Co-Founder and Creative Director, Birsel + Seck Ms. Birsel is an award-winning designer named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in 2017. Using design processes and tools, Ms. Birsel will lead her nationally renowned workshop that teaches how to create a meaningful life. Her closing plenary will give Forum participants the opportunity to coalesce their inspiration, ideas and vision to “Design the Life You Love”.

Director of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability, Deloitte. Sarah focuses on IDO and social impact advisory. She also oversees Deloitte’s internal community investment, employee volunteering, pro bono, sustainability, and impact measurement and reporting functions in Canada and Chile. Sarah has significant international experience across the US, South America, UK and the Asia-Pacific, specializing in building and advising innovative community and social impact programs that create shared economic and societal value. Sarah serves on the Board of Volunteer Canada and is the Co-Chair of the Canadian Council on Volunteering. She is also the Chair of the Toronto Impact 2030 Council.

Head of Gender and Diversity, IDB Invest the private sector branch of the Inter-American Development Bank. Ms. Oueda Cruz ensures that all operations, when relevant, have a positive impact to lead to a more gender balanced society. She has spear-headed the initiative to foster programs that also include other under-represented groups, such as afro-descendants, LGBT, indigenous people and people with disabilities.

Kathleen Flanagan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Abt Associates. Kathleen joined Abt Associates in 1983 and was named President and CEO in 2009, after a distinguished career working across the broad range of markets and policy areas that reflect the company's business today. Prior to becoming President and CEO she served as Group Vice President for Social, Economic and Health Policy. Flanagan has been a member of the company's leadership team since 2001. She is a founding member and former president of Jobs Have Priority, a Washington-area nonprofit and serves on the board of the Professional Services Council. Flanagan holds an M.S. in Public Policy from the University of Rochester.

Deputy Administrator, USAID. Ms. Glick was most recently the Deputy Secretary of the Maryland State Department of Aging. Before that she worked as a Senior Vice President at Meridian International Center. Prior to that, she worked for IBM in a variety of positions. Ms. Glick began her career as a Foreign Service Officer in the Department of State, where she served tours of duty at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations during Operation Desert Shield; at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and at the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua.

Ms. Glick holds a B.A. in Government/International Relations from Cornell University, an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University, and an M.B.A. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Amharic, French, and Russian.

Senior Vice President of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan regions, Chemonics International. A local economic development and municipal governance specialist, she has supported projects in Afghanistan, Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon. She served as director of the Regional Agricultural Development Program – South and the director and deputy chief of party for the Regional Afghan Municipalities Program for Urban Populations – South in Afghanistan. Previously she worked with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and with the Praxis – Institute for Participatory Practices through the American India Foundation Clinton Fellowship for Service. She holds degrees from Wesleyan University and Johns Hopkins University.

Jay L. Knott, Chief Business Officer, Abt Associates. Jay joined Abt in 2010 and oversees all of the company’s international business operations, including Abt’s global offices in the UK and Australia and the U.S.-based international development division. Before joining Abt, Knott served as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director in both Jordan and Mozambique. He joined USAID in 1988 and worked in a number of leadership roles in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Prior to joining USAID, Knott worked as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and at the private firm Fox, Weinberg, and Bennett. Knott received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Chief Operating Officer, FHI 360 Ms. Kennedy-Iraheta ensures the delivery of measurable, cost-effective results, and enables FHI 360 to meet its goal of applying holistic, country-centered solutions to complex development challenges. Prior to joining FHI 360, Debbie held multiple leadership positions with USAID: in two Regional Bureaus (Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Near East) leading bilateral and regional programs in education, governance, climate change and biodiversity conservation; as Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Human Resources, where she led USAID Forward's talent management component and oversaw the rebuilding of USAID's Foreign Service Corps.

COO, ACDI VOCA Ms. Megret is a strategic and resourceful management, operations, and business development executive with over 25 years of experience working with mission-driven international development organizations. She brings proven expertise in convening and building successful global teams. She is skilled in the conceptualization and institutionalization of innovative business systems, enhancing efficiency and continuous process improvement. Ms. Megret is recognized as problem-solver, mentor to staff at all levels, and thought leader.

Deputy Country Director for Vietnam, FHI 360, and Chief of Party, USAID SHIFT Project, Dr. Nhu is well-versed in the management of training, technical assistance, and transitioning efforts to build and sustain the quality of HIV services in Vietnam. She has a medical degree from Hanoi Medical University and a master’s degree and PhD in epidemiology from the University of California at Los Angeles, having been accredited in addiction medicine by the International Society of Addiction Medicine in 2012.

Dr. Omékongo Dibinga is a motivational speaker, TV talk show host, trilingual poet, rapper, and professor of Crosscultural Communication at American University. His writings and performances have appeared in O Magazine, as well as on TV and radio from CNN and TEDx to The BBC and NPR. He’s written songs for major motion pictures and organizations such as NASA. He has spoken before the United Nations and partners with the State Department to conduct leadership trainings overseas. He has shared his work in 25 countries. Omékongo provides leadership, and diversity & inclusion consulting for organizations. For more, please visit www.upstanderinternational.com.

Vice President, Global Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at MetLife.  In this role, Pace leads the global D&I strategy for an enterprise wide employee base of 49,000 in nearly 40 countries. Aligned to the company’s business imperative, Pace drives and promotes D&I as critical success factors to fuel innovation, cross-cultural collaboration and business success. 

Pace is also a leadership scholar practitioner who frequently provides thought leadership at global conferences and academic institutions where she presents on global diversity, inclusive leadership, purpose and women’s leadership. Her insights have been featured in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Fortune Magazine and the book Women’s Leadership Journeys: Stories, Research, and Novel Perspectives.

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, WD-40 Company This private sector company leader speaks around the globe about organizational culture and effective leadership techniques. Garry is the co-author of “Helping People Win at Work: A Business Philosophy” and ‘Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A.’

Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company Vivian is a recent leader of the Public Sector Practice for the Americas and was co-leader of the US Health Care practice. Since joining McKinsey, Vivian has led major performance improvement programs across various participants in the private, public and non-profit sectors. She leads work in the areas of strategy development, performance improvement, organization and operations. She currently serves on the Senior Partner Committee evaluating and helping develop the global senior partners.

Vice President and General Council, Save the Children USA, Sumeet is a member of the senior management team and is charged with managing all legal affairs of the organization. In addition, he oversees the functions of child safety, employee safety and security, procurement and enterprise risk management. He also serves as the Chair of the organization’s Diversity & Inclusion Council. Prior to that, Seam has 16 years of legal experience in public and private company settings. He holds a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University Law School in New York and a Bachelor’s of Arts in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

Trade and Investment, USAID Creating Economic Opportunities, Palladium Gabriela is a Senior Development Professional with more than 20 years’ work experience with excellent ability to interact with different audiences, generating support and collaboration networks; is fellow of the Vital Voices Leadership Program and fellow of Leadership Program for Social Change from the Seattle Foundation. She has a MsDegree in Development Management from American University.

Partner, Africa Experts Incorporated, Nana is passionate about promoting health and development in a holistic, equitable, and sustainable manner. She obtained an MPH from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and has ten years of experience in the NGO sector and academia designing, implementing, and evaluating sustainable development and sexual and reproductive health programs in several countries including Benin, Congo (DRC), Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, and Swaziland.

Founder, Lessons Earned Robbie is an entrepreneur and women’s business advocate who helps empower young business women to excel and take their seat at the table, with equal pay and respect. Hardy has helped countless women tackle challenges in their careers. With Upsetting the Table, she has created a powerful fable that will show readers how the advice given may be applied to their lives and their careers.

CEO, Clinica de Psicologia SB Scarlet has a MS Degree in Neurophysiological Psychology with 15 years work experience with patients, university teacher and radio talk host on Psychological day to day issues; a great public speaker, ability to interact with different sociocultural stratums, with a gender emphasis.

Executive Director, Georgetown University SFS Graduate Career Center Anne coaches and mentors industry leaders, executives and students as they look to move into the next phase of their career. Anne is an ICF certified Executive and Leadership Coach (PCC) and Career Management Coach. Anne leads the vision and strategic initiatives for career and leadership development in the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.

Senior Vice President for Human Resources, Chemonics Mina has more than 20 years of development experience and experience designing and leading cross-departmental activities in home-office and field-office settings. She began her career in Serbia and Kosovo working on emergency and transition programming. Later, as home-office manager, she managed teams and conducted short and long-term assignments across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She served as Chief of Party for USAID’s Community Engagement Project in Jordan.

Senior Learning Specialist, USAID/LEARN Eva developed the Network Pattern Cards to make social network analysis accessible and applicable to everyday challenges. In her 10+ years of professional experience she has spearheaded organizational change in the international development context, as facilitator, researcher, and executive coach.

Global Partnerships, Ashoka Jeanine is currently a member of Ashoka’s Corporate Alliances Team, which offers a partnership program to co-create impact solutions with corporations, thereby working towards transforming their culture and generating new business strategies. She likes to think about how to measure the unmeasurable, and is consulting to two DC-based incubators on measuring the impact of their work supporting diverse entrepreneurs.

Director, Chemonics’ Asia Region Noelle is a project leader and development specialist with over 17 years of experience in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. Her technical experience includes institutional capacity building, public policy reform, environmental governance, and civil society strengthening, and implementing economic growth and private sector-led approaches. She was Chief of Party for both the USAID Build Indonesia to Take Care of Nature for Sustainability (BIJAK) project and the USAID Indonesia Program Representasi (ProRep) project.

Founder, Jay Consulting Hortense coaches clients to find and close gaps between the leader they are and the leader they want to be, bringing alignment and authenticity to their leadership. Hortense inspires clients to let go of self-imposed limitations so they make great gains in their potential and leadership growth. Known by her clients as an intuitive professional, she blends humor and joy with results-oriented drive. She is Member of Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches.

Vice President of External Relations, Creative Associates International Jessica directs Creative’s external engagement in support of its international development mission. Jessica is a seasoned development professional with over 20 years of experience managing the implementation of education, civil society, and countering violent extremism projects throughout Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Washington, D.C. Previously, she led Creative’s Center for Stabilization and Development.

Project Coordinator, ACDI/VOCA Johana has supported programs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and Colombia. Her experience working with diverse teams in implementing countries and HQ have led her to navigate challenging times of ‘crisis’ under varied circumstances. Johana speaks English, Spanish, French, and German.

Program Assistant and an Adjunct Faculty member in the Master of Arts Program in International Development (IDMA) at Gallaudet University, a bilingual university that uses American Sign Language and English. Maegan is also an alum of the IDMA program and has been involved in International Development since 2008 when she participated in an exchange program with Mobility International USA (MIUSA) to Costa Rica. During her graduate studies, Maegan completed multiple internships including the Youth in International Development and Foreign Affairs program hosted by the United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD). Maegan also worked as a researcher with the U.S. State Department under the Special Advisor of International Disability Rights, Judith Heumann. Building on the work she conducted as a graduate intern, Maegan secured a position with CBM International as the Disability Inclusive Development (DID) Learning Coordinator for CBM International. She supported the DID team in fostering and maintaining learning and knowledge management that increased capacity development in the DID Community of Practice. In addition to her current position at Gallaudet, Maegan also consults, trains and presents to various organizations about the importance of inclusion, fostering thinking processes and practices that promote inclusion of intersectional identities.

CEO, Enlightened Leadership, LLC, Julie Rosenberg, MD is a pediatric oncologist and global healthcare leader. She works as a business executive as well as a leadership coach who helps leaders develop themselves, their teams and embrace conscious living. Much of Julie's leadership philosophy and the framework for her coaching stems from her in depth knowledge of yoga, meditation and mindfulness.

Compliance Manger, Chemonics Kate holds a BA in Philosophy and Political Science and a JD with certification in International Law. Kathryn self-identifies as biracial (Native American/White) and comes from a disadvantaged socio-economic background. She is passionate about increasing the representation of people like her in global development, and is currently working with her alma mater to establish a program to guide and assist under-resourced, high-achieving high school, undergraduate, and graduate students pursuing a career in global development.

Senior Director, DAI’s Center for Digital Acceleration (CDA), Krista is responsible for leading DAI’s digital strategy across business units and managing and growing a portfolio of digital projects. She has served as a senior trainer, including for the Digital for Development curriculum roll-out to the UK’s DFID headquarters and field offices. Krista is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She holds a Masters in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Bachelors in Geography from Clark University. 

President and Owner, PeopleBiz Inc Margery works with people who are ready to get out of the box and lead more productive, purposeful, meaningful lives. Margery owned and managed a manufacturer’s rep agency for 29 years before selling it to her employees and putting her focus on PeopleBiz. She has been actively involved with non-profits for many years and was a long-time member of Social Venture Partners Dallas.

Founder and President, KAUR Strategies Indira established dTS to inculcate equality, accountability, and sustainability in development. With work in 90 countries, dTS was named USAID’s Small Business of the Year in 2014. In 2015, Indira sold dTS and founded KAUR Strategies in 2017 to provide expert advisory services. Indira served as the Chairperson of SBAIC, was a founding member of CIDC, was a board member at the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and currently services on the Board of Let’s Make it Possible.

Founder, Frontwood Strategies Nell is an award-winning strategist, Nell Callahan works with the nation’s top brands & advocacy campaigns.

Executive Director, Coptic Orphans Support Association Nermien has overseen the organization's expansion into development programs in literacy, girls’ empowerment, microfinance for widowed mothers, and interfaith initiatives to strengthen Egyptian communities for sustainable impact. Ms. Riad is a recipient of the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area's Community Human Rights Award and the Women’s Forum Excellence in Leadership Award.

Managing Director, ACDI/VOCA Olya’s career spans over 20 years in senior positions in the US and overseas. At ACDI/VOCA she leads the Project Operations department in ensuring high quality project implementation. Previously, she served as the Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID Mexico Crime and Violence Prevention program and the Philippines TB in the Private Sector Initiative, as well as Communications Director for USAID/Macedonia.

Adjunct Professor, American Business School of Paris Palena specializes in working with global development professionals who want to extend their personal and social impact. With over 20 years experience working with development partners in the areas of SRH, women’s empowerment, and institutional strengthening, she currently works as a coach, mentor, and international development consultant. In her spare time Palena is a lecturer on Masters’ courses in Management, Leadership, and Human Resource Management in France and the UK.

Outreach and Internship Program Manager, Chemonics Roya is in the unique position of being charged with widening the net of who knows about Chemonics and who believes they’re a fit for Chemonics. Prior to Chemonics, she was a Program Officer at World Learning. Previously, she worked for a human rights organization in their Cambodia and U.S. offices.

Founder, The Association of Zambian American Nurses (AZAN) Nyuma is a healthcare professional with over 15 years of experience as an emergency and trauma nurse. Nyuma is a May 2019 candidate for graduation from the Executive Masters in Leadership (EML) program at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.

Technical Assistance Manager, USAID/LEARN Samantha is an organizational development professional with 10+ years of experience as a workplace facilitator, trainer, executive coach, and mediator in the international development, USG, and nonprofit sectors. A former journalist, she holds an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

Senior Vice President and Senior Director of Development Creative Associates International, Sharon spearheads Creative’s business development strategy. Prior to joining Creative, Sharon managed international development projects for the Urban Institute. She advised local governments worldwide on performance-based budgeting, strategic planning, service delivery, and civic engagement. Sharon has an MA from the Graduate Faculty, New School for Social Research.

HR Associate, Women Global Health, Temi is the HR Associate of Women in Global Health, an organization with a growing community of supporters from 90+ countries, chapters in 4 continents, including a DC chapter. Temi is also Founder of Global South Solutions,LLC.

Deputy Director of the Public Partnerships Division of UNICEF, Megan is responsible for mobilizing more than $ 4 billion in revenues annually. She has worked in international cooperation for 20 years in some of the most complex situations in the world including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kosovo and South Sudan. She is known as someone that can navigate politically and operationally complex situations and build diverse global teams. She was previously Deputy Chief of Staff for UNICEF’s Executive Director and acted the Special Coordinator for Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Workplace Harassment. Megan holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and has published on engagement in complex emergencies.

CEO and Founder, Lynne Gilliland Consulting Lynne’s great interest, passion and expertise is enabling exceptional leadership. She coaches and advises both new and seasoned leaders around the globe in public, private and nonprofit organizations. Past careers include being a senior manager at an international NGO and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica.

Senior Director, ACDI/VOCA Tamara has over 20 years of experience managing and implementing multi-million development programs in the Balkans, West Africa, and the Caucuses. In her years managing and leading multicultural teams, Tamara has dealt with numerous difficult situations at every level and provides mentoring and leadership.

Director of Gender and Social Inclusion, FHI 360 Dr. Bertone provides strategic programmatic and technical leadership, gender technical assistance across development sectors and geographic locations. Concurrently, she serves as Adjunct Professor at George Washington University where she has been teaching graduate courses on human trafficking, gender, and development since 2006. Dr. Bertone holds a Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Professor, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business Evelyn practiced as an organization and leadership behavior professional for over twenty-five years. She has extensive consulting experiences with many Fortune 500 companies and has taught leadership at some of the most prestigious schools in the United States.

Director of Corporate Diversity and Inclusion, Chemonics Ms. Molinaro served as the D&I advisor for the Inter-American Development Bank and is founder of Decode Leadership LLC, a boutique D&I consulting and coaching firm. She has master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and George Washington University, and a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University.

Manager of Fellowships and Programs, AAUW Prior to joining the team at AAUW, Andrea worked at George Mason University with collegiate student initiatives. Her background is in Higher Education Administration, but she has a passion for women’s leadership and access to education. In her spare time, Andrea enjoys travel and meeting new people.

Senior Program Director, FHI 360 Zambia, Blessed is a team leader for the regional FEMNET Zambia project, has contributed to the development of FHI 360 Zambia’s Sexuality and Gender Sensitivity toolkit and currently contributes to the FHI 360 Zambia’s USAID Open Doors project. Blessed has also participated in the development of the key populations paralegal training manual and training material for the Zambia Police Service.

Professor of psychology in the Department of Leadership, Ethics, and Law at the United States Naval Academy, and Faculty Associate in the Graduate School of Education at Johns Hopkins University Brad Johnson PhD, is a clinical psychologist and former Lieutenant Commander in the Navy’s Medical Service Corps. Dr. Johnson served as a psychologist at Bethesda Naval Hospital and the Medical Clinic at Pearl Harbor. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and has served as chair of the American Psychological Association’s Ethics Committee and as president of the Society for Military Psychology.

CEO and Founder, BrandMirror Jen Dalton has 15+ years’ experience in brand strategy. In 2012, she launched BrandMirror, becoming a certified master personal brand strategist. In 2016, Jen published The Intentional Entrepreneur, a bestselling book that shares her process for building your personal brand as an entrepreneur. She has spoken to and coached thousands of individuals and entrepreneurs about how to stand out.

Operations Analyst, Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the World Bank Anjali holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Georgetown University, where she was part of the Leadership Fellows program and took the Meditation & Leadership course. She is a certified yoga instructor and passionate about bringing mindfulness practices into the corporate world.

Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College Dr. Smith is a former Navy pilot, has led diverse organizations of women and men culminating in command of a squadron in combat and flew more than 3,000 hours over 30 years including combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a sociologist trained in military sociology and social psychology, he focuses his research in gender, work, and family issues including gender bias in performance evaluations, dual career families, military families, women in the military, and retention of women.

Principal Associate, Abt Associates Lisa provides technical and managerial leadership to health governance, health finance and private sector development programs. Lisa is committed to fostering women’s leadership in development. She mentors international development students at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Lisa holds a Master of International Affairs from SIPA and speaks Russian.

Senior Program Associate, AAUW Sarah’s passion for closing the gender leadership and pay gaps fuels her commitment to empowering women with the skills and confidence they need to negotiate for what they are worth. Sarah coordinates hundreds of workshops across the country each year, helping to train thousands of women. Sarah is a graduate of Hendrix College and lives in Washington, D.C.

Founder, Happy Healthy Human Samantha is an Ayurvedic coach, yoga instructor, and doula. She helps her clients find more balance, bliss, and confidence by combining cutting edge science, ancient wisdom, and practical tools. Samantha received a PhD in Nutrition from Chapel Hill and has studied the power of both Eastern and Western medicine for healing.

Human Resources Manager, Vitas Group Janet was the first female on the executive team of Vitas and manages the role of HR as a business partner through understanding strategic business needs and effectively translating these needs into achievable objectives. Skilled in Analytical Skills, HR Policies, Management, Leadership, and Employee Engagement. She holds a Master's in Business Administration and Management from The Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences.

CEO, Vitas Group Elissa runs the largest group of small business lenders in the Middle East, overseeing six companies and over 1300 local staff. She has served the last ten years as an adjunct professor at SAIS and holds a Masters from Georgetown University.

Co-founder & Principal Consultant, RISE Alamelu has close to two decades of human resources and talent development experience and has held senior management roles in HR in the international development sector. She holds an MBA in Human Resources & Information systems, is a certified HeartMath® trainer on building emotional resilience and a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® facilitator.

Chief Operating Officer and EVP, Ipas Lisa oversees all country programs, global award management, global safety & security and ITS. Prior to joining Ipas, Lisa served as Vice President for East Africa at PSI, was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gabon and an Associate Program Officer at Family Health International (FHI). She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from North Carolina State and also serves as the Board Chair for Triggerise.

CEO and President, MSH since joining MSH in 2017, Marian has focused on bringing her private sector and pharmaceutical expertise to supplement the broad range of tools that MSH already has to promote sustainable change in fragile states and under-developed healthcare systems. MSH has a top notch range of operational and technical expertise that allows it to quickly respond to today’s most pressing and complex global health challenges.

Vice President, MSI, prior to her career in international development, she was appointed by Governor Tom Ridge (R-PA) to serve in his Administration, serving as the youngest female Director of Communications in state history.
Ellen has been a champion of female leadership, from promoting and mentoring young women in the Balkans where she ran a democracy NGO, to training government officials and women political activists/candidates in Serbia, Indonesia, Jordan, Croatia, Timor-Leste and Libya.

President and CEO, Plan International USA, Dr. San Martin has over 25 years of experience working in economic growth policy, capacity-building, corporate governance, and political reform around the world. She leads Plan International USA, an INGO focused on children’s rights and gender equality in more than 70 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Communications Specialist, RTI International, Juliana is a skilled communicator with 5+ years of experience driving strategic communications strategies, producing digital content, and managing the execution of digital campaigns.

Senior Director of Finance, RTI International, Jill has extensive leadership, financial management and auditing experience, and is skilled in developing and motivating teams and fostering collaborative working relationships.

Michael Leslie Amilcar is CEO of Cook Ross Inc. She joined the company in 2007, and served as managing partner, overseeing the strategic direction and day-to-day operations for over five years. Under her leadership, Cook Ross has grown dramatically building upon an almost 30-year legacy of organizational transformation work. Currently, the company has over 40 full-time employees and a highly experienced consultant network dispersed across the globe.

Driven by a passion to bring about social change in the world, Michael’s experience and accomplishments reveal a relentless dedication to developing a human-centered approach to strategy and solutions.

A native of Chicago, Michael earned her degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and is an Executive Coach trained by the prestigious Academy of Coach Training.

Wife, mom, entrepreneur, activist, adoptive family advocate, and self-proclaimed change agent, Michael hasn’t met a challenge she felt could not be solved with the right people working together. She is proud to be at the helm of Cook Ross, working with a talented and passionate team, and partnering with courageous and committed clients.

Chief Human Resources & Communications Officer, Bunge Limited, Deborah is responsible for people, culture and communications strategy and operations for the 35,000 employee global Agribusiness and Food organization based in New York. She is a seasoned business and human resources leader with a proven track record in general management and developing people and culture based programs in support of business performance and growth.

Director, Citi Learning, Laine is the North America Director and leads Global Relationship Management for Citi Learning. She is responsible for the delivery of Citi’s suite of Leadership and Executive Development programs and acts as an internal Advisor across Citi’s Businesses and Functions.She is also an Executive Coach, and in 2017 was selected to be part of Marshall Goldsmith’s “100 Coaches”.