Angela Elder started her role as Director, Event Programming for SHRM in April 2019. In her role, Angela is responsible for strategic alignment, development and delivery of event programming for SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exposition and numerous specialty conferences. Angela works with internal knowledge leaders and others to identify key trends and topics facing the HR profession and workplaces as a whole.

Angela has spent the entirety of her career developing educational experiences and programs to help business professionals and students learn and grow in their careers. Prior to SHRM, she spent 12 and a half years at the National Retail Federation (NRF), holding leadership positions in the Education Department and the NRF Foundation. In her role as Vice President of Career Development Programs, Angela launched NRF’s first Talent Acquisition Group, a community of more than 60 talent acquisition and recruiting executives from the nation’s most well-known retailers.

Prior to the National Retail Federation, Angela managed programming for DECA’s college division and worked for Financial Women International.

Angela earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from The College of William and Mary and is a certified yoga teacher.

With more than two decades of Human Resources corporate leadership, Felix Massey, SHRM-SCP, has provided innovative “people solutions” and HR best practices for small to mid-size organizations in industries to include: consumer services, aviation, retail, entertainment, and distribution for Blockbuster Entertainment, Paramount Parks, G2 Secure Staff, LLC and HomeTeam Pest Defense.  Felix studied Business Management at University of Louisiana; received Management Leadership certification from Center for Creative Leadership.  Felix joined SHRM as a corporate employee in 2018 as Director, Field Services (SE Region) and in 2019 became Sr. Director of Customer Experience. 

At SHRM, Felix oversees and leads a virtual and outsourced customer experience operation which supports and propels SHRM’s customer centricity and growth strategies. Creating and sustaining a world-class omni-channel platform, accomplished via the efforts of a diverse team of virtual agents residing in 16 countries.  The Customer Experience team is charged with providing swift resolution to customer/member inquiries, and driving revenue growth through new customer acquisition, retention, and higher engagement. 

Felix lives in Arlington, TX with his wife, Cecelia and son, Bryce. You can contact Felix at felix.massey@shrm.org; LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/felixmassey; Twitter: @SHRMFelix.

Mike Byam is the author of The WOW! Workplace, and fourth generation Managing Partner of Terryberry, an international firm that specializes in implementing, and managing employee recognition programs for organizations worldwide. He is a frequent presenter to business groups and HR professionals across the country and consults with organizations ranging from family owned businesses to Fortune 500 companies to help them develop effective recognition strategies. Mike enjoys challenging himself as an Ironman triathlete and multi-time marathoner. His experiences lend him a unique perspective on personal motivation and inspiration, and how they affect everyone in today’s fast-changing workplace.

Amy is a long-time veteran in information technology and specifically the Human Capital domain.  For the last ten years she has focused on providing technology guidance to companies at various stages of HR transformation.

Melissa Dawn Simkins, affectionately known as "The First Lady of Personal Branding," is a pioneer in personal brand leadership with a proven track record of advising Fortune 100 organizations, CEOs, C-suite executives and influencers. She is a sought-after strategist on how to lead change in the face of adversity. Relevance and readiness are core to her approach as she gives insight around future-ready talent development, bridging the diversity divide and brand leadership innovation.

She is CEO of Velvet Suite® (www.velvetsuite.com) an award-winning leadership innovation firm advancing the future of profit through people. She is the Founder of The She-Suite®, the female focused platform of Velvet Suite on a mission to break the outdated paradigm of work by empowering working women to boldly design a career and life with purpose (theshesuite.com). The She-Suite Brand Leadership Institute (BLI), is the only online leadership readiness platform community with proven results to ready, retain and advance all women and women of color who work for large enterprises. 

Melissa is a former contributor to Inc.com and has been a frequent guest on media outlets such as CNN, CNBC and more. She is the author of Brand Me. Make Your Mark: The Ultimate Playbook for Personal Branding. Melissa is a sought-after keynote speaker on leadership innovation.

As an innovator, Simkins was the first African American female advisory board member for the World Brand Congress. Velvet Suite created the NFL Player Brand University in partnership with the National Football League, the first personal brand development academy of its kind in all professional sports. Other Velvet Suite clients have included: Boston Scientific, UBS, Lincoln Financial, Allstate, Home Depot, Southern Company, the National Basketball Association, CEOs, C-Suite executives, celebrities, pro-athletes and more.

She has been recognized by NAMD as their Entrepreneur of the Year, The Atlantan's Women of Power & Influence and her firm is a finalist for the Greater Washington Innovation Award. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for The SHRM Foundation (Society for Human Resource Management).

With over 20 years of human capital management experience, Keith brings a unique blend of skills and competencies to his role as Senior Solutions Consultant with Sage People. His previous roles in project management and client services helped shape his approach to working with prospective clients as a subject matter/solutions expert and delivering product demonstrations and presentations.