Blanca Villela is a business strategist, corporate governance expert, certified executive coach, and lawyer with an MBA, bringing over 28 years of global and regional leadership experience. She has driven growth and sustainable innovation in sectors including agribusiness, consumer goods, and manufacturing, across mature and emerging markets. At Cargill, Blanca held senior positions such as Protein Business Manager, overseeing legal, sustainability, corporate communications, and crisis management. She successfully led Cargill’s Global Women’s Network, launching diversity and inclusion strategies worldwide, including in Latin America and APAC. Recognized for her work in women’s empowerment by Forbes and the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, Blanca serves on the boards of Ternova Group, ALZU Group, and GRUPO SEARCHiN, specializing in human capital, innovation, and sustainability. She actively mentors leaders through Vital Voices and Telethon, fostering inclusive workplaces and strategic growth. Blanca holds certifications in Strategic Workforce Planning and Co-Active Professional Coaching (CPCC).
Gareth Whalley is the Founder and CEO of Big Bang People Solutions, an HR consultancy specialized in diversity, equity and inclusion, reward and recognition, and change management and communications. Big Bang helps organizations worldwide to build holistic solutions to complex people issues, in service of enhancing both employee and customer experiences.
Before launching Big Bang, Gareth spent over 20 years in generalist and specialist HR leadership roles in multinational organizations including Procter & Gamble, IBM, The Coca-Cola Company, and Levi Strauss & Co. In recent years, he focused his efforts on driving meaningful culture change in diversity, equity, and inclusion, first leading the global inclusion practice at Coca-Cola, and later serving as the Head of DEI for Europe at Levi’s. He now consults with clients across industry sectors to help increase DEI maturity and impact.
Jenny Champlin is an innovative DEI strategist with over 20 years of extensive experience in employment law, litigation, HR and diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging. She previously led a DEI innovation capability at Edward Jones, a US-based financial services firm with over 40,000 financial advisors and branch team support members. Prior to this role, Jenny was an Associate General Counsel on the employment legal team at Edward Jones where she served as the primary legal partner helping to solve business problems, support associates and mitigate employment-related risk. Before Edward Jones, Jenny spent nearly 10 years at Walmart Stores, Inc. in Bentonville, AR serving in a variety of legal and HR roles. Just prior to leaving Walmart, Jenny was an HR Director supporting Walmart’s Merchandising & Health & Wellness businesses leading a team of 12 associates and serving over 600 home office associates and 85,000 pharmacists, optometrists, pharmacy technicians and opticians. Jenny is a Past President of the National Association of Women Lawyers and continues to serve on NAWL’s Leadership Advisory Council as well as on several NAWL committees.
Christy E. Kiely is a Partner in the Labor and Employment Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. She has 20+ years of experience focused on EEO, DEI, OFCCP and Pay Equity. Christy helps employers manage their workforce efficiently and with minimal risk while honoring their core values. Her clients range from Fortune 50 companies to family-owned businesses, in a wide-range of industries like finance, technology, energy, defense, manufacturing, retail, construction, and health care. Christy take time to learn about each unique company, their workforces, and what’s most important to them. She helps employers navigate complex and shifting legal frameworks while considering the practical, day-to-day realities of a business. She is attuned to balancing the needs of various stakeholders and the implications of any decision on the employee experience, engagement, and retention.
A substantial part of Christy’s practice is conducting DEI program reviews and risk assessments for clients. Her practice also includes advice, audits and litigation. Christy assists clients with sophisticated, proactive equal pay analyses, as well as targeted analyses to respond to compensation claims, and has significant experience with #MeToo investigations, including sensitive, high-level scenarios. She represents employers in connection with discrimination, harassment, denial-of-benefits, defamation, wrongful discharge, and other claims in front of the EEOC and state and federal courts. Christy has litigated under all the major federal employment laws, such as Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, ERISA, and USERRA, and advises employers on risk-reducing strategies. Christy has a deep commitment to pro bono work, and is actively involved in several regional programs that provide critical legal support to low-income populations.
Dr. Romie is a triple board-certified physician, award-winning speaker, and nationally recognized wellness expert. She brings together over 2 decades of leadership in neurology, integrative medicine, and mindfulness and on a mission to transform mental health and wellness in the workplace. She speaks and consults with Fortune 500 leaders, professional athletes, and global associations on performance, leadership, and mental health for individuals and teams.
In addition to founding brainSHIFT, Dr. Romie is the first Chief Wellness Officer for Great Wolf Resorts, where she spearheads programs and initiatives designed to build a wellness-focused culture for more than 12,000 employees and curate unique wellness experiences for guests.
Dr. Romie’s insights for cultural transformation are cited in the world’s leading publications. She has been featured in TED talks, NBC, CBS, FOX, Forbes, NPR, as well as dozens of other national media outlets.
Her book, The Busy Brain Cure: The Eight-Week Plan to Find Focus, Tame Anxiety, and Sleep Again, was released globally in January 2024 and is a national USA Today and Amazon bestseller. Learn more about Dr. Romie at drromie.com or @DrRomie on social media.
Rodrigo Caetano Teixeira is a global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leader from Brazil who has lived and worked in Budapest, Brussels, and Mexico City and is now based in Amsterdam. As a Senior Global DEI Expert at ING Bank, Rodrigo oversees DEI for the Wholesale Banking and Tech domains. Prior to ING, he held multiple roles at Uber, leading DEI efforts across Latin America, EMEA, and APAC. His work included product equity initiatives, launching global sponsorship programs, scaling inclusive hiring frameworks, and implementing self-identification strategies in over 60 countries. With a background in psychology, Rodrigo brings a data-driven and culturally nuanced approach to building inclusive workplaces worldwide.
I am a global People & Culture leader with 18+ years of experience driving Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), ESG, Culture Transformation, Change Management, and Learning & Development (L&D) across multinational organizations. Passionate about shaping sustainable, inclusive workplaces, I specialize in embedding HR strategies into business success, ensuring people-first cultures that drive engagement, innovation, and long-term impact.
I’m the Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for Stepstone Group and most recently I’ve led DEI Globally at Hays and People Experience and Culture at KPMG, with the aim to create the best employee value proposition and experience to everyone in an inclusive and human centric manner. Previously I led DEI for Visa, JP AIG, and American Express across Asia.
I’m certified facilitator in cultural awareness, change management and cultural transformation. I&D and wellbeing thought leader speaker on various conferences and Mental Health First Aider.
I’m myself an example of diverse experiences, originally from Brazil, I have lived and worked in Asia, Europe, and South America .My background is in trade and international affairs and my passion continues to be in global sustainable and inclusive growth.
Sharon C. Brooks is the Founder & CEO of Enlighten Leadership. For over two decades, she has provided strategic advice across industries and supported leaders in the private, public, and government sectors in Africa, Asia, Europe, UK, and US. She is an experienced consultant who fosters inclusive communities by successfully enhancing resource accessibility and promoting equitable professional opportunities for members of underrepresented demographics. In addition, she assists organizations with crisis management and serves on advisory boards, helping
to craft institutional strategic objectives.
She holds a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School and a B.A., summa cum laude, in History and Politics from New York University.
She is currently based in London and Spain.
With spirit and passion for responsible business, Margaret has leveraged partnerships and strategic initiatives to drive collective impact across Lenovo for almost 6 years. Serving as the internal consultant and senior project manager for global D&I strategy in the U.S, China, AP, LATAM & EMEA markets, Margaret specializes in advancing critical partnerships with HR and employee communities to strategically design and activate various D&I interventions worldwide. These partnerships fuel the evolution of Lenovo’s D&I roadmap, creating a more diverse and inclusive environment and employee experience, and enabling the company to fulfill its vision of Smarter Technology for All.
She comes to Lenovo from spending nearly half a decade managing corporate social responsibility (ESG) and diversity equity inclusion (DEI) at one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment company, Caesars Entertainment. Her work aligned thousands of team members, guests, communities and non-profit partners towards a shared goal of leveraging business to create positive change. This work includes facilitating $1M in corporate philanthropy and over 400,000 in volunteer hours, incorporating DEI strategies to evolve policies and business innovation while building 25 national employee resource groups and creating alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Margaret holds an International MBA from Politecnico di Milano, a Masters in Journalism and Media Studies from University of Nevada Las Vegas, and a BA in Communication with a Public Relations Certificate from Boise State University. With an emphasis on media and consumer behavior change, Margaret’s experience is fueled by her years in broadcast journalism where she focused on community responsibility.
With nearly 20 years of experience in promoting inclusive workplace cultures across various roles, including talent leader, HR strategy leader, and HR business partner, Bertrand Kimper currently serves as the Vice President, Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Global Head of People R&D at Kenvue. In this capacity, he spearheads strategies and implements initiatives that foster a culture of belonging and leverage the cognitive diversity of Kenvue’s workforce to enhance the reach of the company’s renowned brands. Additionally, he formulates and executes the global people strategy for Kenvue’s Research & Development function, driving innovation and bolstering the product pipeline to maintain the company’s leadership in the consumer health industry.
Prior to his tenure at Kenvue, Bertrand held several pivotal roles at Johnson & Johnson, where he significantly enhanced the HR function with a focus on talent management, human capital strategy, and organizational culture within the MedTech division. His professional journey also includes notable positions in executive search and recruitment within the life sciences sector, where he successfully managed searches for C-suite and VP-level candidates at leading firms.
Bertrand earned his Master’s degree in Work and Organizational Psychology from Université Paris 5. Having lived and worked in five countries, he is deeply committed to fostering an inclusive environment that accelerates company success in the marketplace while positively impacting the lives of billions.