Starla Sampaco joins us again this year to serve as SHRM24's Main Stage host! She is a Filipino-American columnist, host, and international speaker with a background in TV news for Seattle's PBS Channel. She is a contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review, where she focuses on teaching women and people of color how to advocate for themselves in the workplace. She also leads keynotes for clients like Microsoft and AT&T. As an extension of this work, Starla taught graduate students as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington Communication Leadership Master's Program, where she developed a course on executive presence, public speaking, and communication strategy. Prior to anchoring for PBS, she covered Washington state politics as a legislative reporter and hosted a technology news show.

Tamla Oates-Forney is an innovative thought leader and speaker, women’s advocate, wellness champion, philanthropist and investor. She serves as CEO of Linkage, a SHRM company, a global leadership development firm committed to advancing women and accelerating inclusion in leaders and organizations.

Tamla previously served as EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for USAA, where as a member of the Executive Council she led USAA’s team of more than 500 HR professionals spanning talent development, talent acquisition, pay and benefits, culture and employee services for 37,000 teammates.

Prior to joining USAA, Tamla served as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at WM (previously Waste Management). She spent the majority of her career (20 years) at General Electric, where she held multiple leadership roles, including HR Leader for GE Africa, Chief Diversity Officer for GE Appliances and Lighting, and Vice President of HR for GE Energy Connections.

Tamla is also an independent director and member of the Human Capital and Compensation committee for Summit Materials. She serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for her alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and is a sought-after speaker, advisor and thought leader for several HR-related technology startups.

She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration. A renowned expert in her field, she has received multiple honors, including being featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business and Savoy’s 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. She is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), a network of black CEOs and business leaders who support the development of diverse talent and the promotion of social justice.

Tamla enjoys spending time with her husband, Warren, and their two children, Annia (25) and Camden (15). She also enjoys traveling to Africa, discovering new vegan restaurants, working out, and watching interior design shows on HGTV. She is a member of the 1% club having completed a marathon in 2018.

Shannon Bayer, JD, is a Principal Consultant with over a decade of consulting and facilitation experience. Shannon brings in-depth expertise and a passion for designing and implementing programs focused on advancing women in leadership—and empowering each leader with the knowledge they need to transform how they show up in their role and drive change in their organization. Shannon has led strategic engagements across a variety of industries, ranging from government to financial services, healthcare, insurance, and consumer products and goods. 

As a keynote speaker, Shannon brings stories from her personal leadership journey to the forefront, connecting her real-life experiences and work with leaders globally to key leadership concepts designed to help participants reflect on their own journey and take control of their path forward. 

Shannon holds a BS in animal science from the University of Vermont and a JD in international law from Suffolk University. 

Shannon was a rower in college and still loves to get on the water when she can. She enjoys spending time outdoors and will travel for a good hike or beach day with her dog and son, Max. Currently, Shannon resides in the greater Indianapolis, IN, area of the US after living in New England for over 25 years. 

Magie, whose birth name is Magdalena De La Cruz Cook Garcia, is a Latino businesswoman who was born in an orphanage in Mexico. She grew up in poverty along with 68 brothers and sisters. She missed her opportunity to play basketball for the Mexican National team because she broke her collarbone. Shortly after she immigrated to the US on a basketball scholarship at the University of Charleston.

After obtaining her college degree, and not being able to find a job, Magie became homeless and lived on the streets. When someone recognized her, she was given a place to stay. A few weeks later, she entered a Fresh Salsa competition for the State of West Virginia and won unanimously. At this event, she was given $800 to start her business.

Not knowing anything about business and with perseverance, she created Maggie’s All-Natural Fresh Salsa’s & Dips, a company that grew into a multi-million-dollar business within 4 years and distributed products across 38 states to major supermarkets such as Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Whole Foods and many more. At the height of her success in 2015, Maggie’s Salsa sold to Campbell’s Soup. Shortly after, she went back to Mexico and rescued 31 orphaned children from a drug cartel.

As a CEO, Magie shares her unconventional and unique techniques that made her super successful in life and in business. She was given a Nobel Entrepreneurial Prize in Mexico, the Small Business Administration gave her the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the University of Charleston Awarded her into the Hall of Fame, and West Virginia inducted her into their Generation Next, 40 under 40. Magie is a board member of AFIRE Pinellas, an organization that provides educational scholarships to kids with disabilities.
Magie’s company has been mentioned and featured on the following news and Television Networks: CNN, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, NBC, USA Today, The Washington Post, Fox News, Daystar, the American Dream Television, The Shelby Report, Kiplinger, Executive Magazine, ABC, CBS, the show Ask Dr. Nandi, and has been featured in many more tv, radio shows, magazines and newspapers.

Magie is the author of the book Mindful Success™ - How to use your mind to transform your life (Amazon). She’s also the founder of success workshops and a success masterminds for personal and professional development for individuals and companies. She founded a movement with an idea to solve the generational issue of human (sex) trafficking. In 2019, she began working with the AOF Hollywood Dreams International Film Festival to make a feature film about her story.

Kat Cole is an investor and advisor to high-growth businesses, funds, and brands with a focus on food and beverage, wellness, franchises, SMB tech, and web3. 

Kat was recently named President and COO of Athletic Greens, the fastest growing wellness brand in the world. Athletic Greens is the direct-to-consumer subscription company behind the world’s most comprehensive and convenient daily nutrition product, AG1. Here, she will lead the company with a focus on driving organizational scale, accelerating business growth and global expansion, and innovation.  

In January of 2021, she wrapped up a 10 year career leading Focus Brands as COO and President (2016-2021) of the owner, franchisor and operator of global limited service food brands, with billions in product sales in over 50 countries. As COO, she led the company’s 8 brands: Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, Moe’s, Schlotzsky’s, McAllister’s, Carvel, Seattle’s Best Coffee International, and Jamba with over 7000 operations globally as well as the multi-brand licensing and CPG business with over $1Billion in annual sales. In other roles at Focus Brands, before becoming COO, she was president of Cinnabon (2010-2014) and Group President of the multi-channel licensing division at Focus (2014-2016). Prior to Focus Brands, Kat was Vice President at Hooters, starting as a waitress, becoming a corporate employee by 20, VP by 26, and leading the company’s global growth through franchising, training, and operations as a member of the global executive team culminating in the sale of the company into private equity in 2010. 

In Kat’s tenure at Focus Brands, she famously led the turnaround of Cinnabon out of the recession by strengthening the base franchise business, reinvigorating the brand, and launching what is now one of the largest restaurant brand CPG businesses in the world. She and her team doubled the EBITDA of that company in a few years, brought sustained growth to the franchisees, and led innovation in delivery, product development, licensing and partnerships that became core capabilities for the parent company that she would so move up to lead as President and COO. She is now investing and advising at the intersection of consumer, NFTs, web3 and the broader move to decentralization and the ownership economy. 

Kat also helped lead the acquisition and integration of brands, the restructuring of Focus Brands to prepare it for its next chapter as a growing house of global brands, and is known as a change agent for omni-channel brands, complex portfolio companies, and teams across private equity and venture backed ecosystems.  

Kat is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a member of the Board of Directors of growth stage VC and PE backed companies Milk Bar and Slice as well as on the Board of HumanCo SPAC. Her investment and advisory portfolio includes over 60 early stage companies, with a focus on omni-channel consumer product businesses. Kat is a past member of the United Nations Global Entrepreneurs Council, was featured on CBS' "Undercover Boss”, and was named one of Fortune’s 40 under 40. She is a college dropout, yet has her MBA in International Business from Georgia State University and an Honorary Doctorate from Johnson and Wales University. She is past chair of the board of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, and has led women’s development initiatives in the US and Rwanda. 

Kat is an outspoken advocate for women’s issues and for the broader role of business in democratizing access to education and opportunity.