In-person Pass

Taryn Mackenzie Williams is the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy. In this position, she advises the Secretary of Labor on how the Department’s policies and programs impact the employment of people with disabilities and leads the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), which works with employers and all levels of government to promote evidence-based policy that improves employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities.

Previously, Williams was the managing director for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at American Progress, which works on progressive policies focused on a broad range of anti-poverty strategies. Before joining American Progress, she worked at ODEP on a variety of issues related to education, workforce policy, Social Security, Medicaid and civil rights. In her role as director of youth policy, Williams led agency efforts to coordinate education and employment policy in support of improved labor force outcomes for disabled youth. From 2014 through 2016, Williams served as ODEP’s chief of staff. She also undertook detail assignments as associate director for public engagement and liaison to the disability community at the White House from 2014 through 2015 and as a policy adviser on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions from 2012 through 2013.

Prior to joining the federal government, Williams worked as the research coordinator for leadership programs at the Institute for Educational Leadership and as the director of programs at the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues headquartered in Chicago. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Brown University and a master’s degree in education with a concentration in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University. She resides in Washington, DC.

Rob Grubka is chief executive officer (CEO) of Health Solutions for Voya Financial, Inc., which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better.

In this role, Grubka is responsible for driving Voya’s customer experience and profitable growth — delivering planning, investing and protection solutions to and through the workplace to help individuals and employers from “hire through retire.” As part of the company’s focus on health and wealth solutions, Grubka leads product development and management, as well as the end-to-end customer experience. Grubka also serves on Voya’s Executive Committee.

Grubka brings nearly 30 years of actuarial, product management and leadership experience to the role. Most recently, he served as president, Employee Benefits for Voya — and prior to that was the chief risk officer (CRO) for Voya’s Retirement and Annuity businesses. In the latter role, he partnered with Voya’s businesses in developing strategies that balanced risk with opportunities to achieve their goals.

Prior to joining Voya, Grubka led the Group Protection business at Lincoln Financial and held leadership roles in the retirement and annuity businesses. Previously, he held a variety of actuarial roles at Nationwide Financial. 

Grubka earned a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from The Ohio State University. He holds FINRA Series 6 and 26 licenses and is a fellow in the Society of Actuaries. Grubka also serves on the board of Junior Achievement North and is the Executive Sponsor of Voya’s Volunteerism employee-led council.

Serving the financial needs of approximately 14.3 million individual customers, workplace participants and institutions in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $4.2 billion in revenue in 2021. The company had more than $707 billion in total assets under management and administration as of March 31, 2022.

Bradley Byrne has more than 30 years of experience as an attorney in private practice and more than two decades of public service. He served as an elected member of the Alabama State Board of Education and the Alabama State Senate and was appointed as the Chancellor of Alabama’s two-year college system. In that role, Bradley was tasked with reforming the system’s mission and processes, substantially increasing Alabama’s educational standards and accountability measures. He also chaired Alabama’s Workforce Planning Council.

Bradley spent four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives with his background as a labor and employment attorney and in education policy, Bradley was a natural fit on the Education and Labor Committee, where he chaired the Workforce Protections Subcommittee. His experience in labor law, workforce training, and education policy gave him a unique perspective. Bradley has led initiatives that have increased access to education and job training, benefiting both the workforce and businesses alike. As a former education policymaker and higher education leader, he has worked on significant issues with the Department of Education, as well as various workforce training and apprenticeship programs.

Bradley is an avid sportsman and small forest owner.

Andréa Backman is dedicated to helping students achieve meaningful employment opportunities and economic mobility through education. At Strategic Education, Inc., she chairs the Office of Employability, focused on bridging the gap between graduates and employers, and ensuring that students achieve a positive return on their educational investments. 

Andréa also serves as President of Strayer University, where she sets the vision for an innovative, impactful education that equips students with the skills needed to compete in a global economy. In this role, she is focused on educational access, holistic support and lasting employability gains for students and alumni. 

As one of the first in her family to earn a college education, and as a single mother to two boys, Andréa understands that the complexities of balancing career, school and family requires hard work and dedication. 

As a leader, Andréa is guided by her previous role as Dean of the Jack Welch Management Institute, where she was mentored by Jack Welch himself—an experience that significantly shaped her views on the role of education and mentorship for others. 

Andréa holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

Ryan Millar is Senior Partner with Culture Partners where he works with business leaders to unleash the power of culture to inspire businesses and people to reach their full potential. With over 25 years of experience in professional leadership roles and as an expert in change management, culture management, and creating positive accountability throughout all levels of an organization, Ryan is a highly regarded consultant and facilitator. Ryan has led large change initiatives and partnered with leaders from well- known organizations such as General Motors, Duke Energy, US Bank, The NPD Group, the Walt Disney Company, Nike Inc., OSF Healthcare, the Southern Company, Redstone Federal Credit Union, Publix Super Markets, PETRONAS, and Academy Sports. After starting his professional career in 1997 touring with the USA Volleyball team, Ryan went on to compete in three Olympic Games. In 2008, he helped the USA win their first Olympic Volleyball Gold Medal in twenty years at the Olympic Games in Beijing. He also competed in four World Cups, two World Championships, five World League Finals, and four Olympic Qualification Tournaments before eventually retiring from the sport in 2012. Serving as Head Men’s Volleyball Coach at Brigham Young University for the 2006-2007 season, Ryan compiled a 23-6 record. Having performed in front of hundreds of millions watching on television and in front of twenty thousand plus fans, Ryan has a tremendous presence. His enthusiasm for life, winning, and lifting people make him an instant hit with his audience. He has presented keynote addresses at multiple corporate events, leadership summits, fundraisers, and award ceremonies.

Enrica graduated in Communication Sciences and has more than 15years of experience in the HR and Organization field, taking roles of increasing responsibilities through fast-paced digital international companies. She is now leading the Group People & Culture at Growens, the BEE parent Company, supporting 5 different Business Units people growth in the digital ecosystem. She even collaborates with Universities and postgraduate schools with lectures on HR / Change Management / Agile topics and with a tech Italian Venture Capital as Talent Advisor. Moreover, she supports research and innovation, actively participating in the international HR and Agile communities.

Megan DeVille is a Senior HRIS Analyst at Laitram, L.L.C, a global manufacturing and innovation company. HRIS Architect, process enthusiast, and data nerd by day, Megan is passionate about convincing the HR world of the power of systems and automation to make Human Resources more Human by automating administration and freeing up HR professionals to focus on the uniquely human strengths of strategy and empathy. She has taken her mission to empower and excite HR users to lean into technology to the stage of the 2019 Avature User Conference, winning Best Presentation for her enthusiastic encouragement for companies to take extreme ownership of their technology and incorporate micro-innovation into their tech strategy. This presentation was reprised as an Avature Customer Webinar in 2019 and featured on an 2019 episode of the Recruiting Future podcast with Matt Alder. Megan has also presented at the 2020 and 2021 Digital Avature User Conferences. Megan is proud to be a founding member and Co-Chair of the Avature System Administrator User Group – empowering Avature clients to be ‘extreme owners’ of their technology. Outside of HR Tech, Megan has earned a Commendation from the Consulate General of Japan at Nashville for 12 years of service to US-Japan Relations as president of the board for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Alumni Association Mid-South chapter and has recently been elected as a JET Alumni Association Country Representative, representing 40,000 JET Alumni across the United States. A strong believer that good technology is not just for corporate HR departments, she lead the implementation of a Membership Management software for the US JET Alumni Association.

Harper is passionate about moving ethics and compliance programs from evolving to leading practice. In her role as Chief Compliance Officer of Learning Pool , she helps clients around the world transform their programs into predictive compliance programs by leveraging behavioral analytics - the untapped human element. With over 15 years of compliance, risk, and governance experience across heavily regulated industries, Harper drives the product strategy and thought leadership functions, bringing the client voice into True Office Learning's solution roadmap.

Ben Isgur has spent more than 25 years guiding US and global health leaders and decision makers with industry intelligence and research-based perspectives. His work informs business leaders on the interdependencies between the health industry, benefit trends and the employee experience. An author, Ben has written numerous reports, which have been cited by leaders across the health industry. He is frequently interviewed and quoted by journalists from media organizations such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Economist, and Modern Healthcare. Ben also has been a guest on the CNBC Nightly Business Report and NPR’s Marketplace. Ben is an accomplished speaker, and has given keynote addresses on diverse topics, from the drivers of US medical cost trend to the rise of the healthcare consumer’s voice to the importance of social determinants of health. Ben also has led global health trends research and has presented on the findings in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Prior to joining Fidelity Investments, Ben founded PwC’s Health Research Institute, where he led a team of industry experts, policy analysts and economists dedicated to developing original and independent thought leadership for the firm and its clients. Ben also developed health policy as a legislative director in the Texas House of Representatives and as a government relations officer for the City of Austin. Ben received a master's degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin where he was a US Department of Defense fellow. Ben is a fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves as a board member for multiple health-related not-for-profits.

Brandon Phillips developed the concept behind Global HR Research after he recognized the need for better security in corporate human resources. He is responsible for developing and implementing corporate growth strategies, managing the overall operations and resources of the company, overseeing sales and marketing strategy, and acts as the main point of communication between the chairman, investors, and the corporate operations. Mr. Phillips has guided the growth of numerous projects from planning and development to sustainability. He is a recipient of Gulfshore Business magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for entrepreneurial successes and featured in numerous publications on the subject matter of talent screening and selection. He has led Global HR Research to a top ranking by HRO Today's Magazine of America's leading background screening and assessment providers. Mr. Phillips, a frequent guest speaker, has a proven track record of successfully maximizing cutting-edge business concepts in start-up ventures and possesses a strong understanding of consumer and investor needs. He has grown Global HR Research to host a client base that includes Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, governmental agencies, and health care among others. Mr. Phillips coaches youth basketball, donates time and expertise to nonprofit organizations and is an active member of multiple chambers and economic development organizations.

Todd Lemmis is an author, organizational architect, musician, lawyer, and impact investor/developer. His diverse background in human resources, music, law, and business leadership affords him a creative, whole-brain perspective and approach to all the adventures he undertakes. 

His seminal work involves transforming organizational design with a simple, natural approach that unlocks the keys to career development and employee retention through his novel, common model. It simplifies organizational architecture, job competencies, career pathing, job descriptions, job families and succession planning, resulting in happier, more stable, productive organizations.

Todd’s current work with Pacific6, Enterprises, a Long Beach, California based investment/development firm involves impact investment and development of hotels, multi-family properties, aquaculture, and HR consulting. Within Pacific6, Todd focuses on human resources, public and government relations, development, consulting and design.

Todd holds a BA in philosophy from UCLA and a JD from Southwestern University School of Law. For fun, he loves writing, music, reading, cooking, entertaining, and designing leather goods and ceramics. In addition to his proprietary works on organizational architecture and human development, he invented a punctuation mark and developed a couple of colognes.

Todd lives in Long Beach, California with his awesome, patient wife and three children. He’s a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the US Navy Musician’s Association, and Costco. He also likes cats.