Julie Schweber, SHRM-SCP, has over 18 years of strategic and tactical HR experience in for profit and nonprofit organizations including FedEx and IKON Office Solutions. Prior to joining SHRM, Julie was a senior HR consultant for more than six years and provided Fortune 500 HR expertise to small and midsize organizations. Julie earned her bachelor's degree in human resources with a business minor from Old Dominion University.  Julie enjoys spending time at the beach and hiking.

Liz Petersen, SHRM-SCP, is the Quality Manager for the HR Knowledge Center at SHRM.  Prior to this role, she worked as a SHRM HR Knowledge Advisor.  Liz has a bachelor’s degree from John Carroll University in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with a Business minor.  She has a master’s degree from University of Maryland University College in Human Resource Management. 

Liz has over 25 years of HR experience and the SHRM Senior Professional Certification.  Prior to SHRM, Liz worked as an Outsourced HR Manager for several small and medium sized organizations in multiple industries including technology, engineering, hospitality, retail, service, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, etc. She also worked as in-house HR Manager and Director in the manufacturing industry.

Liz is lives in Oceanside, CA with her husband.  In her free time, Liz is discovering a love for painting, hacking away on golf courses, doing anything water or beach related, watching Seahawk and Steeler football, and trying to earn a green thumb.

Michelle spent 10 years at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, supporting employers to close their pay gaps through writing guidance reports and running workshops. This was until 2014, when Michelle took voluntary redundancy whilst on maternity leave and Equality Pays was born.

Michelle set up Equality Pays to provide the business coaching, strategy, support, and confidence that organisations want and need.

Michelle is on a mission to educate and share what organisations should be focusing on when it comes to addressing the root causes of their pay gaps in order to create more inclusive, equitable workplaces.

Michelle's role is to support organisations in identifying what changes need to be made to close both gender and ethnicity pay gaps so that people choose to work for those organisations and go on to build their careers with them. No matter their gender, ethnicity, or workplace needs.

Kelly Bunting, Co-Chair of the Greenberg Traurig, LLP's Labor & Employment Practice's Workplace Compliance & Counseling Group, and member of its Artificial Intelligence Law Group, has considerable experience defending class and collective wage and hour litigation and misclassification claims, having defended employers in Title III ADA access litigation and litigation alleging race, sex, pregnancy, age, disability discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. She is deeply experienced in virtually all aspects of employment litigation, including wage and hour, labor, Title VII, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, non-competition and non-solicitation, trade secrets, SOX and Dodd Frank whistleblower claims, CEPA, ADEA, FMLA, NJLAD, and failure to accommodate issues. She has identified and managed employment issues in M&A deals and appeared before the EEOC, NLRB, and DOL in many states, as well as state agencies in DE, NY, NJ and PA. Kelly has represented many clients in mediation and settlement negotiations, and created HR and compliance training modules. She is regularly sought after as a workforce trainer for issues related to harassment and discrimination, FCPA compliance, good management techniques, and union awareness.

Kelly focuses much of her practice on international L&E issues, including employment/secondment contracts, data privacy, and global anti-corruption compliance. She advises clients on national and international handbook policies, procedures, and strategic HR issues, and provides day-to-day counsel in hiring, employee relations, employee discipline, and termination. She also conducts and advises on internal investigations.

Katrina “KT” Thornton is Taco Bell’s Sr. Executive - HR and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Since joining Taco Bell in October 2021, KT has been energetically leading Taco Bell’s efforts in advancing Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (EI&B). She leads with the belief that EI&B needs to be woven into the business strategy and rooted in action. She is leading Taco Bell’s equity evolution with over 15 years of experience. Before her time at Taco Bell, KT spent her career with Kellogg’s, Sears Holdings Corporation, and Target Corporation in multiple HR leadership assignments.

Joelle is a highly respected and accomplished executive, strategist, speaker, and facilitator who has earned national recognition. Prior to launching the LLI, she had a 15-year career crafting impactful strategies for communication, business development, and public affairs across private and public sectors. Joelle's areas of expertise include Neuroleadership, Latino identity, civic engagement, demographic shifts, and workplace diversity and inclusion. Notably, Joelle has made significant contributions to various community and business organizations, actively serving on the Hispanic Advisory Council for Coca-Cola, multiple non-profit boards, for-profit advisory committees, and executive committees.

Vern Howard Jr. is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hallo, the AI-powered platform that connects qualified candidates with on-demand access to digital coaching, interview training, and a network of executives at companies that students actually want to work with. The platform is the brainchild and solution to what Vern wished he had when he graduated high school early at 16 and struggled to figure out what he wanted to do next.

Since founding Hallo in 2017, Vern has worked with over 1300 active universities including Carnegie Mellon, Fordham University, Stanford University, and USC, and a number of HBCUs to help place students with jobs at top-tier companies. The AI platform backed by machine learning connects qualified candidates with on-demand access to digital coaching, interview training, and an actionable network of companies looking to place them in their future careers. Backed by Fortune 500 companies, Hallo is quickly becoming one of the go-to platforms for top brands and universities looking to discover diverse new talent in lieu of traditional recruitment measures, and is revolutionizing the way students approach their careers. Vern has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company and has appeared on podcasts such as The Entrepreneur Way and Something Ventured.

Jonathan Fowler has over 20 years of experience in data analytics, data strategy, and data-driven change. His prior humanities and education background provides a unique perspective in data analytics in organizations, which drove his doctoral research and the development of the Kulturata Data Quotient. Dr. Fowler regularly consults with companies for assessment, training, and implementation of data analytics solutions that empower and engage all employees. In addition to his industry work, he teaches analytics and data ethics courses for both undergraduate and graduate students, is a conference speaker, and published author. He is an alumnus of Clemson University.