Wendy Stratman Miller is the Chief People Officer for North America at McKinsey & Company where she shapes and manages the firm’s People strategy, processes, and professional teams.

During her 19 years in McKinsey’s People function, Wendy has built and overseen an integrated team with responsibility for recruiting, professional development, evaluations and reviews, learning, and human resources. She partners globally to design the firm’s regional People strategy, employee value proposition, and experience, including the diversity and inclusion strategy and shift toward a stronger development culture.

Previously, Wendy was a McKinsey consultant serving clients on various strategic topics with a focus on marketing and sales in consumer and retail industries.

Wendy has an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BS in Accounting from Miami University. She lives in Atlanta, GA, with her husband, Matt, and three children.

Andy brings 10+ years of experience as a Human Resources leader, practitioner, and consultant. He began his career at PwC, where he led global HR transformation engagements for Fortune 500 clients, founded PwC's Learning Solutions consulting practice, and served as the Product Owner for PwC's Change Navigator platform.
 
As Director of Talent Development at Target Corporation, Andy led a team responsible for Training, Leadership Development, and Change Management for over 100,000 store team members. During his time at Target, he also led the organizational readiness efforts for Target's enterprise Operating Model Transformation, impacting +2,000 retail stores and more than +250k employees.
 
As a founding team member at the Josh Bersin Company, Andy lead the HR Advisory Services practice and delivered consulting engagements across all areas of HR, serving many clients in the Fortune 100. Additionally, he served as the Chief Learning Officer for the Josh Bersin Academy.
 
Now the Chief Transformation Officer at SHRM, Andy drives the execution of the SHRM global strategy, ensuring the development and successful delivery of innovative products, unparalleled services and transformative experiences to the diverse audiences SHRM serves.

Lauren Fast is the Chief People Officer at iS Clinical and a seasoned Executive Coach, known for her transformative impact on organizational culture. With two decades of leadership experience, Lauren excels in leveraging HR strategies to drive business results. She combines strategic foresight with a hands-on approach, effectively merging business intelligence with people solutions.

Lauren holds advanced certifications including SHRM-SCP, GPHR, and SPHR, underscoring her deep expertise in human resources. She also possesses a master’s in engineering management, a bachelor’s in business, and a certificate in domestic and international employment law and labor relations. A trusted advisor, Lauren guides leaders through growth and change, turning strategic plans into real-world successes. Her deep understanding of the balance between profitability and prioritizing people makes her an invaluable partner in navigating business challenges and fostering a thriving organizational culture.

James Atkinson is the VP, Thought Leadership at SHRM, where he leads research teams uncovering key insights on the challenges and trends affecting HR and the workplace. James joined SHRM with more than 15 years of research, data, and product experience, having spent a decade in various leadership roles within the HR industry. Prior to SHRM, James was the Vice President of Data Products at Payscale, where he was responsible for the overall strategy, development, and delivery of data products for compensation professionals. He also spent 9 years at Gartner, finishing his tenure there as the Managing Vice President of Data Products for the HR research and advisory practice. Across his career, his teams have created award-winning research and data products for HR executives and their teams on topics including learning and development, total rewards, recruiting, talent management, HR strategy, HR technology, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This work has been featured in top business journals and media outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes.

James holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Ohio State University.

Christopher is a global data-centered belonging practitioner who built an award-winning, enterprise-wide DE&I program at a multinational Fortune 500 company. He uses a Better Practice mindset to design, execute, and manage a multi-point strategy that is globally consistent; however, also provides the flexibility to be implemented in locally relevant actions across the complex world in which we live. Christopher believes to achieve a full sense of belonging, organizations need to put inclusion, diversity, equity, & accessibility at the front of all initiatives to ensure all people can be their bold authentic selves at work, with the knowledge that they belong and are a value add to the organizational culture.

DeRetta Rhodes, Ph.D. is the Executive Vice President & Chief Culture Officer of the Atlanta Braves, overseeing people capital initiatives, communications, community affairs, The Battery Atlanta, and Spring Training facility operations. 
 
Prior to joining the Braves, Rhodes was the Executive Vice President/Chief Human Resources Officer of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta and held leadership positions at First Data, Turner Broadcasting, EY and ADP to name a few. 
 
Rhodes received her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, her master's in business administration from Clark Atlanta University, and her Ph.D. in adult education from the University of Georgia.

Brian Dickens is the chief human resources officer for the University of Tennessee System. In this role, Dickens is responsible for planning, developing and implementing statewide initiatives that support employee engagement. Areas of administration include system recruitment, employee and organizational development, compensation, inclusion, diversity and engagement, data analytics, reporting, payroll, benefits and retirement services. The office also works to ensure compliance with federal, state and University labor standards and policies. He collaborates with UT system, campus and institute leadership, human resources officers and diversity officers. Dickens joined the UT System on Dec. 1, 2019, following a national search. Dickens earned a B.S. in Biology and M.A. in Counseling from Prairie View A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University. 

Annette Wooters is Chief Executive Officer of the Far West Division of Healthtrust Supply Chain, having spent the past 15 years serving HealthTrust and HCA Healthcare patients in a number of Supply Chain leadership roles across three markets. 
 
Annette has worked in both the manufacturing and healthcare sectors, leading teams across a broad spectrum of products and countries. Annette has successfully led Supply Chain teams in disaster recovery after tornado, hurricane, mass casualty and pandemic events, demonstrating her commitment to Servant Leadership principles of service and sacrifice. 
 
Annette holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Rockford College, an M.B.A in Healthcare Management from Western Governors University, as well as CMRP and FAHRMM certifications. 

Annette believes that Supply Chain is a key member of the indirect patient care team, integrated with Clinicians in order to deliver safe, responsibly priced, and compassionate care to our patients and their families. Supply Chain brings a special set of skills to this partnership, and Annette believes the key to success is in marrying the best attributes of our technical ability and our engaged teams to deliver operational excellence. 

Tim Hwang is a machine learning expert, business leader, and entrepreneur whose career has focused on improving AI and understanding the impact of machine learning on society.

Having worked previously with groups including Google and IBM, and dubbed “the busiest man on the Internet” by Forbes, Hwang served as a research fellow at the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology, where he focused on artificial intelligence and national security issues. Before that, Hwang was the director of the Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative, a $26M philanthropic fund and research effort backed by LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman, working to ensure that machine learning and autonomous technologies are researched, developed, and deployed in the public interest.

Hwang’s speeches aid groups in better understanding the complexities of AI and machine learning and how to build ethics into the application of these technologies. Passionate about the ethics of machine learning—and easy to follow when discussing it — Hwang continues to demonstrate his thought leadership in the AI space. Using everyday life examples and captivating visuals in his presentations, he provides attendees with actionable insights on what they need to know right now about AI and how to best ethically implement it. By sharing his practical experience on the forefront of these technologies, Hwang brings nuance to the technological breakthroughs that have captivated the public in recent years and spotlights what’s likely to be coming right around the corner.

Prior to the AI Initiative, Hwang was the Global Public Policy lead for artificial intelligence and machine learning at Google, where he developed the company’s messaging and led government outreach on a broad range of questions around the social impact of the technology including security, safety, bias, and fairness. He also led research at Intelligence & Autonomy, a research initiative on AI and its influence in the labor markers, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Hwang’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. In 2011, The Globe and Mail named Hwang one of a dozen people changing philanthropy, alongside Bill Gates and George Soros.

Tim has worked in the past with groups such as Creative Commons, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, IBM, Imgur, the Institute for the Future, the Mozilla Foundation, Oxford Internet Institute, RAND Corporation, Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and Tumblr. He also sits on the board of Meedan and is an investor in Temescal Brewing.