Program Speakers

Carol Evans founded Working Mother Media by acquiring Working Mother magazine, Work Life Congress and the National Association for Female Executives with MCG Capital in August 2001. She serves as chief executive officer and president. Evans' involvement with Working Mother magazine goes back to its launch in 1978, when she sold the most advertising pages in the first issue.

In 1986 she launched the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, which became the most important benchmark for women in corporate America.

Since founding Working Mother Media, Evans has announced several new initiatives including Best Companies for Women of Color, NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women, Best Law Firms for Women and Balance Seekers, Best Women Owned Businesses and Best Green Companies for America's Children. In December 2006 Evans acquired Diversity Best Practices and Best Practices in Corporate Communications making Working Mother Media the largest multimedia company in the country focused on diversity and the advancement of women.

Evans serves as trustee of the March of Dimes, a board director of Magazine Publishers of America, Young Playwrights and Advertising Women of New York, where she is immediate past president. Evans has won numerous awards one of which includes Woman of Distinction Award from Miss Hall's School, and is a highly acclaimed keynote speaker on the subject of worklife balance, the advancement of women, barriers facing women of color, and leadership. She has appeared on every major talk show, hundreds of radio shows and in newspapers nationwide, and has also spoken to corporations and institutions.

Carol's book, the award-winning This is How We Do It: The Working Mothers' Manifesto was published in May 2006 by Penguin Group and in paperback in May 2007.

Gwendolyn K. Crider is adept at developing and implementing strategic initiatives that support organizational growth and sustainability as well as creating successful collaborations and partnerships to achieve common goals.

Prior to joining NMCI, Gwen held a number of senior level positions in the museum field, which include experiences in the field range from the creation of exhibits and educational programs to the planning and design of new facilities. While with the National Air and Space Museum, she served as executive producer of its academy award-nominated film, Cosmic Voyage. As a board member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers, she spear-headed the formation and served as co-chair of the Equity & Diversity Committee and also served as a board member and Co-Chair of the Diversity in Action Task Force for the Association of Children's Museums.

Gwen holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Public Administration degree from The George Washington University.

Trudy Bourgeois is the CEO/President of The Center for Workforce Excellence. She is a leading expert on transformational leadership, a highly regarded leader in the field of workforce performance improvement, an acclaimed author, business coach and experiential learning facilitator. Bourgeois left behind an eighteen-year corporate career after climbing to Vice President of National Accounts of a Fortune 100 company, in order to create The Center for Workforce Excellence.

Bourgeois is the author of two leadership books: “Her Corner Office: A Guide to Help Women Find a Place and a Voice in Corporate America,” and “The Hybrid Leader: Blending the Best of Male and Female Leadership Styles.” She has also written articles and contributes to educational materials for corporations, associations and trade groups. She serves on several boards including the Network of Executive Women and Southwestern University and the National Association of Women Business Owners and University of Texas Denton-PLP Program.

Tiffani Orange is the Diversity & Worklife Manager for the Americas US at Ford Motor Company. She is responsible for implementing the corporate strategy for diversity and worklife throughout the Manufacturing, Marketing Sales & Service, and Product Development organizations. Tiffani is also the editor of Ford's "Diversity Is..." newsletter, a monthly e-publication that communicates the business case for diversity and worklife integration to employees in the Americas.

Tiffani is a member of the Ford African Ancestry Network (FAAN), where she is the co-chair of FAAN's Summer Intern Program and the editor of the FAAN Mail newsletter. She is also a member of the Women in MS&S.

Tiffani holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and Mass Communications from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC, and a Master's in Business Administration from The University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA.

Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale is the CEO of Barnes, O'Neale & Associates. She is a woman with something to say. And say it she does in her trademark style with humor, intelligence and more than a little compassion. Her knowledgeable, thought provoking, and captivating approach has delighted audiences around the globe. Her most recent international invitation was to speak in Bangalore, India to over 400 women from the countries top Information Technology companies. Her five state speaking tour with Office Depot and eWomenNetwork has received rave reviews.

Ms O’Neale brings passion, knowledge and insight when talking about her first book or her premier workshop topics. Rosalyn recently completed a prestigious 2-year appointment as the Executive Vice President of Diversity Initiatives for MTV Networks. Her work was documented in Harvard Business Review and resulted in receiving the 2004 CDO/CEO Team Award from Diversity Best Practices.

Dr. Vanessa J. Weaver is the CEO and founder of Alignment Strategies, Inc., a Washington, D.C. management consulting firm, specializing in management consulting, diversity management, and business development. Dr. Weaver has more than 25 years experience in organizational management and human resources, with an emphasis on business restructuring, marketing, and diversity management. Clients of her firm are Fortune 100 companies, such as: Procter & Gamble, IBM, Pfizer, and Verizon, just to name a few. Prior to Alignment Strategies, Dr. Weaver designed and implemented various diversity initiatives focused on the recruitment, retention and advancement of women and Multi-Cultural employees during her 14 year P&G career. Dr. Weaver has a B.A. in Psychology. She holds a Masters and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

Jennifer Brown is the Founder of Jennifer Brown Consulting, a leadership, communications and diversity-consulting firm based in New York City. Her expertise currently resides in the leadership, diversity/inclusion, and communications arena for major corporations and non-profits. Jennifer regularly facilitates roundtable-learning events for senior leaders on the topic of building equality in the workplace, with a specific focus on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. She assists company leadership and HR and Diversity professionals in understanding the business case for incorporating best diversity practices, and helps them build a plan to get there. Jennifer also enjoys her one-on-one media training and coaching of executives and other public speakers in the preparation and delivery of speeches, so that they inspire their internal and external stakeholders with a powerful, personal vision for themselves and their companies.

Stephanie Blackwood’s latest gay and lesbian marketing venture, Double Platinum, was started in 2001 with Arthur Korant. Double Platinum is a full-service marketing communications agency that specializes in the gay and lesbian market and is affiliated with the Publicis Groupe. Clients include Allstate, IBM, ING USFS, Lexus, Procter & Gamble, Pernod Ricard USA and PricewaterhouseCoopers among others. Double Platinum recently opened a Barcelona office to serve the European market.

Stephanie had previously started or partnered in three other gay-marketing focused businesses: Blackwood and Friends Public Relations (1991), Spare Parts, Inc. (1995) and the New York office of The Advocate, where she was associate publisher and vice president of marketing. She is actively involved in community service, currently serving on the board of directors of the Astraea National Lesbian Foundation, STREB S.L.A.M. and the Commercial Closet Association. Stephanie speaks regularly at marketing conferences in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Ray Flautt is Vice President and Corporate Diversity Manager for J.P. Morgan Chase. He and his team provide diversity consulting services to global business managers, diversity councils and HR practitioners. As strategic manager for the company's 125+ global Employee Networking Groups (ENGs), Ray serves to broker corporate-wide resources for numerous networks while helping the firm to leverage the ENGs' energy and expertise to meet diversity and business goals.

Prior to this assignment, Ray worked in Corporate Development as the Executive Coaching Practice Manager responsible for creating and implementing a firm-wide strategy and framework for building a coaching and feedback culture. He was a founding member of Coaching Coalition, a professional organization comprised of executive coaches and HR development practitioners, and is a member of the New York Chapter of the Association of Psychological Type. His professional affiliations include the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Resource Planning Society.

Lobna "Luby" Ismail, founder and president of Connecting Cultures, Inc., is a training specialist with fifteen years of experience in cross-cultural communication, cultural competency, Arab and American cultures, Islamic awareness and religious diversity.

The author of Doing Business in the Middle East and North Africa and Finding Diversity, Luby is frequently used as an expert by national media and major international news programs. She recently received press in Associated Press, The Washington Post and BBC World News. Luby has been selected to present at many conference, including the Iraqi Reconstruction conferences.

Luby has conducted training for Federal and State agencies, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and private corporations including AETNA, Walt Disney World, U.S. Department of Justice and Fairfax and Montgomery County Public Schools.

She holds a Master's degree in Intercultural Relations from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a B.A. in International Service from The American University in Washington, DC.

Darvi Mack is Diversity and Inclusion Manager for Weyerhaeuser Company, Federal Way, Washington. In this role she is responsible for workforce climate and culture, work life and diversity and inclusion for over 30,000 employees across North America. Darvi is considered an expert amongst her peers and professionals in the area of diversity and inclusion. Her previous assignment was Manager, EEO/AA and Diversity Manager.

Prior to these positions, Darvi served as Organization and Development Consultant where she worked directly with business leaders in the area of change management and developed diversity training as the Diversity Education Manager for the Diversity and Organization Development Offices. She earned her Masters of Arts from City University and her Bachelor of Science from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Darvi is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management, ORC Worldwide, Diversity Best Practices and National Speakers Association among others.

John-Anthony is responsible for the day-to-day operations of KPMG's national community involvement programs and drives the firm's commitment to corporate citizenship in the nonprofit arena and marketplace. He is also serves as the KPMG Americas citizenship lead, which covers the U.S., Latin America and Canada.

With nearly 20 years of human resources experience, he has led many diversity trainings, assisted in drafting corporate diversity philosophies and has helped established various affinity groups, including a people of color coalition, Latino, GLBT and other workplace affinity networks. As the Human Resources director at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, he organized a local GLBT HR association and helped found Out & Equal. More recently, he was instrumental in the redevelopment of the Washington D.C. Association of Latino Professional in Finance in Accounting and helped found the Hispanic and GLBT pride@kpmg networks in the KPMG Washington D.C. office, and their formation across the firm.

Sam Rubino is the President of Sam Rubino Associates, Inc. He helps his clients achieve their business goals and maximize productivity through workplace assessment, employee engagement, training and management coaching. His employee engagement practice focuses on building effective employee relations and on helping organizations design and manage employee resource groups. Additionally, he provides individuals with career transition coaching, including life planning for retirement.

Sam's professional experience was built at Citigroup, Inc., where he held positions in human resources, training and diversity management. He was the head of Citi's Employee Network Program, managing the strategic development and implementation of the program from its inception, guiding the operations of the diversity-focused groups. His career at Citi also included assignments in employee relations and as a business human resources director. Sam received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens College, City University of New York.

Lily Tang is a consultant, educator, and coach helping organizations more deeply access diverse talent and more effectively create inclusive work environments. She is trained in participant-centered facilitation and relationship-systems coaching. A senior affiliate of The FutureWork Institute, Ms. Tang is experienced in global organizational assessments and has led organizational development projects for Fortune 500 companies across four continents. She is a certified instructor for Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics and The Anti-defamation League. She serves on the boards of non-profit organizations, Asian Women Leadership Network and Charles B Wang Community Health Centers. Formerly an assistant professor of psychology and instructor in intercultural communications, Ms. Tang was also a research panelist for the Government University and Industry Research Roundtable. She speaks frequently on the imperative for integrating talent and culture in the global workplace.

Lora Yates is Director, Global External Manufacturing for Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company.

Since 2005, Lora has served as national co-chair of the GLBT Affinity Group known as GLOBAL (the Gay & Lesbian Organization for Business And Leadership) at Johnson & Johnson. In this role, she has brought GLBT topics to the forefront, championing a number of initiatives aligned to the businesses and the Johnson & Johnson Credo. During her term, GLOBAL has experienced significant growth, launching chapters and events across the United States. Lora also represents Johnson & Johnson in a consortium of GLBT Affinity Group leaders from Pharmaceutical companies in the Northeast, and sits on the advisory council for the NY Metro Out & Equal Regional Affiliate.

Lora earned her BS in Manufacturing Administration and an MS in Engineering Management from Western Michigan University. Lora is an elected member of her local Board of Education, currently serving a three-year term.

Tim Wikstrom is currently a consultant for Point Taken, which is a communications skills training company in Massachusetts. He has over a decade of training and communications experience, and has been responsible for training and operations for multiple vendors in the telecommunications industry, both nationally and internationally. Tim has had hands-on managerial responsibility in the areas of customer interaction, satisfaction and client relationship management and growth.

Tim has tailored and focused his experience to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry since 2004. His ability to build effective and open relationships allows him to provide a positive and interactive approach in his communication skills training workshops and peer-to-peer discussions. Tim has extensive experience in providing professional training in the areas of presentation skills, facilitation skills and moderating panel discussions.

Janice Won, Co-Active Partner in Integrative Strategies Group, is a consultant, speaker and coach with over 23 years of corporate human resources experience. She was formerly SVP, Human Resources with JPMorgan Chase where she held positions as diversity leader, senior human resources generalist and employee relations executive. Janice works with clients to create and implement targeted approaches for leadership development and strategies that advance talent for the executive pipeline. She co-founded JPMorgan Chase's Asian and Women of Color networks and was the architect of their professional development strategies. Janice also co-founded the national non-profit Asian Women Leadership Network and is currently Executive Vice President. She is on the board of directors for New York Chinese Cultural Center and has conducted research in the area of philanthropy for CUNY Graduate Center's Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society. Janice graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with a B.A. degree in Psychology.

Samuel D. Bernards is a Strategist for New Store Formats Design at Wal-Mart Stores US Division in Bentonville, Arkansas. He is responsible for concept and design of future Wal-Mart stores. Samuel also serves as the chairperson for the Asian Pacific Islander Associate Resource Group (API) at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The Wal-Mart Associate Resource Groups are making a difference in the way that we do business by focusing on diversity best practices, business support, associate development, community involvement, and recruitment and retention.

Samuel holds two degrees from Brigham Young University - a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics with emphasis in Computer Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration, Supply Chain Management from the Marriott School of Management. Samuel has more than 10 years experience in strategic business and systems value for retail, financial, and start-up companies.

Sharon Brogdon has been with Intel Corporation for thirteen years and is the African American Initiatives Manager. Serving in this capacity for the last five years, she manages external outreach, retention and development and communication strategies specifically targeted toward the African American population. During her tenure at Intel Corporation, Sharon has fulfilled roles in Strategic Marketing, New Product Launches and Military Product Regional Account Management.

Prior to joining Intel, Ms. Brogdon served twelve years as a Data Communications Officer in the U.S. Navy, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Dr. Yvette Burton, Global Business Development Executive for IBM, advises senior level clients on innovative approaches to large-scale human capital management strategies. In her current role, she also leads go-to-market channel partnerships and business research initiatives that drive sales and business relationships with GLBT markets in the US., AP, Latin America, and Europe. As a management consultant, published author, and noted business researcher, Yvette is an expert in the field of knowledge management and organizational intelligence. As an executive coach, she has helped numerous corporate senior executives and leadership teams drive complex cultural business transformations.

Yvette has a doctorate in Human and Organizational Systems and Masters of Art in Organizational Development from the Fielding Institute, a Masters of Art in Criminal and Procedural Law from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and a Bachelors of Art in Psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Sandra Bushby, Director, Gender Initiatives at KPMG. She helps drive the firm's inclusion and Employer of Choice efforts. Prior to joining KPMG, Sandra served on the Executive Committee for the Network of Executive Women where she advised Fortune 500 organizations on the design and implementation of women's initiatives focused on the development and advancement of female talent.

Sandra has more than 15 years experience in performance improvement, executive development and aligning people practices with strategic business direction. Her focus on gender work-style diversity has produced results for many Fortune 500 organizations.

Sandra is the advisor of a senior officer mentoring program, and is also a member of the American Society for Training and Development and Women in Communication. She is certified by the Institute of cultural Affairs in diverse group facilitation methods and is a Birkman certified executive coach.

Chiqui Cartagena is a Hispanic media pioneer with over 20 years of experience developing, launching, and running some of America’s most successful Spanish-language consumer magazines, including People en Español, and marketing programs like Club Musica Latina for Columbia House.

As Managing Director of Integrated Marketing, for Meredith Hispanic Ventures, Ms. Cartagena is in charge of the development and execution of a wide variety of Direct Marketing programs for a growing roster of clients interested in reaching multicultural consumers including, PepsiCo., MetLife, Kellogg’s and Unilever among others. Prior to joining Meredith Corporation Ms. Cartagena ran a consulting firm that worked with Fortune 500 companies, who wanted to get into the US Hispanic market.

Gregg Clifton, Assistant Vice President, GIS Communications at Merrill Lynch, has worked in corporate communications at Merrill Lynch since 2002. He is responsible for the Intranet sites of Merrill’s Technology & Operations groups and contributes to a variety of different employee communications including e-mail announcements, newsletters, video, posters etc. Gregg serves on the leadership committee of the Merrill Lynch LGBT Professional Network as Communications Coordinator. In this role, he maintains the group’s website and publishes a newsletter called Toro.

Prior to coming to Merrill Lynch, Gregg worked as an independent consultant creating websites and other interactive products for companies including The Children's Television Workshop, Citibank, National Discount Brokers, The Princeton Review, Tripod/Lycos and Voyager.

Gregg has a Master’s degree in Interactive Design from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University and an English degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Gregg was awarded the Merrill Lynch Leadership in Diversity Award in 2006.

Arisa Batista Cunningham is Vice President, Global Diversity, for the Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group Worldwide, Johnson & Johnson. She is responsible for the comprehensive global diversity strategy and action plans within all franchises of the MD&D Group to accelerate achievement of the Global Diversity Vision.

Ms. Batista Cunningham has extensive experience in U.S. and global management, marketing, strategic planning, business development and advocacy across a broad array of product categories with major consumer and pharmaceutical companies, including Procter & Gamble, Revlon, Chesebrough-Pond's/Unilever and Wyeth.

Ms. Batista Cunningham has made significant contributions in diversity as a member of the Johnson & Johnson Steering Committee of the Women's Leadership Initiative, co-chair of the Women of Color/Multicultural Women subcommittee, chapter leader of HOLA and winner of the J&J Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Award. She serves on the Advisory Board for the National Hispanic Health Foundation and the Executive Team of Madrinas, among others.

Desiree Dancy was named vice president, diversity and inclusion for The New York Times Company in October 2006. In this position, Ms. Dancy is responsible for developing, recommending and leading the implementation of diversity and inclusion program initiatives.

Before joining The Times Company, Ms. Dancy spent 12 years in corporate diversity with major investment banks in New York, including Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.

Desiree is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and sits on the Executive Committee of the American Advertising Federation’s Mosaic Council. She is also a member of the Newspaper Association of America’s Media Diversity Networking Group. 

Ms. Dancy received a B.A. degree from Audrey Cohen College in 1994 and a M.S. degree from The New School University in 1998. 

Jeff Flemings is the Senior Vice President and founder of Account Planning at Digitas. He leads the agency's Boston account planning group, which includes about 15 insight professionals with backgrounds in account planning, primary research, media and connection planning. He's an expert at generating and harnessing customer insight to develop creative marketing ideas.

Jeff is also creator and editor of the Digital Hive blog, which offers perspective on how consumers and marketers are responding to the evolution of digital marketing.

Prior to joining Digitas, Jeff spent a decade at Arnold Worldwide (best known for rebuilding the Volkswagen brand in North America), where he co-created the agency's Brand Essence™ brand approach, co-founded its award-winning Consumer Insight Group and ran Cipriani Kremer Design.

Jeff is a graduate of Amherst College and an honors graduate of the Harvard Business School, co-author of two HBS cases and a contributor to the Harvard Business Review.

Erby L. Foster, Jr. is Director, Diversity & Inclusion, for The Clorox Company, where he advises senior management and the board of directors on the Company's diversity strategy, employment-branding initiatives, and manages employee resource groups. Foster is a CPA with 15 years of experience creating and implementing business strategies that increase customer satisfaction, drive profitable growth, and expand market share.

Erby has played an important role in building strategic alliances to help companies achieve diversity business goals. In 2000, Foster was elected National President & CEO, National Association of Black Accountants, Inc. A native of San Francisco, California, Foster has been featured in Black Enterprise magazine, Diversity Matters, Illinois CPA Society, the Wall Street Journal, and worked with CFO magazine on the May 2001 cover story – The Illusion of Inclusion.

Martha Freitas is the Strategic Manager for the Southwest Division of the Kroger Company and the president of the company's employee resource group, Women's Excellence. Freitas began her career with Kroger in 1994 and has held a variety of positions, including assignments in operations and merchandising, store manager and her most recent assignment in Human Resources. Known as an agent of change she has also co-chaired the division's Cultural Council, a cross-functional team whose work is centered on decision-making processes and policies and procedures that support the creation of a culture that is inclusive and invigorating. Martha has been credited for championing organizational change to position Kroger Southwest as an employer of choice.

Daniel A. Gutierrez is Vice President in Merrill Lynch's Funding & Liquidity Management group.

With more than 10 years of financial industry experience, Daniel's current responsibilities focus on Latin American Funding initiatives, including issuance of vanilla and structured debt products in the local markets, relationship building, creating a funding infrastructure and supporting deal execution.

Daniel serves as the Co-Business & Execution Manager of the firm's Hispanic and Latin Professional Network (HLPN), a member employee organization that supports ML's diversity efforts by serving as a focal point of communication and exchange between the firm and its Latin and Hispanic American employee community. Its mission includes community leadership, recruitment & retention and business development.

Daniel was born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey by parents from Colombia and Costa Rica.

Fanée B. Harrison is Boeing’s Director of Cultural Diversity and Inclusion. In this role, Fanée is responsible for creating a competitive advantage for Boeing by developing a culture that is diverse and inclusive, promotes open dialogue, provides employees the maximum opportunity to impact business results improving teaming, efficiency, quality, productivity, growth and employee satisfaction.  Her previous positions included: Director of Affirmative Action, Employee Relations Director, Sr. Manager of Labor Relations. 

She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Industrial Relations Research Association-Southern California Chapter, an Advisory Board Member and Coach for the Los Angeles City Schools Collective Bargaining Project, a Certified Mediator with the West Angeles Church and a Commissioner with the State of California Speaker’s Commission on Labor Education.  

Fanée holds a MBA in Industrial Relations, a BS in Criminal Justice, a Human Resource Certificate, and successfully completed the University of Michigan Executive Human Resource Program. 

Kevin Jones is a Managing Director in Citi’s Risk Management organization, focused on projects and processes that support risk measurement and regulatory compliance. During his entire 11-year tenure with Citi, Kevin has worked very closely with Diversity and HR professionals in shaping the company’s policies and relationships that impact the LGBT workforce and community. He was a founding co-chair of both a national and a NYC Pride employee network group. Kevin is currently a co-chair of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition’s board of directors, and is a member of the Human Rights Campaign Business Council. He previously served as a member of the Out & Equal Workplace Advocates Board of Directors, where he also coordinated workshops for their annual summit.

Paula S. Jones joined Genentech, Inc. in 2006 as Senior Diversity Manager. Before joining Genentech, she specialized in leadership and management development as President of Paula S. Jones and Associates, Inc. For 15 years, she designed and implemented leadership assessment and coaching, team development, change management and leadership communication programs for Fortune 500 companies. Since 1995, Paula designed and delivered numerous LGBT leadership development events, including IBM GLBT Global Leadership Conferences from 2002-2003 and the Out and Equal Leadership Seminars from 2004 - 2006. An employment attorney for 24 years, she has also counseled clients, done diversity coaching and conducted training to prevent or remedy workplace discrimination and harassment. Paula has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of San Francisco Law School and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and is certified in MBTI. She is also member of the NTL Institute and the California State Bar.

Karen Kalina, Director, Strategic Business Development and Sustainability, Siemens One, has been part of the Women’s Information Network at Siemens (WINS) since it inception in 2004 and has served as Co-Chair for the last three years. A graduate of Wesleyan University and Columbia Business School, she worked in the fields of finance and consulting with a global focus at CDS International/UNIDO Fellowship, State Street Bank and Trust, KPMG and Credit Suisse. In her current role at Siemens, she has developed high-level financial value propositions for solution areas across Siemens and built up the company’s cross-operating company sustainability approach to corporate messaging, partner development and portfolio alignment.

Jonathan J. Kaufman is President of DisabilityWorks, Inc., a strategy firm based in New York City that works on a variety of disability and aging issues that impact business, government, educational institutions and personal lifestyle. With his undergraduate education at Sarah Lawrence College and Oxford University, he pursued his graduate work at the University of Chicago and Columbia University in the fields of Human Development, Psychiatric Social Work and Public Policy, and his Doctoral work in Applied Anthropology. Jonathan is currently an Adjunct Professor of Disability Studies at The Graduate Center at the City University and serves as the Co-Director of the Adaptations program. This program is the first of its kind to serve young adults in their 20’s and 30’s with learning disabilities and on the autism spectrum providing Social Skills and Career Development. Jonathan was born with cerebral palsy.

Faye Keller is the Senior Manager of Internal Diversity Initiatives for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In her current role, she is responsible for overall governance and support of the company’s Associate Resource Groups (ARGs). Faye works to create and sustain a diverse and inclusive workplace by leveraging the development opportunities and growth potential of the ARG leadership teams. 

Faye also serves as the business liaison to the organization by providing education and awareness through various marketing and communication channels, including the ARG newsletter. Faye developed the first ARG newsletter, The Resource, which highlights accomplishments of the groups and their value to the organization. 

Faye started with Wal-Mart as a paralegal. Since that time, she has served in various roles for Sam’s Club operations and samsclub.com.

In 2006, Faye received a Professional in Human Resources certification from the Society of Human Resource Management.

Cheryl Kern, Director Global Diversity & Inclusion for International Paper. Her responsibilities include strategic development, implementation and management of global diversity and inclusion programs that drive IP's commitment for a diverse and inclusive culture. Previous experiences include General Management roles focused on alliances/joint ventures for Boise Cascade Office Solutions, Integration One and xpedx. At Boise she managed the team responsible for the company's largest customer, General Motors. While at Integration One, her management team successfully achieved the company's first ISO 9001 status, a key requirement for firms servicing the automotive industry.

Cheryl is a member of SHRM, active as an Advisory Board Member of Minorities and Women In Business, a new Board Member of Facing History and Ourselves, the EEOC's E-RACE Committee, a member of Diversity Best Practices Global Council, and a past Board Member of the Council of Supplier Diversity Professionals (CSDP).

Sandra A. King began her career with Wal-Mart in June 2005, and she is currently a Senior Manager of Finance in the Strategic Finance Group within the Real Estate Division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Her successes at Wal-Mart include the FY07 Finance Emerging Leader of the Year, and two-time Unity Award Nominee in 2006 and 2007. Her leadership positions with the Women’s Resource Council include Co-Chair of Recruiting and Retention, Marketplace Committee Chair and her current role as Vice Chair.

Prior to joining Wal-Mart, she held financial management positions at Hamilton Sundstrand (United Technologies), Accenture and the Landmark Financial Group. Sandra graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelors of Science in Management in 1996 and a Masters of Science in Finance in 1998.

Sandra is actively engaged with the Benton County Women’s Shelter, and the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas.

Zackarie Lemelle, Vice President, Information Technology Corporate Systems, is responsible for J&J Legal, Global Communications, Worldwide Operations, Corporate Office of Science and Technology, J&J Development Corporation, Global Marketing and next generation procurement technology.

Prior to this, Zack was Worldwide Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Information Technology & Business Process Management for Ethicon, Incorporated; a J&J company. In this position, Zack was responsible for leading all information technology and process reengineering efforts directed at strengthening and growing this global business. 

Zack has thirty years of experience in the field of Information Technology and Process Management. Prior to accepting his current assignment, he served as Vice President/CIO for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical. He also served as Director, Business Reengineering at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, and is a founding member and former Co-Chair of the J&J African American Leadership Council.

Joe Lewis serves as secretary of the Ford Interfaith Network board, an employee resource group founded in 2001 with more than 3,000 members worldwide. He works in Ford's IT organization, helping to manage software development budgets, and he has also worked in Ford's recruiting department, bringing new talent to the company. Before joining Ford, he worked in insurance and communications, and taught college courses. He holds a Ph.D. in English.

Patricia Lin is the Senior Account Executive at Procter & Gamble. She joined in 1991 as a Sales Representative in Customer Business Development and has worked in the Beauty & Health and Household Care businesses, Human Resources and Pharmaceuticals.

As Chairman of the Asian Pacific American Leadership Team (APALT), Patricia has been involved with APALT since its inception in 1998, serving as Co-Chairman from 1999-2001, 2005-2007 and currently as Chairman since May 2007.

Patricia has contributed to diversity and talent development at Procter & Gamble for 16 years. She Founded the Asian Pacific American Customer Business Development Network in 1994 and served in board roles on the North Central Region Multicultural Network and Women’s Leadership Team.

Patricia graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has served as a Board of Director of the Alumni Association and currently as a Director on the Asian American Alumni Network.

Jenny Low, Community Relations Officer at the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, helps to execute the firm's philanthropic mission of building vibrant and sustainable communities. She manages a portfolio of social investments of grants and relationships with civic, charitable and political leaders in the metro New York area.

Jenny led the firm's Asian employee affinity group, AsPIRE, as a past chairperson. She's currently a member of AsPIRE's Advisory Committee.

She's the Board Chair of Chinese-American Planning Council, and is the first Chinese-American elected as a Democratic District Leader in the Chinatown/Lower East Side area. Jenny is a Vice Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee.

Jenny received several awards including: New York City Council Proclamation for outstanding community service and leadership, and the NAAAP Corporate Leadership Award for leadership in corporate employee affinity groups and in the Asian community.

Jenny has B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Management Sciences from Yale University.

Ana Duarte McCarthy is Chief Diversity Officer, Citigroup. Appointed to the role in 2002, Ana is responsible for the development and integration of Citi’s workforce diversity strategy for attracting diverse talent, workforce development, fostering an inclusive work environment and ensuring management accountability.

She is a member of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. Ana also serves on the Corporate Advisory Board of the National Council on Research for Women, and on the board of directors of the Families and Work Institute. Among other recognitions, Ana was honored as Citi's Hispanic Corporate Achiever in 2001, Hispanic Business magazine's 2001 and 2007 Corporate Elite list, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates’ Champion for Workplace Equality in 2007 and in 2005 was named to the YWCA-NYC Academy of Women Leaders. 

Ana received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Lafayette College and a master of education degree from Columbia University.

Sabrina McCoy is responsible for managing leadership development programs geared towards women, people of color, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees, identifying diverse talent recruiting sources, acting as liaison to numerous employee resource groups and partnering with strategic business units to tap diverse markets. A 23-year employee, she has served in corporate regulatory compliance as an underwriting and financial consultant for self-insured clients, a risk manager and as a financial services-industry underwriter. Sabrina is an active member of the Women of Color Leadership Book Club and a former officer of the Minority Development Council and advisor to the Chubb Black Employee Network. 

Sabrina was the recipient of the 2006 Central New Jersey Tribute to Women and Industry Award. She earned her B.S. degree in Marketing and Management from New York University, an MBA in Finance from Pace University and the A.R.M. professional certification.

Joan M. McGovern is the founder and director of the Access Ability Resource Center at JPMorgan Chase since 2004. She serves as a catalyst and an advocate for disability issues affecting employees and customers.

Joan began her career at JPMorgan Chase as a Data Systems Analyst in the General Auditing Department, and went to work in various units including Risk Management, Human Resources and Chase Automotive Finance.

Joan holds a Masters in Public/Healthcare Administration and is frequently asked to speak on behalf of the disabled segment. She has been in The New York Times and Diversity Inc., and seen at the New York Stock Exchange Opening Bell Ceremony for National Disability Awareness Month.

Her work on disability issues has resulted in recognition for JPMorgan Chase from the American Association of People with Disabilities, Abilities Inc., League for the Hard of Hearing, and the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind.

Michele Morningstar is the Program Manager in the Global Workforce Diversity for the Native American/Canadian Aboriginal and Global Diversity Councils (DC) and Diversity Network Groups (DNG). Her primary role is to initiate, coordinate and communicate between the Native American and Canadian Aboriginal communities and IBM, She is responsible for keeping the Native American and Canadian Aboriginal Executive Task Force informed, motivated, innovated and engaged in relevant activities regarding the initiatives and programs they endorse. For both the DCs and DNGs she not only facilitates the program plans, but also deals with problems facing the formation of any employee group that relates to legal or other challenges for the company, and helps facilitate the natural life continuum of the groups.

My tribal affiliation is Oneida. My current position as the program manager in Workforce Diversity has been the most rewarding position I have ever held.

Shadia Oshodi currently serves as an Engineer at Genentech, Inc. and Co-Chairman for the African Americans in Biotechnology (AAIB) - a diversity network group for which she's been involved in throughout her tenure at Genentech. AAIB was the first affinity group started at Genentech, Inc in 1993 and has evolved over the years in meeting the needs of its members and positively impacting the Genentech, Inc. community at large. Shadia is an engineer with Process Research & Development at Genentech, Inc. Her work involves developing biotech processes to support the Pre-Clinical through Phase II stages of drug development. Her initial role within the company was as an analyst in a leadership and development rotational program within Product Operations. Shadia joined Genentech after receiving her B.S.E in Biomedical Engineering and a Certificate in Markets and Management from Duke University.

Lisa Witter is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Fenton Communications, where she orchestrates projects for women’s issues and global rights with such organizations as Women for Women International and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. She is the co-author of The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World – And How to Reach Them (June 2008). Witter is also co-founder of the award winning SheSource.org, Institute for Democratic Future and EMERGE: Women Leaders for a Democratic Future. In addition, she is on the Board of directors for Climate Counts, national advisory board for MomsRising.org and communications advisory council for Women for Women International. Witter is also a political and social commentator and blogger.

Jie "Jay" Zheng is a Program Manager at Sun Microsystems. He is the President of National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) Colorado. Jie started Asian Alliance at formal StorageTek in Colorado in 2002 and currently leads Sun Asian Diversity Network (ADN) initiatives. Eighteen months ago, he founded an ERG based non-profit professional organization (NAAAP Colorado) to establish critical mass in the Asian professional community to share ERG best practices, facilitate professional development and cultivate an environment for Asian Americans to demonstrate leadership outside of day-to-day job function.

Jie is from Shanghai, China. He held several positions at formal StorageTek and Xerox Corporation in Business Development, Sales Support, Vendor Management and Product Development. Jie received MBA in Marketing, E-Commerce and Entrepreneurship from Simon Business School, University of Rochester in 2000, MS in Polymer Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1995.