Member Conference: Increase the Capability of Your Talent/Inclusion Index

Synthia is a Director of Partner Development for Seramount, where she helps employers take an innovative approach to early talent acquisition with a focus on increasing equity and efficiency. As the leader of Seramount and EAB’s joint venture, CareerAscent, Synthia connects campus recruiting teams to EAB’s diverse network of student job seekers.

Prior to joining Seramount, Synthia worked in EAB’s Advancement division, supporting alumni fundraising endeavors that impact long-term outcomes for partner colleges and universities. Additionally, Synthia spent nearly a decade in nonprofit fundraising, empowering organizations to drive ROI and efficiency through data-driven efforts.

Synthia graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a degree in International Relations and French. She resides in Richmond, VA with her husband and three kids. In her spare time, she is an avid tennis player and loves to cook.

Michael Ehret is the Head of Global Talent Management for Johnson & Johnson, responsible for the attraction and development of a global and diverse talent across the enterprise. Michael oversees succession management, talent development, talent acquisition, people analytics, talent mobility, performance management, and assessment.

Most recently, Michael was Head of Succession Management and Assessment in Global Talent Management, where he advanced and increased the depth and diversity of the enterprise leadership pipeline, focusing on the next generation of talent and the identification and advancement of emerging leaders.

Previously, Michael served as Head of Human Resources for the $20B Commercial Franchises within Medical Devices, Vice President of Human Resources for the nonmanufacturing parts of Supply Chain (20,000 employees in 80 countries), and Vice President of Talent Development, with responsibility for global Leadership Development and Learning,
as well as Talent Mobility.

Prior to his time with Johnson & Johnson, Michael worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb and CIGNA, where he held several HR business partner and talent management positions, beginning his career as a member of the CIGNA HR Leadership Development Program.
Michael received his Doctorate of Philosophy in Global Leadership and Change Management from Pepperdine University, and his Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership also from Pepperdine. He has a Master of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance and Marketing from the University of Richmond.

After working in Human Resources for over 25 years with a specific focus on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the past 12 years, Lori Ferguson has redefined her brand.  While she is still a well-rounded Human Resources professional with a broad understanding of and broad practice in Human Resources, her career focus is CHANGE.  Lori is a Diversity Personal Trainer that helps organizations access and engage muscles they have not yet exercised.  She is a Diversity Leader who assesses company culture, partners with internal stakeholders to drive change.  Lori is committed to a holistic and effective approach to DEI that leads to tangible results.

Lori holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix and an MBA in Risk Management from Saint Peters University.  She also holds a Professional in Human Resources Certification from HRCI and a Strategic Human Resources Management Certificate from Cornell University.

Barbara Frankel is the Managing Director of the Insights division at Seramount, working on global and US diversity surveys, national thought-leader projects, and groundbreaking research on inclusion and DEI topics and how to create family-friendly workplaces. She was the leader of the recent Pledge to Progress research project, which details corporate America’s progress in combating racism in the year since the murder of George Floyd.

Barbara is a thought leader, editor, writer, manager, and consultant in global and US diversity management, business development and marketing, business journalism, and human- and civil-rights advocacy.

She previously was executive editor and senior vice president at DiversityInc. Barbara has served on the national Board of Directors of GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) and the global advisory board of WeConnect International, a nonprofit that helps women entrepreneurs be corporate suppliers, as well as Garden State Equality.

Megan Pierouchakos is a senior director and membership relationship advisor at Seramount. In her role at Seramount, Megan advises Fortune 100 & 500 companies on their talent and DEI initiatives. Prior to Seramount, Megan spent 15 years in corporate roles as a Talent & DEI practitioner spanning the entire talent lifecycle. Most recently, she was Vice President of Human Resources at the American Bankers Association (ABA) where she set the strategic direction for learning and development, talent management, and succession planning. Prior to that, Megan was the Workforce Diversity Manager in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Freddie Mac.

She was recently a part-time adjunct faculty member with the Georgetown HRM program, served a two-year term on the Georgetown HRM Advisory Board, and was a strategic plan task force member with the Centre for Global Inclusion. Megan holds a SPHR certification from HRCI and a Prosci ADKAR Change Management Certification.

Megan received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College with a dual major in International Relations and Spanish and has a graduate degree from Georgetown University in HR Management. She resides in Northern Virginia with her family and actively volunteers with the Girl Scouts of America and other youth organizations her children participate in.

Bridgette Scales is Managing Director on Seramount’s Advisory team. She is a diversity, equity, and inclusion expert with experience in sales and human resources. Bridgette joined Seramount from American Airlines in 2020, where she was the human resources business partner for customer experience. There, Bridgette was responsible for collaborating on people policies, talent management, career development, succession planning, departmental training initiatives, and aligning employee strategies with American Airline business goals.

Prior to her time at American Airlines, Bridgette spent 27 years at Proctor & Gamble. During her tenure at P&G, she was instrumental in developing and implementing strategies, programs, and processes across a complex and matrix organization. As a DEI practice leader for North America, Bridgette guided and counseled senior leaders on the integration of strategies that included awareness, cultural competency, leadership development, accountability and employee engagement. This led to better processes in the identification of high-potential employees, reduction in attrition rates of minorities, and increased DEI scores on the corporate employee survey.

Bridgette currently serves on the Global Advisory Board for the Women’s Leadership Forum within the P&G alumni network. She also sits on the She Runs It Foundation board’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Council and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

She has a BA from the University of Oklahoma, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a Senior HR Professional certification from HRCI.

Laura Sherbin is Managing Director of Consulting at Seramount. She is an economist who specializes in the creation of advantage through inclusion and diversity. Most recently, Laura was co-president at the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) in New York City, a premier think tank and content provider that studies global workplace diversity.

Laura has co-authored several Harvard Business Review articles, including “How Diversity Can Drive Innovation,” “How Gen Y and Boomers Will Reshape Your Agenda,” and “Off-Ramps and On-Ramps Revisited,” as well as the Harvard Business Review research report titled “The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology.” She has also taught a Women and Globalization course at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Laura built the rigorous data analytics machine and team that have been core to innovative approaches to measuring and tracking employee experiences. She is known as a leading expert in applying diversity and inclusion data to human behavior in organizations and using such data to quantify how workforce sentiments and satisfaction affect company bottom lines.

Laura holds a BS in math and economics from the University of Delaware and earned her PhD in economics from American University. She currently resides in Irvington, New York, with her husband, their four children, and their dog, Gus. Laura has always loved math and numbers, but when not working, she also enjoys baking, traveling, and meditating.

Dr. Shyama Venkateswar is currently the Senior Director, Learning, at Seramount, where she heads up the development and design of tailored DEI curriculum and workshops based on client needs to tackle complex workplace culture and talent challenges.

In 2021, she was appointed to the NYC Commission on Gender Equity by the Mayor of New York. She has more than 20 years of experience in addressing social and policy issues, and has built her career in the higher-education and nonprofit space.

Most recently, Shyama served as director of the Public Policy Program at Roosevelt House and as a faculty member at Hunter College, City University of New York, a position that she held for eight years. There, she led the expansion and governance of the program, crafted new and innovative curriculum, taught the Capstone curriculum, and played an instrumental role in implementing initiatives for student and faculty development, with a focus on providing opportunities for first-generation learners, immigrants, undocumented and other underrepresented students through comprehensive mentoring programs.

Before arriving at Hunter College Public Policy Program, Shyama was director of Research and Programs at the National Council for Research on Women (now merged with the International Center for Research on Women). In this role, she helped provide the vision and strategic direction of the council’s policy agenda on economic security and women’s leadership, and received grants from foundations and corporate philanthropy. Shyama has also served as the founding director of Mercy Corps’ Action Center to End World Hunger, and as director of the Asian Social Issues Program at the Asia Society.

Shyama is a graduate of Smith College and received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in political science.

Sarah Crump, SHRM-SCP is a director and membership relationship advisor at Seramount. Sarah joined Seramount after serving over 12 years at Freddie Mac within their Human Resources division. There, as a manager in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department, she was responsible for building partnerships across Freddie Mac’s business divisions to actively educate and motivate employees on the benefits of an inclusive culture. Driven by her passion for neurodiversity inclusion, she also played a pivotal role in launching the Neurodiversity at Work Program, a program designed to hire and support neurodivergent employees.

Sarah holds a BA in English from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a Senior Certified Professional through Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).