Adam holds a Master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and has worked in the talent management industry for 20+ years leveraging assessments and technology for candidate selection, leadership development, team collaboration, and employee engagement. He has extensive experience advising F500 customers on the valid and legally defensible use of assessments and approaches to integrate employee development into the flow of work. Above all, Adam’s career passion is to help people improve their lives at work. 

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance journalist and From Day One contributing editor who writes about work, the job market, and women’s experiences in the workplace. Her work has appeared in the BBC, The Washington Post, Quartz at Work, Fast Company, and Digiday’s Worklife.

Marvie Wright started her career at Dialog Direct eight years ago in Dialog Direct as the training manager for Vehicle Service Contract department. After her remarkable work as a training manager coupled with her speech analytics outcomes, she was promoted to Director of Leadership training where she graduated over 400 leaders through a seventeen month leadership program. She continued to work with programs and clients utilizing Callminer. In 2018, Marvie was a double winner for Callminer winning analyst of the year and her team won the escape room challenge, what a year!

In 2019, Marvie was promoted to US Vice President of Learning and Development. Her responsibilities were expanded to oversee all agent training in the US. Once again after successful outcomes she received her current role of Global Vice President of Learning and Development were she currently responsible for all agent training, the instructional design department, learning specialist team, and the organizational SME department. Through this role Marvie has synergized learning and development to one system and processes across our organization. Notable outcomes for the department is the Global Nesting Playbook that has been instrumental in decreasing attrition across several programs. Curriculum redesigns that decreased training as much as eight weeks for our new hires. A monthly newsletter featuring many of our departmental employee just to name a few.

Marvie has a bachelor’s in business management and a Master’s in Adult Education and training. She is six sigma green belt certified, and John Maxwell certified to coach and train. In 2022 Marvie received the highest award within her organization as a leader from the CEO, “the shining star award.” On November 11, 2023, Marvie will receive her Doctorate degree in Ministry.

Charlie Tañala is the Head of Talent and Capability Development and Employee Experience at Innodata Inc., where he leads the organization’s strategies in learning solutions, leadership development, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), employee experience, and organizational communications across its Philippine operations. In this role, he drives major initiatives that future-proof Innodata’s workforce, strengthen digital learning ecosystems, and build inclusive, human-centered cultures.

As part of Innodata’s senior leadership team, Charlie supports the company’s global mission of developing highly skilled Filipino talent for complex data and AI workflows. His work integrates communication, development theory, and human-centered design to create programs that elevate capability, engagement, and culture. As a young HR leader, he is known for combining empathy-  driven leadership with a strong data and systems mindset, enabling him to design solutions and implement talent strategies that are both innovative and operationally grounded.

Charlie’s career spans more than a decade across organizational development, journalism, PR analytics, and digital communication. Before joining HR, he built a diverse portfolio that includes leading communication analytics operations, overseeing technical communication quality for Google, and managing financial news editing for S&P Global. This cross-industry experience shaped his philosophy that clear communication, continuous learning, and an inclusive culture are essential pillars of organizational success.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Development Communication at the University of the Philippines, where he deepens his expertise in how communication, learning, and change intersect within organizations. His work in DEIB, leadership enablement, and capability development has earned multiple industry recognitions, including accolades for excellence in HR and learning technologies, internal talent pipeline strategies, regional development, and Innodata’s recent win as Diversity Company of the Year at the 2025 Asia CEO Awards in the Philippines.