Advanced (Elevating I&D)

Francis Joseph Tsai is a Deaf advocate who has been raised in the United States after immigrating from Hong Kong. Growing up in the U.S., Tsai learned about the importance of equity and accessibility for Deaf individuals—values he found lacking in his native Hong Kong.

Now working for Convo Communications, a company dedicated to providing communication services for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Tsai is committed to promoting equal communication access. His advocacy focuses on ensuring that Deaf individuals have the tools, resources, and support needed to navigate a predominantly hearing world. Through his work, Tsai continues to raise awareness about the importance of equity and accessibility for all.

Heather Hansen, former trial attorney, and seasoned business advisor, merges two decades of courtroom experience with her expertise in psychology and dispute resolution to empower global audiences. As a best-selling author and keynote speaker, she helps leaders and teams believe in their potential and persuasiveness, enhanced by her skills as a hypnotist to influence the subconscious. Heather has shared her insights at prestigious venues like Harvard Business School, Google, and Stanford MedX, and has appeared on platforms such as The Today Show and Dr. Oz. Currently, she anchors at the Law and Crime Network.

Vitale Buford Hardin, CEO of Vitale & Company, is a leading expert on perfectionism's impact on corporate culture and individual performance. She works with a wide range of organizations, helping leaders overcome perfectionism and cultivate authenticity, resilience, and effective communication. A pioneer of thought leadership, Vitale has led studies revealing that 85% of workplaces foster perfectionism, affecting 86% of leaders. Overcoming her own struggles with perfectionism and addiction, she became a published author, nationally recognized speaker, and iPEC-certified executive coach. With 15 years of corporate experience, she offers custom trainings, strategic advisory, and performance coaching to help her clients thrive. 

Elizabeth Sandler is a global financial service executive with two decades of experience as a divisional COO at Deutsche Bank and Blackstone. She is a board director at KKR Private Credit and the national non-profit Scholars of Finance. Elizabeth is the Executive Director of the HumanTech Institute, a thought-leadership ecosystem focused on bridging humanity and technology. As a workplace futurist and corporate speaker, Elizabeth guides forward-thinking organizations on next-generation leadership. Elizabeth is a SHRM-SCP and holds a degree in sociology and human development from Duke University and an MBA from The Wharton School.

Dr. Michael Baran is the CEO of Iris Inclusion, a global diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) firm. Dr. Baran draws on his own social science research to inform his DEI speaking engagements, writings, consulting, leadership development, and eLearning. After teaching at Harvard University, he has been supporting DEI in organizations for 20 years. His work has been covered in the New York Times, BBC, Forbes, CNN, NPR, and more.

His recent book, Subtle Acts of Exclusion, was named by Forbes as one of “The 11 Books To Read To Be A More Inclusive Leader” and has won several awards.

Tiana Sanchez is CEO and founder of TSI LLC, a talent and development company in SoCal. Tiana is a 4X published author, #1 bestselling author, executive coach, corporate trainer, keynote speaker, and host of Like a REAL Boss podcast. Sanchez got her career start at age 16 with a 90 percent female-led national franchise organization, became a manager at 17, was promoted to regional manager, and welcomed the company as her first consulting client. Sanchez’s public and private-sector corporate training and development client list includes Fortune 100 companies. Her latest book, The New C-Suite is releasing on September 3rd, 2024!

Global CDO, consultant, speaker and author Janet M. Stovall helps business dismantle systemic inequity to leverage the power of diversity.  Global Head of DEI at NeuroLeadership Institute, and founder of DEI consultancy, Pragmatic Diversity, Janet specializes in shaping and implementing realistic DEI visions and strategies that drive change and build culture. Collectively, her three TED talks challenging business to get serious about inclusion have nearly 3 million views, and she is co-author of Amazon bestseller, The Conscious Communicator: The Fine Art of Not Saying Stupid Sh*t.

Miguel is the Chief Belonging Officer of MJA & CO, a Minority-owned consulting firm helping leaders leverage DEI as a catalyst to improve recruitment, engagement, and retention.  Recognized as a LinkedIn's Top Voice in Racial Equity, Top 15 Champion of Diversity by Diversity Global Magazine, a Top 100 Executive by Diversity MBA Magazine, and featured as an Inclusion Innovator by SHRM.

Miguel served as the first civilian Chief of D&I in the history of the US Coast Guard.  He started his career as diversity recruiter and for over a decade held several leadership positions in 3 major Federal Departments. Miguel is a TEDx speaker, featured at the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and Telemundo.

 You can learn more about him by visiting www.migueljoeyaviles.com

Leah is an internal Inclusion and Belonging consultant and has held several roles in HR and Talent Management.  She has a personal mission to coach others to reach their highest potential, bring their best selves to the workplace and help leaders develop the capabilities of their teams. 

Her background has spanned several industries and both large and small companies. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Texas A&M University and a post-Graduate certification from Georgetown University. 

Outside of work, Leah actively volunteers, is an avid runner and enjoys time with family.

Megan Taylor is a seasoned finance and strategic planning expert, a founder, and a certified RETAINTM parental leave coach. With rich experience across the healthcare, professional services and media industries, she has transformed financial planning and analysis capabilities, architected innovative strategic planning processes, built businesses from the ground-up and significantly improved organizational efficiency. She is skilled in leading teams, working cross functionally and partnering with executive leadership. During her 10+ years in the healthcare sector, Megan pioneered several resources for working mothers and parents at her Fortune 500 employer’s world headquarters. She founded her own coaching and consulting company, has served dozens of clients, and specializes in elevating leadership performance and solving complex problems. Megan is a part of the core leadership team at the Center for Parental Leave Leadership where she serves as Business Development and Finance Lead. She holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and has completed over 300 hours of leadership development training.