Concurrent Session

Emily Gregory’s gift is to create for her audience a moment of self-discovery that leads to change.

Clients praise Emily for her nuanced mix of vitality and credibility. Emily’s depth of experience, academic background, and rigorous intellectual reasoning that provides the solid foundation for her message.

For 15 years, Emily led Crucial Learning teams including Product Development, Training and Consulting, Delivery Operations, and Sales.

Emily is also the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and travels the world speaking and presenting on the crucial skills for improving results and relationships.

Joy Johnson-Carruthers is the founder of Jtraining Solutions, a consulting firm dedicated to helping clients apply diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies that make a difference. A former police officer and US Army Veteran, Joy’s expansive career in the public and private sector make her a sought-after Public Speaker, HR Consultant, and Workforce Development Leader with over twenty years of award-winning experience developing leaders and high-performing teams across the United States and abroad. Her presentations are a call to action for better business outcomes and more inclusive workplaces. She currently resides in Nashville, TN, with her husband, Tom.

Sejal Thakkar is on a mission to educate and empower people to create a world where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Sejal is a former employment law attorney, a 2X TEDx speaker, and the Founder and Chief Civility Officer at TrainXtra, where she helps leaders create positive, safe, and respectful workplaces through customized training and coaching. She is responsible for cultivating a people-first culture at Nobody Studios.

Mike Letizia is an accomplished, certified, senior human resource executive with over 35 years’ experience in the full scope of all HR functional areas. His last 23 years holding Director, Vice President, and President roles in HR. Mike is a subject matter expert in California employment law and is the author and developer of, “California Employment Law Essentials for Business” and has collaborated with SHRM in the development of education courses focused on California employment law.

Through his company, Mike provides full scope human resource services to over 30 small to medium sized business in California with a strong focus on training and development. He is a contracted instructor for SHRM delivering both virtual and face-to-face human resource education courses throughout the USA and California. He is also a frequent speaker at business and trade associations delivering presentations, workshops and courses on a variety of human resource topics.

Michelle Clare, MA, was named founding Vice Provost for Continuing Education and Dean of UC's newly formed College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies in May of 2023.

As a senior member of the Provost's team, Michelle  provides vision and leadership for the advancement of CCPS, most notably with co-op.

Throughout her 15-year career with CCPS, Michelle has served in both faculty and administrative leadership capacities and was instrumental in expanding CCPS's academic mission, including career education, to meet the evolving needs of our students and university.

Michelle is a respected leader in the field of Cooperative Education and Experiential Learning, serving on the boards of state and national co-op associations and as an invited speaker at national and international conferences including the U.S. News Workforce of Tomorrow Conference in Washington D.C.  Michelle earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northern Kentucky University and a master’s degree in communication from UC.

Aniketh is a Senior Test Engineer at Tesla where he works on evaluating battery pack safety under abusive conditions. Originally from India, he attended UC for his MSME on a scholarship. He's currently based out of the San Francisco Bay Area and in his free time, he enjoys running, and reading.

As Managing Partner, Mr. De Wames leads the firm’s employment law practice in its nine offices throughout California. A renowned trial attorney, he represents businesses in the full range of employment and labor law litigation with creative strategies tailored to the individual needs of his clients.

Eric is a vetted Trial Attorney and an expert advocate in the full range of employment law matters including wage-and-hour, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination claims. He brings particular expertise to representing clients in class actions and claims under the Private Attorneys General Act. He’s a skilled counselor for all forms of businesses, public entities and school districts in all matters before federal/state agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the Department of Fair Employment, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Office of Administrative Hearings, to name a few. Twice he was named one of California’s Super Lawyer Rising Stars by Thomson Reuters.

An engaging speaker, Eric conducts seminars across the state to assist employers in navigating California’s rigorous, ever-evolving compliance regulations, always with an emphasis on preventing litigation. He’s a published contributing author for Forbes and he co-authored MS&A’s e-book, “Navigating COVID-19: A Legal Guide for California Employers.” It’s a free resource for businesses in our state, regularly updated to reflect the changing pandemic landscape.

Eric is also an employment law expert consultant for Insurance Education Association (IEA) an organization dedicated to providing HR, risk managers and insurance carriers education on disability management and other employment-related compliance mandates. He advises on and is an editor for IEAs course materials and is a frequent guest lecturer.

Eric graduated from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento with distinction. He was on the Dean’s Honor List, and was a member of the Traynor Honor Society for Academic Excellence.

He’s a founding member of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Advisory Council, and supports a wide range of charities for human rights, animal welfare and access to health care.

Eric is proficient in written and spoken Spanish.

Jim Link is the CHRO for SHRM.  With more than 340,000 members worldwide, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world and the leading voice for matters related to workers and the workplace.

Jim’s career includes roles of increasing responsibility across various industries and companies, including General Electric, the Pillsbury Company, Porsche Cars, and Randstad.  In his most recent role as CHRO for Randstad North America, he led a global team of 150 HR professionals who were instrumental in transforming the company into an award-winning, inclusive, and sustainable global leader.

Jim has served as a volunteer leader in several organizations including the SHRM Foundation Board, the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank Human Capital Advisory Board, and the Human Resources Leadership Forum.

Jim holds undergraduate and master’s degree from Murray State University.  Born and raised on a working family farm in western Kentucky, he currently resides in Atlanta and Alexandria, VA. 

Jim is an adjunct instructor in the Executive MBA program at the University of Poznan (Poland) School of Economics and Business and the University of Liège (Belgium) Asia-Pacific campus in Taipei, Taiwan.

Yvette Lee, SHRM-SCP, is an HR Knowledge Advisor at SHRM, the world’s largest HR professional society, representing 300,000+ members in more than 165 countries. Yvette possesses over 25 years of human resources experience. Her expertise includes talent management, benefits, compensation, diversity and inclusion, employee relations, ethics and compliance, and employee development. A published author of several articles in SHRM's HR Magazine on various topics, Yvette holds a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Virginia. She also holds the SHRM California Law HR, Talent Acquisition, Inclusive Workplace Culture, People Manager Qualification and HR Dept. of One Specialty Credentials. Yvette enjoys spending time with her family and doing community service.

Jeremy York, SHRM-SCP, SPHR is the Lead Consultant and President of InvigorateHR and coauthor of the “JoyPowered Organization.” He has over 20 years' experience in human resource strategy and business operations where he has worked with and advised all levels of management on critical business and people-related issues. Jeremy's expertise in defining and understanding the "big picture" enables him to translate business needs into tangible solutions. With his guidance, organizations have improved employee relations, increased performance, and developed cultures based on mutual trust and respect. Jeremy holds a master’s degree in management from Indiana Wesleyan University and a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Purdue University. He has served as an adjunct faculty member for Purdue University Indianapolis for over 15 years teaching various leadership and human resources curriculums. Jeremy is a national speaker and currently serves as an advisor on the Society for Human Resource Management’s Diversity Taskforce.

David studies the keystones for success and achievement in the areas of Leadership, Communication and Personal Performance.  He studied over 3,000 top performers to find what the top leaders, salespeople and employees do.  And more importantly, he discovered the roadblocks that hold people back.  For over 25 years, David has worked with hundreds of clients of all sizes in many industries such as technology, banking, communications, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution.  He specializes in leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, sales and personal development and brings his insights to you to create breakthrough solutions. 

Lei partners with individuals, teams, and organizations to amplify communication skills, relationships, and leadership effectiveness. Known for her thought partnership and passion for empowering clients, she helps them achieve and surpass their goals through increased self-awareness. 

Lei is a highly effective Leadership & Executive Coach, Facilitator, Speaker, and AI Enablement Specialist with over 20 years of strategic and operational experience in healthcare and over 5 years in hospitality.

She currently volunteers as a Board Member of ATD Nashville, an Advisor for the HBA Ambassador program, and gives back via coaching services through the Humanitarian Coaches Network.