As business team lead, Kelly Yamanouchi edits and write business stories. She started at the AJC in 2008, joining the paper from the Denver Post. She has a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Carrie Teegardin is a reporter and part of the investigative team at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is a graduate of Duke University and has won numerous national journalism awards. She was a lead reporter on the AJC's award-winning Unprotected series, which prompted Georgia to reform its requirements for senior care homes in 2020. She was a lead reporter on the AJC's Doctors & Sex Abuse national investigation, which was a Pulitzer finalist. She was a lead reporter on the AJC’s Borrower Beware series, which won a Gerald Loeb award in 2006. She has written extensively about health care, unfair business practices and the criminal justice system.

Robin Patton is the Head of Global Employee Relations at Toast, Inc., where she leads the Employee Relations Center of Excellence (COE). She is responsible for developing scalable solutions that support Toast’s diverse employee populations and evolving business needs across both US and Global functions. Robin has deep expertise in workplace investigations, complex performance management, conflict resolution, and management training for all levels. She is passionate about developing resilient leaders and establishing HR frameworks that promote a positive approach to workplace conflict.

Before joining Toast, Robin held progressive Employee Relations roles at The Coca-Cola Company, Emory University, and Nike. Prior to her career as an Employee Relations leader, Robin was a practicing employment attorney at Jones Day and Powell Goldstein in Atlanta, GA, and served as Senior Employment - Assistant General Counsel at Macy’s.

Robin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Mills College and a Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law. She also served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Richard C. Erwin, Chief Judge, M.D.N.C. Federal District Court in Winston-Salem, NC. A native New Yorker who now resides in Atlanta, GA, Robin is an avid reader who also enjoys knitting and gardening.

In this role, Melanie is responsible for driving innovative recruitment strategies to meet the talent needs of the Building Automation business through management of Global TA delivery team and RPO partners. She manages a highly complex, matrixed division by partnering with HRLT, business, and functional leaders to meet workforce demands.

In her previous role at Bayer, Melanie was responsible for collaborative strategy and projects across all Centers of Excellence supporting global HR initiatives within Bayer. Melanie was also responsible for managing global budgets, leading Fairness & Respect at Work initiatives, and strategy for the Sr. VP of HR Innovations. Melanie previously led the North America Talent Acquisition team at Monsanto and was responsible for attracting talent to the organization.

Over the years, she has held various roles of increasing responsibility in Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and temporary labor fields. Melanie has her Master’s Degree from Webster University in Human Resource Management and Development, and a B.S. Degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Marketing Education.

Melanie is also very committed to her community. Prior to moving to Atlanta, she was Board Chair for Annie Malone Children & Family Services, Volunteer for United Way Allocations Committee, Co-President & Co-Founder of the Society of Multicultural Professionals in Human Resources, RBC YPN Steering Committee Member, and a part of Cohort 12 of the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative and St. Louis American Young Leader.

Salvador Ortega Lejarza is a global, HR executive and board member with more than two decades of experience leading enterprise-wide transformation, succession and talent strategies across global organizations. At Newell Brands, he serves as HRVP for the Learning & Development segment and CFO HR partner, where he co-architects scalable, agile operating models that deliver profitable growth, culture change and leadership capability at billion-dollar scale. Previously, as LATAM & Global Strategy HR Senior Director, Salvador led the ‘One Newell’ integration—consolidating seven business units into three segments, establishing a single go-to-market model, and aligning supply chain and talent across ten countries and twenty-six sites. He also advanced the company’s global transformation across LATAM/APAC/EMEA. Bringing uncommon commercial credibility to HR, Salvador served as Interim General Manager for the LATAM Writing business with full P&L accountability, delivering double-digit net sales growth and operating income expansion. His leadership blends rigorous talent and succession planning (talent density, ready-now/ready-soon pipelines), DEI as a growth lever, and metrics that link people investments to business outcomes (cost-to-serve, people-cost-to-revenue, time-to-productivity). Earlier in his career, he held regional HR leadership roles at Monsanto, where he drove cultural integrations, M&A onboarding and workforce planning. Salvador holds an Executive MBA (EGADE) and executive credentials from Harvard, Yale and Wharton. He is fluent in Spanish and English.

Karen is the Vice President of Benefits at the Waffle House.

Emily Clark serves as the Global Head of Talent for Aladdin Data and Functional COO for the Green Package and Analytics organization within BlackRock. Emily is responsible for the strategic direction of talent along with organizational efficiency and operational alignment.

With her expertise in organizational development, Emily is committed to optimizing talent processes and fostering transparency to support both individual career trajectories and broader organizational objectives. She continuously refines systems to improve operational effectiveness, enabling the business and its people to achieve sustainable growth.

Holding a Master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from The University of Georgia, Emily applies the scientific study of work to tackle complex challenges that impact individuals, teams, and organizations. She is driven by data and evidence-based practices to create high-impact solutions that benefit both employees and business outcomes.

Yasmine Meneses is a Registered Dietitian and healthcare benefits expert with over a decade of experience helping organizations improve employee well-being. Before joining Nutrium, she worked with major firms like Brown & Brown, Aon, and Cigna, supporting employers in building smarter, more sustainable health programs. At Nutrium, Yasmine connects with consultants and HR leaders to bring nutrition-based solutions that drive real results for both employees and organizations.

Yulia Denisova is VP, Talent and Development at Fanatics Commerce, the leading designer, manufacturer, and seller of licensed fan gear. She has nearly 25 years of HR leadership experience building, empowering, and managing global high-performing teams of varying scale, type, and autonomy.  Prior to joining Fanatics in August 2024, Yulia spent more than 11 years with The Coca-Cola Company where she held HR, talent, and development roles, and reengineered talent practices enterprise wide. Before that, Yulia was with BP (British Petroleum) supporting HR across Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, and the UK.

A native of Russia, Yulia lived in Eurasia before relocating to Atlanta during her time with The Coca-Cola Company. Yulia received a diploma in Philology and Linguistics at the Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow.  

Bert Hensley leads Morgan Samuels with a belief that finding exceptional leaders is a mission-critical responsibility—one that requires the same precision, discipline, and grit he developed as a U.S. Army aviator. Over his 25 years at the helm, he has transformed Morgan Samuels into one of the nation’s most respected executive search firms, recognized by Forbes, Hunt Scanlon, and multiple Business Journals for its quality, speed, and client satisfaction. Since acquiring a controlling interest in the firm in 1997, Bert has championed Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to build a world-class search infrastructure defined by operational excellence and a relentless focus on outcomes. His leadership philosophy combines analytical rigor with a deep empathy for people and their goals—an approach that continues to shape the firm’s culture and client relationships. Earlier in his career, Bert was a Vice President and Partner at Korn Ferry International and a General Partner at Meridian Strategies, a strategic consulting and venture management firm spun out of McKinsey & Company. He began his professional journey serving five years in the U.S. Army Aviation Branch, earning the Meritorious Service Medal for his contributions.A lifelong learner and self-described academic at heart, Bert holds a JD from Loyola Law School, an MS in Business Administration from Boston University, and a BS in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point.Based in Nashville, Bert is a member of YPO and serves on the board of Heat Source Energy. Outside of work, he enjoys rebuilding houses, coaching youth sports, and mentoring young soldiers transitioning into civilian life.

Lori Goldberg, Ph.D., is the Global Vice President of Talent for AGCO Corporation. In this role, Lori is responsible for the strategy and execution of the full employee lifecycle for 25K employees across 26 countries globally. This includes the functions of employer brand, talent acquisition, early career talent, onboarding experience, learning and development, DE&I, performance management, talent and succession planning, strategic workforce planning, employee experience, organizational culture and listening.  Prior to her role at AGCO, she led the Enterprise Talent Solutions function for Cox Enterprises for 10 years, responsible for enterprise-wide talent strategies, processes and programs that support cross-divisional business needs as well as future growth objectives across the family of companies (approximately 55K employees).  Lori joined Cox from Boston Consulting Group where she supported the development of the firm’s intellectual property around talent management and leadership.  Prior to that, she was a Senior Consultant at Personnel Decisions International where she consulted with Fortune 500 companies on talent management, leadership development, executive coaching, workforce and succession planning, and executive assessment.   She holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Florida, and a Master’s and Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. 

Anant Garg is the VP, Human Resources at BD.

Kathya is Head of Strategy at LOCAL, the company behind Change Marketing™—an innovative, people-first approach to making change stick by engaging employees like customers.

Matt Garrett is a recognized voice in loyalty and engagement, known for applying consumer-first principles to drive measurable results. For over 30+ years, he’s led growth and innovation for iconic brands including Nike, Adidas, American Express and Adobe—most notably helping launch and scale Nike Membership to redefine modern consumer loyalty. Now at Augeo Workplace Engagement, Matt leads brand and operations to brings those proven loyalty principles into the workplace, helping organizations design cultures of connection and belonging so engagement can be meaningfully measured.

Alex is a highly experienced employee engagement consultant, trainer, and speaker. For over 20 years she has helped HR and business leaders implement strategies that drive true culture change.  Her wealth of knowledge comes from coaching and training thousands of managers from a wide range of industries across the globe. Alex focuses on providing organizations with proven practices that drive results for varied leadership styles and the multiple generations in the modern workforce. Her presentation will leave you motivated and better equipped to lead your organization on a path to a more engaged workforce, making the world a better place to work.

As the VP of Strategy at Corporate Traditions, Joseph leads the charge in shaping the company’s growth roadmap, forging high-impact partnerships, and unlocking new markets for expansion.

With a background in launching and scaling multiple ventures, Joseph brings an operator’s mindset to the gifting space, combining sharp strategy with real-world execution. At Corporate Traditions, he is focused on redefining how organizations show appreciation to their people through powerful, flexible gifting solutions that drive retention, morale, and loyalty.

Lisa R. Keenan is a dynamic sales executive with over 20 years of experience in healthcare, insurance, and employee benefits. Currently serving as Regional Sales Director at Amazon One Medical since March 2024, she leads employer and broker outreach initiatives to drive memberships and deliver cost-effective care solutions. Throughout her career, Lisa has demonstrated exceptional skill in C-suite engagement, broker enablement, and new business development across national and regional markets. Her professional journey includes leadership roles at prominent organizations such as Alight, Purchasing Power, MetLife, UNUM and The Standard Insurance Company, where she consistently exceeded revenue targets and built strategic partnerships.
Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Lisa is an entrepreneurial and client-focused leader known for her ability to develop both employer-direct and broker-driven channels. Her expertise spans group benefits sales, voluntary benefits adoption, strategic account management, and complex benefit consulting engagements with executive stakeholders.

Alison Smith currently serves as Piedmont’s Chief Human Resources Officer. In her role, she provides strategic leadership to all human resource functions supporting nearly 50,000 caregivers across more than 2,100 physical locations.

Most recently, Alison served as CHRO for Cortland, a global, integrated multifamily investment, development, and management firm with more than $20 billion in gross real estate value, with operations across the United States and the United Kingdom.

Alison’s extensive career includes significant tenure at Publix Super Markets, where she provided strategic leadership for multiple functions including human resources, internal and external communications, community relations, social media, and customer care.

Alison earned her undergraduate degree from Emory and her master’s and PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida.

Andy Miller has been a health care journalist for the past 33 years, and serves as a consultant for the news startup Healthbeat while still reporting and writing on health care. He was CEO and editor of the nonprofit Georgia Health News from 2010 to 2021, when it merged with Kaiser Health News. He has continued to write articles for KFF Health News into 2025.
Miller graduated from Duke University in 1973 and received a master’s in education from Duke in 1979. He was a social studies teacher and basketball coach in a school system in North Carolina before switching careers to journalism.
He entered the master’s in journalism program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1984. After a year there, he was hired by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he had various editing and reporting positions before switching to the health care beat in 1992.
He covered health care for the newspaper until mid 2009, when he took an early retirement. He won numerous state and national journalism awards for his newspaper reporting on hospitals, health insurers, state government and Georgia’s mental
hospitals.
After starting Georgia Health News in 2010, Miller helped forge partnerships with more than 25 journalism organizations, and ran a weekly statewide radio show on NPR stations in Georgia for eight years. GHN won local and national journalism awards in
partnership with WebMD. Miller has been an Association of Health Care Journalists member for 25 years and
has served as the Atlanta chapter’s president. He is a past AHCJ board member.

Craig is the Head I/O Psychologist at HighMatch, a personalized assessment solution used extensively by Fortune 500 organizations, and an assessment scientist with over a decade of experience applying data-driven and AI-enabled approaches to talent acquisition. He has designed and validated selection systems that objectively evaluate skills, aptitudes, and person-organization fit while actively managing bias and improving the candidate experience. Craig partners with employers to align hiring with long-term employee growth and retention through competency-based talent strategies, and supports executive search by applying rigorous, science-based methods to identify leaders with strong long-term potential. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Troy University and a Master’s and Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Auburn University.

Andre Rainey is a Sales Executive at Corporate Traditions. 

Simon Lusty is the COO at Skill.