Session 1 - Wednesday, April 21, 2021

"Inclusive Leadership Principles That Matter"

Keynote

We are living in a VUCA environment—Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. Leadership and business are evolving, and expectations are changing. With increasing unpredictability, we need to know what to do, even when we do not know what to do. How do we navigate complexity? How do we honor our values? How do we create a conscious culture that reflects shared principles? During this inspiring keynote session, Talia Fox, global leadership strategist, will share how her journey, struggles, and path to hope informed her leadership strategies. You will also explore tools and strategies that support a connected culture and empower each other to mobilize and innovate.

Biography
Talia Fox is an EQ-I 2.0 certified coach, a keynote speaker, and the CEO of KUSI Global, Inc. As a leadership strategist and a legacy builder, she has advised thousands of executives over the last two decades in both the public and private sector, including major corporations in health, higher education, technology, and government.

She holds an M.Ed. in psychology and is a Harvard University Fellow. Leveraging insights in psychology, sociology, and business leadership, she helps firms maximize their potential by implementing strategies to foster connected cultures and promote conscious equity. By providing innovative development courses with strategies tailored for specific organizational needs, she helps both executive management and employees actively uphold inclusive, equitable, and diverse workplaces.

1. Transformational leadership development with an emphasis on equity and diversity.
2. Strategic planning for management and employees in large-scale organizations.
3. C-Suite preparation for organizational culture transformations and inclusivity initiatives.
4. Executive communication for both experienced and new professionals.

Moderator

Biography
Jonathan D. Madison is a research scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, in Albuquerque, New Mexico within the Material, Physical and Chemical Sciences Center. Madison received his B.S. from Clark Atlanta University in Engineering Science with a concentration in Mechanical and received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has spent time supporting basic and applied research at Washington State University, Pullman WA; the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In his current role, he provides multi-scale, experimental characterization that enables materials-based insights and solutions. A few of Madison’s accolades include; Sandia National Laboratories—Early Career LDRD Award (2010), Lead Guest Editor, Special Issue on 3D Materials Science, Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation (2014), Albuquerque Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” (2015), Black Engineer of the Year Awards—“Most Promising Scientist in Industry” (2015), and Lead Organizer, 3rd TMS National Summit on Diversity in the Minerals, Metals & Materials Professions (2018).

Session 2: Wednesday, May 5, 2021

"Leading Institutional Transformation"

Keynote

Join Rohini Anand for a discussion of strategies for transforming organizational cultures to be more diverse, inclusive and equitable, with measurable results in productivity and business growth. Her remarks will be informed by her experience as the SVP Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo. Under her leadership, the Sodexo brand has become synonymous with leadership in diversity, corporate responsibility, and wellness. Sodexo received the prestigious 2012 Catalyst Award and was ranked in the top 10 of Diversity Inc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity for 11 consecutive years. Sodexo’s culture change, led by diversity and inclusion, is featured in a Harvard Business School case study entitled Shifting the Diversity Climate: the Sodexo Solution.

Biography
Rohini Anand is the former SVP Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo. She was responsible for the strategic direction, implementation and alignment of Sodexo's integrated global diversity and inclusion initiatives, as well as Sodexo's corporate social responsibility and wellness strategies. She has been featured as an expert on diversity and inclusion topics on CNBC, Boston Globe, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Bloomberg and National Public Radio, among other media outlets. She is the recipient of many accolades including the Mosaic Woman Leadership Award, the Women’s Foodservice Forum Trailblazer Award, the Maryland International Business Leadership Award, the American Institute for Managing Diversity’s Individual Leader Award, Webster University’s Women of Influence Award, the Who’s Who in Asian American Communities Award (WWAAC), Ascend’s inaugural Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Award, and the Diversity Leadership Star Award by Diversity Woman. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has published extensively. You can preorder her upcoming book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations, at amazon.com, Bookshop.org, or bookdepository.com.

Moderators

Biography
Blythe Gore Clark joined Sandia in 2008 and currently leads the surety mechanisms for re-entry systems organization. Prior to becoming a manager in 2015, she spent her research career leveraging her expertise in advanced electron-microscopy-based analyses to identify and predict atomic-scale processes critical to advancing the fields of nanomechanics and nanostructured metals. She is an active advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. As co-chair of the Sandia Women’s Action Network from 2017 to 2019, she led efforts to influence policy changes and obtain strategic commitments from Sandia leadership to mitigate bias in recruiting, hiring, development and retention. In 2019, she received the Society of Women Engineers Advocating Women in Engineering Award, in recognition of her efforts. Read her 2019 article in JOM, "Mitigating Implicit Bias as a Leader," which she co-authored with Olivia Underwood.

Biography
Aeriel D.M. Leonard joined the Materials Science and Engineering Department at The Ohio State University as an assistant professor upon completing an NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2020 at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRC) in Washington D.C. While at NRC, she used advanced characterization techniques, such as x-ray computed tomography and high energy diffraction microscopy, to understand damage and texture evolution during in-situ loading in additive manufactured materials She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Shas led and worked on many teams aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in engineering, including developing and implementing a leadership camp for female engineering students in Monrovia, Liberia. She is the chair of the Fourth Summit on Diversity in Minerals, Metals, and Materials (DMMM4) Organizing Committee and runs a lifestyle blog titled AerielViews aimed at young graduate and professional students.

Session 3: Wednesday, May 12, 2021

"Mentorship and Workplace Equity Takes Work"

Keynote

Engage in a discussion about the importance of mentoring to improve workplace equity, while also gaining practical advice on improving your own mentoring skills. Olivia Underwood Jackson will use the TED Talk, “Mentorship and Workplace Equity Takes Work,” by Janice Omadeke, as background for this program.

Biography
Olivia D. Underwood Jackson is an R&D S&E Systems Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, where she is also a Principal Member of Technical Staff. Jackson has had the opportunity to broaden her engineering mindset and approach through a breadth of work experiences including: Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Lincoln, AL; Chevron Oil Refinery in Pascagoula, MS; American Cast Iron & Pipe Co. (ACIPCO), Birmingham, AL; Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, and CGI Federal Defense at Red Stone Arsenal, AL.

Jackson is an advocate for children, education, STEM, equity, and inclusion. In 2018, she established the Dr. Olivia D. Underwood Scholarship to help increase the number of women of color in the STEM field. She is an active member of TMS (recently installed as a member of TMS Foundation Board of Trustees), a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., an alumna of the Gates Millennium Scholars program, and one of two 2017 European Microbeam Analysis Society & International Union of Microbeam Analysis Society Early Career Scholars selected to present their work in Konstanz, Germany. She was awarded the 2019 Black Engineer of the Year – Science Spectrum Trailblazer Award, the 2019 TMS Frank Crossley Diversity Award and was selected to be a part of the 2019 40 under Forty Class by Albuquerque Business First.

Jackson received her B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2008 and 2009, respectively. In 2015, she became the first African-American to receive her Ph.D. from the Materials Science program at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Read her 2019 article in JOM, "Mitigating Implicit Bias as a Leader," which she co-authored with Blythe Gore Clark.

Moderator

Biography
As the coordinator of the Science and Engineering of Atomic Structure (SEAS) National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University, Ashleigh R. Wright supports training of graduate students in interdisciplinary research focused on materials informatics. She also coordinates programming for the North Carolina Central University - NC State Master’s to PhD Bridge-to-PhD program and serves as the co-PI of the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) program. Wright is passionate about promoting diversity and equity in the STEM disciplines through mentoring, education, and creating initiatives. She has earned degrees in chemistry from Wofford College (BS), North Carolina A&T State University (MS), and Louisiana State University (PhD).