E. John Rice Jr. is the founder and CEO of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), a national non-profit organization that equips under-represented minorities with the skills, coaching and relationships to become leaders in corporations, entrepreneurial ventures and nonprofits.

After graduating from Yale with a degree in Latin American Studies, Mr. Rice went on to receive his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1992. Following Harvard, he worked with the Walt Disney Company in new business development and then joined the National Basketball Association from 1996 to 2000, first in Latin America as director of marketing and then in Tokyo as managing director of NBA Japan. While studying at Harvard, Mr. Rice wrote the business plan for what was to become MLT. In 1994 he launched a mentoring program for minority undergraduates. In 2000 he resigned from the NBA to devote himself entirely to MLT, which began with fifty participants in 2002; today its three programs serve over 3000 students and professionals nationwide focusing on key transition points in a young person’s life: college to early career, early career to MBA and mid-career to senior leadership. He is the lead independent director of Walker & Dunlop, one the nation’s leading providers of real estate financial services, and is a co-founder and director of CareerCore, an early stage technology company. He serves on the Board of Visitors of Duke University’s Terry Sanford Public Policy School and in 2010, Mr. Rice was appointed to President Obama’s Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He serves on a number of non-profit boards including LIFT, a leading poverty alleviation organization, and the National Center for Civil & Human Rights. Mr. Rice is a former member of the Yale University Council and was elected Alumni Fellow in 2011.

Minjon Tholen is a Consultant and Training & Development Lead at Cook Ross Inc. She has over a decade of experience in facilitation & curriculum design, and specializes in creating and facilitating trainings on diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, leadership development, and cultural competency. Minjon has developed and led workshops for corporations, educational institutions, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and other clients in the US and around the world. Her clients include EMC-EMEA, the Royal Bank of Canada, T. Rowe Price, Bank of America, Genentech-Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Mitre Corporation, USDA, Kellogg’s, Tata Communications, George Washington University, Community Health Network of Connecticut, the Roosevelt Institute, and the Human Rights Campaign. Minjon has been a speaker at a number of conferences, such as the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles annual event, SHRM Diversity & Inclusion Conference, and Linkage Institute for Leading Diversity & Inclusion. She also served as an international witness at the first European diversity conference dedicated to addressing racial and ethnic differences in the European Diversity & Inclusion space. Minjon’s other responsibilities at Cook Ross include the onboarding and learning & development programming for consultants, delivering Train-the-Trainers, curriculum design, and managing the pro-bono and charitable giving initiative of the organization. Born in Sri Lanka, raised in the Netherlands, and further educated in the United States, Minjon graduated cum laude from the University of Utrecht for her Bachelor’s degree, and holds a Master’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining Cook Ross, Minjon was a New Leader at the Center for Progressive Leadership and the National Council of Women’s Organizations. She has also worked at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington D.C., and served as a Pipeline Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute in New York.

Elizabeth is an attorney, HR professional, and diversity practitioner.  Effective July 16, 2018, she joined the Campbell Soup Company’s D&I team and will work on the  development and execution of key components of a new D&I strategy. Previously, Elizabeth was Partner/Chief Diversity Officer for Andrews Kurth Kenyon in Houston. Before joining the law firm in 2007, Elizabeth was VP Employment Relations/Corporate Diversity Officer for ARAMARK in Philadelphia. Elizabeth is a frequent speaker, training facilitator and author on D&I and employment law. Elizabeth received her J.D. from University of Michigan and her B.A. from American University.

Lindsey Gardner has a variety of HR and I/O experience as a generalist, analyst, administrator and consultant. She has worked with businesses of all sizes ranging from locally owned start-ups to the Fortune 100.  She holds an MBA with a concentration in Human Resources Management and is currently conducting research towards her PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. She is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, American Psychological Association and Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology.  

Keami Lewis currently leads the Learning & Development and Outreach functions for Microsoft’s Global Diversity & Inclusion team. In this role Keami partners with key stakeholders to deliver learning strategies that build core competency and diversity & inclusion skills throughout the organization.  Additionally, she manages internal partnerships and external sponsorships,- including the company’s Employee Resource Groups & Employee Networks,- that are instrumental in driving Microsoft’s strategy for representation, inclusion and market innovation. 

Keami joined Microsoft in January 2006.  Prior to her work with the GD&I team, Keami managed Microsoft’s Rotation Program for early in career HR talent, and also directed Global Communications and New Recruiter Training for the Worldwide Staffing function. 

Before Microsoft, Keami held a number of senior HR positions with responsibility for driving organization effectiveness, talent strategy and overall HR function. These include roles with CertainTeed Corporation (part of the Saint Gobain Companies), where she led the North American HR function; Agere Systems, where she managed the Global HR and OD functions for the World Wide Sales and Client Services teams; and Harrah’s Entertainment, where she was responsible for on property HR, Learning & Development, and Communications .  Keami also held critical positions with Rosenbluth International when it was named "One of the Ten Best Training Organizations in America" in The One Hundred Best Companies to Work for in America.

Keami holds a B.A. degree in Communication Arts from La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a member of SHRM (the Society for Human Resources Management) and ASTD (American Society for Training & Development).  She resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband Ralph, and two children.

Mister Manners, Thomas P. Farley, is an etiquette expert, speaker and author who’s helping America’s professionals master essential manners for success in the workplace—and in life. His workshops for banks, law firms, universities and Fortune 500 companies are engaging and memorable, offering employees strategies for getting along and getting ahead.

Mr. Farley is a regular and popular guest on the Today show, where he speaks on matters of modern-day etiquette—subjects from “avoiding awkward hugs” to “what not to wear at a company beach outing.” His insights appear regularly in other media outlets as well, including the CBS Early Show, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Wired and Money magazines, USA Today, CNN, ABC and on radio stations across the country.

Throughout 2011, he served as an ongoing guest-host for the daily call-in program Living Today on the Martha Stewart Living Radio network. He also helped launch that channel’s “Manners Monday” segment, which focused on matters of contemporary etiquette.

Mr. Farley was the “Social Graces” editor for Town & Country magazine for the better part of a decade and has been a guest lecturer at New York University’s School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. He is also the editor of the anthology “Modern Manners: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Social Graces.”

Terri Hartwell Easter is a seasoned executive and management consultant, HR expert, and executive coach with nearly 30 years’ experience and a trademark for delivering innovative, informed thinking to some of the toughest HR management challenges in highly regulated, competitive industries, such as utilities, energy and power.

Terri is a well regarded organizational change strategist for leading professional services firms, commercial banks and the White House alike. Understanding that at the heart of every organization is its people, Terri’s signature employee engagement approach moves beyond elusive measures with limited impact to actionable best practices that grow the bottom line.

Before establishing her consulting practice, Terri was the Chief Operating Officer of a major Washington, DC law firm. During her tenure, the firm’s financial results doubled placing it among the top 200 in the national AmLaw rankings by profitability. The firm is regarded as one of the best financially managed firms among those annually surveyed by Citibank and Wachovia Bank.

Terri is a regular on the national speaking circuit. Recent topics include: Making Diversity Work: Building a New Culture of Inclusion to Attract and Retain Top Talent, Managing a Multi-Disciplinary Team, Measuring the Effectiveness of Human Resources Initiatives, New Strategies for Law Firm Revenues, Business Planning for Legal Professionals, Making the Transition from Law School to Law Practice, and Managing Real Estate Today. Notably, Terri was recently selected to present at the 2014 National SHRM Diversity & Inclusion Conference on the topic of diversity as a way to achieve employee engagement. In addition, Terri is the keynote speaker at Delaware Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) statewide diversity conference in July 2014. She will be speaking to DE SHRM members about “Diversity & Inclusion: Moving Beyond the Numbers.” Previously she has spoken to local SHRM chapters, including DelMarVa SHRM. She has been quoted as an HR expert in publications including The Legal Times, Human Resources Executive Online, and ABA Management Magazine.

Terri is a graduate of Southeastern University, with graduate coursework in business administration from Howard University and Harvard University and specialized training in business process re-engineering and service quality management from the Disney Institute and Stanford University. She is a former trustee of Southeastern University, former chair of the Human Resources Section of the Association of Legal Administrations (Capital Chapter), and past member of Commercial Real Estate Women.

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The High Court has vacated three lower court decisions against closely held companies and their owners opposed to the Department of Health and Human Services rule requiring health insurance coverage of all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives - See more at: http://www.shrm.org/pages/default.aspx#sthash.JZ9mUTkr.dpuf