- Exploring strategies that foster both consumer behavior and employee engagement
- Building change management into your HR operation: Encouraging buy-in and organizational support
- How does the workforce contribute to steady cumulative improvements as the engine of long-term culture change?
- Offering examples where mentorship, job shadowing, and cycling through different job functions improves retention
- What does investing in your people look like on a day-to-day ongoing basis?
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VP Talent Management and Organization Development
Church & Dwight
James is responsible for developing and driving the enterprise’s talent agenda. He leads the Talent Acquisition, Learning &
Employee Development, Employee Engagement and Talent Management organizations globally. Prior to joining Church &
Dwight, James held various leadership positions with BASF, GE Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson. In these roles he drove
organizational change and performance within talent management and business partnering roles. James is actively involved
in community service as a Board Member of Send Hunger Packing Princeton (SHUPP) and sits on the steering committee for
the Conference Board’s Succession Management Conference.
VP, People + Places
GoPro
Laura has served as GoPro’s Vice President of People + Places since May 2017 and as Senior Director of People from June 2015
to May 2017. From November 2013 until May 2015, she served as the Senior Director, Global HR Business Partner and Head of
Talent Development at Lithium Technologies. From 2011 to 2013, Laura held several human resources roles at Electronic Arts,
and prior to that served as an executive consultant from 2006 to 2011. Laura holds a master’s certificate in executive coaching
and a B.A. in Psychology and Communication from University of Colorado at Boulder.
Head of People + Places
Brandless
Michele is Head of People at Brandless, the San Francisco-based startup that is on a mission to make “better-for-you” quality
products more widely accessible and affordable for everyone. Named “Most Innovative Company” by Fast Company, and
“Startup of the Year” by AdAge, Brandless is fueling a movement to democratize access to goodness. Michele has spent her
career in leadership excellence, talent development, and organizational effectiveness, where she focuses heavily on growing
inclusivity, intrinsic motivation, understanding, and leading with heart. Prior to Brandless, Michele has held various people and culture roles such as, Sr. Director of Organizational Development at GoPro, and SVP, Chief of Staff and Head of HR at a privately held asset management firm.
VP and Head of People & Culture
United Nations Foundation
Ancy leads the Foundation’s work on talent acquisition and development, organizational culture, workforce diversity and
inclusion, and benefits administration and management. Ancy has over 17 years of human resource experience in global and
domestic environments. Most recently she worked at Discovery Communications as Vice President of the Human Resources
team responsible for supporting executives with organizational design, workforce planning, diversity initiatives, training and
talent management programs. Prior to joining Discovery, Ancy held HR positions at Winchester Homes, Deposition Services
and Axis HRD. She holds a BS in Engineering from the University of Mumbai and is certified through the Human Resource
Certification Institute as a Senior Human Resource Professional (SPHR).
