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Suzy Welch is a business journalist and best-selling author with expertise in leadership, change, corporate governance, and career development. A Professor of Management Practice at NYU’s Stern School of Business, Ms. Welch is also a senior advisor to the Brunswick Group, a CEO advisory firm, a regular contributor on CNBC and The Today Show, and a frequent speaker and moderator at corporate events.

Ms. Welch began her career as a crime reporter for The Miami Herald in 1981, after graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University. After a serendipitous reassignment to the business beat some years later, she left daily journalism to attend Harvard Business School, where she graduated as a Baker Scholar. The next seven years were spent at Bain & Company, as a consultant working with heavy manufacturing clients in the Midwest.

In 1995, Ms. Welch combined her two career paths at the Harvard Business Review, where she eventually was named Editor. In her years at HBR, she conceptualized and edited articles on strategy, economics, operations, and organizational behavior, and wrote others on leadership, change and crisis management, boards, HR, and career dynamics. With her late husband, Jack Welch, Ms. Welch is the author of two international bestsellers, "Winning," in 2005, and "The Real-Life MBA," in 2015. On her own, she is the author of the 2008-2009 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, "10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea," a decision-making concept she originally wrote about as a columnist for O: The Oprah Magazine.

After her husband’s passing, Ms. Welch joined the faculty of Stern, where she created and teaches the popular class, “Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need.” Beginning in September 2023, she will also teach “Managerial Skills,” and consult to the school’s Leadership Accelerator.

Ms. Welch serves on the board of ANGI, the publicly traded home services giant, and Quadio, a music tech start-up started by her son and step-grandson. Her non-profit board positions are with the Humane Society of the United States, the world’s largest animal protection agency, and Scenic Hudson, a nature conservancy focused on the Hudson Valley. She lives in New York and Miami.

William is the President of RecruitingDaily. At the intersection of HR and technology, he’s a Writer, Speaker, Advisor, Consultant, Investor, Storyteller & Teacher. He's been writing about HR related issues for over a decade. William serves on the Board of Advisors / Board of Directors for 20 HR technology startups. William is a graduate of the University of Alabama of Birmingham with a BA in Art History. He also earned an MA in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

Jeff Wald is a serial entrepreneur, Board Member, Best Selling author, Keynote speaker and investor. His latest company Boomerang Intelligence, an employee lifecycle management platform, was founded in June 2023.

Jeff is also co-founder and Chairman of five other technology startups, Bento Engine (toolkit for financial advisers), Independetly.ai (compliance solutions for independent workers), Heist (short form audio network), Memory Lane (digital story telling to power an AI avatar) and Sonero (AI tool that provides summaries and action items from meetings (sold to MediaFly in December of 2022)). Jeff’s previous company, Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers was acquired by ADP in 2018, where he served on the Senior Leadership Team until 2020.

Mr. Wald has founded several other technology companies, including Spinback, a social sharing platform (purchased by Salesforce). He began his career in finance, serving as Managing Director at activist hedge fund Barington Capital Group, a Vice President at venture capital firm GlenRock and various roles in the M&A Group at JP Morgan.

Jeff has served on numerous public and private Boards of Directors including Steel Connect (NASDAQ: STCN), Register.com (NASDAQ: WEB), Costar Technologies (OTC: CSTI) and venture backed TransfrVR. Mr. Wald serves as an adviser to several companies and entities including the X-Prize’s Rapid Reskilling Initiative.

Jeff is the author of the #1 Amazon Best Seller, The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations and The Birthday Rules: A Fun and Flexible Framework for Raising Children in a Technology Enabled World.

Jeff frequently speaks at conferences and in media on startups and the future of work. Mr. Wald was named several times as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Staffing by the Staffing Industry Analysts. He is a producer of the Tony Award winning Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and the full length feature film, Inez & Doug & Kira, which won Best Picture at several film festivals.

Jeff formerly served as an officer in the Auxiliary Unit of the New York Police Department. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and MENSA.

Jeff holds an MBA from Harvard University and an MS and BS from Cornell University.

Suzy Welch is a business journalist and best-selling author with expertise in leadership, change, corporate governance, and career development. A Professor of Management Practice at NYU’s Stern School of Business, Ms. Welch is also a senior advisor to the Brunswick Group, a CEO advisory firm, a regular contributor on CNBC and The Today Show, and a frequent speaker and moderator at corporate events.

Ms. Welch began her career as a crime reporter for The Miami Herald in 1981, after graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University. After a serendipitous reassignment to the business beat some years later, she left daily journalism to attend Harvard Business School, where she graduated as a Baker Scholar. The next seven years were spent at Bain & Company, as a consultant working with heavy manufacturing clients in the Midwest.

In 1995, Ms. Welch combined her two career paths at the Harvard Business Review, where she eventually was named Editor. In her years at HBR, she conceptualized and edited articles on strategy, economics, operations, and organizational behavior, and wrote others on leadership, change and crisis management, boards, HR, and career dynamics. With her late husband, Jack Welch, Ms. Welch is the author of two international bestsellers, "Winning," in 2005, and "The Real-Life MBA," in 2015. On her own, she is the author of the 2008-2009 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, "10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea," a decision-making concept she originally wrote about as a columnist for O: The Oprah Magazine.

After her husband’s passing, Ms. Welch joined the faculty of Stern, where she created and teaches the popular class, “Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need.” Beginning in September 2023, she will also teach “Managerial Skills,” and consult to the school’s Leadership Accelerator.

Ms. Welch serves on the board of ANGI, the publicly traded home services giant, and Quadio, a music tech start-up started by her son and step-grandson. Her non-profit board positions are with the Humane Society of the United States, the world’s largest animal protection agency, and Scenic Hudson, a nature conservancy focused on the Hudson Valley. She lives in New York and Miami.

Kim McNeil is a SHRM-SCP certified professional with over a decade of experience.  This experience includes expertise in benefits and compensation, international HR, mergers and acquisitions, employee relations, performance management, talent acquisition, federal contracts, and compliance. She has worked in a variety of industries including nonprofits and high tech.   Kim has a Bachelor of Arts in World Politics from The Catholic University of America. As a passionate lifelong learner, she also holds a few SHRM Specialty credentials: Inclusive Workplace Cultures, California Law/HR, and Talent Acquisitions. As well as, SHRM People Manager Qualification.  She is passionate about building inclusive workplaces that are purpose-driven and civility-minded.

Elissa Jessup, SHRM-SCP, has 8 years' human resources experience in the private sector, higher education, and government. Her areas of expertise include classification, compensation, talent management, benefits and employee relations. Elissa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications, and a Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Human Resources Management.  Outside of work, she enjoys date nights with her husband, traveling with family and friends, visiting wineries and scrapbooking.

Theresa Adams is a SHRM-SCP certified professional with 23 years generalist experience in the human resources field. She obtained a BS from the University of Maryland. She has experience in various industries, including manufacturing, retail and nonprofit. She has worked for SHRM for almost 12 years as an HR Knowledge Advisor in the SHRM HR Knowledge Center. She particularly enjoys collaborating with SHRM members by providing practical HR guidance and resources to promote effective talent management practices.    

Gennady Babankov, J.D. is a Manager of SHRM Exchange Visitor (J-1) Program. Babankov oversees two private sector exchange programs for foreign trainees and interns and helps develop, implement, and promote SHRM benefits portfolio for global mobility and immigration members.

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.

Ms. Jerrika Anderson Edwards is SHRM’s Exchange Visitor Program Senior Coordinator and ARO. Jerrika came to SHRM with more than five years of experience in international education and professional exchanges. After receiving her Bachelor's degree from Scripps College, Jerrika lived in Senegal, South Korea, and China. Jerrika's professional experience includes working as an English language teacher, working with the J-1 intern and trainee program, and most recently working with J-1 and F-1 students. Jerrika completed a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership and Learning from The George Washington University in 2022. She is excited to apply her skills and experience to the SHRM team.

 

Heather has performed at venues ranging from Barack Obama’s inaugural ball in D.C. to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. She has been named a 2022 recipient of the prestigious Eugene Burger Legacy Award by the Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas, and has performed alongside legendary artists such as Joan Baez and Rita Moreno, and appeared with Hillary Clinton at San Francisco’s “Innovation Hangar”. 

Heather ran away with the Pickle Family Circus when she was young, and it was there she discovered her love of performing and honed her magic and juggling skills. She has the distinction of being the one and only female, comedy magician in the Bay Area and has performed for corporate clients such as Google, Intuit, Hewlett Packard, Oracle and has spoken at TEDx.

Heather is an active member of Meeting Professional International. She served on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee in 2020 and currently volunteers on the Education & Programs Committee.

Anjelica Dortch is Senior Director of U.S. Government Affairs at SAP – the world’s largest provider of enterprise application software – where she manages the company’s cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and workforce policy portfolio. Prior to joining SAP, Anjelica led scale up of tech policy positions at IBM within the Government and Regulatory Affairs team with a focus on artificial intelligence, hybrid cloud, and intellectual property.

Anjelica spent 10 years working for a variety of federal agencies to include being a Senior Technology Advisor within the White House where she led coordination of several tech policy initiatives within the U.S. Government.  She was co-author to U.S. policies and strategies including the National Cyber Strategy, the U.S. Federal Cloud Computing Strategy (Cloud Smart), and the Administration’s Report on Artificial Intelligence.

Anjelica is the recipient of the IBM Landmark award, Women Leading for Impact award, the University of Maryland Outstanding Alumnus award, and Federal Computer Week's Rising Star award. Anjelica holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and a Master of Science in Financial Management and Information Systems from the University of Maryland.

Megan is the Deputy Lead of the Responsible AI team at Booz Allen Hamilton, with a focus on scaling the operationalization and advancement of Responsible AI across the Civil, Defense, and Intelligence sectors. In addition to her work advancing Ethical AI, she leverages her unique learning and development (L&D) and I/O Psychology experience as an advisor on AI change management initiatives.

Previously Megan helped launch and served as COO for CertNexus, a personnel certification company focused on developing vendor neutral high stakes certifications for emerging technologies including Data and AI Ethics, Data Science, AI, IoT and Cybersecurity. As part of this she managed the organization’s ISO accreditation, and DoD 8140 Directive approvals, co-led marketing and served as a subject matter expert for the business credentialling curriculum including co-authoring the Data Ethics for Business Professionals course, and as an instructor and advisor on two Coursera specializations on AI and AI Ethics.

Megan currently serves as lead on the NIST’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Talent Management employers guide to effective job descriptions project team, and formerly sat on the board for the Cybersecurity Credentials Collaborative, and California Technology Council. 

Megan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Psychology from Alfred University and is currently completing her Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at George Mason University, where her research is focused on the impact of microaggressions on perceived organizational fit. She is the proud mother of two young adults and one canine and resides in Rochester, NY, with her husband.