Jennifer Buchanan
Vice President
Walmart Academy
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Jennifer is the Vice President of Walmart Academy, the learning arm of the world's largest retailer, where she leads the design and delivery of learning experiences that enable over 2 million associates to build skills for now and the future. She has experience in various learning and development roles at Department of Defense, American Express, Walmart and Sam's Club, where she has launched award-winning programs that have enhanced the learning culture, career development, and performance of the frontline and supply chain workforce.

Jennifer holds an Executive Program for Leadership Acceleration certificate from Harvard Business School Executive Education, a Master's degree in Education from the University of South Florida, and a Bachelor's degree from Florida State University. She has published multiple articles on learning and development topics and has been recognized as a Top 50 Learning and Development Professional and a CLO LearningElite Finalist. She is passionate about creating learning opportunities that empower associates to achieve their career dreams and contribute to the success of the organization.

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Papia Debroy
SVP and Chief Analytics & Research Officer
Opportunity@Work
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Papia Debroy serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Analytics & Research Officer at Opportunity@Work, a nonprofit social enterprise that is dedicated to improving economic mobility opportunities for workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) instead of a bachelor’s degree. In her capacity, she oversees the research work that empower leaders across private, public and social sectors to drive positive change in the labor market, by harnessing the untapped potential of STARs, who collectively represent half of the American workforce.

Papia brings a wealth of experience to this role, having previously served as a Research Director at CEB, now Gartner, where she provided strategic guidance to major Fortune 1000 corporations on their workforce  practices.

Papia’s published work focuses on labor markets, employer behavior, and worker economic mobility opportunities in regional contexts. This body of work forms the foundation for Opportunity@Work’s collaborations with Fortune 500 executive teams, workforce development organizations, talent and education developers and policymakers.

Papia is currently a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Metropolitan Program at the Brookings Institution. She earned her Ph.D. and masters degree from the University of Michigan, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Moderator: 
Wendi Safstrom
President
SHRM Foundation
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Wendi Safstrom is a senior non-profit leader committed to serving the public through philanthropic program management, cultivating strategic partnerships and managing and developing high performing teams. She has both association and nonprofit management experience including; national program development and administration, membership strategy, marketing and product development, grant management, development and donor stewardship, and leading cross functional teams. Safstrom currently serves as President for the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation (SHRM Foundation), where she leads the development and implementation of SHRM Foundation's programmatic, development, and marketing and communication strategies in support of SHRM Foundation's new mission and vision, creating growth plans and ensuring alignment with SHRM goals.  

Prior to assuming the role at SHRM Foundation, Safstrom served as Vice President at the National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, where she led the development and implementation of their Foundation's most recent five-year strategic plan, and was responsible for all Foundation programming, including workforce development initiatives, scholarship and event management, community relations and engagement initiatives. The NRAEF's philanthropic programming supported a number of audiences including high school youth, veterans transitioning from service to civilian work and life, opportunity youth and incumbent workers. Of particular note, she led the implementation of the restaurant industry's premier high school career and technical education program, growing the program to over 2,000 public high schools, engaging over 150,000 students annually, nationwide. In 2016, she served as lead project director for the development of a $10 million contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to develop the hospitality industry's first apprenticeship program, and was instrumental in the Foundation's reorganization and relocation of operations from Chicago, Illinois to Washington, D.C., transforming the staff and culture.  

Safstrom has also held human resource management roles with the Leo Burnett Company and Hyatt Hotels Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. She has a BS in Business Administration from the Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University and was recognized as a member of the 2014 "Power 20" by Restaurant Business Magazine as a leader in philanthropy within the restaurant industry.  

 

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Tara B. Taylor
Personal Pronouns
She/Her/Hers
Managing Director
ADR Vantage, Inc.
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Tara Taylor, MPA, is the Managing Director of ADR Vantage, Inc., a woman-owned consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., that supports clients across the U.S. through conflict management, organizational effectiveness and leadership development, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) practices, as well as training and coaching. Tara holds a B.A. in Organizational Communication, an M.A. in Management & Public Administration and is a professional mediator and facilitator. She is a highly sought-after consultant and a dynamic speaker focused on helping audiences engage, get inspired, and walk away with ready-to-implement solutions for their professional challenges.

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Nejat Abdurahman
Founder
N-BAC
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Nejat Abdurahman is the founder and lead at N-BAC, a business advisory and consulting firm that helps organizations transform the way they lead to transform their business and create a sustainable impact. Nejat is a certified Leadership and Emotional Intelligence coach, a keynote speaker, and a trainer. She facilitates Leadership Development programs at N-BAC Academy to equip managers and leaders with the needed skills to transform the way they lead.Nejat earned her MBA from Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst and holds a BA degree in Economics from Addis Ababa University. 

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Nejat Abdurahman
Founder
N-BAC
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Nejat Abdurahman is the founder and lead at N-BAC, a business advisory and consulting firm that helps organizations transform the way they lead to transform their business and create a sustainable impact. Nejat is a certified Leadership and Emotional Intelligence coach, a keynote speaker, and a trainer. She facilitates Leadership Development programs at N-BAC Academy to equip managers and leaders with the needed skills to transform the way they lead.Nejat earned her MBA from Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst and holds a BA degree in Economics from Addis Ababa University. 

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Evelyn Farias, MA, MEd
DEIB Program Specialist, Workforce Transformation
Lyra Health
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Evelyn Farías is a DEI&B Program Manager at Lyra Health. She is the creator and leader of Lyra’s Community Leads Program, a social and educational community where leaders of employee resource groups and peer champions programs can learn best practices for mental health promotion. Prior to this role, she worked as a full-time therapist, specializing in working with BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ populations in private practice and non-profit settings. Evelyn holds Master’s degrees in Psychological Counseling and Bilingual-Spanish Latinx Mental Health from Columbia University and is a former fellow of the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program.

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Alethea Varra, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Clinical Care
Lyra Health
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Dr. Alethea Varra is a licensed clinical psychologist and Senior Vice President of Clinical Care for Lyra Health. She serves as the senior clinical leader for therapy programs and is responsible for driving overall clinical strategy and oversight of clinical quality, training, and service delivery. Her clinical specialty area is trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. She has over 20 years of experience in mental health and clinical operations. Her focus is on healthcare innovation and program development and she is passionate about improving access to evidenced based mental health care, especially to underserved populations.

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Alethea Varra, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Clinical Care
Lyra Health
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Dr. Alethea Varra is a licensed clinical psychologist and Senior Vice President of Clinical Care for Lyra Health. She serves as the senior clinical leader for therapy programs and is responsible for driving overall clinical strategy and oversight of clinical quality, training, and service delivery. Her clinical specialty area is trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. She has over 20 years of experience in mental health and clinical operations. Her focus is on healthcare innovation and program development and she is passionate about improving access to evidenced based mental health care, especially to underserved populations.

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Evelyn Farias, MA, MEd
DEIB Program Specialist, Workforce Transformation
Lyra Health
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Evelyn Farías is a DEI&B Program Manager at Lyra Health. She is the creator and leader of Lyra’s Community Leads Program, a social and educational community where leaders of employee resource groups and peer champions programs can learn best practices for mental health promotion. Prior to this role, she worked as a full-time therapist, specializing in working with BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ populations in private practice and non-profit settings. Evelyn holds Master’s degrees in Psychological Counseling and Bilingual-Spanish Latinx Mental Health from Columbia University and is a former fellow of the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program.

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Dr. Jay Bhatt
Managing Director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (DCHS) and the Deloitte Health Equity Institute (DHEI)
Deloitte
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Jay Bhatt, D.O., MPH, MPA, is a physician executive, internist, and public health innovator. As Managing Director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (DCHS) and the Deloitte Health Equity Institute (DHEI), Dr. Bhatt directs the research agenda across the life sciences and health care industry leading to actionable insights for executives and their teams. Dr. Bhatt also drives high-impact collaborations and investments to influence key decision-makers, address place-based inequities, and innovate to advance health equity. He also serves on the Deloitte Purpose Office leadership team. He is a prominent thought leader on the issues of population health, health equity, health care transformation, public health, and digital health. Passionate about patient care, Dr. Bhatt practices medicine for the historically underserved while serving in his leadership role at Deloitte.

 

Before joining Deloitte, Dr. Bhatt was senior vice president and chief medical officer (CMO) at the American Hospital Association. While there, in addition to his role as CMO, he served as president of the Health Research and Educational Trust and helped lead the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity. His early work in health care involved practicing primary care at Erie Family Health Center, on faculty at Northwestern Medicine, chief health officer of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, and serving as managing deputy commissioner and chief innovation officer for the Chicago Department of Public Health.

 

Dr. Bhatt earned a B.A. from the University of Chicago; a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) from the University of Illinois at Chicago; and a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a Zuckerman and Commonwealth Fund Minority Health Policy Fellow. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics.

 

Dr. Bhatt's work has earned the attention of top media outlets seeking his expertise and perspective. He is a recipient of the Crains Chicago 40 Under 40 Award, the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Award, a Presidential Leadership Scholar, and part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

SESSIONS:
 
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 - 7:30am to 12:00pm
 
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - 7:30am to 5:30pm