Peggy Marie Alford, SVP Core Markets – PayPal and Board Director – Facebook

Peggy Marie Alford is senior vice president of core markets at PayPal. She leads the company’s commercial teams in its largest and most established markets, including North America, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Northern Europe and Australia. In this role, Peggy brings extensive experience leading high performing teams across product development, finance and growth strategy. She has thrived throughout her career by building and leading experienced and diverse teams, following a culture of collaboration that allows teams to develop scalable and effective solutions.

Peggy has held numerous senior leadership roles at PayPal, including senior vice president of people operations; chief operating officer for Asia Pacific and global cross border trade; and vice president and chief financial officer for the Americas region. In March 2019, Peggy returned to PayPal after two years as chief financial officer and head of operations at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organization.

Prior to joining PayPal in 2011, Peggy worked at Rent.com, a national internet real estate listing service and former subsidiary of eBay Inc., where she served in positions of increasing responsibility, including president, general manager and chief financial officer. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and serves on the Board of Directors of Macerich (NYSE:MAC).

Driven by her passion to help others succeed, Peggy serves as an advocate for children, women, and minorities. She was an honoree at the 2018 Culture Shifting Awards which recognizes leaders and pioneers of diversity.

Umran Beba, Chief Global Diversity and Engagement Officer – PepsiCo

Umran Beba is the global diversity, engagement and talent officer for PepsiCo, a consumer products company with customers in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Last year, the organization generated more than $64 billion in net revenue, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker and Tropicana. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Umran leads PepsiCo’s global diversity agenda, working with sector leadership teams to execute a sustainable roadmap for the company’s performance with purpose-people goals. She is also responsible for overseeing talent management, including talent assessment & development, PepsiCo University, human capital management strategy & workforce analytics, enterprise organization development, change management, organization design, HR operations, core services, and PepsiCo’s labor center of expertise.

Umran has held a wide range of roles since joining PepsiCo in 1994. Her previous role was as senior vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO). Prior to that, she served as senior vice president and chief HR officer for PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and North Africa, based in Dubai. Earlier in her career, she served as business unit general manager of PepsiCo’s East Mediterranean business unit, comprising Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq, and subsequently as president of two different regions – South East Europe and Asia Pacific.

Umran began her PepsiCo career at Frito-Lay in Turkey, where she held positions including marketing director, HR director and ultimately general manager.

Katie Bouton, Founder & CEO – Koya Leadership Partners and President – Diversified Search

Katie Bouton is the president of Diversified Search, a role she assumed following Diversified Search’s 2019 acquisition of Koya Leadership Partners, where she remains in the role of founder and CEO. Katie established Koya in 2004 to recruit talented leaders to mission-driven organizations, guided by a belief that “the right person in the right place can change the world.”

With over 20 years of experience in executive search and organizational development, she has built senior leadership teams at leading national and international organizations and partnered closely with founders, boards, and donors to deepen the impact of today’s most pioneering mission-driven organizations. In addition to executive search, Katie’s areas of focus include leadership development, recruitment and retention best practices, company culture, purpose driven organizations, and diversity initiatives.

Katie began her career in the public sector as a human resources generalist at the Institute for Teaching and Research on Women and the Women’s Law Center of Maryland. She then moved to the private sector, working as a human resources manager at Edelman Public Relations and ChildrenFirst.

A widely sought-after thought leader around issues of leadership, diversity, and inclusion, she was a finalist for EY’s prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year® 2018 New England program, and is a Boston Brava Award Winner from SmartCEO, which recognizes high-impact women business leaders. With a strong commitment to civic and women’s leadership, Katie serves on numerous boards, and currently serves as chair of the board of IGNITE, a bipartisan initiative committed to building the next generation of female political leaders. She also sits on the boards of The Home for Little Wanderers and her alma mater, the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire, and serves as a corporator of the Newburyport Bank. In addition, Katie is a Fellow at Pipeline Angels, a network of new and seasoned women investors that is changing the face of angel investing and creating capital for women social entrepreneurs. She is also a member of the Massachusetts Women’s Forum, a community of top women leaders from all sectors of society.

Deb Bubb, Chief Leadership, Learning & Inclusion Officer – IBM

Deb Bubb is an HR vice president and chief leadership, learning & inclusion officer at IBM. She leads the organization responsible for executive leadership succession, executive search and integration, management and leadership development, corporate learning, and diversity and inclusion. As part of the company’s transformation, Deb and her team are reinventing leadership and culture at IBM.

With her team, Deb guides IBM’s award-winning diversity and inclusion efforts, which have been recognized with four Catalyst Awards; 33 consecutive years in Working Mother’s Top 100 Companies; and a Hall of Fame award from the National Association for Female Executives, among many others. At the same time, Deb is an executive sponsor of the company’s Be Equal campaign—promoting gender equality in business leadership by engaging IBMers, our clients and communities, and society at large.

Deb and her team take a data driven, behavioral-science based, and human-centered approach to driving new insights and capabilities for IBM’s leadership team. By embedding inclusion and engagement into the company’s management system, they are co-creating a challenging and supportive environment, marked by clear purpose and strong IBMer engagement. Continuous learning is a longstanding company priority, and Deb and her team are harnessing IBM’s cloud and AI solutions to ensure IBMers have the skills to thrive in today’s marketplace and face the future with confidence.

Prior to joining IBM, Deb was a vice president and director of global leadership and learning at Intel Corporation. Her background in human resources and leadership includes deep experience in strategic business partnership roles, organizational and leadership development, as well as HR operations management.

Valerie Camillo, President of Business Operations – Philadelphia Flyers

Valerie Camillo is president of business operations for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center. In this role, Valerie oversees all business functions for the NHL franchise and one of the country’s busiest arenas.

In a prior role, Valerie joined Comcast Spectacor from the Washington Nationals, where she was chief revenue and marketing officer. Throughout her tenure there, she led the development and implementation of the Nationals’ strategies to maximize commercial opportunities and drive long-term growth. She was responsible for all revenue generation functions, including corporate partnerships, licensing, ticket & suite sales, broadcasting, marketing, brand management, retail, food & beverage, and non-baseball events at Nationals Park.

Prior to joining the Nationals, Valerie was a senior vice president in the NBA’s Team Marketing and Business Operations (TMBO) group. In this role, she provided strategic advisory services to multiple NBA teams with regards to revenue generation, marketing, analytics, technology and property development. Before joining the NBA, she worked for 15 years as a consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Ayana Champagne, VP & Chief HR Officer – Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Rachel Davis, Deputy CEO – Armstrong Craven

Rachel Davis is deputy CEO of Armstrong Craven. She was part of the team involved in the MBO of the firm in 2013. Rachel joined Armstrong Craven in 1998 and is responsible for business development and driving the sales performance of the business globally. She previously held roles as COO and practice lead, responsible for driving the global growth of the healthcare and life sciences practice.

Armstrong Craven is a global insight, talent mapping and pipelining specialist with offices in London, Manchester, Geneva, Singapore and New York. The firm works across a number of industry sectors including technology, healthcare and life sciences, professional and financial services, industrial and consumer. Armstrong Craven clients are some of the world’s most influential and respected businesses, and are often undergoing transformational change and need to identify and recruit high demand or specialized talent.

Mary Francia, Partner Board Practice – Odgers Berndtson

Mary Francia is a partner in the board practice for Odgers Berndtson. Based in the Atlanta office, she brings 25 years of international leadership and executive management experience in telecom, consumer electronics, media, and healthcare to help boards with composition strategy and succession planning.

Before joining Odgers Berndtson, Mary was managing director at SEROWIRES; a management consulting and advisory for market development, portfolio transformation, and risk management. Previously, she held strategy, marketing and sales roles at Nokia, Royal Philips, Time Warner Cable, Flex, and Air-Liquide in Europe and the Americas. She has also been a business strategy advisor at EICTA (Digital Europe); Philips Research, Bell Labs; The US National Science Foundation, and several technology incubators.

Geralyn McClure Franklin Ph.D., Consultant – Higher Education Leadership Search and Interim Business Dean – University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Geralyn McClure Franklin, Ph.D., is considered an innovative and experienced academic leader, having served as dean of business at three American institutions for over a decade and interim dean at another for two years. She led the College of Business and Economics at the United Arab Emirates University from 2014-2016. Today, Geralyn consults with business schools and universities across the U.S. and globally through her start-up venture GMF Academic Advisors, LLC along with her work as a search consultant at Higher Education Leadership Search. This year, she also is serving as interim dean of the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Geralyn has involved faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others to set new, and even transformational, directions for the business units she has headed. She has led efforts to secure external funding for scholarships, professorships, support of academic programming, faculty & staff development, building renovations, and general unit needs. As an academic, she has published more than 80 journal articles and 50 conference proceedings on human resource management, and employment law. She has co-authored five textbooks, including ‘Employment Regulation in the Workplace.’

Valerie Frederickson, Founder & CEO – Frederickson Partners

Valerie Frederickson, MS, CMP is founder and CEO of her eponymous company, Frederickson Partners, the largest independently owned people and HR executive search and consulting firm in the US.

As a people and talent thought leader and consultant for over 25-years, she guides some of the most important employers in the world with people, talent and HR executive searches, strategic HR consulting, and high-level interim HR support. Valerie places top HR executives in a variety of industries including high tech, software, wireless, insurance, pharma/biotech, and finance. Clients include Marqeta, Airtime, Dreambox Learning, ServiceNow, Workday, Autodesk, Uber and Alphabet.

Valerie is a leading human resource, people and talent executive search, and career management expert based in Silicon Valley. Recognized at a young age as one of “the top business thinkers in the country” (SF Chronicle), Valerie has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, ABC News, Wired Magazine, MSNBC, SHRM Online, Elle Magazine, Diversity Inc., HR Executive, and HR Magazine.

Sheila Greco, founder & CEO – SGA Talent

Sheila Greco is founder and Chief Executive Officer of SGA Talent, a certified minority owned premier recruiting and recruitment research firm. Committed to performance, quality and results, Sheila is a proven leader with over 30 years of recruiting experience. In addition to managing the firm, she leads the firm’s engagements for senior level positions for many of the company’s long-standing clients, with a particular expertise in professional services, healthcare, consumer packaged goods and manufacturing.

As an industry expert, she has developed trusted relationships with talent acquisition leaders and human resources at Fortune 1000, start-ups, as well as emerging growth companies. Sheila has earned a reputation as someone who delivers as an “honest and transparent partner”.

Previously, Sheila spent several years with Goodrich & Sherwood, an executive search company in New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut. She began her career as a research associate and ascended quickly, ultimately becoming a Director of Executive Search, specializing in consumer packaged goods marketing and sales.

Courtney Hagen, Chief Talent Officer – Littlejohn

Courtney Hagen is chief talent officer of Littlejohn, a firm that makes private equity and debt investments primarily in middle market companies. In this role, she works to ensure the talent strategies of Littlejohn’s portfolio companies support the investment thesis through executive and board member recruitment, succession planning, merger and acquisition integration, and organization & culture development programs.

Previously, Courtney was senior vice president of human resources for LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, where she worked across brands and functions in North America to create and execute strategic programs to support talent needs for LVMH and its portfolio of over 70 brands. Prior to joining LVMH, she led global executive talent acquisition for PepsiCo across sectors, functions and geographies. She joined PepsiCo from Russell Reynolds Associates, where she led searches for marketing, sales and HR executives.

Earlier, Courtney led business development and marketing strategy for cobranded card partnerships at American Express Co. She started her career with management consulting firm Bridge Strategy Group/Renaissance Worldwide, where she led strategy consulting engagements for Fortune 1000 companies in the U.S., Europe and South Africa.

Christina Hall, Chief People Officer – LinkedIn

Christina Hall is senior vice president and chief people officer at LinkedIn, where she leads the teams responsible for hiring, developing, and rewarding top talent, including all benefits and employee experience programs. She joined the company in 2013 to lead global compensation and HR M&A.

Prior to joining LinkedIn, Christina led the compensation team at Facebook during the company’s 2012 IPO. Before Facebook Christina spent six years at Intuit, where she held several senior positions in legal and HR, culminating in leading the total rewards organization. She is also an attorney who began her career practicing law in the areas of executive compensation and employee benefits, most recently at Latham & Watkins.

Amy Hayes, Managing Director – Russell Reynolds Associates

Amy Hayes is a senior member of the Russell Reynolds Associates’ global leadership and succession practice. Amy advises boards and CEOs of leading global organizations on the creation and execution of leadership and succession programs to ensure high levels of corporate governance. Amy leads large-scale engagements across sectors and geographies for clients including Fortune 100, public and private companies. Her consulting centers around benchmarked talent assessments of and development planning for teams and high potential individuals. In addition, she leads talent assessments for M&A/Private Equity due diligence, hiring and promotions and advises companies on organizational change and culture initiatives. Amy is also a member of the firm’s diversity practice.

Prior to joining Russell Reynolds Associates, Amy worked as a consultant focusing on coaching and leadership development, succession planning, selection decisions and strategic change management.

Amy is a frequent guest speaker and her research has been cited in books and published in professional journals such as directors and boards and the American Psychological Association’s Small Group Research. She has presented her research and insights on personality and leadership success at several professional association meetings, including the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is a Director of the American Red Cross – Metro Atlanta Chapter and the Virginia Tech Foundation board.

Keesha Jean-Baptiste, SVP and Chief Talent Officer – Hearst Magazines

Keesha Jean-Baptiste is senior vice president, chief talent officer for Hearst Magazines, overseeing the division’s people and culture, including talent, engagement, leadership and employee experience.

Before joining Hearst in 2018, she was senior vice president of talent, engagement and inclusion at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), the leading trade association representing the advertising agency industry. At the 4A’s, Keesha led the production of thought leadership for the industry and member agencies around recruitment, professional development, leadership and inclusion. She also oversaw diversity-focused initiatives for the 4A’s Foundation, including the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program.

Prior to 4A’s, she spent six years at Wieden+Kennedy beginning in 2011, first as a recruiting manager, and then as director of talent and human resources. During her tenure at Wieden+Kennedy, she executed a strategic reimagining of the agency’s human resources department. From 2005 to 2010, she held various senior-level human resources roles at Digitas. She started her career in marketing, also at Digitas, and previously was the business development director at Essence.

Dale E. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer – Diversified Search

Dale Elton Jones is president and CEO of Diversified Search, a key global partner of AltoPartners worldwide. His responsibilities include management of the firm and its global CEO advisory ‎services.

Before joining Diversified in 2013, Dale served as vice chairman and partner of the CEO and board practice at Heidrick & Struggles International, where he consulted with CEOs and corporate boards on human capital issues including recruiting, retention, succession planning, and corporate governance. He also served as one of H&S’s leaders in its global telecommunications and global consumer practices.

Prior to entering search, Dale held a series of positions in business with increasing responsibility. He has also taken on special strategic roles to serve Steve and Jean Case, founders of AOL, as CEO of Revolution Ventures. Dale brings many years of longstanding relationships ‎to his clients from his involvement with YPO, the CEO Forum, and the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is an experienced and sought- after advisor on leadership issues for Fortune 500 companies.

Kelly Lewis, Director – Turnkey Search

Linda Livingstone, President – Baylor University

Dr. Linda A. Livingstone began her tenure as Baylor University’s 15th president on June 1, 2017. A distinguished scholar and academic leader, she previously served as dean and professor of management at The George Washington University School of Business from 2014 to 2017 and as dean and professor of management at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management from 2002 to 2014.

Linda’s presidency marks her return to Baylor after time on the Waco campus from 1991 to 2002. She served as a faculty member and was awarded tenure in the department of management before serving four years as associate dean of graduate programs for the Hankamer School of Business.

As Baylor’s president, Linda has overseen the development of its academic strategic plan, Illuminate, which details Baylor’s pursuit of becoming a preeminent Christian research university. Dr. Livingstone leads the $1.1 billion comprehensive campaign that undergirds Illuminate, called Give Light, which has impacted every aspect of campus life and has bolstered financial support for students, faculty, and the campus community.

Lisa Peacock-Edwards, Managing Partner – Wilton & Bain

Lisa Peacock-Edwards is a managing partner at Wilton & Bain. She has over 15 years of global executive search and leadership advisory experience across the corporate markets sectors of financial services, commerce and industry. She has led practices in EMEA, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Lisa specializes in working with global businesses going through growth or transformation especially within technology, data, digital and commercial.

Denielle Pemberton-Heard

Neela Seenandan, Co-CEO & Managing Partner – Hanold Associates

Neela Seenandan is the co-CEO & managing partner of Hanold Associates. She’s focused on leading senior level professional services and HR leadership assignments. Neela joined the firm from Nielsen where she was the senior vice president of human resources responsible for North America consumer. She was responsible for driving the strategic talent agenda including recruiting, compensation, talent management and diversity & inclusion.

Before Nielsen, Neela had a progressive career within Aon Corporation. Upon joining in 2006, she served as the vice president of executive talent acquisition and development where she focused on strategic senior level hires across Aon Consulting Worldwide and Aon Risk Services. In 2007, she was promoted to vice president, global head of human resources for Aon Re Global. After the acquisition of Benfield in 2008, Neela ran the global HR integration of the newly formed Aon Benfield. Neela was asked to lead the HR integration of Aon and Hewitt Associates and become the global head of HR for the integrated business, Aon Hewitt.

Starting in 2000, Neela was with McKinsey & Company where she ran recruiting and professional development for North America & the business technology office. Responsibilities included recruiting, training, succession planning, reviews, compensations and executive development. Neela also worked closely with the senior leadership team in the financial services and insurance practice and in the last two years at McKinsey focused on executive development and partner and director performance coaching.

Ellen Shultz, Executive Vice President of Talent & Inclusion – The New York Times

Ellen C. Shultz is executive vice president of talent and inclusion and a member of the executive committee at The New York Times. In this role, she provides strategic guidance to the CEO and has operational oversight of the global HR function. She is responsible for attracting, retaining, compensating, motivating and developing a diverse global workforce during a period of rapid change. Ellen also sits on the board of directors for the Emma Bowen Foundation, an organization helping to build a more diverse media industry.

Previously, from 2015-2016, Ellen served as vice president and head of human resources at Media General, a broadcast and digital conglomerate. She led all HR functions and was tasked with integrating the cultures of the legacy broadcasters and digital acquisitions that made up the company’s portfolio.

Ellen worked for 15 years at Time Inc., joining as a manager in recruitment and serving in a number of successively senior roles in the HR department. From 2005-2010, she was based in London, where she led the company’s International HR operations. In her final role at Time Inc., she served as vice president, HR operations and systems, leading the operations and HR data functions, labor relations and the International HR department.

Ellen began her professional career in the retail sector before moving to human resources management and talent recruitment as a researcher and recruiter at The Barack Group in 1997.

Robin Toft, Founder & CEO – Toft Group Executive Search

Robin Toft is the founder and CEO of Toft Group Executive Search, where she combines a deep inside knowledge of the life science industry with a passion for building game-changing management teams. Robin has placed more than 500 executives at innovation-led companies in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, life science tools and digital health.

A champion of diverse executive teams, Robin has built a reputation for recruiting women and minorities into top roles and helping the life science industry overcome unconscious bias in hiring. Prior to founding Toft Group in 2010, Robin served 20+ years as a biotech executive. In 2019, Robin authored her first book, “WE CAN: The Executive Woman’s Guide to Career Advancement,” available on Amazon. WE CAN offers practical insight, wisdom and encouragement for women to realize the career of their dreams. It is recognized within the list of 100 Best CEO Books of All Time by BookAuthority. Robin serves on multiple non-profit boards, is an inaugural member of the Susan G. Komen San Diego Advisory Council, was awarded Woman of the Year in San Diego in 2017, and a finalist in Ernst & Young’s prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019. She has been honored as a finalist for San Diego Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” and “Most Admired CEO” awards in multiple years.

Kathy Ventura, Partner – Caldwell

Kathy Ventura leads Caldwell’s marketing officers practice and recruits marketing, digital, growth and customer experience leaders for clients across all industries. She has extensive experience recruiting leaders to Fortune 500 and smaller, high-growth companies seeking to elevate the impact of marketing, digital and customer experience to drive growth. She also leads Caldwell’s corporate communications and investor relations practice. Kathy has clients in both established and emerging industries from retail and consumer, to professional services, healthcare, technology, fintech and life sciences/cannabis.

Prior to joining Caldwell, Kathy was a core member of the consumer, marketing and digital practices at Russell Reynolds and co-led the firm’s corporate communications practice. She started her career as a member of the Procter & Gamble team at Grey Advertising.

Jacqueline Welch, Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Diversity Officer

Jacqueline M. Welch is senior vice president, chief human resources officer and chief diversity officer of Freddie Mac. She is a member of the company’s senior operating committee and reports directly to CEO David Brickman.

As chief human resources officer, Jacqueline delivers business and subject matter leadership, strategy and execution to the senior leadership team on organizational design and development, change leadership and alignment of all HR functions such as performance management processes, compensation programs and learning and development. In her role as chief diversity officer, she leads Freddie Mac’s diversity and inclusion strategy of its workforce and supplier diversity programs, as well as across business activities. She is also responsible for the compliance of the diversity reporting requirements required by law and directed by Freddie Mac’s regulator and conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Welch also oversees the corporate community engagement program and our 10 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).

Jacqueline brings to Freddie Mac more than 20 years of experience in HR strategy and execution, including most recently as senior vice president of international human resources for Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta. Previously, she worked for organizations such as West Rock (formerly Rock-Tenn Company), Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) and Willis Towers Watson (formerly Towers Perrin). Welch began her career as a merchant with Lord & Taylor, then a division of The May Department Stores.