Diversity & Inclusion

Wonder Woman in Business, Carol Ross-Burnett

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Carol Ross-Burnett

Carol Ross-Burnett is CEO of CRB Global LLC offering diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) consulting, advising and coaching to individuals, groups and organizations. She most recently served as Senior Advisor, Diversity & Inclusion (“D&I”) Strategic Partnerships at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP, a full-service, global law firm with eleven offices in the U.S. and four international offices. In that position, she worked closely with executive leadership; partners; professional, administrative and support staff; clients and other external constituents to collaborate and partner around D&I.

Ms. Ross-Burnett was originally hired with director-level responsibilities for Sheppard Mullin’s nascent diversity and inclusion initiatives, a role that she held for ten years. During that time, she helped to position Sheppard Mullin as a D&I thought leader in the legal profession. The firm now regularly earns top client awards and law firm rankings for D&I, including a preeminent industry award in 2019. Ms. Ross-Burnett was awarded the firm’s 2020 Diversity & Inclusion Award for her outstanding leadership and contributions.

Before joining Sheppard Mullin, Ms. Ross-Burnett was a law school assistant dean of career services and multicultural affairs, and principal in her first consulting practice. She is a seasoned speaker, experienced trainer and workshop facilitator, and published author who has served in DEI leadership roles with many local, state and national associations and organizations. These include the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals, the American Bar Association, the California State Bar, the Los Angeles County Bar, and the National Association for Law Placement. She currently serves on the board of California LAW Pathways, a statewide diversity pipeline program that provides instruction and guidance to underrepresented students through high school, community college, undergraduate school, and as they enter law school. 

A woman of many talents, Ms. Ross-Burnett is also a singer, songwriter and music producer who holds an annual workshop in Los Angeles for singers, songwriters, authors and speakers; she also hosts workshops for women. In addition to speaking and writing in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion, she will shortly earn the top designation of Distinguished Toastmaster, and her publications include stories in the Chicken Soup for the African American Soul and Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul books..

A lifelong learner, Ms. Ross-Burnett recently began her doctoral studies in Organizational Change & Leadership at the University of Southern California. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and also holds a 60-unit master's degree in counseling with honors from San Francisco State University. She received a certificate of completion from the Leadership Development in Interethnic Relations (LDIR) community program in Los Angeles, and recently completed a training intensive for professional coaches.

Carol Ross-Burnett

 Contact Carol

Carol Ross-Burnett

Trusted DEI Advisor|Corporate & 

Personal Coach|Speaker & Author

 323.435.1916



Wonder Woman in Business Monique Burt Williams

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Monique Burt Williams, CEO

Monique Burt Williams is the Chief Executive Officer of Cadence Counsel, a certified Women’s Business Enterprise and sister corporation to both Lateral Link and Bridgeline Solutions. She is deeply committed to helping corporations and other organizations diversify their in-house legal divisions as they strive to reflect a global economy.  

Monique formerly worked for a prominent boutique litigation firm, and was subsequently asked to join the legal services division of a global workforce solutions company.  While there, she created a consulting practice to address the various concerns of corporate law departments: legal operations and administration, playbook development and outside counsel management, cost containment, permanent and interim search, talent development, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and remote workforce management.  Immediately prior to joining Cadence Counsel, Monique directed national business and strategy development for one of the largest privately held legal outsourcing providers in the country.

She earned a B.A. with honors from the University of Michigan, and her J.D. (Order of the Barristers) from the Indiana University Mauer School of Law.  In addition, she studied International Business Transactions at the Université de Paris – Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, France. 

Monique Burt Williams

Contact Monique:

MONIQUE BURT WILLIAMS
CEO, CADENCE COUNSEL

Certified Women Business Enterprise (WBE)

330 North Wabash Avenue, Suite 2300
Chicago, IL 60611

O. 812.219.4968 C. 812.219.4968 F. 866.728.3096

mburtwilliams@cadencecounsel.comwww.CadenceCounsel.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn

Together with our sister divisions, Lateral Link and Bridgeline Solutions, we deliver top permanent and temporary legal talent to law firms and corporations worldwide.


Wonder Woman in Business, Neha Sampat

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Neha Sampat, Esq.

Neha Sampat, Esq. is CEO and founder of GenLead|BelongLab, where she focuses on building belonging and true inclusion. Through consulting, training, speaking, and coaching, she helps organizations create peak‐performance, inclusive teams by addressing hidden barriers to belonging, such as internalized bias, unconscious bias, generational diversity, distrust in teams, and wellness challenges. She is a nationally sought-after expert on disrupting Imposter Syndrome and runs the top-rated “Owning Your Value” program to develop inclusive leadership.

Neha’s insights have been featured in numerous publications, including Time MagazineThrive GlobalABA Journal, and News India Times. Neha holds BAs in Sociology and Political Science from University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign, obtained her JD from UC Berkeley School of Law, holds a Certificate in Graduate Applied Psychology, and is certified in Hogan Assessments. Neha works across industry, from Pixar to Perkins Coie LLP, and UC Berkeley to City of San Leandro. Neha also relishes her role as mama to her two kiddos. You can read more of Neha’s insights at blog.genlead.co, follow her on TW/IG/FB at @belonglab, and reach her directly at neha@genlead.co

 

As mentioned in the podcast:

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable - Luvvie Ajayi's TED Talk

Neha, in print:

On her childhood and the seeds of her drive to create belonging:

Growing Up Brown in America: When Every Day is Halloween

What It Means to Be American: My Journey from "Other" to "Us"

 

On Imposter Syndrome as a stress and mental health issue:

Your Chronic Stress: It's a Matter of Confidence, Not Competence

A call to deal with imposter syndrome, a hidden source of attorney distress

 

On Neha's career journey:

Legal Career Spotlight: From Private Practice to Dean of Students to Belonging Consultant

Neha Sampat

Connect with Neha and learn more about her work:

www.genlead.co

hello@genlead.co

blog.genlead.co

Send a message to connect on LinkedIn

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nsampat/

Follow on TW/FB/IG

@belonglab

To periodically receive free tips and insights on belonging, leadership, and Imposter Syndrome, visit: https://bit.ly/GLBLemail

To stay posted on upcoming cohorts of her online Owning Your Value course, visit: https://bit.ly/OYVonlineinterest



Wonder Woman in Business, Robin Hauser

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Robin Hauser

Robin Hauser is the director and producer of cause-based documentary films at Finish Line Features and President of Unleashed Productions.  Robin’s award-winning film, CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2015, and has caught the attention of the international tech industry and of policymakers and educators in Washington, DC and abroad.  Robin’s most recent documentary, bias, explores unconscious bias and how it affects us socially and in the workplace.  She delivered a TED talk about the impact of unconscious bias on artificial intelligence, and is a frequent speaker at major conferences on topics including diversity and inclusion, the importance of ethical AI and gender equality.  Robin has been featured in international publications: Forbes, Fortune, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, USA Today, Wired, Marie Claire, San Francisco Business Times and has appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNN, NPR, CNBC.  

Robin Hauser

Contact Robin

Robin Hauser

Director / Producer

biasfilm.comFinish Line Features, LLC.

Unleashed Productions, Inc.

finishlinefeaturefilms.com



Wonder Woman in Business, Terri Givens

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Terri Givens

Terri E. Givens is a CEO/Founder, Political Scientist and a consultant to educational technology companies and educational institutions. In February of 2019 she founded The Center for Higher Education Leadership, a portal for professional development for higher education administrators. She was the Provost of Menlo College from July 2015 to June 2018.

From the Fall of 2003 until the Spring of 2015 she was a Professor in the Government Department at the University of Texas at Austin where she also served as Vice Provost for International Activities and Undergraduate Curriculum from 2006 to 2009, Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center’s European Union Center of Excellence, and Co-Director of the Longhorn Scholars Program.  She founded and directed the Center for European Studies and the France-UT Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies from 2004-2006. She was a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington from 1999 to 2003. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her B.A. from Stanford University.

She is the author/editor of several books on immigration policy, European politics and security, including Voting Radical Right in Western Europe, Immigration Policy and Security and Immigrant Politics: Race and Representation in Western Europe. Her most recent book is Legislating Equality: The Politics of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe (Oxford University Press, May 2014). Her textbook, Immigration in the 21st Century was published in May of 2020 (Routledge). Her most recent book is, Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides is scheduled for publication in February 2021 (advance excerpts are available).

A popular speaker, blogger and social media enthusiast, Terri is very active in the community as a member of several nonprofit boards and is a fitness enthusiast.

Terri Givens


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Radical Empathy

Terri E. Givens


Terri’s new textbook: Immigration in the 21st Century

The Center for Higher Education Leadership

Terri’s website and blog "Diverse Thoughts"

Contact Terri:

Terri Givens, CEO

The Center for Higher Education Leadership

www.higheredleads.com

http://www.terrigivens.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scholargivens/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrigivens/

Twitter:  @TerriGivens, @center_higher



Wonder Women in Business Ally, Steve Camac

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Steve Camac

CEO, CenterForce

Steve Camac is the founder of Centerforce, a conference and events company focused on Diversity & IP topics.  For over 10 years, he has set the strategic direction for the company as well as each summit's editorial content. His focus is to develop quality conferences that cover hot button topics and provide high-level networking opportunities for business communities. Steve's conference and trade show experience includes leadership positions at IQPC (International Quality and Productivity Center) and IIR (Institute for International Research). Centerforce is run with the core belief that conferences, when done well, are a powerful platform for education, networking, and creating change.

Steve moved from his native England to the U.S. in 1991 and not only graduated with a B.A. and M.A. in History from Montana State University (MSU), but was also an all-conference collegiate tennis player. Go Bobcats!

Most weekends, Steve can be found either cooking and hosting friends for dinner or on a tennis court somewhere contemplating a comeback.

Steve Camac

Contact Steve

Steve Camac, CEO

CenterForce USA 

42 West Street, 2nd floor Brooklyn, NY 11222

P: 516.241.9158 

E: steve.camac@cfconferences.com