Gregory Tall is a high-energy trainer and facilitator with over fifteen years of experience helping high-growth organizations in all areas of human resources who also answers to the nickname “The Artist Formerly Known as HR.” He began his career at a scrappy tech start-up where he boosted the hiring of underrepresented professionals. In roles following, Gregory built an inclusive onboarding program, provided regular development coaching to leaders, mediated employee relations cases, implemented recruitment practices to increase hiring of women and people of color and executed a comprehensive DEI strategy addressing institutional equity.

Gregory is widely known for his enthusiasm and his ability to help participants navigate difficult conversations with confidence and candor. He consults and develops content for organizations including FOX Sports, American Dental Association, Soho House, Wilson Sporting Goods, and has a niche for facilitating DEI curriculum and conversations specific to the advertising industry. Gregory holds an M.B.A. from Roosevelt University, a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has earned the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification. When not developing or delivering training, Gregory is working hard to build his vinyl record collection and fuel his chocolate chip cookie addiction – he insists on having at least one cookie every single day.

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.  

Amy Bruce is a Director at UBS and Head of the Financial Wellness business, helping employees at all levels to improve their relationship with money and overall financial health. Prior to this Amy spent ten years in Human Resources where she held several service delivery and business partner positions in various locations including New York, Nashville and Krakow, Poland.

Vanessa Kelly strategizes with employers to minimize their legal risks and optimize the employee experience, to help companies focus on their business. Clients partner with Vanessa when looking to create and foster respectful workplaces that comply with national and state employment standards. Vanessa counsels her management clients about their employee relations concerns. She also creates employment and other transactional agreements to meet her client’s goals.

Nanci Appleman-Vassil is a highly sought after Certified Speaking Professional® (CSP) and accomplished business professional with more than 25 years' experience in training, organization development, and corporate consulting with focus on coaching and developing managers and building high-performing teams.She is the Founder and CEO of APLS Group, a firm that specializes in facilitating individuals, groups and organizations toward better solutions for increased effectiveness.Known for her dynamic style that touches hearts, engages minds and gets an audience smiling, Nanci infuses her presentations with real-life examples that are relatable to the audience and bring teams to a new level of understanding. From keynotes to webinars to workshops and everything in between, Nanci will get you excited about discovering, learning and transforming your behavior to increase your influence in the workplace.As part of her commitment to helping others increase their confidence and competence, Nanci devotes her off work time to supporting non-profits and aspiring entrepreneurs.