Organization (Technical)

Kent is as passionate about compensation and pay equity as he was in 1999 when he co-founded Salary.com with a goal of reinventing how employers and employees access compensation data. Kent has always believed pay equity is a two-sided coin and designed the business to support that belief. The company’s groundbreaking Salary Wizard was the first tool employees could access to understand their worth, effectively lifting the veil on salary information for millions of employees annually. On the B2B side, Salary.com has become the preeminent provider of compensation market data, software, and analytics, serving over 30,000 survey participant organizations, 8,000 business-to-business software subscribers, and 45+ million employees globally. 

Kent holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and A.B. in Economics and Government from Georgetown University. He is a three-time Inc. 500 CEO, a six-time Deloitte Fast 50 awardee and recipient of the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of Year Award for business services. Kent is accredited by WorldatWork as a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP®) 

Tara Noonan Amaral is a Principal Consultant at Riviera Advisors. Tara brings several decades of talent acquisition and leadership strategy expertise to Riviera Advisors. Tara has had an impressive career in recruitment, diversity and strategic talent acquisition for some of the most successful organizations in the world including: Marsh & McLennan, Fidelity Investments, New York Life, ADP and AON/Hewitt. She has more than 20 years of experience developing, implementing, and operating both Corporate and RPO talent acquisition and recruiting functions where she has inspired innovation, and integrated emerging technologies and practices into the talent acquisition function. Prior to her talent acquisition career, Tara held banking and financial services leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase in retail and institutional client management and Six Sigma and Agile project management.

In addition to her corporate leadership roles, Tara has been a frequent industry speaker, well-travelled industry advocate and has participated in leadership roles with the Association of Talent Acquisition Professional (ATAP), the Conference Board Global Labor Advisory Council, and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). Tara also serves as an HR Venture Advisor with SemperVirensVenture Capital.

Tara’s passions include working on the continued importance of a strong talent acquisition and retention ecosystem, the future of work(ers), Diversity & Inclusion solutions, and cross-cultural and multi-generational talent strategies. Tara holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Behavior from Brown University. Tara is based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Elizabeth is currently the Manager, Foundation Programs overseeing SHRM Foundation’s strategic priority of Building Inclusive Workplaces. In that capacity, she oversees the Foundation’s initiatives around leveraging untapped talent including Veterans At Work, Employing Abilities and Getting Talent Back to Work. She joins the Foundation with extensive experience across the corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors. She most recently served as the Deputy Executive Director for PFLAG National working to advance equality and anti-discrimination efforts. In that role, she also partnered with corporate diversity and HR professionals on partnerships to impact the workplace culture for the LGBTQ community. She lives in Alexandria with her spouse, two sons, and an oversized rescue dog.

Allison Chamberlayne is the Director of Operations for Hiring Our Heroes, an initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation connecting transitioning service members, veteran, military spouses, and caregivers with American businesses to create economic opportunity and a strong and diversified workforce. In her role, Allison focuses on day-to-day program operations, staff development, process improvement, and strengthening partnerships.

Allison is a military spouse who served alongside her husband, a retired Army Engineer, for over 25 years. She joined Hiring Our Heroes in January of 2018, as a part of the Corporate Fellowship Program. Over the past four and a half years, Allison has held several roles to include Operations Manager, Program Manager of Corporate Fellowship program in the National Capital Region and Deputy Director of the Military Spouse Fellowship Program.

Before her career at Hiring Our Heroes, Allison faced the same employment challenges as those she currently serves. She has held full time, part time and temporary positions in multiple fields to include Accounting, Logistics, Marketing, Finance and Education. This has made her a passionate advocate for military spouses in their pursuit of meaningful employment opportunities.

Allison has a bachelor’s degree in Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech and being a diehard Hokie consumes much of her and her family’s free time. She resides in McLean, VA with her husband, Ed (VT ’93, ‘02, ‘11 ) and son Eddie (VT ’24). Her daughter, Emma (UVA ’20) lives nearby and tolerates the VT fanaticism.

Thomas Bertels is a business transformation expert on a mission to make work more productive, valuable, meaningful, and impactful. He has three decades of experience helping companies from start-ups to Fortune 5 transform how work gets done. Thinkers360 has recognized Thomas as a Top 50 Thought Leader on the Future of Work and Design Thinking. 

Thomas has written several books and numerous articles. His latest book is the award-winning business fable ‘Fixing Work: Designing Jobs Employees Love’. He also hosts the Work Matters podcast, where he explores in conversations with thought leaders and executives what leaders can do to fix work. 

Christie Engler has been a Human Resources practitioner for 20 years with a focus on small businesses. 

Christie is dedicated to advancing the HR profession.  She has spoken at various HR conferences, and she writes a blog entitled ‘Living in the Gray’ designed to inspire HR professionals.  Christie contributed to the book, ‘People Fusion’, which was published in January 2023. 

Christie is a graduate of The Ohio State University and the Keller Graduate School of Management.  She holds the SPHR and SHRM-CP certifications. 

Christie lives in the Columbus, Ohio area with her husband and two daughters.  She is a fanatic of Ohio State football and Orangetheory Fitness.

Harvey Singh, CEO and founder of Instancy, has pioneered AI-Agent Learning and Learning Ecosystems over three decades. He developed innovative platforms and advised on using Generative AI in education. Harvey contributed to eLearning standards via the ADL initiative and IMS Global Learning Consortium, earning a 2001 nomination for eLearning Executive of the Year. He founded MindLever, introducing the first SCORM-based Learning Object Repository, and co-founded Empower Corporation, which created interactive applications for clients like Microsoft and Oracle. Harvey holds a Master's from Stanford in Computer Science and Education and started his career at Apple's ACOT project in 1991.

Dr. Sherri Reese has over 20 years in human resources, investigations, and academia, evolving from regulatory roles in East Lansing to becoming the Director of Talent at Michigan State University and a professor at the University of Arkansas. Her career includes significant positions like Civil Rights Investigator, Human Resources Specialist, and Director of Talent, with a focus on policy compliance, career, and talent development. Sherri, who holds a PhD in Public Policy & Administration and Industrial & Organizational Psychology, is known for her expertise in contract negotiations, talent development, diversity, and executive coaching, aiming to enhance leadership and organizational effectiveness.

Dr. Sherri Reese has over 20 years in human resources, investigations, and academia, evolving from regulatory roles in East Lansing to becoming the Director of Talent at Michigan State University and a professor at the University of Arkansas. Her career includes significant positions like Civil Rights Investigator, Human Resources Specialist, and Director of Talent, with a focus on policy compliance, career, and talent development. Sherri, who holds a PhD in Public Policy & Administration and Industrial & Organizational Psychology, is known for her expertise in contract negotiations, talent development, diversity, and executive coaching, aiming to enhance leadership and organizational effectiveness.

Eric Cutler is one of the original founders of TOOTRiS, the first and only Child Care technology platform built for business, that is revolutionizing the Child Care space. Eric helped launch the company so that all parents – especially women – have the same opportunities for career advancement and so that every child, regardless of family income or zip code, has access to quality Child Care. A Columbia Business School graduate and frequent speaker to national organizations, Eric passionately believes that solving the Child Care crisis is the key to enabling every human to live more meaningful, abundant, and equitable lives.