Lex Gillette is a Paralympic athlete. Competing primarily in the long jump, Lex has five Paralympic medals, four world champion titles, and holds the current world record. He’s the only totally blind athlete to eclipse the 22-foot barrier.  Lex is a sought-after inspirational keynote speaker who empowers his audiences to gaze beyond the horizon and see more than what is in front of their eyes. In his presentation,  “Remove the blindfold", we will explore the idea of “blindfolds,” how they appear in our lives and amongst our teams, and what we can do to remove them to see the world with more clarity and truth.

Ashley T. Brundage is the President and CEO of Empowering Differences. While seeking employment at PNC Bank in the United States, she identified openly during the interview process as a woman of transgender experiance and subsequently was hired after facing years of harassment, discrimination, and homelessness. These factors led her to start her second career as a means of survival while doing research on empowerment & differences. She took a role in the bank as a part time teller and then rose to national Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion in less than 5 years. She captured her research as a 4-Step process of empowerment to cultivate change in her new book and online leadership course. Ashley credits her success to those closest to her for providing actionable allyship including her 2 teenage sons, Bryce and Blake. She also volunteers her time serving numerous nonprofit organizations including serving as the vice chair for the national board of directors for GLAAD who works to accelerate acceptance across all forms of media for the LGBTQ+ community.

Christopher “CJ” Gross is the author of the best-selling book What's Your Zip Code Story? Understanding and Overcoming Class Bias in the Workplace and the highly acclaimed Harvard Business Review article, A Better Approach to Mentorship. He is a TEDx Speaker and founder of Ascension Worldwide, a firm dedicated to DEI and cultural transformation consulting based in the Washington, D.C. area. CJ has 20-years of experience as an international organizational development consultant specializing in leadership development, and DEI transformation. CJ is a certified Social + Emotional Intelligence coach, trainer, Keirsey Temperament professional, and Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Administrator.

Dr. Shirley Davis, CSP, President of SDS Global Enterprises, a global workforce solutions firm, is an award-winning Human Resources expert, with over 30 years of business experience in a variety of senior executive roles for several Fortune 100 companies, as well as her last role of Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion for the Society for Human Resource Management. She’s also a best-selling author of 5 books, serves on the National Speakers Association and the NSA Foundation Boards, and the Make A Wish Foundation Board. She is a popular facilitator for eight LinkedIn Learning leadership courses.

Peggy O’Neill is a keynote speaker, diversity trainer, author and coach. Standing a whopping 3’8”, Peggy has had the unique opportunity of developing many skills and great wisdom overcoming countless life, business and relationship challenges. Weaving together her from-the-trenches life experiences, good humor and background in psychotherapy, Peggy has supported individuals and businesses such as Chase Bank, Texaco, FEMA, Lockheed Martin, and many others in triumphing over their challenges, and building cultures of greater resiliency, inclusion, empathy and empowerment. More info at PeggySpeaks.com.

Susanne Tedrick is a technical trainer at a Fortune 500 technology company, and is fiercely committed to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the tech industry. Susanne is the author of the critically acclaimed Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators (Wiley, 2020) and co-author of the upcoming book Innovating for Diversity: Lessons from Top Companies that are Disrupting Old Practices to Achieve Inclusivity, Equity and Business Success (Wiley, 2023).

Susanne performs community service work for several non-profits, including serving as Chair of the Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity Executive Council for CompTIA and as a coalition member for NPower's Command Shift initiative.

Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Data & Insights Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.

During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).

Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.

Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.

Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.

Irshad Manji is the winner of Oprah’s first-ever “Chutzpah Award” for boldness. Prof. Manji leads Moral Courage College, the innovator of a unifying inclusion program called “Diversity Without Division.” SHRM has recognized Diversity Without Division as a “game-changing solution” because it cultivates the missing piece of DEI: empathy.

Prof. Manji’s latest bestseller is Don't Label Me: How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars. (Fun fact: Chris Rock calls the book “genius.”) An acclaimed professor of leadership at New York University for many years, she now teaches with Oxford University's Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights.

Hana is the founder of Gen Z Planet ─ a research and advisory firm. She helps business leaders to prepare for the next generation of employees and consumers. In this role, Hana combines her passion for insights with her commitment to support the integration of the next generation into society. As an award-winning management consultant who was named as one of the “Top 25 Consultants” by Consulting Magazine, Hana is a sought-after speaker and business commentator and is the author of the book Gen Z 360: Preparing for the Inevitable Change in Culture, Work, and Commerce.

Tricia Downing is a corporate Learning Designer. Prior to transitioning to her current role, Tricia's life revolved around athletics. She is a Paralympian, competing in the sport of shooting at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has also competed at the World Championship level in both rowing and triathlon. Although athletics has been a constant in her life, the way she approached it drastically changed after she was struck by a car on a bicycle ride in September of 2000, becoming instantly paralyzed from the chest down. Despite her injury, Tricia has continued to participate in sports, in addition to being a disability advocate, professional speaker, and author of three books. She holds master's degrees in both Sport Management and Disability Studies and graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor's degree in Journalism.