Donna Orender, CEO of Orender Unlimited, is an innovator, trailblazer, game changer and highly respected business executive.
She has been recognized as one of the top 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports and one of Newsweeks100 most Influential people in sports. She proudly served as the President of the WNBA, for 6 years, reenergizing the business and leaving the league well positioned for growth. Previously she spent 17 years at the PGA TOUR, where she led global production, programming, digital and brand in the Office of the Commissioner.
Currently the CEO of Orender Unlimited, Donna utilizes her expansive experience in guiding both established and new companies in leveraging successful growth and brand strategies across a myriad of industries, with a focus on sports, digital, entertainment and diversity. In this capacity she was also responsible for leading the “Connecting With Her” initiative for the PGA of America and the golf industry.
In 2011 Donna launched Generation W, a dynamic platform of education, inspiration and connection for women and girls. In addition to the signature Generation W event, a mentorship program for high school girls called Generation WOW was launched, as well as a leadership volunteer event focused on community change, Generation WORKS.
She recently published ‘WOWsdom! The girl’s guide to the Positive and the Possible’ that quickly became Amazon’s number one new release.
Donna serves on the boards of the World Surf League, V Foundation for Cancer Research, Maccabi USA, contributes to the boards of the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, Co-Chairs the UJA Sports for Youth Initiative and is a founding member of the board of W.O.M.E.N. a mentoring organization for young women capable of reaching the C-suite.
A sought-after speaker, Donna speaks around the country on topics including leadership, change and diversity.
Andrea B. Smith is Bank of America’s chief administrative officer (CAO) and a member of the company’s executive management team. Smith leads global functions and businesses that drive responsible growth, operational excellence and the company’s customer-focused strategy.
Smith has held a number of senior leadership positions for the company, including head of Global Human Resources. In that role, she managed a global workforce of more than 200,000 employees and transformed the bank’s hiring, employee benefits, and diversity and inclusion efforts. She joined Bank of America in 1988 with a degree in economics from Southern Methodist University.
She is a thought leader on economic mobility and supporting the advancement of women in our headquarters city of Charlotte and nationally. Smith serves on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including the PGA of America and the Charlotte Sports Foundation. She also co- chairs the Leading on Opportunity Council, which is working to address economic mobility in Charlotte.
Smith has a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion. Reflecting her long-standing passion and leadership for initiatives supporting the LGBT+ community, she serves as executive sponsor for the LGBT+ Executive Leadership Council. She also established the Black Executive Leadership Council eight years ago to help increase representation, sponsorship and advancement of Black/African American leaders. As an advocate for women, she co-founded the Global Women’s Conference to bring together top women leaders to invest in their development.
She has been recognized by American Banker for the past several years as one of the Most Powerful Women in Banking and by Business North Carolina as one of the most influential business leaders in the state.
Jon Gordon’s best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and non-profits. He is the author of 18 book and 5 children’s books including 10 best-sellers: The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, You Win in the Locker Room First, The Power of Positive Leadership, The Power of a Positive Team, The Coffee Bean, Stay Positive, The Garden and his latest Relationship Grit. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, The Golf Channel, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Los Angeles Dodgers, The Atlanta Falcons, Campbell Soup, Dell, Publix, Southwest Airlines, LA Clippers, Miami Heat, Pittsburgh Pirates, BB&T Bank, Clemson Football, Northwestern Mutual, Bayer, West Point Academy and more.
Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.
Carla Harris is a Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She is responsible for increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the firm. She formerly headed the Emerging Manager Platform, the equity capital markets effort for the consumer and retail industries and was responsible for Equity Private Placements. In her 30 year career, Ms. Harris has had extensive industry experiences in the technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial, and healthcare sectors. In August 2013, Carla Harris was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council.
For more than a decade, Ms. Harris was a senior member of the equity syndicate desk and executed such transactions as initial public offerings for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Ariba, Redback, the General Motors sub-IPO of Delphi Automotive, and the $3.2 Billion common stock transaction for Immunex Corporation, one of the largest biotechnology common stock transactions in U.S. history. Ms. Harris was named to Fortune Magazine’s list of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America”, Fortune’s Most Influential List, U. S. Bankers Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance (2009, 2010, 2011), Black Enterprise’s Top 75 Most Powerful Women in Business (2017), and “Top 75 African Americans on Wall Street”, and to Essence Magazine’s list of “The 50 Women Who are Shaping the World”, Ebony’s list of the Power 100 and “15 Corporate Women at the Top” and was named “Woman of the Year 2004” by the Harvard Black Men’s Forum and in 2011 by the Yale Black Men’s Forum.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Carla received an MBA, Second Year Honors from Harvard Business School and an AB in economics from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude. Carla has also received Honorary Doctorates of Laws, Humanities and Business from Marymount Manhattan College, Bloomfield College, Jacksonville University, Simmons College, the College of New Rochelle, St. Thomas Aquinas College and Fisk University, Wake Forest University and Felician University respectively. Carla Harris is actively involved in her community and heartily believes that “we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to someone else.”
She is the past Chair of the Board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation and of The Executive Leadership Council, and sits on the boards of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), A Better Chance, Inc, and St. Vincent’s Hospitals, and is an active member of the St. Charles Gospelites of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and the Mark Howell Singers. She is a member of the board of overseers of Harvard University and of the board of directors of the Walmart Corporation. Ms. Harris was co-chair of the National Social Action Commission of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She has been named to the New Jersey Hall of Fame (2015) and has received the Bert King Award from the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association, the 2005 Women’s Professional Achievement Award from Harvard University, the Pierre Toussaint Medallion from the Office of Black Ministry of the Archdiocese of New York, the Women of Power Award given by the National Urban League, the Women of Influence Award from The Links, Incorporated and many other awards. In her other life, Carla is a singer who has sold out concerts at the Apollo Theatre, and released her third gospel CD “Unceasing Praise” (2011) , her second CD, a gospel album titled, “Joy Is Waiting”, was featured on BET Nightly News while her first CD entitled, “Carla’s First Christmas”, was a bestseller on Amazon.com in New York and in record stores, and was featured on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather in his “American Dream” segment. She has performed 5 sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall. Carla is also the author of the books, Strategize to Win (2014) and of Expect to Win (2009) (Hudson Press).
Jeannie Diefenderfer is a business leader who turns the challenges of modern corporations into profitable opportunities. With extensive experience as a senior executive in a Fortune 20 environment, she understands how to transform operations to focus on customers for competitive advantage.
During her 28-year career at Verizon Communications, Jeannie was an advocate for change in pursuit of the truly remarkable. She led both technical and operational organizations, with each job inspiring true believers in her approach.
At Verizon, Jeannie held a range of roles including SVP of Global Engineering & Planning, Chief Procurement Officer, and SVP of Enterprise Customer Care.She managed organizations with up to 10,000 staff, operating budgets up to $1 billion and capital programs over $10 billion. She ran and expanded the world’s largest voice and data network to connect six continents and shifted the complexities of customer care into a strategic growth driver. She rallied her teams around a common vision and strategy, shifted routine thinking into continual innovation, and improved important business drivers such as capital productivity and cost efficiency.
Along the way, Jeannie celebrated the human side of business. She cultivated workplace cultures that empowered and engaged employees, developed strong business relationships, and operationalized Verizon’s commitment to diversity. She initiated a consortium of Fortune 100 companies to support procurement from women and minority suppliers and served on Employee Resource Groups including the Minority Multicultural Association of NYNEX, Women’s Association of Verizon Employees, and the Asian Focus Group.
Her board and executive leadership have been recognized from business and industry groups, including NACD Directorship 100 honoree, Directors & Boards Racial & Ethnic Directors to Watch, Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business and Asian Women in Business Corporate Leadership Award.
Jeannie is currently an independent director on the board of Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY), an advisor to Sedona Systems, Lead Executive Advisor of Ascend Pinnacle, a member of the NACD NJ chapter board, trustee of Olin College of Engineering, and vice chair and trustee of Tufts University. She previously served on the boards of Windstream Holdings, MRV Communications, Westell Technologies, and Ms. Foundation for Women.
Jeannie holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from Babson College. Jeannie resides with her family in Chester, New Jersey. A native of South Korea, she immigrated to the US at age 13.
Hollywood veteran Tina Lifford plays the vivacious breakout character Aunt Vi on the critically acclaimed television drama, Queen Sugar. She has played over 100 characters in her long-standing career, including notable roles on Scandal and Parenthood.
Equally accomplished behind the camera, Tina is the respected playwright of THE CIRCLE, a play about how seven diverse women navigate the choppy waters of life together; author of The Little Book of BIG LIES (released by Harper Collins in November 2019); and CEO of The Inner Fitness Project, a personal development network committed to making the practices and benefits of “Inner Fitness” as familiar, well understood and accessible as those of physical fitness.
Tina refers to herself as an Inner Fitness Advocate and Strategist, providing information and life strategies that build a strong, resilient inner Self capable of masterfully navigating life’s challenges and opportunities. In particular, Tina’s focus offers a lifeline to those who have come to the sobering realization that a mate, career, money and a big house…and even the kids they love deeply…don’t fulfill the “something’s missing” that only a rich relationship with one’s Self provides.
Through the Inner Fitness lens, Tina encourages everyone, no matter their age, to acknowledge the Self that lives inside, embrace their innate worth and learn to take her power back from old hurt, in order to BE fully alive and thrive.
Lisa Shalett is an accomplished senior executive, corporate advisor and independent board director, with a remarkable breadth of leadership and operational experience over her 25+ year career, including 13 years as a Goldman Sachs Partner. Well-known as a trusted connector and sought-after thought partner, Lisa advises companies of all stages on growth and innovation. Her expertise spans global risk and crisis management, capital markets, marketing, digital transformation, talent development, and governance. Her leadership experience includes managing Goldman’s brand during the financial crisis.
Lisa left Goldman Sachs in 2015 to bring her considerable skills into the tech startup ecosystem and into corporate boardrooms. She currently sits on the boards of PennyMac Financial (NASDAQ: PFSI), AccuWeather, and digital agency Bully Pulpit Interactive. In 2017, she founded Extraordinary Women on Boards, an influential peer-to-peer community of hundreds of women corporate directors focused on advancing board excellence, modernizing governance, and increasing board diversity. Lisa chairs the board of Generation W, is a Distinguished Scholar at Duke University’s Coach K/Fuqua Center on Leadership and Ethics, and a Senior Fellow of the McDonald Conference on Leaders of Character at West Point. She supports high-impact entrepreneurs around the world, as an International Selection Panelist and mentor for Endeavor.org. She is a frequent speaker and podcaster, coach and mentor, committed to diversity and leadership initiatives and to paying it forward. Lisa has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA, summa cum laude, in East Asian Studies (Japan) from Harvard.
Izu Emeagwali is an Executive Director and Assistant General Counsel for the Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) at J.P. Morgan. Her work focuses on the intersection of technology and law. She advises the various global businesses, data scientists and technologist in CIB on their data use initiatives. This includes, projects using big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. Izu primarily advises and oversees projects and negotiates agreements involving the sharing and use of J.P. Morgan’s proprietary information and client data. She opines on and helps to implement the legal strategies and processes for sound data use, data sharing and AI initiatives.
Prior to joining JPMorgan, Izu was a Senior Associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP where she worked on intellectual property, commercial and antitrust litigation matters. She also advised on intellectual property rights in technology focused merger & acquisition deals and drafted agreements to help clients protect their intellectual property.
Izu graduated magna cum laude from Howard University School of Law with a juris doctorate and from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science and Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering. While at Howard University, she was a Dean’s Fellow for Legal Writing, a Senior Articles Editor for the Howard Law Review and was a Research Assistant for law professors who were the leading voices for copyright law and social justice.
Izu is Co‐Chair of the J.P. Morgan Chase Legal Diversity Council’s External Bar Partnership and Recognition Sub‐Council. Izu is a Trustee for her alma mater Westover School, an all‐girls college preparatory boarding school in Connecticut and an Associate Board Member for the Council for Economic Education, an organization that focuses on the economic and financial education of students from kindergarten through high school.
Linnet Carty has been with the PGA of America for over four years and has over twelve years of experience working in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. She heads up programming for the four PGA LEAD Cohorts. The PGA LEAD two-year curriculum was structured to assist PGA Professionals who desire to ascend through the volunteer leadership ranks of the Association. Linnet has also developed the PGA LEAD curriculum, written for PGA.org, produced the ‘Beyond the Green’ event and the ‘Chambers on Course’ event during the PGA Championship and Emceed the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship and the PGA KitchenAid Seniors Championship. She has written the ‘Inclusion Guidelines for Golf Facilities’ and implemented education training for the 29,000 PGA Professionals across the nation. Linnet also presents to other organizations including the Club Managers Association of America, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the Business Management Institute, the Talent Management Institute and many others. She has also developed the overwhelmingly well received ‘Pledge to Practice’ series for the PGA staff of 300 at headquarters that is a part of CEO ACTION.
Prior to joining the PGA, Linnet was the Vice President of Marketing and Development for xmlElite, a PeopleSoft/Oracle based technology firm. She was directly responsible for the acquisition of new clients, negotiating contracts, analyzing opportunities for growth, strategic partnerships, promoting best practices, creating unique marketing campaigns and remaining on the cutting edge of industry trends.
Linnet has also been a Television Host & Producer at NBC – WVIT Channel 30 and covered sports, civic, arts, community, entertainment and education topics. She was also the Television Host of several other local programs and a producer for MTV’s My Super Sweet 16.
As the Equity and Inclusion Educator for the Connecticut State Department of Education – SERC she provided customized training and education to administrators and educators, along with initiating the video production department. This former Elementary School Teacher and Arts & Entertainment Newspaper Columnist for the Hartford Courant also wrote for the Middletown Press and the Inquiring Newspaper. Linnet was the Senior Director for the Village for Families & Children, supervising 7 Educational Centers in Hartford Public Schools.
Linnet is a first-generation ‘CuMaican’ who hails from a Cuban mother and a Jamaican father. This Connecticut native is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and was a former Language Certified International Flight Attendant with Delta Airlines. Linnet earned her B.A. from the University of Connecticut and MBA from Western New England University. She has been the Emcee for numerous events including “Paul Newman Discovery Gala’, ‘Big Climb for Leukemia’, and KitchenAid Seniors Championship. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, television production, traveling, the beach and multicultural cuisine. Her zest in life is in making others laugh.
With more than 25 years of private practice as a psychotherapist and life coach. Jamie has cultivated a diverse, intergenerational clientele and has treated hundreds of clients with clinical anxiety and depression, behavioral disorders, health-related issues, as well as clients in crisis. She takes a multidisciplinary approach to treatment and routinely collaborates with a variety of specialists to create teams that can treat the whole person — including the mental and the physical. She utilizes a range of approaches to treat patients, including talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation, movement, and humor.
Jamie is an esteemed authority in the area of women’s health. She has written various articles, leads workshops, and is a regular public speaker. Jamie resides in NYC with her husband and they have two adult children. She is thrilled to be a part of the Generation W community.
Erica Dhawan is the world’s leading authority on 21st century Collaboration and Connectional Intelligence.
She challenges audiences and organizations to innovate further and faster, together. Her newest book – Digital Body Language – decodes the new signals and cues of effective collaboration and teamwork in a digital-first human workplace.
Erica Dhawan is the Founder & CEO of Cotential, a global organization that helps companies, leaders, and managers leverage 21st century collaboration skills and behaviors to improve game changing performance.
She is the co-author of the bestselling book Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence, named #1 on What Corporate America is Reading. Dhawan was named by Thinkers50 as “The Oprah of Management Ideas” and featured as one of the Top 20 Management Experts around the world by GlobalGurus. She hosts the award-winning podcast ‘Masters of Leadership.’
Erica speaks on global stages ranging from the World Economic Forum at Davos and TED to companies such as Coca-Cola, Fedex, Goldman Sachs, Walmart, SAP, and Cisco. Erica writes for Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company. She has degrees from Harvard University, MIT Sloan, and The Wharton School.
Leah Jewell is a learner advocate and employability evangelist focused on lifelong learning, upskilling, alternative career pathways, and skills navigation. She is the Co-Founder of UPSKLS, a platform connecting students 18+ years of age, from any school, degree, or experience level to paid short term project work. She is dedicated to increasing access to and the effectiveness of learning and work-based opportunities for every student.
In her 32 years at Pearson, the world’s largest learning company, she was most recently the Managing Director for Employability Solutions and the designated expert on the Future of Work. At Pearson she built solutions focused on career development, industry pathways, and work-based learning with a focus on connecting employers, schools, and learners.
Jacqueline Jones is an Associate Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology at Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is a graduate of Smith College and Cornell Medical School. She completed her residency at the University of Pennsylvania and her Fellowship at Harvard University. She is the best selling author of Medical Parenting: How to navigate Health Wellness and the Medical System with Your Child. Dr Jones sits on the Medical Advisory Board of Castle and Connolly Top Doctors and has been elected to the 100 Best Black Doctors in America as well as being a Castle and Connolly Top Doctor for over 20 years. Dr Jones is the Co-Founder of Vaccinate 4 Love a non profit which promotes vaccine safety and efficacy.
Dr. Heidi Hanna is the Chief Energy Officer of Synergy Brain Fitness, a company providing brain-based health and performance programs to individuals and organizations, a Founding Partner with the Brain Health Initiative, and a Fellow and Advisory Board Member for the American Institute of Stress. Dr. Heidi is also an instructor at Harvard and a regular lecturer at Canyon Ranch Resort and Spa. She is a NY Times bestselling author who has written seven books, including The Sharp Solution, Stressaholic, Recharge, and What’s So Funny About Stress?
Dr. Heidi has been featured at many global conferences including the Fortune Magazine Most Powerful Women in Business Summit, ESPN Leadership Summit and the Million Dollar Round Table. Her clients have included Google, Starbucks, Microsoft, Principal Insurance, Morgan Stanley, Ameriprise and WD40 as well as the PGA Tour and the National Football League. Dr. Heidi is also a Certified Humor Professional with the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor although she won’t admit she’s funny.
Dr. Doris Pastore loves connecting your health to your entire person, and addressing the big picture as well as its detailed view, in every visit with you. Dr. Pastore is passionate about helping individuals and families facing an Eating Disorder issue sort out the medical and treatment path that is right for them.
As the Medical Liaison for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, New York Chapter, she provides leadership advancing the understanding of its medical complexities. Dr Pastore is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist.
Dr. Pastore is the recipient of Castle Connolly Top Doctors and Super Doctors awards and has served on the national Executive Board of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and regional health committees for the American Academy of Pediatrics. As a faculty member of the Icahn School of Medicine she trained over 20 fellows in Adolescent Medicine.
Dr. Pastore is a graduate (summa cum laude) of St. John’s University and the New York Medical College. She completed a residency in pediatrics at Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a fellowship in adolescent medicine at North Shore University Hospital – Cornell University Medical College. She lives with her family in Manhattan where her favorite mode of transportation is her vespa.
As a Director at Finsbury Glover Hering, Jennifer advises clients on reputation management across a variety of industries, including financial services, payments, retail, media and education. Jennifer specializes in developing and executing internal and external communications strategies – especially for clients managing complicated crises, corporate transformations or large-scale change – incorporating media relations, employee and stakeholder engagement, thought leadership, executive visibility and narrative development.
Prior to joining Finsbury in 2019, Jennifer spent five years at Pearson in a variety of roles across the Global Corporate Affairs & Marketing function. Most recently, Jennifer drove the communications strategy for Pearson’s Growth Markets, the company’s business in China, India, the Middle East, Latin America and South Africa. Previously, she was part of Pearson’s Global Media & Communities team working on crisis and reputational issues, public affairs, employee engagement, social media and brand strategy.
Before joining Pearson, Jennifer led integrated communication and events for an international early literacy nonprofit called ParentChild+ and taught English. Jennifer is a proud member of a women’s networking organization called W.O.M.E.N in America, holds a B.A. in English Education from the University of Delaware and an M.S. in Strategic Communications from Columbia University. She currently resides in NYC.
Michelle owns and operates More Than Tours; which is a social enterprise that provides educational and interactive tours to students and tourists exposing the rich and sometimes haunting history of Montgomery, Alabama. More Than Tours has bridged the racial divide by reaching nearly 10,000 students and tourists via tourism.
Through her social enterprise and bodacious personality, Michelle has helped to amplify Montgomery, Alabama and its evolving persona; making it a sought after tourist destination for many. She has been featured on PBS NewsHour, inBoston Globe, Preservation Magazine, National Geographic Traveler’s Edition, New York Times, and Washington Post for the experiential and interactive way she brings Montgomery, Alabama’s history to life.
The Montgomery Advertiser honored Michelle with the Community Hero Award; presented to her by the Mayor of Montgomery Alabama, Todd Strange. She was recognized for her years of dedication, devotion, and her consistent efforts as a bridge builder; connecting the community using art, history, and conversation. Governor Kay Ivey presented Michelle with the Rising Star in Tourism Award from the State of Alabama; recognizing the impact Michelle and her company has made in the industry.
Michelle lives in Montgomery, Alabama. In her free time; she spends quality time with her siblings, shops vintage, and paints her feelings on canvas.
Melinda Wolfe has served as Chief People Officer and led talent initiatives with a passionate focus on diversity, equity and inclusion at companies including GLG, Pearson, Bloomberg, American Express and Goldman Sachs. Across industry, she has joined leadership teams to optimize organizational design, culture and human resource priorities, while driving outcomes for employee engagement, productivity and profitability. Ms. Wolfe began her career in public finance at Merrill Lynch where she managed billions of dollars of project finance and public power transactions for public and private sector clients.
Ms. Wolfe has held the chief HR role at private, private equity-backed and public companies, all with global reach and each at critical inflection points in their size and evolution. She has partnered with CEOs and leadership teams, as a thought leader, coach and operator to achieve organic growth strategies, integrate powerful acquisitions and downsize through divestitures and contraction of challenged businesses. She has worked with company boards and board committees on succession planning, executive talent acquisition, and alignment of competitive compensation programs, focusing on compliance and regular reporting of people practices. As a company leader, she has transformed HR processes and systems and encouraged a sense of belonging and community to deepen culture and increase retention of employees in regions across the globe, particularly Millennials and Gen Z. Additionally, Ms. Wolfe has overseen Social Impact and Corporate Social Responsibility efforts that have been a centerpiece of employee engagement efforts.
In addition to her work in the private sector, Ms. Wolfe holds several leadership positions in the non-profit sector. Currently, she chairs the board of the Zana Africa Foundation and serves as a board member of Auburn Seminary, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York and the Center for Talent Innovation. She previously served on the NYC Mayor’s Commission on Women and on advisory boards for several academic institutions including the Dalton School, Barnard’s Athena Center, Duke University, Washington University and the School of Public and International Affairs at Columbia, where she also taught as an Adjunct Faculty Member.
Ms. Wolfe is a frequent speaker at conferences on a range of subjects including talent management, and diversity, equity and inclusion. She regularly facilitates teams across sectors on strategy and execution of business plans and coaches emerging leaders on career considerations. She received her undergraduate degree from Washington University and her graduate degree at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She resides in Manhattan with her husband Ken.
Akila is the head of Natural Resources Debt Capital Markets and Risk Management within the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm.
She has responsibility for the firm’s Natural Resources clients across both Investment Grade Capital Markets and Corporate Risk Management, helping them raise new capital and optimize their overall capital structure with respect to interest rates and currencies. She was named Partner in 2018.
Throughout her career she has advised on numerous complex acquisition financings, brought important Debt IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) to the market, and mitigated interest rate and foreign currency risk for some of the firm’s most important clients, with particular focus on hedging risk associated with mergers/acquisitions and debt issuance. In the past 5 years alone she has raised over $150bn of capital on behalf of her clients and has structured ~$50bn in complex acquisition financings.
Akila serves on the Operating Board for Pursuit, a social impact organization dedicated to creating transformation through training of adults with the most need to get their first tech jobs and become the next generation of leaders in tech. She is a member emerita of the Board of Trustees for the Cap & Gown Club of Princeton University and the Princeton University Tigressions Graduate Board, and is a W.O.M.E.N. in America alumna.
Ilana Kloss is the CEO of Billie Jean King Enterprises and co-founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, where she oversees corporate partnerships, strategic programs, and philanthropic efforts that support Billie Jean King’s legacy. Ilana is a member of the ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks and Angel City FC. She is a founding board member and continues to serve on the executive board of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Ilana is actively involved in the Women’s Sports Foundation as a member of the executive board and past WSF board chair. From 2001-2018, Ilana was the CEO and Commissioner of World TeamTennis, managing both the professional sports league and nationwide grassroots recreational programs. A former world No. 1 doubles player and US Open doubles champion, she is a member of both the National and International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and was named Sports Businesswoman of the Year by the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center in 2007.
Billie Jean King is the founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative. She has long been a champion for social change and equality. King created new inroads for all genders in sports and beyond during her legendary career and she continues to make her mark today.
King was named one of the ‘100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century’ by Life Magazine and, in 2009, in recognition of her work as a social justice pioneer and her accomplishments in sports, President Obama awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2020, King became the first woman to have an annual global team sports event named in her honor when Fed Cup, the women’s world cup of tennis, was rebranded as the Billie Jean King Cup. Her forthcoming memoir, ALL IN: An Autobiography, will be published by Knopf in August 2021.
In 2014, King, and her partner Ilana Kloss, launched the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative to address equality and inclusion issues in the workplace. In 2018, King and Kloss were named to the ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers and in 2019 King’s deep Southern California roots were recognized with the opening of the Billie Jean King Main Library in her hometown of Long Beach, California. In 2020 King was honored with the release of the Billie Jean King Barbie doll, part of Mattel’s Inspiring Women Series, and joined the ownership groups of the Los Angeles Sparks and Angel City FC.
King grew up playing tennis in the California public parks and won 39 Grand Slam titles during her career. She helped form the Virginia Slims Series and founded the Women’s Tennis Association. She defeated Bobby Riggs in one of the greatest moments in sports history – the Battle of the Sexes on Sept. 20, 1973.
In 2017, Fox Searchlight released the critically acclaimed film, Battle of the Sexes, starring Academy Award® winner Emma Stone as King and Academy Award® nominee Steve Carrell as Bobby Riggs, which depicts both players’ battles on and off the court as well as the cultural and social impact of the groundbreaking match.
In 1974 King co-founded World TeamTennis, the revolutionary professional team tennis league. That same year she also founded the Women’s Sports Foundation. In August 2006, the National Tennis Center, home of the US Open, was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in honor of her accomplishments on and off the court. In 2014 President Obama named King to the Presidential Delegation for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In 2018 King received a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. In 2019 ESPN established the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award, which is presented annually at the network’s Sports Humanitarian Awards ceremony. King serves on the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation, is an adidas Global Ambassador and is a past member of the board of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a past member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.
Pat Geraghty is President and Chief Executive Officer of GuideWell, a $20 billion mutual insurance holding company headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. A mission-driven health solutions enterprise, GuideWell is the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care.
GuideWell comprises Florida Blue, the leading health insurance company in Florida; GuideWell Connect, a consumer engagement and marketing firm that includes Onlife Health; GuideWell Health, a health care delivery company; GuideWell Source, a provider of administrative services to federal and state health care programs, including Medicare; PopHealthCare, a population health management company; and WebTPA, a market leading administrator of self-funded employer health plans. GuideWell serves more than 28 million people across 45 states, including more than 5 million individuals in Florida.
Geraghty was the architect of the strategic restructuring that created GuideWell from the foundation of a 75-year-old health insurance company, transforming it into a health solutions organization at the forefront of reimagining the future of health in America. The GuideWell restructuring is considered a model of strategic reinvention and is featured as a capstone business case in the curriculum of Harvard Business School.
A dynamic speaker, Geraghty is considered an expert voice on a range of health care topics including health care reform in the U.S., next-generation payment strategies, innovation in health care and the benefits of wellness and prevention programming.
He has appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “Fox Business News,” CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Money Beat,” “PBS Nightly Business Report,” MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and Bloomberg TV’s “Street Smart” and “Capitol Gains” programs. Geraghty also has been featured on the front page of The New York Times’ Business Day, in The Wall Street Journal, and in many other media outlets.
In addition to serving as an expert source to leading news media, Geraghty is frequently sought after for his insights on important health care policy matters in Washington, D.C. and Tallahassee, Fla.
Geraghty is active in leading professional and community organizations. He is Immediate Past Chair of the Florida Council of 100, a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization of Florida business leaders who advise the state’s governor on how to improve the economic growth of the state and the economic well-being of its residents. He also serves as a member of the board of the National Institute of Health Care Management (NIHCM), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of America’s health care system.
Additionally, Geraghty serves on the boards of Pardee Rand Graduate School, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Tampa Electric Co. (TECO).
In 2016 Geraghty became a member of the Health Governors Community of the World Economic Forum, the international organization for public private cooperation, and a trustee for its Global Challenge Initiative on The Future of Health.
Geraghty holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, degree from Florida Southern College. He also has completed executive education programs at Harvard University School of Public Health and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Elizabeth M. Adams (she/her/hers) is a technology integrator, working at the intersection of AI Ethics, Ethical Tech Design & Tech Inclusion. She passionately teaches, advises, consults, and speaks on the critical subjects within Diversity & Inclusion and Humane Engineering in Artificial Intelligence. Her work centers on shared leadership in the advancement of technology through a social science lens.
Elizabeth impacts the world around her every day serving as a Key Constituent for the United Nations 3C Roundtable on Artificial intelligence, Chief AI Ethics Advisor for Paravision and as a Race & Tech Fellow at Stanford University’s Institute of Human-Centered AI & Center for Comparative Studies in Ethnicity.
Elizabeth is a founding member of POSTME, a coalition advocating for Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology in Minneapolis. As co-lead of POSTME, Elizabeth’s leadership led to the city of Minneapolis banning Facial Recognition technology, a win for more tech transparency in support of ½ million residents. Having served as an appointed member of the Racial Equity Community Advisory Committee for the City of Minneapolis, Elizabeth continues to influence the local Civic Tech & Tech equity conversation and framework.
Over the last 20 years, she has refined her leadership acumen in tech design by leading a variety of technology initiatives in the Washington DC metro area for various Intelligence Agencies. Now she remains dedicated to embedding ethics in artificial intelligence systems and makes time to pursue her passion for helping others chart a path toward Purposeful A.I.
Elizabeth holds several professional certifications, a graduate Leadership Development Certificate from Johns Hopkins University, a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University, a B.A. in Business Management from Bethel University, and an MBA from Capella University.
Dr. Rachel Gillum Jackson is Director, Ethical and Humane Use of Technology at Salesforce, where she works across product, law, policy, and ethics to develop and implement strategic policies to assure Salesforce technologies are used for good and not harm.
Rachel is also an affiliated scholar at Stanford’s Immigration Policy Lab and the author of several academic works including her book, Muslims in a Post-9/11 America: A Survey of Attitudes and Beliefs and Their Implications for U.S. National Security Policy, which explores how government counterterrorism and surveillance policies can alienate the country’s most integrated Muslims and become counterproductive to national security.
Rachel previously worked alongside former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as a Senior Director at RiceHadleyGates LLC, where she and the team assisted CEOs and senior executives at major tech companies meet key geopolitical challenges. Prior to that, Rachel worked as an intelligence analyst.
Rachel is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Security Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. She is the Co-Founder and former Co-Director of Truman’s diversity initiative, aimed at supporting and advancing underrepresented minorities in the international security profession. Rachel is also an Advisory Committee Member for the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, a program at Duke University aimed to increase diversity within the Political Science discipline by providing a pipeline to graduate school and the professorate for under-represented minority students.
Rachel received her doctorate and master’s degrees from Stanford University and her bachelors at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Dr. Betty Mbom serves as the Senior Director of Customer Success at Syapse, a healthcare technology company which enables healthcare providers to bring precision medicine to cancer patients using real world data insights. In her role, she leads the strategic initiatives focused on adoption, expansion and retention within health systems. Previously, she served as Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Aetion, a healthcare technology company that delivers real-world evidence to determine which treatments work best, for whom, and when. Throughout her time at Aetion, Betty led large-scale transformative initiatives such as building their client engagement strategy, restructuring their data operations and driving global execution of one of Aetions strategic partnerships. Additionally, she served as a team advisor for the Wharton Business School Healthcare Management Course Field Application Project.
Prior to joining Aetion, Betty was part of the Corporate Strategic Innovation group at Becton Dickinson (BD). In this role, she was responsible for identifying and assessing new areas for innovation and potential acquisition targets. Additionally, she led cross-functional teams in product and technology development. While at BD, Betty co-founded BD Women in STEM, an associate network focused on finding female mentors in STEM and navigating gender differences. In 2014, she was the recipient of BD’s PreAnalytical Systems Organizational Innovator Award for spearheading efforts to utilize leading edge cell biology techniques in assessing potential novel technologies.
Betty received her PhD from Stanford University in Cell & Molecular Biology and her B.S. in Biology from Carnegie Mellon University.
As Co-CEO and Co-Founder at Workit Health, Robin McIntosh transforms addiction treatment through patient-led advocacy, science, and design. An experienced CEO, designer-entrepreneur, and proud woman in recovery, Robin has founded multiple companies and has worked across digital health and social impact communities over the past ten years.
Prior to Workit Health, Robin served as CEO and Co-Founder at SIREN, an internationally recognized design and development consultancy. There she focused on driving innovative work for providers, health technology companies, and employers. Robin also worked at WIRED magazine and IDEO in San Francisco. In 2019 she was named a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year and is a frequent speaker, most recently at the Milken Institute, Stanford and Yale University.
Lisa McLaughlin is a social entrepreneur, researcher, and Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Workit Health who holds Masters of both Social Work and Information from the University of Michigan. She’s laid the groundwork in Michigan and the greater U.S. for effective strategies for on-demand substance use disorder treatment and prevention resources for health plans, employers, and individuals.
As Co-Principal Investigator on Workit Health’s initiatives with the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, she’s developed digital interventions to solve for social determinants of health and algorithms to measure and predict substance use recovery. In 2019 she was named a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year and winner of the Lyfebulb and United Healthcare Innovation Challenge.
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