Virtual Pass

Aleta Howell
Director, People & Communities
Cisco
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Aleta Howell currently leads Global Inclusive Recruiting and Business Strategy for Cisco Systems.  In this role she works to align corporate diversity, equity and inclusion strategies that drive diverse and inclusive hiring.   

Prior to her current role, Aleta led Inclusive Recruiting Strategy for University recruiting, where she worked with leaders and HR Partners to drive hiring strategies and program development to attract diverse university talent.  She also served as a Program Manager with Cisco’s Office of Inclusion and Collaboration where she helped to create new processes to drive diversity metrics review discussions with senior leaders.

Before joining Cisco, Aleta spent more than a decade as a senior branding consultant, working with senior leaders and executives to develop and guide branding and business strategy.   Her experience includes leading brand marketing teams, strategic consulting, education recruiting and talent acquisition strategy for numerous Fortune 500 companies.

Aleta began her career as a brand manager with Nabisco Foods.  Upon leaving Nabisco, she returned to Kenan-Flagler Business School as Assoc. Director of Admissions for Minority Recruitment and later became MBA Admissions director, where she led all recruiting and admissions for the full-time MBA program. 

Aleta is an alumnus of NC State University where she earned a BA in Economics and Business Management.  She also earned an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at UNC Chapel Hill.  Aleta resides in Raleigh, NC with her husband Kevin.  She is the mother of two college-aged daughters.  In her spare time she loves to sing, cook, write and travel.

 

SESSIONS:
Jonay Foster Holkins
Senior Director, Policy & Corporate Initiatives
Business Roundtable
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Jonay Foster Holkins is Senior Director of Policy for the Business Roundtable. In this role, she oversees the Roundtable’s racial equity and justice policy agenda.

Before joining the Business Roundtable, Ms. Holkins was Counsel for Congressman David N. Cicilline, where she managed the Congressman’s Judiciary Committee portfolio, including civil rights, criminal justice reform, election security, immigration, intellectual property, police reform, privacy, and technology. She advanced the Congressman’s legislative priorities by drafting and analyzing legislation, building strategic alliances, and preparing the Congressman for hearings and other public appearances. Ms. Holkins was also responsible for analyzing legislation and providing policy recommendations on issues related to health care and financial services.

Prior to moving to Capitol Hill, Ms. Holkins was a senior litigation associate at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, where she advised and represented community health centers and other federal grantees across the country on a range of issues involving constitutional and administrative law, immigration, internal investigations, the False Claims Act, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Ms. Holkins graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Studies, and received her J.D. from the University of Arizona. During law school, she interned in White House Counsel’s Office and was an associate in the Presidential Personnel Office for President Barack Obama. She also served as a fellow with the Committee on Education and the Workforce and interned with the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. After law school, she served a two-year term as a judicial law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. She resides in Washington, D.C with her husband, Patrick, and dog, Jackson.

SESSIONS:
Caz Walcott
Director, Inclusive Hiring
Responsible Business Initiative for Justice
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Caz is Director of Inclusive Hiring, where she leads RBIJ’s first and second chance hiring programs, including Unlock Potential (UP). In addition to leading the Inclusive Hiring team, her responsibilities also include collaborating with community-based organizations, advocacy leaders, and social services providers.

Previously, Caz worked at various nonprofits, including as the program manager at the Vera Institute of Justice’s Redefining Public Safety team, the Director of Employment Services for Westhab’s NYC and Westchester County shelter and community-based employment programs, and as Director of Fathers Count - Family Services of Westchester’s federally-funded Responsible Fatherhood Program. She received a Citation from Mayor Mike Spano for her contribution to Westchester County and the City of Yonkers and a Certificate of Recognition from the Senate of the State of New York for Exemplary Service to the community. While in the UK, Caz also worked as a probation officer for HM Prison & Probation Service and as a youth social worker with Camden Children & Family Services.

SESSIONS:
Moderator: 
Elizabeth Kohm
Manager, Foundation Programs
SHRM Foundation
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Elizabeth is currently the Manager, Foundation Programs overseeing SHRM Foundation’s strategic priority of Building Inclusive Workplaces. In that capacity, she oversees the Foundation’s initiatives around leveraging untapped talent including Veterans At Work, Employing Abilities and Getting Talent Back to Work. She joins the Foundation with extensive experience across the corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors. She most recently served as the Deputy Executive Director for PFLAG National working to advance equality and anti-discrimination efforts. In that role, she also partnered with corporate diversity and HR professionals on partnerships to impact the workplace culture for the LGBTQ community. She lives in Alexandria with her spouse, two sons, and an oversized rescue dog.

SESSIONS:
Carmen I. Canales
Founder and Principal Consultant
Channels Consulting Group
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Carmen Canales is a talent expert, dynamic leader, and three-time, multi-industry CHRO. She is an engaging and sought-after speaker and storyteller who connects with a wide range of audiences on topics related to talent, resilience, inclusion, leadership, and culture.

Carmen is passionate about belonging and maximizing the potential of current and future talent by advising leaders on how to build a nimble and high-performing workforce. She is known for her mentorship and sponsorship of emerging leaders, who become CHROs. Her industry experience is diverse, including senior leadership roles in the healthcare, higher education, consumer goods, banking, and professional services industries. She previously served as the chief human resources executive at Novant Health, Wake Forest University and at an international law firm. Earlier in her career, Carmen held human capital leadership roles at Wells Fargo and Pepsi-Cola.

She often is recognized for her contributions to the human resources profession. Carmen was named a Woman Worth Watching in the Profiles in Diversity Journal; an Al Día 2021 Woman of Merit; one of the Top 100 HR Professionals by the National Diversity Council; a Leader in Diversity by the Triad Business Journal; CHRO of the Year, Non-Profit by HRO Today; and Diversity MBA Inclusive Leader.

Carmen holds a Master of Labor and Industrial Relations degree from Michigan State University. She was appointed by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper to the Forsyth Technical Community College Board of Trustees, has served on the Governor’s Advisory Council for Hispanic and Latino Affairs, and has broad board experience.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 - 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Jason Nathaniel Sheffield
National Director of Compliance
Baldwin Risk Partners
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Jason Sheffield is BRPs National Director of Compliance for the Baldwin Regulatory Compliance Collaborative. He oversees the ongoing evolution of our firm's national compliance operations. Jason develops, designs and implements educational programming and compliance assuredness services by creating timely and relevant solutions designed for the benefit of our clients and colleagues, our industry partners, and the general benefits community. Jason has practiced employee benefits law and consulting for nearly two decades, representing individual, corporate, and tribal interests at the local, state, and federal levels. He has advised clients and provided representative services before administrative agencies such as the DOL, the IRS, CMS, OCR, several state-level treasury authorities, and others. He has experience with both qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, executive compensation matters, and extensive experience respecting health and welfare plan matters. Jason received his undergraduate degree from Georgia State University (magna cum laude) and his Juris Doctor from Western New England College School of Law. He is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia.

SESSIONS:
Marina Galatro, SHRM-SCP
Executive HR Consultant, HR Services
Newfront Insurance Services, LLC
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Marina Galatro brings 25 years of experience as a trusted HR advisor providing strategic consultative services. Her experience combines effective recommendations and support to companies on a variety of topics including federal and state compliance, HR and payroll outsourcing, leave of absence, compensation, paid time off, performance management, policy and procedure development, and training and development.

Marina is passionate about compliance, leave management and assisting companies to develop HR strategies that drive transformation and elevate the workforce experience. She has met with state assembly members to discuss pending workplace legislation and how it may impact the HR profession.

 

SESSIONS:
Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP
Chief Data & Insights Officer
SHRM
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Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Data & Insights Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.

During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).

Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.

Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.

Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.

SESSIONS:
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 - 3:45pm to 4:45pm
Brittany S. Hale
Chief Executive Officer
BND Consulting Group
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Brittany S. Hale is the founder and CEO of BND Consulting Group. Brittany's experience in litigation, politics, and risk management led her to create BND Consulting Group, which equips senior leaders with the tools to establish highly engaged, trustworthy, and resilient audiences to gain a competitive advantage. She guides leaders in navigating organizational transitions by operationalizing aspirational values for enterprise, government, and startup clients alike. 

As CEO of BND Consulting Group, she established custom onboarding programming for marketing, finance, and sales departments, which increased employee retention by 21% and saved an organization an additional $400,000 through strategic operational advisement. While serving as Interim CEO of an entrepreneurial-focused nonprofit, Brittany increased donor contributions by 16% and research-based revenue by 41%. In Fall 2022, Brittany lectured on managing human behaviors in organizations at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies, and her strategies have reduced attrition within organizations by over 10%.

Brittany's dedication to public service is reflected in her extensive service record. She became one of the youngest Black women to hold office in her state after using her experiences as an Obama Organizing Fellow to run for office in 2016. In August 2020, Brittany developed the first municipal Social Justice Commission in New Jersey and served as Executive Director. She serves on the Rutgers University Alumni Association Board of Directors and was appointed to the Human Relations Council Executive Committee by Governor Murphy. Brittany is also a 2023 Women inPower Fellow with 92NY. 

SESSIONS:
 
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 - 7:30am to 12:00pm
 
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 - 7:30am to Wednesday, November 1, 2023 - 5:00pm
 
Monday, October 30, 2023 - 7:00am to 5:00pm
 
Monday, October 30, 2023 - 7:00am to 5:00pm
 
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 - 7:30am to 12:00pm