November Virtual: Productivity

Stephanie Stanton, GPHR, PHR, SHRM‑CP, has 15 years of HR experience leading people strategy, HR operations, and talent initiatives across North America. In her career, she has overseen HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, HR Systems, Compliance, and Payroll for a multi‑state, multi‑country workforce. Stephanie has been involved in major organizational transformations, including global HRIS implementations, large‑scale acquisitions, high growth hiring, and flexible work models. Known for building scalable people processes and operational effectiveness, she brings a practical, business‑focused approach to HR strategy, change management, and employee engagement.

Robert Ryder is a vision-driven, crisis-tested executive with more than 25 years of experience transforming complex, politically sensitive, and highly unionized organizations into financially disciplined, service-excellence enterprises. He is trusted to lead high-visibility, high-stakes environments and build the systems, governance, and leadership infrastructure required for sustainable growth and organizational resilience.

Throughout his career, Robert has stepped into major universities, regional portfolios, commercial divisions, and national networks to stabilize operations, strengthen performance, and create scalable operating models. He is particularly experienced in navigating complex labor relations and multi-party negotiations, bringing executives, boards, unions, and frontline teams together around shared goals.

Robert has developed enterprise-wide service excellence and operating frameworks spanning more than 300 higher education accounts and 40,000 employees. He has also led high-stakes turnarounds and labor crises involving more than $120 million in managed volume, including serving as chief strategist during a strike involving more than 600 employees. Through disciplined contingency planning and stakeholder leadership, he maintained operations and service levels while completing the response $430,000 under budget.

His areas of expertise include enterprise operations and turnaround leadership, labor relations and union negotiations, stakeholder alignment, governance and operating-model design, crisis management, organizational stabilization, scalable growth, margin improvement, and service transformation.

Alana Lovett is a Client Success Partner at ThinkHuman and the founder of That Girl Reimagined, a career reinvention coaching brand for high-achieving women. She spent years leading partner development at HubSpot and now helps SaaS companies build partner strategy. She also helps ambitious women rewrite their next chapter on their own terms. A self-described recovering overachiever, Alana brings a practical, no-fluff perspective on leadership, reinvention, and building a career that actually fits your life.

Ella Wright is a learning and development strategist and facilitator with 9+ years of experience helping organizations build stronger leaders and more effective teams. As Head of Customer Experience & Learning Strategy at Campfire, she partners with HR and business leaders to design and deliver leadership development programs that address real organizational challenges. Ella has led initiatives for 30+ organizations, from small businesses to large enterprises, and facilitated hundreds of sessions for emerging managers, senior leaders, and executives. Her work spans translating company values into leadership behaviors, navigating change, strengthening communication, and improving cross-team collaboration. Drawing on hundreds of hours working directly with leaders, Ella brings a practical, conversation-driven approach that helps people challenge assumptions, learn from one another, and turn insights into meaningful action.

Corinne Lestch works with high-level executives to shape their stories into impactful op-eds, Substacks and nonfiction books. She is an award-winning journalist who recently served as deputy editor at Forbes, where she oversaw content by contributors across Careers, Leadership Strategy and ForbesWomen. Her work has been published in Bloomberg Law, The London Reader, The Washington Post, and many other outlets. 

Mahima Sharma is a global HR and organizational strategy leader, executive coach, entrepreneur, and speaker with nearly two decades of experience helping organizations build high-performing teams, develop leaders, and navigate large-scale transformation.

She currently serves as Senior Director, Organizational Strategy & Executive Partnership at Eightfold AI, where she partners with executive leaders across Engineering and Product globally to drive organizational effectiveness, leadership development, succession planning, workforce planning, and AI-enabled transformation. Throughout her career, Mahima has worked across organizations including Eightfold AI, Twilio, Netflix, Cigna, Tata Consultancy Services, EXL, Accenture, and HCL Technologies, supporting leaders and teams through periods of rapid growth, organizational change, and business transformation.

Mahima is also a founder who has built a venture focused on professional growth, thought leadership, and career advancement. She has coached leaders on leadership effectiveness, career growth, organizational challenges, and navigating change in dynamic environments. She is a certified coach and practitioner in multiple leadership assessment and development methodologies.

Passionate about the future of work, leadership, and talent strategy, Mahima helps organizations prepare leaders and workforces for an increasingly AI-enabled world. She holds a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Tray Ross is VP of Growth at Corporate Traditions, where he helps People leaders turn new hire onboarding and employee recognition into a competitive advantage. Tray works with companies looking to improve retention, strengthen culture, and make every new hire feel like they made the right choice from day one. Corporate Traditions makes it easy to get started, no contracts, no minimums, and programs that can be stood up immediately so leaders can move fast without the typical implementation headaches.

Jenna Thompson is a Talent Acquisition and Human Resources professional at Universal Music Group, with extensive experience in recruiting, talent management, and strategic partnership with business leaders. She has previously held recruiting leadership roles at Meta and has a background in building high-performing teams across the entertainment and technology industries. Jenna is passionate about connecting people with opportunities, fostering meaningful professional relationships, and supporting inclusive, effective hiring practices.

Petra Winkler is a Learning & Development leader and AI-enabled talent transformation specialist with over a decade of experience shaping future-ready workforces in global corporate environments. Combining expertise in human-centered learning design, organizational development, digital transformation, and behavioral learning theory, she helps organizations build the capabilities people need to thrive in a rapidly evolving world of work.

Her work spans global L&D strategy, workforce capability building, leadership development, organizational change, and AI adoption across North America, Europe, and international business units. She partners with business leaders and cross-functional teams to translate complex challenges into scalable learning solutions that drive transformation, strengthen collaboration, and accelerate digital adoption.

Currently focused on AI-enabled learning ecosystems and talent intelligence, Petra explores how responsible AI can enhance learning, improve productivity, and empower people to grow alongside emerging technologies. Drawing on her creative background in educational media and community-centered learning initiatives, she brings a distinctive blend of strategic thinking, storytelling, and innovation to the future of work.

Her mission is to help organizations unlock human potential by combining technology, learning, and purposeful change—ensuring that AI empowers people rather than replaces them.

Rachael Lang is a business and technology professional with experience in corporate environments and strategic business initiatives. With a background spanning leadership, business operations and organisational development, she brings a practical, results-oriented perspective to conversations about professional growth, innovation and the evolving workplace.

Through her professional experience, Rachael offers insights into navigating change, building effective teams and translating business strategy into meaningful action.