Karl B. Scheidweiler earned his Ph.D. in Pathology from the University of Rochester in 2002 after completing his research dissertation on “Pharmacokinetics and actions of methylecgonidine, a component of crack cocaine smoke.” He worked as a Post-doctoral Fellow for Marilyn A. Huestis, Ph.D. at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health (NIDA-NIH) from 2002-2006 and served as a Staff Scientist at NIDA-NIH until 2016. During his tenure at NIDA-NIH, Dr. Scheidweiler developed and validated gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods for numerous drug classes in various matrices, including oral fluid, to support Intramural Research Board (IRB)-approved controlled drug administration clinical pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic research studies. These clinical research studies provided data to assist interpretation of workplace, drug treatment and driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) cases. Dr. Scheidweiler served as an R&D Scientist from 2016-2020 developing LC-MS/MS methods for Prescription Drug Monitoring Toxicology laboratories at Quest Diagnostics. Since 2020, Dr. Scheidweiler has worked for Abbott (Immunalysis) in a Chief Toxicologist/Scientific Affairs role supporting development of various Toxicology products including urine and oral fluid screening immunoassays.

Mark Thompson is Chief Executive Officer of the CEO Academy, a SHRM company, and long ranked the world’s #1 CEO Coach. He was in 2023 inducted into the Coaching Legends Hall of Fame by the Thinkers50, considered the Oscars of Management. Thompson previously served as Schwab’s chief of staff, chief customer experience officer and CEO of Schwab.com. He was a cofounding advisor to the Virgin Branson Entrepreneurship Centres; a board member of Esurance, acquired by Allstate; and Interwoven, acquired by Hewlett Packard. He was Chairman of Integration Semiconductor, acquired by SiliconLabs and Chairman of Rioport, which pioneered the mp3 player for Apple’s iPod. He was cofounding advisor to the Stanford Realtime Venture Design Lab, where he served as a visiting scholar and faculty at his alma mater, Stanford University. Thompson is also adjunct faculty at the World Economic Forum, World Business Forum, John F. Kennedy University, and has cochaired the Institute of Coaching at Harvard. He has edited 20 books and coauthored business classic, Success Built to Last: Creating a Life That Matters; and the New York Times bestseller, Admired.

As the CEO and Founder of RiseKit, a software company that connects untapped job seekers to career opportunities and supportive services, Matt has over 5 years of experience in social entrepreneurship and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Matt's passion for focusing on social problems stems from his volunteer work as a mentor for young people from under-resourced communities in Chicago. He realized the need for a system change that would break down the barriers and silos in workforce development and empower job candidates to access the resources and networks they need to thrive. That's why he created RiseKit, a software platform that helps nonprofits, employers, government systems, and community foundations save time in finding, training, and supporting job candidates, while also collecting powerful data on how to best organize communities and cities. Matt and his team work tirelessly around the belief that the zip code in which someone is born shouldn't determine one's life trajectory.

Matt is also a Forbes Human Resources Council Influencer and Contributor for The Sociable, where he shares his insights on topics such as talent acquisition, diversity equity and inclusion, social entrepreneurship, culture, community engagement, and mental health.

For fun, you should ask Matt about his love for soccer, family, poke bowls, or social entrepreneurship.

Melanie Hallenbeck is Chief Growth Officer at Alegeus, leading the company’s go-to-market strategy. With more than two decades of channel experience in the employee benefits and consumer-directed healthcare space, Melanie most recently served as chief growth officer at Elevate, a fast-growing developer of employee benefits technology. Prior to Elevate, she served as chief growth and marketing officer at benefitexpress, which was acquired by Wex, a leading global benefits company. Previously, she was senior vice president at WageWorks, leading the organization’s health plan partner channel business. Earlier in her career, she held senior sales roles at ADP and Progressive Benefits Solutions.

Anna Lyons is the Chief Talent Officer at Alegeus. Anna leads the company on everything related to making Alegeus a great place to work – including recruiting, onboarding, compensation and benefits, development, organization design, culture and engagement. She is dedicated to cultivating an environment where exceptional people are inspired to innovate and grow the business together. Prior to joining Alegeus, Anna worked for over five years as a management consultant assisting public and private sector organizations make necessary adaptive moves to enable future success. Anna holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s JFK School of Government.