Interfaith Peacebuilder, Humanitarian & Founder of Abrahamic House; Author of “The Fox Hunt: A Refugee’s Memoir of Coming to America”

Mohammed Al Samawi is an interfaith activist, author and humanitarian whose life story is a testament to courage, faith and the power of dialogue. Born in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen, he was raised to fear Christians and Jews, but at 23, a secret encounter with the Bible and connections with people of other faiths transformed his worldview while placing him in mortal danger.

After religious extremists issued a fatwa accusing him of collaborating with Mossad, Al Samawi fled to Aden amid a brutal civil war. Over 13 days, four strangers he had met at interfaith conferences orchestrated a daring cross-continental rescue in response to his online plea. This true story is chronicled in his acclaimed memoir, “The Fox Hunt: A Refugee’s Memoir of Coming to America.” The book was a winner of the 2019 Nautilus Book Award, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, and has been optioned for a feature film by Marc Platt, producer of “Wicked.”

As founder and president of Abrahamic House, an interfaith co-living and co-learning space, Al Samawi continues the work that transformed his own life, bringing people of different faiths together to foster understanding and collaboration in a safe environment he could not pursue in his home country. He speaks internationally on faith, resilience and shared humanity, inspiring audiences to bridge divides and act courageously in a fractured world.

Shana Celeste Lewis is an Associate Director on the Relationship Management team at Seramount.

Shana has held previous leadership roles in DEI, Human Resources and managing enterprise sales managers.
She is holds a BA in Business Management from New School University, as well as DEI certifications from Cornell University, University of North Texas and McKinsey & Company.

Shana is a native New Yorker currently residing in Los Angeles. She has a passion for travel, music and making a positive impact on peoples’ lives through inclusion & education.

Karen Armand is Managing Director, Partner Development at Seramount, where she leads the commercial launch of the Seramount Human Resources Executive Board—an executive program serving senior HR leaders. She brings a consultative approach to growth, partnering closely with stakeholders to translate member needs into clear go-to-market strategies and scalable delivery.
Karen is a results-driven operations and growth leader with deep experience in change management and human capital development. She is known for building practical systems that help organizations adopt new ways of working and sustain impact.
Prior to Seramount, Karen served as Vice President of Business Operations at pureIntegration, where she oversaw operational excellence, organizational design, human capital management, and sales and marketing enablement. She implemented talent and engagement initiatives that drove cost savings while strengthening performance and culture.
Earlier in her career, Karen spent several years at The Advisory Board Company (acquired by Optum), partnering with health system executives to deliver customized talent development and workforce solutions and driving significant revenue growth through strategic, relationship-based selling. At Accenture, she led large teams in designing and implementing performance-based training programs for corporate clients and helped launch Accenture Learning, a business process outsourcing model focused on learning solutions.
Karen holds a B.B.A. in Marketing from James Madison University. She is active in her community, serving as Fundraising Chair for the Gladney Center for Adoption (National Capital Area), on the board of the National Charity League, and in service to her church.

Himani Gupta is a seasoned mixed-methods researcher with more than 15 years of experience in data collection and analysis. In previous roles, she has led both quantitative and qualitative evaluations, with deep expertise in experimental and quasi-experimental research in social contexts.

She is passionate about building inclusive and accessible workplaces. Throughout her career, Himani has trained, mentored, and supported the professional growth of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds in analytics and technology.
Outside of work, she is a violinist and writer

Kit Eaton (they/them) is an Associate on the Advisory team at Seramount, where they support advisory engagements and develop resources to help organizations advance their inclusion strategies. They bring a people-centered perspective and a strong foundation in research and analysis to their work.

Prior to joining Seramount, Kit worked at The Walt Disney Company as a DEI Intern and at NBCUniversal as a DEI Analyst, contributing to enterprise inclusion initiatives and supporting strategy and program execution.

Kit earned dual degrees in Global Health and Sociology from Arizona State University. Outside of work, they enjoy traveling and listening to K-pop—especially Stray Kids.

Elton possesses more than 25 years of professional services experience, with most of it spent in managing organizational transformations as a diversity and inclusion (D&I) leader.

He combines his expertise in D&I with innovative solutions to yield outcomes that align with a client’s business and people objectives. Elton works with business leaders to operationalize and leverage D&I as a tool that supports growth, promotes firmwide collaboration, and achieves competitive advantage in the marketplace. He is often consulted on challenging topics affecting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of diverse professionals by organizations of all sizes and at different points of maturation.

Elton has an MBA in finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and he is often a featured speaker and panelist at leadership, diversity, and inclusion conferences.

Dr. Morris has been in corporate business settings for 30 years and has a passion and commitment for all things ‘Human Capital’. She is currently Milliman’s Chief Sustainability and Inclusion Officer. Lately, she has been discussing the importance of a growth mindset at Milliman and how to have difficult conversations on controversial topics.

Prior to her current role, Christal served as the Senior Vice President of DEI at Peloton, Vice President of Diversity for a global manufacturing organization, and a VP of Human Resources for University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She also served as Global Head of Inclusion, Diversity and Talent for Willis Towers Watson.

Christal has a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership, a master’s in organizational management and a Bachelor degree in Sociology.

Originally from San Diego California, she has a love for travel and has visited 49 of 50 US states, as well as over 70 countries.

Alina Vela is a Talent Acquisition leader with 15 years of experience focused on sourcing, developing, and retaining top talent. Currently a Senior Program Specialist based in Plano, TX, she manages the FlexPath program and Military Programs & Partnerships, driving program management, recruiting strategies, partnerships, and operations that build diverse talent pipelines and career pathways.

With Liberty Mutual since 2017, Alina brings strong coaching and mentoring experience across departments and levels, helping internal team members and external candidates strengthen skills that accelerate growth. Her experience includes program management, developing talent, and retention initiatives that improve engagement and long-term success. She has served as a Central Region leader of the Amigos ERG (Latino/Hispanic + Allies). She champions professional development, inclusion, and community engagement across the organization.

Known for a collaborative leadership style and practical program design, Alina combines strategic vision with hands-on execution to deliver measurable results.

Beth Leik is a Sr. Talent Partner at Liberty Mutual, with 21 years of HR experience and holds a BS from Boston University College of Communication. She specializes in talent enablement, onboarding, and structured development, having held roles across Liberty Mutual in talent consulting, program management, and leadership development. Beth is an active and long-time member of WE@Liberty, the women’s ERG, and is a leader on the Women’s Career committee for the past three years. Her work within the Women’s ERG focuses on helping women return to and remain in the workforce. This work includes the FlexPath program, which creates short-term, flexible re-entry assignments for women and others who experience a career break.

Sally Amoruso serves as Chief Partner Officer and as the voice of EAB’s partners on the executive committee. Internally, she is the senior-most executive ultimately responsible for EAB partners’ experience. Externally, Sally serves as a strategic thought-partner and trusted advisor to hundreds of university presidents, provosts, leadership teams and boards, providing guidance on institutional strategy, transformational leadership and change management.

Since 2018, Sally has hosted EAB’s Presidential Experience Labs, a signature event that immerses presidents in out-of-sector companies driving dramatic change (e.g. LinkedIn, Slack, Google and Open AI). In 2020, she founded EAB’s New Presidents Intensive which has supported 200+ presidents as they have transitioned into office. She also oversees EAB Consulting which provides intensive, hands-on support in areas such as strategic planning, strategic enrollment management, student communications and more. She is a frequent host of EAB’s Office Hours podcast and leads EAB’s Industry Insights Speaker Series, bringing thought leaders to EAB for open discussion, debate and idea-sharing. She is also a nationally sought-after speaker and facilitator.

Since 2023, Sally has served as a proud trustee on the board of American University, a private R1 research institution located in the nation’s capital. Prior to EAB, Sally spent 20+ years as a client-focused C-suite executive at The Advisory Board Company, the Corporate Executive Board and several health care start-ups. She received her AB in East Asian Studies from Harvard University, her MA in international studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MBA from the Wharton Graduate School of Business.

Sally is a first-generation Asian American and proud parent of two creative musician-actors launching their careers in Los Angeles. In her spare time, she can be found practicing yoga, hiking in the Hollywood Hills, and travelling the globe.