Alana Karen is a veteran 17-year leader at Google and is long-recognized leader in the tech industry. She’s committed to growing people-focused leaders at Google and beyond, most recently with her series “Still Learning: 17 Years of Lessons Learned at Google” published on LinkedIn and Women 2.0 to hundreds of thousands of readers. Joining Google in 2001, Alana worked on the original Google AdWords product and eventually founded and grew a global team responsible for creating, implementing and maintaining product policies for AdWords and other products. As part of her responsibilities, she ran Google Grants as well, a program to give free ads to non-profits. Alana then joined Google Fiber, where she built the customer service and installs teams, ultimately earning a “Gold Stevie Award” for Customer Service Department of the Year in Telecommunications. She then designed, proposed and launched an internal job placement program, the first of its kind, for 800+ employees.

In her current role, Alana’s scaling program management for the Google Search infrastructure engineering, tackling growth and culture issues, and developing internal developer relations programs.  Alana also is a mom to 3 children and a dog in Palo Alto with her husband, Mike, a former Googler and start-up leader. Alana’s route into Technology was non-traditional from the beginning of her professional career: she holds a B.A. in History from the University of Virginia.

Andrew Saidy is a Human Resources executive with more than 15 years of experience with public and private Multinationals and International Organizations. Specialized in leading Digital HR Transformations & Disruptions, Andrew has also held various roles in Talent Acquisition & Management, Executive Coaching, HR Business Partnering and Learning & Development. Andrew currently leads Schneider Electric’s ambitious Talent Digitization agenda, bringing digitization, AI and Machine Learning to Schneider’s HR ecosystem.

Ben Eubanks is the Principal Analyst at Lighthouse Research & Advisory and the author of Artificial Intelligence for HR: Use AI to Build a Successful Workforce.

Ben is an expert in the future of work as it relates to talent, technology, and innovation. His book on artificial intelligence debuted at the #1 spot on the New and Noteworthy list on Amazon upon its release and is currently being translated into Chinese.

Previously an HR executive for a global technology startup, he currently heads up research and operations at Lighthouse Research & Advisory, a human capital advisory services firm. He works with HR, talent, and learning leaders across the globe to solve their most pressing business challenges with a research-based perspective tempered by practical, hands-on experience.

He has developed hundreds of reports, case studies, and other resources to support his life’s mission: making HR better, one HR pro at a time. Ben is the founder of upstartHR, a blog that has touched the lives of more than one million business leaders since its inception, and he also hosts “We’re Only Human,” a podcast that examines the intersection of people and technology in the workplace.

Most importantly, he has four children, a wonderful wife of ten-plus years, and a preference for running in a variety of outlandish races for fun.

Harsha Jalihal is the Vice President of Human Resources for Unilever’s US Operations – she oversees HR for Unilever’s largest market, which includes an ambitious transformation agenda.

Prior to this, she was VP HR Future of Work at Unilever, and on secondment to the World Economic Forum (WEF). In this role, she supported the creation of Unilever’s strategy to build a sustainable future of work and contributed to the WEF’s own thought leadership in this space through her involvement in various projects which included re-imagining HR for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and as a member of the Consumer Industry Task Force of the Future of Work.

Harsha joined Unilever in 2014 after 15 years in the technology services industry in a variety of HR and business roles from HR Business Partner to M&A Specialist to Chief of Staff in the office of the CFO/COO.
Harsha’s career exemplifies her purpose to help people and organizations write and rewrite their stories by seeking experiences that push people outside their comfort zones.

Harsha has an undergraduate degree in statistics and an MBA. She lives in picturesque Randolph, New Jersey, with her husband, a 10-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter. She loves books, food, wine and travel.

Dr. Iris Ware is impact-focused Human Capital Strategist and Transformation Navigator with experience in senior-level leadership, managerial and consultant roles in domestic and international organizations as well as the public, private and non-profit sectors. With more than two decades of experience in building talent management capability, she is known for using a strategic approach, with extensive accolades for building collaborative relationships, leading change, designing accelerated learning and helping individuals improve their personal and professional effectiveness.

As a thought leader, Dr. Ware’s models and conceptual frameworks for strategic alignment, talent development, and change and transformation have been featured as conference keynotes, in publications, podcasts and research. Her primary goal is drive innovation and knowledge creation through applied research and experiential practices.

Dr. Ware holds a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Wayne State University, Lean for Office and Services certification from the University of Michigan, and Design Thinking Certification from Harvard University. She is a certified Human Performance Technologist (ISPI), Human Capital Strategist (HRCI) and a certified Change Management practitioner (Debis Academy, Berlin Germany) and is a state licensed Personnel Consulting Agent (State of Michigan).

Jacqueline brings 20+ years of experience in HR, inclusion and diversity strategy and execution to Freddie Mac partnering with the senior team to mobilize and activate people to drive business results. As head of HR, Jacqueline leads a team of experts in the optimal delivery of HR functions such as talent management, compensation, total well-being, analytics and workforce technology along with emerging business drivers such as artificial intelligence. As Chief Diversity Officer, Jacqueline leads Freddie Mac’s inclusion and diversity strategy along with required diversity reporting to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Janine is the Owner/Chief Innovations Officer for Talent Think Innovations, LLC, a business strategy and management consulting firm. Her career spans fifteen years in HR and Talent Acquisition that has taken her through the world of pharmaceuticals, healthcare, staffing and R&D. Janine is a dynamic speaker, entrepreneur, and an important and respected voice bringing both a human touch and business savvy to the companies and businesses she works with.

It is through the trials and tribulations of her career travels and her passion for Business, Technology, Digital Transformation and Talent Management that she created Talent Think Innovations in January 2013. Her aim is to provide practical and sustainable solutions, programs and strategies that are a catalyst for innovation. Through her work she is using her experience to get businesses and individuals from surviving to thriving allowing them to succeed in an age of rapid transformation.

Janine doesn’t just preach innovation-she lives it. A globally-known figure in Human Resources and Business, she has contributed for: Performance I Create, Switch & Swift, TLNT.com, and IRIS.xyz and more. Janine is a rare professional who isn’t afraid to tackle the obstacles and issues facing us as a society and global marketplace. She has been quoted by HBR, Thrive Global, Bustle, The Cut, Atlanta BlackStar, Newsday, SHRM, USA Today and has been featured by Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Black Enterprise and Ebony Magazines. In 2013, Mrs. Truitt was also named one of the Top 100 Most Social Human Resources Experts on Twitter by Huffington Post and one of 50+ Unstoppable Women in HR Tech by Clear Company. Additionally, she was a part of the first-ever IBM + Purematter VIP Futurist Project. Janine is currently in the process of transitioning her knowledge and work in HR to focus on Future of Life and Total Wellness as well as sprouting a technology company that will address the challenges the differently-abled community has in becoming gainfully employed. She proves that humility, innovation and practical thinking has value and is fast becoming the new business imperative.

Jill Christensen is a former Fortune 500 business executive, who led Global Internal Communications at Avaya and Western Union.  She is a best-selling author, international keynote speaker, and holds a Six Sigma Green Belt. Jill was named a Top 100 Global Employee Engagement Influencer, and her popular weekly blog was named a Top 100 Corporate Blog alongside of Apple and Microsoft.

Jill has worked in 16 industries, partnering with the best and brightest leaders around the world to improve productivity, retention, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth by re-engaging employees.  Her proven approach to increase engagement has led her to speak throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, Singapore and India.

Jill grew up in multiple U.S. states, but now calls Denver, CO, her home thanks to her pioneering spirit and love of majestic mountains, skiing, U.S. football, and live music.

John R. Kroger is the first Chief Learning Officer for the Department of the Navy. Kroger most recently served as Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, Hauser Leader in Residence at the Kennedy School of Government, and Research Fellow at the Safra Center for Ethics.

Mr. Kroger began his professional career at age seventeen when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He served from 1983 to 1986, primarily in the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. His military service included deployments in USS PELELIU (LHA-5) and USS BLUEBACK (SS-581).

After his military service, Kroger attended Yale University, where he received both B.A. and M.A. degrees in Philosophy after four years of study. He graduated magna cum laude with Distinction in Philosophy and was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar as well as a National Endowment of the Humanities Younger Scholar. After graduation, Kroger served as a legislative assistant to the Speaker of the House and senior policy analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Kroger received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1996. After a clerkship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Kroger served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York and as Trial Attorney on the Enron task force. As a federal prosecutor, Kroger was lead counsel in more than two hundred federal criminal cases involving mafia leaders, Enron executives, and drug kingpins. In September and October 2001, he worked on the emergency federal legal team responding to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

In 2008, Kroger was elected Attorney General of Oregon after winning the nominations of both the Democratic and Republican parties. As Attorney General, Kroger argued two cases before the United States Supreme Court, testified twice before Congress, and created new units to prosecute environmental crimes and protect civil rights.

Mr. Kroger is an experienced teacher and higher education leader, having taught law, politics and philosophy at Harvard, Yale, and Lewis and Clark Law School. From 2012 to 2018, Kroger was President of Reed College, one of the nation’s most distinguished liberal arts colleges. During his tenure, Reed increased admission applications by over 100%, reformed the introductory humanities curriculum, received an A+ rating from Forbes for financial management, and added new majors in computer science, neuroscience, dance, comparative literature, and race and ethnic studies.

Kroger has received numerous awards and commendations for his law enforcement and education work. These include Harvard Law School’s Traphagen Distinguished Alumni award; Harvard’s Mark DeWolfe Howe Fellowship in Anglo-American Legal History; the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching; Lewis and Clark’s Levenson Award for Teaching Excellence; the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney; ESGR’s Seven Seals Award for protecting veterans; and commendations from the FBI, DEA, and U.S. State Department. His book Convictions, about his work as a federal prosecutor, won the Oregon Book Award in 2008 and has been adopted at numerous law schools, including Harvard and Northwestern