Thank you to our 2025 attendees, sponsors, and speakers!
Our 2025 Annual Conference, Evolving Leadership: Building Human-Centered Cultures, was held on November 5, 2025.
2025 Keynote Speakers
Minda Harts
Bestselling Author & Trust Catalyst
25 conference participants will receive a signed copy of Minda’s latest book, Talk to Me Nice: The Seven Trust Languages For A Better Workplace.
Noelle Russell
Multi-Award-Winning TEDx Speaker, Bestselling Author & AI Executive
25 conference participants will receive a signed copy of Noelle’s book, Scaling Responsible AI: From Enthusiasm to Execution.
2025 Speakers & Honorees
Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Opportunity Officer
Perkins Coie
2025 Agenda
8:45am
Check in & Continental Breakfast
9:15am
Welcome: Evolving Leadership – Building A Thriving Culture with Katie Brossy and Manar Morales
Culture is how we make decisions when no one is watching. It shows in the behaviors we reward, the stories we tell, and the way we show up. When intentionally shaped, it becomes a powerful advantage, especially in times of change. In 2025, leadership must go beyond adaptation. Leaders are called to build cultures centered on humanity, purpose, and connection. By championing inclusion, wellbeing, and resilience, they turn culture into a force that drives innovation, unlocks human potential, and powers long-term success. Manar Morales, DFA Founder & CEO, will share how evolving leadership aligns values with vision and courage with compassion, enabling organizations not just to navigate change, but to thrive.
9:40am
A People-First Playbook: A Fireside Chat with Mike Valentine, CEO, BCU & 2025 Flex Leader Award Honoree
In this inspiring fireside chat, Mike Valentine, CEO of BCU, reveals how his people-first philosophy has fueled four decades of double-digit growth. Through initiatives like his signature “Dew Chats,” candid conversations that put life and family before work, Mike builds a culture of connection, trust, and real-time feedback.
At BCU, values like inclusion, courage, collaboration, integrity, and delivering a wow factor are embedded in everyday actions and modeled consistently across all levels of leadership. Discover how Mike proves that putting people first is the ultimate growth strategy, creating a culture defined by inclusion, wellbeing, and flexibility.
10:05am
The Power of Transformational Leadership: Culture Catalysts in Action with Kristine McKinney
Meet this year’s Culture Catalyst Award honorees: leaders who are redefining what it means to lead with purpose and humanity. Through integrity, empathy, and vision, they have advanced cultural change that strengthens inclusion, enhances employee wellbeing, and drives organizational resilience. In this talk, you will hear powerful stories of impact and walk away with practical ideas to spark meaningful change within your own organization.
10:30am
Panel: Evolving Talent Strategies for a Changing World with Brenda C. Carr, Courtney Carter, Nada Llewellyn & Manar Morales
As organizations navigate rapid change, talent leaders play a critical role in guiding the shift toward more human-centered cultures. This panel brings together leaders at the forefront of talent, culture, and inclusion to explore how they are shaping environments where people feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.
11:15am
Choreographed Connection Activity
11:35am
DFA 2025 Research: How Flexibility Fuels Careers, Culture & Connection
This session highlights findings from DFA’s Workplace Flexibility Benchmarking Study on how U.S. law firms use flexible work and leave policies and their impact on advancement and leadership. Complementing this, DFA’s Sabbatical Impact Report provides data and real-world examples of organizations leveraging sabbaticals to boost wellbeing, retention, and long-term success. Together, these studies offer a roadmap for building workplaces where flexibility drives engagement and results.
11:55am
Lunch & Choreographed Connection Activity
1:00pm
Keynote: Talk to Me Nice, The Seven Trust Languages for a Better Workplace with Minda Harts
Trust is the foundation of every successful workplace, yet it is increasingly fragile. In this session, Minda Harts, acclaimed workplace thought leader and author of Talk to Me Nice, explains how broken trust affects employees, managers, and leaders, undermining both performance and professional wellbeing.
Drawing on years of experience and her framework of the seven workplace trust languages, Minda shows attendees how to communicate effectively, navigate conflict, and build stronger relationships, thereby creating a workplace where people feel valued, understood, and motivated to give their best.
1:50pm
Building A Culture of Feedback & Growth: A Fireside Chat with Grace Speights, Partner, Morgan Lewis (2025 DFA Impact Award Honoree)
Discover how a groundbreaking feedback program is transforming organizational culture by empowering employees to share meaningful input with leaders. This session explores how fostering reflection, accountability, and continuous learning can strengthen employee experience, boost performance and resilience, and position organizations for long-term success in an evolving workplace.
2:20pm
The Power of Transformational Leadership: Culture Catalysts in Action with Genhi Givings Bailey
Meet this year’s Culture Catalyst Award honorees: leaders who are redefining what it means to lead with purpose and humanity. Through integrity, empathy, and vision, they have advanced cultural change that strengthens inclusion, enhances employee wellbeing, and drives organizational resilience. In this talk, you will hear powerful stories of impact and walk away with practical ideas to spark meaningful change within your own organization.
2:45pm
Luminary Insights: A Conversation on the Future of Inclusive Leadership with Tarang Amin, Chairman & CEO, e.l.f. Beauty & 2025 Luminary Award Honoree (Pre-Recorded Interview)
2:55pm
Panel: Leading with Purpose – Evolving Leadership for Organizational Success with Jaime Drozd, Adam Hall & Manar Morales
In today’s complex environment, senior executives face the challenge of driving results while ensuring people remain at the heart of strategy. This panel brings together leaders who are translating values into business results. Panelists will share practical approaches for fostering inclusive, innovative, and purpose-driven cultures, including setting clear priorities, modeling accountability, and supporting workforce wellbeing. Participants will gain actionable strategies to strengthen both organizational performance and employee experience.
3:35pm
Break
3:45pm
Closing Keynote: Building Human-First Agentic Organizations in the Age of AI with Noelle Russell
As generative AI transforms industries at an unprecedented pace, organizations find themselves at a critical inflection point. Adopting AI technologies is only part of the challenge. Redefining the relationship between humans and intelligent systems is essential for long-term success. In this session, we’ll explore how organizations can build human-first agentic organizations, where intelligent agents handle routine and operational tasks, allowing people to focus on judgment, ethics, strategy, and growth.
For leaders, this evolution is a chance to design workplaces that embrace technological advancement while centering humanity. Participants will learn how AI agents can support inclusion efforts, accelerate talent development, and reduce burnout, all while ensuring that the human spirit remains central to innovation. This talk reframes the AI conversation from fear to leadership, helping organizations prepare for a future where AI empowers, not replaces, the people at the heart of their mission.
4:20pm
Closing Remarks
The 2025 Annual Conference has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 3.7 hours of total CLE credit. Of these, 3.7 qualifies as hours of credit for diversity, inclusion and elimination of bias (BCLE Reg. 302:1).
The 2025 Annual Conference has been approved for 4 SHRM Professional Development Credits. The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
Please reach out to Angela Whitehead Quigley with any questions.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Community Sponsors
