2023 Keynote Speaker Bios

Marcus Buckingham

Marcus Buckingham is a global researcher and New York Times best-selling author focused on unlocking strengths, increasing performance, and pioneering the future of how people work.

He is the author of two of the best-selling business books of all time, First, Break All the Rules, and Now, Discover Your Strengths, and his tenth book, Love + Work (Harvard Business Review Press) is a WSJ bestseller and has been heralded by Forbes as one of the ten must-reads for career and leadership in 2022. Marcus’ 2019 Harvard Business Review cover article, “The Feedback Fallacy,” was selected by HBR as one of the most influential articles of the last 100 years, and Marcus’ strengths assessments have been taken by over 10 million people worldwide.

Building on two decades of experience as a Senior Researcher at The Gallup Organization, Marcus leveraged his data-based discoveries to build a $100 million tech company focused on helping people find and contribute their strengths at work.

He currently guides the research agenda of the ADP Research Institute as Head of People + Performance.

Karith Foster

Karith Foster is a Speaker, Humorist and best-selling Author of the best-selling book. She is also a Diversity Inclusion & Belonging Expert and the creator of the groundbreaking INVERSITY™ methodology.

Her work is creating a seismic shift in diversity, leadership and culture change in academic institutions, organizations and corporations across America.

In addition to being CEO of INVERSITY™ Solutions, Karith is also the Founder of F.R.A.M.E the Foster Russell Alliance for Meaningful Expression a 501(c)3 non-profit, whose mission is to inspire free speech, inclusion, social change and empowerment through education and mentorship on college and university campuses “If you can laugh at it you can get through it,” is her motto and the invaluable lesson she seeks to instill in others. This is the underlying theme of her popular TEDx Talk “The Art of Defying Stereotypes: Learning to be True to Your Voice.”

Karith is an alumna of Stephens College and Oxford University.

Karith resides in NYC, Texas and Southern California with her husband aka “The Aussie” and her two beautiful and hysterical daughters.

Nikki Lanier

Nikki Lanier is the CEO of Harper Slade, an advisory firm focused on helping organizations advance organizational strategies based on the demographic workforce of the future. An experienced leader with over 25 years of career achievements that span Banking, Labor and Employment Law, Collective Bargaining, Human Resources, and State Government. A Private and Public Sector CHRO adept in a multitude of HR disciplines, Nikki is experienced in managing multi-site operations and employing comprehensive approaches that effectively align human capital priorities with the overall organizational strategy. Nikki is a collaborative leader who is skilled in building synergetic teams in multi-cultural and cross-functional environments. An Executive Management Committee veteran with site and functional leadership responsibilities with the Federal Reserve Bank, Philip Morris USA, Georgia Pacific, ADP, Charter Schools USA and the country’s largest community college system, Maricopa Community Colleges, Nikki is a dexterous division executive having led teams in a number of sectors including, manufacturing, government, higher education, consumer goods &, healthcare.

Nikki’s voice and perspective on the link between inequity and macroeconomics is a compelling one.  Her musings on these topics have been featured in USA Today, Forbes Magazine, Essence Magazine, Ebony Media, Blavity, PBS and countless web and podcasts. Though based in Kentucky, she has spoken at convenings all over the world in furtherance of this work and hosted Harper Slade launch events in Washington DC, New York and Oakland California, Chicago, IL and South Florida.

Her advice and counsel have been sought after by governors, mayors, candidates for elected office, Federal Reserve leaders and college presidents.

Nikki earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Hampton University and holds a certification in Collective Bargaining from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She has served as an adjunct MBA professor for the University of Louisville College of Business where she also serves on its Board of Advisors.

Tanya Menon

Tanya Menon is Professor of Management and Human Resources at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. Her research has been cited in various media outlets including NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Times of London (UK), and The Guardian (UK). She has won multiple teaching awards (at both Ohio State and University of Chicago, where she was previously Associate Professor).

She has conducted corporate training, keynotes, and consulting all over the world (including the US Intelligence Community, Discover Financial Services, CareerBuilder.com, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, McKinsey Academy, Walmart, DHL, Petrobras, Mondelez, McDonalds, Cummins, Express, Scotts, Citibank (India), Tetrapak (Italy), Aetna, Sherwin Williams, Erie Insurance, McCormick, the Environmental Protection Agency, American Bar Association Chief Bar Executives, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and the Deloitte Women’s group). She is currently Associate Editor at Management Science Journal, was an elected member of her college’s executive committee, and is a member of the university’s Faculty Senate diversity committee (and incoming chair).

She wrote a book with Dr. Leigh Thompson, Stop Spending, Start Managing: Strategies to transform wasteful habits (2016, Harvard Business Review Press).

Her Ted talk has reached over 2.2 Million views and was named as one of the “top 7 TED talks of 2018” by entrepreneur.com, and one the most popular Ted talks of 2018 by TED playlists.

Daniel Schawbel

Daniel Schawbel  is a New York Times bestselling author and the Managing Partner of Workplace Intelligence, an award-winning thought leadership and research agency focused on the world of work.

He is the bestselling author of three career books: Back to Human, Promote Yourself, and Me 2.0. Through his company, Dan has led over 65 research studies with major brands including Amazon, Oracle, Deloitte, American Express, and WeWork. Schawbel is also the host of the 5 Questions podcast, where he interviews world-class humans like Matthew McConaughey, Natalie Portman, Richard Branson, Condoleezza Rice, Reed Hastings, Chelsea Handler, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

His Workplace Intelligence Weekly LinkedIn newsletter is one of the most read in his industry with over 387,000 subscribers and over 187,000 students who have taken his LinkedIn Learning courses on leadership, management, and hybrid working.