Catherine Ewell is the Senior Vice President at Seramount, part of EAB. In this role, she leads Seramount’s Research and Insights division, overseeing the dedicated and talented team of researchers, advisors, and relationship directors who help over 500 partners navigate the rapidly evolving DEI and talent landscape.

Prior to joining the Seramount executive team in November 2022, Catherine served as Senior Vice President of Partner Success at EAB. There, she was responsible for ensuring that every partner maximized the value received from their EAB technology and research partnerships. Throughout her more than 20-year career with EAB and the Advisory Board Company, Catherine has worked with leaders in the higher education and health care sectors leading research, consulting, product, and customer success teams to turn ideas and technology into real-world, measurable impact.

Catherine is proud to serve as Executive Sponsor for the firm’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group. She is passionate about leadership development and facilitates trainings for firm leaders on topics ranging from accountability to maximizing energy. Catherine holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. She is based in Washington, DC, and is an avid traveler and scuba diver.

Drawing on her extensive experience in government service, she provides valuable advice to clients on a diverse range of public policy issues, government regulatory enforcement trends, election and political law matters, congressional investigations, and civil and criminal white-collar and investigations matters. Her expertise spans various industries, including technology, financial services, FinTech, energy, and consumer goods.

She joined Covington after serving as Assistant to the President and White House Counsel for President Biden. In this role, she led the administration’s efforts to confirm Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first African-American woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. She also provided counsel on a wide array of matters and policy initiatives, such as the administration’s covid strategy, voting rights, high-profile congressional investigations (including the January 6th Committee), and immigration reform.

Before her role as White House Counsel, she led the legal team for the Biden-Harris campaign as General Counsel. During the Obama administration, she served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel for ethics. Following the administration, she held key legal positions as General Counsel of the Obama Foundation and General Counsel of the personal office of President and Mrs. Obama.

Prior to her government service, she was a Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, specializing in legal and judicial ethics and the regulation of the legal profession. She also taught at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and served as an inaugural faculty member at the Drexel University College of Law.

Hannah Goodfriend is a Diversity, Equity & Culture Specialist and Employee Network Lead at Nasdaq, she provides daily support to our twelve employee networks, many of which serve historically marginalized communities. Her role touches on event planning, communications, driving strategy, and spearheading initiatives for these networks. In addition to her internal work, she assists in completing external campaigns and surveys to report on Nasdaq’s progress related to diversity, inclusion and belonging. In her free time Hannah loves to paint, craft and watch Ru Paul’s drag race. She lives in New York City and is a graduate of New York University

Laura Agharkar serves as Nasdaq’s Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Culture, where she spearheads the development and implementation of the company’s comprehensive inclusion strategy. With a global presence spanning 38 countries, Laura is deeply committed to fostering a workplace where every employee, regardless of their background, experiences a genuine sense of belonging.

Prior to joining Nasdaq, Laura has leveraged her expertise in similar roles at prominent organizations such as Global Pharmaceutical, Ferring, and Samsung Electronics.

In her personal life, Laura dedicates quality time to her two children, Fiona and Charlie, while also sharing her passion for golf and tennis with her husband, Nikhil.

Laura’s commitment to making a positive impact extends beyond her professional life, as she is on the verge of completing her third NYC Marathon this November, running in support of Nasdaq’s Women’s ERG for Girls on the Run charity. Laura is an alumna of the University of Oregon, where she laid the foundation for her career.

Susan Haseley leads enterprise ESG and DEI global strategy and programming for Robert Half and its subsidiary, Protiviti. She has been with Protiviti since its inception in 2002. In addition to her ESG and DEI responsibilities, Haseley serves as an advisor to key clients and draws on over 30 years of experience providing internal audit, technology and risk consulting services. She previously served as Protiviti’s Global Industry Leader for the Healthcare and Life Sciences practice and as the Market Leader for the Dallas office. Under her leadership, Protiviti’s Dallas office has been recognized multiple times as one of the best places to work in Texas.

Prior to joining Protiviti, Haseley spent seven years with Arthur Andersen as a partner in its Risk Consulting practice, responsible for directing technology risk consulting and outsourced internal audit services. Earlier in her career, she held industry positions as vice president of IT Audit for a large insurance organization and a system analyst implementing financial systems for a large aerospace company.
Haseley earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Dallas and a bachelor’s degree in information systems from Ohio University.

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.

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.