With more questions than answers in today’s economic landscape, Dana Peterson, chief economist for the Conference Board, has established herself as a visionary, and the go to expert providing insightful analysis and predictions to corporations, associations, and government organizations looking for clarity and foresight into how economic drivers might impact their businesses in the short- and long-term. With over a decade of experience in the field, she serves as the globally recognized think tank’s public face and primary spokesperson on all things related to the economy.

James is a founding member and board chair at Directors Academy, a national not-for-profit organization with the mission of identifying, developing and advancing the next generation of diverse board members and leaders. Previously, he was Chairman, President, and CEO of Jamba Juice, which he transformed from a smoothie shop to a leading global, healthy active lifestyle brand. Prior to joining Jamba Juice, he held senior executive roles at Safeway Stores, the Gillette Company, Nestle-Purina, and Coca-Cola. James currently serves on the boards of leading brands including The Honest Company, Affirm, Medallia, Simply Good Foods, Schnuck Markets, and Bay Club. James is a passionate champion for diversity and inclusion and has been recognized with numerous awards including the American Heart Association Corporate Citizen Award (2014) and Junior Achievement’s Northern California Lifetime Achievement Award (2013). In 2010 the San Francisco Business Times named Mr. White as the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEO.

Dedicated to creating the conscious workplace for tomorrow, Virginia “Ginny” Clarke is a seasoned executive recruiter who has advised at the highest levels of corporate America for decades. A proven expert in driving diverse leadership, she is the former director of executive recruiting at Google, where she led the company’s diversity, non-tech recruiting, and leadership internal mobility teams – finding and hiring senior leaders across the company. She also built a scaled internal mobility program for Google’s senior leaders and designed much of the infrastructure that supports their executive recruiting function today. In speeches, Clarke draws on her unparalleled experience assessing thousands of executives inside corporate C-Suites and boardrooms to bring a unique, holistic five-dimensional approach to true leadership that is essential now more than ever. She delivers “no-holds-barred” discussions on the root causes that lead to a lack of diversity in organizations, and provides the integrated solutions that anyone can use to affect change.

Regarded as the “CEO-Maker,” “DEI Professor,” and the “Cubicle to Corner Office Empress,” Dethra Giles is a workplace and career optimizer who advises organizations and individuals on how to chart their unique paths to success. She is a four-time TEDx speaker who has been named a “Top 100 HR Influencer” by Engagedly, and was selected by HR Gazette’s “HRchat” podcast as one of the “Top 22 Most Influential Figures in HR.” With clients including Kaiser Permanente, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The Army Corp of Engineers, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Salvation Army, Giles shares a unique blend of advanced education and industry experience that has been described as “university-tested and industry-approved,” and can be implemented by organizations of any size, and across industries.

With a master-level understanding of what it takes to survive and thrive in the workplace and how organizations can create more equitable spaces for all, Carice Anderson is a workplace development and success engineer who empowers individuals to strategically navigate their careers and advises some of the world’s top companies on aligning their talent strategies to their business objectives. As a director in leadership and manager development for a leading, multinational asset management firm, her work sits at the intersection of talent and leadership development, workplace evolution, and diversity, equity, and inclusion — helping individuals, teams, and organizations unlock the potential within and consistently perform at the highest levels.

Few people have had the influence that Elliott Harris has had in shaping economic development and policy across the globe through the course of his distinguished 34-year career in international economics. Harris is the former United Nations assistant secretary-general for economic development and chief economist who has been closely involved in the design of the global Sustainable Development Agenda and the policies aimed at reducing poverty, generating more equitable social outcomes and environmental sustainability, and creating resilient and sustainable development. He brings this unparalleled expertise into the analysis of what’s happening now and what’s ahead in the global economic landscape.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. With over 300,000 members in 165 countries, SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world, impacting the lives of 115 million workers every day. As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. He is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors a weekly column, "Ask HR," in USA Today.

Among the most influential retail industry executives for close to three decades, Jonathan Mayes has been one of the leading voices in elevating diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organizations he has led. Mayes is the former senior vice president and chief diversity & inclusion officer at Albertsons Companies, where he oversaw the organization’s government relations, sustainability, and philanthropy teams, and launched award-winning initiatives designed to position the business for success with DEI and corporate social responsibility at its foundation. He is a visionary who continues to drive the change toward a more representative and equitable workforce and has been recognized as one of the top diversity and inclusion executives in the U.S.

A NASA astronaut, Joan Higginbotham is a trailblazing electrical engineer who in December 2006, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to become the third African American woman to travel into space. Over the nearly 13-day mission, she joined the seven-member crew to continue construction of the International Space Station (ISS), embarking on four space walks and operating the station’s robotic arm. Sharing captivating insights from her 20-year distinguished career with NASA, Higginbotham inspires audiences with her personal journey of breaking barriers into space and beyond. Taking groups aboard the International Space Station and sharing her lessons-learned along the way, she highlights the keys to succeeding in her missions – including preparation, perseverance, and never giving up – and how these tactics can be applied to any endeavor.

Sandra Taylor is CEO of Sustainable Business International LLC, a consulting business that assists clients at various stages of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the food and beverage sectors. Previously Sandra was a senior executive with Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, where she led global responsibility and sustainability in coffee and cocoa supply chains. She is the author of The Business of Sustainable Wine, published in July 2017. Sandra received her BA from Colorado Women’s college, JD from Boston University School of Law and MBA program from the Bordeaux School of Management/Kedge Business School in France.

Trevor Williams served as Chief Economist at Lloyds Bank for over a decade. Now an author, academic and consultant, he analyses the key trends and policies that shape the economy and markets. From energy and climate to how companies use their data to understand the wider economy, he brings clarity and relevance to an often complex and abstract field.

Ambassador Ron Kirk is the former United States trade representative (USTR) who was a pivotal member of the president’s economics team. With nearly 20 years in politics, he has been a Dallas mayor, U.S. Senate candidate, a lawyer with international reach. Boisterous and entertaining, Kirk analyzes the current political environment and offers audiences a glimpse behind the curtain in Washington and into what the president is really thinking. He also addresses trade, jobs, the economy, and doing business in China.