General Session

Jennifer Lee is an experienced keynote speaker, engaging educator, and talented facilitator. Jennifer has over 15 years of learning and development experience with a robust background in luxury hospitality, human resources, and training. As the former Learning and Development Director at the AAA Five Diamond-rated Waldorf Astoria Chicago and the former Learning Manager at The Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, Jennifer brings a rich perspective in leadership, management, service, hospitality and presentation skills training. When she’s not presenting, Jennifer can be found checking items off her bucket list, which still includes attending the Oscars at least once in her lifetime.

Justin retired from the Marine Corps at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  He deployed to Iraq in 2006 and suffered a gunshot wound to the head while there, but has had an incredible recovery.  He is now an inspirational speaker and a leading voice in the veteran community.  Justin wrote a leadership book for mid-level managers in 2015, and SHRM recently published his authoritative guide on veteran employment.  Justin has given several TEDx talks, has been honored by several presidents, and is one of the wounded warriors painted by President Bush in his book Portraits of Courage. 

When Justine Evirs joined the Navy, her plan was to make a career out of it. Her early medical discharge, however, forced her back to square one. She ended up in college to study business then spent numerous years in higher education and veteran services. Evirs is now a mother of 3, military spouse, prominent leader and disrupter in the entrepreneurial and veteran & military spouse communities, whose ideas are fast-tracking opportunities for veterans entering the civilian workforce or starting their own businesses.

In her previous role as the Executive Director of the nonprofit Bunker Labs Bay Area Justine helps provide resources and networking opportunities to military veterans and their spouses who are starting and growing their own businesses. Now in her new role as the Regional Executive Director at Bunker Labs she is focused on helping the organization scale their local efforts to all 50 states. Also as the Head of Advocacy she is focused on developing and advocating for policy solutions that empower veteran entrepreneurs across the nation.

The Paradigm Switch , a nonprofit founded by Justine in 2017, originally provided veterans and military spouses access to prestigious certifications and vocational skills-based programs. Fast forward to today, The Paradigm Switch has recently relaunched and is putting military spouses first. Justine is building a global digital community for military spouses by military spouses, offering a full spectrum of resources that enable spouses to unleash their unlimited potentia l both personally and professionally. The Paradigm Switch discovers and provide access to career resources, education opportunities, and communities that promote remote work, entrepreneurship, and freelance work.

It was 1971, and four University of Texas soon‐to‐be graduates decided to start an advertising agency in Austin, Texas—then a funky little college town known primarily for hippies, Texas Longhorns and Willie Nelson. Their simple business plan was to stay together, stay in Austin and use the power of marketing to make a difference. Forty‐seven years later, Roy and his partners are still together, still in Austin and still trying to make a difference. Roy signs every letter with the words, “Ride at Dawn.” That’s not just a sign‐off, it’s a manifesto—a call‐to‐action to live life to its fullest every day. Roy and his partners built GSD&M from scratch into a marketing, advertising and idea machine. Flying with Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines. Riding with Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. Driving with BMW and the PGA TOUR. Plowing with John Deere. Defending freedom with the United States Air Force. Designing with AIA a Blueprint for Better. Donating time and talent to create compelling public service awareness (PSA) ads to mobilize goodwill to help people in the moments that matter the most, like Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti, the terrible floods in Baton Rouge and recently, filming and producing PSAs with the five former presidents for hurricane relief for the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Roy’s passion is entrepreneurship, which he refers to as “the miracle of America.” He deeply believes that when America is at her best, it does not matter what your last name or zip code is. If you can dream it, you can build it. Roy is also cofounder and CEO of The Purpose Institute, which is also home‐based in Austin, Texas. The Purpose Institute is singularly focused on discovering the higher calling purpose and core values that define and shape an organization’s culture and the core purpose that captures the difference an organization makes in the world. Its purpose is to help organizations and leaders discover and fulfill their purpose. Along with Haley Rushing, Roy co‐authored the Wall Street Journal best‐selling book, It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose. And more recently, he authored The 10 Essential Hugs of Life, a collection of heartwarming stories about the need for gratitude and love.

In 2018, Roy founded The Promiseland Project whose purpose is to unleash the power of purposeinspired marketing and messaging to help bridge the massive cultural divide in America. The Promiseland Project is a large and diverse group of purpose‐driven communications professionals from all over America whose passion is a unified America. The goal is to inspire and engage the American people to help move America from the dark winter of political and cultural division into a bright new dawn of a culture of US. As in USA. One of the key drivers of The Promiseland Project is the deep belief that American cities will be the drivers of innovation, new ideas and solutions to America’s most pressing issues.

Kayla McKeon is the Manager of Grassroots Advocacy for the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) where she works to advance legislation beneficial to the Down syndrome community. Kayla gained experience working with Members of Congress as an intern for Congressman John Katko of New York. She was named NDSS Self-Advocate of the Year in 2016 and joined the NDSS staff the following year. As the first registered lobbyist with Down syndrome, Kayla is a spokesperson for NDSS and the Down syndrome community, participating in media and speaking publicly both nationally and internationally.  Kayla has an associate degree in general studies from Onondaga Community College.

Kayla resides in Syracuse, NY.  She is a Special Olympics athlete and former Special Olympics Athlete Congress member. In 2011, she competed in the Special Olympic World Games in Athens, Greece winning silver and bronze medals. In 2022, she competed in the Special Olympic USA Games in Orlando, Florida winning gold and bronze medals. Kayla is active in her church, is an avid reader, and loves swimming in her pool when the weather is warm.

J

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.

As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. Recognized as one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” for 2024 by Savoy Magazine and one of the “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."

Mr. Taylor's career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/InteractiveCorp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

He is the author of the national bestseller, RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which immediately upon its release in September 2021, was in the top three of The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling hardcover business books.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees and serves on the corporate boards of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO), Flores & Associates, and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the Trump Administration.

The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) named Mr. Taylor as one of its 2023 Trailblazers in Gender Equity and Diversity for his work to achieve equal position, pay and power for all women in business. In 2020, he received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and he was named 2021 ALA Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update.

He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C.

Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work.

She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership.

Brené’s TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 35 million views.  She is also the first researcher to have a filmed talk on Netflix.  The Call to Courage special debuted on the streaming service on April 19, 2019.

Brené lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve.  They have two children, Ellen and Charlie.

Known as one of the most powerful black women in Silicon Valley, Denise Young Smith recently closed a brilliant two-decade career with Apple and is currently serving as only the second executive-in-residence at the new Cornell Tech graduate school campus in Manhattan. At Cornell Tech, Denise will be visiting scholar and a key cultural influencer at this unique institution, on the imperative of true diversity, inclusion, and humanity in technology...drawing on her passion to positively impact the next generation of business and tech leaders and entrepreneurs.

Denise held a variety of executive roles at Apple, including building much of the company’s retail store initiative, taking the chain to over 400 stores globally before being promoted to the chief HR role, reporting to Apple CEO, Tim Cook. She served as Apple’s first ever vice president of inclusion and diversity, leading the company’s efforts to see its full ecosystem become as inclusive as possible. Denise has been named a “Most Powerful Woman” by Ebony Magazine and Black Enterprise, has been named one of “100 Most Influential in Silicon Valley” by Business Insider, and has been featured in Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women” issue. Truly living at the intersection of technology, humanity and art, Denise is an accomplished soprano who has graced local and international recital halls—including Carnegie and SFJazz.

Claire Shipman is the co-author of two New York Times bestsellers: The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—and What Women Should Know (April, 2014), an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and learning how to achieve it—for women of all ages and at all stages of their career and Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success (2009) which addresses how today's women's management style is ideally suited for the 21st century business world as it produces more profitable companies with happier employees.

She wrote the books with her colleague Katty Kay of the BBC. Their groundbreaking take on women and work has kept Shipman in high demand everyplace from corporations and law firms, to women's forums and girls' schools.

Shipman has also hosted many panel programs at the White House, the state department, and around the world on women's issues.

Before turning to writing, Shipman was a regular fixture on network television, most recently a appearing on Good Morning America and other national broadcasts for ABC News. She joined the morning broadcast in May of 2001, based in the network’s Washington, D.C., bureau. Shipman regularly interviewed influential newsmakers for the network. Over the years she has conducted in-depth interviews with Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Al Gore, Queen Rania of Jordan, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and numerous others.

Prior to joining ABC News in 2001, Shipman served as White House correspondent for NBC News where she regularly reported on presidential policy and politics for NBC Nightly News and TODAY.

Before moving to NBC News, Shipman worked at CNN for a decade. During that time she gained widespread recognition for her White House press coverage. Shipman also spent five years at CNN's Moscow bureau, where she won international praise for her coverage of Boris Yeltsin's 1993 assault on the Russian Parliament building.

Shipman's Moscow reporting helped CNN earn a National Headliners Award and her coverage of the aborted Soviet coup and 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union won the network a coveted Peabody Award. She also received a Dupont Award and an Emmy as one of the key contributors to CNN's coverage of the 1989 Tiananmen Square student uprising, as well as a Dupont Award for CNN's coverage of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Jay Carney, who served as White House Press Secretary for the Obama Administration (2011-2014) and their children.

Phil entered the world of business at the tender age of 14.

With nothing more than a bucket and sponge, he went from single-handedly washing cars on weekends to hiring a fleet of friends working on his behalf, resulting in him earning more than his teachers by the time he was 15.

Soon after, at just 18, Phil was offered the role of Sales Manager at fashion retailer Debenhams – making him the youngest Sales Manager in the company’s history.

His early career went from strength to strength, as he worked with a host of Premier League Football Clubs to help them negotiate sponsorships and licensing agreements, to then being a key part of growing a £240m property business.

But in 2008, after several years of being one of the most in-demand young sales leaders in the UK, Phil decided it was time to dedicate his future to helping others to succeed.

He took everything he learned about selling/sales from his previous roles, and created a one-day workshop, where he trained over 2,500 people in his founding year before eventually licensing his training to the UK, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand.

But there was a challenge…

As Phil plunged deeper and deeper into the world of training businesses, and worked with more and more organizations to improve their results – he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the style of information that the marketplace was glorifying.

Every body is selling something, be it an idea, a product, a service or an outcome. Yet the term “sales” was often about hype. It was celebrating ruthlessness and was all about unethically persuading and influencing people to get what they wanted.

The only thing that ever seemed to matter was the short term results, with no second-thought for the impact on all people involved.

Since then, Phil has made it his life’s work to completely demystify the sales process, and bring both simplicity and integrity to a world that is often full of big egos and even bigger lies.

With this as Phil’s core mission, he has gone on to deliver over 2,000 presentations in 56 countries across five continents, training more than two million people (both sales and non-sales professionals, leaders and experts) to learn how to have more influence, confidence and control when steering their conversations.

Phil’s unique philosophy of using specific word choices to teach his audiences “Exactly What To Say” in order to influence, persuade and drive outcomes, has made Phil one of the most practical and in-demand business speakers on the planet.

Phil currently lives with his wife Charlotte between their homes in New York City and their retreat in the Buckinghamshire countryside, has two beautiful daughters and a rather surprising passion for yoga.