Advanced (Elevating I&D)

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.

As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. Recognized as one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” for 2024 by Savoy Magazine and one of the “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."

Mr. Taylor's career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/InteractiveCorp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

He is the author of the national bestseller, RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which immediately upon its release in September 2021, was in the top three of The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling hardcover business books.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees and serves on the corporate boards of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO), Flores & Associates, and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the Trump Administration.

The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) named Mr. Taylor as one of its 2023 Trailblazers in Gender Equity and Diversity for his work to achieve equal position, pay and power for all women in business. In 2020, he received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and he was named 2021 ALA Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update.

He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C.

Victoria Russell has led a successfully 20+ year career across many disciplines including Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Crisis Management & Brand Reputation, Marketing, Data & Insights, Community Engagement, Human Resources and Compensation. 

In June 2024, Victoria Russell joins PwC, serving as the firm's Managing Director, Inclusion Strategy Leader. Victoria oversees efforts that foster our inclusive environment and drive equity across all areas of our talent strategy, from talent attraction, development, progression and pathway to partnership. Leveraging data-driven insights, Victoria works closely with the firm's Lines of Service to take strategic actions along our people's career journey to enhance outcomes and build on our culture of belonging. 

Before joining PwC, Victoria Russell was named the first Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of Beam Suntory, a world leader in premium spirits. In this inaugural role, Russell joined the company’s Senior Leadership Team in 2021, and led diversity and inclusion across talent acquisition, career development and employee retention, marketing, community relations, and building organizational capability to better recognize bias and further drive inclusive mindset. Russell also supported the development of diversity guidelines for the company’s supplier base and champions Employee Impact Groups and leaders across the business.

Prior joining Beam Suntory, Russell had a successful 14-year career at Papa John’s International, ultimately stepping up during difficult times in 2018 to become the first to lead Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. In that role, Russell was credited with step-changing the company’s actions to build a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization comprised of 120,000 team members. She previously held marketing analytics roles of increasing responsibility, providing valuable insights into the business, and the customers and communities they serve. Prior to Papa Johns, Victoria held compensation and marketing roles at Lexmark, Humana, and Brown-Forman and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a M.B.A in Marketing from the University of Kentucky.

Victoria serves on several non-profit boards including, Fund for the Arts – Board Chair, Leadership Louisville, Greater Louisville Inc (Louisville Chamber of Commerce) and the Chestnut Street YMCA.  In 2019, she was named “Woman Making A Difference” by Louisville Business First and selected as one of Louisville’s Forty Under 40.  She was also featured in The Business Journals’ Influencers: Rising Stars, a national list of influential young executives.  Her other recent accomplishments include Leadership Louisville Class of 2020, University of Kentucky 2019 Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence Award, founding member of the Adweek D&I Council and named of one the Adweek & Adcolor 2020 Champions of Diversity & Inclusion.  Victoria was also named to the Executive Leadership Council, honored as a Daughter of Greatness by the Muhammad Ali Center and featured as Today’s Woman 2020 Most Admired Woman in the Corporate Category.

Madison Marsh, 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, made history as the first active-duty officer to hold a Miss America state title, crowned Miss Colorado 2023 after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy with a physics degree. She founded the Whitney Marsh Foundation where she serves as CEO, in honor of her mother, to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research. Madison holds achievements in aviation and martial arts, embodying the values of service and excellence in her diverse pursuits.

Prudence Pitter is a business executive with 27+ years of broad Human Resource leadership expertise across several industries. In addition to her HR and consulting experience she previously served as Adjunct Professor of HR, for 9+ years. She is currently a Board Member for the Women Mentoring Network, and volunteers her time to help junior HR professionals learn the skills needed to succeed in their career. Her passion is delivering leadership development presentations to HR and business leaders while also inspiring these leaders to align people practices to business priorities while keeping the employee experience as a key focus. Prudence enjoys writing about HR trends, and influencing leadership behaviors that enhance the employee experience.

Podcast
 

Sara Taylor, President and Founder of deepSEE Consulting, has 35 years of extensive experience, nationally recognized as in the practice of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion serving local, national and global clients. While her areas of specialty are in both Diversity and Leadership Development, Sara has become a thought leader particularly in the field of Cultural Competence. Her bestselling book, Filter Shift: How Effective People SEE the World, is used by numerous individuals and organizations to increase success and create greater effectiveness. Sara holds a Master's degree in Diversity and Organizational Development and, prior to founding deepSEE, held positions such as Chief Diversity Officer and Leadership and Diversity Specialist.

Eric Ellis, President and CEO of Integrity Development Corp., is an award-winning entrepreneur, thought leader, author, and keynote speaker with over thirty years of experience in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.  

Named one of the Top 100 DEI Experts in the World by the Society for Human Resources Management and "Cincinnati's Diversity Fixer" by The Cincinnati Enquirer, Eric is an innovative thought leader who helps transform organizational cultures into people-centered workplaces that inspire employee engagement and a sense of belonging.

Eric is a singer/songwriter, and the author of Diversity Conversations. He hosts a weekly podcast named after his book, which can be found on Apple, Spotify, Facebook and YouTube.

As a DEI practitioner and organizational consultant, Judy leads strategic culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion transformations to build organizations where all employees thrive. For over 20 years, she has designed and delivered solutions for corporate, nonprofit and educational clients.

Judy leads the global DEI consulting practice of AMS (Alexander Mann Solutions), a Talent Acquisition and Workforce Solutions firm. She has designed diagnostic tools of end-to-end recruitment processes to foster inclusivity that she’s delivered for organizations including Barclays and Bristol Myers Squibb. She’s also developed DEI strategy, communication plans, career development frameworks and global training initiatives on Inclusive Leadership, Conscious Inclusion in Hiring, and Unconscious Bias for companies including Delta Airlines and MUFG. Prior to joining AMS, Judy led a certified Woman- and Minority-owned DEI consulting firm, Think People.

​Judy serves as an Adjunct Instructor in Workforce Diversity at the University of Cincinnati ‘s Master’s in Applied Psychology Program. She has a B.S. in Management & Organizations from Indiana University's Kelly School of Business. She holds certificates in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University, and Coaching with the International Coaching Federation; she is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory®. She has been named a “Top Diversity Officer” by the National Diversity Council. Her expertise in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has been featured in Forbes, DiversityQ magazine, the Recruiting Daily podcast and on numerous conference platforms, including SHRM’s Inclusion Conference.

David studies the keystones for success and achievement in the areas of Leadership, Communication and Personal Performance.  He studied over 3,000 top performers to find what the top leaders, salespeople and employees do.  And more importantly, he discovered the roadblocks that hold people back.  For over 25 years, David has worked with hundreds of clients of all sizes in many industries such as technology, banking, communications, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution.  He specializes in leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, sales and personal development and brings his insights to you to create breakthrough solutions. 

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.

Kimberly is a people first HR Leader with over seventeen years of diverse operations, human resources, labor relations, and business experience in both the public and private sector. In her current role as a Senior HR Leader in the technology industry she is data driven focused on leading strategic change. As an Adjunct Professor of Human Resources and SHRM Certification Course Instructor, she is passionate about building and maintaining rapport with her students, understanding their need for development and guidance in and out of the classroom. As the primary consultant and co-founder of Premier Choice Consulting LLC, she provides personnel process reengineering to improve efficiency and reduce administrative costs for small businesses.

Kimberly’s educational background includes a BBA in Human Resource Management and MBA from Texas A&M University-Central Texas. Kimberly is also a SHRM Senior Certified Professional.