Senior-Level

Dr. Caroline Brookfield is a veterinarian, author, speaker, entrepreneur, and award-winning innovator. She discovered the joy of merging her creative and scientific sides, and loves to share how to engage a creative mindset to make life better. Although she can’t sing Happy Birthday, she expresses her creativity through comedy, writing, and problem solving, like sneaking vegetables into smoothies. She holds a Certificate of Professional Management, a DVM, and is a creative problem solving facilitator. She lives in Calgary, Alberta, where her lectures go unheeded by her family. The dog listens, if treats are involved.

Susan Anderson, SHRM-SCP has dedicated her career to orchestrating profound shifts in HR practices through strategic integration of emergent technologies. An early adopter by nature, she has been at the forefront of the recent surge in GenerativeAI capabilities, spearheading experiments and adoption of novel strategies to enhance operations and redefine customer experiences.

As a thought leader and analyst, Susan speaks passionately about innovation and leading the future of work while balancing ethical and privacy concerns. Susan has spearheaded the development of proprietary HR Compliance custom GPTs at Mitratech for research, writing, and in delivery of Services to 1.5 Million+ customers.

Susan Anderson, SHRM-SCP has dedicated her career to orchestrating profound shifts in HR practices through strategic integration of emergent technologies. An early adopter by nature, she has been at the forefront of the recent surge in GenerativeAI capabilities, spearheading experiments and adoption of novel strategies to enhance operations and redefine customer experiences.

As a thought leader and analyst, Susan speaks passionately about innovation and leading the future of work while balancing ethical and privacy concerns. Susan has spearheaded the development of proprietary HR Compliance custom GPTs at Mitratech for research, writing, and in delivery of Services to 1.5 Million+ customers.

BRENDA MCCHRISTON, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP                                                                               

Brenda is CEO and Principal of Spectrum HR Solutions, a certified woman-owned minority human resource advisory practice in strategic HR management, diversity, leadership training, compliance, employee relations and compensation. Her vision for the company began in 2004. Since then, Spectrum has helped more than 175 companies and organizations nationwide save money, improve employee productivity, and achieve organization growth.

In the community, Brenda has a passion for mentoring the next generation to be successful in their life’s work. She has been an Advisory Council Member to the Passport-to-the Future Program at Howard County Public Schools; providing guidance on curriculum-based tools to meet labor force needs. Each year, this program grows larger with employer participation with the help of organizations such as the Howard County HR Society, an organization to which Brenda was a past president. In 2019, Brenda chaired the Howard County Human Resource Society’s Diversity Inclusion Committee and organized the County’s first ever Leader’s Symposium on Diversity Inclusion bringing top notch speakers and attracting C-suite attendees. The results of which inspired several organizations to develop and/or create diversity programs for their organizations. She was recently appointed by the County Executive to the County’s first Police Accountability Board - a federal initiative.

Continuing her work as advocate for youth and women’s issues, she was re-appointed to a second four-year term by the Governor to the Maryland Commission for women. As Commissioner, she is working to protect and promote women’s issues in education, safety, childcare, workforce development and health. Previously, she served on Howard County’s Personnel Board and the Mid-Maryland Workforce Investment Board (WIB). She has served as College Relations Director for the SHRM Maryland State Council and served as a board member to the Better Business Bureau of Maryland.     

Additionally, her leadership commitments continue graduating from Leadership Maryland, Class of 2015 and Leadership Howard County, Class of 2006. She is an alum of the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses Program.

In 2013 and 2023, Brenda was twice selected as one of Maryland Daily Record’s Top 100 Women. In 2018, for her volunteer contributions she received the regional CEO Leadership award. In 2017, Brenda received the prestigious international award as Enterprising Women of the Year, recognizing her community contributions. In 2014, Spectrum HR Solutions was noted as one of Baltimore’s 100 Smart Run Companies – Innovative Leaders. Again, Spectrum HR Solutions received the distinguished honor twice as one of the region’s Top 100 MBE’s. In 2011, her company was recognized as one of SmartCEO’s Future 50 – Emerging Growth Companies and Brava! Women in Business Achievement Award.

As the top Human Resources executive, Brenda has frequently served as an advisor, consultant, and coach to CEOs, on organization development, culture inclusion and HR globalization. For 7 years she was Adjunct Professor at McDaniel College, in the Post-graduate Program in Human Resources Development. Completing her business undergraduate degree at Michigan State University, Ms. McChriston holds a master’s degree in business management/human resources from Central Michigan University and holds prestigious SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications in human resources.

Teresa Lawrence, PhD, PMP, CSM, is recognized internationally as the SME on the integration of Creative Problem Solving into Project Management. Since 2017, 85K+ people have participated in one of her in-person or virtual trainings, workshops, keynotes or facilitated sessions. Services include cognitive diversity training, executive leadership searches, coaching, team development, transformational goal setting, and developing a project management mindset. Teresa serves as Senior Advisor to the Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of the Virgin Islands. International Deliverables, LLC is a NYS Women Business Enterprise (WBE).

Robert Garcia is Vice President & Chief Staff Officer of ICF Coaching in Organizations and is responsible for leading the operations that enable global organizations to build coaching capabilities and develop a strong coaching culture. He has held senior level positions at Randstad, SHRM, Baptist Health, Florida International University, LHH, ADP, and United Healthcare. 

He has an MBA from FIU and a Bachelor of Science in Management from NSU. He has 5 HR Certifications, the ICF Associate Certified Coach credential and is a Certified Association Executive. He is fluent in English and Spanish and has presented in 6 continents.

Jyoti Mehra, Gilead's Executive Vice President of Human Resources, is responsible for leading people strategy and, together with the Gilead Leadership Team, building an inclusive and collaborative culture. In her role, she has responsibility for elevating team performance and developing a cohesive approach to attracting, developing and retaining employees.

Jyoti brings extensive experience in business partnership and organizational design to her current position. Prior to joining Gilead in 2017, Jyoti held senior leadership positions with Novartis Corp. in the United States, Europe and China, bringing a broad international perspective to her work.

Jyoti received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Delhi University and her master’s degree in international studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

She currently serves on the board of directors of Lam Research and California Conference for Women.

Janna has over 28 years of experience in Human Resources, including Recruiting, Benefits Administration, Compensation, Performance Management and HRIS. She has a 20+ year record of successful HCM implementations across multiple business sectors, including healthcare, public sector education, federal government contracting, cooperative utility, finance, hospitality, retail, and insurance.  In addition to leading multiple HCM implementations, she has helped multiple organizations optimize and enhance their initial implementations, as well as lead several phase two projects to implement multiple talent management modules for ongoing organizational and business process optimization and enhancement.

Fadjanie Cadet (she/her), is an organizational development certified professional and DEI leader, that blends empathy with boldness to inspire inclusive cultures. With a background spanning technology and professional services, she champions high-performing teams and equitable systems. Fadjanie’s approach fosters sustainable change, shifting inclusion efforts from passion to influence. Passionate about amplifying first-gen voices, she drives conversations on intersectionality and talent retention. As the first Global Diversity and Inclusion Director at Forrester, she spearheads D&I strategy, partnering with executives to embed priorities. Fadjanie's unique edge as a speaker lies in her practical insights, drawn from real-world corporate DEI leadership.

Dave Barnett is the Chief Administrative Officer for DeVry University. Responsible for leading DeVryWorks partnership strategy, while also driving the direction of Human Resources, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Public Relations, Communications and Alumni Relations efforts for the university, Barnett is focused on creating impactful strategies to encourage outstanding outcomes for students, colleagues and partner organizations. He previously served as DeVry’s Chief Human Resources and University Relations Officer.

With more than 20 years of experience, he has worked with numerous universities and corporations, driving large-scale change during times of high growth and turnaround. 

Barnett earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds numerous certifications and has been recognized by the American Society for Training and Development, Training Magazine, and the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Awards.