Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.

As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. Recognized as one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” for 2024 by Savoy Magazine and one of the “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."

Mr. Taylor's career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/InteractiveCorp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

He is the author of the national bestseller, RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which immediately upon its release in September 2021, was in the top three of The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling hardcover business books.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees and serves on the corporate boards of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO), Flores & Associates, and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the Trump Administration.

The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) named Mr. Taylor as one of its 2023 Trailblazers in Gender Equity and Diversity for his work to achieve equal position, pay and power for all women in business. In 2020, he received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and he was named 2021 ALA Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update.

He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C.

Dr. Tiffany Jana is the CEO of TMI Portfolio, a network of socially responsible, interconnected companies that cultivate organizational inclusion worldwide. TMI was the world’s first diversity and equity focused Certified Benefit (B) Corporation. Dr. Jana’s military upbringing, and subsequent predilection towards travel, exposed them to dozens of countries and cultures that made them question whether all of the focus of difference and discrimination was the best use of human energy.

As a multiple minority (including race, gender identity, and invisible disability), Dr. Jana has always believed that if they could only help people see the vast depth, complexity, and beauty of the human experience, perhaps people would be kinder to each other. Dr. Jana’s speaking style is inspiring, engaging, high-energy, and relatable. She most enjoys helping people see each other more fully and more clearly. “It’s harder to hate when you know what people have been through. Our joys and our sadness may be attributable to different narratives, but the sensory experience of raw human emotion is the same regardless of our color, gender, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or any other
characteristic we use to divide ourselves.” Dr. Jana has been featured in numerous publications and media including Fast Company, Huffington Post, Forbes, and Psychology Today. Dr. Jana’s favorite awards and recognition include 2017 Enterprising Women of the Year from Enterprising Women Magazine and 2018’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers from Inc.com.

Dr. Jana has co-authored several books including Overcoming Bias: Building Authentic Relationships Across Differences, Erasing Institutional Bias: How to Create Systemic Change for Organizational Inclusion, and the second edition of The B Corp Handbook. Dr. Jana is an acclaimed international speaker with credits including TEDx, SXSW, AdWeek, Watermark Conference, Hong Kong Social Enterprise Summit, Bilbao Urban Innovation Leadership Dialogue Conference (Spain), Dialogues for Change (Germany), and many more. Dr. Jana’s preferred pronouns are ‘they/them’ but ‘she/her’ is not offensive to them.

Vince Caldwell, SHRM Partner Products and Programs Sr. Specialist has been with SHRM for over 25 years and serves as the primary contact for the SHRM Traveling Store Operation. He supports HR professionals with solutions and strategies that meet or exceed their needs, by recommending books, tools, and other software product solutions. He provides bookstore solutions to chapter and state conferences throughout the US. He has a passion for helping others succeed and become more than they thought they could be.  He is a graduate of “The College of New Jersey”.

A practical advisor and passionate advocate for his clients, Chris helps businesses prevent and resolve legal disputes, particularly those with their own employees. Focusing on labor and employment law, he assists both large and small employers with HR and employment issues relating to hiring and firing, background checks, employee handbooks, compensation, overtime, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, unpaid wages, non-competition agreements, non-solicitation agreements, confidentiality agreements, and more. With an appreciation for the specific business needs of his clients, Chris helps ensure compliance with federal and state employment laws such as:

• Title VII
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

He drafts employment contracts, independent contractor agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, separation and severance agreements, and employee handbooks.

Chris also regularly represents clients before state and federal administrative agencies and courts.  Having a strong background as a litigator and trial attorney, Chris prepares each case with an eye toward trial and fearlessly advocates for his clients.

Chris began his legal career as a criminal prosecutor, during which time he tried more than 20 jury trials. Thereafter, Chris represented international corporations, small businesses, and insurers in a variety of legal disputes. While in law school, Chris received the Victor O. Wehle Award for excellence in trial advocacy, served as a Senior Associate on the Stetson Law Review, and interned for the Honorable Susan C. Bucklew, Senior United States District Court Judge for the Middle District of Florida. Chris is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most prestigious academic honor society.

When he is not serving his clients, Chris can be found playing softball, hopelessly rooting for the New York Mets, and enjoying his time with his beautiful wife and children.