Concurrent Session

Joe Gerstandt brings greater clarity, action, and impact to organizational diversity and inclusion efforts.

Joe has worked with Fortune 100 corporations, small non-profits, and everything in between. He speaks at numerous conferences and summits, and blogs at joegerstandt.com. He is a featured contributor for the Workforce Diversity Network Expert Forum and his insights have been published in Diversity Executive, HR Executive, and numerous other print and on-line journals.

A strong advocate for resetting the diversity and inclusion conversation, Joe sees these issues as poorly understood and often misunderstood.

Nathan D. Ainspan, Ph.D. is the Research Psychologist with the Transition to Veterans Program Office (TVPO) of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. TVPO oversees the military-to-civilian transition process for the Department of Defense to ensure that all service members transitioning from military service are prepared for their next step into civilian life. Dr. Ainspan's role is to ensure that any future enhancement to the program are based on behavioral and psychological science and best practices.   He has also written, taught, and spoken about the psychological issues impacting wounded and transitioning Service members. His personal research focus has been on improving civilian employment opportunities for transitioning Service members, helping service members translate their skills and experience into civilian terms (and helping companies to understand them), and the psychosocial benefits that employment can have on wounded warriors, injured veterans and people with disabilities. He has edited the following books: The Oxford Handbook of Psychosocial Interventions for Veterans, When the Warrior Returns: Making the Transition at Home, and Returning Wars Wounded, Injured, and Ill:  A Handbook. Dr. Ainspan has also just begun editing the How to Hire and Retain Veterans: A Guidebook for Business Leaders and Human Resources Professionals for Oxford Press. He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a Fellow of APA Divisions 18 (Psychologists in the Public Service) and 19 (Military Psychology). He was recently awarded the Raymond A. Katzell Award by the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology which is presented to an industrial/organizational psychologist whose work has had a major and widespread impact on society's well-being that has reached a substantial part of the public.  He was also awarded the Psychologists in Public Service Distinguished Career Award from APA Division 18.  

Eun Y. Kim is the founder of CEO International and has over 25 years of coaching, consulting, and training in the fields of global leadership, executive presence, cross-cultural communication, and change management. Dr. Kim has done extensive work with executives in various industries in Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and helped them develop self and others, and build strategic partnerships across cultures and functions. Having been one of the first women professionals hired by a Korean conglomerate (Hyundai) after college, she has facilitated numerous individual/group coaching sessions for female executives as well. She also worked as a change management consultant at a prestigious US multinational consulting firm.

A powerful storyteller with a powerful story to tell, Dr. Steve L. Robbins has an uncanny ability to inspire people even in the midst of disrupting and challenging the way they think about the world. Born in Vietnam, Dr. Robbins immigrated with his mother to the United States where they faced many challenges during a time when there was much anti-war and anti-Vietnamese sentiment.

Working through and rising out of the challenges of poverty, discrimination and the tough streets of Los Angeles, Dr. Robbins now brings insightful perspectives on issues of inclusion & innovation, leadership, and the power of caring.  Drawing upon a compelling life journey, his talks and workshops are filled with intriguing stories, laugh-out-loud humor and a keen understanding of human behavior.

Dr. Robbins uniquely knows how to simultaneously challenge and motivate people with a dynamic use of storytelling, humor and extensive knowledge of pertinent issues and concepts. The inclusive power of his message are why organizations like Coca-Cola, Disney, Ford Motor Company, Walmart, Lululemon, Pixar, NASA, The NBA,  Michelin, Bank of America, Mercedes-Benz,  and numerous others call on Dr. Robbins to inspire, educate and prepare their people for the exciting challenges of dynamic and diverse environments.

A thought leader and innovator, Dr. Robbins' unique, science-based approach to inclusion and diversity has captured wide acclaim from numerous audiences and organizations across the the world. His approach does NOT blame or point fingers. It uses neuroscience and the science of human behavior to encourage individuals and organizations to be more open-minded, mindful and intentional about inclusion and valuing people for their unique gifts, abilities and experiences.

Dr. Robbins earned an undergraduate degree in Communication from Calvin College, and his masters and doctorate in Communication Science from Michigan State University.  His background in communication, social-psychology and cognitive neuroscience drives his work with individuals and organizations – the core of the work is about understanding human behavior and leveraging human differences in an ever-changing, fast-paced 21st world.

Grace A. Odums, an independent strategy consultant, has a growing consultancy spanning over fifteen years.  Her impressive client list boasts Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 companies including: Disney ABC Media NetWorks, Waste Management (PA/WVA Area), Fairmount Southampton Resorts, Chevron-Phillips, Siemens Medical Solutions, Wells Fargo Bank.  

A much sought after international speaker, Grace welcomes the opportunity to partner with organizations and professionals in the areas of management coaching, revenue recapture, change leadership, optimum customer care, talent performance enhancement, productivity improvement, increased efficiencies, balanced scorecard architecture, and diversity strategy creation with diversity scorecard and strategy map development and system-wide implementation.

Michael Herndon returned to AARP as Vice President Financial Resilience in November 2015 having worked for the association from 2005 to 2011 as Manager, Financial Security. In his current role, he oversees programmatic efforts to help Americans 50+ make good financial decisions as they approach retirement, protect their money from fraud, and remain in the workforce as long as desired.

Between these roles at AARP, Mr. Herndon was the Consumer Outreach Officer for the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission, where he led the agency's consumer outreach and financial literacy efforts.

From 1999 to 2004, he served as the Director of Public Affairs for Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board). He came to that position after working for the International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP) as Manager of Government Relations. 

Wayne Connell, the founder, president and CEO of the Invisible Disabilities Association, established IDA twenty years ago in 1996 out of the desire to educate friends and family about his wife's debilitating illness. Soon afterwards, people around the globe began sending emails sharing how IDA had changed their relationships with their loved ones. He is co-author of the book, “But You LOOK Good, How to Encourage and Understand People Living with Illness and Pain.” Wayne's background fueled his passion for helping people living with illness, pain and disability. His experience includes that of a professional, multitasking husband caregiver with an extensive background in management, media and technology. This man on a mission quickly launched IDA into a world-wide outreach for millions living with invisible disabilities.

Joining Hardwick Benfer LLC in 2016, an employment litigation firm, Jill focuses on representing individuals in all aspects of employment law, including discrimination, harassment, wage and hour issues, employee benefits, reductions in force and wrongful discharge.  Jill also counsels employers on workplace investigations, employment decisions, policy development, and training and has also served as local counsel to firms in a variety of employment matters. Previously, Jill was a defense attorney with four years of practice in employment law, workers’ compensation and general liability litigation.

Jill’s legal experience follows an 18-year career in human resources, most recently as vice president of HR for a Fortune 500 company, managing strategic and operational global HR issues involving sourcing, developing, rewarding, and engaging employees located domestically and abroad. 

During law school, Jill clerked for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Baltimore, MD, and for the Circuit Court of Harford, Maryland.  She served as teaching assistant for civil procedure/legal writing, and was a member of legal honor society Phi Delta Phi.

Jill is a frequent presenter on a wide array of employment law topics, in local and national forums and also develops and presents in-house training for employers.

Grace A. Odums, an independent strategy consultant, has a growing consultancy spanning over fifteen years.  Her impressive client list boasts Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 companies including: Disney ABC Media NetWorks, Waste Management (PA/WVA Area), Fairmount Southampton Resorts, Chevron-Phillips, Siemens Medical Solutions, Wells Fargo Bank.  

A much sought after international speaker, Grace welcomes the opportunity to partner with organizations and professionals in the areas of management coaching, revenue recapture, change leadership, optimum customer care, talent performance enhancement, productivity improvement, increased efficiencies, balanced scorecard architecture, and diversity strategy creation with diversity scorecard and strategy map development and system-wide implementation.

As Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for Sitel, Elsa heads the global team of 500 HR professionals supporting our employee base of 70,000. She leads our global HR efforts, including hiring great people both in a timely manner and aligned to client needs, engaging and retaining those great people, rewarding them for maximizing their contribution and growing their capabilities.  

Elsa’s career includes over 20 years of HR experience spanning several functions, including: compensation, benefits, talent acquisition, university relations and learning & development, and being an effective business partner with a variety of business leaders. 

Prior to joining Sitel, Elsa worked at Dell, Inc., a multi-national solutions and hardware provider as Executive Director for several of the Sales organizations.  In these roles, she worked closely with the organization GMs to drive people strategies that enable business results.

Elsa also completed a two-year expatriate assignment in Latin America where she led efforts to harmonize policies and processes across the region while addressing complex union environments, multi-country legal considerations and optimizing the leadership structure to support growth in the emerging markets.

Elsa is multi-lingual and speaks fluent English and Spanish, as well as conversational Portuguese. Prior to Dell, Elsa held various HR leadership positions during her extensive career at Applied Materials. Elsa leads Sitel’s global HR efforts and the management of the transformation of our HR function to be more scalable and responsive to our business needs.