Max Stier is the founding president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. At the Partnership, he oversees efforts to provide data, insights and recommendations to the executive and legislative branches, create and deliver programs for federal leaders at all levels, strengthen and support the federal workforce, and build connections among the public, private and charitable sectors. Under his watch, the Partnership has grown its budget, portfolio and profile, becoming a trusted authority on federal management and workforce issues through such initiatives as the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals® program, the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® rankings, the Call to Serve network and the Center for Presidential Transition®.

Ventris C. Gibson is the first African American to lead the U.S. Mint which is the largest Mint in the world. She served as its Deputy Director prior to her presidential appointment. Director Gibson is a U.S. Navy Veteran, joining the Mint from District of Columbia Government. Prior to her service with the District, she served as the Associate Deputy 
Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and also as
the Director of Administration for the National Labor Relations Board.

Lucy Cunningham is a federal human capital management professional with more than 20 years of experience in human capital management. She currently serves as the Director of Human Capital Strategic Programs at the United States International Development Finance Corporation.  Prior to that, she served as a Senior Manager in the Workforce line of business at the Partnership for Public Service, where she collaborated with Federal agencies to help them more effectively and efficiently deliver human capital management programs and acted as a Partnership-wide subject matter expert in federal human capital management. Previously, she was the Director of Executive Resources at the Department of Labor, where she was responsible for the full scope of human capital management for Labor’s career executives and political appointees. 

Raymond A. Limon is Vice Chair of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. Previously, Ray served at the Department of the Interior as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Capital and Diversity and the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO). His Directorate managed three offices focusing on strategic human capital policies and oversight programs; occupational safety and health programs; and employee development and leadership programs, all of which served more than 70,000 employees in more 2,400 locations. Before joining DOI, Ray led the State Department's Civil Service Human Resources Management office and performed as Deputy CHCO. He also was the first-ever CHCO at the Corporation for National and Community Service (e.g., AmeriCorps, VISTA, Senior Corps, etc.) and was selected by his peers to chair the Small Agency Human Resources Council, representing approximately 100 Federal agencies and organizations. 

Richard Revzan is currently the Associate Director for Human Resources Operations and Policy at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). He leads the agencywide delivery of HR services including recruitment, hiring, staffing, position management, classification, pay, benefits, employee relations, labor relations, and performance management. Rich is also the principal advisor to the NRC Chief Human Capital Officer for making strategic HR policy decisions and resolving complex operational issues. 

David Bachrach joined federal service in 1997 and fell in love with the goal of making government an employer of choice.  In 2001 he joined an HR consulting firm specializing in designing alternative personnel systems for federal agencies.  It was after two years of that work that he reached the conclusion that agencies should embrace and use the system they have, rather than seek other systems that might look better on paper: organizational culture beats a “system,” every time. David has significant experience in the areas of federal staffing, position classification and organization design.  He has written HR policy for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Selective Service System, National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian.  

Dr. Ashley Hoffman has been a Personnel Research Psychologist with the Department of Housing and Urban Development since 2021. In her role as the Director of Talent Assessment and Research Insights, she leads a team of talented IO Psychologists and Data Analysts who support HUD through the creation and deployment of assessment strategies and organizational data tools to empower high stakes decision making across the agency.

Brian Katz has over 25 years of specialized experience developing, implementing, and evaluating human capital systems.  He currently oversees the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Human Capital Strategy Group. In this role, he manages a talented team of Industrial/Organizational Psychologists and HR Professionals that perform a variety of activities, including personnel selection, survey research, workforce planning, organizational development, and accountability evaluations.  Prior to joining the SEC, Brian managed a group of Industrial/Organizational Psychologists at PDRI that specialized in developing selection instruments and performance management systems for government agencies. 

Andre Dickerson is an experienced and passionate higher education leader, speaker, and consultant with more than a decade of progressive success in student affairs, enrollment management, and non-profit administration. He currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Students at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington. Andre is a first-generation college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology, master’s degree in in Medical Sciences, a Master of Business Administration (MBA), and is completing a PhD in Higher Education. 

Dr. Anika A. Evans (Dr. E) is a visionary and multi-generational leader who has 10+ years of experience in Education. Dr. Evans excels at identifying and overhauling barriers within programs, systems, and processes. She has guided collaborative teams in the implementation of corrective plans and identifying project needs to drive process improvements, as well as quality service to our students. Dr. Evans has dedicated her time to public service as a youth mentor, a college ministry leader, an AmeriCorps alum, and a former Teach for America Collective Board member. Dr. Evans is a multi-recipient of the Michelle Obama Leadership Award and the National Presidential Volunteer Award. Dr. Evans is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

C. Bryan Kempton, director for Career Services and Alumni Relations, oversees all employment and internship services for School of Public Policy (SPP) students and alumni, including career counseling, career preparation programs and the development of employment opportunities in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. He is also responsible for working with the SPP Alumni Chapter Board to bring quality programs and services to alumni.

Delainey Boyd is the Associate Director of the National Arts & Sciences Initiative at the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In this role, she champions the value of arts and sciences education and co-leads the Society’s Key into Public Service scholarship program. Delainey has a Master’s degree in Education Policy and is passionate about inclusive excellence. Her experiences working in the federal government help inform her daily work and she cares greatly about sharing opportunities in public service careers with current students and recent graduates. 

Kiran Ahuja serves as the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). After more than two decades in public service and executive nonprofit work, she was nominated by President Joe Biden for her current role before being confirmed by the United States Senate on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Director Ahuja is the first South Asian American and first Asian American woman to lead OPM. In her role, Director Ahuja leads OPM in its work to recruit, retain, and honor the American workforce that’s landing rovers on Mars, fighting climate change and cancer, and building the country back better.

Filmmaker Shalini Kantayya’s feature documentary Coded Bias premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. She directed the season finale episode for the National Geographic television series Breakthrough, a series profiling trailblazing scientists transforming the future. Executive Produced by Ron Howard, it was broadcast globally in June 2017. Her debut feature film Catching the Sun, about the race for a clean energy future, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was named a New York Times Critics’ Pick. Catching the Sun released globally on Netflix on Earth Day 2016 with Executive Producer Leonardo DiCaprio, and was nominated for the Environmental Media Association Award for Best Documentary. 

Jason Barke currently serves as the Deputy Associate Director for Strategic Workforce within the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Office of Workforce Police and Innovation. In this capacity, he develops strategic workforce planning efforts at the enterprise-wide level across the Federal Government. He works directly with Federal agencies on strategic human capital initiatives including workforce of the future efforts and data analytic capabilities. Mr. Barke first came to OPM in March 2008 supporting the implementation of Strategic Human Capital Management, the President’s Management Agenda, data analytics capabilities and talent management initiatives. 

Dr. Sara Barth is a Personnel Psychologist with the Small Business Administration (SBA). She has more than 10 years of experience conducting organizational research and consultation in academic and government settings. Sara's work at the SBA focuses on topics across the human capital space providing expertise in employee engagement, FEVS, recruitment & staffing, learning & development, employee retention, and human capital data analysis, data visualization, and evaluation.   

Peter Bonner is a cross-sector innovator, working in the areas of human capital, workforce development, and leadership effectiveness.  He is a Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, focused on improving federal talent management. As an OPM Associate Director, Peter recently worked with the federal agencies tasked with hiring the talent needed to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This resulted in hiring more than 6,000 engineers, program managers, contracting and grants management specialists needed to execute those programs. At OPM Peter led the OPM functions responsible for USAJOBS, USA Staffing, USA Performance, USA Hire and other shared services that help federal agencies recruit, hire, train, and manage the performance of the federal workforce.

Ms. Tracey Therit is the Chief Human Capital Officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In this position, Ms. Therit plans, develops and oversees the implementation of human capital policies and systems, and serves as the principal advisor on matters involving workforce planning, staffing, classification, employee compensation, recognition and accountability. Prior to this position, she led VA's executive resources program and provided an enterprise-wide approach to executive personnel management for the VA's nearly 700 senior executives and equivalents, political appointees, experts and consultants, and Veterans Law Judges, which included executive recruitment, position management, talent management and succession planning, executive development, performance management, and benefits.

Dia Taylor, MBA, serves as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  She is responsible for direct and immediate support of the Office of the Chief Operating Officer (OCOO), providing leadership in improving CDC business, information management, human capital, financial management, and infrastructure systems. She supports the development of program systems that enhance CDC's mission and public health goals as well as coordinates with the Centers/Institute/Offices (CIOs) to develop and implement strategies for increasing the efficiency and value of management systems throughout CDC.

Crystal Taylor is a human capital professional with over 13 years of Federal experience providing expertise and guidance to strengthen an organization’s human capital performance. She currently serves as the Director of the Office of Talent Strategy within the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM), U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). In this role, Crystal provides strategic consultative services on effective human capital solutions to help attract, hire, and retain a high-quality and diverse workforce. Crystal joined DOC in August 2020 for an opportunity with OHRM’s Office of Executive Resources with a focus on policy and departmental programs.  

Mr. Brynt Parmeter was appointed as the inaugural Chief Talent Management Officer (CTMO) for the Department of Defense on April 10, 2023. In this role, which resides in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, he works across the Military Departments, Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and with interagency partners to lead the development and implementation of the DoD Total Force talent acquisition, workforce development, and talent management strategy. 

Jennifer Pahlka is the author of Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better and a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center and the Federation of American Scientists. She founded Code for America in 2010 and led the organization for ten years. In 2013, she took a leave of absence to serve as U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer under President Obama and helped found the United States Digital Service. She served on the Defense Innovation Board under Presidents Obama and Trump. At the start of the pandemic, she also co-founded United States Digital Response, which helps government meet the needs of the public with volunteer tech support. 

Michelle Amante supports federal agencies by understanding their needs and working with Partnership staff to design and develop programming to help agencies attain their goals. Prior to joining the Partnership, Michelle ran the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance. She also spent years working for Deloitte to consult with unemployment agencies across the country and work on business process improvement and IT modernization efforts. She loves to build partnerships, solve problems and help agencies bring out the best in their people.

As Opportunity@Work’s VP of Policy, Blair Corcoran de Castillo leads the organization’s partnerships with the public sector, guiding the strategy to support policy shifts to enable STAR mobility nationally and in regions across the U.S. In her time at the organization, she has helped guide the strategy and execution of numerous important projects as part of her work leading the the Innovation Studio, including the design of Stellarsight and the STARs Community. Over the course of the last 15 years+, Blair has worked at the intersection of strategy and economic mobility in the public sector and mission-oriented organization.

Karlos DelToro is a Senior Federal Recruitment Advisor with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He works with Federal agencies to help guide their efforts in recruitment and outreach; interacts with a network of talent sources that includes academia, community organizations, and influencers; and guides students, alumni, and other early career talent in joining the Federal Government. Karlos has over 30 years of human resources and administrative/management experience, and earned a BS in Economics from the City College of New York. 

Erika Vega is the Deputy Associate Director of the Federal Staffing Center at the US Office of Personnel Management. Ms. Vega provides overall leadership and direction for the development, implementation, and delivery of revolving fund human capital products and services responsible for supporting the federal governments’ hiring requirements. Ms. Vega oversees five programs: Staff Acquisition, Talent Acquisition Analytics, USA Hire, USAJOBS, and USA Staffing. 

Dr. Wendy Ginsberg is the Director of Subcommittees on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, working for Ranking Member Jamie Raskin. Previously, Wendy served as Rep. Gerald E. Connolly’s Staff Director on the Government Oversight Subcommittee where she led a talented team in drafting legislation, holding hearings, and performing various oversight duties related to the effective functioning of government. Wendy also currently serves as an adjunct professor at both the University of Pennsylvania and George Washington University. 

Dr. Danielle Kavanagh-Smith is a Data Scientist at LinkedIn’s Economic Graph Research Institute, specializing in uncovering insights into U.S. macroeconomic labor market trends and network disparities. Prior to joining LinkedIn, Danielle led impact measurement initiatives for Procurement and Economic Mobility projects in collaboration with local and state governments at the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab. She also previously managed a federally funded commercial revitalization grant program at the New York City Department of Small Business Services, where her work helped foster economic growth in underserved communities. 

Matthew T. Cornelius is the Managing Director for Federal Industry at Workday, where he helps lead go to market strategy, communications, and planning for the world’s leading cloud-based HR solutions company. Prior to joining Workday, he served as a Senior Professional Staff Member for Chairman Gary C. Peters on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), covering a wide array of IT modernization, budget, appropriations, regulatory, and government operations matters. Before the Hill, he was the Executive Director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI) - a coalition of customer-focused commercial companies helping to shape government IT modernization efforts through effective advocacy and thought leadership.

Akoua Enow is the Acting Chief Human Capital Officer at Peace Corps. While at Peace Corps, she also served as the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Acting CAO in Volunteer Recruitment and Selection. From 2010 to 2021, she worked at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in Financial Management and Information Technology. Prior to moving over to Peace Corps, she was a Section Chief for Procurement, Budget, and Human Resources in the IT Applications Development Division. She is a proud, 2nd generation Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) and volunteered as an HIV/AIDS Advisor in Lesotho, Southern Africa, from 2007 to 2009. 

Lori Michalski joined the Department of Housing and Urban Development in August 2003 and currently serves as the Chief Human Capital Officer. In this role, she provides oversight over all activities encompassing the human capital lifecycle, including recruitment, staffing, retention, employee and leadership development, performance management, employee and labor relations, and work/life programs. Previously, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations, Office of Community Planning & Development (CPD). In that role, Ms. Michalski provided operational support to all program offices in the Office of Community Planning and Development for hiring and recruiting, consultative services, human capital programs, systems and technology, labor relations, facilities, budget and continuous process improvement. 

Dr. Karlease Kelly served as the Chief Learning Officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from August 2010 to March 2021 and as Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer from 2011-2017.  During this time, Dr. Kelly led USDA’s implementation of Federal training policies including mentoring, individual development planning, leadership development, details, new supervisor training, the President’s Management Council Rotation Program, the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program, and other programs to increase employee skills and development, satisfaction and effectiveness.  She was also responsible for executive performance management.

Orlando Rivera-Hernández brings over 16 years of diverse Federal Service experience, positioned at the crossroads of data analytics and human capital management within government agencies. Currently serving as the Data Strategy and Analytics Branch Chief for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Human Resources (OHR), Orlando has spearheaded initiatives aimed at elevating the bar on data literacy and maturing solutions to optimize internal operations.

Amanda Stahlmann is a current Lead Human Resources Specialist (Human Resources Development) with the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Ms. Stahlmann has been an HR Practitioner for 14 years, with her areas of expertise in staffing, recruitment, training and development. Ms. Stahlmann is a Senior Certified Professional with the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM-SCP) and is dedicated to promoting continuous growth by empowering and motivating employees to bring their best to the job. Outside of work, Ms. Stahlmann lives in Minnesota with her husband, two children, a three-year-old son, and one-year-old, daughter, and their golden retriever 

Traci DiMartini is the Human Capital Officer for the Internal Revenue Service at the Department of the Treasury. In her role as HCO, Traci oversees all IRS recruitment, hiring, benefits and training for the Service’s 90,000 employees. She is a passionate advocate for federal workers and is proud to partner with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) which represents the IRS bargaining unit workforce. Traci is an experienced Senior Executive and previously served as the Chief Human Capital Officer for GSA, Peace Corps and the EEOC before joining the IRS in June 2023. 

Jason Briefel (he/him/his) is a partner* (non-attorney) at Shaw Bransford & Roth, where he has worked in the firm’s government affairs practice since 2012. Mr. Briefel has served as Director of the government affairs practice since 2015. As SBR’s Director of Government and Public Affairs, Mr. Briefel provides legislative and organizational representation to clients of the firm’s government affairs practice, including serving as Director of Policy & Outreach of the Senior Executives Association.  

Wynn Coggins is a Specialist Executive at Deloitte in the Government and Public Service practice, where she focuses on helping clients identify and implement innovative solutions, transform business operations, improve efficiencies, navigate risk and drive change. She currently serves as the Deloitte Human Capital Civilian Sector Champion, serving as a catalyst and partner to account teams to help foster human capital growth across the sector. 

Robyn Rees is the Director for Strategic Human Capital Initiatives within the Office of Human Capital at the Department of the Interior.  Ms. Rees is responsible for supporting the Department’s strategy and initiatives related to modernizing HR information systems and data capabilities.  She is also responsible for leveraging data for evaluation and accountability, in support of efforts that advance the human capital function and HR service delivery.  As the Human Capital Data Champion for the Department, Ms. Rees is an advocate for prioritizing human capital, workforce, and work data, in order to enable HR leaders to be strategic business partners.  

David Meza currently serves as the Head of Analytics and Branch Chief People Analytics for the NASA’s Office of Human Capital in D.C. He previously served as Chief Knowledge Architect at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). During his tenure at NASA, he has worked in all aspects of the Information Technology field developing and deploying several IT systems in use at JSC. His desire to improve IT processes and systems lead him to earn Master’s certificates in Project Management and Six Sigma in addition to becoming a NASA certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Mr. Meza is conducting research in People Analytics, Automatic Classification algorithms, entity tagging, topic modeling, data driven visualization and text to graph pipelines. 

As Chief of Staff for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Anupa Iyer Geevarghese collaborates closely with ODEP’s Assistant Secretary and other U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) leaders to identify and implement strategies for increasing the number and quality of employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In her role, Anupa draws on years of legal experience in both the public and nonprofit sectors. She came to DOL from the U.S. Department of Defense, where she served as a subject matter expert and Senior Disability Policy Advisor for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives. 

Christine Winchester serves as the Deputy Head of Interagency Hiring at the U.S. Digital Service, a division of the Office of Management & Budget within the Executive Office of the President. In her role, Christine and her team are pioneering innovative approaches to policy, processes, and professional development for hiring within the technology sector. This involves providing direct assistance to agencies, collaborating closely with their staff to enhance capabilities in data, customer experience (CX), artificial intelligence (AI), and digital service delivery.

Mika J. Cross is a widely acclaimed workplace expert, speaker, strategist and innovator specializing in interdisciplinary expertise among the areas of innovative global workplace initiatives, remote and distributed work, culture change, strategic communications, knowledge management, next generation workplace and future of work predictions and initiatives, performance/talent management, employee/labor relations, diversity, inclusion and employee engagement. Her career includes 20+ years of public service with assignments throughout the United States Intelligence Community and she is a veteran of the United States Army, having served as both an enlisted soldier and commissioned officer.

Roland Edwards provides authoritative advice and guidance to all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Components on the full range of human resources (HR) functional areas as the DHS Chief Human Capital Officer. Mr. Edwards was previously the DHS Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer. As the Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer, his primary focus areas included Human Resources Management and Services (provides HR services to Headquarters organizations), diversity and inclusion, internal operations, privacy, and engagement initiatives within the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO). 

Christopher “Scottie” Wilder is the Emerging Leader Training Administrator for the Bureau of Land Management’s Leadership, Business and Human Capitol Branch at the National Training Center in Phoenix, AZ.  Scottie has been with BLM since April 2020. Scottie started his Federal Civilian Service after he retired from the Air Force in October 2018 after serving 20 years. After he retired from the Air Force in October 2018, he began working as an Education Technician at the Carl T. Hayden Phoenix VHA in November 2018.

Ms. A. Love Rutledge serves as the Chief of Staff to the Chief Talent Management Officer for the Department of Defense. She previously held the position of Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Readiness. Ms. Rutledge served on the Joint Staff (J-8), focusing on global force management, readiness, and budgetary issues. Prior to the Joint Staff, she worked in the Headquarters Marine Corps’ Office of the Assistant Commandant for Programs and Resources and the Department of Navy’s Office of Budget.

Amy Benner Anand is a Global Employee Experience Solution Leader at Microsoft, where she plays a pivotal role in enhancing employee engagement and revolutionizing the employee experience with cutting-edge AI technologies. With a background in human resources and technology, Amy helps senior leaders create high-performance cultures and optimize their return on investment. 

Carey Jones is the Manager for Pay Administration within the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Office of Workforce Policy and Innovation. In this capacity, she provides leadership, guidance, and technical expertise on various governmentwide laws, regulations, and policies regarding pay administration including General Schedule pay setting and pay flexibilities. Ms. Jones has over 20 years of experience as a human resource professional. Ms. Jones holds a Master of Science degree in Organizational Development and Strategic Human Resources from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She is also a World at Work Certified Compensation Professional. 

Christopher Paris serves as Sr. Technical Advisor within the Office of People Science, where he leads innovative, enterprise-wide strategies, tools, and initiatives to promote challenging and rewarding career journeys for VA’s 7k-strong cyber workforce. Motivated by a “do once, help many” approach, Mr. Paris’ passion for identifying, acquiring, developing, and sustaining the cyber workforce of tomorrow also extends to the larger federal community. 

Daniel Lonnerdal, M.S., FACHE, is the Director of SAMHSA’s Office of Management, Technology, and Operations. In this role, Mr. Lonnerdal works in partnership with SAMHSA and the Department of Health and Human Services to manage, provide leadership, and ensure SAMHSA's needs are met. Mr. Lonnerdal brings many years of experience to his position in SAMHSA. He served in several leadership roles at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), most recently serving as the Executive Officer of the NIH Clinical Center, the nation's largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research. As the Clinical Center’s Executive Officer, he oversaw a number of Administrative, Operational, and Clinical Departments. 

John O’Duinn is an author, senior advisor and technologist who has worked in distributed companies of one form or another for 32 years, led distributed teams for 17 years, run workshops and mentored distributed teams for 10 years. His book “Distributed Teams: The Art and Practice of Working Together While Physically Apart” was first published in 2018, with a fully updated second edition published in 2021 and third edition due summer 2024. John first joined federal service in the Obama White House, as a computer systems engineer in the U.S. Digital Service working on a range of technical projects. Since then, John helped the State of Vermont write their 2018 "Remote Worker" law, the State of California with their 2021 Telework Policy and in April 2022, John joined the U.S. General Services Administration as a Senior Advisor helping with various “Future of Work” initiatives. 

Anne Audet has served as the Director, Departmental Office of Human Resource Management and Deputy CHCO since September 2021. In this position she provides leadership and executive oversight on the full range of Departmental human resource management programs, including human capital planning, policy and oversight, work life programs, executive resources, and human resource systems, for over 55,000 employees in the Department of Transportation. In addition, she oversees the operational human resource services for the Office of the Secretary. 

Dr. April Davis is a human capital expert and industrial/organizational psychologist with experience in both the public and private sectors. Currently serving as the Director of Classification and Assessment Policy at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, she spearheads Governmentwide initiatives in position classification, qualifications, competency modeling, personnel assessment, and oversees the non-pay Fair Labor Standards Act regulations informing strategic human capital management efforts for recruiting and hiring a diverse and highly skilled workforce. 

LaKeya Jones Smith is Chief of Staff at the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Prior to becoming Chief, LaKeya directed the learning and development activities of NASS staff as the Head of the Workforce Performance and Staff Development Section. During her tenure, LaKeya directed the development, production, and facilitation of agency-wide training workshops and webinars focusing on technical and soft skills, leadership and professional development, NASS survey management, and NASS systems. 

As the Director of Marketing for the employer brand, Demelza Campbell leads the Employer Marketing Team (EMT), spearheads initiatives that foster clarity, and achieves tangible results in attracting talent to the FBI. With over 20 years of private and federal sector expertise in talent acquisition, program management, and employer marketing, Demelza optimizes performance marketing and branding efforts across multiple channels including email marketing, social media, and targeted campaigns. Her collaborative approach has been instrumental in integrating data-informed and creative solutions that effectively addressed marketing inefficiencies. 

Jason (Jay) Hohman has been with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management since June 2012. Jay is the Program Manager for the Federal Classification Center (FCC) in HR Strategy and Evaluation Solutions. The FCC team works with agencies to improve how positions are designed and utilized across organizations. The team performs the full suite of position management and classification services for their federal agency customers, including conducting desk audits; developing position descriptions and evaluation statements; recommending cybersecurity and suitability designations; conducting classification process reviews; and related consulting and training services.  

Dr. Charles Barber was appointed to the Senior Executive Service (SES) and assumed the duties as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, National Science Foundation in January 2023. In this role, he serves as the NSF’s senior advisor responsible for providing vision, strategic leadership and management for ongoing agency programs and new initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, or DEIA, in the NSF workplace and the STEM enterprise. Prior to his appointment as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Dr. Barber served as Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and was a primary author on the Navy’s Task Force One Navy report that led to the Operational Navy’s DE&I Implementation Strategy.

Karen Lowe leads the HR team supporting Microsoft’s Growth, Innovation, and Strategy organization, including Microsoft’s US Federal organization. In this role, she partners with business leaders to develop and implement human capital strategies that advance business results. Karen has over twenty years of experience partnering with senior leaders in the government contracting industry, including roles at Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. Prior to joining Microsoft, she led the Talent Management and Learning functions for Perspecta, now a part of Peraton. 

Ms. LaShawn Dobbins, a US Army veteran, currently serves as the Director, Strategic Talent Recruitment on the Strategic Talent Recruitment, Diversity & Inclusion, and Engagement (STRIDE) team within the Office of Chief Human Capital Officer at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Ms. Dobbins manages the team who develops, executes, and provides oversight on department-wide polices and strategies for implementing short and long-range recruitment, outreach, and retention goals.

Michael Mahoney joined the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in May 1988.  He is a Supervisory Human Resources (HR) Specialist with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Workforce Policy and Innovation/Talent Acquisition, Classification, and Veterans Programs/Hiring Policy office.  He supervises senior level policy experts who administer and adjudicate staffing and workforce restructuring laws, regulations, and polices to address agency staffing and other human resource needs.  

Britaini Carroll is an experienced advisor helping leaders reimagine the future of work. Today she leads the Human Capital practice at Accenture Federal Services made up of ~300 practitioners who help clients reimagine their business, build workforces with the leaders and cultures to accelerate change, create and deliver employee experience, and transform HR.  For more than 25 years, she has helped organizations across industries [from federal agencies to products to financial services to museums] put humans at the heart of human capital transformation efforts.

Julie Jo Chae has led strategic recruitment efforts for over two decades at the federal level. As the current Director of the National Recruitment Division (NRD) at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), she focuses on attracting top talent to the largest federal law enforcement agency. Julie's passion for recruitment began early in her career when she served as a college recruiter, assisting students in discovering their ideal institutions of higher education. She then worked in the private sector on a large human resources contract supporting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recruitment initiatives nationwide before founding her own recruitment consulting business.

Lena Chang is the Governmental Affairs Director and Senior Counsel for Chairman Peters on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.  She leads a policy team that covers the governmental affairs portfolio of the Committee which includes such issues as:  governmentwide policy on technology, workforce, procurement, property, and records/data/information management; postal service; census bureau; Inspectors General; whistleblower protections; ethics; and District of Columbia.  Since joining HSGAC in November 2019, Ms. Chang and her team’s efforts in the 116th Congress (2019-2020) were instrumental in Senator Peters being recognized as the most effective Senator despite serving as a member of the minority party, according to the non-partisan Center for Effective Lawmaking (University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University) and the Lugar Center (Georgetown University).