With over 10 years of experience in the recruitment marketing industry, Ruth Toombs focuses on helping employers navigate and implement everything from new technology to branding and hiring strategies. She specializes in career site solutions, D&I hiring technology, employer branding, recruiting metrics, and various other talent acquisition essentials.

As an active and engaged member of the Talent Acquisition community, she spends time as an industry-related speaker, presenter, blogger and educator. Ruth also has a healthy obsession with writing, music, and Dachshunds.

Carlos is an Assessment Consultant for Multi-Health System full-time. He is certified to coach individuals in Emotional Intelligence Change, Influence, and Resiliency. Carlos passionately supports individuals and organizations break down barriers and create inclusive culture for all types of businesses and industries including Fortune 500 organizations. He currently also works on the Diversity and Inclusion Board for the Town of Stouffville in Ontario Canada.

Pedro Jaime Torres-Díaz is the office managing principal of the Miami, Florida, office and a principal in the San Juan, Puerto Rico, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He is also a past president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. His practice concentrates on employment discrimination and wage and hour counseling and litigation exclusively on behalf of employers, both in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Pedro has extensive trial experience before both federal and local courts and administrative forums in Puerto Rico and Florida. He has also successfully defended employers in all types of administrative hearings before local and federal agencies. Before joining Jackson Lewis, he was a partner in the Labor and Employment Law Department of a leading law firm in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he resided and practiced law for eight years.

Throughout his practice in Puerto Rico, Pedro was a frequent and featured speaker on many subjects in the labor and employment law field, in seminars for clients and for organizations such as the Society for Human Resource Management and the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce. Since arriving in Miami, he has continued to participate as speaker on many topics related to workplace law, both for clients and other organizations in Florida and elsewhere. Pedro has also written articles on legal developments in Puerto Rico, one of which was published in the American Bar Association's The International Employment Lawyer.

During his undergraduate studies, he completed an internship in European Business in the Ecòle Europèenne des Affaires in Paris, France. After completion of his undergraduate studies, Pedro worked as a fiscal analyst in the corporate headquarters of McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Missouri. After his graduation from law school, he clerked for Honorable Aida M. Delgado-Colón, United States Magistrate-Judge (now Chief United States District Judge), at the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

Pedro is fluent in Spanish and English, and conversant in French.

Taraneh Sarrafzadeh is a yoga teacher and wellness facilitator who specializes in adapting yoga & mindfulness practices to a wide and diverse array of groups. From community-centered classes, to working with corporate groups, Taraneh's intuitive style centers the needs of the people she is working with first. Taraneh has studied a wide range of yoga styles, Vinyasa, Hatha, and Kundalini and completed trainings in Trauma-Informed Yoga, The Subtle Body, Yoga & Social Justice, and Yoga in Action's Leadership Intensive. The teachers who have most influenced her include Noell Clark, Mark Tanaka, Seane Corn, Charanpal Kaur, Alejandro Rivas, Tias Little, and more. As a community organizer, Taraneh is committed to equity, compassionate action, and nonviolence in her work and is always evolving her creative leadership style. In 2017-2018 Taraneh was grateful to participate as a Creative Community Fellow in UPenn's National Art Strategies fellowship. Currently, Taraneh is a fellow in San Jose's Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute Class 11. Taraneh leads workshops on a wide array of topics from Self-Care to Creative Leadership.

Ms. Sarrafzadeh believes “Without inner change there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.”

Growing up in a small town in Utah, becoming an acupuncturist and wellness coach was the last thing Grace thought she’d become. However, as a young child, her grandmother planted the seeds of natural medicine into her mind and her seeds of wisdom eventually turned into powerful roots. Grace spent her late teens and most of her 20’s fashion modeling and bartending, but grew tired of the lack of spiritual depth in both industries. Her yoga and Pilates practice were her reprieves during this time, so she made the leap to become a full-time Pilates and yoga instructor. Helping others heal became her passion and she continued to learn in-depth knowledge of the human body. She found her way to a graduate program at Five Branches University where she was awarded a Master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She was instantly fascinated with the idea of cosmetic acupuncture and went on to study holistic Dermatology with Mazin Al-Khafaji. After conducting research in the use of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of rosacea, she received her Doctorate of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Ms Wathen developed the LUX Acu-Facial system, a unique blend of cosmetic acupuncture, acupressure, and facial massage.

When she’s not at the clinic with her dog, Atticus, Grace is running, hiking, reading, playing pickleball (or ukulele), and laughing as much as possible.

Jasmine Sanders is a Sociology PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley where she researches organizational inequality, culture, and workplace policies and practices. Jasmine is currently contributing to research exploring organizational belonging in the workplace, gendered conceptions of work/life balance in tech companies, and various projects on equity and accessibility. She has a master's degree in Sociology and Education from Columbia University, and a BA in English from Spelman College. 

Jasmine is a graduate research fellow at the Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership (EGAL) at Berkeley Haas where, in partnership with Anaplan, she drove research efforts contributing to the Advancing Belonging in Organizations playbook. This included a systematic review of academic and practitioner literature, conducting participant interviews and focus groups, and translating research findings into actionable strategies for corporate leaders.