Interpersonal (Behavioral)

Valerie helps companies improve their bottom line by elevating employees from tactical thinkers to strategic leaders.

She served in senior leadership roles at RollsRoyce Aircraft before helping to found InterActiveCorp, parent company to Expedia, Home Shopping Network and TicketMaster. She then went to work for Oprah Winfrey, helping to found the Oxygen channel which was later sold to NBC Universal.

Valerie obtained her mechanical engineering degree from Kettering University and her MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Val’s book, Clash of the Generations: Managing the New Workplace Reality, helps leaders manage multiple generations in the office.

Dr. Elizabeth Baca is a clinician strategist at Deloitte providing systems thinking and insights to health care and life science clients to support care delivery innovation to foster total health and well-being recognizing health equity and sustainability are central to this work. She helps strategically address ESG issues in a comprehensive way.

She served in both administrations of Governor Brown and Governor Newsom, first as Senior Health Advisor and then Deputy Director in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research for California. She has worked on a variety of projects to foster health through land use planning, systems change, food systems, precision health, precision medicine and big data.  Much of her work is about connecting the dots; she loves working across sectors to foster participant-centered design and collaboration.  A significant part of her work is aligning win-wins for projects that offer co-benefits particularly in addressing the social, economic, and environmental factors that impact health. As an example, she has done work to improve health through climate mitigation and adaptation projects. In her role with California, she has provided leadership and guidance to several initiatives including The California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine, the Global Climate Action Summit, and the California Health Care Climate Alliance.

Dr. Baca has served in several national and global advisory roles including with the Urban Land Institutes Health Leaders Program, an advisor to FoodSystem6, a food system accelerator, and as a contributor and member of the Biotech Futures Council for the World Economic Forum. She has been a contributing author on several publications including the National Academy of Sciences (formally Institute of Medicine) Consensus Committee for Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity, Demystifying Big Data and Machine Learning for Health Care, and Precision Medicine: An Action Plan for California.

Previously, she served on the General Pediatric Faculty at Stanford Medical School and directed the Community Pediatric and Child Advocacy Rotation.

Dr. Baca studied health policy at Universidad Simon Bolivar in Venezuela. She completed her Master in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and her Doctorate of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Baca completed her residency in the Pediatric Leadership for the Underserved (PLUS) program at University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Sesha Joi Moon [she/her/hers] is the Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion where she serves as the Chief Diversity Officer with the U.S. House of Representatives at the United States Congress. Prior to her appointment by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, she served in positions at the U.S. Department of Commerce within the Office of the Secretary and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office – concluding her tenure as the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.   

In addition to completing executive education programs at Harvard University, Dr. Moon holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Old Dominion University, as well as a M.S. from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and B.A. in African American Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University [VCU]. She is also a Senior Research Fellow with The Conference Board’s Engagement Institute and a Senior Fellow of the Excellence in Government Fellowship Program with the Partnership for Public Service.  

Dr. Moon, who has appeared in Essence, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, and Punchbowl News and on C-SPAN, has been recognized by Blacks in Government at the 2023 Annual National Training Institute and CNN at the United Nations as one of "100 Most Influential People of African Descent", is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and has held board positions with the African American Federal Executive Association, Commonwealth of Virginia's Criminal Justice Services Board and VCU President's Campaign Cabinet. She is also Executive Director of The JXN Project, which is a grantee of the Mellon Foundation's "Monuments Project" and has been highlighted by PBS NewsHour, TIME, The Boston Globe, and 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winner Richmond Times-Dispatch. Axios named her and her sister, Enjoli Moon, as the second "Most Powerful Richmonders of 2022" and she was named "Top 40 Under 40" by Style Weekly in 2023.

Dr. Moon, who hails from Richmond, Virginia, is the proud daughter of the late Mr. August Moon and Dr. Michon Moon and resides in Northern Virginia with her wife and cockapoo.

Kenston Henderson Sr., CSP, is the founder and CEO of Live With Lyfe, LLC, a premier training and development company. A TEDx Signature Speaker, Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), and certified John Maxwell Leadership Trainer, Kenston brings over 20 years of expertise in Human Resources and personal development. His powerful presentations have reached audiences across 40+ U.S. states and around the globe. Kenston is also an Amazon bestselling author, accomplished musician, and a devoted husband and father, dedicated to living out the values he inspires in others.

Nassim Abdi, Ph.D. is the CEO and Co-founder of StoryBolt, an innovative corporate inclusion training company sparking empathetic, guided conversations in the workplace with the power of storytelling through film. Nassim is a storyteller and evangelist dedicated to finding the intersection of entertainment and learning in the area of DEI.  She has 12 years of academic experience researching identity and intersectionality as they relate to systems of discrimination or disadvantage. Nassim's vision for StoryBolt was shaped while on the promotional circuit for her starring role in the internationally-acclaimed film Secret Ballot (2001). After seeing how film could change perspectives and facilitate courageous conversations, she and co-founder Babak Shahmansouri coined their novel active learning approach to addressing inclusion issues in the workplace.

Meg Switala serves as Director of Healthy Cultures at TiER1 Performance. In her role, she focuses on helping create thriving, healthy, high performing organizational cultures. Meg is passionate about helping people do their best work. Her work at TiER1 has been focused on employee experience, organizational effectiveness, talent optimization, communication, and growth and development. She also brings experience in the areas of strategic planning, marketing, research, new business development, and talent for Fortune 500 companies, and as an independent consultant. 

As part of her work fostering healthy cultures, Meg leads the Start the Conversation initiative and partnerships with participating organizations. Meg brings a passion for strengths-based leadership, mental health, and well-being. She was part of the development team for Start the Conversation, an organizational experience designed to reduce the stigma of mental health conditions in the workplace. Start the Conversation has been adopted by numerous organizations, featured as a model case study by the American Psychiatric Association, and recognized by the CDC as a workplace mental health success story. 

Bob is currently the Chief Diversity and Talent Officer at ADP. In this role, Bob is accountable for the Diversity, Corporate Social Responsibility and Talent strategy. Bob is passionate about ensuring that our workforce is reflective of the communities in which we live and the clients we serve. Additionally, he is an advocate for parity in leadership levels for all ADP population segments.

Prior to his role expansion, Bob was the Chief Talent Officer. He joined ADP in 2016 as the Head of Human Resources/Division Vice President for Small Business Solutions & HR Outsourcing business units. Bob’s corporate career spans over 20 years with several top tier companies. Prior to ADP, Bob was the Senior Vice President/Head of Human Resources at Harland Clarke; Vice President, Talent Management at First Data; HR Executive at USAA; Director, Human Resources at Limited Brands (Bath& Body Works, Express); Director, Player Services at Harrah’s Casino; Senior Group Manager, HR at Frito Lay, and Executive Senior Partner at The Lucas Group. He has led multiple HR Centers of Excellence (Diversity & Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Employee Relations and HR Business Partners) throughout his career.

Prior to his corporate career, Bob served as a field artillery officer in the US Army for 9 years. He commanded an artillery unit in Germany and is a Desert Storm veteran.

Bob is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned a MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Bob sits on the board of directors for the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, is a member of the Diversity HR50, coaches little league football, is a lifetime member of the VFW, The American Legion, and the National Black MBA Association.

Sherika Ekpo brings 20 years of strategic leadership, human capital, talent management and professional development experience to the interim Chief People Officer role at Anaplan, where she leads the company’s global culture, people, and communications teams. She is focused on building an innovative employee experience and culture of belonging that empowers people to contribute their best selves at work. Sherika joined Anaplan as the company’s first Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. Previously, she was the Global Diversity & Inclusion Lead for the Research and Artificial Intelligence teams at Google. She received her MBA from the University of Maryland and her bachelor’s degree from Howard University.

Hana is the founder of Gen Z Planet ─ a research and advisory firm. She helps business leaders to prepare for the next generation of employees and consumers. In this role, Hana combines her passion for insights with her commitment to support the integration of the next generation into society. As an award-winning management consultant who was named as one of the “Top 25 Consultants” by Consulting Magazine, Hana is a sought-after speaker and business commentator and is the author of the book Gen Z 360: Preparing for the Inevitable Change in Culture, Work, and Commerce.