Vanessa is global Leader with over 15 years of experience delivering key strategic initiatives in operational excellence, digital transformation and change management. She is results driven, an insurance expert and an ERG leader with proven strengths in problem solving and enhancing relationships with C-Level stakeholders in complex and ambiguous environments.  

Vanessa’s key achievements include creating an inclusive environment while implementing global best practices leveraging Lean and Agile methodologies, most recently leading a technology team delivering key IT capabilities for a Product Journey in the United States and Liberty Mutual’s International operations. 

Vanessa holds an MBA from Questrom School of Business from Boston University and just finished an Advance Executive Certificate at MIT’s Sloan School of Business. Originally from Lima, Peru. Vanessa is now based in Boston, MA , married to a Brazilian and enjoys spending time with her two kids.  

Michael Nicholson is a Principal, Strategic Research at Seramount. As a DEI and talent researcher, he is equally committed to delightful storytelling and useful knowledge. His responsibilities at Seramount include management of thought leadership, product narratives, and other strategic research initiatives. At Seramount and beyond, he works to create effective messaging for all. Whether in an app or a sonnet, he believes every word counts.

Prior to joining the Seramount team, Michael earned his PhD at UCLA and served as a tenure-track professor at McGill University. As Director of the Montreal International Poetry Prize, he pursued his lifelong love of inclusive storytelling and actionable insights, helping to develop and market the first app-based, character-limited global writing product.

Michael lives in Southern California with his son, Wyatt, where he enjoys hiking along the coast and advancing environmental justice. As a neurodiversity advocate, he’s always looking to connect with fellow wordsmiths with a shared passion for impactful data and accessible communities.

Erick Santero is the Senior Music Content Editor at Gracenote, a Nielsen company where he supports the Latin American and sub-Saharan African markets. Erick is the co-founder of the NATIV (Native American, Tribal & Indigenous Voices) business resource group. Erick is also an Indigenous activist and has been on the front line of Indigenous and Native American movements in the US and Latin America for over 30 years. 

Jerrell was born and raised in Minneapolis Minnesota. He is a member of the Leech Lake band of Ojibwe from Leech Lake, MN. Jerrell has worked at Nielsen since 2010 and currently leads a team in the Engineering division there. He is also the co-founder of Native American, Tribal, and Indigenous Voices (NATIV) an Internal business resources group focusing on professional support as well as education and advocacy for indigenous issues.

In his role at Rangam, Dave identifies viable opportunities to connect and align mutual interests to further Rangam’s mission of accelerating meaningful employment for all. He seeks to bring together job seekers with disabilities, their support providers, schools and state agencies to help meet the hiring needs of our client companies.

Prior to Rangam, Dave worked for 12 years at Autism Speaks where he developed resources and tools for autistic adults and their caregivers. These included the Workplace Inclusion Now (WIN) employment training initiative; the Autism & Disability Visual Integration Company Experience (ADVICE) corporate consultancy initiative; TheSpectrumCareers.com jobs portal for job seekers with autism (in partnership with Rangam); the Autism Empowerment Kit (in partnership with Microsoft and the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition).

Dave is a member of several nonprofit boards and committees, including at College Steps, Bobby Dodd Institute Bridge Academy, and Level Up: Employment Skills Simulation Lab at the University of Michigan.

I’ve been with Pfizer for twenty years working at the Andover, Massachusetts site. For most of my career I worked in Program Management and Site Master Planning, until recently when I proposed and accepted a new position as the Disability Program Development Lead.

My passion has always been creating employment opportunities for those with disabilities. In the past, I created the Learn to Work program, and now I am working full‑time to develop an enterprise hiring program designed to deliver sustainable solutions for attracting, hiring, and retaining qualified talent with disabilities, including individuals who are neurodivergent and autistic. After eighteen months, the program is fully operational in seven U.S. locations, with additional expansions underway,

Melinda E. Ramírez specializes in leadership development, change management, and team effectiveness. Her primary goal is to help people rise above challenges and thrive. She is passionate about helping individuals unlock their leadership potential, enabling them to lead their teams and organizations more effectively. For over 15 years, Melinda has worked with leaders from Fortune 500 companies and non-profits to build inclusive workplace cultures. Currently, she is the Director of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement’s Leadership Programs, serving 97,000 members in 13 countries. As a licensed Insights Discovery practitioner, Melinda helps transform leaders by coaching them to better understand themselves, understand others, and maximize the relationships that affect them in the workplace. Melinda’s leadership and executive coaching experience have earned her Influence Digest’s Top 15 Nashville Coaches in 2023 Award. She holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and Bachelor’s degree in English from Marist College (Poughkeepsie, NY).  

Dr. Amanda R. Tachine is Navajo from Ganado, Arizona. She is Náneesht’ézhí Táchii’nii (Zuni Red Running into Water) born for Tł’ízí łání (Many Goats). She is an Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership & Innovation at Arizona State University. Amanda’s research explores the relationship between systemic and structural histories of settler colonialism and the ongoing erasure of Indigenous presence and belonging in college settings using qualitative Indigenous methodologies. She is the author of Native Presence and Sovereignty in College and co-editor of Weaving an Otherwise: In-relations Methodological Practice. She has published in the Journal of Higher Education, Qualitative Inquiry, International Review of Qualitative Research, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and other scholarly outlets. She also has published thought pieces in the Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, The Hill, Teen Vogue, Indian Country Today, Inside Higher Ed, and Navajo Times where she advances ideas regarding discriminatory actions, educational policies, and inspirational movements.