Senior-Level

Roni Jacknow is the CEO of RJ Coaching & Consulting. She is a champion for gender equity, workplace wellness and employee engagement. Roni recently retired from her 37+ year corporate career at Kaiser Permanente, a $93 billion healthcare business. In her role at one of the largest integrated healthcare institutions in the world, with more than 88,000 physicians and nurses to provide care to 12.6 million members. As Senior Director Office of Talent Development, Roni was responsible for employee and leadership development and equity, inclusion and diversity for the Finance and Enterprise Business Services organizations. 

Roni is a super-connector and transformative leader dedicated to cultivating a culture rich in learning, gratitude and belonging. She is also an enthusiastic advocate for employee wellbeing. She has launched innovative and best-in-class learning and development offerings and programs to enable all employees to reach their full potential. Roni led the first of its kind Women in Leadership and Gender Allyship Programs at Kaiser Permanente. She has served as executive sponsor to the WE@KP women’s business resource group and on the KP Leadership University steering committee. Roni facilitated and sponsored the company-wide implementation of Belong@KP to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging and is a certified Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace facilitator. She served as a Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Advocate and was recognized two years in a row as a Culture of Health Champion Manager.

Roni is a certified leadership and executive coach through New Ventures West, Linkage, and the International Coaching Federation. She is certified to facilitate Mindfulness in the Workplace offerings, Linkage AWL program, Multipliers workshops, Coaching Circles and Appreciation in the Workplace offerings. She is also a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher and a long-time practitioner.

Roni serves as a mentor for the Women in Leadership Foundation and as an advisor to the California State University Executive Education Women in Leadership program.

Prior to Kaiser Permanente, Roni served in a variety of finance and business leadership and executive roles at Charles Schwab and Chevron. Roni thrives by practicing yoga, reading, traveling, walking her dog Zola and spending time with her family.

John Fay is an attorney and technologist with a deep applied knowledge of business immigration, I-9 compliance and E-Verify rules and procedures.  During his twenty-plus year career, John has advised corporations, educational institutions, and individuals on a variety of U.S. immigration and I-9 issues.  At the same time, he has also been uniquely involved in information technology, having designed several immigration and I-9 management software applications.

As Director of Product Strategy at Equifax, John provides strategic leadership and direction in the development and support of Form I-9, E-Verify, and immigration case management software solutions.

John Fay is an attorney and technologist with a deep applied knowledge of business immigration, I-9 compliance and E-Verify rules and procedures.  During his twenty-plus year career, John has advised corporations, educational institutions, and individuals on a variety of U.S. immigration and I-9 issues.  At the same time, he has also been uniquely involved in information technology, having designed several immigration and I-9 management software applications.

As Director of Product Strategy at Equifax, John provides strategic leadership and direction in the development and support of Form I-9, E-Verify, and immigration case management software solutions.

Carmen Aliber has lived a life of service advocating for others in education, the workplace, and for social justice causes. After escaping an abusive relationship, she co-founded TRAC, Together Rising Above Coercion, an advocacy coalition working to expand legal protections for victims of coercive control, the foundation of all forms of abuse. She is a 2024 Women of Courage award recipient, speaker, mentor, and legislative liaison. Carmen holds a BS in Organizational Communications and MS in Organizational Leadership/HRM from Northeastern University and a graduate certificate in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University.

Carmen Aliber has lived a life of service advocating for others in education, the workplace, and for social justice causes. After escaping an abusive relationship, she co-founded TRAC, Together Rising Above Coercion, an advocacy coalition working to expand legal protections for victims of coercive control, the foundation of all forms of abuse. She is a 2024 Women of Courage award recipient, speaker, mentor, and legislative liaison. Carmen holds a BS in Organizational Communications and MS in Organizational Leadership/HRM from Northeastern University and a graduate certificate in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University.

Karl Ahlrichs specializes in helping organizations solve their talent shortage. 

He is a national speaker, author, and consultant, presenting on the people issues in all industries with a focus on solving the talent shortage, and is often quoted in the local and national media. 

He has held senior level positions in multiple Professional Services firms, and was a founding partner of ExactHire, bringing his HR, operations, diversity & belonging, and learning & development skills with him.

He loves intentionally improving with all manner of hobbies including writing haiku, mastering photography and learning Spanish. He wishes he had stuck with his guitar lessons in high school.

He was named the SHRM Human Resource Professional of the Year for the State of Indiana. He is on the Boards of several organizations, including the Maryland CPA Society.  He has lived in Scotland and Spain and is passionate about exploring new experiences with his family and friends.

Adam Weber is Chief Evangelist at 15Five, host of the popular HR Superstars Podcast and best-selling author of “Lead Like a Human.” Adam is the creator of the HR Superstars Community, a vibrant community of over 8K strategic HR leaders and is a leading voice in the strategic HR movement, being named a LinkedIn “Top Voice in HR”.

Previously Adam co-founded and sold two tech companies, Emplify (acquired in 2021) and Bluebridge (acquired in 2016).

He holds a master’s degree in organizational communication from Ball State University and lives in Zionsville, IN with his wife, two sons, and dog Poppy.

Rob Shriver serves as the Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). His portfolio includes recruiting and hiring, pay and leave, labor relations, performance management, the Senior Executive Service, work-life, telework, and supporting governmentwide diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Rob previously served at OPM during President Obama’s Administration. From 2009-2012, Rob was OPM’s Deputy General Counsel for Policy, leading development and implementation of a number of government-wide initiatives, including expanding equality for LGBTQ+ Federal employees, improving Federal sector labor relations, and reforming the hiring process. From 2012-2014, Rob served as OPM’s Assistant Director for National Healthcare Operations, where he led the creation of a new program under the ACA called the Multi-State Plan program.

In the years between his OPM stints, Rob continued to work on the ACA, first in state government, serving from 2014-2018 as the Director of Marketplace Innovation, Policy, and Operations at the District of Columbia Health Benefit Exchange Authority. He then worked for a private sector IT company—IdeaCrew, Inc.—as the Vice President for Business Development, working with states to improve their health benefit exchange IT platforms.

Rob began his career as an Assistant Counsel for the National Treasury Employees Union, litigating cases on behalf of federal employees at all levels of the Federal judiciary from 1996-2009.

Rob earned his B.A. in International Studies from Virginia Tech and his J.D. from George Washington University Law School. He lives in Alexandria, VA, with his wife JoAnn and three children Robby, Mitch, and Justine.

Steve Browne, SHRM-SCP is the Chief People Officer for LaRosa's, Inc., a regional Pizzeria chain. He has 35+ years working as an HR professional in a variety of industries. He has a globally recognized HR blog and author of three books, HR on Purpose !!, HR Rising !! and HR Unleashed !! He is a past member of the SHRM Board of Directors. Steve also runs a global HR network called the HR Net which reaches 15,000+ HR and business professionals weekly.

For over 20 years, Ian has been an investor, entrepreneur, and advisor to education and technology companies. He has a deep global network in the education sector and brings a wealth of investing and board experience to the Owl Ventures team. Ian serves on the boards of Degreed, BenchPrep, LeLe Ketang, Sanjieke, and Abl and works closely with MasterClass. Prior to joining Owl Ventures, Ian led the education sector at Warburg Pincus and was a technology investor at Silver Lake Partners. Earlier in his career, Ian was a consultant at Bain & Company and also helped launch BigMachines, a SaaS company that was acquired by Oracle.

Ian serves on the Advisory Board for SEO, a non-profit that provides educational, career, and mentoring programs for young people from underrepresented communities. He is a member of the Advisory Council for Gladeo, a digital social enterprise dedicated to providing career guidance to underserved youth of diverse backgrounds. Ian was also the lead author of Caution: Watch for Scholarships Ahead, a practical guide for students to navigate the complex scholarship application process, which was endorsed by Stanford University’s Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.

Ian is a graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering, with Distinction, and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering, with a concentration in technology management and entrepreneurship. He also received his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar and Arbuckle Leadership Fellow.

Deborah Hanus is the CEO and co-founder of Sparrow, the first high-tech, high-touch leave management solution to help employers care for their people. By managing federal, state, and local leave compliance, Sparrow ensures employee leave is stress-free for human resources, payroll, compliance, managers, and employees. Before founding Sparrow, Deborah earned multiple engineering degrees from MIT, worked in Cambodia as a Fulbright Scholar, and started a Ph.D. in AI at Harvard. Under her leadership, Sparrow has quickly grown to impact hundreds of thousands of lives.