Mary Carol Alexander manages a business accountable for over $3 billion dollars serving the largest oil & gas customers across 13 southern states. With over 20 years in sales leadership in tech companies, she is passionate about helping customers achieve operational excellence and has helped many customers migrate to cloud technology. Mary Carol believes that culture is the character of any business and adheres to the theme of “empathy in action,” to deliver a more equitable future inside and outside Microsoft. She applies her extensive sales knowledge and strategically builds high performing teams, aligning people and resources to common goals, to deliver the best business outcomes. Mary Carol is a strong proponent of leaving a legacy and empowering women and minorities to succeed in technology and in male dominated industries like oil & gas. Diversity and inclusion are hallmarks of her leadership and she is the executive sponsor of the Atlanta Chapter of Blacks at Microsoft (a worldwide employee resource group). Today, more than 20 people count her as their mentor. She has a long history of contributing to efforts to enable women to grow and learn. She wrote a chapter called, “The Year that Changed My Life” which was included in the book CLIMB (edited by Sandra Coffey Hoffman, November 2010) about her leadership while helping Sun Microsystems’ employees and customers after experiencing 911. Mary Carol cultivates a life-long curiosity and recently completed a NACD Director Professionalism with The Leadership Foundry. Mary Carol served 7 years on the TechBridge Board of Directors in Atlanta and as a Board member with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce since 2014. While on the Atlanta Chamber, Mary Carol helped to start a women’s dinner group with many of Atlanta’s corporate female executives, including CEOs and Presidents of companies, colleges, healthcare organizations and some of Atlanta’s top female leaders. The group continues to build a foundation for female empowerment and networking. She was also recently appointed to the Board of the Atlanta Chapter of Women in Technology. Mary Carol has a strong desire to leave an impactful legacy that will empower and enable women who are early in their careers, to grow and be successful. It is also deeply personal to her. With two daughters, she understands that the more you give, the more you receive in return.
Bhavana Bartholf is the Chief Transformation Officer for Microsoft USA, a $46B business with 9800+ people. She directly reports to COO with direct accountability to the President of Microsoft US. She is responsible for building and landing the transformation strategy to accelerate the evolution and shift our sales, marketing & customer success businesses need to make to enable our customers to modernize and transform their businesses. Her diverse experience across our customers, cloud expertise and history of driving transformation has helped drive digital transformation with our customers and evolve the capabilities of our people to be Cloud strong. Bartholf has served in many leadership roles over the past 20 years at Microsoft with responsibility across Customer Success, Professional Services leading technical teams. She is recognized as a transformational leader, innovative technologist, STEM advocate and ally for women and racial/ethnical minorities (REM). She has a strong proven track record for growing female/REM workforce while promoting diversity and inclusion. Over the years across many different businesses has driven a shift ~50% increase in attracting and recruiting strong diverse talent. She is dedicated to fostering positive, transparent, and collaborative work environments. Bartholf has served for 6 years on the board of The Gift of Adoption, a nonprofit that provides adoption assistance through grants. She also continues to support her passion for Women in technology. She earned her Master’s degree in Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Bachelors in science in Math, Physics and Manufacturing engineering. She and her husband, Matt Bartholf reside in Charlotte, NC with their three children.
Sally Brandtneris is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Logicalis in the United States. In this role, Brandtneris is responsible for maintaining sound day-to-day fiscal management and controls, including the executive direction and oversight of finance, accounting, tax, and IT functions, as well as Logicalis’ banking and auditing relationships. She also directs financial strategy, planning and forecasting in concert with the CEO and executive team and leads the organization in making strategic, market-leading investments. Brandtneris has 35 years of financial leadership experience in a variety of industries including the IT industry. She has held positions with Eaton Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand, Sun Microsystems, Apollo Computer, and IBM. Before joining Logicalis, Brandtneris served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Stefanini IT Solutions where she provided financial leadership for 30 Stefanini entities that were geographically dispersed across Asia, Europe and the Americas and organized under a UK holding company, fully owned by a Brazilian entrepreneur. As the financial leader of the UK holding company, Brandtneris restructured the Latin American, European and Asian legal entities and achieved UK audit and tax compliance, reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). She also developed strategies to put in place a more effective tax strategy and modify the company’s capital structure. In 2015, Brandtneris was named a finalist for the “Crain's CFO of the Year Awards” annual competition conducted by Crain's Detroit Business. Brandtneris holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and French from the University of Michigan. She is based in Logicalis’ Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, office.
Joanna Burkey is the Chief Information Security Officer at HP. In this role, Joanna and her team have responsibility for HP’s global cybersecurity program, including IT infrastructure, technology platforms, and business units. Her organization has responsibility for identity, governance, compliance, security operations, strategy and architecture as well as business alignment. Joanna returned to HP in April, 2020 after several years with Siemens AG where she was most recently the Global Head for Cyber Defense responsible for cybersecurity defense across IT/OT infrastructure as well as products, solutions, and services. Joanna has a computer science/mathematics background from The University of Texas at Austin and Angelo State University. She has focused on cyber security throughout her career. Her previous roles have included software engineering, product strategy, and security evangelism. Joanna is based in Austin, Texas.
Lucy Chen’s many accomplishments span both her career in technology as well as in mentoring next-generation female leaders. As a Mongolian and raised in China, Lucy began her career as a teacher before coming to the United States to receive her Bachelor’s degree in education from Seattle Pacific University. It was during these early days of her career that she realized her passion for mentoring, something that stuck with her throughout the rest of her career. Lucy eventually decided to pivot and focus on a career in technology, so she went on to receive her M.S. in information technology from Seattle Pacific University. From there, Lucy quickly became a senior manager at Adobe, where she actively managed the development of several global engineering projects with multi-regional engineering teams for nearly six years. Lucy eventually made her way to Silicon Valley where she found low-code leader, Claris, an Apple subsidiary that’s known for the Claris FileMaker platform. She remains at Claris today. Lucy has held several positions at Claris, including director of engineering, and general manager of FileMaker, China, where she spearheaded major engineering, marketing, and sales initiatives for the company’s China branch. Lucy was also responsible for screening over and conducting interviews for roughly 6,500 candidates to help establish a strong engineering department for the company. Now the vice president of Platform Engineering, Lucy is responsible for aligning business strategies with talent and technology. She is a strong advocate for amplifying customer-centric experiences across the FileMaker platform, which includes FileMaker Client, Server, and web. Lucy oversees and bridges global engineering teams with the team’s agile transformation from research and development to delivery of the complete product for all languages. Lucy is also a major FileMaker product influencer, helping customers as they develop and implement sophisticated solutions for operations and cost-effective systems to meet their business needs. Over the past few years, Lucy has tapped into her passion for education by giving back to her community. She began her involvement with New York Chinese Coffee Club, a registered 501(3) nonprofit, whose mission is to “Cultivate the culture for Chinese to work together, learn together, and grow together to raise Chinese overseas status.” Through a combination of online one-on-one mentoring and teaching weekend classes, Lucy has used her past experiences as a woman leader in a male-dominated industry to advise young female professionals on how to navigate the workplace. She hopes that by encouraging members to exercise their social skills to enhance their self-confidence, she can help young Chinese women as they begin to develop their careers in the U.S. Her proven track record shows that she is not only a successful leader in her profession but also outside of the office with high hopes to inspire the next generation of female professionals in the industry.
Jessica, the Chief Marketing Officer at DoubleCheck Solutions, is an award-winning CMO and Global Marketing Executive, recognized as a Global Top 100 Marketer in 2021 by OnCon. Daughetee was also named as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology in 2020 by the National Diversity Council. Jessica brings more than 20 years’ experience across the marketing and communications spectrum. Before joining DoubleCheck Solutions, Daughetee served as CMO at Avnet, Inc. overseeing all aspects of a Fortune 200 global marketing organization. She oversaw the strategy, planning and development of the company’s global marketing strategy where she designed and implemented a performance-based marketing strategy that grew marketing generated revenue almost 2,000% in one year. Prior to Avnet, she spent almost 20 years at Intel where she held several diverse senior-level marketing and communications positions including overseeing the iconic Intel Inside® Program, which she transformed to achieve a remarkable 5x ROI. She has also done PR for Microsoft and ran Communications at Thrifty PayLess (Rite Aid). Jessica earned a B.A Degree in Communication from California State University.
Cindy is a seasoned marketing executive who joined Bed Bath & Beyond in May 2020. Ms. Davis is responsible for developing and implementing the Promise pillar of the Company's strategic growth plan. Her responsibilities include stewardship and execution of brand strategy, as well as marketing and communications across the Company's retail banners. Ms. Davis also manages the team responsible for developing and executing the growth strategy for the Company's online interior design platform, Decorist, which provides customers with personalized home design services. She joined Bed Bath & Beyond from L Brands, where she most recently served as EVP and Chief Digital Marketing Officer, responsible for innovating marketing solutions to drive growth across brands and geographies, accelerating digital capabilities company-wide and building loyal customer relationships. Previously she was EVP, Consumer Experience, at Disney/ABC Television, prior to which she held strategic leadership positions at other leading retail and leisure brands, including Walmart, Inc., Sam's Club, Yum! Brands, Starwood Hotels and Hilton Hotels. Cindy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from The College of William & Mary and a master’s in international business management from The Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Carissa De Santis is the Chief Information Officer for Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. and oversees all company technology platforms. Ms. De Santis has over 20 years’ experience in the restaurant industry in both operations and technology and previously served in various leadership roles for TGI Fridays. De Santis received a degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Central Florida’s Rosen School of Hospitality Management, and a Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute. In 2018, De Santis served on the Technology Accelerator Award Winners Panel at the FSTEC Conference; in 2019, Hospitality Technology named her a rising star on their Top Women in Restaurant Technology list, Emerging named her as one of the 2019 Top 50 Women Innovators in the Restaurant Industry and she was nominated for Dallas CIO Orbie Awards CIO of the Year in 2021.
Harriet began her career on the front lines at USAA in 1989 answering phone calls as an entry-level member service representative. Since then she has held a variety of positions with increasing accountability and has served in a number of USAA locations including Virginia, Florida and Arizona. Today Harriet is responsible for leading USAA’s philanthropic strategies, engagement and communications. She leads a team whose purpose is to “lead and inspire actions that improve lives in the military and local community.” Harriet also serves as President of The USAA Foundation and President of The USAA Educational Foundation. Harriet has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Liberty University and has completed graduate-level courses in organizational leadership, including corporate responsibility coursework at Harvard. She is happily married to Robert Dominique, a Software Developer & Integrator for USAA.
Laura Duda is Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. As the chief communications officer, Duda leads all internal and external communications for the company, including public and media relations, employee communications, corporate reputation management, philanthropy and community relations, as well as Goodyear’s fleet of world-famous airships. Duda joined Goodyear in 2016, serving as Vice President of Communications for the company’s Americas business unit. Before joining Goodyear, Duda led corporate, utility and commercial communications for Chicago, Ill.-based Exelon Corporation and corporate and utility communications for Tampa, Fla.-based TECO Energy, Inc. Raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Duda attended Western Carolina University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing & Editing. She later received her Master of Arts degree in Mass Communication from University of Florida and her Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Tampa. She is accredited in Public Relations and is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and a graduate of Leadership Tampa, Leadership Greater Chicago and Leadership Akron. In 2020, Duda was named to the National Diversity Council’s Power 50, honoring women in the C-suite from top corporations who endeavor to improve not just departments and companies, but communities as well. She was also named to PR Week’s 2021 Hall of Femme, recognizing inspiring women who set the bar higher within their organizations, nominated by their peers and colleagues. Duda was Goodyear’s 2020 Employee Resource Group executive sponsor of the year for her work with the company’s Asia India Middle East (AIM) ERG. Duda is actively engaged in the local community and is a board member of the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition and a Trustee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Duda and her husband, Michael, both avid hikers, live in Northeast Ohio with their four-legged children.
Katie Beirne Fallon leads the Global Impact team focused on harnessing and directing the full strength of McDonald's ongoing efforts to affect positive change around the world. In this role, Katie is responsible for Government Relations, Communications, Sustainability and McDonald's corporate philanthropy and ESG strategy. Katie brings a wealth of experience and leadership in helping people and companies take a values-based approach to driving purposeful change in the world. Prior to joining McDonald's, Katie served as EVP, Global Corporate Affairs for Hilton, where she was responsible for managing the company's communications, government relations and corporate responsibility efforts. Under her leadership, Hilton led the hospitality industry with the launch of 2030 Travel With Purpose sustainability goals, securing Hilton the top spot for the travel and tourism sector on leading ESG indices. Prior to her role at Hilton, Fallon served more than a decade in the highest levels of the U.S. government. Fallon was Senior Advisor and Director of Legislative Affaris for President Barack Obama, serving as the President's chief liaison to Congress and playing a lead role in negotiating major bipartisan legislation. Fallon also served as Deputy Communications Director at the White House, where she devised and executed communications strategies for the President and his Cabinet. Katie is a graduate from the University of Notre Dame and earned two master's degrees in political science in the United Kingdom as a Marshall Scholar. She currently serves as a Director on the Annaly Capital Management Board, and Chair of its Corporate Responsibility Committee. She is also a Director on the International Youth Foundation Board and The Center for Employment Opportunities Board.
Elisa D. Garcia is an accomplished corporate executive and attorney with over 30 years of experience advising management and boards of directors on legal, business and government relations matters. Since 2016, Ms. Garcia has served as the Chief Legal Officer of Macy’s, Inc. and as a member of Macy’s Enterprise Committee, which sets the overall strategic direction for the company. From 2007 to 2016, Ms. Garcia has served as a trusted advisor to the Board and senior management of Office Depot, Inc. She also served as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, and had global responsibility for legal, compliance and government relations matters. Ms. Garcia has held general counsel and senior executive positions with Domino’s Pizza and Philip Morris International. She also has worked as counsel for GAF Corp., a chemical and roofing manufacturer, and began her legal career with the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York City. Prior to her career as an attorney, Ms. Garcia was an Energy Analyst working in-country with developing country governments and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ms. Garcia serves on the Board of Directors and Nominating and Governance Committee of Dollarama, Inc., a leading Canadian value retailer in Canada with sales of over $3 billion and over 1,800 stores in Canada and Latin America. Ms. Garcia also serves on the Board of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, a non-profit organization supporting research and scholarship to improve the entrance and retention of minorities, women, and LGBT in the legal profession. Ms. Garcia serves on the Board of DirectWomen, a non-profit that prepares women lawyers for service on corporate boards of directors. Ms. Garcia also serves on the Advisory Board of Corporate ProBono/ProBono Institute. Ms. Garcia is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law, where she was an Editor of the Law Review. She also received a joint BA/MS in Political Science and Management and Policy Sciences from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1980). Ms. Garcia is a member of the New York and Michigan Bars.
Vivian Greentree, Ph.D., is a Senior Vice President and Head of Global Corporate Citizenship and President of the Fiserv Cares Foundation at Fiserv, where she has created award winning employee-centric programming while driving diversity and inclusion and community investment efforts and culture-development. Vivian joined Fiserv through the Fiserv acquisition of First Data in 2019, where she served in the same capacity. Before launching First Data’s Office of Corporate Citizenship, she joined First Data as the Head of Military and Veteran Affairs in February 2014. In that role Vivian created First Data Salutes, a company-wide military engagement strategy to provide the military community with access to career opportunities and best-in-class education resources, while offering premier business solutions to veteran-owned businesses. In recognition of First Data’s success under Vivian’s leadership, First Data was ranked #1 on Military Times’ Best for Vets: Employers in 2017 2018, and again in 2019. Prior to joining First Data, Vivian co-founded Blue Star Families, the largest national military family organization in the country where she created and oversaw BSF’s groundbreaking and now annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey, which examines a broad spectrum of issues affecting modern-day military families, including a military community civic health index. Vivian is a Navy veteran and military spouse with leadership experience across public, non-profit, and private sectors. In 2019 she was accepted into the prestigious Presidential Leadership Scholar program, designated a City of Alexandria “40 Under 40,” and was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a “Veteran Who Means Business.” In 2020, she was awarded Corporate Citizen of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Vivian is dedicated to creating positive spaces for citizens to thrive and firmly believes organizations and communities are powered by people and that human capital management is the key for effective organizations and a flourishing, civically engaged society. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Dog Tag Bakery, a veteran entrepreneurship incubator, is on the Board of Advisors for Girl Scouts of America’s Greater Atlanta Council, and the Alumni Association Advisory Board for the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. Most recently, she joined the Board of Directors for the Red Cross of Georgia. She is a proud military spouse, married to a recently retired Naval Aviator, and together they have two boys, ages 16 and 13.
Ms. Gupta is currently the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY) responsible for the company’s comprehensive strategy and transformation program. Previously, Ms. Gupta was Chief Operating Officer of Jyve Corporation, a San Francisco-based software company, and has also held senior-level operational roles at Target (NYSE: TGT), private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC, The Michaels Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIK) and Safeway, Inc. Ms. Gupta is on the Board of Directors of H&R Block. Ms. Gupta earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors and an MBA (Financial Management) from the University of Delhi.Anu Gupta-Bio.
Amelia Hardy is vice president of inclusion and diversity at Best Buy Co. Inc. In this role, she leads a team that is creating the strategy for an inclusive culture that supports employees, customers and the community. Amelia’s responsibilities include efforts to increase the engagement, representation and retention of diverse employees at all levels of the company. She also oversees initiatives aimed at increasing the presence of products and services acquired from minority-owned businesses and partnering with other organizations to eradicate racial and social disparities in underrepresented communities. Amelia has more than 20 years of experience in transformational leadership at Fortune 100 companies, primarily within marketing and business management. She has also played a key role in Best Buy’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, serving as an active leader for Best Buy’s Black Employee Resource Group. Prior to her current role, Amelia served as a senior director for Best Buy Health, where she helped initiate, grow and maintain strategic partnerships. Before joining Best Buy in 2014, she spent 14 years at 3M Co. Amelia has a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University and an MBA from Tulane University. She serves on the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities and is co-chair of the advisory committee for Foresight, a health initiative led by The Rippel Foundation in partnership with the Blue Shield of California Foundation.
Lori leads the Information Security team at Cardinal Health which includes Cybersecurity Operations, Information Security Architecture, Technology Risk Management, IT Compliance and IT Resiliency. While at Cardinal Health, Lori has held roles of increasing responsibility in Applications Development and Shared Services as well as Enterprise Architecture. Lori has been with Cardinal Health for 20 years. Before joining the organization, Lori worked with Nationwide Insurance focusing on system integration project management in the property and casualty business. Diversity and inclusion is a passion for Lori. She has held a variety of roles including chairing the Women’s Initiative Network and as an executive sponsor for the Women in Information Technology employee led group at Cardinal Health. Lori has also been a key leader in the creation of two sponsorship programs for technology employees – one focused on women and one focused on Black and African American employees. Lori also makes community outreach a focus including non-profit leadership and volunteering. She served as the secretary and vice president of Adaptive Sports Connection (formerly known as The Adaptive Adventure Sports Coalition). Lori is a two-time cancer survivor and volunteers in the Help Others Through Peer Experiences program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Margaret Herndon is chief marketing officer at WestRock, the premier partner and unrivaled provider of sustainable, winning solutions for global customers. As CMO, Margaret oversees the planning, activation and oversight of WestRock’s company-wide enterprise marketing strategy. She leads a team of marketing professionals who deliver world-class customer insights, growth programs to support WestRock’s business strategy and strong customer engagement. Prior to joining WestRock, Margaret served as chief marketing officer at Ericsson North America. In that role, she drove a transformation of Ericsson’s customer engagement strategy, campaign function and approach to digital marketing. Margaret and her team were at the forefront of marketing Ericsson’s 5G leadership in the industry and introduced innovative thought leadership programs, customer co-marketing plans and a robust communication program including media partnerships with the New York Times, Wired Magazine and the Atlantic Magazine. During her tenure at Ericsson, Margaret was instrumental in building the ERG program for North America, acting as the executive sponsor for its first LGBTQ employee group. With support from Margaret and many committed employees, Ericsson achieved a 100 rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index and was named a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality”. In 2015, Margaret’s son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes which, along with Ericsson’s strong support of the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), inspired her to take an active role on the JDRF North Texas Board. With her support, the JDRF moved its annual ONE Walk to the Ericsson campus in Plano, Texas and grew its donation base significantly. She and her family continue to advocate for the JDRF vision, which is to create a world without Type 1. Margaret earned a bachelor of science degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia University. She is an active leader in diversity and inclusion, as well as community outreach.
Lily Yan Hughes was the Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Arrow Electronics, Inc. In this role, she was responsible for the Company’s global legal and compliance organization which comprised 120+ members across four continents. With 19,000+ employees worldwide and 2020 sales of nearly $29 billion, Arrow is a Fortune 110 global provider of products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Prior to joining Arrow, Hughes served as the Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary and Senior Vice President of Public Storage, an S&P 500 and FT Global 500 company with a market capitalization of over $40 billion. She led all legal and internal audit matters, including board, corporate securities, governance, capital markets, litigation, employment, real estate, compliance, operations, intellectual property, M&A, business continuity, enterprise risk management, government affairs, investor relations and external communications. Public Storage is a consumer-facing, service-oriented and data-driven real estate operating and development company that faces significant competition. The company had to transform how it drove consumer traffic into 2,500+ brick-and-mortar stores across 38 states to sell moving supplies and rent self-storage “garage” spaces. While Hughes was Chief Legal Officer of Public Storage, she also served as General Counsel at PS Business Parks, an affiliated NYSE company with a market capitalization of over $4 billion, where she advised a separate Board of Directors and executive team. She also provided legal oversight to the General Counsel and legal team of an affiliated European company, Shurgard (currently with market capitalization of over $3 billion), which she helped to spin-off in a successful IPO. Prior to joining Public Storage, Hughes served in roles of increasing responsibility for almost 18 years in the legal department of Ingram Micro, a former Fortune 100 company (now privately owned) and the world’s largest wholesale information technology and mobile devices distributor with, at that time, $47B+ in annual sales, over 20,000 employees, and customers in 160 countries. Hughes’s last role with Ingram Micro was as Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Corporate, M&A and Finance, where she served as the #2 corporate lawyer at the company, with legal responsibilities spanning board matters, securities, governance, treasury, tax, strategic partnerships and executive compensation, and as global legal lead on all mergers and acquisitions and finance transactions.
Patricia Huska is the Chief People Officer (CPO) for American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) responsible for leading the Company’s Human Resources function. In this role, Huska leads a people-focused strategy designed to attract and retain talent, while furthering GBT’s focus on being the employer of choice in the global travel industry. She is responsible for all human capital related functions that support over 15,000 highly-skilled business travel professionals across GBT’s global enterprise. Prior to becoming CPO, Huska was previously Vice President of Global Human Resources for GBT, responsible for the development and execution of strategies aimed at attracting talent, while retaining and engaging the existing employee base. She also has significant merger and acquisition experience. She played a key role in the planning and creation of the Amex GBT joint venture as well as spearheading the HR integration of multiple acquisitions. An accomplished human resources leader with over 25 years at American Express and GBT, Huska has a broad HR background including employee relations, recruitment, change management, and organizational effectiveness. Throughout her career, she has led the creation of many corporate initiatives including leadership development, employee engagement and culture, DE&I programs, and workforce flexibility initiatives. Huska is a strong advocate of Diversity and Inclusion is on the Strategic Advisory Board of WINIT by GBTA and has been recognized in the Top 40 Women in Travel. Huska has a master’s degree in Management from Lesley University and a bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Ann D. Janssen was elected Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of EOG in March 2018. Previously, Ms. Janssen served as Vice President Accounting from July 2007 to March 2018. She was named Controller – Financial Reporting and Planning in July 2002, Treasurer in August 1999 and Assistant Treasurer Planning and Analysis in 1998. Ms. Janssen is EOG's principal accounting officer. Ms. Janssen joined a predecessor of EOG in October 1995. She has a BBA in Accounting from Texas A&M University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Myrtle L. Jones is Halliburton’s Senior Vice President of Tax. Based in Houston, Texas, she has more than 30 years of experience in international and domestic tax compliance and strategic tax planning. Before joining Halliburton in this role in 2013, Ms. Jones served as Senior Managing Director of Tax and Internal Audit for Service Corporation International (SCI) in Houston. In her role as the Chief Tax Officer for SCI, she managed all aspects of federal, foreign and state income taxes, sales and use taxes, property taxes, accounting for income tax, tax audits and tax planning. For the last two years, she also provided oversight to SCI’s Internal Audit function and led that team through a major transformational improvement process. Prior to joining SCI in 2008, Ms. Jones was Vice President of Tax for GlobalSantaFe Corporation, where she was responsible for developing and implementing worldwide tax planning strategies, tax risk management, and income tax reporting. She joined Global Marine, GlobalSantaFe’s predecessor company, in 1986 and held numerous positions of increasing responsibility until her promotion to vice president in 2006. Ms. Jones participated on the teams that integrated the tax structures and operations of Global Marine and Santa Fe after their merger in 2001 and of Transocean and GlobalSantaFe after their merger in 2007. Ms. Jones holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Mississippi State University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in Texas, and is a member of Tax Executives Institute and The International Tax Forum of Houston. She also sits on the board of directors for Genesys Works Houston.
Laureen Knudsen is an Award-winning senior business leader with 25+ year career that spans IT, financial and healthcare systems, and analytics. Co-Author of Modern Business Management: Creating a Built-to-Change Organization, available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Laureen is an author of the BizOps Manifesto and is part of the founding members of the BizOpsCoalition. She leads a team of experts working to define the future of business to bring Lean principles and agility to all parts of an organization, focusing on optimizing end-to-end process flows, removing waste, and ensuring executives can make data-driven decisions. Laureen serves as trusted advisor to C-Level executives and leaders of medium to large organizations to focus on revolutionizing operations so companies can innovate, respond to disruption, use data effectively, and ensure they can compete into the future. The goal is to determine how to help our customers compete with cutting-edge companies and competitive threats. Laureen uses her experience of leading agile transformations in 4 global companies. Laureen is frequently featured as a blogger on www.bizops.com
Charlene Lake is responsible for leading AT&T’s social innovation, environmental, philanthropic and civic engagement endeavors, driving stakeholder impact measures on behalf of the corporation, and coordinating signature initiatives that connect social needs with business objectives. Charlene began her professional life as a journalist, working on daily newspapers in Kansas. She started her career at Southwestern Bell Telephone in Topeka, and served in management roles in Financial Communications, Media Relations and Employee Communications in Kansas, Missouri and Texas. She went on to lead SBC’s Corporate Advertising and Sports Marketing departments, managing them through multiple mergers, and thereafter created a Public Affairs discipline for the company. In 2007, she designed and launched AT&T’s centralized Corporate Responsibility function which she still leads today. Charlene serves as chair of the National Points of Life Institute Corporate Service Council, and chair of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas board of directors. She also serves on the board of directors at the Baylor, Scott and White Health Care System, and is past chair of the Public Affairs Council and past vice chair and board member of the National Urban League. Charlene was honored as a recipient of NUL’s Women of Power Award and by the Texas Diversity and Leadership Conference as one of the most powerful and influential women leaders in the state. She received the Distinguished Woman Award and honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Northwood University, was recognized as Advertising Person of the year by the Ad Club of New York and received the Iron Jawed Angel Award from the Luger Excellence in Public Service Series in Washington, D.C. A mass communication graduate of Kansas State University, Charlene serves on the Advisory Council at KSU’s A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and is on the board of directors of the Kansas State University Foundation. Charlene and her husband, Rod, have two grown children and live in Dallas.
Freda Lee serves as Vice President, Head of Relationship Management for AIG Retirement Services. She leads a team of Relationship Managers across the U.S., who are responsible for managing defined contribution client relationships with an emphasis on developing retention and growth strategies for the firm’s institutional clients. She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, with an extensive background in organizational strategy and the administration and implementation of defined contribution plans for clients in the healthcare, government, higher education, K-12, and religious / charitable markets. Prior to joining VALIC, she worked as a management consultant with Arthur Andersen and KPMG Consulting. Ms. Lee earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Howard University and a Master of Business Administration in finance and strategy from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. She holds FINRA Series 7 and Series 63 licenses. Ms. Lee is active in the community, as a member of the Board of Directors for the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Foundation, which is focused on supporting the school district with programs and initiatives aimed at increasing student academic achievement and developing and retaining effective educators in the classroom. She also participates on the AIG program leadership committee for FutureFIT Academy, which in partnership with EVERFI, teaches financial wellness and literacy to school age children (K-12) in local areas in need of service. In 2016 and 2017, Ms. Lee served on the Houston Souper Bowl of Caring advisory committee, which mobilizes youth and others in the Houston area, to care for people in their local communities who are hungry and in need. As a member of the Texas Diversity Council Board of Directors, Ms. Lee is dedicated to helping women and men reach their highest potential through mentoring and career development programs.
Miriam Harris Lewis is chief diversity and inclusion officer at Principal Financial Group®. In that role, she has global responsibility for designing, leading and implementing strategies that foster a more inclusive workplace, increase employee performance, drive better outcomes for customers, and ultimately improve business results. Prior to joining Principal® in July 2019, Lewis worked for 16 years at The Clorox Company, where she earned roles of increasing responsibility in D&I and supply chain. She also co-chaired the company’s employee giving campaign, which generated about $9 million in donations for non-profit organizations. Lewis previously held positions with The Coca-Cola Company and First Family Financial Services, which was later acquired by Citigroup Financial Services. Lewis helps to foster diversity and inclusion efforts across the life insurance industry as chair of The American Council of Life Insurers’ (ACLI) CDO “Big Think” Group, which is responsible for strategies to integrate D&I into ACLI’s industry portfolio. She gives back to her local community in numerous ways. As a board member of the Atlanta Ronald McDonald Charities, she helped the organization to increase staff connectivity, develop a better understanding of customers/families, and significantly increase board diversity. Lewis is evaluating a variety of opportunities to serve the community in Des Moines, where she lives with her husband, Ray. A native of Mobile, Ala., Lewis holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from The University of Alabama.
Katrina S. Lindsey is the Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for The ODP Corporation. In her role, Katrina assists with the daily management of the Office Depot Legal Department, leads Office Depot’s litigation team, serves as Assistant Secretary of The ODP Corporation’s Board of Directors’ Audit Committee and is responsible for ensuring that the appropriate standards and procedures are in place to maintain the company’s ethics and compliance program. Prior to joining Office Depot, she served as Senior Vice President, Division General Counsel – Employment Law and Dispute/Litigation Management for Darden Restaurants, Inc. in Orlando, Florida, where she was responsible for all of Darden’s litigation portfolio and provided supervisory leadership and direction to an in-house team of attorneys, paralegals and other legal associates. Prior to joining Darden, Katrina was in-house counsel at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc., where her work also focused on litigation and employment law. Katrina was recognized on the Lawyers of Color 2014 Hot List - Southeastern Region and 2019 Nation’s Best List – Southern Region. She was also named one of the Most Powerful and Influential Women by the Florida Diversity Council in 2012 and earned a 2016 First Chair Award for Top Employment Counsel. In 2021, Katrina was also named to Diversity Woman’s Magazine Elite 100 Black Women Leaders. Katrina holds a Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Florida State University. Katrina is a member of the Florida Bar Association, Association of Corporate Counsel, and Corporate Counsel Women of Color.
As a member of JLL’s tenant representation team, Torrey is responsible for representing both local and national corporate office clients in facility and site acquisition and disposition. She focuses on strategic real estate planning and works closely with each client and the JLL team to identify optimal financial and operational solutions. Torrey has a full understanding of the real estate, financial accounting, tax and market conditions that surround client objectives and decisions. As a dedicated team member, she delivers an unprecedented level of service and support to her clients. Her goal is to save the JLL clients’ time and money. Torrey has 17 years of experience in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. In addition to her MBA in Finance and real estate knowledge, she brings significant experience in strategy and analytics from her tenure in corporate finance at a Fortune 500 company. Her corporate experience and background brings a skill set to the table that is always beneficial in complex real estate transactions. Torrey earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. She has been recognized numerous times in her professional career including Dallas Business Journal’s 2017 40 under 40, 2014-2016 D CEO Power Broker, Eclipse Magazine’s “Women Who Mean Business”, JLL Club Award, JLL Top Gun and JLL Wolf Pack Award. Torrey is passionate about providing all students access to a quality education. She currently serves on the innaugural board of Step Up Dallas, a non profit that propels girls from under-resourced communities to fufill their personal and educational potential. She is also an Executive Board Member for the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas. In her spare time, Torrey enjoys reading, traveling, and spending quality time with her husband and two children.
Annette R. Martinez is Senior Vice President for State Farm® Mutual Automobile Insurance Companies. Her role as Senior Vice President includes companywide oversight of Corporate Responsibility, Human Resources, Public Affairs, and Learning & Development. She has over 30 years of experience with State Farm. Annette joined State Farm in 1988 and has served in a variety of leadership positions across the country including, Life/Health, Human Resources, Fire Underwriting, and Auto Claims. She assumed her current position in 2018. Annette received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Northern Colorado. She earned the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 1995 and the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation in 1996, and her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) in 2010. Annette currently serves as a liaison on the Corporate Advisory Board for UnidosUS, as a board member for the Community Cancer Center Foundation, and as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. She serves as an instructor for the Bloomington-Normal Multicultural Leadership Program (MCLP). She previously served as chair for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival Society Board of Directors, secretary for OSF St. Joseph Medical Center Board of Directors, member of the Bloomington John M. Scott Commission. She is a Founding member of the Women’s Giving initiative (Women Empowered) for St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington, IL. Annette became a National Hispana Leadership Fellow in 2002, was a panel member for the 2009 United States Hispanic Leadership Institute conference, and was featured as one of the top five female executives of 2009 by LATINA Style magazine. She was also recognized as one of the 2010 Hispanic Business Magazine’s top 20 Women of Excellence, one of the 2013 Central Illinois – Top Women in Leadership, as a Black Enterprise Top Executive in Corporate Diversity in 2018, NAFE’s 2018 Diversity Champion for Women, Insurance Business America’s Hot 100 in 2020, and awarded the National Diversity Council’s Power 50 Award for 2020.
Nancy Mattenberger is Infor’s Chief Customer Officer. Nancy is focused on driving measurable, long term growth for our customers and for Infor by cultivating a customer-first culture. In her role, she is building upon our customer-centric strategy and making it her mission to cultivate a mindset and values in our employees that puts the customer at the center of everything we do. As an accomplished leader across enterprise technology and services, Nancy has spent more than 20+ years consulting with Global companies, to define their strategic objectives and successfully deliver global digital transformation programs that focus on customer outcomes across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. She is passionate about customer success, and believes in taking customers along the journey by defining meaningful business outcomes and then bringing all the required talent together to make it happen. Nancy prides herself on leading highly motivated teams, removing unnecessary complexities and always having the customers' best interests in mind. Her passion for diversity and inclusion is evident in her mentorship of employees at all levels; she is the executive sponsor of Infor’s Women In Infor (WIN) network, and works intentionally to ensure high potential talent at all levels have access and opportunity for growth and development. Nancy holds a post graduate diploma in Management studies from the Greenwich School of Management in the UK and is also a qualified Director from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia. Nancy resides in New York City.
Mary Jane Melendez is Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer for General Mills. She also serves as President of the General Mills Foundation. Mary Jane leads the company's efforts to build resilience for people, our planet and our business. She stewards the company's sustainability and philanthropy efforts, working closely with Supply Chain, Sourcing, Business Units, Finance, the Foundation and other key business leaders to develop, coordinate and execute programs to achieve companywide targets. Mary Jane is responsible for advancing collaboration to drive change by promoting environmentally and socially responsible practices across our entire value chain, from farm to fork and beyond. Her role combines accountability for taking care of our planet and nourishing our communities to amplify the impact of General Mills as a global force for good. Mary Jane recently received the Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership from the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota for her leadership in employing ethical approaches to solve business, community, and planetary challenges. Mary Jane earned both her MBA and bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. She currently serves on the boards of the Ecosystems Services Market Consortium and the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation.
Donna Morris is executive vice president and chief people officer for Walmart Inc. A member of the executive committee, Donna is responsible for attracting, retaining and developing talent for one of the world’s largest private employers. Donna has nearly 20 years of leadership experience in delivering innovative people solutions, developing and managing teams that operate in an agile way, and helping to build a high-performance culture that promotes diversity and inclusion. Donna joined Walmart from Adobe, where she served as chief human resources officer and executive vice president of employee experience. A native of Ottawa, Canada, Donna joined Adobe in 2002 and most recently led all aspects of the company’s human resources, real estate and security operations. She led a number of workplace-friendly initiatives at Adobe, including expanding its family leave policy and simplifying standard HR processes. Donna has a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Carleton University. Donna holds the Society for Human Resource Management – Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Senior HR Professional (SHRP) and Canadian Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designations. She also serves on the board of directors of Marvell Technology. Donna and her husband, Wayne, are relocating to Northwest Arkansas. They have one son, Kyle, who lives in New York.
Katherine Neebe serves as vice president of national engagement and strategy and chief sustainability officer for Duke Energy. She also serves as president of the Duke Energy Foundation. In these capacities, she leads Duke Energy’s stakeholder engagement efforts to develop solutions to meet customer needs for continued reliable and affordable energy – while simultaneously working to achieve the company’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. Katherine joined Duke Energy in August 2020 from Walmart, where she led environmental, social and governance strategy and oversaw stakeholder engagement on behalf of Walmart’s sustainability team. From 2007-2013, Katherine was at the World Wildlife Fund where she managed one of the world’s largest corporate-NGO partnerships, a $97 million sustainability-driven initiative with The Coca-Cola Company focused on water, agriculture and climate, which was active in over 45 countries. Over the past 20 years, Katherine has worked with a wide range of corporate, government and nonprofit organizations. Weaving together her intensive business experience and commitment to social and environmental responsibility, she brings in-depth insight to effective stakeholder engagement and an ability to ground sustainability into actionable terms. Katherine is a First Movers fellow through the Aspen Institute, received her Master of Business Administration from The Darden School at the University of Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Colorado College.
Marisa Perez is the Senior Vice President of Growth Acceleration for PepsiCo Foods North America the $18 billion snack and convenient foods business that includes Frito-Lay North America (FLNA) and Quaker Foods North America (QFNA). Marisa, a 16-year veteran of PepsiCo, is serving as SVP of Growth Acceleration as part of the newly created PFNA Growth Office. In this role she oversees the integration of portfolio strategy to clear operational priorities, linking long-term sustainable growth territories to specific in-year initiatives and projects. She is responsible for total business omni-channel commercialization and planning. Marisa previously served as Region Vice President of the largest region for Frito-Lay where she led a team of over 5,000 employees across the DSD system which delivered over $2.7B in sales for the company. Her biggest accomplishment in that role was supporting frontline workers through the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 as well as a historic hurricane season which saw 7 named storms impact her geography (including Category 4 Hurricane Laura) where she prioritized employee health and safety and was still able to deliver business performance and serve communities. Marisa has held various leadership positions in sales and marketing across Pepsi, Frito-Lay and PepsiCo. After leading multi-cultural marketing for Pepsi Beverages Company, Marisa transitioned to Frito-Lay to lead the billion-dollar Tostitos brand. While leading Shopper Marketing for Walmart. Inc, Marisa and the team were recognized as Grocery Supplier of the Year and she received a Chairman’s Award for Marketing Excellence. In 2018, Marisa was recognized by ALPFA as the #1 Rising Star as part of the Top 50 Most Powerful Latinas. She is involved in the Network of Executive Women and active in her community as a member of Project Kids and SOAR 2030, a strategic planning committee that provides the foundation for educational decisions over the next ten years to ensure a culture of excellence, build future ready skills and support empowered learning for all students. Marisa is a graduate of UCLA and the USC Food Industry Management Executive Program. She is Cuban-American and has been married for 19 years to her husband Dan who is Puerto Rican. Together they have 3 children: Bryce, Samantha & Antonio and live in the Dallas, TX area.
Linda Rutherford is known for creating and leading powerful teams that deliver award-winning communication for one of the most beloved brands in the world. Rutherford is the Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer, for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest airline in terms of domestic Customer boardings. She oversees media relations, corporate communications, special event planning, crisis communications, emergency response and business continuity planning, community outreach, social business, multimedia and visual communication, culture and employee engagement and change leadership. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1992, she was a journalist in the Dallas area, including working for the Dallas Times Herald, and she began her career with Newsweek magazine in New York. Linda has a passion for education. She has recently begun sharing her experience with today's youth by serving as an adjunct instructor for undergraduate courses at universities throughout the country. Regarded as an expert in her field, she also authored a chapter in Mastering Business for Strategic Communicators (released December 2017) and was asked to write the Foreword for Business Acumen for Strategic Communicators (2020). Linda believes in giving back to the community and does so through her participation in professional organizations and through service on advisory boards. She has dedicated her time to countless organizations including: The Make-A-Wish Foundation (current board member); Arthur W. Page Society (current Trustee and member of the Member Insights Subcommittee); Texas Tech University President's Search Committee (2016); Texas Tech College of Media & Communications National Advisory Board (current member); Institute for Public Relations Board of Trustees (current Trustee and immediate past chair). Linda has been honored for her leadership excellence and her achievements in communications. Some of her recognitions include: 2017 Citizen of the Year, Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce; 2016 Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce Business Woman of the Year; 2016 PR Week named one of 36 Women Champions of PR; 2012 inductee into the PR News Measurement Hall of Fame; 2009 inductee in to the Texas tech College of Mass Communications Hall of Fame; and 2008 inductee into PR News' Public Relations Hall of Fame.
Angela Santone oversees AT&T’s global human resources strategy, which supports employees across four business units around the world. She leads a team of HR experts who are rethinking talent development practices, total rewards and benefits programs, and culture initiatives to engage employees of an evolving modern media company. Santone was appointed to this role after serving as Chief Administrative Officer for AT&T, where she managed initiatives tied to the Office of the Chairman and the Board of Directors. She was previously Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer for Turner, where she led a global HR strategy aligned to Turner’s portfolio of brands and businesses – and developed and engaged top talent around the world. Her executive oversight included talent acquisition and retention, learning and development, employee engagement, workplace culture, wellness, corporate responsibility, diversity & inclusion and succession planning and global security. She joined Turner in 2001 and has held several positions within the HR organization at Turner. Previously as senior vice president, human resources, Santone was responsible for the HR strategy and support for Turner’s corporate division. As such, she was pivotal in leading an integrated talent management strategy to grow high potential talent and increase engagement. Throughout her career at Turner, she has served as a key human resources partner to leaders across Turner’s entertainment, sales and corporate divisions. Prior to Turner, Santone was the education/documentation manager and HR generalist for S2 Systems, Inc. A 2018 HR Hero Award recipient, Santone has been recognized as a top human resources leader by the “Atlanta Business Chronicle.” Continually active in the community, Santone is a Southwest Trustee for the Boys and Girls Club of America, and a member of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Hope Circle. She’s also a former board member for the Atlanta nonprofit organization Cool Girls, the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests, Atlanta Jumpstart for Young Children, and the American Heart Association Metro Atlanta Heart Walk. Additionally, she serves on the national board for Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) as the head of the Governance Committee and the Florida State University Seminole Torchbearers, and was the previous chair for the Atlanta CHRO Leadership Summit. A former mentor for WICT’s Southeast Chapter Agnes Scott mentor program and executive sponsor for Turner Women Today’s mentoring program, Santone has a passion for fostering women in the industry. Santone earned an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and a master’s degree in counseling from Troy University. She is a 2010 graduate of the Pathbuilders Achieva class and Class XXII fellow for WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute. She is a certified facilitator for the Benchmark 360 assessment by the Center for Creative Leadership and a qualified facilitator for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Anita Sehgal enters her seventh year with the ballclub as the Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications. In her role, Anita provides strategic leadership for the ballclub’s retail, advertising, marketing, communications, broadcasting and alumni relations, including support for a broad variety of sponsorship, ticket, special event, community , and the Astros Golf Foundation and Houston Open initiatives. Prior to joining the Houston organization, Anita spent over 20 years in various strategic marketing functions with organizations including FGL Sports, Best Buy and most recently Academy Sports + Outdoors. She spent five and a half years at Academy Sports + Outdoors as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Advertising. Prior to holding that post, Anita spent four and a half years with Best Buy Canada as Director, Customer Experience. She also spent four years with Canada’s largest sporting goods retailer, The Forzani Group, Ltd. as their Director of Marketing. Hailing from Canada’s Regina, Saskatchewan, Anita, who earned her United States citizenship in September of 2019, received a bachelor’s of business administration degree, with a focus in marketing and human resources, from the University of Regina. She plays an active role in several Houston-based organizations, including her position as an Executive Committee Board Member of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Houston, a Board member of TDECU, and a board member of WISE Houston. She is also an active Brand 50 member of World 50. In 2016, Anita was honored as one of Houston’s Top 15 Business Women by the National Diversity Council. In 2018, Anita was honored again by the National Diversity Council as the National Business Woman of the Year. She also received honors in 2018 as one of Texas Executive Women’s Women on the Move.
Jyoti has tremendous digital and retail experience from her leadership at some of the most widely respected brand and industry leaders including Sirius XM Pandora, Nordstrom, Starbucks, and Microsoft. At Sirius XM Pandora Jyoti is the SVP of Listener Experiences and Product and Design. Her focus spans across the customer and listener experience across a variety of devices and platforms. She is focused on supporting the organization as one of the executives sponsors for the Womxn group. At Nordstrom, Jyoti was the VP of UX where she and her team delivered experiences across app, web and internal tools. Plus, she launched the Omnichannel UX function which combined the in-store (companion) experience to all things digital for customers worldwide. Prior to Nordstrom, Jyoti worked at Starbucks in the music, entertainment and digital areas, and supported the Starbucks app, which had reached over a billion dollars in sales in her tenure. At Microsoft she worked on Xbox.com as well as Microsoft.com in Product/UX to deliver game-changing experiences to audiences. Throughout her career she has been an advocate for supporting people’s talent and desire to be a part of something bigger. While at Nordstrom, she was instrumental in progressing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts throughout the company. She continues this important work at Sirius XM Pandora. She has earned accolades and awards throughout her career including the top leadership awards at both Nordstrom and Starbucks for leading innovative teams to success in pursuit of customer experience. Most notably, she shared her insights at SXSW, was a Keynote speaker at Lean Startup and she and her team won an Honor for Fast Company Design Innovation. In her spare time, Jyoti is a singer/songwriter, musician and an advocate for community outreach for artists + diversity. She’s an active board member of the local radio station KEXP in Seattle, WA.
Mary has over 25 years of experience developing and executing multi-channel go-to market, customer acquisition, and product strategies. She has held product and marketing positions at Global Capacity, Sidera Networks, Atos Origin and SchlumbergerSema. Mary is recognized as a CRN Top Women in the Channel and GTB 50 Women to Watch in Communications. She holds a BA from Syracuse University and professional graduate certificates from Harvard and MIT.
Kathy Styponias is Executive Vice President of Technology Strategy & Business Operations at WarnerMedia. Reporting directly to the Chief Technology Officer, Ms. Styponias and her team oversee strategic planning and enterprise program management for WarnerMedia Technology & Operations (WMTO), an 8,000+ division with staff around the globe supporting iconic brands such as CNN, HBO, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and sports franchises such as the NBA and March Madness. Under Business Operations, Ms. Styponias oversees WMTO’s sourcing & procurement, asset management, and payment operations. Prior to this role, Ms. Styponias was Senior Vice President of Technology Business Management, where she oversaw strategic and financial planning and technology vendor procurement for the HBO Technology department. Ms. Styponias joined WarnerMedia via HBO in May 2014. During her tenure at HBO, her team implemented rigor around the budget planning cycle as well as put processes in place that had resulted in better relationships and efficiencies with third party vendors. These efforts have been critical in helping not only the Technology department, but all of WarnerMedia in navigating the significant structural changes that are occurring in the media industry. Prior to joining HBO, Ms. Styponias was a General Manager in Microsoft’s Media and Entertainment Group, part of the Interactive Entertainment Business division. During her tenure at Microsoft from 2007 to 2014, Ms. Styponias and her global team helped grow Microsoft’s relationships with key media and entertainment companies around the world including Hollywood studios, TV broadcasters, multichannel providers and the music industry. Her efforts forged strong partnerships and led to innovative products and apps that gave people new ways to enjoy their favorite content. Prior to joining Microsoft, Ms. Styponias was Senior Vice President and the senior cable, entertainment and satellite equity analyst at Prudential Equity Group. As an analyst, Ms. Styponias was widely recognized as an expert on the media industry trends and companies. She was named in the Wall Street Journal’s Best on the Street poll for earnings estimate accuracy and stock picking in the entertainment category. She was also recognized in Institutional Investor’s All-America Research poll and was named the number one earnings estimator for the media sector in the Forbes.com/StarMine Analysts Awards for 2004. Prior to joining Prudential, she worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Ms. Styponias is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In 2011, Ms. Styponias served on the board of advisors of the mobile advertising agency Skyrockit; she was also on the advisory board of Tribalist. She also served a 2009-2011 term on the board of the National Association of Television Program Executives, a global nonprofit organization committed to meeting the needs of the changing media landscape. Ms. Styponias graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens College, City University of New York and received her MBA from Columbia Business School at Columbia University. She is fluent in Greek, enjoys cooking, traveling and is an admitted TV junkie.
Shehnaaz Suliman (M.D., MPhil, M.B.A) is a physician, drug developer and strategic deal-maker focused on driving value for patients and investors through transformational acquisition and licensing transactions. She is currently the President and COO of Alector, a leading immuno-neurology company developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Suliman serves on the board of directors for Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE) and 10x Genomics (NASDAQ: TXG) and has served on the Board of Parvus Therapeutics. Dr. Suliman was previously Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy of Theravance Biopharma, Inc., a position she held since July 2017. Prior to her position at Theravance, Dr. Suliman worked for Genentech, Inc. as Group Leader and Project Team Leader in the R&D Portfolio Management and Operations Group from September 2010 to May 2015 and was Vice President and Global Therapeutic Head, Roche Partnering from June 2015 to July 2017. Prior to Genentech, Dr. Suliman held various management roles of increasing responsibility at Gilead Sciences, Inc. between January 2005 and September 2010 and played a significant role in forward-integrating Gilead into new therapeutic areas through M&A. Before Gilead, Dr. Suliman was an investment banker advising public and private companies on buy- and sell-side transactions. Dr. Suliman received her M.D. (MB, ChB) at the University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa, and holds an M.B.A, with distinction, and M.Phil. in Development Studies degrees from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She named as one of 2017 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences and currently serves as the Co-Chair of Executive Women in Bio. She is forging new paths for Women on Boards with the Board Room Ready program and continues to be a career mentor to dozens of rising stars.
Vanessa L. Allen Sutherland is Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer for Norfolk Southern Corporation. In her current role, she oversees the offices of Corporate Secretary, Government Relations, Law, Claims and Insurance for the enterprise. She joined Norfolk Southern Corporation as Vice President Law in June 2018. On April 1, 2019 she was promoted to Senior Vice President Law & Chief Legal Officer and was promoted to Senior Vice President Government Relations & CLO in August 2019. Prior to joining Norfolk Southern, she served as CEO and chairperson of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in Washington, D.C. Previously, she served as chief counsel with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, counsel to Philip Morris USA and senior counsel to Phillip Morris sister company Altria Client Services. She began her in-house career as a corporate attorney at long-distance phone company MCI. In 1998, she moved to Digex (acquired by WorldCom), where she served first as counsel and later as senior counsel and then vice president and deputy general counsel. Allen Sutherland holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Juris Doctor and an MBA. She has expertise in Fortune 100 corporations, start-ups and the Federal government. Allen Sutherland was the recipient of three U.S. Secretary of Transportation Awards (2012 & 2014), a Virginia Lawyers Weekly “Leaders in the Law” Award (2010), a Fellowship in Maryland State Bar (2005) and Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (2011), and the 2017 “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Award”, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University of Richmond. Allen Sutherland was voted onto the board of Southern Company Gas, a subsidiary of Southern Company, in October 2020 and in 2021 to the board of Eastman Chemical Company. She and her family enjoy travel, the arts, ice hockey and coffee.
Global leader for the enablement and skills readiness of IBM Global Sale Go-to-Market all routes, an over $20B business. Responsible for modernizing learning and skills activation, from strategy to execution, implementing digitalization of the entire sales enablement life cycle, including cognitive solutions for a personalized learning management system and gamification to drive engagement and secure the best content via crowdsourcing; Infusing data analytics to track and correlate skills with sellers' productivity. Previous to this role, Mary led a global team of experienced highly technical client facing architects and developers, responsible for defining and driving implementations of innovative industry use cases to deliver digital transformation. She has also led strategy and transformation as part of Developers Ecosystem Group in IBM, empowering developers across the globe with the best technology and skills to make their jobs quicker and easier. And she had leadership responsibility for the 43 IBM Innovation Centers around the world. She has extensive experience in the areas of customer and product support, strategy planning, and business initiatives, which included leading a $25M P&L line of business. Mary joined IBM Italy in 1996. She relocated to the US to join IBM Tivoli in 2007. Mary currently resides in North Raleigh with her husband and two Children.
Laura Titas is the Chief Data Officer (CDO) for Nationwide, responsible for establishing, advancing, and overseeing Enterprise Data Governance, Information Life Cycle Management, Big Data and Associated Technology, Data Science, and the Data Analysis Profession. She is also responsible for the enterprise-wide governance and utilization of data as an asset working closely with business areas to identify the data we choose to capture, retain, and exploit, while maximizing value and minimizing risk. Laura offers a wealth of experience as a global digital strategist, marketing, and technology leader with a consistent track record of delivering transformational business outcomes. She came to Nationwide from Wendy’s where she served as the Chief Digital Experience and Technology Officer leading the Global Technology Center of Excellence. Prior to Wendy’s she was a Managing Director for Accenture Digital where she led and evolved digital offerings globally, bringing to life the integration of end-to-end customer experience and engagement to drive tangible business outcomes. Laura also boasts customer and digital strategy experience in financial services where she served as Partner, Financial Service Industry Business Lead and Partner, Customer Insights and Analytics Practice Lead for Rosetta. Laura has been consistently recognized as a thought leader for digital design, technology disruption, and innovation. She served as a Board member on the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and she was awarded the 2020 Restaurant Business “The Power 20” leader selection. Laura received her Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in Statistics from the University of Rochester. She and her husband have three adopted daughters and always no less than two dogs as a part of their family. They enjoy anything outdoors and spend free time in the mountains, hiking, skiing and mountain biking. Laura also tutors special needs kids and is a gymnastics coach.
Angie Wesley is SVP, Chief Talent Acquisition and Workforce Strategy Officer at TIAA, a Fortune 100 financial services organization and leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields. She oversees all aspects of talent acquisition strategy and execution, partnering closely with business leaders across the firm to deliver human capital hiring plans, diversity and inclusion sourcing strategies, executive staffing, college relations and analytics. Angie joined TIAA in 2014 and is located in the Charlotte, NC, office. Angie is an experienced HR executive who has served in senior leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies. With more than 20 years of human resources and sales experience in financial services, Angie has expertise in key areas such as HR generalist, talent acquisition, organization design, organization effectiveness, talent planning and performance management. She has consistently achieved success in supporting business objectives and driving improved organizational performance. Prior to joining TIAA, Angie spent 15 years at Wells Fargo, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, where she served as a Senior Recruiting Leader and Senior HR Generalist, supporting multiple business areas during her tenure. She previously held a sales leadership role with Aerotek Employment Services, ensuring top level sales and expansion of new territories. Angie is on the Talent Acquisition Executives Council of The Conference Board, on the CEO’s Innovation Council (CIC) for Yello and on the CEO NY Jobs Council. She is a member of the Association for Latin Professionals for America (ALPFA), National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and National Association of Professional Women (NAPW). Angie received a bachelor’s of science in communications with a focus in public relations and marketing from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Stacey Woods, HRIP, is the Senior Vice President of HR Operations at XPO Logistics, Inc. In her role at XPO, she oversees North America Payroll, the People Services Center, Global HR Technology, HR Project Management Office, HR Systems Audit and Talent Acquisition Compliance. Prior to her role at XPO, Stacey was the Vice President for HR Technology at Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable), where she managed the pre- and post-merger standardization and integration of the two company’s HR technologies. She has also held the position of Vice President of HR Systems at Wells Fargo, where she was selected to oversee the company’s largest volume portfolio of HR applications, Talent Acquisition Systems. Stacey has received several awards and recognitions throughout her career, including the Brokerage Technology CIO Award of Excellence for HR Integration, the prestigious Top Performer Award from the Wells Fargo Technology & Operations Group, the Outstanding Achievements in Technology award from NAMIC Carolinas, and the University of South Carolina Outstanding Alumni Award. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Management from the University of South Carolina.
Yang Xu has a global background and broad experiences in finance. Born and raised in China, Yang obtained a bachelor’s degree in Finance. She then pursued her master’s degree at HEC Paris and London Business School. Upon graduation, Yang began her career with Whirlpool Corporation in 2004. She held many roles across Treasury, M&A, Strategy, and different Finance functions in U.S., Europe and Asia. Her scope ranged from leading strategic planning, M&A deals, to Business Units CFO in the U.S.; leading commercial finance for 34 countries across EMEA; integrating a major acquisition in China as Sales & Marketing Director, and managing all operating functions (Strategy, Finance, Supply Chain, HR and IT) in Hong Kong. Yang returned to Whirlpool’s global headquarters as Senior Director of Treasury in 2016. In 2018, Yang joined Kraft Heinz as Global Treasurer, a role that focuses on company capital structure, and manages debt, cash, derivatives, insurance and pension. She strengthened the company’s balance sheet and liquidity through credit rating evolution, Covid uncertainty and company strategic transformation. In June 2020, Yang expanded her scope to include various global finance functions including operations (procurement, manufacturing, logistics), revenue management, fixed cost and capital management. Yang also leads Finance Transformation, a strategic agenda for the global finance function for Kraft Heinz. She deeply appreciates Kraft Heinz’s culture of ownership, which means that employees at all levels feel empowered to make meaningful contributions. Yang is recognized by driving strategic directions through business partnership and cross-functional acumen. As a finance leader, Yang is passionate about developing talents and building a strong organization.
For nearly 20 years, Jennifer Zaldivar-Clark has been building and leading communications teams for entertainment brands positioned for transformation and growth. She strives to develop relationships built on trust, consistency, collaboration, and a commitment to do what is best for the company, each brand, and, most importantly, audiences. Born and raised in New York City, Zaldivar-Clark delivered communications and PR campaigns that transformed the TV Land network into a destination for multiplatform, award-winning original series. HOT IN CLEVELAND became the most-watched show in channel history. YOUNGER was the #1 ad-supported cable sitcom for 3 years in its female demo. THE SOUL MAN ranked as the highest series for African-American audiences. She created the media strategy for EMILY IN PARIS—a series developed at Paramount Network and sold to Netflix. This series was nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards in 2021. In her most recent position as Senior Vice President, Communications and Talent Relations at ViacomCBS, Zaldivar-Clark led communications for TV Land and TVLand.com; served as the public-facing network ambassador and oversaw talent relations for TV Land, Paramount Network and a few scripted Comedy Central series. She was selected to create and build the Paramount Network and TV Land talent relations department from inception and inspired linear and digital talent to represent the networks in brand promotion, affiliate marketing, and ad sales. This approach became the model for other ViacomCBS networks. Zaldivar-Clark also raised the profiles of the executive team, talent, and content by securing coverage in major trade and consumer publications, including The New York Times, Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and Deadline and drove social impact initiatives. Some of these campaigns included “#SeeHer,” “United States of Women,” the TAKE ACTION companion short-form docuseries for Paramount Network, and “Save Yellowstone.” Other accomplishments during her tenure at ViacomCBS included generating multimillion-dollar earned media by directing the publicity launch of the network’s first original scripted series, HOT IN CLEVELAND, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Betty White, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves. The series set the network’s strategic direction while delivering numerous firsts and honors including an Emmy Award, 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards and a People’s Choice Award. She also spearheaded national and local affiliate coverage of the Landmarks initiative honoring classic TV characters with statues in the cities where their shows were based. Examples included Mary Tyler Moore in Minneapolis and Bob Newhart in Chicago. Zaldivar-Clark’s career started at CNN where she was the Global publicity lead for SHOWBIZ TODAY and STYLE WITH ELSA KLENSCH and she worked on breaking news coverage included the 2000 Presidential election campaign, the Clinton impeachment, the Columbine school shooting, the war in Kosovo, and the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. Zaldivar-Clark graduated from Boston College with a Bachelors in Communications. She also completed the NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program at UCLA Anderson School of Management. She has spent several years volunteering her time at local nursing homes and NY Cares.