As Bonusly's Chief Customer Officer, Debra combines her passion for an exceptional customer experience with her drive to empower companies to connect, motivate, and engage their employees to build winning workplaces. Prior to Bonusly, Debra was the VP of CS at Beamery and the Chief Client Officer at Namely, to name a few. She has over 25 years of experience in senior leadership roles in Human Resources ranging from in-house HR leadership to HR Consulting, Outsourcing, Client Services, and Customer Success working directly with HR teams across a variety of industries. She currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas with her husband and two dogs.

Charlotte Smith has been in and around healthcare her entire life. Growing up with a physician mother, she seamlessly integrated herself into the world of patient care and insurance during her formative years. A graduate in biology from Texas A&M, Charlotte pivoted into the pharmaceutical sales arena, where she honed her understanding of the intricacies of how medications are covered, how physicians chose to prescribe, and the best way to have fancy dinners for free.

Her professional trajectory reached new heights at UnitedHealth Group, where Charlotte gained a comprehensive understanding of employee benefits. While at UHG, Charlotte specialized in prediabetes, diabetes, and weight loss solutions, she went on to navigate the challenges of three successful startups before finding her current role as the Director of Partnerships at Take Command. In this role, Charlotte serves as a catalyst in the benefits consulting realm, equipping brokers and consultants with the knowledge to introduce innovative tools such as Individual Coverage HRAs to their clients.

Charlotte lives outside of Dallas, TX with her husband, three daughters, and new kitten, Romeo.

Erin Casey is the Senior Vice President of Platform Partnerships. In this role, she is accountable for the third-party technology strategy for both Unum and Colonial Life brands specifically focused on driving growth, efficiency, and customer satisfaction through market leading solutions such as HR Connect and Gathr. Prior to joining Unum in 2022, Erin spent 20 years at Guardian Insurance in a variety of leadership roles and most recently led their strategic partnership team, accelerating their market connectivity with benefits technology firms.

Senior leader in education technology with a proven track record of supporting enterprise clients. My team develops and implements learning solutions that support organizations’ strategic goals.

As a former systems administrator and instructional designer, my technical knowledge and people skills drive a systems approach when I conduct needs assessments and design solutions. My focus is building sustainable options for my clients that are adaptive to evolving needs and challenges.

In my current role with Open LMS, I work with three learning management systems building solutions for clients in higher ed, non-profit, government, and corporate sectors.

Tim Hwang is a machine learning expert, business leader, and entrepreneur whose career has focused on improving AI and understanding the impact of machine learning on society.

Having worked previously with groups including Google and IBM, and dubbed “the busiest man on the Internet” by Forbes, Hwang served as a research fellow at the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology, where he focused on artificial intelligence and national security issues. Before that, Hwang was the director of the Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative, a $26M philanthropic fund and research effort backed by LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman, working to ensure that machine learning and autonomous technologies are researched, developed, and deployed in the public interest.

Hwang’s speeches aid groups in better understanding the complexities of AI and machine learning and how to build ethics into the application of these technologies. Passionate about the ethics of machine learning—and easy to follow when discussing it — Hwang continues to demonstrate his thought leadership in the AI space. Using everyday life examples and captivating visuals in his presentations, he provides attendees with actionable insights on what they need to know right now about AI and how to best ethically implement it. By sharing his practical experience on the forefront of these technologies, Hwang brings nuance to the technological breakthroughs that have captivated the public in recent years and spotlights what’s likely to be coming right around the corner.

Prior to the AI Initiative, Hwang was the Global Public Policy lead for artificial intelligence and machine learning at Google, where he developed the company’s messaging and led government outreach on a broad range of questions around the social impact of the technology including security, safety, bias, and fairness. He also led research at Intelligence & Autonomy, a research initiative on AI and its influence in the labor markers, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Hwang’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. In 2011, The Globe and Mail named Hwang one of a dozen people changing philanthropy, alongside Bill Gates and George Soros.

Tim has worked in the past with groups such as Creative Commons, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, IBM, Imgur, the Institute for the Future, the Mozilla Foundation, Oxford Internet Institute, RAND Corporation, Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and Tumblr. He also sits on the board of Meedan and is an investor in Temescal Brewing.

Diane is PwC’s US HR Transformation Leader, helping organizations modernize their HR function to support changing business and workforce needs and expectations. With tenacious curiosity, Diane welcomes the opportunity to explore the art of the possible with organizations to shape HR’s contributions to culture, careers, collaboration, and community. Working across multiple industry segments, she is passionate about helping organizations rethink and reimage HR’s role through new services and modern technologies, inspiring new ways to engage and deliver services to leaders, managers, and employees.      

With over 30 years of consulting, Diane has been a speaker at numerous conferences and internal corporate leadership events. Prior to her role as PwC’s US HR Transformation Leader, Diane was the PwC Global Workday Leader, growing the business organically from inception and driving PwC’s Global professional services business in delivering Workday services. She was also the Diversity & Inclusion Leader for our Industrial Products and Services market segment.      

A math and computer sciences graduate of the University of Texas - Arlington, Diane is a past board member of the YWCA, Dallas helping low-income women achieve stability and higher levels of self-sufficiency. She is also a volleyball and tennis mother, supporting her family’s multiple interests. Diane married a Texas native and now lives in Dallas with her husband, Robert, and son.

Dr. Dieter Veldsman is a renowned figure in the field of organizational psychology and HR, with a distinguished 15-year career in Strategic HR, Organizational Design, and Development. Throughout his professional journey, he has held key positions, including Group Chief Human Resource Officer, People Effectiveness Executive, and Principal Consultant, allowing him to make impactful contributions to organizations across regions like EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.

Dr. Veldsman's expertise in the HR sector has earned him prestigious recognition, including the 'Chief HR Officer of the Year' by the CHRO SA Society in 2021 and the 'Practitioner of the Year Award' by the Society for Industrial Psychology South Africa in 2018.

As a sought-after speaker at global conferences, he delves into crucial topics such as HR, The Future of Work, and Organizational Development. Additionally, he hosts "The HR Dialogues," a compelling videocast where he engages with leading HR professionals worldwide, sharing valuable insights and experiences. Over the last 12 years, he has spoken at over 100 conferences and published over 80 articles on HR and the future of work. 

Currently serving as the Chief HR Scientist at the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR), Dr. Veldsman is dedicated to spearheading thought leadership, subject matter expertise, and research initiatives to empower and educate 100,000 HR professionals by 2025.