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 is a passionate executive dedicated to empowering learning innovation and serves as the VP of Learning and Development at Qualfon. She has been with Qualfon over 10 years overseeing the training team, learning specialist team, admin team, SME program, and instructional design team which includes AI activities for the organization.  Just in a short five years, she has built an awarding winning department of Mission minded leaders ready to accomplish excellence. 

Marvie holds a bachelor’s in business, a Master's in Adult Education and Training, and a Doctorate in Ministry. She is a 2021 “Shining Star” recipient, Six Sigma Green Belt, a John Maxwell certified coach/Trainer, and an active member of the executive organization, “Chief”. In 2018 she won “Analyst of the Year” from CallMiner for her work at Qualfon programming in speech analytics, and in 2025 her department brought home the Top 10 L&D departments in the world from OnCon.  Her passion and energy make her a powerful presence at any table where learning is on the menu.

A genuine believer in honesty, passion, and inclusivity, Lauren Goodman is a 20-year hospitality veteran who has grown her career predominantly within Human Resources, with a couple years of hotel Operations experience as a General Manager. She has worked in various US markets including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C., Aspen, Dallas, and Maui, and on a number of different brands including Soho House, Westin, Autograph Collection, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Curio Collection by Hilton, and independent properties. Lauren prides herself on being a continuous learner, focuses on long-term strategy, and is an advocate for employees while focusing on business strategy. Lauren feels that there can be a solution to fostering a positive work environment while maintaining profitability.

Lauren has been at Soho House as the Regional Head of People, West Coast and LATAM, for about 4 years. She has excelled at creating process and structure within the P&D department, ensuring consistency within the function, while partnering with the Operations and Membership teams. Lauren understands there is a balance between legal and ethical compliance while ensuring the creative nature of Soho House can still be celebrated. She appreciates the balance of allowing freedom within the framework, meaning to set perimeters but allow the teams to make decisions that are best for the employees, the brand, and, in turn, the member experience.

Brittany Dougan is the Senior Director of Learning & Organizational Development at Maximus, bringing more than 15 years of experience in enterprise learning strategy, leadership development, and organizational transformation. She has a proven track record of designing and implementing development strategies, leading learning management system modernization, guiding leadership and organizational development initiatives, and elevating workforce capability across large, complex organizations. Her work is grounded in creating high-impact learning experiences that support both individual growth and business performance.

Brittany is a certified facilitator in a range of leadership and communication programs and holds a bachelor's degree in Business Management with advanced studies in International Business and Spanish. Since joining Maximus in 2019, she has played an integral role in shaping global learning operations and enhancing the company’s leadership development ecosystem.

In her current role, Brittany leads Maximus’ enterprise AI upskilling strategy and is at the forefront of modernizing the L&D function through AI-enabled tools, automation, and advanced instructional design support. She is driving the integration of AI into content development workflows, operational processes, and learning delivery, enabling more personalized, scalable, and efficient learning experiences. Her work centers on building human-centered, future-ready learning environments that help employees adapt confidently to evolving roles, technologies, and organizational needs.

Dina Yorke serves as Vice President of Learning Excellence at Schneider Electric, guiding a global team responsible for enterprise learning strategy, digital learning platforms, and the design of impactful learning experiences. Her leadership has helped shape Schneider's Upskilling@Scale learning strategy, expanding access to high-quality learning for more than 100,000 employees worldwide. With a diverse background that includes senior roles in finance, global operations, and inclusion & care, Dina brings both analytical rigor with a deep commitment to culture and people development. She is passionate about enabling future-ready skills, advancing digital and accessible learning solutions, and helping organizations unlock the full potential of their workforce.

Carissa is a Co-Founder at Paradigm, a company that uses behavioral science research and data to help organizations develop healthy, high-performing cultures. For the past decade, Carissa has led Paradigm’s work with high-growth startups, leading media agencies, top law firms, and Fortune 500 companies. Before coming to Paradigm, Carissa co-founded PERTS, a research center created at Stanford University focused on the practical application of behavioral science themes like belonging and growth mindset. Carissa was named to Forbes 30 under 30 list for her innovative work on growth mindset at PERTS, where she now serves as chair of the board.
Carissa’s work has been featured in dozens of media outlets, including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal, and she has published her academic research in publications like Nature, Psychological Science, and Emotion. She has spoken at various conferences, including AtlanticLIVE, TechCrunch Disrupt, and SXSW. Carissa holds a doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University.

Priscila’s expertise is in getting great ideas to scale. She has spent her career building companies and helping others do the same. She is an entrepreneur, advisor, and former-VC investor who equips high performing teams to do amazing work. She has an MBA from Yale University with a research focus on negotiation, behavioral economics, and the psychology of career choices. She has won leadership prizes from Barclays, The Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management, Yale School of Management, and the St. Gallen Symposium.

Marcus Cazier is the Head of L&D for the Americas for bioMérieux, a global leader of in vitro diagnostics. He has two decades of experience developing, implementing, and managing learning and development strategy for multiple organizations. Marcus is a leader who believes that helping employees upskill and reskill throughout their careers will benefit business outcomes. When not at work, he enjoys chasing his two teenagers around the mountains of Utah.

Heather Lambert is a people and culture strategist with 20+ years of experience driving organizational change across healthcare and complex systems. She brings a systems-thinking approach to leadership, talent, and AI-enabled workforce transformation.

Mark has been with iQor for 14 years and currently serves as Vice President of Global Organizational Development. He joined the company in 2012 as Vice President of Operations for DirecTV before transitioning to lead global organizational development initiatives. Over the past decade, Mark and his team have earned 49 learning and development awards, including a 2024 Gold Brandon Hall Award for iQor’s iLead Mentoring Program and Leadership Competency Model. In 2025, the team received multiple honors from HR.com for Best Coaching and Best Leadership Development programs, and Mark was named HR.com’s Top HR Leader of the Year. Most recently, his team earned a 2026 Silver Stevie Award recognizing the global impact of the iLead mentoring program. He also serves on learning and coaching advisory boards for HR.com and the Brandon Hall Group.

With a 35-year career spanning operations, talent development, and human resources leadership, Mark holds dual master’s degrees in Human Resource Management and Development. He maintains professional certifications including SHRM-SCP, SPHR, and ACC as a Certified Executive and Organizational Development Coach. He resides in Charleston, South Carolina, with his son and niece and remains actively engaged in his community and church.

Michel is the Senior Director of Learning & Development at Autodesk, where he drives learning and leadership initiatives as strategic levers for business transformation, innovation, and the future of work.

With experience spanning startups and global enterprises, Michel specializes in building people-centered, high-performing organizations grounded in continuous learning, leadership excellence, and data-driven solutions. His work sits at the intersection of AI-powered learning, experiential design, and inclusive development strategies, cultivating cultures of agility, innovation, and performance at every level.

Areas of Expertise: Learning & Organization Strategy; Individual and Team Coaching; People Engagement; People Analytics; Leadership Development; Competency Model Design; Design Thinking Methodologies; People Operations Scaling; Performance Management; Cascading OKRs/KPIs; AI for Learning and People Operations; Culture Scaling; Executive Team Facilitation.

Sriraj Mallick, CEO of Infopro Learning, is a distinguished leader with deep expertise at the intersection of learning, talent development, and technology. Guided by his core purpose of unlocking potential, he fosters transparent, authentic, and growth-oriented cultures. His work centers on workforce transformation, human-AI enablement, and shaping modern learning and talent strategies that prepare organizations for the future of work.

Corinne is a writer, editor and lifelong New Yorker with one ear always trained to a good story. She started her career as a "runner" for the New York Daily News, where she chased crime, covered education and City Hall, and turned copy around for three deadlines on the rewrite desk. 

During this time she dueled with an Olympic fencer, nabbed her first fake ID at 26 and penned an eyewitness account of an NYPD stop-and-frisk. Her extensive reporting on juvenile justice in the Bronx and Harlem won her two fellowships from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a Newswomen's Club of New York Award for Beat Reporting.

She went on to earn an MFA from Columbia University, where she was awarded a Creative Writing teaching fellowship (she has also taught at Borough of Manhattan Community College and The School of the New York Times). Her journalism, essays and fiction have been published in outlets as varied as Forbes, The London Reader and Lakeshore Review. She has written op-eds about jury duty and teaching in nontraditional settings, reported on the murky, unregulated world of life coaches and plumbed her own experience of reporting an incident to the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. She believes stories can be found in unexpected corners, and she's interested in how even the simplest questions can help us challenge and reframe common perceptions.

Most recently, she worked with entrepreneurs, experts and thought leaders as a deputy editor to help shape their content on Forbes. During her two years there, she also developed and led seminars on journalism skills for staff and contributors.

In November 2024, she launched The Off-Site Writing Workshop, which offers customized writing services for entrepreneurs and companies looking to learn the craft of commentary. She has moderated panels at Future of Work conferences, including at From Day One, Running Remote and Worktech. 

Stephanie’s expertise is in HR process improvement, scaling teams, employee relations and compliance, and she has guided multiple companies through phases of dynamic growth and change. Her experiences in the healthcare and criminal justice sectors greatly influenced her approach to transparent leadership and instilled her dedication to promoting fair and just cultures. She is a champion for people, healthy organizational cultures, IDEA, and simply doing the right thing.