Leadership & Personal Growth

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.

Rebecca is the Executive Director of the Accelerate Leadership Center at the Tepper School of Business Carnegie Mellon University. The Center develops confident and inclusive leaders by providing assessments, learning experiences, and 1 on 1 coaching for Tepper Masters Students. Prior to joining the Tepper School, Rebecca worked at a Fortune 500 Company where she oversaw nationwide employee growth and development experiences and led award-winning sales teams. Rebecca earned an MBA from St. Joseph's University and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from University of Pennsylvania. Rebecca is an ACC ICF certified coach. 

Dr. Goldsmith is a member of  the Thinkers 50 Hall of Fame. He is the only two-time Thinkers 50 #1 Leadership Thinker in the World He has been ranked as the World’s #1 Executive Coach and Top Ten Business Thinker for years. His clients have included over 200 CEOs from around the world - including 5 US CEOs of the Year.

A New York Times #1 bestselling author, his 55 books have sold over 3 million copies and been translated into 35 languages.  In 2023, both Chief Executive magazine and Thinkers 50, listed What Got You Here Won’t Get You There as one of Best Business Books ever written. Amazon listed it, along with Triggers, in 100 Best Leadership & Success Books of All Time. Marshall is the only living author with two books on the list.  His newest book, and fourth NYT bestseller, is The Earned Life.

Marshall’s acknowledgements include BusinessWeek - 50 great leaders in America, Institute for Management Studies - Lifetime Award for Teaching, Harvard Business Review - World’s #1 Leadership Thinker, American Management Association - 50 Great Thinkers Who Have Influenced the Field of Management, SHRM Linkage – Legends of Leadership Award and  Global Gurus - Corps D ’Elite Award for Lifetime Contribution in Leadership and Coaching,  His life is featured in the documentary movie, “The Earned Life” and the New Yorker profile, “The Better Boss”.

Dr. Goldsmith served as a Professor of Management Practice at the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business. He has a Ph.D. is from the UCLA Anderson School of Management - where he was the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, an MBA is from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business - where he was the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year and a BS from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology – where he received an honorary Ph.D. in Engineering (in 2023). He has been a volunteer advisor and coach for the leaders in the Peter Drucker Foundation, World Bank, St. Jude Childrens Hospital, US Army and Navy, Girl Scouts, NY Public Library, USAID, and International and American Red Cross – where he was a National Volunteer of the Year.

Marshall has over 1.5 million followers on LinkedIn and 4 million views on YouTube. Hundreds of his articles, interviews, columns, and videos are online (at no charge). His resources have been viewed, read, listened to, downloaded, or shared over 100 million times.

An accomplished HR practitioner, Laurie has industry experience in non-profit, health care, consumer packaged goods, and banking. As a senior leader of SHRM’s HR team, she focuses on strategic initiatives to drive innovation to positively impact the employee experience and allow staff to maximize their potential through a culture of learning. She received her Masters’ degree in HRM from Capella University, is a Certified Strengths Coach and holds both SHRM-SCP and CAE designations.

Machael Sherry is a Principal Consultant and Executive Coach at Linkage, a SHRM company, with over two decades of expertise in the learning and development arena. Throughout her career, Machael has spearheaded the creation, implementation, and management of large-scale leadership development initiatives designed to foster self-awareness, inspire action, and drive impactful outcomes for individuals, teams, and organizations. Prior to her tenure at Linkage, Machael held esteemed senior leadership roles, where she consistently enhanced organizational performance by clarifying vision and strategy, nurturing talent, and cultivating inclusive cultures that prioritize people's value and investment in the organization's success. Machael holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston College, a Master of Science in Education from Pace University, and a Juris Doctorate from the University at Buffalo School of Law. She has further honed her coaching expertise through an Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership. As a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Machael also holds certifications in Linkage’s Advancing Women Leaders Assessment, Linkage’s Purposeful Leadership Assessment, the Hogan Assessments (HPI, HDS, and MVPI), and the EQ-i 2.0 Assessment. Her multifaceted background and unwavering commitment to excellence position her as a trusted advisor and catalyst for professional growth and organizational success.

Clayton Lord (Clay, he/him) oversees strategy, planning, program delivery, and program evaluation for the SHRM Foundation, the 501(c)3 nonprofit arm of SHRM, which focuses on widening pathways to work and helping every worker and workplace thrive by empowering HR leaders to be forces for social good. He is a social impact executive who has spent his career driving systemic change in the world of work. Clay is also a writer, painter, and quilter, as well as a travel fanatic, and holds a B.A. in English and Psychology from Georgetown University. He lives with his husband and daughter in Maryland.

Dr. Amy Beacom is credited as the trailblazer who built the vertical broadly referred to as parental leave support. Amy conceived of and began developing the field of parental leave coaching and consulting in 2006. In 2014 she founded the Center for Parental Leave Leadership, the first full service consultancy in the US to focus exclusively on parental leave strategy, research, and training. Drawing on over 25 years in executive leadership development and coaching, Amy consults with organizations of all sizes to drive talent development, attraction, and retention while improving the employee experience.

Dr. Amy Beacom is credited as the trailblazer who built the vertical broadly referred to as parental leave support. Amy conceived of and began developing the field of parental leave coaching and consulting in 2006. In 2014 she founded the Center for Parental Leave Leadership, the first full service consultancy in the US to focus exclusively on parental leave strategy, research, and training. Drawing on over 25 years in executive leadership development and coaching, Amy consults with organizations of all sizes to drive talent development, attraction, and retention while improving the employee experience.

Claire Stroh, MBA, SHRM-CP is currently the Manager, of Managed Talent Services at Lighthouse Technology Services and CEO of Claire is Coaching. She has used LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and networking to build her personal brand and uncover new opportunities for herself and the companies she’s worked for. She’s passionate about helping others do the same! Claire has more than 10 years of successively diverse human resources management experience with privately-owned and publicly-traded global leaders. She is an active member and blogger for SHRM and served on SHRM’s Emerging Professional Advisory Council (EPAC) for four years. Claire was named a 2022 HR Impact Award Winner by Buffalo Business First and 2022 Community Catalyst Award Winner by HRUnite!.

Claire Stroh, MBA, SHRM-CP is currently the Manager, of Managed Talent Services at Lighthouse Technology Services and CEO of Claire is Coaching. She has used LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and networking to build her personal brand and uncover new opportunities for herself and the companies she’s worked for. She’s passionate about helping others do the same! Claire has more than 10 years of successively diverse human resources management experience with privately-owned and publicly-traded global leaders. She is an active member and blogger for SHRM and served on SHRM’s Emerging Professional Advisory Council (EPAC) for four years. Claire was named a 2022 HR Impact Award Winner by Buffalo Business First and 2022 Community Catalyst Award Winner by HRUnite!.

With over 15 years of senior HR leadership in Fortune 500 companies, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and certified coach, Shayla N. Atkins is now the Founder and CEO of The Atkins IMPACT Consulting Firm. As an award-winning business and leadership strategist, an authority in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Organizational Effectiveness, Shayla believes “Authenticity Is the New Leadership Currency”, as the key to unlocking human potential. Receiving the 2022 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award presented by President Joseph R. Biden, and Shayla’s proven track record, has earned her invitations to speak on some of the largest stages across the country.