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Babankov has more than 20 years of experience building and managing global education and training programs for students and professionals. He has experience in teacher training, study abroad, cross-cultural training, and language acquisition, and has directed field operations in Russia, Central Asia, Middle East, and the Caucasus.

Prior to joining SHRM in 2019, Babankov managed several education and training programs sponsored by the federal government, including the Flagship Overseas Language Program (U.S. Department of Defense), Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program (U.S. Department of State), and the Open World Program (Library of Congress).

Babankov earned his J.D. degree from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s degree from the Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia.

Babankov has lived in the United States since 1994 and currently resides in Fairfax, VA.

Mary Cheddie, SHRM-SCP is Divisional Director, Membership Community. 

Cheddie has more than 35 years of domestic and international experience in all aspects of human resources and training. She has extensive experience with strategic planning, M&As, and in starting and turning around businesses.

Prior to joining SHRM, she served as senior vice president of human resources for Interval Leisure Group, Inc. and its affiliated companies. The company was publicly traded on NASDAQ and the leading provider of vacation services with a global consumer membership base of nearly 2 million member families, more than 2,500 member resorts in over 75 countries worldwide, and has oversight for about 14,000 employees. 

Cheddie also served as senior vice president, people with PRC, as well as vice president, human resources, strategic planning, office services, and facilities for The Orvis Company, Inc. in Manchester, VT.

She earned her MBA from Upper Iowa University, a bachelor’s degree from Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, New Jersey, and is certified as a SHRM-Senior Certified Professional.

Cheddie received the HR Award of Excellence, Hospitality in 2016 from South Florida Business & Wealth. Business Leader Magazine named Cheddie one of the 2011 Women Extraordinaire and in 2012 the National Diversity Council awarded her the Glass Ceiling Award.

She serves on the Board of Trustees for Upper Iowa University, Chairs the Human Capital Committee and is a member of the Governance and Advancement Committees, Chaired the Keiser Career College’s Advisory Board, was a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) from 2003-2008 and chaired SHRM’s governance and compensation committees. Cheddie has more than 35 years of SHRM volunteer leadership experience at the national, regional, state, and local levels.  She also served on the Waldorf College Alumni Board from 2004 through 2008 and was the President of the Dallas HR Association in 2000 (one of the largest affiliated SHRM chapters). She resides in South FL.

As SHRM’s Director of Certification and Veteran Affairs Andrew Morton works with the military and veterans' organizations to develop workforce readiness pathways for veterans and military-families. As part of SHRM’s Speaker’s Bureau Andrew informs and empowers organizations in their inclusion-hiring efforts across many populations including Veterans, individuals with disabilities, and Returning Citizens as part of SHRM’s Getting Talent Back to Work Initiative.  He is the contributing author to Justin Constantine’s SHRM published book “From We Will to At Will- A Handbook for Veteran Hiring, Transitioning and Thriving in Today’s Workplace.” 

Andrew, a retired Infantry-Officer, served in several leadership roles during multiple overseas and combat tours (Iraq, Bosnia, Macedonia and Egypt) in his 21-year Army career. He also served as the Chief of Marketing and Advertising for the Army Reserve.   Prior to his arrival at SHRM in 2014 Andrew previously served as public relations director for a PR firm in Alexandria. 

Andrew is passionate about awareness and resources in support of mental health within our workforce and society at large and is currently completely his Masters in Mental Health Counseling at the College of William and Mary.       

Bob is currently the Chief Diversity and Talent Officer at ADP. In this role, Bob is accountable for the Diversity, Corporate Social Responsibility and Talent strategy. Bob is passionate about ensuring that our workforce is reflective of the communities in which we live and the clients we serve. Additionally, he is an advocate for parity in leadership levels for all ADP population segments.

Prior to his role expansion, Bob was the Chief Talent Officer. He joined ADP in 2016 as the Head of Human Resources/Division Vice President for Small Business Solutions & HR Outsourcing business units. Bob’s corporate career spans over 20 years with several top tier companies. Prior to ADP, Bob was the Senior Vice President/Head of Human Resources at Harland Clarke; Vice President, Talent Management at First Data; HR Executive at USAA; Director, Human Resources at Limited Brands (Bath& Body Works, Express); Director, Player Services at Harrah’s Casino; Senior Group Manager, HR at Frito Lay, and Executive Senior Partner at The Lucas Group. He has led multiple HR Centers of Excellence (Diversity & Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Employee Relations and HR Business Partners) throughout his career.

Prior to his corporate career, Bob served as a field artillery officer in the US Army for 9 years. He commanded an artillery unit in Germany and is a Desert Storm veteran.

Bob is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned a MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Bob sits on the board of directors for the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, is a member of the Diversity HR50, coaches little league football, is a lifetime member of the VFW, The American Legion, and the National Black MBA Association.

Carmen Ortiz-McGhee is the Chief Operating Officer of the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), the trade association and largest network of diverse-owned private equity firms and hedge funds. The NAIC’s membership is comprised of more than 130 members managing over $250 billion in institutional capital. As Chief Operating Officer, Carmen provides strategic oversight over all NAIC programs and initiatives, and leads the organization’s key industry alliances and corporate partnerships. 

Prior to joining NAIC, Carmen served as Senior Vice President at Aon plc. In this role, she was responsible for driving growth across all risk and health product lines in the Mid-Atlantic. Carmen guided the turnaround of the sales team, improved culture and performance, and pushed the team to its highest revenue generation and overall best performance in over a decade. Carmen also served as a member of Aon’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. In 2014, she was tapped as one of Business Insurance Magazine’s Top 25 Women to Watch. 

Before joining Aon, Carmen was Vice President of Investor Relations for a boutique real estate private equity firm with $1 billion in assets under management. Prior to her time in real estate private equity, Carmen spent her career leading a variety of national nonprofits that advocate on behalf of ethnically diverse professionals, asset managers and entrepreneurs. Previously, Carmen was President of The Marathon Club (TMC), an organization established to accelerate relationships among the best and brightest business minds in the U.S. to create enhanced wealth creation and deal flow for ethnically diverse professionals. Carmen led programs both in the US and abroad. 

Prior to leading TMC, Carmen created value for a number of non-profit organizations. In her various roles at these organizations, Carmen led corporate fundraising strategies; membership recruitment efforts, raising the diversity and number of participants; content development, innovating unique approaches and managing the logistical implementation of the annual meetings, trade shows & conferences. 

Carmen is a passionate advocate for diverse and women-owned businesses and regularly speaks at conferences and events on various issues related to empowerment of women in business, scaling diverse businesses, authentic leadership, among others. A proud graduate of the University of Virginia, she currently serves as Chair of the Governance & Nominations Committee of the Communities in Schools national board, she sits on the Hispanics in Philanthropy PowerUp Fund Impact Cabinet, as well as on the MBA Fund I Investment Committee. 

Rachel Thomas is CEO of LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org, the nonprofit she co-founded with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to help women achieve their ambitions and create a more equal world. Under her leadership, Lean In has become a go-to resource for original research and data-backed tools to dismantle systemic bias at work, and the Lean In community has grown to include tens of thousands of small peer-support Circles in 188 countries. Rachel regularly speaks and writes on issues that affect women and is the host of Tilted, a podcast on the intersection of gender and culture.

As Executive VP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Sony Music Group, Tiffany works to expand equity and inclusion activities and policies across all Sony Music Group's (SMG) global recorded music, publishing and corporate divisions, reporting directly to SMG Chairman Rob Stringer. 

Previously, as the Senior VP, Chief Diversity Officer for Omnicom Group, Tiffany oversaw a team of 25+ Chief Diversity Officers and Directors focused on Omnicom-wide change efforts through the award-winning Omnicom People Engagement Network (OPEN) for the support, advancement and retention of top performing talent inclusive of women, people of color and LGBTQ+ professionals.

Recognized as a leader in the field of diversity, Tiffany is a talent strategist with 24+ years of championing diverse professionals in the creative industries. In 2005, she founded ADCOLOR, which has launched the ADCOLOR Conference, Awards, FUTURES program and ADCOLOR in Music. As Founder and President of ADCOLOR, she has been widely recognized for the progress and direction the creative industries have taken around diversity, equity & inclusion.

Mary V. L. Wright leads one of the SHRM Foundation’s four pillars of work: Skill Building - Preparing People for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Workplaces.  A critical part of that effort is leading the implementation of the US DOL funded HR Registered Apprenticeship Program, the first national HR apprenticeship program. As such, she is responsible for all parts of the program – development, marketing, sales, budget and evaluation.  In addition, she leads the Foundation’s work on the role of credentials in achieving an organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals and is an integral part of the team in promoting the inclusion of untapped talent in the workforce.

Ms. Wright has many years of experience connecting the public and private sectors in municipal finance, government affairs, and workforce development as a project leader, facilitator and subject matter expert.

Previously, Ms. Wright was a director at Jobs for the Future (JFF) where she designed and supervised the completion of foundation, government and employer-funded projects on topics including: expanding employability skills, developing apprenticeship and work-based learning strategies, utilizing labor market information to determine educational focus, better hiring and training practices for people with disabilities, improving entry level jobs for the retail sector, determining the correct educational focus for specific geographic areas including the state of Florida and Columbus Ohio, and an in-depth analysis of green infrastructure jobs.

Prior to joining JFF, she served as director at The Conference Board in New York City, driving its work in workforce readiness, business, and education partnerships. She also focused on improving the employment outcomes for people with disabilities through research and convenings. Ms. Wright co-authored or acted as project director on several key Conference Board reports regarding workforce readiness skills, including Are They Really Ready to Work? and The Ill-Prepared Workforce.

She serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Work & the Economy and the Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation.

Ms. Wright received a Master of Business Administration in public/nonprofit management from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Affairs from Connecticut College.

Mimi Dixon is a highly motivated and dynamic thought leader with +20 years of expertise in Integrated, Shopper & Sports marketing for leading global brands. She describes herself as a “Big Idea Generator, Activation Master, Strategic Thought Leader and Passionate Marketer”. Currently, she is Director – Brand Activation & Content at Crayola. In this role, she spearheads Advertising, PR, Shopper Marketing, National marketing campaigns and Digital & Social Content & Imagery. Most recently, she led the development & activation of Crayola’s 2020 Colors of the World skin tone crayon launch which garnered over 3 billion impressions to date and has gone on to win various marketing, diversity & inclusion & product industry awards including a TOTY (Toy of The Year) award for Creative Toy of the Year. Mimi also serves as the Chair for Crayola’s first Diversity & Inclusion Council & is hard at work in building the council’s foundation for both the council and the company.

Mimi has been featured in Forbes, Black Enterprise, Diversity Woman, AdWeek and CBS Saturday morning. She has also served as a 2021 judge for the Effie, AME and ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards. Prior to joining Crayola in June of 2014, Mimi held various roles within increasing responsibility at Campbell Soup Company over a tenure of 16 years. During this time period, Mimi executed copious national marketing campaigns, managed the company’s NFL sponsorship for eight years, activated numerous brand & celebrity partnerships and lead retail specific activation for key retailers like Target, Kroger & Publix.

When Mimi is not creating or activating the next successful national marketing campaign, she enjoys traveling, reading, binge-watching true crime & reality TV shows, shoe shopping and spending time with family and friends. Mimi is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated and completes public service activities with her local alumnae chapter. Mimi has a Bachelor’s of Arts from Rutgers University and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Delaware. She currently resides in Hamilton, New Jersey.

Mark X. Cronin is the co-founder, along with his son John, of John’s Crazy Socks, a social enterprise with a mission to spread happiness. His leadership has demonstrated that pursuing social goals – demonstrating what people with differing abilities can achieve and giving back – makes for good business.

Mark advocates for the rights of differently abled people. His advocacy work has seen Mark testify before Congress twice, speak at the UN and make numerous trips to Capitol Hill. Mark is a sought-after speaker having spoken at events across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.  Mark is part of the U.S. State Department’s Speakers’ Bureau.  

Mark served as the Chief Operating officer of multiple health care management and technology firms, founded a software company, organized political campaigns and worked as a Congressional aide. Mark began his career as a schoolteacher and has taught in graduate schools as well.

Mark has an undergraduate degree from Holy Cross and a Masters of Public Policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard University. He has been named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year and is a Board member for the Long Island Chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization.

Jim Davis is an HR Expert who has written for HR publications for 6 years and hosted HR podcasts for 3 years. His professional success has come in the face of a life-long struggle with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, or ADHD. He has spoken with hundreds of HR professionals, experts, and leaders about the world of employment and has always focused on under-employed groups including those with disabilities and learning disorders. He strives to help organizations understand the true value of these employees and dispel damaging myths about them.Jim Davis is an HR Expert who has written for HR publications for 6 years and hosted HR podcasts for 3 years. His professional success has come in the face of a life-long struggle with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, or ADHD. He has spoken with hundreds of HR professionals, experts, and leaders about the world of employment and has always focused on under-employed groups including those with disabilities and learning disorders. He strives to help organizations understand the true value of these employees and dispel damaging myths about them.

EBONY BLAKE is a native of Dayton, OH and a graduate of Wright State University.  Most recently, she opened the San Francisco production of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child at the Curran Theatre.  Her regional theatre appearances include Little Shop of Horrors (Portland Center Stage), Black Nativity (Classical Theatre of Harlem), and Nefertiti: A Concert of Music and Dance (alongside the Deeply Rooted Dance Theater).  Ebony’s favorite job was traveling across the U.S. in the first national tour of the musical, The Book of Mormon, written by the creators of South Park. She’s an avid reader, loves to make her husband snort-laugh, and she thinks she could be on Jeopardy, but is probably more suited for Family Feud.