Diane has been leading and scaling organizations for the last 20 years with an approach of creating purpose-built strategies that enable and align people to the business, driving business results. In her role as CHRO of BetterWorks Diane sits at the intersection of HR strategy and technology. Leveraging her unique experience, Diane is responsible for scaling the company through innovative people practices while simultaneously working closely with the product team to influence and evolve the companies product offerings. 

Prior to her role at BetterWorks, Diane was head of HR at 8x8 during a period of hyper growth that included multiple expansions and acquisitions. She spent 13 years in various HR leadership positions at Cisco, including three years on a team dedicated to continuous performance management. She honed her recruiting and consulting skills early in her career as a headhunter in Silicon Valley. 

Diane holds a B.A. in Business from Northern State University and a MBA from Golden Gate University.

Gary Ware, the Founder of Breakthrough Play is a corporate facilitator, keynote speaker, certified coach, and self-proclaimed Creative Catalyst. Gary has over 14 years of experience in the corporate word holding various leadership positions. Being a multifaceted individual Gary also comes with nearly a decade of experience as a performer in improv theatre. After experiencing burnout in his pursuit for success and happiness, he realized that what was missing was play. Committing to a life of play is what led Gary to discover his passion for facilitating. Gary uses the power of applied improvisation and other playful methods to assist people in unlocking creativity, confidence, and better communication. Gary was recently featured as one of the Top 100 HR influencers of 2020 by the Engagedly HR software platform. When Gary isn't leading workshops or speaking, you can find him learning magic or off an adventure with his wife Courtney and son Garrett.

Magi The Evolutionist

Catalyst for Positive Change

Personal - Interpersonal - Team - Organizational

Using a unique combination of experiential coaching, science-backed development tools, and actionable strategies, Magi empowers leaders to evolve themselves and their organizational culture to meet the moment. Whether it’s change initiatives, new leadership, or cultural transformation, she partners with teams to catalyze positive change.

Magi has spent her life reinventing herself. From a single mother at 19 working at the first Cable TV company, to leading one of the fastest growing consultancies and becoming a best selling author in her field of expertise, Magi has continually taken challenges and failure as lessons and learned to move beyond her limits (both real and perceived) to live a life that inspires and contributes. Her body of work cuts through the personal, group, and organizational malaise stifling happiness, joy, and fulfillment at work. Her uplifting talks and groundbreaking courses uncover, catalyze, and optimize human potential, unite teams, and raise organizational effectiveness. 

Steve McElfresh is a Principal at, and the Founder of, HR Futures, Inc where he works with scaling organizations to address their people problems of growth. Recently, Steve was also the SVP/People at Duo Security, driving growth and supporting their acquisition and integration with Cisco. He has been the CHRO at three other tech companies, two of which he took public. He was also the President/CEO of Saratoga Institute and taught at the Boston College School of Management.

Steve has a Ph.D is from Boston College and a JD from Santa Clara University. He is also a past-president of BAHREC and has been a member of SHRM and BAHREC for several decades

Adam Smiley Poswolsky is a millennial workplace expert, internationally renowned keynote speaker, and bestselling author of The Quarter-Life Breakthrough (Penguin Random House), and The Breakthrough Speaker. Smiley helps companies attract, retain, and empower millennial talent, and he’s inspired thousands of professionals to be more engaged at work, through speaking at companies like Facebook, ASAE, Unilever, IDEO, Salesforce, SAP, Deloitte, Uber, Harvard Business School, and TED. His TEDx talk has been viewed over 1 million times, and he has done hundreds of speaking engagements, reaching over 50,000 people in 15 countries. Smiley’s writing has been published in The Washington Post, Fast Company, Time, and Business Insider, and his work has been featured in USA Today, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, CNN, CNBC, and the World Economic Forum, among others.

Michelle Kim is a fierce immigrant queer woman of color entrepreneur challenging the status quo in tech.

Michelle is the co-founder and CEO of Awaken (www.visionawaken.com), a leading provider of modern, experiential diversity and inclusion workshops that go beyond just “checking the box.” Awaken creates compassionate and inspiring learning experiences to empower leaders and teams to lead fearlessly and inclusively in today’s dynamic workplace.

Prior to Awaken, Michelle had a successful career in both tech and management consulting, working with C-/VP-level executives to build high performing organizations around the world.

Michelle has been a lifelong social justice activist and has served on a variety of organizations such as the LGBTQ Speakers Bureau, SF Human Rights Commission's Advisory Committee, and LYRIC nonprofit’s Board of Directors.

Michelle graduated from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business with a passion for social entrepreneurship. Michelle is a passionate keynote speaker and writer -- she was named “Top Writer in Diversity” by Medium for her thought leadership and is a contributor to Quartz at Work.