Transform 2023

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Chip Conley

Founder

Modern Elder Academy

Chip Conley joined the tiny tech start-up Airbnb nearly a decade ago after a successful career as a boutique hotel company founder and CEO. He was twice the age of the average Airbnb employee which earned him the title "Airbnb's Modern Elder" who was as curious as he was wise. As the internal mentor to the young Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, Chip got to see the value of intergenerational collaboration in a company that has now grown to be the most valuable hospitality company in the world. His bestselling book "Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder" is a testament to rethinking the value of having 5 generations in the workplace and why more companies are doing their best to encourage their older workers to stay in the workplace longer. Chip's Modern Elder Academy has more than 2,000 alums who've come to the Mexican beachfront campus and MEA will be opening two campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico soon.

Saydeah Howard

Chief Talent Officer

IVP

Saydeah Howard if the Chief Talent Officer at IVP. Saydeah is responsible for advising the firm’s portfolio companies on human capital issues including executive search strategy, leadership, and talent development. Ms. Howard brings extensive human resources and recruiting experience to IVP. Prior to joining IVP, Saydeah served as Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development at LeapFrog Enterprises. With global human resources responsibility, Saydeah successfully implemented a new performance management approach, employee recognition program, and rebuilt the recruiting department.

David Landman

Global Head Of Talent Development

Goldman Sachs

David serves as Global Head of Talent Development at Goldman Sachs. In this role, he is responsible for the firm’s approach to performance management, talent mobility, learning and new hire integration. David utilizes leading-edge HR technology in tandem with strategic change management practices to transform employee experiences, most recently designing a new approach to talent mobility at Goldman Sachs. He also serves as an HR advisor for SemperVirens Venture Capital and PeopleTech Partners. Earlier in his career, David was a professor of Psychology at the Community College of Philadelphia. David earned dual BA degrees in Business and Psychology from Muhlenberg College in 2000 and an MA and PhD in Organizational Psychology from Temple University in 2004.

Natalie Breece

Chief People + Diversity Officer

ThredUP

Natalie Breece is the Chief People and Diversity Officer for thredUP Inc. (NASDAQ: TDUP). With over 15 years of experience in People strategy, Natalie has dedicated the last 6 years building, innovating and executing the Talent Acquisition, People Operations, Total Rewards, DEIB and L&D strategies for thredUP. Natalie and her team are relentless in their pursuit of cultivating an environment that enables thredUP 2000+ employees to do the best work of their lives while inspiring a new generation to think secondhand first.

RJ Milnor

Former Head Of People Analytics

Uber

RJ is an executive with 20 years of global experience improving organizational performance through data-driven talent strategies. RJ takes a business-oriented, creative and collaborative approach to make evidence-based decisions that increase employee productivity, wellbeing, and continuously improve their experience and work. His career started in investment banking and he has advised Fortune 500 companies on 6 continents about how to build their people strategies and analytical capability, and launched new businesses in both executive education and people analytics.

Mala Singh

Chief People Officer

Electronic Arts

Mala serves as Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Electronic Arts where she focuses on developing EA's talent and cultivating the company culture. Mala plays an integral role in redefining and evolving the People strategy at EA. She is passionate about creating environments which empower people and teams to do their best work. Prior to this role, Mala spent three years as Chief People Officer at Minted where she helped to define the culture and grow the creative and technical teams during a high-growth period for the startup. Mala earned both her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Art History and her Master's degree in Human Resources Management from Rutgers University. Mala lives in the Bay Area with her family.

Bryan Power

Head Of People

Nextdoor

Bryan is Nextdoor’s Head of People. He was most recently Chief Human Resources Officer at Yahoo. Bryan held a similar role at Square and prior to that spent eight years at Google. Bryan Power brings more than 20 years of human resources and talent acquisition experience to Nextdoor – most recently as Chief Human Resources Officer at Yahoo. He is also a board member of Avenica, a U.S. recruiting firm that focuses on placing recent college graduates into entry-level career-track positions, as well as an advisor to a number of high-growth tech companies in San Francisco. 

Angela Cheng-Cimini

SVP, Talent & CHRO

Harvard Business Publishing

Angela Cheng-Cimini joined Harvard Business Publishing in 2021, spearheading the people programs to drive business strategy and create a deeply engaged and diverse workforce. Angela brings over 30 years of human resources experience across consumer product goods, professional services, high-tech as well as nonprofits. She has shepherded businesses through start-up, growth, and maturity by helping organizations identify and build the necessary organizational capabilities. She serves on the Alumni Board of Directors for Cornell University and is also an HR Venture Advisor for SemperVirens, an early-stage venture capital fund.

Georgios Markakis

Managing Partner

Venero Capital Advisors

With more than 20 years of experience, including at Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, KPMG and Merrill Lynch, Georgios has advised clients on over $50 billion worth of M&A (buy-side, sell-side, defence), equity financing / IPOs and debt financing transactions. As Managing Partner at Venero Capital Advisors, Georgios is one of the best-connected investment bankers in HR Tech, maintaining deep sector insights and trusted, longstanding relationships with HR Technology entrepreneurs and investors globally. More HR Tech companies trust Venero to deliver a successful M&A transaction than any other investment bank.

Q Hamirani

Global Head Of Live & Work Anywhere

Airbnb

Q is currently the global head of Live & Work Anywhere at Airbnb, ex global head of People Ops at Airbnb, HR tech geek, startup advisor, board member and a freelance executive coach with a passion for building scalable people functions to help change the world. He has had the privilege of working in various functions in a variety of industries across management consulting (Deloitte), in house Fortune 500s (Aon, JLL & GE), private equity (TPG Capital), hyper growth late stage firms (Airbnb) and his own startups (GoQuali & Supertek Scientific). He brings a unique perspective from each of his experiences to be a creative people & business leader.

AJ Thomas

Chaos Pilot & Head Of Talent

X, The Moonshot Factory

AJ Thomas is and entrepreneur, founder and coach focused on working alongside the future to create the next iteration of possibilities. She has served as the founder of Infuse Program Foundation and the founder and Chief Explorer at BrainCandy Labs, powered by Women in Technology International (WITI). She currently works at X, the Moonshot Factory, as its Chaos Pilot and Head of Talent having previously led X's Human Experience Design team. These roles have allowed AJ to be a key contributor to developing talent for the future. A lot of what fuels her interests and passions intersect at bridging the gaps in talent, culture, and career. The result of what she does moves people and organizations forward to create a future of infinite possibilities.

Dana Wright

Managing Director

MATH Venture Partners

Dana Zachgo Wright is the Managing Director of MATH Venture Partners, an early-stage VC. Dana is a connector, coach, and dealmaker focusing on leadership in high-growth, high-stakes situations. Prior to joining MATH, Dana led corporate development at a private equity-backed company that exited in 2013 for more than $4.5 billion. In her early career, she held various corporate and consulting roles in strategy, finance, human resources, and compensation.

Joey Lee

Head Of Talent Acquisition

Virgin Orbit

Joey has always put people at the heart of his career. As he look back in his life, his soul purpose has been always to help people. It is something that his parents instilled in him at an early age. During his 22-year corporate career in Talent Acquisition, he has help start-ups and large organizations develop authentic leaders who create cultures of innovation, trust, and inclusion. Joey understands the nuances of developing healthy team dynamics and people-first businesses. He is known for transformational leadership, innovation, creativity and high performance. He has the implementation-level expertise to develop consistent business processes that set up teams for success. He is an acknowledged expert in creating high performance organizations, lucrative relationships and outcomes through collaborative leadership efforts with a focus on talent acquisition strategies and delivery programs, including workforce/capacity planning, talent attraction, employment branding, selection practices and measurement. Joey received his Bachelor of Art degree in Psychology from UC Riverside, and earned his HR Management Certification from UCLA.

Jeff Ryan

Former CPO

Zynga

Jeff spent the last 4 ½ years as the Chief People Officer at Zynga, one of the world’s leading gaming companies. Prior to Zynga, Jeff was SVP, HR at GoPro, CBS Interactive and VP, HR for EA Sports. Jeff served as a board director for LakePharma, a biologics drug discovery organization and currently as a board member for the C100, a not-for-profit community of Canadians in tech, committed to supporting the most promising Canadian-led technology businesses and their leaders through mentorship, investment, and talent. Jeff has lived in Japan and Singapore and originally hails from British Columbia, Canada.

Beth Grous

Chief People Officer

Tripadvisor

Beth is responsible for leading Tripadvisor's global human resources organization, a role she has held since September 2015. Previously, Beth was at Nuance Communications, a global provider of speech and imaging solutions, where she served as the senior vice president of human resources. Prior to Nuance, she spent three years at Sanofi Corporation, a global healthcare organization, where she was the vice president of human resources. Beth also held a number of roles at Genzyme Corporation for nine years, including vice president of human resources, before it was acquired by Sanofi. Earlier on, she held human resources leadership positions at Perot Systems Healthcare Services, Reebok International, Aramark Educational Services and Federated Department Stores. Beth holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cornell University.

Paul Wolfe

Author, Speaker, Advisor

Paul Wolfe most recently served as the head of the Human Resources for Indeed, the world’s #1 job site. During his almost 8 years at Indeed, he helped the company grow from just under 1,000 employees to just over 12,000. From March 2020 through the end of 2021, he helped the organization navigate COVID-19 with the primary focus being the health and safety of Indeed’s employees. Prior to his role at Indeed, he served as Vice President, Senior Vice President, and Chief HR Officer at a number of well-known companies, including Match.com, Ticketmaster, Orbitz and Conde Nast.

Carolyn Frey

Chief People Officer

Curology

Carolyn is Chief People Officer of Curology, which is a direct to consumer prescription skincare, specializing in acne and anti-aging. Prior to Curology, she was CPO, head of marketing and head of business development for Philz Coffee, a one cup at a time coffee chain across North America.

Uzair Qadeer

Chief People Officer

Carbon Health

Uzair Qadeer is Chief People Officer and a member of the management team at Carbon Health, where he oversees end-to-end human resources capabilities enabling employee experience for almost 3,000 employees. Prior to Carbon Health, Qadeer was Chief Diversity Officer at Alexion Pharmaceuticals where he served on the company’s executive management team and built a market leading diversity function from the ground up. Before that, he served as a leader in Deloitte’s human capital consulting business where he focused on redefining every aspect of HR, including organizational development, culture, and talent management. Qadeer also worked at Bristol Myers Squibb in various roles of increasing responsibilities. Qadeer also taught at the MBA program at the State University of New Jersey. Qadeer has a track record of helping organizations lead with innovative HR efforts. Qadeer, who also serves on the Board of Directors of Human Resources Leadership Forum, was recently named one of the Top 100 Chief Diversity Officers, and was called a “HR Futurist” by American Healthcare Leader Magazine. Qadeer is also founder of two revolutionary and widely adopted frameworks in HR: “5 Es of Employee Experience” and “10 Dials of Diversity”. A truly global citizen, Qadeer speaks six languages and has lived in five countries including the United States, Italy, and Spain. Qadeer received his master’s degree as well as his B.A. and B.S. degrees from Pennsylvania State University.

Judy Park

Principal

Owl Ventures

Judy is a Principal at Owl Ventures, the largest VC fund focused on education and training technology. The fund invests in and supports companies that advance learning, skills development, and human capital across individuals and organizations. Prior to Owl, Judy helped start Bain Capital’s Double Impact fund and led the fund’s first investments in education and healthcare.

Tony Buffum

VP HR Client Strategy

Upwork

Tony Buffum is VP of HR Client Strategy at Upwork. As a key member of the senior-level executive client strategy team, Buffum is responsible for accelerating growth of current and prospective Upwork enterprise clients, helping them solve HR challenges related to finance, procurement and talent transformation. Buffum is an accomplished HR professional with more than two decades of experience leading global HR teams as well as driving transformational change in company culture, organizational design, performance management, and employee integration and engagement. He joins Upwork following a series of noteworthy leadership positions including chief human resources officer (CHRO) at FLIR Systems, VP of global human resources at STANLEY Security, VP of human resources at Stanley Black & Decker and others. Buffum graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Industrial & Labor Relations and resides in Charleston, South Carolina.

Elizabeth Berman

Chief People Officer

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment

Elizabeth Berman is the CHRO for Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment. She leads across all facets of human resources including talent management, change management, organizational design and performance, people analytics, training and development, payroll, benefits, and compensation. Elizabeth is a champion of culture as a strong foundation for company success. Her career includes leadership roles with revenue responsibility in both for-profit and non-profit, large enterprise and start-ups, across the hospitality, retail, and consumer products industries; with organizations such as Nike, Estee Lauder and Vevo. She has a track record of leading in rapidly changing environments and is passionate about achieving a company’s vision by attracting and developing top, diverse talent, and building extraordinary levels of employee engagement. Elizabeth has her Master’s in Industrial and Labor Relations and her Bachelor’s in Hotel Administration from Cornell University. She and her husband reside in the Princeton, NJ area with their two children.

Meghna Majmudar

Head Of Executive & Leadership Engagement,

ReadySet

Meghna brings over 20 years of experience as a strategy consultant and executive coach across diverse industries. Using her training as an anthropologist, strategist, and transformational Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioner, she listens to what is being said between the lines and reframes complex challenges for quick action. Meghna has a BA magna cum laude from Harvard University, an MPH from the University of Cape Town, and an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Alison Ryu

Partner

Able Partners

Alison Ryu is a Partner at Able Partners, an investment fund focused on health & wellbeing. She invests in companies that make the lives of consumers healthier, happier, and more meaningful. Able's areas of focus include disruptive healthcare, care economy, consumer wellbeing, and connection & community. Previously, Alison was a General Partner at CircleUp Growth Partners. Prior to that, Alison was an investor at TSG Consumer. She spent a year on the executive team at their portfolio company, Backcountry.com. She started her career in investment banking at J.P. Morgan. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University.