Founder and president of thrive! meetings & events, Tracy Stuckrath has had a 29-year career in corporate, association and private event planning. In 2009, her personal health journey changed the trajectory of her career. She works with organizations worldwide to create safe and inclusive food and beverage experiences that deliver unrivaled employee and guest experiences so everyone feels valued and included. Tracy has co-authored two books, published over 200 articles and is recognized as a meetings and event industry leader, including Top 500 Event Professionals in North America, Top 25 Women in the Meetings Industry and Meetings Industry Changemaker.

Alain Verstandig, President of the NET EXPAT Group, is an engineer who has passionately embraced International Mobility and Talent Management through personal experience.

He currently lives in the USA but was born in 1962 in Brussels, Belgium to a French mother and a German father.

He graduated with an Engineering degree, later supplemented by an MBA. Right after graduating, he travelled the world in an amazing 18-month backpacking adventure through more than 50 countries.

Alain then worked over ten years for multinational corporations in various senior positions where he acquired first-hand knowledge of international mobility, being expatriated himself on several occasions. Alain speaks five languages.

In 1998, Alain founded the NET EXPAT Group specializing in assessing, training and coaching for expatriates and their partners. Through its unique, innovative approaches, NET EXPAT soon became a global market leader, with offices in 76 countries around the world and a loyal customer base of more than 400 international corporations.

More information can be found at www.netexpat.com    

Bo Cooper, Partner, Fragomen Bo Cooper is a Partner in Fragomen’s Washington, DC office, leading the Government Strategies and Compliance Group. He serves on the firm’s Executive Committee, where he works to set Fragomen’s strategic vision and philosophy, manage its worldwide operations, and ensure it remains progressive, agile, efficient, innovative, and consistent across all its jurisdictions. He provides strategic immigration advice to a diverse clientele, including corporations, nonprofits, hospitals, universities, and media outlets. Bo has extensive experience in navigating complex immigration challenges, interacting with Congress, executive agencies, and consulates, and representing clients in federal audits and investigations.  

 Previously, Bo was General Counsel of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from 1999 to 2003, directing a legal program of 700 attorneys. He advised top U.S. officials on immigration law and has significant federal litigation experience as a former trial attorney in the Department of Justice. Bo has frequently testified before Congress and appeared in various media outlets such as PBS Newshour, Sixty Minutes, and CNN. He participated in negotiating international immigration agreements and served as a U.S. delegate to international organizations.  

Bo has taught immigration, national security and related courses at the University of Michigan, Georgetown and American University law schools, and he currently teaches asylum law as a member of the adjunct faculty at Tulane Law School. He has an extensive pro bono practice and has contributed as amicus in key Supreme Court cases, served as an expert witness in federal litigation, and advised the Department of Homeland Security. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Migration Policy Institute. Bo received his J.D. from Tulane Law School and his B.A. from Tulane University. 

Barbee Myers Oakes, Ph.D. has more than 30 years of experience in higher education. She was appointed the Chief Diversity Officer at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in September 2017. Previously, Oakes was the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer and Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion at Wake Forest University from 2009-2017 where she was the architect of the university’s first strategic plan for diversity and inclusion. From 1995-2009 Oakes was the director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Wake Forest. Under her leadership, Wake Forest was awarded a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award by Insight into Diversity in 2012. In 2012 Oakes was also named by Diverse Issues in Higher Education Magazine as one of “25 Women Making A Difference” in higher education. Oakes earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees from Wake Forest. Upon completion of her PhD in Exercise Science and Nutrition from the University in Tennessee, Knoxville, she became the first Black woman with a doctoral degree in the American College of Sports Medicine. Oakes held faculty appointments at Wake Forest, Arizona State University, and Penn State University from 1985-1995 and is the co-author of seven textbooks. 

Nick Schacht is a highly experienced executive with more than three decades of experience in professional services, education, and corporate learning and development. He has a history of driving product innovation, growth and profitability, and he has led organizations operating worldwide.  

Schacht is Chief Global Development Officer for SHRM, the world's largest HR professional society. Before joining SHRM, he was the founder and CEO of KnowCyber, a learning and development company focused on improving the cybersecurity-related skills of people in all types of organizations worldwide. Prior to KnowCyber, he was President and Chief Operating Officer for PetroSkills, a provider of training and development services to the worldwide petroleum industry. Prior to that, he was CEO and President of Learning Tree International, a publicly traded provider of IT and management learning and development. Schacht was also the President of Global Learning Systems, a start-up focused on e-Learning and digital content. He served in a variety of capacities at ESI International, culminating in his role as President when ESI was sold to the Institute for International Research (IIR) and then as Group President for the Americas for IIR. He has been a Research Fellow at the Logistics Management Institute, and began his career as a U.S. Navy Supply Officer, on the headquarters staff of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.  

Schacht graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy, and holds Master's degrees in Administration from the University of Maryland University College and Information Systems Technology from The George Washington University.

Pam Jeffords is a Partner in PwC’s Workforce of the Future Practice. Pam has over 25 years of experience advising companies and organizations on how they can break the status quo and drive progress with their diversity, inclusion and engagement goals. Pam has deep industry expertise in Technology, Energy, Consumer Goods and Financial Services. Pam is a member of the Global Leadership Council for Colorado State University’s College of Business, an advisory board member for University of Denver's Women’s College, Limited Partner in The JumpFund, and has served as Chair of Women United for the Mile High United Way where she received the prestigious Frances Wisebart Jacobs award for philanthropy.

Pam holds a Bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University and a MBA from Georgia State University. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and four children.