Dan Lyons is an author, screenwriter, and journalist. He is the author of two books about workplace culture in the digital age. His most recent book is Lab Rats: Tech Gurus, Junk Science and Management Fads—My Quest to Make Work Less Miserable. His previous book was Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Startup Bubble, which became a New York Times bestseller. Dan was also a writer on HBO’s hit comedy series Silicon Valley.

Shirley Leung is a columnist and associate editor at the Boston Globe.

She has written on everything from the intersection of business and politics to gender issues in the workplace. She has been a three-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary, and in 2018, Boston Magazine named her to its list of the “100 Most Influential People in Boston.”

Shirley is also contributor to WGBH’s “Boston Public Radio” and “Greater Boston,” as well as a regular guest on New England Cable News.

Previously, Shirley served as the Globe’s interim editorial page editor. She also has been the Globe’s business editor, where she oversaw its award-winning coverage of the 2008 financial crisis.

Prior to the Globe, Shirley was a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal. A graduate of Princeton University, she started her career at her hometown paper, The Baltimore Sun.

Dr. Tom Bourdon is an organizational leader who has served at the helm of multiple Diversity & Inclusion, LGBTQ, and education-focused organizations. He is motivated by his drive to generate more inclusion and equity in the world.

Over his career, Tom’s eclectic background has allowed him to partner and serve as a consultant, trainer, and speaker for countless organizations in the corporate, non-profit, government, and education sectors. As a consultant, he is able to apply his expertise to a multitude of diversity, equity and inclusion related areas, such as organizational assessment, building and strengthening Employee/Business Resource Groups, strategic planning, targeted messaging, program development, policy review, and community relations/partnerships. His background, knowledge, and enthusiasm also make him a popular keynote speaker and panelist, where he often covers topics such as: the value of authenticity; how to create welcoming and inclusive environments; and the critical importance of being an ally. Tom is highly sought after because of his unique style: culturally competent, genuine, enjoyable to work with, and passionate about creating positive change.

Linda Henry is the Managing Director of Boston Globe Media Partners, which includes The Boston Globe, boston.com and STAT news. She is a co-founder and chair of HUBweek, a civic collaboration between the Boston Globe, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and MIT that explores the future being built at the intersection of art, science and technology. Linda is also a limited partner in Fenway Sports Group, an Emmy-award winning television producer, and a community activist.

Linda serves as a director of the Red Sox Foundation, is a Trustee of the Liverpool Football Club Foundation, Chair of the Boston Globe Foundation, and Chairman of the John W. Henry Family Foundation. In addition, she is a founder of the Boston Public Market, serves on the boards of The Engine at MIT and the BC CEO Club and is on many advisory boards, including MassChallenge, Solve @ MIT, Women’s Foundation of Boston, and INBOUND.

Linda received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Babson College and her Masters Degree from MIT.

Doug Banks is executive editor of Boston Business Journal, where he oversees editorial content on the company’s website, multiple electronic newsletters, weekly print edition, and panel and award events. Doug appears as a news analyst on New England Cable News and is a guest lecturer, speaker and panel moderator on issues from regional business and economic trends to communications, journalism and digital media. He previously was publisher and editor of BBJ sister company Mass High Tech and was associate vice president for economic development at the University of Massachusetts. He has also worked as an editor at Fast Company. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MFA at the University of Pittsburgh.

Nancy Gibbs is the director of the Shorenstein Center at Harvard Kennedy School and the visiting Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy. Until September 2017, she was Editor in Chief of TIME, directing news and feature coverage across all platforms for more than 65 million readers worldwide, as well as Editorial Director of the Time Inc. News Group. Gibbs was named TIME’s 17th editor in September 2013, the first woman to hold the position, and remains an Editor at Large. Under her leadership, TIME’s digital audience grew from 25 to 55 million, video streams passed 1 billion a year, and TIME won a primetime Emmy award for its two-part “A Year in Space” documentary, produced with PBS. During her three decades at TIME, she covered four presidential campaigns and is the author of more cover stories than any writer in TIME’s near-100 year history, including the black-bordered “September 11” special issue, which won the National Magazine Award in 2002.

Gibbs has also served as a consultant to CBS News and an essayist for the News Hour on PBS. She is the co-author, along with Michael Duffy, of two best-selling presidential histories: The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity (2012), which spent 30 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list, and The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House (2007). She has interviewed five U.S. presidents and multiple other world leaders, and lectured extensively on the American presidency, including at the Bush, Reagan, Carter, Johnson and Truman libraries, the Aspen Institute, the Dallas World Affairs Club, the Commonwealth Club and the National Archives. She is a Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.

Gibbs was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from Yale summa cum laude, with honors in history, and has a degree in politics and philosophy from Oxford, where she was a Marshall scholar. She has twice served as the Ferris Professor at Princeton, where she taught a seminar on politics and the press.

Jim Sinocchi is head of the global Office of Disability Inclusion at JPMorgan Chase.

He works closely with senior leaders across the firm to establish consistent standards and processes to better support employees with disabilities. The office also supports employees who care for disabled family members.

Sinocchi joined the firm in 2016 to head the newly established office.

Having sustained a spinal cord injury early in his business career, Sinocchi is keenly aware of the issues and challenges facing people with disabilities. He actively creates awareness and understanding of disability inclusion through his blog, View from the Chair. Sinocchi has served on the boards of Jawonio, an organization focused on the well-being and equality of people with disabilities, and the Human Rights Commission in Rockland County, N.Y. He currently serves as a board member of the Viscardi Center’s Board of Directors Inc., a K-12 school in New York for severely disabled students affiliated with The Viscardi School; United Spinal Association, a nonprofit that seeks to enhance the quality of life for people living with spinal cord injuries and disorders; and RespectAbility, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Sinocchi joined the firm from IBM, where he led global workforce communications, creating awareness and understanding of IBM’s Human Resources and Diversity programs, policies and initiatives. He also served as the Corporate Communications Director for IBM’s Workforce Communications organization, ensuring their HR programs complemented their image as a technology leader and employer of choice. In addition, he was the lead co-chair executive for the IBMers with Disabilities Global Council.

Sinocchi received a Master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University. He is married with two grown children and two grandchildren, and resides in the Boston area.

An avid learner and systems thinker, KeyAnna Schmiedl loves to create solutions and discussions that center OD and DEI as tools for supporting authenticity and empathy. She believes that highlighting the need to move from “careful” to “thoughtful” conversations in the workplace is key the success of DEI and am evolved workplace culture overall. Bridging the gap between difference is key for any successful endeavor and ensuring leaders and employees have the tools necessary to do just that is the goal of her work.

KeyAnna is currently the Global Head of DEI at Wayfair where she puts to application a breadth of DEI experience, most recently as the US Head of D&I for Santander Bank, N.A where she led the bank’s employee networking groups and other D&I priorities.  Prior to her time at Santander she was a senior consultant at IBIS Consulting Group where she developed innovative and collaborative ways of implementing DEI intervention strategies.

Iris Bohnet, the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, is the Academic Dean of Harvard Kennedy School. She is a behavioral economist, combining insights from economics and psychology to improve decision-making in organizations and society, often with a gender or cross-cultural perspective. Her most recent research examines behavioral design to de-bias how we live, learn and work. She is the author of the award-winning book What Works: Gender Equality by Design, (an example of a book talk can be viewed HERE) and advises governments and companies on the topic around the world. Professor Bohnet is the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Programand the faculty chair of the executive program “Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century” for the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. She serves on the boards, advisory boards or as a patron of Credit Suisse Group, Applied, Edge, genEquality, TaketheLeadWomen, We Shape Tech, Women in Banking and Finance, and the UK Government’s Equalities Office as well as numerous academic journals. She was named one of the Most Influential People in Gender Policy by apolitical in 2018, a Leading Thinker of Victoria, Australia, 2016-2019, and has received an honorary degree from the University of Lucerne, Switzerland, in 2016. She is married and the mother of two children.

Jon Chesto covers the leaders who shape Boston’s business community. He has been reporting on business and politics in New England for the past two decades. Before joining the Globe, he was managing editor at the Boston Business Journal. Prior to that role, he was the business editor at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy. His weekly Ledger column, “Mass. Market,” won several national awards with the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. A graduate of Wesleyan University and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, he has also worked as a business reporter at the Boston Herald and as a political reporter with Ottaway Newspapers.

Adam Weber is an executive coach who helps leaders manage pressure, sift through competing inputs, and assert meaningful change while leading as their authentic selves.

Adam knows the challenges of leadership firsthand. He’s co-founded and successfully exited two tech companies—Emplify, an employee engagement platform, and Bluebridge, a mobile app platform. With over 15 years of C-level experience in leadership and culture, Adam brings practical insights and deep expertise to his coaching practice.

He is the best-selling author of Lead Like a Human and has been recognized as a “Top Voice” by LinkedIn and a “Rising Star” by Business Insider. His expertise has been featured in HR Executive Magazine, Forbes, and Fast Company.

Adam holds a master’s degree in organizational communication from Ball State University. He lives in Zionsville, Indiana, with his wife, two sons, and their dog, Poppy. In his free time, he’s an avid pickleball player.

David Krieger is Area Senior Vice President, Communications & Employee Benefits at Gallagher Communications.

David is an experienced benefits and communications consultant who has a real passion for these subject matters. David has worked at three consulting firms over the course of his career including 26 years as founder and owner of his own consulting firm. David is highly regarded for the quality, innovation and creativity of his work which has resulting in numerous benefits & communications awards for his clients.

David believes that knowledge is empowerment to an HR professional and every employee enrolled in a group benefit or retirement plan.

Providing advice that an organization uses to make business decisions that directly impacts people’s lives is a serious responsibility. David’s passion and focus is to work with our clients to clarify their people challenges – then create uniquely appropriate plan designs and a disruptive (but appropriate!) communication strategy that are customized to their workforce, challenges and business priorities.

With a strategy in place, David’s attention then turns to working seamlessly with our team of experts to deliver an integrated, purposeful and result driven benefits and communications experience.

Albert has over 30 years of experience in managing global Learning and HR functions. Albert’s specialty is about creating a cost effective and globally centralized learning and talent management infrastructure to ensure that employees know how to perform their work effectively, leaders that can engender high level of employee engagement and business growth, and the organization that has a robust leadership pipeline and culture that fosters best work to be performed. Albert also oversees the PAREXEL Academy, a learning and development unit that provides thought leadership and training for organizations and clients that are outside of PAREXEL International.

Before joining PAREXEL, he was Vice President for Learning and Development at Boston Scientific; and before that he was the Chief Learning Officer for AT&T from 1994 to 2002.

Before joining AT&T in 1994, Dr. Siu spent sixteen years with Hewlett-Packard, serving in a variety of business unit and corporate human resources leadership roles; including eight years as an expatriate residing in China and Hong Kong managing the human resources function for Hewlett-Packard’s China operations.

Dr. Siu earned a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin and a doctorate from Purdue University, both in counseling psychology.  He was a member of the board of directors at Thrivent Financial (1998 to 2012) and was a director at Wittenberg University (2012-2104).  He was a director (2009-2012) at the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and had served on ASTD’s Public Policy Council and the Awards Strategy Committee.  In 2013, Dr. Siu was awarded the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from Purdue University.

Between 1998 to 2000, Dr. Siu was a member of the “21^st Century Skills Commission,” commissioned by the U.S. Vice President Al Gore. The output of this Commission was the “Workforce Development Act” of 2000, which has been re-authorized in successive years up to the present time. In 2015, Dr. Siu was named as one of the Most Inspiring People in PharmaVoice. He is currently residing with his family in the Boston area.

Adi Ignatius is Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group, where he oversees the editorial activities of HBR, hbr.org, and HBR’s book-publishing unit. Prior to joining HBR in 2009, Mr. Ignatius was the No. 2 editor at TIME.

He is the editor of two books: President Obama: The Path to the White House and Prisoner of the State: The Secret Diaries of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Both made the New York Times Bestseller List.

Mr. Ignatius lived and worked for nearly 20 years overseas. He was Editor of Time’s Asian edition and earlier served as Beijing Bureau Chief and Moscow Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.

Wendy Hultmark is an HR Director at Elsevier, a global information analytics company serving science and healthcare institutions and professionals.  Elsevier has over 7,000 employees globally.  Her current business partner client groups include global content, product, marketing and sales organizations, spanning operating in North America, Europe and APAC.  Areas of expertise include talent management, workforce planning, acquisitions, employee engagement and communication.  She has over twenty years of HR experience, starting her career in talent acquisition before transitioning to generalist and then business partner functions.  Before Elsevier, Wendy worked at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston.   Wendy has a Master’s degree in Organizational Development and Communication.  She resides in West Roxbury, Massachusetts with her husband and Jack Russel Terrier, Posy.

As Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Vice President of Talent Management and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Anastasia Bergmann is responsible for leading the development and execution of Harvard Pilgrim’s talent strategies designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain productive, engaged employees. This includes all talent management, learning and development, employee experience, inclusion and organizational effectiveness programs.

Reporting to the Chief Human Resources Officer, Anastasia works with the Senior Leadership and the HR Team to enhance organizational capability and works towards creating a high-performance organization.

Anastasia Bergmann is an accomplished HR executive with over 15 years of experience in large organizations such as Boston Children’s Hospital and UMass Memorial Healthcare System.

Anastasia graduated from Ulyanovsk State Technical University, Russia with a Bachelor of Science in Financial Management, and from Emmanuel College with a Master of Science in Human Resources Management. She holds the Senior HR Professional (HRCI), the SHRM-SCP and SHRM HR Generalist certifications as well as Lean White & Yellow Belt Training Certificates.

Anastasia has received the UMass Memorial Champions of Excellence Team Award for Diverse, High-performing Workplace. She is the Pillar Award Winner for Healthy & Vibrant Community for UMass Memorial Healthcare System. She has also received the Outstanding Leadership Award for Support and Dedicated Service to the Youth and Families of Central Massachusetts.

Kevin is a passionate HR Tech entrepreneur focused on helping companies worldwide celebrate and recognize their top talent in a more meaningful way. As Co-Founder and COO of Blueboard, a San Francisco-based employee rewards and recognition company, Kevin partners with HR innovators to build exciting employee recognition programs that drive real impact across metrics like employee motivation, engagement, and overall company culture. Beyond his role as COO, Kevin leads business development and growth strategy as well as investor relations. Kevin is also a seasoned professional speaker, having presented on HR leadership topics at HR Tech, HR TechXpo, and HR West.

Prior to building Blueboard in 2014, Kevin served as a top analyst at Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), consulting with Fortune 1000 clients like Levi Strauss & Co., AMB Property, and Bechtel Corporation. Prior to PwC, Kevin spent two years in finance at Forex Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley. Kevin graduated with honors, holding a BS in Managerial Economics from University of California, Davis. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys traveling abroad to practice his Mandarin and playing in a local basketball league.

Dana Yonchak is head of talent management and organizational development for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, serving more than 40,000 employees of the state government’s executive departments.

She’s driving efforts to transform the candidate and employee experience, to attract, engage, develop and retain top talent for the Commonwealth. Her team leads talent acquisition, employee experience and culture, employer brand, employee retention, training, learning and development, and workforce analytics and planning initiatives.

Her mission is to empower employees of the Commonwealth to deliver exceptional services and resources for the citizens of Massachusetts.

Jane Steinmetz is Boston Managing Principal, Tax Partner, Northeast at Ernst & Young. She is responsible for overall client service, market growth and internal management of the Boston office, in which there are over 2,200 assurance, tax, transaction and consulting professionals.

Jane earned a B.S. in accounting from Rhode Island College and her J.D and LL.M from Boston University School of Law and is a member of the Connecticut and Massachusetts bar associations.

Jane is active in many local charitable organizations and is frequently advocating for diversity and inclusion.

As result of her revered reputation for being an authentic and inclusive leader, Jane frequently speaks at events and conferences on the importance of equality and woman advancement. She has been named one of Boston Business Journal’s Power 50 and Women Who Mean Business, Girls’ LEAP Honoree of the Year and one of Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants’ Women to Watch.

Vikas Saini, MD is President of the Lown Institute. He is a clinical cardiologist trained by Dr Bernard Lown at Harvard, where he has taught and done research. He has also been an entrepreneur as scientific co-founder of Aspect Medical Systems, the pioneer in noninvasive consciousness monitoring in the operating room with the BIS device. He was in private practice in cardiology for over 15 years on Cape Cod, where he also founded a primary care physician network participating in global payment contracts.

Dr. Saini is Board-certified in Cardiovascular Disease, Internal Medicine, and Nuclear Cardiology. He has served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, where he initiated the first course focused on policy translation for cardiovascular disease prevention.

In April 2012, Dr. Saini convened the Avoiding Avoidable Care Conference with the noted author Shannon Brownlee. This was the first major academic conference focused on the problem of overuse of health care services. Dr Saini led the international writing group of the Right Care series of papers commissioned by The Lancet and published in Jan 2017. With Ms. Brownlee, he is a convener of the Right Care Alliance, a grassroots network of physicians, nurses, patient activists, and community leaders dedicated to creating public demand for care that is safe, effective, affordable, and just.

Dr. Saini has spoken and presented research about avoiding unnecessary care at professional meetings around the world and has been quoted in numerous print media, radio and television.

Natasha Prasad is the Vice President of Customer Operations at Cleo, leading the strategy and operations of the global teams of care practitioners and career coaches that directly support Cleo’s families and managers, as well as the customer success team supporting Cleo’s employer partners. Prior to Cleo, Natasha served as Country Manager for ClassPass in Australia, where she built and oversaw regional operations, including the sales, success, and marketing teams. Previously, she was the founder and CEO of a fitness technology startup that was acquired by ClassPass, and held product management roles at enterprise and consumer technology companies, most recently Atlassian in Sydney. Natasha spent her early career as an investor in the Private Equity Group at Goldman Sachs in London and New York. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and degrees in Economics and Mathematics from Cambridge University and Delhi University. Mom to an energetic toddler, Natasha loves staying active and exploring San Francisco and the great outdoors with her family.

Melissa Frieswick is the Chief Revenue Officer at Maven, the leading women’s and family healthcare provider. Melissa was previously part of the leadership team at Virgin Pulse, being a key contributor as they scaled from 50 employees to over 2,000 – with offices in 10 countries. Prior to that, Melissa was a key contributor to scaling an Atlanta based boutique Health and Productivity Consultancy firm with several flagship clients. For approximately 13 years Melissa also served in a variety of roles at Cigna including Financial Underwriting, Health Advocacy, and thought leadership. Across her career, Melissa has partnered with some of the largest multi-national employers and market disruptors.

Dr. Michael Richardson is a family medicine physician and the Medical Director at One Medical in Copley Square, Boston MA. One Medical is an innovative national primary care model that delivers continuity care in person and virtually with a focus on the patient experience.

Dr Richardson serves as the Medical Editor for the One Medical Blog, a patient centered health information blog, and is also a writer with a special interest in mental health, social determinants of health, and men’s health. His latest article was published in the online journal Medium, reflecting on the complexity of treating depression in men. He has been a primary care medical expert in magazines such as Shape, Brit and Co. and Health magazine, speaking on a variety of topics including fitness, mental health, and opiate use.

Dr Richardson is on the board of directors and legislative committee for the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians in which he collaborates with legislators to improve the health of at need communities in Massachusetts. He has most recently spoke at the Atlantic Summit on Healthcare on improving the patient experience in primary care and at the New England Benefits Council 2019 Annual Employee Benefits Summit discussing how to harness the power of disruption in making healthcare change.

Naina Dhingra is Partner, McKinsey & Company.

Nicole Sahin is CEO and Founder of Globalization Partners and visionary pioneer of the global Employer of Record (EOR) market. Sahin built the industry-leading, global employment platform in what experts call a trillion-dollar opportunity in the new era of global remote work. Globalization Partners’ solution eliminates the traditional HR, legal, and tax hurdles companies otherwise face when building global remote teams enabling companies to hire anyone, anywhere, within minutes – without setting up international branch offices or subsidiaries.

Besides her mission of breaking down barriers to global business, Sahin founded Globalization Partners with a “side mission” of building a company that people love. She remains laser-focused not only on the business's growth and financial metrics but also on the company’s customer satisfaction ratings and employee engagement.

As a result, Globalization Partners has won numerous national awards for its company culture. In 2021, Quartz named Globalization Partners a Best Company for Remote Workers. In 2020, Inc. Magazine named Nicole a Top 100 Female Founder. Globalization Partners was also named Employer of Record Industry leader by analyst firm NelsonHall. Nicole credits the success to an exceptional team with global expansion in their DNA, and to her Triple Bottom Line philosophy – what is good for the clients and the employees is good for the shareholders.

Nicole holds an MBA in International Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. She lives in California and loves to travel. Nicole is inspired by her vision of everyone, everywhere accessing great jobs via the new digital world, and attaining their true potential.

Katie is an HR leader specializing in talent development and has a passion for helping organizations bring out the truest potential in all of their employees. Over the past decade Katie has worked within the HR function across industries ranging from retail and manufacturing, to the International Labour Organization in Geneva Switzerland. Coaching has always been a core component of her roles, which inspired Katie to become a certified Co-Active Coach. Katie joined BetterUp as a human capital strategist, working with talent leaders to leverage coaching to execute on their employee value proposition. She now works as Executive Advisor, Client Partnerships helping create community within the HR profession, building brand awareness and sharing the latest research from our BetterUp Labs team.

Katie is a native New Yorker and attended Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, where she received an undergraduate and a Master’s degree. Katie resides in Washington D.C. (April 2019) and in her free time enjoys volunteering, reading, yoga and traveling.

Michael Navarro is Enterprise Connections Representative at Oh My Green. Together with the rest of the Enterprise Connections Team, he ensures that employees at large corporations live happier, healthier, and more productive lives.

Tyler Muse is the Founder and CEO of Lingo Live, a language learning company started in 2012 after learning Spanish over Skype from a woman in Guatemala. Today, Lingo Live helps thousands of working professionals across the globe to express their authentic voice and communicate more effectively in their jobs through highly personal, one-on-one English communication training. The company’s mission is to encourage meaningful human connections through learning.

Prior to starting Lingo Live in 2012, Tyler worked as an analyst for GE Energy Financial Services. His team underwrote power project finance opportunities in emerging markets such as Latin America, India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia

Brittany Hill is the CEO of Accelerist, the partnership intelligence SaaS platform where some of the industry’s most prolific brands and nonprofits prospect, value, access and measure their events and partnerships with each other. As a passionate data seeker and trend translator, Brittany specializes in using analytics and innovations to support B-corporations and Fortune 1000 companies as well as enterprise and federated nonprofits in their pursuit of sustainable events and partnerships. In her role, Brittany spearheads social impact product development and leads a talented team who has supported 100s of customers in effectuating social change.

Brittany holds over 15 years of experience in the entertainment, nonprofit and agency sectors, with a consistent specialization and commitment to purpose-driven work. Throughout her career, Mrs. Hill’s portfolio of work ranges from building multi-channel partnerships and award-winning campaigns between blue-chip nonprofits and companies, to helping entertainers and celebrities find their social purpose, and producing social activism events.

Brittany’s trendsetting insights have been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, TIME, and MSN.com. She is a seasoned speaker on the topics of data-driven cause partnerships, social impact measurement, industry trends, sponsorship valuation and cause partnership sales, with previous engagements at Sustainable Brands, SXSW, Association of Fundraising Professionals and Engage for Good

Willie (he/him) is a keynote speaker, consultant, and facilitator who helps organizations advance vital conversations that unlock connections across differences. His belief in the transformative power of media to change narratives led him to found Abernathy, a magazine for black men backed by companies like Mailchimp, Atlassian, and WeWork. In its four-year run, Abernathy published 400+ articles and produced a series of curated events for diverse professionals across the nation.

Willie served as Founding Technical Lead of Seth Godin’s altMBA program for high-performing individuals who want to level up and lead, and CTO of The Domino Project, an award-winning publishing company founded by business luminary Seth Godin and powered by Amazon.com. He's been featured in documentaries (I’m Fine, Thanks), on HGTV (House Hunters International), and in print (Icarus Deception). Willie is an avid houseplant aficionado and loves to spread the gospel of self-watering planters whenever possible.