Maria Ross is a speaker, facilitator, author, strategist, and empathy advocate who believes cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive. She’s spent decades helping forward-thinking leaders, teams, and brands connect and engage through empathy to accelerate growth. Maria has authored multiple books, including her newest, The Empathy Dilemma: How Successful Leaders Balance Performance, People, and Personal Boundaries, Her previous book, The Empathy Edge sparked a movement and she now hosts the top-rated The Empathy Edge podcast, speaking with leaders, changemakers, authors, and activists on how to achieve radical success through empathy. Maria delivers powerful talks and leadership training workshops for companies such as CHRISTUS Health, TBWA/Worldwide, and CHRISTUS Health. She has delivered dynamic keynotes at venues ranging from TEDx to The New York Times to The 3% Conference. Maria has appeared in many prominent media outlets, including MSNBC, NPR, Wisdom from the Top with Guy Raz, Forbes, ABC News, Entrepreneur and Thrive Global. Maria lives in Northern California with her husband, young son, and American Bully rescue dog and serves clients worldwide.

Learn from great leaders, experts,  and thinkers on her weekly podcast at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com and learn more about Maria's work at www.Red-Slice.com

Erika Frank is the Vice President, Legal Counsel of the California Hospital Association.

Prior, Erika served as the Associate Executive Director, General Counsel and Section Chief for the California Lawyers Association. 

Over her twenty-year career, Erika has utilized her legal expertise in employment and labor law to benefit the non-profit and private sector alike. When serving as Counsel at the Shaw Law Group in Sacramento, California, Erika advised the region’s employers about California’s complex employment laws, conducted impartial workplace investigations for public and private sector employers, and conducted seminars and training programs.  

Erika also served General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs at the California Chamber of Commerce, the largest broad-based trade association in California. During her tenure at the Chamber, Erika developed an expertise in employment law compliance, oversaw CalChamber’s Labor Law Helpline and assisted countless members with their employment law questions. She also played an integral role in the launch and success of CalChamber’s “The Workplace” podcast.

Erika has not only produced but has led numerous seminars and webinars on employment law topics such as leaves of absence, wage and hour compliance, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation prevention. She is known for her relentless energy and ability to transform legal concepts into simple stories and realistic scenarios for any type of audience and professional.   

In any organization that she is a part of, Erika utilizes her skills to translate vision into reality. Paying special attention to organizational culture, structure, and human capital, Erika is able to maximize potential and achieve results that boards, stakeholders and members are proud of.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and received her Juris Doctorate Degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. In her spare time, Erika enjoys spending time with her family, running the local trails, swimming laps in the pool, listening to the trending legal podcasts, and practicing mindfulness.   

Dima is Middle-Eastern in her genes and global citizen in her spirit. She ignites the untapped potential in individuals across the globe, empowering them to shatter limitations and become courageous, purpose driven leaders.

Through keynote speeches, workshops, and executive coaching, Dima shares her unique leadership transformation journey with one goal in mind: motivate those around her to reimagine their potential and grow into leaders.

Dima has worked across the United States, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa for several Fortune 100 companies and has honed a keen expertise in developing leaders to meet the demands of the global workforce.

Global Speaker Sonia Aranza has presented on the international stage from Spain to Singapore.  She brings 27+ years of experience in Diversity, Inclusion & Global Leadership. Her clients include Boeing, CIA, McDonald’s and more. The U.S. Department of Labor describes her work as “Outstanding” and was selected to execute programs for landmark cases. SHRM featured her as a Diversity & Inclusion Expert in HR Magazine and she is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Leadership. She serves on the Faculty of Howard University’s Executive Diversity Program; named “100 Most Influential Filipina Americans in the United States” and honored “100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World.”

Claudia Schabel is the Founder, President and CEO of Schabel Solutions. Born and raised in Brazil, Schabel lived and worked in Japan for five years prior to moving to the United States. Her approach as a sought-after DEI consultant combines over 20 years of DEI and HR practitioner experience, largely with Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, with her international, multicultural background.

Schabel serves on the Iowa SHRM State Council as the Director of Diversity. She also serves on the Grand View University Board of Trustees, the National Small Business Association’s (NSBA) Leadership Council, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Region 7 Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board and the Business Record’s Racial Equity Advisory Board. 

Her many years of leadership within the community led to honors and recognition such as the Drake University Zimpleman College of Business Women’s Impact Award (2024), Business Record’s List of Business Leaders You Need to Know (2024), Business Record – Iowa State University Ivy College of Business Woman Business Owner of the Year Award (2023), CITYVIEW Business Journal’s 22 from 2022 Award, Business Record ‘Forty Under 40’ Honoree (2008), State of Iowa’s Robert D. Ray Iowa Latino Ambassador Award (2010), and Iowa International Center Passport to Prosperity Award (2014).

Michael Bach is a nationally and internationally recognized thought leader and subject matter expert in the fields of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA). He has worked globally in the IDEA field, including as the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG International. He is the founder of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), CCDI Consulting and Pride at Work Canada.

He is the author of the best-selling and award-winning books Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right and Alphabet Soup: The Essential Guide to LGBTQ2+ Inclusion at Work.