Speakers
2026 Keynote Speakers
Hannah Austin
Chief Executive Officer and Author, She Shatters LLC
Hannah Austin, bestselling author and mental health speaker, leverages over two decades in healthcare to advocate for workplace well-being. After a distinguished executive career in healthcare, she founded SheShatters in 2021 to challenge corporate hustle culture and promote balance for employees and managers. Her expertise has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News, establishing her as a leading voice in organizational wellness.
Porter Knight
Owner, Porter Knight, LLC
Since 1996, Porter Knight has transformed lives by teaching how to apply brain-based strategies to maximize focus, performance, and happiness. Her simple systems and frameworks help professionals get more done with less stress, feel lighter during the day, and rest with satisfaction at night. Author of Organized to Last: 5 Simple Steps to Staying Organized (2005) and the upcoming book Stop Managing Your Time (2026), Porter is a sought-after keynote speaker and consultant. She has presented to over 800 audiences and has consulted with professionals at over 250 organizations. Porter was among the first in the nation to earn the credential of Certified Professional Organizer® and has been one of the most popular presenters at National Association of Professional Organizers conferences, where she has twice been nominated for the prestigious Founders Award. An avid hiker, equestrian, and community leader, Porter lives in Bristol, Vermont.
2026 Session Speakers
Chad Atwell
Head of Customer Success & Advisory Services, CandorIQ
Chad Atwell is the Head of Customer Success and Advisory Services at CandorIQ, where he helps high-growth companies optimize compensation strategies and successfully adopt modern workforce planning tools. With over 25 years of experience as a compensation practitioner, consultant, and technologist, Chad specializes in designing and delivering broad-based compensation programs—including job architectures, salary structures, incentive plans, and total rewards communication. At CandorIQ, Chad partners closely with HR, Compensation, and executive teams to ensure customers not only implement the right tools, but also build the foundational practices needed for long-term success. His focus is on making compensation more strategic, scalable, and trusted—enabling HR leaders to align pay decisions with business growth and employee engagement.
Amy Beacom, EdD
Founder & Chief Executive OfficerCenter for Parental Leave Leadership
Dr. Amy Beacom is the founder and CEO of the Center for Parental Leave Leadership and creator of parental leave coaching and consulting as a field of practice. She developed the evidence-based RETAIN Parental Leave Coaching™ methodology and launched the first comprehensive U.S. parental leave coaching program with Microsoft in 2014. Drawing on 35+ years in leadership development and her own experience navigating severe postpartum mental health challenges, Dr. Beacom has dedicated her career to ensuring no parent faces the parental leave transition alone. She holds a doctorate from Columbia University and authored The Parental Leave Playbook (Wiley, 2021). Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Working Mother.
Jim Bagley
Manager, Strategy, Growth & Transformation,
Deloitte Consulting LLP
Jim is a Manager in Deloitte’s Compensation Strategies consulting group and has been helping clients on a variety of compensation projects since joining the firm. Examples of projects Jim has led include developing new job architecture frameworks, executing global pay equity studies, building new compensation structures, and defining and implementing a new compensation strategy to help attract and retain talent. Prior to joining Deloitte, Jim was with a leading health and wellness company, managing pay equity assessments, large scale compensation accruals, regulatory compliance, and integrating HR systems with Workday.
Natalie J Bendza
Coach/Author, The Human Forcefield, LLC
After a neurological collapse erased her emotional timeline, Natalie's recovery led her yo discovering all she could about how the mind works, from Hypnotherapy, to Belief recoding, to Neuro-Coherence. Using several different techniques to recode her nervous system from the anxiety that drove her to collapse, she now teaches others how to recode their entire system, not just beliefs, for a calmer, healthier, and more productive life.
Bob Cartwright, SPHR / SHRM-SCP
President & Chief Executive Officer, Intelligent Compensation, LLC
Bob Cartwright, (SPHR / SHRM-SCP), is founder, president, and chief executive officer of Intelligent Compensation, LLC, a compensation, performance management, board and business advisory consulting firm located in the Greater Austin, Texas area. Since 1996, Mr. Cartwright has managed numerous assignments for clients in practically all industries ranging from high technology, manufacturing, financial services, energy, oil field and exploration services, credit unions, high technology, charitable non-profits, community and private foundations, mega-churches, trade, business and professional associations, business leagues, and defense/aerospace. He has 40+ years of diversified experience in total compensation and rewards, performance management, strategic planning, expert witness, board and business advisory services. He has provided these services for companies and organizations throughout the United States and internationally.
Cheryl Cybulski
Senior Manager, Human Capital Strategy, Growth and Transformation, Deloitte Consulting
Cheryl is a leader in Deloitte’s Global Job Architecture and Compensation Strategies practice with 20+ years of experience in the strategy, design, implementation and transformation of Human Capital programs in both the corporate and consulting settings. She has extensive experience in job and skills architecture, workforce compensation strategies, incentive plan design, performance management, employee recognition and broader engagement programs. Cheryl has in-depth expertise in serving all industries, with significant focus on high-growth to large-scale clients in the Technology, Telecomm, Media, and Entertainment industry and is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) with WorldatWork.
Adam Ekl
Manager, Human Capital Strategy, Growth and Transformation, Deloitte Consulting
Adam is a Compensation leader with more than 12 years of human resources and total rewards experience. He guides organizations through the design and optimization of pay-related programs, focusing primarily on Workforce Compensation strategy. Adam has built expertise across several industries – most notably, in consumer goods, ER&I, and sports management – helping clients to develop Compensation strategies that align with broader organizational objectives and underscore organizational culture and workforce values.
Jonathan Herrera
Washington Saves Program Manager, Washington Saves Program - Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
Jonathan Herrera is the inaugural leader for Washington Saves, an initiative helping 1.2 million Washingtonians gain access to retirement savings. With over 20 years of experience in personal, small business, and government finance, Jonathan has built a career advocating for financial inclusion and empowering communities through innovative programs. Previously, Jonathan was a founding leader of California’s CalSavers program, serving as Director of Strategic Stakeholder Engagement and Customer Experience. He also held roles at the California State Treasurer’s Office and Citibank, where he led investment and wealth management initiatives. Jonathan earned a BA in Government from California State University, Sacramento, and is committed to advancing financial security for all.
Josh Levine
Author, Educator, and Advocate for a Better Work Future
Josh Levine is a work futurist, author, and educator recognized as one of North America’s leading voices on organizational culture. He has spent nearly two decades helping leaders design cultures that drive engagement, retention, and performance. His clients include global technology firms, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 corporations navigating growth, transformation, and IPO preparation. Josh integrates design thinking and business strategy to develop frameworks that align people and purpose. Levine is the author of Great Mondays: How to Design a Company Culture Employees Love, which BookAuthority listed as one of the best culture books of all time. He has written for Forbes and Fast Company and appeared on APM’s Marketplace.
Denise Liebetrau
Founder and Principal Compensation Consultant, Prosper Consulting
Denise Liebetrau maximizes profit, revenue, and impact for employers as a trusted advisor on HR and compensation issues. She has more than 25 years of experience in a variety of industries and has expertise in job architecture, market pricing, base pay, short- and long-term incentives, executive compensation, and global compensation. Denise also partners with high performers, so they get paid what they are worth. She speaks on topics like compensation, pay negotiation, difficult conversations, pay transparency, emotional intelligence, and executive presence. Learn more at www.ProsperConsultingLLC.com.
David Mitchell
Senior Career Consultant, HR Transformation, Mercer
David is a Partner in Mercer’s Career consulting business, based in Seattle, with extensive experience guiding corporate and HR leaders in transforming organizations to enhance productivity, engagement, and innovation. With 15 years as an expatriate consultant and HR leader across Europe, South Asia, and East Asia, he has advised innovative companies on agile decision-making and flexible organizational structures. David has also served as Chief Human Capital Officer for a unicorn healthcare start-up, where he built an HR function based on global best practices. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University.
Dayna Provitt, EdD, MBA, CCP, SPHR
Senior Director of Total Rewards and Payroll, Seattle Colleges.
Dr. Dayna Provitt has been in the total rewards field for 31 years, with experience in all aspects of compensation, classification, and benefits management. A 20-year resident of Seattle, she has consulted locally and nationally for organizations in public sector, higher education, healthcare, high tech, and manufacturing industries. She has also led total rewards functions for higher education, travel, and healthcare organizations, with a special focus on job architecture, recruitment, and retention strategies. Dr. Provitt received her CCP and SPHR certifications as well as an MBA from Pepperdine and EdD from the University of Southern California. She is also a proud mom of two kids attending Washington state universities — a junior at University of Washington and a freshman at Western Washington University.
Serilda Summers-McGee
Executive Officer and Founder, Workplace Change
Serilda is deeply committed to building healthy business ecosystems where employees feel positive about their workplaces and organizations thrive. She is an experienced Human Resources executive, founder and CEO of Workplace Change, and author of Change the Workgame: Building and Sustaining a Diverse Workforce. Workplace Change is a full-service HR consultancy specializing in recruitment, talent management, labor relations, leadership development, and organizational culture. An innovator in Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Serilda is known for identifying challenges and opportunities while empowering leaders and embedding DEI into HR functions. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, workshop presenter, and panel moderator, recognized as an engaging and dynamic orator.
Fred Whittlesey
Founder and Principal Consultant, Compensation Venture Group
Fred Whittlesey is the Founding Principal of Compensation Venture Group. His 35 years of consulting experience include positions with Towers Perrin, Mercer and Radford. He has taught WorldatWork’s “Accounting and Finance for HR Professionals” and the basic and advanced Executive Compensation courses, and was the developer of the online version of these courses. He is co-founder of Global Equity Organization (GEO). Fred received his MBA with honors from UCLA and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from San Diego State University with a BA in industrial/organizational psychology. He earned the Certified Equity Professional (CEP) designation from the Santa Clara University, and the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and Certified Executive Compensation Professional (CECP) designations from WorldatWork.