Kat Zacharia

JPMorganChase

Head of Organizational Effectiveness, Consumer and Community Bank

Kat Zacharia is the Global HRBP head for Legal supporting the General Counsel and the department of attorneys across all lines of business. Previously, she was the Head of Senior Team Effectiveness leading a global team to support senior leadership teams across the firm in their development into high performing and value creating teams. In her role, she also delivered executive development programs serving the top 1000 leaders at the firm. 

Prior to joining JP Morgan in 2018, Kat worked at Korn Ferry Hay Group, where she was a Client Partner, helping global clients in Healthcare, Media and Entertainment, Technology and Non-Profit with executive and organizational development.  A social cultural anthropologist, she brings with her deep experience in culture transformation, organizational assessment, high-performing teams and diversity, equity and inclusion. She embeds storytelling in everything she designs and delivers. 

Kat holds an M.B.A from Tulane University and Master of Arts, in Social Anthropology from York University in Toronto. She did her doctoral studies in Education, Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania before she made a career pivot and moved into media and entertainment to lead an industry-wide diversity and inclusion initiative focused on leadership acceleration and workforce development. 

She lives in Montclair, New Jersey with her husband and two children.  She has been an advocate and volunteer for youth and microenterprise development throughout her career. She is a hot yoga instructor and is feeding an emerging love for gardening and improv.

Jeff Waldman

ScaleHR

Founder & Principal

Jeff Waldman is the Founder and Principal at ScaleHR, a growing company that is hyper-focused on building the skills and careers of business leaders and HR professionals, in the technology sector. They have launched a variety of products including training programs and workshops, learning communities, coaching and mentorship programs, and more. 

With more than 23 years of experience in leadership, HR, HR tech and entrepreneurship, Jeff has worked with organizations and people in dozens of countries around the world. He is a relentless community builder and has founded and participated in many industry initiatives including SocialHRCamp, HR Leaders Collective, Rethinking Disabilities, DisruptHR Toronto, DisruptHR Vancouver, and many more. Jeff is an avid blogger and speaker and has facilitated hundreds of talks on a variety of topics across the HR, Talent, and HR Technology spectrums. He has advised many startups and currently sits as a member of Venture for Canada’s Employer Advisory Council.

Originally from Vancouver, Jeff is currently living in the north part of the Greater Toronto Area with his amazing wife and three awesome young boys with whom he spends his personal time. He also coaches his kids’ sports teams and is an avid hockey player and snowboarder.

Brando Ramos

L’OCCITANE Group

Manager Learning & Development Manager Learning & Development

Brando Ramos is a Co-Active Trained Professional Coach, who has experience in working with organizations across all levels, from Fortune 500 to start-up companies and in between. His key passions come in driving company culture, leadership development, and building multi-scale programs. His dedication to continuous self-improvement is evident in his certifications, supporting career panels and providing coaching opportunities for BIPOC students and young professionals.

Prudence Pitter

Amazon Web Services

Global Head of HR - Automotive and Manufacturing & HCLS

Prudence Pitter is a business executive with over two decades of broad Human Resource expertise across several industries. In addition to her corporate HR roles, she previously served as Adjunct Professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior & Leadership and founded her own Human Resource Consulting practice, focusing on the people needs of small to mid-sized organizations. She is an active Board Member, and volunteers her time to help junior HR professionals, as well as to assist multiple single mothers prepare for back to school each year. Her passion is delivering leadership development presentations to business leaders, inspiring alignment of people practices to business priorities while keeping employee wellbeing as a key focus. She enjoys writing about HR trends, and influencing leadership behaviors that enhance the employee experience. Her Leadership Wellbeing Podcast recently wrapped season four and she is preparing for season five. She holds BS & MBA degrees, and the two highest HR Certifications; GPHR and SPHR.

Justin Fronberg

MGM Resorts International

Executive Director of Talent Acquisition

Justin Fronberg, a strategic talent leader with over 14 years of experience in highly matrixed, growth-orientated environments. Justin is a dedicated and results-driven leader known for his commitment to servant leadership principles. With a passion for empowering others and fostering collaboration, Justin excels in creating inclusive and high-performing teams.

Justin is the Executive Director of Talent Acquisition for MGM Resorts International and is responsible for developing and leading the strategy and operation of the recruiting function for all Las Vegas Properties, Corporate, Technology, Executive Recruiting, and Sourcing. He leads a team of recruiters to support the overall organizational goals and objectives for attracting talent while ensuring the candidate and hiring manager experience are delivered seamlessly.

During his time with MGM Resorts International he has supported the organization through its growth and development to become the leading entertainment company globally. More recently he has led the Talent Acquisition team through a transformation to become an agile and flexible recruiting model to align with the organizations growth and changing environment post pandemic.

Stephen Dwight

Takeda

Chief Talent Officer

Stephen Dwight, Ph.D. is the Chief Talent Officer at Takeda, a global pharmaceutical company.  Steve has more than 25 years of experience in Talent Management.  Prior to joining Takeda Steve held senior roles at Vertex, Novo Nordisk, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sunovian (formerly Sepracor) where he created award winning talent management teams.  He also has consulting experience, working at Aon Management Consulting and the Hay Group early in his career.  He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and is an author of 16 peer-reviewed publications.  His presentation and publication topics included: building integrated talent management, executive coaching, leadership development, succession, talent intelligence, employee engagement, fostering a coaching culture, belonging, and performance management.

Demetrice Bryant

Priceline

Senior Director, Support Services Customer Care

Currently, Demetrice is a dedicated and dynamic professional at Priceline who is pivotal in managing support services for travel operations. With a keen focus on enhancing customer care support and operational efficiency, Demetrice's responsibilities span many critical functions, including talent, learning, knowledge management, quality assurance, and performance improvement strategy. Her work in this area is marked by a strong sense of economic and personal responsibility, underscoring her reliability and the trust placed in them by Priceline and their partners.

Before working at Priceline, Demetrice enjoyed a twenty-six-year career working for companies like Kaiser Permanente, Verizon, Emory University, Children’s Health Care of Atlanta, The Coca-Cola Company, Amazon, and the State of Georgia. She has developed a legacy of programs that resulted in sustainable performance and process improvements that continue to yield annual organizational cost savings. 

Early in her career, she committed herself to further people and organizations through employment and volunteer opportunities. Her commitment can be seen in her role as a Board Member for NSDTA (National Staff Development & Training Association), and her presenter engagements for DevCamp, NEW (National Eligibility Workers Association), NCURA (National Council of University Research Administrators), and FRA (Finance Research Administration), Chief Learning Week (CLW). 

Brady Pyle

Space Center Houston

Vice President of Human Resources

Brady Pyle is the Vice President of Human Resources at Space Center Houston—a leading non-profit science and space exploration learning center that serves as Official Visitor Center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC).
Brady previously served in a variety of HR roles for NASA, retiring in February 2023 after a 30-year career with the federal government. He became an executive in 2016 as HR Director for JSC and ultimately earned his second NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal.  In 2018, Brady was promoted to Director of HR Services for NASA, responsible for leading the HR Executives for NASA’s ten field centers.  In 2020, he was named NASA’s Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer. 
Originally from Corpus Christi, Texas, Brady earned his Bachelor degree in Political Science and Master degree in Human Resources Management from Texas A&M University.  He joined NASA as a Graduate Cooperative Education student in 1995.
In 2013, Brady started a blog at OutOfThisWorldLeadership.com, where he serves leaders as they shoot for the stars.  Today, his blog covers more than 350 book summaries and ranks among Feedspot’s Top 100 Leadership Blogs.
 

Ryan Smith

T. Rowe Price

Director Of Leadership & Career Development

Ryan Smith is the director of leadership and career development at T. Rowe Price, a global asset management company, and is the driving force behind the organization's leadership, career, and management development philosophy and strategy. His unwavering passion and extensive experience are channeled toward developing opportunities for senior successors, career mobility, high-potential leaders, and managers. Ryan's collaborative approach with key stakeholders has led to the development and implementation of T. Rowe Price's innovative and practical framework for enabling careers and developing leaders today and in the future.

Before joining T. Rowe Price, Ryan was the director of leadership and development at Truist Leadership Institute. At Truist, Ryan was responsible for operationalizing and strategizing leadership programs to foster transformational behavior and support inclusive environments. During his 15-year tenure with Truist, Ryan led leadership and professional development by shaping, influencing, and executing the organization's learning strategies for 45K+ employees using innovative adult learning theories and blended learning solutions. Ryan's collaborative nature enabled him to design and implement modern executive and mid-level leadership programs and shape the next generation of leaders by developing an aspiring leader program.

Ryan earned a B.S. and M.S. in industrial and organizational psychology from Southern New Hampshire University and is certified in the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I 2.0), Situational Coaching, Change Style Indicator®, situational leadership, and consultative skills. 

Ryan's commitment extends beyond his professional life. He is deeply passionate about creating equitable access to quality leadership development and financial education, a commitment he demonstrates through his involvement in the Junior Achievement program. In his leisure time, Ryan enjoys exploring new places with his wife, Kimberly, and their two energetic boys, Tyler and Jayden. The Smith family shares a love for food and often embarks on culinary adventures, with Ryan being the designated comfort food chef. His family also describes him as a football fanatic (Roll Tide, Hail Commanders) and a smooth wedding dancer.
 

Czarina Ramsay

Walgreens

Director of Leadership Development

Czarina Ramsay serves as the Director of Leadership Development. She is responsible for building programs and practices that support leadership capability and skill development for executives, people managers, and leaders across the company. Before her time at Walgreens, Czarina was a senior manager for I&D Education/Learning at Starbucks Coffee Company. She built learning programs that created greater equity and drove inclusive behaviors. Czarina is passionate about creating organizational cultures and environments that support the employee experience and position employees to thrive. 

Czarina is an alumna of the University of Puget Sound. She received her B.A. in cultural anthropology and earned an M.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from The University of Vermont. In her free time, she can be found hanging out with her nieces, traveling, attending live concerts, and searching for the best place to enjoy a gluten-free cupcake!

Jill Goldstein

IBM Consulting

Global Managing Partner for Talent Transformation

Jill Goldstein is a 35-year seasoned HR professional having spent time as an HR Practitioner before jumping over to the service provider side. As the Global Managing Partner for Talent
Transformation at IBM Consulting, she combines technology with the creativity of people to help organizations reimagine how work gets done. She leads a global team of deep functional and technical experts (and lots of AI-assistants!) whose work is focused on helping clients deliver their talent agenda, accelerate their digital roadmap and establish a more modern HR function.
Prior to joining IBM, Jill spent over 15 years at Accenture helping to share and grown their Talent and HR business. Jill holds an undergraduate degree from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago.