Leadership (Behavioral)

Kari Naimon, founder of AixHR, brings over two decades of Human Resources expertise. The advent of artificial intelligence transformed her career, turning personal fascination into a mission to help others harness AI's power.

Kari and her team create transformative experiences, sparking those pivotal “AHA” moments that unlock AI’s potential in their work. Kari's journey reflects her unwavering dedication to innovation and her commitment to empowering HR professionals to effectively integrate AI into their practices, thereby 'elevating, not eliminating' HR professionals worldwide.

Darren is an accomplished leader and seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience focused on driving healthcare innovation and transforming organizations. He has a background in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare, having held senior roles at companies specializing in developing disruptive and innovative genomic technologies for personalizing cancer treatments. Darren’s impressive track record of leadership roles includes the former Managing Director of Champions Oncology, founder and CEO of Reframe Health, and Chief Product Officer and Head of Programs and Market Intelligence at Genomic Life. Originally from the UK, he was a regular healthcare commentator for BBC before relocating to the U.S. to continue to make a significant impact on the healthcare industry.

JoDee is the Founder of Purple Ink, a human resources consulting firm in Indianapolis, IN. They serve a wide array of organizations with recruiting, HR consulting, leadership training, and HR outsourcing services.

JoDee serves on the Indiana SHRM State Council and is the chair of the Indiana SHRM conference.

Kristen Howe is the Vice President Enterprise Products for SHRM Enterprise Solutions, where she oversees Product Management and Product Development. She has over 20 years of experience building and leading businesses in the leadership and development space, with a focus on leadership development, sales, coaching and facilitation.

Kristen is passionate about building products that foster inclusive behavior, positive corporate performance and business outcomes. She strives to create products that help global organizations develop key segments of their business, in both live settings and through digital platforms. She empowers teams by developing smart and efficient processes designed to utilize the individual skills of every team member, all while optimizing overall performance.

Kristen is a highly sought-after leadership consultant and speaker, with a deep expertise in Advancing Women Leaders and Inclusive Leadership. She has delivered programs and keynotes to thousands of leaders globally at organizations such as the Chief HR Officer Exchange, The Chief Learning Officer Exchange, Constellation Brands, The Tata Group, Western Union, and Texas Instruments, among others. She is also an emcee at Linkage’s Women in Leadership Institute™, an immersive experience which attracts more than 1,400 women leaders across the globe each year.

Background & Experience:

Prior to joining Linkage, Kristen spent the last decade growing businesses within Corporate Executive Board (CEB), now Gartner. During her time there, she led multiple teams across the Talent Solutions business, focusing on conceptualizing, building, selling and delivering talent solutions based on CEB data. She also ran CEB’s Leadership Academies business, which developed more than 30,000 professionals at 2,100 companies throughout 50 countries; Kristen was consistently recognized as one of the top managers and coaches across the entire firm.

Education & Training:

Kristen previously served in a variety of roles including global facilitator, consultant and engineer. She has a Master of Business Administration from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University.

Shannon Bayer, JD, is a Principal Consultant with over a decade of consulting and facilitation experience. Shannon brings in-depth expertise and a passion for designing and implementing programs focused on advancing women in leadership—and empowering each leader with the knowledge they need to transform how they show up in their role and drive change in their organization. Shannon has led strategic engagements across a variety of industries, ranging from government to financial services, healthcare, insurance, and consumer products and goods. 

As a keynote speaker, Shannon brings stories from her personal leadership journey to the forefront, connecting her real-life experiences and work with leaders globally to key leadership concepts designed to help participants reflect on their own journey and take control of their path forward. 

Shannon holds a BS in animal science from the University of Vermont and a JD in international law from Suffolk University. 

Shannon was a rower in college and still loves to get on the water when she can. She enjoys spending time outdoors and will travel for a good hike or beach day with her dog and son, Max. Currently, Shannon resides in the greater Indianapolis, IN, area of the US after living in New England for over 25 years. 

Rebecca is the Executive Director of the Accelerate Leadership Center at the Tepper School of Business Carnegie Mellon University. The Center develops confident and inclusive leaders by providing assessments, learning experiences, and 1 on 1 coaching for Tepper Masters Students. Prior to joining the Tepper School, Rebecca worked at a Fortune 500 Company where she oversaw nationwide employee growth and development experiences and led award-winning sales teams. Rebecca earned an MBA from St. Joseph's University and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from University of Pennsylvania. Rebecca is an ACC ICF certified coach. 

Dr. Goldsmith is a member of  the Thinkers 50 Hall of Fame. He is the only two-time Thinkers 50 #1 Leadership Thinker in the World He has been ranked as the World’s #1 Executive Coach and Top Ten Business Thinker for years. His clients have included over 200 CEOs from around the world - including 5 US CEOs of the Year.

A New York Times #1 bestselling author, his 55 books have sold over 3 million copies and been translated into 35 languages.  In 2023, both Chief Executive magazine and Thinkers 50, listed What Got You Here Won’t Get You There as one of Best Business Books ever written. Amazon listed it, along with Triggers, in 100 Best Leadership & Success Books of All Time. Marshall is the only living author with two books on the list.  His newest book, and fourth NYT bestseller, is The Earned Life.

Marshall’s acknowledgements include BusinessWeek - 50 great leaders in America, Institute for Management Studies - Lifetime Award for Teaching, Harvard Business Review - World’s #1 Leadership Thinker, American Management Association - 50 Great Thinkers Who Have Influenced the Field of Management, SHRM Linkage – Legends of Leadership Award and  Global Gurus - Corps D ’Elite Award for Lifetime Contribution in Leadership and Coaching,  His life is featured in the documentary movie, “The Earned Life” and the New Yorker profile, “The Better Boss”.

Dr. Goldsmith served as a Professor of Management Practice at the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business. He has a Ph.D. is from the UCLA Anderson School of Management - where he was the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, an MBA is from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business - where he was the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year and a BS from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology – where he received an honorary Ph.D. in Engineering (in 2023). He has been a volunteer advisor and coach for the leaders in the Peter Drucker Foundation, World Bank, St. Jude Childrens Hospital, US Army and Navy, Girl Scouts, NY Public Library, USAID, and International and American Red Cross – where he was a National Volunteer of the Year.

Marshall has over 1.5 million followers on LinkedIn and 4 million views on YouTube. Hundreds of his articles, interviews, columns, and videos are online (at no charge). His resources have been viewed, read, listened to, downloaded, or shared over 100 million times.

Cameron C. Cozzens is a former U.S. Army colonel with more than two decades of distinguished leadership in intelligence and special operations. With a bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology and a master’s degree from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, he has led numerous organizations and has experience advising, consulting, and training leaders from multi-national corporations and federal government agencies to successfully lead organizational and cultural change. 

Cheryl Larson is President and CEO of the non-profit Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH), a coalition of more than 150 mid, large and jumbo, self-funded, public and private employers who represent more than 4M lives. MBGH seeks to advance leadership, collaboration, and knowledge among employers and stakeholders to continuously improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health benefits, health care, and community health. She currently serves on multiple boards and committees representing the purchaser perspective, including the Institute of Medicine Chicago – Board of Directors and Fellow, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchasing Coalitions – Board of Governors, University of Michigan Value Based Insurance Design (VBID) – National Task Force on Low-Value Care.

Ryan spent a decade litigating cases for the Department of Justice and U.S. Intelligence Community before joining Sixfifty, where he has happily traded arguing cases for collaborating on projects. At the time, Ryan was the first member of the Legal Product Team, and Sixfifty offered only one product. Today, he serves as Sixfifty’s Chief Legal Officer and leads a robust Legal Product Team that has helped create over a dozen products that simplify the law for businesses and individuals. Ryan loves spending time with his wife and four kids, coaching youth soccer, and camping in the Adirondacks.