Leadership (Behavioral)

Brisa Renteria is a talent strategist who has built her career on helping companies optimize their organization by finding the right talent, the first time. Before starting Improve Growth, Brisa was a sought-after sales consultant for the largest sales training organization in the world. It’s during this time that she discovered that companies without the right foundation, its people, cannot succeed with training and onboarding alone.

Today, she teaches companies how to recruit top-performing employees using a five-step process that predicts whether the candidate will succeed in the client’s environment. She has been featured in radio, print, and online as a leading voice in recruiting and has worked with companies like Keller Williams, CKoe Metals, and Microsoft. Brisa is the creator and host of the Successful Sales Hiring podcast, where she shares all-things sales hiring in under 20 minutes.

Omari Faulkner is President and CEO of Blue Fire Fed, a strategic communications and development company.  As a trailblazing business leader, driven by service and a passion to address the needs of the military community, Omari delivers solutions and provides thought leadership to Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, universities, and nonprofit organizations.  He ensures veterans, military families, and active military members transitioning to civilian life are fully integrated into the civilian workforce and culture; filling an untapped niche in the global workplace.

He has traveled to over 45 countries as a U.S. Department of State Special Envoy and is the author of Athlete for Life, a book providing student-athletes, parents, coaches, and the sport development community with a blueprint for success and lifelong accomplishment.  Today, he remains an active Public Affairs Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.  

Adriana is the CEO and Founder of Culture Redesigned.

She specializes in helping companies build winning teams that deliver on their goals. Rather than traditional consulting techniques, her company uses Behavioral Science Data to align Human Capital with Business Results.

Adriana is an experienced Human Resources leader, her areas of expertise include employee engagement, DEI strategy, change management, and training and development.

Adriana is passionate about diversity and inclusion as drivers of economic growth. Born in Colombia and naturalized citizen of the United States, Adriana earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Advertising and a Master of Business Administration from Nichols College.

She is a Senior Certified Professional by the Society of HR Management, Certified Executive Coach, Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified PI Partner, and member of the Delta Mu Delta honor society of International Business.

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.

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.

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.

Amy E. Hull, M.Ed. is the First Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Paycor, Inc. She brings authenticity to the forefront of leadership, action, and learning in the field of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Hull is a corporate leader turning DE&I strategy into actionable results. Recently featured as the cover of the July, 2022 issue of HR Future Magazine, her work is helping people learn how to internalize the work of DE&I to achieve systemic change for sustainable inclusion and belonging for all. After just one year of work, her leadership guided her company in obtaining the 2021 Top Workplace DE&I Practices Award.

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. 

Kim Crowder, Founder & CEO of Kim Crowder Consulting, is one of the country’s leading Anti-Racism, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Speakers, Coaches, Trainers, and Consultants. 

Kim and her team work across industries serving global organizations. From Adobe to Smugmug, the American Library Association, HarperCollins Publishers, and more, Kim and her team provide leaders and companies actionable tools to move initiatives forward long term.

Kim has been named by Forbes as a “Top Anti-Racism Educators Companies Need Now,” A Top 10 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Expert by All American, and Top Influential African-American Business Women To Follow by LinkedIn. She is also a member of the MIT Technology Review Global Panel and For(bes) The Culture.

She has been featured by The New York Times, Business Insider, Cheddar News, CBS, NBC, FOX, Katie Couric Media, regularly by Forbes, on Hubspot’s podcast, The Growth Show, Workology, and As Told By Nomads.

Roy is a digital marketing consultant and CEO of Digital Revamp Communications. Digital Revamp Communications is a leading digital marketing and advertising agency that creates digital communication strategy, launches creative websites and social media content campaigns to grow brands or executives presence and connect them with their audience.

Roy advises C-level executives on digital storytelling, online strategy integration, executive personal brand and paid media.

Through monthly collaboration, content creation, and social media engagement with Digital Revamp’s team, SHRM has amplified its online presence to become the leading voice on the future of the workplace with a content reach over 5 Million views annually. 

The latest achievement of SHRM’s partnership with Digital Revamp is the recognition of its CEO among LinkedIn’s “Top Voices for Associations and Advocacy,” alongside figures like Justin Trudeau, Bill Gates, and others. Roy advised the Military Health System (MHS) for the Department of Defense on communication strategies and is also a speaker for the US State Department. Roy also serves as a certified Clifton Strengths and High Performing Team coach.

Prior to Digital Revamp, Roy worked for Gallup consulting. In his work with Gallup, Roy directed various social and digital communications, as well as provided guidance in advertising and brand messaging. Roy led project communication for Gallup clients such as the International Labor Organization and the World Bank Financial Inclusion index.