Our speaker line-up.

  • Mimi Jung is an award-winning journalist for KING 5. Her career began in Las Vegas before moving back to her hometown in 2000, where she currently anchors the morning news.

  • Ana White is the Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Lumen Technologies, a global technology leader in integrated communications, network, cloud, and security solutions. Ana reports to the Lumen CEO and leads the company’s people programs, recruiting, diversity & inclusion, total rewards, training, culture, employee experience and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).

  • Monica Pool Knox has led talent strategies as well as advised and coached senior leaders as an HR executive for over 25 years across Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, PepsiCo, Sony, Twitter, and Verizon Wireless International. She has also held global roles as EVP and Chief People Officer within AI based companies Domo and LivePerson (Nasdaq: DOMO /LPSN). Currently, Ms. Knox is CEO and Managing Partner of LegacySeven, an HR consultancy providing strategic advisory services to founders, GPs and senior business leaders as well as product and GTM strategies for HR tech companies. Her clients include companies such as BetterUp, Summer and UK based Mindora.

    With a unique combination of enterprise and earlier stage company experiences, Monica is known as an innovative business leader with a track record for developing progressive strategic vision as well as operational excellence in complex environments through approaches anchored in human centered leadership.

    Monica currently serves as a board director for Swedish Health System, a $2B, 12,000 care provider organization spanning across the western US from Alaska to Texas. She also serves on the Operating Council of Clear Coast Partners, an impact venture firm that aims to address the health and care challenges faced by underserved populations including women, children and the elderly. Additionally, she is an Advisor at SemperVirens, a venture fund investing in health tech, fintech and workforce tech companies focused on transforming the relationship between employers and employees.

    Recognized as one of the top 50 CHROs in 2024 by Diversity First, Ms. Knox serves as a member of the CNBC Workforce Executive Council, Enterprise Ireland’s CHRO Advisory board, and the Executive Leadership Council. Sought out as an industry thought leader, Monica contributes her voice in the US and the UK on topics related to achieving business results through people and culture, human centered leadership, the intersection of HR & AI and the future of work.

    Monica has a BA in Communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Monica lives with her husband and son in the Seattle, Washington area.

  • April boasts over a decade of dedicated service within the realm of global women's health. Her professional journey is marked by a multifaceted expertise spanning business development, administrative aptitude, public speaking, training and development acumen, adept fundraising skills, and a clear understanding of healthcare intricacies. She has worked alongside organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Starbucks, Expedia, P&G and Goldman Sachs. In addition, April is a member of the Women's Global Health Seattle Advisory Panel and holds a Women's Health Coaching certification from the highly regarded Integrative Women's Health Institute.

    Her unique blend of corporate partnership expertise, training & curriculum development and an unwavering dedication to global women's health has propelled her into her current role as CEO & Co-Founder at MiDOViA, where she empowers women in mid-life to flourish through education and support, both in and outside the workplace. April specializes in guiding individuals through the complex terrain of menstrual health, menopause transitions, and sexual reproductive wellness and comes alongside organizations to create inclusive and supportive environments for all.

    Notably, April's unwavering commitment to community betterment earned her the 2015 Young Mother of the Year Award for Washington State, and she has been honored with the Ruby Award by Soroptimist International for her exceptional contributions.

    With a compassionate spirit, April has embarked on numerous journeys to Nicaragua and Eswatini, Africa, where she spearheaded women's health training initiatives and established local enterprises, empowering women with income-generating opportunities.

  • Ellen has been a Total Rewards Leader and People Technology advisor for the last 25+ years, most recently serving as Vice President, People Operations for Crunchyroll, a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. She currently serves as a consultant and an advisor to start-ups in the People Technology space, more specifically with early stage founders focused on family, caregiving, or mental, financial and women's health.

    She is passionate about changing the world, one employer at a time, through meaningful benefits and programs that truly make a difference in their employees' lives. Her deep empathy, compassion and drive to create some of the best and most innovative people programs has helped organizations she supports reach and exceed their goals. She focuses her work with brands that own their responsibility to their employees and their families and are willing to invest in solutions that change lives.

    She's a people person with the chops to do hard things and see beyond tomorrow, preparing companies for the future of work.

  • Dina Gordon, MD, FACOG, NCMP is a board certified OBGYN and certified menopause practitioner. An East Coast native, she received her medical degree from Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School, then moved to Seattle where she completed her residency training at the University of Washington. She has practiced with Swedish Medical Group for over a decade, and currently works at the Swedish Women’s Wellness and GYN Specialty Services clinic, where she also serves as Medical Director. She believes in patient-centered, gender inclusive care, where patients are empowered to make decisions about their care. When not working, Dina enjoys distance running and spending time outside in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, child and dog.

  • Serafina is a Partner in Mercer’s Health business in San Francisco and has been with Mercer for 12 years. She partners with employers to ensure their employee benefits programs integrate with compensation strategies and business objectives, as well as aligning with organizations’ broader Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) strategies, including accelerating DEI through benefits for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+.

    Serafina works with clients to develop cost-effective plan designs, evaluate funding and risk transfer alternatives, select appropriate vendors, determine administrative requirements, identify outsourcing opportunities, and develop communication strategies and implementation schedules.

  • Diana Birkett Rakow is Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Sustainability at Alaska Airlines. She joined Alaska in 2017 and has led the establishment and pursuit of the airline’s climate strategy and strengthened Alaska’s Environmental Social Governance (ESG) program as a whole. Diana chairs the Board of the Alaska Airlines Foundation, sits on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Science Center and is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

  • Kristen leads the Talent Acquisition, Rewards, & Insights Organization with a broad remit that includes the global strategy and execution of Microsoft’s early in profession, industry, and executive level talent acquisition, executive and employee compensation, benefits, mobility, performance and development, mergers and acquisition, stock design and administration, and HR people analytics. She also plays a key role on the Microsoft Compensation Committee and is a member of the HR Leadership Team.

    Kristen is a 25-year Microsoft veteran who spent the first half of her Microsoft career in corporate finance controller positions in Office, Windows, Windows Server, and Xbox. She moved to HR to lead University Recruiting before transitioning to HR leadership roles in Windows, Platforms and Services, Online Services, and what is now known as the Entertainment + Devices organization.

    Kristen briefly left Microsoft in 2015 to become the EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer of F5 Networks, leading all HR functions at the company. Prior to her Microsoft career, Kristen held finance leadership roles at The Walt Disney Studios, most recently as VP of Finance for Walt Disney TeleVentures. While at Disney, Kristen lived in Amsterdam and served as Benelux Finance leader. She also completed the Financial Management Program (FMP) while rotating through financial analyst positions at General Electric (GE).

    Kristen is a proud graduate of The College of William & Mary in Virginia where she holds a BBA in Management. She lives in the Seattle area and enjoys spending time with her husband, exploring the outdoors with their dog, and fitting in trips to see their two adult sons on the East Coast of the US. Kristen is an avid supporter of organizations that support health, wellness, and education equity.

  • As Senior Clinical Advisor for Mercer Health & Benefits, Dr. O'Neill leverages her clinical strategy and operations experience to drive Mercer’s value-based care initiatives and provide strategic advice and health care data analysis for Mercer clients. She is part of the MercerWELL practice. Her areas of special clinical expertise include musculoskeletal care, chronic pain management, productivity, Total Worker Health, safety, behavioral health and substance use disorders. She also has extensive experience in healthcare quality and value-based care arrangements including accountable care organizations.

  • Sara Kelly is executive vice president and chief partner officer for Starbucks. In her role, Sara is responsible for helping partners realize their career potential and building global partner capability to enable growth and help deliver the company’s strategic plan.

    Sara first joined the company in 2001 as a Partner Resources coordinator in California and continued to follow her interest in Partner Resources by becoming a business partner, supporting multiple business units within the enterprise, and deepening her business acumen. Regardless of her role, Sara has always strived to ensure that all partners who wear the green apron around the globe have the support to develop, lead, and grow at Starbucks. She believes in leading by example, embracing vulnerability as a partner and especially as a leader, and finding the meaning in every moment.

    Prior to her current role, Sara was senior vice president, Talent & Partner Experience, where she was responsible for advancing Starbucks talent and organizational leadership agenda and was focused on amplifying the strategic work being led by the talent acquisition, talent management, partner experience, learning and development, and organization and leadership effectiveness teams.

    Before leading Talent & Partner Experience, Sara led the organizational leadership and effectiveness team, where she was instrumental in Starbucks enterprise change management journey through the COVID pandemic, and she continues to lead the partner and leader experience as Starbucks transitions to a first-time hybrid workforce. With greater flexibility in mind, through the work of Sara and her team, Starbucks is committed to connecting all partners to our unique culture and creating a hybrid workplace that enables every partner to deliver their best work in support of retail partners and customers.

    Before returning to Seattle in 2019, Sara lived in Hong Kong for four years, where she served as vice president of Partner (Human) Resources for the Asia Pacific Region. While in Hong Kong, Sara committed much of her time to advancing women’s equality for female partners across the Asia Pacific markets. Upon her return to Seattle, Sara was eager to continue her focus around women’s equality and quickly became an executive champion of Starbucks Women’s Impact Network, a partner network that focuses on igniting the power of women through partners, allies, and community. Through her sponsorship, Sara hopes to continue her commitment to inclusion and diversity by helping remove workplace barriers to promote equality and creating opportunity for career advancement and development.