wright’s articles and commentary appear frequently on LinkedIn and his expertise has been included in The Washington Post as well as several SHRM articles. 

In his practice, James offers transformative training solutions on Gender Equality, Unconscious Bias, Improving Race Relations, and Generational Diversity. In addition, James introduced The Language of Inclusion - a free download of over 135 key terms and definitions to help organizations find a common language to Inclusion. With increased focus on gender and LGBTQIA+ equality, James believes it is important to update these terms to signal where we are today in our journey to ensure diverse communities are truly seen, heard, and valued.

James attended Erskine College in SC & The Catholic University of America in Washington DC.

Ashleigh Gardere serves as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA), responsible for implementation of a new business model for economic development. In partnership with NOLABA President & CEO Quentin Messer, Gardere is demonstrating the power of a holistic economic development strategy that fully maximizes opportunity for the people and businesses of New Orleans.

Gardere most recently served as a Senior Advisor to Mayor Mitch Landrieu. In this role, she managed the Mayor’s Economic Opportunity Strategy and supported the revitalization of the Claiborne Corridor through a cross-sector initiative called The Network for Economic Opportunity. The Network was responsible for the start-up, development, implementation and management of productive partnerships among local industries, small businesses, residents, non-profits and city agencies to drive long-term revitalization. By integrating The Network’s portfolio within NOLABA, Gardere expects to prove that an inclusive economy best ensures a thriving, sustainable economy for New Orleans.

Gardere previously served as Vice President of Community Relations at Chase Bank for Louisiana. During her tenure, she piloted the firm’s place-based neighborhood revitalization strategy.

Gardere began her career working in various strategic planning and policy development roles supporting the work of local and national nonprofit organizations with community development-oriented missions.

A New Orleans native, Gardere earned a B.A. in metropolitan studies from New York University and a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is the proud wife of Lamar and mother to Jayden and Justin Gardere.

Missy Sparks, PhD serves as Vice President of Talent Management/Human Resources  for Ochsner Health System. In this role she oversees Workforce Development, Orientation & Onboarding, Diversity & Inclusion, Performance Management and Engagement for more than 26,000 team members.

She leads her team in developing a diverse talent pipeline that opens career pathways into healthcare for the unemployed/underemployed. She is a current board member for the Workforce Development Board for New Orleans, YouthForce NOLA, and for Communities in Schools. Additionally, she volunteers weekly to help feed the hungry and homeless through St. Mark’s United Methodist in the French Quarter.  

Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg, an organizational psychologist, holds the title of Chancellor’s Professor at UNC Charlotte for distinguished national, international and interdisciplinary contributions.  He is an award-winning teacher, award-winning and best-selling author, and recipient of the very prestigious Humboldt Award for his research. Adam Grant has called Steven the “worlds leading expert on how to fix meetings”.  Steven keynotes span the globe and he consults for small and large organizations, including IBM, TIAA, Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Family Dollar, 3M, Corning, KPMG, Siemens, and others. Due to his extensive outreach work, was the inaugural winner of the SIOP Humanitarian Award. 

This speaker is a member of the SHRM Speakers Bureau.

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.

Kelly Greenwood is the Founder & CEO of Mind Share Partners, a leading workplace mental health nonprofit. Kelly is a Forbes contributor and the editor-at-large for the “Mental Health at Work” section on Thrive Global.

Previously, Kelly served as the Chief Growth & Strategy Officer of Techbridge Girls and was a Principal at the Skoll Foundation. Kelly worked as a management consultant at Accenture, A.T. Kearney, and the Bridgespan Group.

Kelly holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and graduated summa cum laude from Duke University with a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish.

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.

Jason Sheffield is BRPs National Director of Compliance for the Baldwin Regulatory Compliance Collaborative. He oversees the ongoing evolution of our firm's national compliance operations. Jason develops, designs and implements educational programming and compliance assuredness services by creating timely and relevant solutions designed for the benefit of our clients and colleagues, our industry partners, and the general benefits community. Jason has practiced employee benefits law and consulting for nearly two decades, representing individual, corporate, and tribal interests at the local, state, and federal levels. He has advised clients and provided representative services before administrative agencies such as the DOL, the IRS, CMS, OCR, several state-level treasury authorities, and others. He has experience with both qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, executive compensation matters, and extensive experience respecting health and welfare plan matters. Jason received his undergraduate degree from Georgia State University (magna cum laude) and his Juris Doctor from Western New England College School of Law. He is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia.

Janice Omadeke is the CEO and Founder of The Mentor Method, an enterprise platform helping companies keep and develop their diverse talent using the proven power of mentorship. Her company won Capital Factory's $100K Women in Tech Challenge, is a MassChallenge Texas Gold winner, and has been featured in respected publications including The Washington Business Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine. Black Enterprise magazine recognizes Janice as one of DC’s top 5 black women in tech, and she was a subject matter expert at the 2016 White House Summit on Building the Tech Workforce of Tomorrow. Janice is certified in Entrepreneurship from MIT, built a mentorship program scratch as a Manager at PwC, and is PMP certified with over 10 years of corporate leadership experience for Fortune 500 companies.