Claudia Schabel
Founder, President and CEO
Schabel Solutions
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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).

SESSIONS:
Monday, October 19, 2020 - 1:00pm to 1:20pm
Delphia Howze
CEO and Founder
D. Howze Solutions, LLC
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As the CEO and Founder of D. Howze Solutions, LLC, a D&I consultancy, Delphia drives innovative strategies to cultivate inclusive workplaces. Mrs. Howze currently serves as Chief Inclusion Officer for a large-scale national organization, spearheading initiatives to promote diversity and foster belonging. With over two decades of distinguished leadership, Delphia possesses extensive expertise in optimizing human capital and D&I frameworks across diverse sectors including retail, banking, energy, logistics, government, and higher education. Her visionary outlook and dynamic leadership continue to shape inclusive environments that empower individuals and propel organizational success.  She has recently emerged as a new author with her new book, "Including You! Leading Inclusion From Where You Are."

 

 

 

 

SESSIONS:
Wednesday, October 21, 2020 - 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Delphia Howze
CEO and Founder
D. Howze Solutions, LLC
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As the CEO and Founder of D. Howze Solutions, LLC, a D&I consultancy, Delphia drives innovative strategies to cultivate inclusive workplaces. Mrs. Howze currently serves as Chief Inclusion Officer for a large-scale national organization, spearheading initiatives to promote diversity and foster belonging. With over two decades of distinguished leadership, Delphia possesses extensive expertise in optimizing human capital and D&I frameworks across diverse sectors including retail, banking, energy, logistics, government, and higher education. Her visionary outlook and dynamic leadership continue to shape inclusive environments that empower individuals and propel organizational success.  She has recently emerged as a new author with her new book, "Including You! Leading Inclusion From Where You Are."

 

 

 

 

SESSIONS:
Martin Fogelman III
Founder and CEO
Pluto
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Martin is the founder and CEO of Pluto, a workforce analytics and communications platform with a mission to make companies more diverse, inclusive, equitable and sustainable. His background in externalities and information asymmetries across business, economics and law inspired him to create Pluto. Martin developed Pluto’s proprietary inclusive, user-first framework of design, privacy and analytics. Prior to founding Pluto, Martin worked for Bloomberg, L.P. in NY and London as a business analyst.

Martin holds an LL.M. from LUISS Guido Carli, J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and a B.A. in Economics from Fordham University College at Rose Hill.

SESSIONS:
Cindy Joseph
Chief Executive Officer
The Cee Suite, LLC
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Cindy Joseph is the founder and chief executive officer of The Cee Suite LLC. For nearly two decades, the core of Cindy’s career has been finding and developing diverse talent. Prior to launching The Cee Suite, she managed human capital programs for two of the world’s leading financial services and consulting companies, Goldman Sachs and Accenture. Her key areas of competency include recruiting, diversity and inclusion, and performance management.

Regardless of her role, title or mandate, Cindy has always felt a strong connection to personal and professional growth, mentorship, and inclusion efforts, and has passionately used her platforms to support and inspire high-performing teams.

Today, Cindy advises organizations in varying stages of their talent management and diversity, equity and inclusion journeys and helps teams transform their critical “people” practices. She also works with individuals one-on-one as they seek to elevate their professional brands and careers.

When Cindy is not at home in Brooklyn, N.Y., she spends much of her personal time traveling the world. She is a graduate of Howard University, where she earned a degree in psychology, and a Certified Professional Diversity Coach.

SESSIONS:
Mike Aitken
Executive Vice President, HR Professional Solutions at SHRM
SHRM
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Mike Aitken is Executive Vice President, HR Professional Solutions at SHRM, following 15 years of leading SHRM’s successful advocacy programs as Vice President of Government Affairs.  

Mike is a leading authority on the issues important to the human resource profession and drives SHRM’s membership vision, ensuring excellent member experiences, and implementing the organization’s newly developed business strategy.

He applies his proven model of engagement to shape the future of work, workers, and workplaces. He is an expert relationship-builder across diverse constituencies and stakeholders, always seeking out the “win-win” in every situation.

As a member of SHRM’s executive team, Mike also plays a key role in setting the strategic direction of the organization, offering important counsel on SHRM’s educational programs and professional development opportunities.

Before joining SHRM in 2003, he spent 14 years with the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), which represents more than 23,000 HR professionals at over 1,900 higher education institutions. 

In 2015 and 2016, Mike served as an employer representative on the U.S. delegation to the International Labour Conference.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of San Diego.

SESSIONS:
Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 2:00pm to 2:15pm
Jon Decoteau, SHRM-SCP
Division Director - West
SHRM
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With more than 25 years of human resources experience and 6 in Association Management, Jon Decoteau is a Senior HR leader specializing in Business Partner Support, HR Strategy and Services. He has a proven track record at The Coca-Cola Company, eBay and Motorola for getting organizations aligned, evaluating their strengths, and driving global projects. Jon is currently SHRM's Divisional Director based in Sacramento, California. In this role he is responsible for leading SHRM's Western US Field Services team and for helping our chapters and members grow as part of SHRM's 300,000+ member centric organization, impacting millions of employees in workforces worldwide.

 
SESSIONS:
Friday, September 25, 2020 - 1:15pm to 1:30pm
Erin Riehle
Senior Director of Disability Services
Cincinnati Children's
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Erin Riehle is the Senior Director of Disability Services at Cincinnati Children's. Project SEARCH is an internship-based training and skill development program that gives individuals with disabilities access to a multitude of job sights and integrated internship opportunities. Since its inception, Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site at Cincinnati Children’s to a large and continuously expanding international network of sites. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.

SESSIONS:
Rodney O. Martin, Jr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Voya
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Rodney O. Martin, Jr., is chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better.  Serving approximately 13.8 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $7.5 billion in revenue in 2019.

A veteran of the retirement, insurance and financial services industry with more than 40 years of high-profile experience, Martin joined Voya (formerly ING U.S.) in 2011, and led it through an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2013. Since then, he has overseen a significant financial, operational and cultural transformation within the company. 

Martin received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Alfred University. He is a fellow, Life Underwriter Training Council, a board member of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) and Junior Achievement (JA) USA, and has served on the board of the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA).

 

SESSIONS:
Antonio Myers
Disability Services Provider
DC Department of Disability Services
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Antonio Myers is a native Washingtonian who is a high school valedictorian and college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Minor in Psychology. Antonio graduated from RCM’s Direct Support Professional Academy and is a designated disability services provider by the DC Department of Disability Services. Antonio was recently was appointed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to The District of Columbia State Rehabilitation Council.

SESSIONS:
Anil Lewis
Executive Director
National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
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Anil Lewis was born in 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently employed as the executive director for Blindness Initiatives for the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), located in Baltimore, Maryland, he coordinates outreach, marketing, and fund raising activities for a national nonprofit organization. As a sighted man he fairly easily found respectable employment with wages high above the minimum wage. Then in 1989, while pursuing his bachelor’s of business administration in computer information systems at Georgia State University (GSU), he became blind from retinitis pigmentosa. At that point, although he had always considered himself socially aware, he became personally acquainted with actual social injustice and discrimination. Speaking of his personal life, Anil Lewis says that his proudest accomplishment is his bright, ambitious son Amari, born in 1997.

SESSIONS:
Moderator: 
Kandi Pickard
Personal Pronouns
She/Her/Hers
President and CEO
National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)
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Kandi Pickard is the President & CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) where she provides vision and leadership, working collaboratively with individuals and organizations to support the entire Down syndrome community. Kandi holds a degree in business administration and brings two decades of experience in operations and effective administration management to her role at NDSS. Kandi’s involvement in the Down syndrome community first began as a local volunteer and advocate after her youngest son, Mason was born with Down syndrome. Nine years later, she leads NDSS with a focus on building community and keeping people with Down syndrome at the center of everything the organization does. Kandi’s vision for the future of NDSS includes resources, programs and support for individuals with Down syndrome and their families from birth to adulthood, with a special focus on caregiving, public health and supporting aging adults.

SESSIONS:
Monday, October 19, 2020 - 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Kandi Pickard
Personal Pronouns
She/Her/Hers
President and CEO
National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)
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Kandi Pickard is the President & CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) where she provides vision and leadership, working collaboratively with individuals and organizations to support the entire Down syndrome community. Kandi holds a degree in business administration and brings two decades of experience in operations and effective administration management to her role at NDSS. Kandi’s involvement in the Down syndrome community first began as a local volunteer and advocate after her youngest son, Mason was born with Down syndrome. Nine years later, she leads NDSS with a focus on building community and keeping people with Down syndrome at the center of everything the organization does. Kandi’s vision for the future of NDSS includes resources, programs and support for individuals with Down syndrome and their families from birth to adulthood, with a special focus on caregiving, public health and supporting aging adults.

SESSIONS:
Erin Riehle
Senior Director of Disability Services
Cincinnati Children's
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Erin Riehle is the Senior Director of Disability Services at Cincinnati Children's. Project SEARCH is an internship-based training and skill development program that gives individuals with disabilities access to a multitude of job sights and integrated internship opportunities. Since its inception, Project SEARCH has grown from a single program site at Cincinnati Children’s to a large and continuously expanding international network of sites. Project SEARCH’s primary objective is to secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.

SESSIONS: