2021 GDEIB Expert Panellists

JOEL A. BROWN, Esq., CLC  

Joel A. Brown is the Chief Visionary Officer of Pneumos, a management consulting company based in San Francisco, USA, specializing in cultural intelligence and leadership, and organizational development. As a change agent, Joel works strategically with organizational leaders and professionals to cultivate innovative, creative, and adaptive environments where the cultural genius of everyone can be harnessed and leveraged successfully. Joel believes in being a multi-dimensional resource for his clients, and has expertise is in the areas of 1) organizational sustainability, 2) leadership development, 3) cultural intelligence, diversity, and inclusion, 4) conflict resolution, and 5) executive coaching.  Joel is best known for his critical analysis, creativity, humor, and his ability to build consensus, and is skilled in the “Diversity, Difference & Dialogue” process©, which is designed to maximize cross-cultural communication at all levels throughout an organization.  Joel approaches people with great conversational dexterity and is able to reduce complex social and organizational issues to their simplest form.  He has written multiple articles, including the widely circulated piece “Black and Gays: Bridging the Cultural Divide.”  A University of Virginia School of Law graduate, Joel worked six years as a labor and employment litigator focusing on wage and hour disputes, discrimination matters, and sexual harassment cases.  Joel is also an Executive Coach who works with emerging leaders, visionaries, senior executives, and “cultural creatives.”  He is a member of two diversity think tanks, the Diversity Collegium and D2K, and is finishing his doctorate in Educational Leadership.

Email:  joel@pneumos.comLinkedIn: www.linkedn.com/in/joelanthonybrown/

LILIANA CANTÚ

Liliana Cantú is a native Mexican and has a BS degree in Marketing and a Masters Degree in International.  She also holds the Intercultural Foundations Certificate awarded by the Intercultural Communication Institute, is an Expert Panelist for the Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks, and is certified in several global assessment tools.  Liliana is the founding president and current treasurer of SIETAR Mexico, the Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research in her country. She has professional experience in the fields of human resources, public relations, and relocations services, and specializes in the design, cultural customization and delivery of intercultural, global leadership, conflict management, mediation, team building, ethics and diversity training.  She has focuses on diversity and inclusion projects, training and initiatives specific to the Mexico / Latin America business environment.  Liliana has participated as a speaker and planning committee member at several international conferences such as the Employee Relation Council, SIETAR USA, and GLOBAL SIETAR, and has served in different global councils.  She has also performed as a part time university professor at on the most prestigious institutions in Latin America: the ITESM (commonly known as Monterrey Tech) where she has taught intercultural communication courses to national and international students in Spanish and English.  She lives in Monterrey, Mexico with her husband and two young children.

LinkedIn:  mx.linkedin.com/pub/liliana-cantu/10/26/287/

LORELEI CAROBOLANTE, MBA, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, SCRP, SGMS-T

Lorelei Carobolante leads the G2nd Systems team of global HR, instructional design and technology professionals that helps organizations ameliorate workplace challenges encountered by non-native and native English speakers from different countries. An internationally published writer and speaker, Carobolante works in multiple sectors and industries, both profit and nonprofit. She is a Registered Expert to ISO TC/260 HR Management & ISO/TC 176 SC3/JWG20 & 21, SHRM lead subject matter expert (SME), ANSI/SHRM D&I Taskforce lead SME, workforce mobility/relocation SME, and workplace English proficiency TOEIC® testing and benchmarking & communication assessment SME. Carobolante developed an advocacy mentality at an early age, and has devoted her life to helping non-native English speakers address inequity due to cognitive English proficiency, perceptions associated with accents; and serving the needs of abused women. Carobolante is a member of the WBEC-West Board of Directors, WBENC Global Programs & Services Committee, and WBENC Leadership Forum.  As a 

recipient of the World CSR Day’s 2014 Global Women Leader Award (Mumbai, India), three Worldwide ERC Distinguished Service Awards, WBENC Business Enterprise Star, and many other awards, Carobolante is recognized as a thought leader and pioneer, with extensive understanding of applying metrics to improving workforce interaction while strengthening engagement and performance outcomes. Education: B.A. in management from St. Mary’s College, a diploma from UCLA, and a global MBA from St. Mary’s College (AACSB global accreditation). Professional certifications: GPHR (Global Professional in Human Resources); SCRP (Senior Certified Relocation Professional); SHRM-SCP (Senior Certified Professional); and SGMS-T (Senior Global Mobility Specialist-Talent Mobility).  She created the GSL® English 6-Step Model™ and the Global Second Language® approach and is fluent in English and Italian.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/lorelei-carobolante-mba-gphr-scrp-sgms-t/0/951/513

KRISTAL MOORE CLEMONS, Ph.D.

Kristal Moore Clemons, a Chicago native, is a 2003 DePaul University graduate with a BA in Women’s Studies and Political Science. Her MA from Washington State University is in American Studies, her Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is in Education. She holds a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University. Her research interests include qualitative research; social foundations of education; women’s and gender studies; culture, diversity, and multicultural education; social studies methods; teacher education and development; critical race theory; popular culture/hip hop studies; and U.S. history. Dr. Clemons’ most recent publications include “I’ve got to do something for my people: Black women teachers of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Schools,” “Service is the rent we pay: A tale of how service learning bridged the gap between theory and practice,” “What the music said: Hip Hop as a transformative educational tool,”  “Here in this place: Write on! of Durham, North Carolina” and “bein’ alive & bein’ a woman & bein’ colored is a metaphysical dilemma: Black female social integration at a predominantly White institution.” In 2007, she co-founded the Children’s Defense Fund Durham Freedom School at North Carolina Central University.  In 2015, she co-founded Young Gifted and Black: Education and Empowerment Institute for Girls at Florida A&M University. Dr. Clemons has served as an assistant professor of history at Tallahassee Community College from 2010-2013. From 2013-2016, Dr. Clemons served as visiting assistant professor of Secondary Education and Foundations and Social Science Education Coordinator at Florida A&M University. With her commitment to the classroom as a site of democratic deliberation, Dr. Clemons is currently an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and Director of the online Ed.D. program at Florida State University.

MARIA CRISTINA (Cris) DA COSTA RODRIGUES DE CARVALHO

Maria Cristina (Cris) da Costa Rodrigues de Carvalho is consultant, mediator, coach and an executive with solid experience in Companies in the Financial, Pension Funds and Technology sectors based in LATAM.  She has a BS in Social Service by PUC/SP and Master Degree in Human Resources Management by FOC/SP. She is a coach trained by the Instituto EcoSocial and by The Inner Game International School of Coaching (Tim Gallwey) - California/USA. Associate Certified Coach (ACC) certified by the ICF, Management Councilor by IBGC, and Organizational Mediator by Trigon Entwicklungsberatung. She started professional life as a Technology Trainee. Transferred to the Human Resources Area, where worked for over 25 years in several processes for organization change in multicultural environments. She led programs for M&A and due-diligence in several Banks and Brazilian Companies focusing on equalization of cultures and Benefits/Compensation, Expatriate, Health, Diversity&Inclusion, Mentoring, Work Life Balance and Human Rights policies.  For several years, she participated as the Coordinator of the Diversity Subcommittee at the Febraban (Brazilian Bank Federation).  She received "Destaque RH" awards in 2007, from "Gestao&RH Magazine" related to the D&I Program. Was a member of the Sustainability Councils of ABN AMRO Real bank and led the Diversity and Social Action Committee at Banco Santander. In that capacity was responsible for implement several Affirmative Actions in the Financial sector. She participated in several international platforms in Europe, The USA and Brazil in Human Resources, D&I themes and diverse cultural environments. She was employer representative in Tripartite Commissions at Febraban, CNF and ILO (International Labour Organization) conferences in Geneva/Switzerland. Has been mentoring and coaching for young executives and diverse audiences in the process for development of competences and career and life transition through her own consulting company and as Partner at InterElo Consultoria.  Experienced in facilitation of group dialogue, being an speaker on diversity, HR issues, work life balance, corporate governance, social investment and conflict mediation. Current Councilor at BPW(Business and Professional Women)-SP. She lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil with her husband, a son and a daughter.

Cristina (Tina) Cruz-Hubbard currently serves as the Chief Diversity Officer for Peace Corps.  Prior to her role as CDO she oversaw the Intercultural Competence, Diversity and Inclusion programming and training efforts for overseas staff of the Peace Corps.  Her portfolio includes developing a global strategy to support intercultural learning and improving the capacity of overseas staff to support the rich diversity of Peace Corps Volunteers in over 60 countries.  She began her D&I career in 1993 at the University of Minnesota and continued on to work in a variety of intercultural and D&I related roles in nonprofit, corporate, education and government settings.  These organizations include Walt Disney World Resort, Columbia University, and the US Embassies in Lima, Peru and Dakar, Senegal.  As a member of a Foreign Service family, she, her husband and four kids relocate internationally every three to four years.  Ms. Cruz-Hubbard finds she “never turns her D&I lens off” as part of an interfaith, intergenerational, multi-ability, multilingual, interracial, intercultural, and globally mobile family.  Informed by the health and educational challenges of her children, she has evolving expertise in influencing health and educational systems to be inclusive of children and families with critical needs.   In addition to being a qualified administrator of several intercultural and global leadership assessment tools, she has a Bachelor of Science degree in business with an emphasis in intercultural communication and is completing a Masters of Education in special education. Her passion is working within organizations to build successful D&I efforts driven by a comprehensive long-term strategy customized and owned by all levels of an organization. 

SHIRLEY DAVIS, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CSP
Dr. Shirley Davis is an accomplished corporate executive, global workforce management expert, a certified leadership coach, and a master of reinvention. With over 20 years of business experience in a variety of senior and executive leadership roles with Fortune 100 companies, and at the world’s largest HR membership association, the Society for Human Resource Management as Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion and Workplace Strategies. She is currently the president of SDS Global Enterprises, a Strategic Development Solutions firm that offers solutions and strategies for achieving leadership excellence, and high performing and inclusive workplace cultures where all talent can thrive. 
She has worked in more than 30 countries on 5 continents and delivers more than 80 speeches a year. She has been a featured expert on The Today Show, CNN.com, CBS, The Washington Post, HR Magazine, USA Today, Inclusion Magazine, to name a few. She is a popular author for three LinkedIn Learning leadership courses and the author the best-selling book, “The Seat: How to Get Invited to the Table When You’re Over-Performing but Undervalued.”

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drshirleydavis

Currently, Ralph de Chabert is Senior Vice-President, Global Chief Diversity Officer for Brown-Forman, Corporation. Prior to Brown-Forman, he has held successive positions in Northern California as Chief Diversity Officer, Vice-President of Employee Relations & Diversity and Head of Executive Development and Diversity for Safeway, Corp; McKesson, Corp; and American President Lines respectively. He also worked for Pope & Associates, a diversity consulting firm out of Cincinnati, OH where he served as the Operations Manager and external diversity consultant in a myriad of organizations ranging from global, Fortune 50 companies to local non-profit organizations. Ralph has also been a nuclear insurance underwriter, a partner in a men’s clothing store and a teacher and basketball coach in the Cleveland, Ohio school systems. He also serves on the board of the Louisville Central Community Centers and the Muhammad Ali Center, where he also served as interim Director. Ralph has done graduate work at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont and holds Masters Degrees in Education and Human Resources and Organizational Development from John Carroll University and the University of San Francisco, respectively. Ralph is married with a daughter, son and a nephew and when he is not spending time at work or with the family, he can be found reading and enjoying music.

BARBARA DEANE

Barbara R. Deane, M.A., is co-director of the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (ISDI), based in Seattle, Washington, USA, whose mission is to strengthen individual and organizational capability for creating diverse, inclusive and equitable workplaces. ISDI manages and presents the NW Diversity Learning Series, a collaborative employer venture Barbara co-founded with the goal of creating a world-class diversity, equity and inclusion education resource in the Pacific Northwest. In 2023, the NW Diversity Learning Series will celebrate its 25th Anniversary.

Barbara is a writer, editor, consultant and speaker on diversity, equity and inclusion, and intercultural effectiveness. She is the former editor of DiversityCentral.com and the Cultural Diversity at Work Archive, an online database of articles, tools and resources. She co-founded Cultural Diversity at Work in 1988, one of the first international publications on workforce diversity. She is the author of more than one hundred articles, and recently co-edited the research-based book, with Bernardo Ferdman, Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2014) (https://practiceofinclusion.com/). The Practice of Inclusion is a volume in the Professional Practice Series of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).  

Barbara serves as vice-president of The GilDeane Group, Inc., a Hispanic and woman-owned consulting practice with specialty areas in diversity, equity and inclusion; intercultural effectiveness, Mexican American culture and identity; and Latinos in the prison system. The GilDeane Group developed a highly successful training program for foreign service officers and diplomats on Intercultural Communication and Negotiation for Mexico and Latin America.

Barbara is an Expert Panellist for the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmarks, standards for organizational initiatives. She was a member of the former The Diversity Collegium, a think tank for diversity professionals. She holds a master’s degree in interpersonal and intercultural communication from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in organizational communication from The Ohio State University. She is a board member for Bailadores de Bronce, a 50-year old not-for-profit organization training youth and young adults in Mexican folkloric dance and music. She lives in Seattle, Washington, USA with her spouse, Carlos Gil, along with their extended family.

October 2022

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-deane

BERNARDO FERDMAN, Ph.D. 

Bernardo, a leadership and OD consultant and board-certified coach with 35+ years’ experience in the U.S. and around the world, is passionate about creating an inclusive world where more people can be fully themselves and accomplish goals effectively, productively, and authentically. His firm, Ferdman Consulting, focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, inclusive leadership, and executive coaching. Bernardo created Inclusion@Work®, a digital coaching platform for learning about inclusion, and the Inclusion@Work® Assessment. A distinguished professor emeritus at the California School of Professional Psychology, he teaches in several executive education programs, including UCLA Anderson’s, where he developed and directs a new program on inclusive leadership. Bernardo has written numerous articles and chapters, made 300+ presentations, and conducted research on various aspects of inclusion. His 2014 book, Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion (co-edited with Barbara Deane), provides a research-based understanding of inclusion. He is currently completing a volume focusing on inclusive leadership, scheduled for publication in 2020. Bernardo is president of The Diversity Collegium, Fellow of APA and the International Academy for Intercultural Research, past Chair of Academy of Management’s Diversity and Inclusion Theme Committee and its Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division, and past president of the Interamerican Society of Psychology. Among his various awards is the 2019 Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Consulting from the Society of Consulting Psychology. Bernardo—a native Spanish speaker who immigrated to the U.S. as a child—earned a Ph.D. in Psychology at Yale University and an A.B. degree at Princeton University.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ferdman

SAEHI HAN, Ph.D

Saehi Han, Ph.D., was born and raised in Korea, and worked and studied in Belgium for 15 years. Since his return to South Korea, as a coach / consultant / trainer, he has been engaged in leadership/team development and strategic/cultural change of numerous MNCs (Microsoft, Honeywell, Amgen, KB Financial Group, PepsiCo, Exxon Mobil, Dell, Unilever, Nexans, NI, General Mills, Dassault Systems, AMD, Dow Chemical, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Monsanto, RBS, Samsung, LG, etc.) as well as the Blue House (Korean Presidential Palace), KNOC (Korea National Oil Corporation), etc. in the public sector. While in Belgium, he worked as MD/President of Hitel Express (sales/marketing consulting and tourism/publication) and Expo88/CHJ Group (international trading and exposition) managing subsidiaries in Korea, Belgium and the Netherlands. In his earlier career, he served as Lieutenant Officer in Korean Navy and subsequently as Chief Officer / Captain of merchant marine, visiting some 50 countries in 5 continents. He acquired 4 academic degrees in Belgium (MBA/BS, Brussels University) and Korea (Ph.D./BE, Korea Maritime University). Saehi speaks Korean, English and French currently, but he has also learned Japanese, Spanish and Dutch through his earlier career. He taught Human Resource Management at Kosin University in Korea. He has written some 90 articles/columns on culture and organizational development including “Research on the Impact of Internal Values of Employees to Organizational Culture and on its Diagnosis Frameworks” (Ph.D. thesis), “Mergers and Acquisitions: What to do when communicating more often is just not enough”(Global Forum, USA), and “Embedded Discrimination Factors in Korean Culture”(Korea Social Theory) etc. He lives in Gimpo, Korea.

STEVE HANAMURA, MA

Steve Hanamura is president of Hanamura Consulting, Inc., founded in 1986.  Steve brings over 34 years’ experience to the consulting, training and speaking profession.  He is widely sought after in the areas of leadership development, managing and leading diversity initiatives, building effective teams, working with people with disabilities and managing personal and organizational change.  Hanamura Consulting serves businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions of all sizes throughout the country.  Steve has authored two books, In Search of Vision and I Can See Clearly and was a contributing author to Valuing Diversity.  He writes journal articles for a variety of publications.  He has served as past president of the Portland Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development and is an emeritus member of The Diversity Collegium, a group of thought leaders in the field of diversity. Among Steve’s professional honors is the Multi-Cultural Network Trainer of the Year presented by the American Society for Training and Development. He was recognized as one of forty diversity pioneers in the July/August 2007 edition of Profiles in Diversity Journal and has received the Meritorious Service Award for the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.  Also, he was privileged to be one of the Torchbearers for the 1996 Olympics. Steve received his master’s degree from the University of Oregon and his Bachelor’s degree from Linfield College.  Though blind, he enjoys running and is an avid sports fan.

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-hanamura/6/625/a73

MELANIE HARRINGTON

Melanie Harrington serves as the first President and CEO of Vibrant Pittsburgh, a nonprofit economic development organization that utilizes diversity and inclusion strategies to ensure the growth and long-term economic competitiveness of the Pittsburgh region.  Together, with a broad cross section of partners from the government, education, business, and civic sectors, Vibrant Pittsburgh is spearheading initiatives to attract, retain, and elevate a diverse workforce in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  From 2001 to 2010 Melanie served as the president of the American Institute for Managing Diversity, Inc. (AIMD), a national nonprofit diversity think tank based in Atlanta, Georgia that was founded by Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. 1982.  From 1995 to 2001 Melanie served as general counsel for D.J. Miller & Associates, Inc. (DJMA), a national management consulting firm that specializes in serving federal, state and local government agencies.  Melanie served as an associate and then senior associate at the Ewing Group Law Firm specializing in employment litigation from 1992 to 1995. She currently serves on various Boards and Advisory Committees including the Boards of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, Sustainable Pittsburgh; the Downtown Pittsburgh Partnership; and the Diversity Collegium.  She is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh Class of XXVIII and Leadership Atlanta 2004 Class. She received the Pennsylvania National Diversity Council’s 2012 “Most Powerful & Influential Women Award,” and was recognized by the New Pittsburgh Courier, as one of the “50 Women of Excellence.”  She received her Juris Doctorate from Emory University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-harrington-86a5205

ROBERT HAYLES, Ph.D.

Dr. Hayles assists people and organizations in becoming more effective. He speaks, writes, and consults with a strong foundation in pluralism, diversity, and inclusion.  He was also the 1996 Chair of the Board of Directors, American Society for Training and Development.  Robert was named a “Pioneer of Diversity” by the Profiles in Diversity Journal in 2007. He has served more than 150 clients in the private, public, and civic sectors located in over 15 different countries. Robert was formerly the Vice President, Human Resources and Diversity with Pillsbury (a Diageo company).  His HR responsibilities included the Tax, Treasury and Technology organizations.  He also led diversity work worldwide for Diageo’s food businesses (e.g., Pillsbury, Green Giant, Haagen-Dazs, etc.).  Prior to that Robert was Director, HR for the Pillsbury Technology Center.  Before joining Pillsbury he was Manager, Valuing Differences for Digital Equipment Corporation in Sales, Services, Marketing and International.  He led strategies in the above roles to leverage diversity for productivity/profitability by working with similarities and differences.  Other previous positions include: Associate Professor of Engineering Administration at George Washington University; Director, Research and Human Resources at the Office of Naval Research; and Research Scientist at Battelle’s Human Affairs Research Center.  Robert was the first behavioral scientist to manage the U.S. Department of Navy Technology Base with an annual budget of more than one billion dollars.  Robert has an undergraduate degree in the behavioral and physical sciences, a doctorate in psychology and postgraduate education in business.  Coauthor: The Diversity Directive: Why Some Initiatives Fail and What to Do About It, McGraw-Hill, 1997.  

PEGGY HAZARD

Peggy Hazard is a Managing Principal and co-head of the Advancing Women Worldwide Practice at Korn Ferry. She specializes in consulting, facilitation and coaching to help executives and top teams achieve business results through improved global talent strategies and more inclusive and agile leadership.   A thought leader and problem-solver who has worked with leaders from 80 counties, Ms. Hazard helped develop the Root Cause Funnel Analysis, CrossCultural Agility, Vectors™ and Accelerating Women in Leadership Programs, a 3-part Advancing Women Worldwide Webinar Series and was Managing Editor of an online Global Inclusion University serving 197,000 employees.  She is a member of the Avon Global Women’s Think Tank, the Global Diversity Benchmarks and facilitated The Global Diversity Officer Competency Model. She is author & contributor of Career Playbook: Practical Tips for Women in Leadership, Best Practice Women in Leadership, Crosscultural Agility: The Global Talent Solution,  and Developing a Global Mindset. She was adjunct professor at Cornell's School of Labor & Industrial Relations, guest lecturer at Columbia and Rutgers Universities, India Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and the Mercedes Leadership Institute.  Ms. Hazard has 30 years of experience, including positions at Polo Ralph Lauren and Warnaco.  She has a BA The University of Pennsylvania, where she studied at The Wharton School. She is certified in ViaEdge, Voices, KFALP, Hogan and HBDI assessments.

DIANNE HOFNER SAPHIERE, M.S. 

Dianne Hofner Saphiere is Founder and Director of Cultural Detective, a system for developing intercultural competence, where she leads a team of over 130 experts worldwide. She is an organizational development practitioner who has been active in the field of intercultural and global diversity consulting and training since 1979. Dianne has consulted at the executive levels of Fortune 200 firms; has conducted large-scale research projects; trained trainers; has served as a process consultant in a broad range of negotiations, and as a facilitator of long-term team development efforts And is a professional photographer. She spent twelve years working in Japan, has lived in Spain, and currently lives in Mexico. She speaks Japanese, Spanish and English, holds an M.S. in Organization and Human Resource Development, and a B.A. in International Studies. Dianne has been on the faculty of the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication since 1990, of the Intercultural Development Research Academy in Milan since 2012, and of the Universität de Valencia Masters in International Business program since 2014. In 1994 she received the Interculturalist Award for Achievement from the International Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR International). She is the author of several internationally acclaimed cross-cultural simulations (Ecotonos: A Multicultural Problem-Solving Simulation, Redundancía: A Foreign Language Simulation, among others), a co-author of Communication Highwire: Leveraging the Power of Diverse Communication Styles, and has penned numerous book chapters, encyclopedia entries, published exercises and learning methodologies. Dianne led an international team to translate into Spanish an educational game designed to create empathy for the refugee experience. Entitled “On the Road with Migrants,” it is authored by Caritas France and is available free of charge in several languages: https://www.secours-catholique.org/actualites/en-route-avec-les-migrants-un-jeu-a-telecharger

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/preview?locale=en_US&trk=prof-0-sb-preview-primary-button

PATRICIA MUSHIM IKEDA

Patricia Mushim Ikeda is an author, diversity consultant, Buddhist teacher, and secular mindfulness teacher based in Oakland, California, USA. She began publishing poetry under the name “Patricia Y. Ikeda” in the late seventies in the U.S. and is one of the major Asian American women poets featured in the 2001 award-winning documentary, Between the Lines. After earning an MFA degree from the University of Iowa Graduate Writers Workshop in 1981, she jumped the tracks and veered into Zen Buddhist meditation, entering a period of North American monastic practice under a vow of poverty that culminated in 8 months in Korean monasteries. Returning to California in 1988, she re-entered lay life with the birth of her son in 1989. Assisting teachers in her child’s under-resourced public schools in Oakland proved to be a journey of diversity awareness. Mentored by diversity consultant Roberto Almanzán, Mushim began working as a diversity consultant in addition to Buddhist teaching and writing, and since 2007 has become widely recognized for social justice activism and inclusivity work in U.S. Buddhist communities. Mushim received the 2014 Gil A. Lopez peacemaker award from the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California in recognition for groundbreaking work training social justice activists in mindfulness practices at the East Bay Meditation Center. In 2015 she received an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from Starr King School for the Ministry, and was part of a small group of U.S. Buddhist and Catholic socially-engaged leaders who met with Pope Francis during an interreligious dialogue convened by the Vatican. Mushim is a longtime member of the Diversity 2000 think tank.

Website:  www.mushimikeda.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/mushim-patricia-ikeda/9/727/530/

KAY IWATA

Ms. Iwata is an internationally recognized leadership, organizational development and diversity management consultant, researcher and author. Her approach is global, strategic and systemic. It focuses on building from a strong business case that is anchored in the values and culture of the organization and its leaders.  She has provided strategic planning, organizational cultural assessments, diversity & inclusion planning and implementation, leadership development, team building, conflict resolution, and executive coaching for organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, Dell Inc., Walmart, County of Alameda, County of San Diego, California State University Fresno and Texas A&M at San Antonio.  Ms. Iwata’s book, The POWER of Diversity: 5 Essential Competencies for Leading a Diverse Workforce provides a researched based focus on what specific behaviors and actions diversity and inclusion competent leaders and managers consistently demonstrate. The results also appear in the 2010 ASTD Leadership Handbook. She has been named a Pioneer of Diversity by the Diversity Journal and has published articles with SHRM and Diversity Central. In addition to consulting Ms. Iwata has served on the Leadership California Board of Directors and chaired the Executive Advisory Council. She remains part of the faculty for their flagship program, California Issues and Trends. Ms. Iwata is also on the faculty with the Center for Asian Pacific American Women, where she was a past president. She is also on the Advisory Board for GEWEL, the first diversity and inclusion consulting firm in Japan.

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kay-iwata/1/b5b/8b5 

HANS W. JABLONSKI

Hans is a senior consultant and expert on Diversity & Inclusion, Leadership and Change Management. He has gained more than 20 years of practical experience in people and organisational development in different sectors. He has experience in organisational change as both an in-house and external consultant. He works systemically to enable sustainable long-term success. In the course of his career, he has worked with companies from a variety of sectors such as automotive, banking/finance, petrochemical, strategy consulting etc. He was one of the first diversity managers in Germany and is co-author of the Diversity Charta in Germany and other European countries. About 10 years ago Hans founded his company jbd consulting. He provides consulting services to companies worldwide about introducing and conducting change and diversity management. Hans has worked with many of Germany’s DAX30 companies. He is also a keynote speaker on his areas of expertise and regularly publishes articles in books and journals. Hans has worked successfully with managers in various countries around the globe, such as Japan, China, India, Brazil, the USA and countries across Europe. His specialist areas are: Unconscious Bias, Diversity & Inclusion, Gender Diversity, Inclusive Leadership   

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Hans/Jablonski

JUDITH H. KATZ, Ed.D. 

Fueled by passion for addressing systemic barriers, Judith Katz is a thought leader, practitioner, educator, and strategist. Recognized with the Organization Development Network Lifetime Achievement Award (2014) and as a Pioneer of Diversity by Profiles in Diversity Journal, Judith has been a leader in inclusion, diversity, and organization transformation for over 40 years. As Executive Vice President of The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc.—one of Consulting magazine’s Seven Small Jewels in 2010—she has helped organizations around the globe to leverage people’s differences, increase engagement, and transform workplaces. Together with Frederick A. Miller, she co-created many key concepts, including the Conscious Actions for Inclusion. Her landmark book, White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-Racism Training (1978), was the first systematic training program to address racism from a white perspective. Her courageous autobiographical work, No Fairy Godmothers, No Magic Wands: The Healing Process After Rape (1984), assists rape survivors in the recovery process. She has co-authored with Fred Miller four books on diversity, inclusion and individual, team and organization performance; most recently, Safe Enough to Soar: Accelerating Trust, Inclusion & Collaboration in the Workplace. Many organizations have honored Judith with awards and accolades: OD Network Lifetime Achievement Award (2014), OD Network’s Outstanding Achievement in Global Work Award (2012) and the Larry Porter Award for OD Knowledge (2009). International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals named her a Legend of Diversity in 2012. An accomplished speaker, researcher, and educator with over 100 articles to her credit, she has been a GDIB reviewer since the founding of the Expert Panel.

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/judith-katz/3/69/453
 

ELISABETH KELAN, Ph.D.

Elisabeth Kelan, PhD, is a Professor of Leadership and Organisation at Essex Business School, University of Essex. Her research focuses on women in leadership, men as change agents for gender equality, generations at work, and diversity and inclusion. She has published two books (Rising Stars - Developing Millennial Women as Leaders and Performing Gender) and numerous peer-reviewed articles in academic journals. Elisabeth Kelan held a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship and was a Dahlem International Professor of Gender Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She won various awards for her research and the Times featured her as one of the management thinkers to watch. Her research is regularly discussed in the media. She is an associate editor of the journal Gender, Work and Organization and is on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Management, Management Learning and Gender in Management. She is regularly providing thought-leadership and consulting to businesses and international organisations. Elisabeth Kelan worked at London Business School, King's College London, Cranfield School of Management, Zurich University and the London School of Economics and Political Science where she also earned her PhD.

LinkedIn:  uk.linkedin.com/in/ekelan

LISA KEPINSKI

Lisa brings over 20 years’ experience working in diverse, global environments as a senior Global Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) executive with AXA, Microsoft, & Hewlett-Packard setting strategic direction internationally. In 2013, she founded the Inclusion Institute focused on applying behavioral science & organizational change for increasing inclusion, equity, diversity, & belonging. Lisa has co-authored the Inclusion Nudges Guidebook and co-founded the non-profit Inclusion Nudges Global Initiative, with Tinna C. Nielsen. For this innovative work, Lisa & Tinna were named to The Economist & The Telegraph’s Global Diversity List as “Top 10 Diversity Consultants” in 2015, 2016, & 2017. Additionally, Lisa gave a TEDx Talk on the need to design for inclusive behavioral change. Lisa co-authored, with Veronika Hucke, a global study on improving the effectiveness of women networks, and also co-authored a research report on Inclusion & Diversity actions that have impact published by Newsweek. A webcast that they gave on their research findings was voted as “The Best Webcast for 2018” in a series by The Forum for Workplace Inclusion. Their current research looks at increasing equity and belonging in remote work teams. Lisa founded a large network of diversity & inclusion change makers based in Europe, has been a faculty member of The Conference Board’s D&I Academy, is an expert panelist for the Global Diversity & Inclusion Benchmarks, has served on the advisory boards of Catalyst Europe and WIN, and is a current D&I advisory board member for Barilla. Lisa has lived in 5 countries and travelled extensively in her global roles.  She was born and educated in the US, with degrees in Social Psychology and Socio-Linguistics. Lisa has worked in Europe for 20 years, has two adult daughters, and she lives in Germany with her husband.

LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisakepinski

JUAN T. LOPEZ

Juan T. Lopez is president of Amistad Associates, an organizational development and management consulting firm that offers Global Multicultural leadership programs, executive coaching, organizational assessments, strategic planning, training and consulting services, and diversity excellence. He is a cofounder of Llead, a senior Latino leadership program. He and his colleagues are currently writing a book on their research based on 15 years of training and coaching. He has developed a global accelerated leadership program for men of color and multicultural men and is a cofounder of Diversity 2000, a think tank focusing on compelling diversity issues now entering its 17th year.  He has an M.S.W. from the University of California Berkeley, School of Social Welfare, where he emphasized organizational planning and community health services.  He also holds B.A. degrees in Psychology and Latin-American Studies from Sonoma State University. In addition, Mr. Lopez was the co-chair for three years of the National Diversity Conference, which had been one of the premier national events addressing diversity issues. He has been a member of the Collegium (emeritus) since 1993, a diversity think tank of diversity pioneers who develop diversity concepts and leadership models. He was featured in The Diversity Journal as one of the Diversity Pioneers. Juan is a co-author of: The Diversity Calling: Building Community One Story at a Time, published in 2012. He also is a co-author of a chapter: Leading for Diversity in the ASTD Leadership Handbook.

CYNTHIA H. LOVE, Ed.D.

Dr. Cynthia H. Love is CEO for Out for Undergraduates (O4U), a non-profit corporation dedicated to leadership pathways for LGBTQ undergraduates recruited by the top 130 banking/finance, marketing, engineering and technology corporations in the US.  Before accepting the role at O4U, Love was CEO of ACPA--College Student Educators International, DC-based higher education association in operation since 1924.  A leading expert in the development and growth of Internet based international communities of knowledge & practice as well as disintermediation due to disruptive innovation, Love is a consultant, author and speaker with interests in development of cultures of advocacy, cultural competency and D&I.  She created the national marketing campaign & book, Would Jesus Discriminate? The 21st Century Question and is a Huffington Post blogger.  She founded an INC 500 company in 1990 later acquired by The TORO Company (NYSE:TTC). She currently serves on the Working Group Advising the US Secretary of State on Religion & Foreign Policy and is the recent recipient of the Facilitator Award by Stetson College University of Law for helping colleges create reasonably safe climates. Love was a guest on CNN Anderson Cooper 360 with Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin to respond to the question of legal liability for pastors who encourage violence against gay children by parents in their congregations and was keynote for the National Religious Broadcasters Convention Public Policy Debate in 2011. She is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education program for state & local officials and the MIT “Birthing of Giants” inaugural program for INC 500 executives.

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/pub/cindi-love/101/96a/58a

CHRIS MICHAEL MENDOZA, D.B.A., LUTCF

Chris Michael Mendoza, LUTCF, Dba is director of multicultural market development at The Prudential Insurance Company of America. As a leader in this consumer segment strategy area, he is responsible for developing customer acquisition and distribution strategies to reach women and cultural market consumers in the retail and institutional distribution areas of the company. Chris is also a member of the company’s Hispanic employee Business Resource Group (BRG) Juntos and sits on the national leadership board of the organization.
 
An industry veteran, Chris has worked in related marketing and sales fields for other financial services companies. Most recently, he was at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) as Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Latino Markets Director and Cultural Brand Ambassador. Mendoza began his insurance and financial services as an Allstate Agent in his hometown of El Paso before taking marketing and sales leadership assignments Allstate’s Home Office in Northbrook, IL.
 
Dr. Mendoza is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, holds a Master’s degree in marketing. He also has a Doctorate in Business Administration from the School of Advanced Studies of University of Phoenix. His research and thought leadership on Hispanic entrepreneurship and diversity marketing are published in academic and industry journals. Chris volunteers his time as a member of the Board of Directors of Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts (GSCWM) since 2014, and is treasurer and member of the audit and finance committees.
 
An experienced Diversity Practitioner, Chris is a resource for marketing, operations, strategy development and executive coaching with respect to diversity and inclusion. His expertise has assisted small and large businesses in insurance, financial services, health insurance, as well as NGOs. He has specific experience in the following areas: sales strategy & development of sales programs, marketing and branding programs (traditional & digital) to reach diverse and multicultural consumers, strategic public relations, managing external advertising agencies, and consultant management. He has extensive experience working at all levels of an organization, from the front line to senior executive leadership (including boards of directors).

EDDIE MOORE, JR., Ph.D.

Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr. has pursued and achieved success in academia, business, diversity, leadership and community service. In 1996, he started America & MOORE, LLC [www.eddiemoorejr.com] to provide comprehensive diversity, privilege and leadership trainings/workshops. Potential workshops include, The N!gga(er) Word; 21st Century Workplace Issues; The Opportunity/Achievement Gap, Not in My School: How White Supremacy, White Privilege and other Forms of Oppression Undermine Best Intentions; Diversity, Power, Leadership & Moore; and White Privilege 101. Dr. Moore is recognized as one of the nation’s top motivational speakers/educators especially for his work with students K-16. He is CEO of The Privilege Institute, a nonprofit that engages people in research, education, action and leadership through workshops, conferences, publications and strategic partnerships and relationships and Founder/Program Director for the White Privilege Conference (WPC), [www.whiteprivilegeconference.com]. Under the direction of Dr. Moore and his inclusive relationship model the WPC has become one of the top national and international conferences for participants who want to move beyond dialogue and into action around issues of diversity, power, privilege, and leadership. Dr. Moore is co-founder of the on-line journal Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, co-editor of Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories, the forthcoming on-line workbook, The White Women’s Guide to Teaching Black Boys and featured in the film “I’m Not Racist…….am I? His interview with Wisconsin Public Radio won the 2015 Best Small Interview in Medium Market Radio, First Place. Dr. Moore received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in Education Leadership and Social Foundations.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/eddiemoorejr

KENNETH NOWACK, Ph.D.

Dr. Kenneth M. Nowack is a licensed psychologist (PSY 13758) and President/Chief Research Officer of Envisia Learning Inc. a leading international provider of leadership/talent assessments, training, and development tools to coaches and consultants and also serves as Chief Research Officer of Ofactor Inc., a leading neuroscience based company focusing on enhancing trust and habit/behavior change within organizations. Ken has conducted research and published extensively in the areas of 360° feedback, leadership, health psychology, survey research, assessment and coaching and serves as a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence. He author of several books including Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It and his most recent book From Insight to Improvement: Leveraging 360-Degree Feedback.  He is the author of the stress and health risk appraisal called Stress Profile published by Western Psychological Services (WPS) as well as personality, career and validated 360° feedback assessments.   He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of California, Davis, and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor for the American Psychological Association publication Coaching Psychology Journal: Practice and Research.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethnowack/

Jennifer “Jae” Pi’ilani Requiro is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for AEG. In this role, she develops, implements, and drives the DEI strategy. Prior to this role, Jae served as the Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion at both Thermo Fisher Scientific and Toyota Financial Services. In 2016, Jae wrote the Foreword to a best-selling business book on diversity and inclusion by Jennifer Brown, “Inclusion: Diversity, The New Workplace, and The Will to Change”.

Outside the office, Jae lives her passion, serving as a Sensei at a karate studio in Southern California. The dojo’s teaching philosophy focuses on the principles of respect, discipline, and self-defense. And the dojo has earned a reputation as a nurturing and safe space for students with special abilities to thrive. Jae encourages her students to find their “ikigai”. Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being.” 

Jae serves on the national non-profit board of directors for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF). Jae is co-chair for the APIAHF Business Leadership Circle which works toward positively addressing the unique and complex challenges facing AAs and NHPIs, while simultaneously creating value for their partners’ brands and businesses.

Prior to AEG, Jae was the Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Her responsibilities included D&I education, D&I consultation, and employee resource groups. She started her career at Toyota, building and implementing their diversity and inclusion strategy. Her responsibilities included D&I education, executive accountability, mentoring and employee resource groups. Jae also developed strategies to enhance Toyota’s corporate reputation and increase partnerships with certified diverse suppliers. She has presented at several conferences, workshops and educational forums sharing insights on employee resource groups and generational diversity.

In May 2014, Jae received the California Multicultural Leadership Award from the National Diversity Council. Jae earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a specialization in stratification, race, and ethnicity and an emphasis in business from UCLA. In her spare time, Jae performs hula, paddles outrigger canoes and is a single mother to a college-aged daughter, her source of inspiration and perspiration.

Contact information:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/pjreguiro

HEATHER PRICE

Heather Price is CEO of Symmetra, an international diversity and inclusion consultancy, delivering end-to-end solutions that transform leadership and culture. Heather began her career in the D & I space by establishing one of the first and most successful diversity consultancies in South Africa during the dismantling of apartheid. She launched Symmetra, Head Office in Australia, in 2003 which, under her leadership, has grown to become a highly respected name amongst many global companies. She is a regular presenter at international conferences and to executive leadership teams around the world; the author of numerous publications and regarded as a thought leader in this space. Heather brings invaluable international insights into emerging diversity issues, designing and implementing strategic inclusion interventions and unique diagnostic tools. She is renowned for her ‘out of the box’ approach to effective and measurable transformation within workplace cultures, utilizing unique technological innovations, assessment tools and up-to-the-minute research, along with her exceptional ability to communicate, challenge and engage with all levels of the organisation from the C-suite to the front line. In recognition of her ongoing achievements, Heather was selected as a NSW finalist for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards in Australia, Symmetra’s Conscious Decision Making program has been nominated as a finalist for the Workplace Excellence Awards by the Australian Psychological Society (2016) and her client, CBA, won the global Catalyst award in 2012 attributing the accelerated traction in its gender agenda to Symmetra’s Unconscious Bias program – a blended solution of education, assessment, coaching and systemic change.

LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/pub/heather-price/9/760/459 

SIDALIA REEL, Ed.D.

Dr. Sidalia (Sid) G. Reel joined the University of California Equity & Inclusion Division in 2008 as the first incumbent in the Director of Staff Diversity Initiatives role. Reporting directly to the Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion, Sid leads efforts to: engage staff and management in increasing staff diversity at all levels of employment; develop and launch a leadership development program for staff of color; continue to expand the campus-wide Multicultural Education Program (MEP); implement the Next Opportunity at Work (NOW) staff career development conference; develop staff programs and events to foster an inclusive workplace environment with a welcoming climate; implement action plans to address the recent staff campus climate survey results; sponsor staff organizations (employee resource groups); and  link staff diversity efforts to the public mission of the university as part of the Strategic Plan for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity.  Sid’s previous experience includes leading the Diversity & Inclusion organization at the Hewlett-Packard Company where she consulted with company leaders worldwide on developing and implementing diversity and inclusion strategies, programs and policies. Prior to joining HP, Sid was the Diversity Manager at Pacific Bell. Her background includes more than 25 years of corporate and consulting positions in human resources, instructional design, teaching, and management. She is a member of the Diversity Collegium think tank, Diversity 2000, and an Expert Panelist for the Global Diversity & Inclusion Benchmarks. Sid earned an Ed.D. in Human Performance from the University of Southern California, a Masters of Education Administration from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in sociology from Scripps College. 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sidreel

MARGARET REGAN

Margaret Regan is a futurist and global diversity consultant with 25-years experience. She is the President and CEO of The FutureWork Institute, a global consulting firm that translates future trends to transform organizations. Her focus is on helping clients achieve a MindShift, HeartShift and SkillShift in creating a more future-focused, inclusive and flexible work environment. Margaret has studied HR practices in Japan, keynoted generational conferences in Asia and North America, worked on European-American mergers and global diversity summits, educated executive teams on cross-cultural differences, and conducted women's studies on four continents. Margaret is also Chair of the International MultiCultural Institute (iMCI), a 30-year-old D&I consulting organization with a focus on diversity and inclusion in the not-for-profit sector. Margaret was formerly a Partner at Towers Perrin, where she founded and led the Global Diversity Practice. In her earlier career, she was the first woman executive at two organizations. She has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CBS This Morning, NBC Nightly News, and CNN, to comment on emerging workforce trends. Currently, she is featured on Close-Up TV as the CEO of "one of the most innovative businesses in the US," in Diversity Journal as a pioneer of the profession, in CNN/Money Magazine as the expert on future workplace trends and in Business Week for FWI's creative approach to "my-job my-way", "my-business our way" and "my perks my-way." She was awarded the Diversity Innovation Award by AIMD for these innovative approaches to work and for her ground-breaking work on diversity education in the virtual world.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/margaret-regan/5/71/398 

HOWARD ROSS

Howard Ross, one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on unconscious bias, is a social justice advocate, Founding Partner of Cook Ross, Inc., and author of ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance, (published by Rowman and Littlefield in conjunction with SHRM in 2011), the Washington Post best seller, Everyday Bias:  Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives, (published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2014) and “Our Search for Belonging: How the Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart” which will be published by Berrett-Koehler in March 2018.  Cook Ross programs focus on corporate culture change, leadership development, and managing diversity in a variety of sectors. Howard served as the 2007-2008 Johnnetta B. Cole Professor of Diversity Professor of Diversity at Bennett College for Women, the first time a white man had ever served in such a position at an HBCU. He has been published by Harvard Business Review, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Fast Company, Diversity Women, Forbes, Fortune and others.  He appears regularly on National Public Radio. Having served on numerous boards, he currently serves on the Diversity Advisory Board of the Human Rights Campaign, the board of the Dignity and Respect Campaign, and the National Women’s Mentoring Network. Awards received include Operation Understanding Award for Community Service (2009); Winds of Change Award from the Forum on Workplace Diversity and Inclusion (2012); Diversity Peer Award from Diversity Women Magazine (2013); Catalyst Award from Uptown Professional Magazine (2014); Catalyst for Change Award from Wake Forest University (2014); Trendsetter in HR by SHRM Magazine (2015); and Leadership in Diversity Award by the World Human Resources Development Conference in Mumbai, India (2016)

GEORGE F. SIMONS, MA, DMin

Consultant and trainer specializing in diversity, intercultural communication and negotiation, he holds a master’s degree from Notre Dame University and a psychology doctorate from Claremont Graduate School. He designed and conducted leadership coaching for managers working in BNP Paribas Bank and in the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) as well as delivered negotiation training for numerous corporations, humanitarian NGOs and the Asian Development Bank. A staunch supporter of benchmarking and gamification, Dr. Simons has authored and collaborated in such books as Seven Ways, Putting Diversity to Work, EuroDiversity,Global Competence, Men & Women, Partners at Work, Transcultural Leadership, Questions of Diversity and the Cultural Diversity Fieldbook and Sourcebook, Working Together  (multimedia for the Canadian Department of National Defence). Not my Type, a UK video diversity training program. A major contributor to Cultural Detective® training instruments, his articles, reviews and free resources can be found at www.georgesimons.com. He is the creator and Editor of the diversophy® series of intercultural learning tools and is currently developing versions of these training games for migrant acculturation. George was born in the USA and has lived in Germany, The Netherlands, and now in France and has worked in over 45 countries around the world. Having been board member of SIETAR Europa and France, he is currently a corporate member of SIETAR Poland. He speaks fluent English, German, French, Spanish; some Dutch, Russian, Indonesian and Italian. He manages the LinkedIn group of SIETAR Europa[GS1]  as well as his own personal site

DUNCAN SMITH

Duncan Smith helps global and local leaders work better with each other and their teams.

As a consultant, facilitator, coach, mentor, and executive educator, Duncan helps leaders work more effectively and make better decisions, increasing their capacity to build trust, hold open and honest conversations, make more inclusive decisions, build high functioning teams, use the power of diversity to solve problems, and build stronger working relationships.

Duncan has an extensive client list in the private, government, non-profit, and academia sectors, working in 24 countries across 4 continents (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Australia). His work includes supporting the design, implementation, and evaluation of leadership and organisational culture change strategies and programs, generating culture-aware inclusion, equity, and diversity solutions for multinational organizations, measurement and evaluation of diversity programs, and in-depth work in inclusive leadership, unconscious bias, gender and cultural diversity

Based in Melbourne, Australia and Boston, USA, Duncan holds a BA in Comparative Religion from Trinity College and a M.Ed. from Harvard University, focusing on Organizational Behaviour and Adult Learning. A member of the Expert Panel for the Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Benchmarks since 2011, in 2018 he released the book Foundations of Diversity.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncanesmit

TATIANA REVILLA SOLÍS, Ph.D.

Tatiana Revilla, Ph.D. in public policy with specialization in gender equality public policy. She´s in a Pos - doctoral research fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, about the impacts of the Welfare State through family policies in the gender stereotypes view of the society. Graduated with honors at the Instituto Tecnológico y  de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (high rank university in the Mexico) and she was within five finalists of the thesis gender issues contest in Mexico (2014), by the National Institute of Women. Is founder of Gender Issues (2016) and Aequalitas Politika SC (2011) (Gender equality policy societies) in Mexico, and has over 10 years of experience in Gender Consulting, Gender Mainstreaming, and Gender Institutionalization in public organizations. Tatiana has served as a consultant in local and federal government to certificated organizations by the Mexican standard for equality and legislative homologation with equality principles. She also served as teacher at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in courses and diplomas for government officials of how to develop the gender issues at the Public Administration. Tatiana has participated as a speaker at the International Congress for Public Administration and Public Policy GIGGAP. She was Member of the Jury for the Thesis Contest Dictamination of the Mexican Youth Institute, and also was member of Citizenship, Education, and Equity Chair at ITESM- CEM University and collaborator in the nationwide Project CONACYT- ITESM: Public Health Policies mainstreaming with gender perspective. The most important challenge for her is to operationalize the gender mainstreaming in Mexico and have some influence with the decision makers to design public policies that do not reinforce gender stereotypes.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=7193364

JEREMY SOLOMONS

Jeremy Solomons has been an Expert Panelist since 2006 and an independent Global DEI practitioner for more than 30 years.

From Jeremy’s base in Kigali, Rwanda, he coaches, consults, designs curriculum, facilitates and trains in the area of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): Calling Out and In; Constructive Conversations; Cultural Excellence; Diverse and Dispersed Teams; Everyday Inclusion on the Frontline; Gender Equity; Inclusive Leadership; Overcoming Bias; Racial Equity; Standing Up; and Working Competently across Difference.

He has consulted on Global DEI strategy and co-designed and -facilitated many coaching and interactive training sessions for many different leaders and organizations around the world, including 3M, ABBYY, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bocconi University; BorgWarner, Caritas, Daimler Trucks, Dell, Deutsche Bank, Economist Group, EY, Freescale, Google, Mercer, NBA, Novartis, Robert Bosch, Royal Dutch Shell, Motorola, Sodexo, UNDP, University of Texas (Austin), World Bank and World Food Program. In April 2019, he co-organized and -facilitated the first African Diversity and Inclusion Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, co-sponsored by the UN and World Bank.

In the past, Jeremy managed a diverse staff and worked with clients and colleagues from all over the globe, while employed as a full-time Banker, Educator and Journalist in six multinational institutions: Citibank, JP Morgan, Lloyds Bank International, Reuters News Agency, United Press International and the World Bank.

Rwanda is the ninth country that he has lived, studied and/or worked in for an extended period. The others are: France, Germany, Hong Kong (and China), Israel, Italy, Switzerland, the USA and his native UK. He has also traveled and done business in 40+ nations in Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and throughout Europe.

Born and raised in Manchester, England of Lebanese and Persian heritage, Jeremy holds MA Oxon and BA Honours degrees in French from the University of Oxford (Brasenose College).

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeremysolomons16

CHARLOTTE SWEENEY

Charlotte Sweeney OBE has specialised in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) for over 20 years. She leads CSA, a consultancy specialising in DE&I strategies and their sustainable implementation, which has been recognized in the Top 10 DE&I Professional Consultancies in the World by The Economist.  Charlotte is also listed as HR’s Most Influential Thinkers in the UK in 2022. Her clients include many well-known global companies from many diverse sectors and has gained much of her global experience leading DE&I in-house for a number of companies in both Retail and Investment Banking.  Having worked extensively in the UK, Europe, USA, Japan and wider Asia she has a great understanding of creating meaningful global strategies that are relevant and tailored for local implementation.

She has worked and influenced at the C-Suite level in the private sector as well as advised Senior Leaders and Ministers within Governments.  In 2014, she authored an independent review for the UK Government Secretary of State Sir Vince Cable on Women on Boards and Executive Search Firms, which shaped the ongoing expectations and requirements of Search Firms.  She is the author of numerous industry reports and the co-author of the Financial Times published book ‘Inclusive Leadership – the definitive guide to developing and executing an impactful Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, locally and globally’, which was shortlisted for Management Book of the Year by The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in 2018.

She has held a number of Non-Executive Director roles, including 4 years as a Deputy Chair of an NHS Acute Trust with responsibility of over £500m annual spend.

She has won multiple sector awards and received recognition for her work from academic institutes such as Harvard and Cambridge University, as well as one of the first to gain Chartered Management Consultant status by the MCA.  She was recognised in the UK New Years Honours 2017 list with an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to Women and Equalities.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottesweeney

ADAM TRAVIS

Adam Travis joined Elsevier Head Office in January 2019, as Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity. His previous role was at Shell International B.V. where he was accountable for further development and implementation of the Shell Diversity & Inclusion strategy (e.g. a global campaign to close the gender gap in Engineering and Technology). Prior to Shell, he HR Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion with Nokia Corporation (Finland). And prior to Nokia, Adam held roles as VP Talent Management for ABN AMRO Bank and Head of Diversity & Inclusion at TNT. He has a passion of partnering with business leaders and inclusion champions, to define and execute an I&D strategy while driving meaningful progress in creating a more diverse, vibrant and inclusive workplaces.

LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/adamktravis

LILLIAN A. TSAI

Lillian A. Tsai is a former global marketing and corporate communications executive and expat with 15 years experience in cross-cultural communications, diversity, equity and inclusion training, facilitating, coaching, and consulting.  Born and raised in Malaysian Borneo, Ms. Tsai has worked with dozens of industries on three continents, including academia, aerospace, consumer products, footwear/sportswear, food and beverage, healthcare, law enforcement, manufacturing, mental health/healthcare, semiconductor, government/public agencies at the City, County, State and Federal levels, non-profits, technology, manufacturing, transportation, steel, and oil. For the past decade, she has onboarded diversity councils, facilitated cross-cultural team interventions, coached executives and managers with diverse work teams and foreign-/U.S.-born persons of color, keynoted and presented at many regional and national conferences.  She also specializes in workshops, onboarding and consultations for working with China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the U.S.A.  Her work has contributed significantly to affecting change in global, regional and local organizations.  She has served on the boards of multiple non-profit organizations including the Portland Human Resources Management Association (PHRMA), the Oregon Organization Development Network (OODN) and co-chair of PHRMA’s Global HR Special Interest Group, having also served as Director of Diversity and Inclusion.  She served as co-chair of the 2014 Conference of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR). She is currently vice president of the Human Rights Council of Washington County (www.humanrightscouncilofwashingtoncounty.org)

In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, gardening, preparing plant-based foods, walking, yoga, and grandmothering.

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tsaicomms/

LORIE VALLE-YAÑEZ

Lorie Valle-Yañez serves as Head of Diversity & Inclusion for MassMutual; a Fortune 100 financial services company based in Springfield, MA. Lorie helps MassMutual leverage its human capital, solve challenges, grow in new markets and innovate. Partnering with its executive team, Lorie designed MassMutual’s first diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy, focused on Leadership, Marketplace & Distribution, and Workforce & Workplace, and five years later, led its refresh to accelerate results. Under her guidance, MassMutual’s D&I results are measured annually as part of company performance, creating shared accountability for improving workforce demographics and fostering inclusion. The company has increased the diversity of its customers, employees, and financial advisors. Lorie has over 25 years of experience in diversity, serving on several thought leadership groups including the Diversity Collegium. Prior to MassMutual, Lorie was the Senior Director for Diversity, Work/Life and Wellness at ESPN, Inc., where she designed its first D&I strategy and led initiatives to impact diversity, inclusion, engagement and wellness that garnered prestigious industry awards. Lorie led Diversity and Work/Life Programs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She holds a B.S. degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco. Lorie is the recipient of several awards, including Latina Style Top 10 Latina Executives (2016), Black Enterprise Top 100 Executives in Corporate Diversity (2014 & 2016), Uptown Professional Top 100 Executives (2012 & 2014), and Top 15 Champion of Diversity by DiversityGlobal Magazine (2019).

TOM VERGHESE

Dr. Tom Verghese is an internationally renowned consultant, presenter, executive cultural coach, author and founder of Cultural Synergies. Tom’s expertise is cultural intelligence, inclusive and ethical leadership and the promotion of sustainable global leadership and high performing international teams. Tom has 25 years of experience working in the field of cultural intelligence, taking him to over 40 countries. Working with diverse business leaders around the world has provided Tom with an international perspective and experience as a specialist consultant who equips organisations and their teams with the skills to effectively work within and across cultures. With an extensive client base of Fortune 500 companies, he successfully works with a broad range of industries, including oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, automotive, manufacturing, higher education, entertainment, FMCG’s and financial services. Tom holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, Graduate Diploma and Masters in Education and Training and a Diploma in Management. Tom is the author of ‘Cultural Agility’, ‘25 Years On’, ‘The Invisible Elephant – Exploring Cultural Awareness 2nd edition’ and the co-author of ‘The Pillars of Growth – The Keys to Getting Exponential Growth in Your Business Today.’

Tom conveys his knowledge and expertise through passion, humour, stories and a level of authenticity that resonates with his clients and brings meaning and relevance.

Dr. Tom Verghese was born and raised in multi-ethnic Malaysia and is of Indian origin. He speaks a number of Asian languages. Tom moved to Melbourne, Australia as an international student over 30 years ago where he continues to reside with his English born wife and two children.

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/culturalsynergies

ILENE WASSERMAN, Ph.D.

Dr. Wasserman, President of ICW Consulting Group, works with leaders and teams to enhance communication and collaboration by leveraging multiple dimensions of domestic and global diversity. She takes a whole systems narrative approach based on the principle that we transform organizational cultures through engaging the whole system, and the stories people tell, live and perpetuate through organizational structures and processes. Dr. Wasserman has worked with health care systems, Fortune 100 companies, financial institutions, institutions of higher education, and community-based groups, working closely with, and providing coaching to, senior executives and boards of directors. In addition to consulting and coaching Ilene has taught at the graduate level. Dr. Wasserman received her Ph.D. from the Fielding Graduate University.  She has written extensively on topics related to building interpersonal and organizational competencies in diversity and inclusion. In addition to several articles and book chapters, she has just published a new book: Communicating Possibilities: A Brief Introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning   She holds Masters Degrees in both Counseling Psychology and Social Work from Washington University, and a Bachelors from Cornell University. Dr. Wasserman has conducted foundational and advanced workshops in Appreciative Inquiry, is certified in the Organization Workshop, and other coaching assessments and is an Executive in Residence for the Center of Creative Leadership, a Senior Leadership Fellow for the McNulty School of Leadership at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She currently is a Fellow of The Taos Institute and The Lewin Center, and serves on the Boards of the CMM Institute and the Public Dialogue Consortium and is a Member of NTL. Dr. Wasserman is active in her community, serving on the Lower Merion Township Human Relations Commission, and the Support Center for Child Advocates.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ilenewasserman

LYNDA WHITE

Lynda White is President, McLeod White & Associates, headquartered in Canada, a company providing organization development consulting in the areas of change, systems thinking, strategic planning, employment equity/affirmative action, diversity & inclusion, and leadership, in North America and globally.  She works with companies in the public, private and non-profit sectors.  Prior to her consulting role of the last 15 years, Lynda was global diversity leader for RBC Financial, Canada’s largest financial institution, with operations in over 30 countries, where her team did foundational work leading to the organization receiving awards for their work, and being benchmarked by others, with a continuing presence as a leader today.  She has Chaired a banking industry Committee, been a member of numerous federal government Task Forces and Committees, represented and spoken globally and in North America as a representative of the banking industry, employers’ associations, in her corporate role on diversity and inclusion, and in her current thought leader role, and been a frequent guest lecturer at universities on change, and diversity.  She has written for many publications and text books.  In addition she has expertise in disability issues through years of work on boards and project work in the area.  Board membership in the not-profit sector has included YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto; Centre for Research Action on Race Relations, Montreal; Canadian Centre for Disability Studies; Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work.  She has participated, presented, and helped shape recommendations, in and for UN agencies conferences and working groups.  Lynda has travelled extensively, spending some time on most of the continents of the world.  Today she divides her time between Canada, the US, and Europe and continues to polish her proficiency with French, her second language.

LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/pub/lynda-white/19/b64/250

TONI WILSON, MBL, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Toni Wilson is the Principal of AquaInternational Leadership Consulting specializing in the design, development and strategic cultural integration of diversity & inclusion. She has over 25 years of experience in human resources and has been consulting to Fortune 100 companies and nationally recognized nonprofit organizations including McKesson, Visa, Inc., UPS, Pacific Gas & Electric, Highmark Health, UC Berkeley, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), San Francisco Ballet, Exploratorium Museum and Dropbox, Inc. Her areas of expertise include executive management of the HR function, organizational values and culture change, strategic diversity management, leadership development, business ethics and organizational effectiveness. She has been an instructor of HR Analytics at University of California at Berkeley Extension and is a part-time instructor at the University of Texas in Austin. Prior to consulting, Ms. Wilson held senior executive and senior management positions in HR, Diversity, Organizational Development and Learning & Development with Syntex Pharmaceuticals, Levi Strauss & Co., The Gap, Inc., and the California State Automobile Association (AAA). Ms. Wilson has worked in over 15 countries focusing on business practices effecting organizational commitment to responsible leadership, diversity, and ethics. She recently collaborated with Dr. Fons Trompenaars and KPMG London in developing a virtual learning program for reconciling cultural differences. She has a Master’s in Business Leadership from Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, Australia, a B.S. degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco, and Senior HR Professional certifications from SHRM (SHRM-SCP) and HRCI (SPHR). She is a former Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute and currently a Doctoral research candidate at Charles Sturt University. Ms. Wilson resides part-time in Queensland, Australia and the U.S.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tonilwilson

MARY-FRANCES WINTERS

Founder and President of The Winters Group, Inc., a 38 global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm, Mary-Frances Winters is a passionate advocate for justice and equity; a provocateur not afraid to have the difficult conversations. Mary-Frances has over three decades of experience working with corporate leaders in support of enhancing their understanding of what it is like to be the “other.”

Winters is a master strategist with experience in strategic planning, change management, diversity, organization development, training and facilitation, systems thinking and qualitative and quantitative research methods. She has extensive experience in working with senior leadership teams to drive organizational change.

Mary-Frances Winters has served on national not-for profit, corporate and university boards. She currently serves on the board of trustees of her alma mater, The University of Rochester.  Among her many awards and distinctions, she was named a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal in August 2007 and received the Winds of Change award from the Forum on Workplace Inclusion in 2016. Ms. Winters was also featured in Forbes’ June 2016 publication, which honored some of the DC Metro area’s most powerful women. In November 2019, she was named by Forbes as one of 10 trailblazers in diversity and inclusion. She has served as a torch bearer for the Olympics and has previously been recognized as an Athena Award winner from the Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to women and the community.

She is the author of six books: Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body and Spirit (2020), Inclusive Conversations: Fostering Equity , Empathy and Belonging Across Difference (2020)  We Can’t Talk about That at Work!: How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics, and Other Polarizing Topics (2017), Only Wet Babies Like Change: Workplace Wisdom for Baby Boomers, Inclusion Starts With “I” and CEO’s Who Get It: Diversity Leadership from the Heart and Soul. Mary-Frances also authored a chapter in the book Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion (2013) and numerous articles.

CATHERINE WONG

Catherine Wong joined the Lynch School of Education at Boston College in 2007. As Director of Urban Outreach Initiatives, Catherine oversees the Donovan Urban Teaching Scholars’ Program, an intensive one year master’s degree cohort program in teacher preparation for urban schools, the College Bound Program, a pre collegiate youth centered out of school time program that uses scientific inquiry to address social and environmental justice issues, as well as facilitates a series of cross university, school and community collaborations.  Catherine leads teams of faculty, college students, community activists, K-12th grade students and their families to build innovative partnerships addressing urban issues in their schools and communities. Catherine is a cross-cultural consultant bringing together interdisciplinary teams to enhance their capacity to lead from a culturally competent, social justice and equity stance. Highlighted consultancies have included; academic director, Teacher Education Institute-University of the Middle East Project, visiting professor, School of Education-Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Domestic Violence Unit-Massachusetts Department of Social Services, WGBH-PBS Television, and the Human and Civil Rights Division-National Education Association.  Prior, Catherine was a public school counselor and director, School Counseling Program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Catherine earned her graduate degree in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Cross Cultural Counseling from Boston University. Catherine was raised on the island of Oah’u, Hawai'i and grew up with the dramatic storytelling of her great grandmothers and extended family. Their stories of bringing disparate groups together despite prejudice and stereotypes instilled in her the desire to become a cultural bridge builder.

RITA WUEBBELER

Rita Wuebbeler, President & Founder, Interglobe Cross-Cultural Business Services, Inc., consults, facilitates and coaches in the areas of Cultural Competence Building, Global Team Effectiveness, Mindful Leadership and Diversity and Inclusion. She works with leaders of global organizations and global virtual teams to help them reach their highest performance potential. She conducts cultural awareness programs for groups and individuals to support them in building their cultural competence, and she coaches global executives to maximize their leadership skills. Rita founded her company Interglobe Cross-Cultural Business Services, Inc. in 1990 and works with clients in North and South America, Europe and Asia including BMW North America, Commerzbank, Evonik Industries, Kraiburg TPE, Porsche, Purdue Pharma, RandomHouse, RKW-Group, Siemens, Solvay Advanced Polymers, and UCB. Rita is a Certified Integral Coach and holds a PCC designation from the International Coach Federation. She is a Senior Facilitator with Personal Leadership Seminars, a Qualified Administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), and a certified administrator of the DISC Profile. She is the co-author of Cultural Detective: Germany as well as Cultural Detective: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, an on-line educational tool analyzing cultural core values based on critical incidents. She has contributed to a number of collections of intercultural training activities including Building Cultural Competence. Innovative Activities and Models (Berardo/Deardorff, eds). A native German with a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics from Mainz University, Rita holds two passports (US/German) and is bi-cultural and bi-lingual. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritawuebbeler

URSULA WYNHOVEN

Ursula Wynhoven is an international lawyer with 24 years’ experience. She joined the ITU in September 2017 as its Representative to the UN, NY. The ITU is the UN’s specialized agency for information and communication technologies with the mission to connect the world and bridge digital divides. She works on issues like ICTs for sustainable development and digital inclusion, including EQUALS: the global partnership for gender equality in the digital age. Previously, Ursula spent 14 years with the UN Global Compact, the UN’s corporate sustainability initiative, where her last position was Chief, Social Sustainability, Governance & Legal and member of the Executive Committee. Ursula led the UN Global Compact’s platforms and workstreams on human rights and decent work, gender equality, poverty and inequality, peace, anti-corruption and the rule of law. Ursula also led legal affairs and oversaw policy development and implementation of the UN Global Compact’s integrity measures. Ursula began working with the Global Compact in 2002 and as one of the earliest staff members played an active role in helping to grow the initiative to more than 13,000 signatories in more than 160 countries with a full roster of workstreams advancing virtually all aspects of corporate sustainability. Ursula’s tenure with the Global Compact also included a six month loan as Senior Advisor, Business and Human Rights to the UN’s Human Rights Office.

Prior to joining the UN, Ursula worked in law firms and government human rights agencies in Australia and the US and for the OECD on the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/ursula-wynhoven/59/2a9/5488

NADIA YOUNES

Nadia Younes is the Diversity Advisor for The International Monetary Fund and is charged with further integrating cross-cultural competency, equity and fairness into the core business practices, policies and systems worldwide.  Passionate about influencing positive changes that bring about better business performance while serving the greater good for both employees and communities, Nadia has led D&I efforts across many sectors for the last 20 years. Prior to joining The International Monetary Fund, Nadia led D&I efforts in the mining, financial, consumer product, biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. She has also taught conflict prevention and management and cross-cultural communication in universities and in the public sector.  These sessions have included training doctors and nurses in culturally competent healthcare and working with policemen, gang units and military personnel on culturally competent conflict prevention. Nadia sits on the board of several D&I think tanks and has been an active volunteer in many community programs working with women, immigrants, at-risk youth, elderly, interfaith and GLBT groups.  Born in Canada to an American mother and Egyptian father and raised as a  ”Canyptian” in a multicultural  family spanning continents, cultures and religions, she has a personal drive and mission toward improving global, organizational and interpersonal relations across cultures.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyounes

RENÉE YUENGLING