Concurrent Session

As a managing partner and co-founder of n-gen People Performance Inc., Adwoa has dedicated the last 10 years to working with industry leaders across North America, in both the private and public sectors, to build strategies and programs that target, motivate and engage a multigenerational workforce.

With over 15 years of training and performance consulting experience, she has leveraged her expertise to create solutions in five practice areas – sales & customer service; leadership, team building, Gen Y and HR. Adwoa has presented to international audiences, has written numerous whitepapers, and co-authored two books: Loyalty Unplugged: How to Get, Keep & Grow All Four Generations and Upgrade Now: 9 Advanced Leadership Skills.

Diana Solash joined EY in 1994 and is currently a Director in the organization’s Americas Inclusiveness Office. In this capacity, Diana works closely with senior leaders, EY member firm partners and all EY people so that EY values are reflected across the Americas. She helps member firms leverage the diversity that each person brings to the table — e.g., generations, cultural background, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, experiences, and education. Diana has worked in several Talent team functions in building her career at EY, including campus recruiting, experienced recruiting and organizational development. She also co-chaired the Northeast Inclusiveness & Diversity Council and served as the Northeast Community Engagement Champion for Ernst & Young LLP.  

Diana has been involved with several community organizations. Currently, she serves as a board member and the immediate past President of the Metro NY Chapter of Ascend, a professional society for Asians in business, as well as a member of the New York Women’s Foundation Corporate Leadership Committee. Previously, she served as a member of Jumpstart’s Advisory Board and she is a past member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Minority Initiatives Committee. Diana also completed the Coro Leadership New York Program in 2009 and currently serves on Coro’s Alumni Advisory Board.  

Diana graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics and Psychology. She lives in downtown Manhattan with her son, Max, and daughter, Mia. 

Michael John Carley joined the Asperger Syndrome Training and Employment Partnership, as the Executive Director, in January, 2011. In addition, Mr. Carley serves as the Executive Director of the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership (GRASP) and he is also the author of Asperger’s From the Inside-Out (Penguin/Perigee).

Mr. Carley has appeared in the media widely, most notably in the New York Times, Washington Post, NY Newsday, the London Times, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Chronicle of Higher Education, NEWSWEEK OnAir, ABCNews, BBC News, Psychology Today, and on radio with Terry Gross’ Fresh Air, and The Infinite Mind. NPR News also aired a 12-minute story in June of 2006 that featured Mr. Carley and GRASP. He was also featured in the documentary, “On the Spectrum.” His articles have been published in magazines such as Autism Spectrum News, Autism Spectrum Quarterly, TAP (The Autism Perspective), and Autism/Asperger Digest. He has made over 70 speaking engagements to conferences, hospitals, universities, and health care organizations.

Lynn currently works in the healthcare industry but also has a broad range of experience working with Fortune 500 companies in the areas of leadership development, organizational change, and cultural alignment. As a seasoned leader Lynn focuses on helping leaders achieve strategic goals and align their teams to achieve business results.  

In her current role, Lynn is responsible for assuring successful Change Leadership supporting key strategic initiatives in one of the nation’s largest non-profit healthcare systems. Lynn is a consultant to the executive teams, providing coaching and organizational effectiveness support. 

Prior to her current position, Lynn served as a Principal Consultant at Right Management, an international consulting firm, for nine years. Lynn's experience also includes leadership positions in Organizational Development for Sprint Corporation and Cigna Healthcare. In addition, she maintained a private consulting practice in Portland, Oregon and Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Lynn was a faculty member for over 15 years in the Pacific Northwest with Washington State University and Portland State University where her specialty areas were Organizational Behavior Analysis and Organizational Psychology. Lynn’s work has been featured in Training and Development, the Journal of Organizational Excellence, and has been presented in several association conferences. 

Lynn was awarded her Ph.D. in Applied Experimental Psychology (Organizational Behavior Analysis) from Washington State University.  She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Psychology with an emphasis on behavior change and motivation from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Gary Magenta is committed to the development of leaders and managers by helping them recognize that leaders who want to change their businesses must change how they engage their people. As the Senior Vice President of Root, a consulting company that helps organizations execute on strategy through people, he is the architect and leader of the Root CompassSM Manager Development program, and he oversees Root’s business development efforts throughout North America and Europe. 

During his 11 years at Root, Gary has partnered with CEOs and executive teams across all industries to help them gain a holistic view of their businesses, their people, and the customers they serve by helping them focus on practical ways to effectively deploy their strategy, increase employee engagement, and accelerate results by leveraging comprehensive solutions that connect strategy to people and results.

Whatever the challenge, Gary brings a realistic view based on 25 years of business experience, a durable “street sense” for creating results, and a sense of humor that puts things into perspective. He focuses on asking the right questions and exploring what’s below the surface of an opportunity for change. Gary is a certified executive coach specializing in helping leaders connect with the people who have their hands on the levers of change and how they can impact that change.  

Gary is the author of the forthcoming book, I’m Sorry for Yelling. I Didn’t Know Any Better, which outlines 12 Powerful Questions to make YOU the best manager you can be at work and the best person you can be in life. Gary was also recently recognized with a bronze American Business Award (The Stevies) for Executive of the Year – Business Services. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife, and has sons in college. He’s a Google fanatic and an apologetic reality show junkie.

Maya Townsend, MSOD, founder and lead consultant of Partnering Resources, specializes in helping leaders meet complex change and collaboration challenges. The practice is based on understanding how to leverage networks: the complex, interrelated, and often messy webs of relationships that drive all organizational activity.  

Hailed by Tom Peters for bringing his company out of the doldrums, almost overnight, heralded by the media as the UnGuru because he is such a convention-breaker, Aman Motwane is the man behind the movement to change how the world of business does business — Skills 2.0.

Aman holds degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Master’s from Stanford University, which he received in 9 months. But he’s the first to point out that education and information are worth nothing if you don't understand the right questions to ask.

Gary Magenta is committed to the development of leaders and managers by helping them recognize that leaders who want to change their businesses must change how they engage their people. As the Senior Vice President of Root, a consulting company that helps organizations execute on strategy through people, he is the architect and leader of the Root CompassSM Manager Development program, and he oversees Root’s business development efforts throughout North America and Europe. 

During his 11 years at Root, Gary has partnered with CEOs and executive teams across all industries to help them gain a holistic view of their businesses, their people, and the customers they serve by helping them focus on practical ways to effectively deploy their strategy, increase employee engagement, and accelerate results by leveraging comprehensive solutions that connect strategy to people and results.

Whatever the challenge, Gary brings a realistic view based on 25 years of business experience, a durable “street sense” for creating results, and a sense of humor that puts things into perspective. He focuses on asking the right questions and exploring what’s below the surface of an opportunity for change. Gary is a certified executive coach specializing in helping leaders connect with the people who have their hands on the levers of change and how they can impact that change.  

Gary is the author of the forthcoming book, I’m Sorry for Yelling. I Didn’t Know Any Better, which outlines 12 Powerful Questions to make YOU the best manager you can be at work and the best person you can be in life. Gary was also recently recognized with a bronze American Business Award (The Stevies) for Executive of the Year – Business Services. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife, and has sons in college. He’s a Google fanatic and an apologetic reality show junkie.

Whitney Warner, SPHR is a Partner with the labor and employment law firm of Moody & Warner, P.C. Her practice includes representation of both employers and employees. Ms. Warner was named one of the Best of the Bar 2010 by New Mexico Business Weekly. She was awarded the 2009 Professional Excellence Award by SHRM of NM, the state’s top honor in the HR field. Ms. Warner and the firm are recognized by “Chambers USA – America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” as leaders in employment law in New Mexico. She has been recognized in "Southwest Super Lawyers," a listing of the top 5% of lawyers based on peer nominations. She has been active volunteer leader in local, state and national SHRM activities.

Barbara Henry, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Fontbonne University and a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University.  Barbi has spent the last 25 years working in manufacturing and state/county government human resources leadership. In these environments she has used her auditing skills to assess Human Resources preparedness and objectives for organizational strategic initiatives.  Based on those results, she has written policy, designed training programs, provided extensive employment law and labor relations support to achieve objectives using measurable metrics. This is Barbi’s sixth presentation at the SHRM National Convention as a practicing HR professional.