Virtual Pass

Eddie Turner is an in-demand leadership development expert who works with leaders to “Accelerate Performance and Drive Impact!”®  He is "Changing the Face of Leadership" and helping to create “Better Workplaces and a Better World”™ as a Principal Consultant and Executive Coach at Linkage, a SHRM company.

 Eddie is a professional speaker, facilitator, trainer, technologist, author, and executive coach.  He is recognized on global ranking lists and has shared his expertise in national print, radio, and television media, such as the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, PBS, NPR, and ABC.  He has also worked as a national media commentator.

Scott Warrick  (www.scottwarrick.com) is an Employment Law Attorney, HR Professional, and best-selling author with 40 years of hands-on experience.  Scott uses his unique background to help organizations get where they want to go, which includes coaching and training managers and employees on-site in his own unique, practical, and entertaining style.  

Scott's best-selling books include: Solve Employee Problems Before They Start, Living The Five Skills of Tolerance, and Healing The Human Brain, which is an International Best Seller.  

Scott travels the country presenting on such topics as Emotional Intelligence, Resolving conflict, Harassment & Bullying, Tolerance, and Healing the Human Brain. 

Sara leads Cara Collective’s national expansion arm, Cara Plus, where she drives growth, strategic partnerships, and impact to help businesses and non-profits drive more inclusive employment pathways in Chicago and around the country. Prior to Cara Collective, Sara spent 12 years managing, measuring, and scaling programs across the social sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia, and as a social impact strategy and measurement consultant for organizations like the Canadian Federal Government, City of Chicago, Google.org, TD Bank, and YouTube. Sara serves on the Executive Board of Fast Company and as a graduate mentor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. She holds a BA from Boston University and an MPP from the University of Chicago.

Exceptional at using story-telling to teach concepts and inspire, Candice Gottlieb-Clark is a sought-after speaker at leadership conferences world­wide. A renowned Business Advisor, Coach and Conflict Management Specialist, Candice distills her more than 20 years of expertise into actionable strategies, that attendees can apply to raise the functionality of their teams, leaders and organizations. 
Candice is the author of the best-selling book, FIND, FIX, FILL your LEADERSHIP GAP, and she has been published in numerous business and professional journals, including Business Insider and Forbes, where she serves as a contributing writer. Candice's passion and expertise for helping businesses raise the level of their functionality, teamwork, productivity, and performance are boundless. 

Ms. Walters has more than 30 years’ combined experience in management, HR administration, employment law practice, and teaching.

She has presented at conferences across the country, been engaged as an expert witness, and testified before U.S. Congressional and state legislative committees on employment issues.

Her book, “From Hello to Goodbye: Proactive Tips for Maintaining Positive Employee Relations” is in its 2nd edition and was one of the SHRMStore’s “Great 8” best-sellers for eight consecutive years.

Today, Ms. Walters works as an independent consultant doing business as FiveL Company, “Helping Leaders Limit their Liability by Learning the Law.”SM

Sara Taylor, President and Founder of deepSEE Consulting, has 35 years of extensive experience, nationally recognized as in the practice of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion serving local, national and global clients. While her areas of specialty are in both Diversity and Leadership Development, Sara has become a thought leader particularly in the field of Cultural Competence. Her bestselling book, Filter Shift: How Effective People SEE the World, is used by numerous individuals and organizations to increase success and create greater effectiveness. Sara holds a Master's degree in Diversity and Organizational Development and, prior to founding deepSEE, held positions such as Chief Diversity Officer and Leadership and Diversity Specialist.

Jessica Miller-Merrell is the Founder of Workology, a workplace resource for HR, recruiting professionals and business leaders, and host of the Workology Podcast. The site has been listed twice as a top 75 career resource by Forbes. Jessica is the president and CEO of Xceptional HR, a human capital strategy and consulting agency. Because of her industry expertise and knowledge, Jessica’s expertise is sought after and sourced by publications and media including: The Economist, Forbes, CIO Magazine, CBS, Entrepreneur Magazine, and SHRM’s HR Magazine. Her new book, Digitizing Talent: Creative Strategies for the Digital Recruiting Age was published in 2023 by SHRM.

Stephen Paskoff is president and CEO of ELI®, which helps organizations activate and align their values with core organizational behaviors to build respectful, welcoming and inclusive cultures, maximize results and reduce legal and operational risks.

Paskoff has been named the highest-ranking speaker at SHRM’s national conference. The EEOC recognized ELI’s impact and quoted Paskoff in its Harassment Study. He is a nationally recognized speaker, commentator and author on workplace issues.

Before founding ELI® in 1986, Paskoff was an EEOC trial attorney and partner in a management law firm. He authored Teaching Big Shots to Behave and Civility Rules!

Angela L. Talton, MBA, is City of Hope’s system senior vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. In this role, Talton leads the development of City of Hope’s vision and strategy for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), improving health equity and community benefit, and ensuring measurable DEI progress across administrative, clinical and research functions. 

Under her leadership, City of Hope has improved its ranking on DiversityInc’s list of Top Hospitals and Health Systems from #8 to #2. City of Hope has also earned the Healthcare Equality Leader designation from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for four years.

Twelve-time published author, Dr. Elijah Nicholas is an Author, Actor, and Advocate. Assigned the female sex at birth, Elijah spent almost half of his life in the US Military, as a woman. Retiring from the US Air Force as a Lt Col in 2012, Dr. Elijah now fully lives and embraces his core values: Authenticity, Integrity, and Transparency. Dr. Elijah further resigned his pastoral duties when he started his gender affirmation in 2018.

Dr. Elijah holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA), a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), a Masters of Science in Leadership and Operational Art, a Masters of Art in Education Training & Leadership (MAET), and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Administration of Justice. Dr. Nicholas attended the Harvard Divinity Executive Education program in 2021. Dr. Elijah is the author of a Tran-inclusive family & children's book featuring Madoodle (aka Madison), a ten-year-old girl whose Uncle Pete was once her favorite Auntie Mary. Madoodle is based on Dr. Elijah's personal experiences with family as he navigated his gender transition.  Dr. Elijah has provided Gender Identity and Trans Awareness & Inclusion Training for a host of organizations around the world.