Erica Porter is the Plant Manager at Ardent Mills in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where she brings expertise in food manufacturing and a strong commitment to operational excellence. A Food Science graduate from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Agriculture, Erica has built her career across the meat, appetizer, and flourmilling sectors. She is passionate about food safety, product quality, and developing people, and is known for fostering collaborative, highperforming teams. Erica also contributes to industry leadership as the Western Canadian District Director and Board Member for the International Association of Operative Millers. In addition, she serves on both the Board of Directors and the Technical Committee for the Canadian National Millers Association, helping advance the milling industry across Canada. She has been a proud member of the Women of Wheat Employee Resource Group at Ardent Mills since its inception in 2017, and a part of the Executive Team for WOW for the past 2 years.
Lily Oyarzun is an Associate Director on the Assessment and Strategy team at Seramount. Here, she brings a strong background in project leadership, partnership management, and communications. Prior to joining Seramount, Lily served on multiple teams within Marketing and Enrollment Solutions at EAB and worked directly in higher education for over a decade. She is passionate about building collaborative relationships and is committed to continuous improvement and operational excellence in every project she undertakes.
Lily holds a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations from the University of Miami.
Tina Truong is a Product Strategist at SAP, where she works within the Preferred Success organization to help customers realize the value of their cloud investment. Prior to her current role, Tina supported strategic initiatives in the Customer Office for SAP’s Chief Revenue Officer and President of the Americas, driving programs that strengthened customer engagement across the region.
Beyond her daytoday work, Tina serves as the PMO & Onboarding Director for SAP’s Business Women’s Network, where she helps empower women across the company through community building, leadership development, and inclusive programming.
Tina holds an MBA and a background in nonprofit management, grounding her work in a deep commitment to purposedriven impact. She is passionate about advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, championing gender equity, and supporting organizations that strive to make a positive difference in the world.
Winter Diggins is a self-learner with over 20 years of experience in operations and pricing. She is currently Chair for the EmpowHER BRG and, in 2024, served as Project Manager for Ferguson’s VALOR BRG, supporting military spouses. Previously, Winter was the EmpowHER BRG Special Projects Co-Chair and Mentorship Chair, where she helped launch the pilot for Ferguson’s informal mentorship program. Her passion is associate development and fostering inter-department collaboration, focusing on creating opportunities and bridging gaps between field teams and headquarters.
Pereira is dedicated to fostering inclusive workplaces by driving data‑informed engagement, innovation, and creativity. He focuses on implementing enterprise-wide strategies that strengthen culture, develop talent, and promote psychological safety. His experience spans sports and entertainment, technology, non-profit, and bio pharma.
He currently serves as the Enterprise Strategic Operations Lead in Merck & Co., Inc.’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Center of Excellence. In this role, he supports and scales enterprise strategy and operations for 25,000+ employees across 10 global Employee Business Resource Groups (EBRGs) and 300+ chapters worldwide. He also is a member of the org’s Global Disability Inclusion Consortium (GDISC), a cross-functional team shaping disability inclusion policies across global markets.
He earned his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his M.S. from Florida State University, where he published research on marketing, inclusion, and bias.
Scott E Page is the John Seely Brown Distinguished University Professor of Complexity, Management, and Social Science at the University of Michigan, an external faculty member of The Santa Fe Institute, and an external fellow at the Brookings Institute. Professor Page studies collective intelligence, the role of diversity in markets, organizations, and democracies, and institutional design and culture. He has written five books and more than one hundred academic articles. He has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and is an elected fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.
I’m Torren Manning, a Quality Development Associate at Ardent Mills with a background in Food Science from Florida A&M University. I work closely with teams to support product quality, documentation, and continuous improvement. Through my current role, I collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure finished products meet stringent standards for accuracy and efficiency, contributing to consistent operational excellence. With a commitment to continuously improve, I help drive impactful solutions in fast-paced production environments, rooted in a passion for leveraging scientific principles to enhance product quality while maintaining a focus on efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Alicia Luarks is an Operations Excellence Practitioner at Ardent Mills. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Bakery Science and Management from Kansas State University and began her career at Ardent Mills as an intern in the summer of 2016. Approaching her 10-year anniversary with the company, Alicia has built a diverse career spanning Food Safety and Quality, Operations Management, and Continuous Improvement. In addition to her professional role, she serves as Chair of B.E.A.M. (Black Excellence at Ardent Mills), where she is passionate about advancing equity, representation, and inclusive leadership.
Greg Garrett is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Ardent Mills, the premier flour-milling and ingredient company. In this role, Greg leads the company’s DEI branding expression, Ardent Coming Together, which is built upon the pillars of People, Customer, Community, and Supplier. Through this effort, he drives cultural transformation, inclusive leadership, and inclusive business practices that foster a sense of belonging and shared success.
Greg has over 20+ years of experience in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, marketing, and human resources, having held leadership roles at State Farm, Westfield, and Asurion.
His career has focused on advancing employee engagement, inclusive talent development, and market growth through inclusive strategies. Greg is passionate about building bridges across differences and creating environments where all individuals feel seen, heard, and empowered to thrive.