Concurrent Session

Mr. Jackson is currently SHRM’s manager of employee experience, overseeing employee relations and engagement for SHRM 400-plus employees around the world. Prior to starting this role in September 2019, Mike was the manager in charge of SHRM's J-1 Exchange Visitor Program and administered the intern and trainee programs sponsored under SHRM's J-1 visa designation. Previously, Mike oversaw the J-1 visa program for the Council for Global Immigration (CFGI), which was a SHRM strategic affiliate organization. Before joining SHRM and CFGI, Mike was the University Relations Manager for the Association for International Practical Training (AIPT) and was the program manager in charge of operating the U.S. affiliate of the International Association for the Exchange Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) program. Previously, he served as the Communications and Outreach Officer at the Washington, DC-based Middle East Institute (MEI) and has also worked at the University of Southern California's School of International Relations and at Powell Tate | Weber Shandwick Public Affairs. Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from The George Washington University and a Master's degree in Public Diplomacy from the University of Southern California.

Brooke H.M. Stokdyk is currently an Assistant Director at Michigan State University. She is the J-1 Responsible Officer and an F-1 Designated School Official. She presents various sessions and workshops in the field of international student and scholar services at the state, regional, and national levels. Brooke is an international education professional with over sixteen years of experience with F-1 and J-1 program administration at academic institutions sponsoring some of the largest international student and scholar populations in the U.S. Brooke has served as an F-1 and J-1 compliance consultant for more than six years.

Deirdre D. Nero, Esq. started her own Immigration & Nationality Law Practice, NERO Immigration Law, in February 2009 after having practiced in two large law firms for several years. With 16+ years of experience under her belt, Deirdre has helped hundreds of clients from all over the globe navigate the complicated world of Immigration Law. 

Originally from NJ, Deirdre has lived in Florida for 20+ years. Deirdre earned a Bachelor’s Degree Magna Cum Laude from FSU; and graduated with honors from the University of Miami School of Law. Deirdre has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2003.

Deirdre’s practice focuses on all types of business immigration including employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. She frequently works with companies to ensure they are compliant with Immigration laws relating to Form I-9, E-Verify, and Immigration Related Discrimination.

Deirdre works closely with companies to coordinate and execute all aspects their Immigration strategy and represent them before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of State. She represents clients in all 50 States and from countries across the globe. She holds an AV® Preeminent™ Rating since 2014, showing she is well-respected by her peers. She is honored to be named by Florida Trend Magazine as one of 2019’s Legal Elite

Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg, an organizational psychologist, holds the title of Chancellor’s Professor at UNC Charlotte for distinguished national, international and interdisciplinary contributions.  He is an award-winning teacher, award-winning and best-selling author, and recipient of the very prestigious Humboldt Award for his research. Adam Grant has called Steven the “worlds leading expert on how to fix meetings”.  Steven keynotes span the globe and he consults for small and large organizations, including IBM, TIAA, Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Family Dollar, 3M, Corning, KPMG, Siemens, and others. Due to his extensive outreach work, was the inaugural winner of the SIOP Humanitarian Award. 

This speaker is a member of the SHRM Speakers Bureau.

Howard Ross is lifelong social justice advocate, and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias.  Howard has delivered programs in 47 states and over 40 other countries to audiences including Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities, and major institutions within healthcare, government, and non-profit sectors. He authored the Washington Post best seller, Everyday Bias:  Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives, ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance. His latest  book, Our Search for Belonging: How the Need for Connection Is Tearing Our Culture Apart, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2018, received the Nautilus Gold Medal for Social Change and Social Justice. His next book, Building Belonging: 9 Pathways to Creating Inclusive and Joyful Organizational Communities, will be published in 2020.

Kelly Greenwood is the Founder & CEO of Mind Share Partners, a leading workplace mental health nonprofit. Kelly is a Forbes contributor and the editor-at-large for the “Mental Health at Work” section on Thrive Global.

Previously, Kelly served as the Chief Growth & Strategy Officer of Techbridge Girls and was a Principal at the Skoll Foundation. Kelly worked as a management consultant at Accenture, A.T. Kearney, and the Bridgespan Group.

Kelly holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and graduated summa cum laude from Duke University with a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish.

Christopher “CJ” Gross is the author of the best-selling book What's Your Zip Code Story? Understanding and Overcoming Class Bias in the Workplace and the highly acclaimed Harvard Business Review article, A Better Approach to Mentorship. He is a TEDx Speaker and founder of Ascension Worldwide, a firm dedicated to DEI and cultural transformation consulting based in the Washington, D.C. area. CJ has 20-years of experience as an international organizational development consultant specializing in leadership development, and DEI transformation. CJ is a certified Social + Emotional Intelligence coach, trainer, Keirsey Temperament professional, and Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) Administrator.

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.

Janice Omadeke is the CEO and Founder of The Mentor Method, an enterprise platform helping companies keep and develop their diverse talent using the proven power of mentorship. Her company won Capital Factory's $100K Women in Tech Challenge, is a MassChallenge Texas Gold winner, and has been featured in respected publications including The Washington Business Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine. Black Enterprise magazine recognizes Janice as one of DC’s top 5 black women in tech, and she was a subject matter expert at the 2016 White House Summit on Building the Tech Workforce of Tomorrow. Janice is certified in Entrepreneurship from MIT, built a mentorship program scratch as a Manager at PwC, and is PMP certified with over 10 years of corporate leadership experience for Fortune 500 companies.

Dr. Gaurav Bhalla is a globally acclaimed leadership and customer-centric growth strategist who inspires organizations, teams, and individuals to undertake human-centric journeys of transformational leadership, cognitive diversity, and collaborative creativity.

Published in both business and literature, his most recent book, “Awakening A Leader’s Soul,” reimagines the purpose of leadership and leadership journeys.

What sets Gaurav apart from other speakers, workshop facilitators, and authors is: 

• his learning, unlearning, and relearning mindset
• his passion for translating knowledge into action, and 
• his purpose that values the humanity of people more than their executive brilliance.

James Wright of JamesWantsToKnowYou.com is a dynamic and compelling leader with a track record of delivering practical roadmaps for increasing Inclusion and Diversity in global corporations such as Apple Inc., LinkedIn, NBCUniversal, and Time Warner (now WarnerMedia). A featured guest on NBC and FOX, Wright’s articles and commentary appear frequently on LinkedIn and his expertise has been included in The Washington Post as well as several SHRM articles. 

In his practice, James offers transformative training solutions on Gender Equality, Unconscious Bias, Improving Race Relations, and Generational Diversity. In addition, James introduced The Language of Inclusion - a free download of over 135 key terms and definitions to help organizations find a common language to Inclusion. With increased focus on gender and LGBTQIA+ equality, James believes it is important to update these terms to signal where we are today in our journey to ensure diverse communities are truly seen, heard, and valued.

James attended Erskine College in SC & The Catholic University of America in Washington DC.