Marina Vassilev drives performance, profitability, and growth as the senior executive leader of Total Rewards for global organizations. She translates business vision and goals into actionable Total Rewards strategies and innovative programs that attract talent, engage employees, and maximize retention. Delivering strategies that balance employee priorities with cost targets, Marina optimizes a company’s investment in its people. She is equally adept at architecting and operationalizing value-add solutions, and she leads cross-functional teams to create, implement, and drive awareness of the programs that comprise a strong employee value proposition to gain advantage in competitive markets and industries.

Lauren Duprey is the chief human resources officer of Takeda with responsibility for delivering an exceptional people experience across the globe. She joined Takeda in August 2019 as head of Human Resources (HR) for the U.S. Business Unit, Global Product & Launch Strategy and the U.S. People Advisory Group. Since joining Takeda, Lauren has implemented a global transformation of HR, including a new operating model, structure, capabilities and technology.

Prior to joining Takeda, Lauren served as head of HR, U.S. Organization & Worldwide Medical at Biogen where she developed and drove the talent and organization strategy and served as a trusted advisor for key business, talent and organizational decisions. She has held various HR roles at companies such as General Electric and began her career in management consulting at Clarion Healthcare focused on biopharma commercialization.

Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Harvard University and an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management.

Lauren is based in Boston where she lives with her husband and three children.

Nicole Hockley chose to transform unspeakable grief and anguish into action after her youngest son, Dylan, was murdered in his first-grade classroom during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. As the co-founder and CEO of the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation (SHPF),

Nicole works every day to protect children from violence. SHPF is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Under Nicole’s leadership, the research driven Know the Signs violence prevention programs were created and are available to schools at no cost. More than 35 million have participated in these life-saving programs in schools and youth organizations nationwide. As a result, countless acts of violence have been averted — including at least 18 planned school attacks — saving precious lives and helping youth get much-needed mental health support.

Nicole is a leading voice on school safety and gun violence prevention. She is a sought-after keynote speaker and commenter. Her opinion editorials have been published by Newsweek, CNN, USA Today, and InStyle, and her commentary has been featured in CNN, MSNBC, Newsy, ABC, CBS, and NBC news coverage, among countless other media outlets. Driven by Nicole’s extensive background in strategic marketing, Sandy Hook Promise is rapidly becoming a household name. The award-winning and provocative PSA campaigns she helped co-create with BBDO New York have amassed hundreds of millions of views worldwide, including “Evan” which generated two billion impressions and 10 coveted Cannes Lions Awards, “Back-to-School Essentials,” and “Teenage Dream” which both earned prestigious Emmy Awards for Best Commercial in 2019, and 2021, respectively.

In 2024, Nicole was appointed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal School Safety Clearinghouse External Advisory Board as a Representative Member. She also began serving on the Issue Advisory Council for the Ad Council’s gun violence prevention initiative with a coalition of healthcare leaders and subject matter experts. Nicole received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Trinity College in 2023, for her humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society and Doctor of Laws degree from Fairfield University in 2022. In December of 2022, Nicole joined as a member of John Hopkins University’s Implementation Working Group for the National ERPO Resource Center. In late 2023, Nicole became a member of the Violence Project Advisory Board. In 2016, she was recognized by People magazine as one of 25 Women Changing the World. But her favorite recognition is for being the best Mom she can to her surviving son, Jake.

Nicole’s solemn “promise” to honor her son and the other 25 lives taken on December 14, 2012, with action has never wavered. She continues to spread awareness that violence is preventable when you “know the signs.”

Erika Marder is Head of Global Human Resources for R&D at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. In her current role, she is responsible for developing and implementing the R&D people agenda with a focus on organizational evolution, change management, inclusion, diversity, employee and leadership development, and succession planning.

Erika has been with Takeda since November 2001, serving in a variety of human resources business partner roles within the commercial organization and across several corporate functions. Throughout her nearly 24-year tenure with Takeda, she has held roles with increasing responsibility. In 2009, as part of the Global Talent Planning team, she established comprehensive and scalable talent and performance management processes that have been implemented globally across all regions. In July 2013, Erika was appointed Director of Talent Planning and she and her family relocated to Tokyo, Japan. Shortly thereafter, she was named Head of Global Talent Management where she formalized Takeda’s executive succession planning process, developed an Accelerator program for promising early career talent and co-led the development of Takeda’s Leadership Behaviors. In June 2016, Erika joined the Research &Development organization leading the Global Human Resources function.

She is based in Takeda’s Cambridge, MA office and lives with her husband, 2 children and hairless dog, Sakura in Harvard, MA. Her hobbies include traveling with her family and reading.

Tammi Wortham brings a unique blend of human resources and business management expertise to Sun Life’s strategic team of HR professionals. Tammi leads the development of Sun Life’s employee engagement and talent strategies, including enhancing the employee experience, embracing digital transformation, and recruiting and developing top talent. She has also established a strong culture of purpose-driven work, helping employees to connect to the value of their work and how they contribute to the company’s mission of helping people get the care and coverage they need.

Tammi is a dedicated employee champion, driving major initiatives to help employees manage work and personal life. In 2019 she spearheaded the creation of Sun Life’s enhanced paid family and medical leave program, which earned the company national recognition and established Sun Life as a leader in PFML expertise. During the pandemic, Tammi oversaw the rollout of Sun Life’s commitment to flexibility, which has evolved into its flexible hybrid work model, allowing employees to determine whether they work from the office or from home, depending on the needs of their day. Most recently, Tammi completed the launch of menopause benefits alongside already offered fertility benefits, furthering the company’s commitment to supporting women’s health at all ages and career stages.

Before leading HR at Sun Life, Tammi was vice president, Group Benefits Client Services, leading the company’s U.S. business for a wide range of operational functions. Previously, she held executive business roles at Prudential and The Hartford Financial Services Group.

Tammi holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology from the University of Hartford and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Missouri – Columbia. She serves as Board Chair of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. In 2019 Tammi was named one of the most influential women in corporate America by Savoy Magazine. 

Shari has served as Chief People Officer at Chobani since 2022. She brings more than 20 years of experience leading teams and partnering with executive leadership to grow and transform organizations. Before joining Chobani, Shari held several leadership roles at Peloton Interactive, where she oversaw the Global People, Safety & Security function and most recently served as Chief People and Culture Officer. Prior to Peloton, she held key HR leadership roles at Amazon, Teavana, and Starbucks.

Ankit Saxena is the Global Head of People Insights and HR Technology at PPG Industries. 

Zach Smith is the Chief Activation Officer + Co-Founder of Activate 180. He has been a trusted voice in mindset, career optimization, and leadership coaching for over 10 years. Zach has coached thousands of employees across mid-market and enterprise-level organizations, aligning their careers with true calling and passion to create total life fulfillment.

Before becoming an award-winning coach, Zach spent more than 10 years in senior marketing and client relationship management roles for well-known, international consumer beverage brands. Zach trained with the Erikson International Coaching, graduating from their highest-level course. He is a sought-after keynote speaker who regularly appears before audiences at industry conferences and events.

Zach currently resides in San Diego, California with his partner Rachel. He has a passion for an active lifestyle, photography, art, travel, and sports like rock climbing, snowboarding, and yoga. Zach received a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Brie Harvey is a talent management leader and digital strategist who writes and speaks about trends within Human Capital Management and the future of work.

Having served in a variety of leadership roles for HR Technology companies over the last decade, she brings expert level knowledge of Total Rewards, L&D, talent acquisition, and how to cultivate workplace cultures that transform employee engagement and the Employee Value Proposition.

Passionate about the intersection between behavioral science, managerial effectiveness and technology, Brie has partnered with some of the world’s largest, most complex organizations to build high performance cultures centered around authentic appreciation, trust and inclusion.

In her role as an Employee Engagement Evangelist, Brie works with the research arm of Achievers, the Workforce Institute, to share data-based insights about how to enhance employee engagement and recognition strategies for a pandemic-era workplace.

Heather Conklin is CEO of Torch and a recognized leader in building human-centered systems that unlock potential at scale. She believes the future of work isn’t about choosing between human capability and technology—it’s about designing the conditions where both can thrive together. At Salesforce, she led Trailhead from startup to a global learning ecosystem serving millions, proving that when you put people first, technology becomes a force multiplier for growth. Her pioneering work creating talent development programs has shaped how organizations think about building capability in an era of constant change. At Torch, she’s focused on making coaching the catalyst that helps leaders navigate complexity and drive real business outcomes.

Michelle Randall-Berry leads the global talent team at Teradyne, where she is responsible for creating and executing the company’s talent strategy. Her team focuses on attracting diverse talent, fostering a culture of inclusion, supporting employee development, and ensuring that teams perform at their best. Michelle’s goal is to help employees reach their full potential and support the long-term success of Teradyne’s global workforce.

With a data-informed leadership style, Michelle uses metrics to measure team performance, improve the hiring process, and ensure Teradyne stands out in the competitive talent market. She is passionate about finding new ways to attract, develop and retain top talent to meet the changing needs of the business.

Michelle joined Teradyne in 2022, bringing extensive experience from previous leadership roles, including Global Head of Talent Acquisition at IGT, a leading gaming and entertainment company. She also held key positions at Iron Mountain leading executive recruiting and Fidelity Investments, where she led talent acquisition program management for the Asset Management division.

Outside of work, Michelle is actively involved in mentoring and community initiatives. She serves on the Alumni Board at Anna Maria College, and coaches students through Braven, an organization that helps underrepresented young adults transition from college to career.

Michelle holds a bachelor’s in social work from Anna Maria College, a master’s in management from Lesley University, and completed the Fostering Diversity and Inclusion Program at Yale School of Management

Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. She is a contributing columnist for Harvard Business Review and her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

Rebecca frequently appears on national television and radio and as a moderator at conferences. Originally from Maine, she's a graduate of Wesleyan University. She lives in Boston’s South End with her family.

Adi Ignatius is Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group, where he oversees the editorial activities of HBR, hbr.org, and HBR’s book-publishing unit. Prior to joining HBR in 2009, Mr. Ignatius was the No. 2 editor at TIME.

He is the editor of two books: President Obama: The Path to the White House and Prisoner of the State: The Secret Diaries of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Both made the New York Times Bestseller List.

Mr. Ignatius lived and worked for nearly 20 years overseas. He was Editor of Time’s Asian edition and earlier served as Beijing Bureau Chief and Moscow Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal.

John Grossman, PT, DPT is a Clinical Specialist at Sword Health. 

Parker Pell, a Gen Z leader and co-founder of Abode, has quickly established himself as an authority on early talent engagement. With over four years of dedicated experience in campus recruiting and Gen Z research, he brings both professional expertise and lived generational insight to the conversation. Parker has presented widely on how employers can better attract, engage, and retain the newest generation of talent. His focus is on bridging the gap between emerging job seekers and the organizations eager to welcome them, while drawing on his expertise in candidate engagement, program design, and conversion best practices to help companies build programs that are both impactful and scalable.

Nick Taylor is a Clinical psychologist, CEO and Co-Founder of the workplace mental health platform, Unmind. 

Edward Zaval is the Chief Customer Officer at DailyPay.