Concurrent Session

Laura Marzi is responsible for all external marketing, brand positioning, campaign management and internal communications supporting Group Benefits at The Hartford. Laura’s teams provide specialized marketing consultation to drive premium growth in core life and disability, as well as voluntary, absence management and association and affinity relationships. Prior to her role at The Hartford, Laura was responsible for wealth management marketing and communications at The Phoenix Companies, including targeted strategies to reach the high-net-worth demographic.  Laura has also held strategic positions in government relations and communications supporting United Technologies and MassMutual. She began her career in environmental advocacy, serving The League of Conservation Voters in Washington, DC as a grassroots public policy communicator and speech writer for the Clinton/Gore NH primary campaign team.

Laura earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism from The University of New Hampshire and a Master of Arts degree in Communications from The University of Hartford. She currently serves on the board of Hartford Promise, a non-profit focused on providing college scholarships to academically motivated students from Hartford, Conn.

Diane is PwC’s US HR Transformation Leader, helping organizations modernize their HR function to support changing business and workforce needs and expectations. With tenacious curiosity, Diane welcomes the opportunity to explore the art of the possible with organizations to shape HR’s contributions to culture, careers, collaboration, and community. Working across multiple industry segments, she is passionate about helping organizations rethink and reimage HR’s role through new services and modern technologies, inspiring new ways to engage and deliver services to leaders, managers, and employees.      

With over 30 years of consulting, Diane has been a speaker at numerous conferences and internal corporate leadership events. Prior to her role as PwC’s US HR Transformation Leader, Diane was the PwC Global Workday Leader, growing the business organically from inception and driving PwC’s Global professional services business in delivering Workday services. She was also the Diversity & Inclusion Leader for our Industrial Products and Services market segment.      

A math and computer sciences graduate of the University of Texas - Arlington, Diane is a past board member of the YWCA, Dallas helping low-income women achieve stability and higher levels of self-sufficiency. She is also a volleyball and tennis mother, supporting her family’s multiple interests. Diane married a Texas native and now lives in Dallas with her husband, Robert, and son.

Jathan Janove, a former state bar Employment Lawyer of the Year and now Executive Coach and Organization Development consultant, writes SHRM’s “Putting Humanity into HR Compliance” column, and is a Master Coach and Practice Leader with the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching organization, including writing its Ask the Coach column. He’s the author, most recently, of “Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories From The Management Trenches” (HarperCollins 2017). He’s currently working on his next book, “From Compliance Cop to Culture Coach: Transforming the HR Profession.”

"Ben Erdel is the General Manager of ID Watchdog, an identity theft protection service under Equifax, dedicated to employee benefits. In his role, Ben oversees business strategy, product development, market insights, and go-to-market activities. His diverse experience across various functions and industries equips him to lead the organization in executing and innovating at the fast pace required by the ever-evolving cyber protection landscape.
Ben is deeply committed to safeguarding employees from identity fraud and guiding them through the intricate resolution process. Additionally, he is passionate about offering employers unique insights, enabling them to make more informed decisions about their benefit packages."

Kari Naimon, founder of AixHR, brings over two decades of Human Resources expertise. The advent of artificial intelligence transformed her career, turning personal fascination into a mission to help others harness AI's power.

Kari and her team create transformative experiences, sparking those pivotal “AHA” moments that unlock AI’s potential in their work. Kari's journey reflects her unwavering dedication to innovation and her commitment to empowering HR professionals to effectively integrate AI into their practices, thereby 'elevating, not eliminating' HR professionals worldwide.

Darren is an accomplished leader and seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience focused on driving healthcare innovation and transforming organizations. He has a background in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare, having held senior roles at companies specializing in developing disruptive and innovative genomic technologies for personalizing cancer treatments. Darren’s impressive track record of leadership roles includes the former Managing Director of Champions Oncology, founder and CEO of Reframe Health, and Chief Product Officer and Head of Programs and Market Intelligence at Genomic Life. Originally from the UK, he was a regular healthcare commentator for BBC before relocating to the U.S. to continue to make a significant impact on the healthcare industry.

Carrie has practiced in the employment law field for over 20 years including as an HR professional, an employment law defense attorney, and in-house counsel for a national PEO. Carrie has devoted a significant portion of her career to providing training and education to business leaders, HR professionals, and Plan Administrators. Carrie also provides employment law and employee benefits compliance consulting and guidance to HUB clients in the South region of the U.S.

Carrie works closely with clients to identify compliance risks across the organization and develop responsive strategies and solutions that further the organization’s goals while mitigating risks. Carrie partners with HUB clients in various industries such as hospitality/restaurant, medical/hospitals, manufacturing, and white-collar businesses to identify various organizational risks and develop responsive strategic solutions.

Carrie provides customized training and education programs including one-on-one programs, manager and leadership employee relations programs, and community-based seminars. Carrie has also developed a wide array of educational tools and materials to help facilitate job-related compliance skills.

Previously, Carrie B. Cherveny, Esq. served as the Chief Compliance Officer for the Southeast Region of HUB International, supporting the organization’s Employee Benefits Division. Prior to her time at HUB, Carrie was General Counsel and Vice President for a national PEO designing and developing client compliance strategies and solutions

While working previously as a Partner in a West Palm Beach Employment Law firm, Carrie focused her practice on employment litigation and employee relations in both state and federal courts. She has represented private sector employers in litigation under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FLSA, the FMLA, the Florida Civil Rights Act, and  the Florida Whistleblowers’ Acts.

Alex Murzaku leads the Genius Institute’s Research and Development team at Gap International. His ideas have been implemented in various consulting practices and digital products as well as data analysis and the adaptation towards a world expanded by artificial intelligence. 

After his doctorate at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, Italy, Alex worked in leadership positions at several startups—in the areas of information retrieval, machine translation, and knowledge discovery. Following a decade in industry, he returned to academia as a university professor of both Linguistics and Data Science.

Since joining Gap International in 2014, Alex’s research has focused on the role of language in mindset transformation and in the creation of mental tools that allow performance to reach breakthrough, genius levels.

Kristen Howe is the Vice President Enterprise Products for SHRM Enterprise Solutions, where she oversees Product Management and Product Development. She has over 20 years of experience building and leading businesses in the leadership and development space, with a focus on leadership development, sales, coaching and facilitation.

Kristen is passionate about building products that foster inclusive behavior, positive corporate performance and business outcomes. She strives to create products that help global organizations develop key segments of their business, in both live settings and through digital platforms. She empowers teams by developing smart and efficient processes designed to utilize the individual skills of every team member, all while optimizing overall performance.

Kristen is a highly sought-after leadership consultant and speaker, with a deep expertise in Advancing Women Leaders and Inclusive Leadership. She has delivered programs and keynotes to thousands of leaders globally at organizations such as the Chief HR Officer Exchange, The Chief Learning Officer Exchange, Constellation Brands, The Tata Group, Western Union, and Texas Instruments, among others. She is also an emcee at Linkage’s Women in Leadership Institute™, an immersive experience which attracts more than 1,400 women leaders across the globe each year.

Background & Experience:

Prior to joining Linkage, Kristen spent the last decade growing businesses within Corporate Executive Board (CEB), now Gartner. During her time there, she led multiple teams across the Talent Solutions business, focusing on conceptualizing, building, selling and delivering talent solutions based on CEB data. She also ran CEB’s Leadership Academies business, which developed more than 30,000 professionals at 2,100 companies throughout 50 countries; Kristen was consistently recognized as one of the top managers and coaches across the entire firm.

Education & Training:

Kristen previously served in a variety of roles including global facilitator, consultant and engineer. She has a Master of Business Administration from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University.

Shannon Bayer, JD, is a Principal Consultant with over a decade of consulting and facilitation experience. Shannon brings in-depth expertise and a passion for designing and implementing programs focused on advancing women in leadership—and empowering each leader with the knowledge they need to transform how they show up in their role and drive change in their organization. Shannon has led strategic engagements across a variety of industries, ranging from government to financial services, healthcare, insurance, and consumer products and goods. 

As a keynote speaker, Shannon brings stories from her personal leadership journey to the forefront, connecting her real-life experiences and work with leaders globally to key leadership concepts designed to help participants reflect on their own journey and take control of their path forward. 

Shannon holds a BS in animal science from the University of Vermont and a JD in international law from Suffolk University. 

Shannon was a rower in college and still loves to get on the water when she can. She enjoys spending time outdoors and will travel for a good hike or beach day with her dog and son, Max. Currently, Shannon resides in the greater Indianapolis, IN, area of the US after living in New England for over 25 years.