Global & Cultural Effectiveness

Gaurav Bhalla, Ph.D.
professional speaker, trainer, facilitator
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Dr. Gaurav Bhalla is a globally acclaimed leadership and customer-centric growth strategist who inspires organizations, teams, and individuals to undertake human-centric journeys of transformational leadership, cognitive diversity, and collaborative creativity.

Published in both business and literature, his most recent book, “Awakening A Leader’s Soul,” reimagines the purpose of leadership and leadership journeys.

What sets Gaurav apart from other speakers, workshop facilitators, and authors is: 

  • his learning, unlearning, and relearning mindset
  • his passion for translating knowledge into action, and 
  • his purpose that values the humanity of people more than their executive brilliance.
SESSIONS:
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - 10:15am to 11:15am
James E. Wright, SHRM-CP
Diversity & Inclusion Strategist and Tech Enthusiast
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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.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Sonia Aranza
CEO
Aranza Global Cross-Cultural Strategies
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Global Speaker Sonia Aranza has presented on the international stage from Spain to Singapore.  She brings 27+ years of experience in Diversity, Inclusion & Global Leadership. Her clients include Boeing, CIA, McDonald’s and more. The U.S. Department of Labor describes her work as “Outstanding” and was selected to execute programs for landmark cases. SHRM featured her as a Diversity & Inclusion Expert in HR Magazine and she is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Leadership. She serves on the Faculty of Howard University’s Executive Diversity Program; named “100 Most Influential Filipina Americans in the United States” and honored “100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World.”

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Blair Bloomston
partner, VP of development
Game On Nation
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Blair has spent the last 15 years working with the world’s most recognizable teams, corporations, athletes, and brands. Game On’s proprietary approach leverages the interactive power of game-based learning to inspire tangible workforce behaviors. Blair is considered a leading expert on the use of gamification and game theory to improve communication, leadership, team building, and culture.

Blair’s recent work in D&I includes instructional design and delivery for the U.S. House of Representatives and Deloitte. Some of Blair’s other clients include Joint Special Operations Command, USOC, US Air Force, US Army, USO, WWP, Hilton, Honda, Acura, NASCAR, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

SESSIONS:
Judith Michelle Williams
head of people sustainability and SVP, chief diversity & inclusion officer
SAP SE
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Judith has been at the forefront of the culture change movement in technology and entertainment – with a deep focus on analytics and strategies to identify and disrupt bias in social systems and corporate culture. She joined SAP in September 2018. 

Previously as Global Head of Diversity for Dropbox, Judith was responsible for all diversity and inclusion programs, as well as corporate social responsibility, and was the Diversity Programs Manager at Google where she directed the unconscious bias work stream, and built strategies for recruiting, retention, and advancement of the company’s technical employees.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Howard J. Ross
partner
Udarta Consulting
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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.

 

SESSIONS:
Leslie Traub
founder
Udarta Consulting
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Leslie Traub offers Udarta Consulting clients exceptional facilitation and training, inspiring and evidentiary instructional designs, meaningful organizational change, and transformative personal development. With more than 30 years of experience leading diversity, inclusion, and change management initiatives, Leslie creates sustainable systems of change that yield greater social belonging, organizational performance, and possibility.

As a Principal Consultant and former Partner with Cook Ross, Leslie has developed an international reputation for leading systems based change in shifting organizations’ lenses and practices on diverse talent, particularly for women. She has substantial experience leading engagements on gender inclusion, inclusive leadership, and mitigating bias in talent management and decision making, with many of her clients representing Fortune 100 companies.

Leslie has worked and lived in numerous cultures and countries, bringing her personal experience and sensibility to her work in cultural competence and cultural communication. Leslie spent the first 10 years of her career providing consulting services to national primary healthcare programs in West Africa and conducting operations research on service delivery and national program evaluations. Throughout her career, she has served as a guest lecturer at numerous U.S. academic institutions including Georgetown University, University of Southern California, and Johns Hopkins University.

Leslie is a Fellow in change management from Johns Hopkins University, holds a Master of Science in biostatistics and epidemiology from Tulane University, and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Wheaton College in Massachusetts.
 

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 10:30am to 12:00pm
Elizabeth Brown
chief people officer
Unity Technologies
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Elizabeth Brown is currently the Chief People Officer at Unity Technologies. Prior to Unity, she led HR at Trulia, an online real estate website. She spent several years helping grow Trulia including playing a critical role in the Zillow/Trulia acquisition integration.

Prior to joining Trulia, Elizabeth spent two years at LinkedIn leading HR for the Global Sales and Operations group and the HR International team. In this role, she was at the forefront of hyper-growth and led the team to deliver 100 percent year-over-year headcount growth and opened several international LinkedIn offices. Elizabeth also served as an industry thought leader on recruiting, scaling organizations, culture, and leadership. Previously, she held several HR leadership positions at Microsoft Corporation and Intuit. Elizabeth received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She was recently honored as one of San Francisco’s Most Influential Business Women.

SESSIONS:
Eric Ellis
President and CEO
Integrity Development Corporation
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Eric Ellis is President and CEO of Integrity Development Corp. Since 1991, his firm has served businesses, law enforcement agencies, and organizations by building cultures where Diversity, Inclusion and Respect flourish, driving business results.

One of our nation’s leading strategists on Diversity & Inclusion, Eric and his firm have won numerous awards, including the State of Ohio's Minority Business of the Year, and the NAACP President’s Award. Eric is a member of the SHRM Inclusion & Diversity Expert Panel.

Eric is author of the book, Diversity Conversations, 3rd edition, and co-hosts a weekly broadcast of the same name at www.1320thevoice.com or facebook live, every Saturday, 9:30 am EST @elliseric.

SESSIONS:
Monday, October 28, 2019 - 3:15pm to 4:15pm
Guillermo Mendoza
International Speaker & Executive Coach
Impact Coaching Solutions
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Guillermo disrupts people struggling to find happiness, to transform their lives by unlocking the powerful mindsets that create peace, abundance and happiness.

He accelerates leadership turning managers into leaders. Leadership expert, global speaker, author, entrepreneur, meditator, and executive coach. He is passionate sharing his tools and experiences on neuroscience, emotional intelligence, mindfulness and coaching to help people and leaders to thrive.

Guillermo is dedicated to empowering leaders to grow a successful organization developing talent in people. He engages people to reflect on their leadership and to make the changes to create transformations that will positively impact lives.
 
 
SESSIONS:
Melissa DeLay
communications strategist
TruPerception
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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. 

SESSIONS: