STEVE PEMBERTON
KEYNOTE ADDRESS – THE NECESSARY EVOLUTION OF
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION: THE THREE “Rs” CRITICAL
TO BUILDING A TRULY INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE
“This little boy doesn’t have a chance in the world.”
That was the devastating line taken from the diary of one of
Steve Pemberton’s babysitters when he was young, abused and
neglected under the care of his foster family.
Pemberton knows firsthand what it’s like to be different, to feel
like you don’t belong. That’s why he wants us to start looking at
diversity and inclusion differently.
“We’re frustrated that we’re having the same conversations that
we’ve had generations past,” he said. “So, there is that fatigue and
often times it just manifests itself in silence.”
Now, it’s time to change that.
“If there’s one thing that the diversity and inclusion movement
has often gotten wrong is it’s failed to talk about why it really mat-ters,”
said Pemberton. “Why is where discretionary effort comes
from. That’s where you really start to invest your time.”
Diversity and inclusion is top of mind for every forward-thinking
organization. Yet, despite their best intentions and efforts, many
organizations continue to struggle to build truly inclusive work-places
where all employees – regardless of race, gender, ethnicity,
political leaning, religion or sexual orientation – feel a strong sense
of belonging and are comfortable being who they are.
As chief people officer at Globoforce and former chief diver-sity
officer at Walgreens, Steve Pemberton has been advancing the
D&I conversation throughout his career.
He has shared his own personal journey with numerous audi-ences,
as well as through his book, A Chance in the World. In 2018,
the book was turned into a movie of the same name and screened
at 500 theatres for one night only with some of the proceeds going
to organizations that benefit kids in need.
“We’re going to have to think of inclusion now not just as a nice
thing to do… if we are to take on the challenges of our time, we’re
going to have to think about this as necessary to everything that
we do.”
Attend Steve Pemberton’s keynote address at HRPA’s Annual
Conference and Trade Show, Jan. 31 at 4:30 p.m.
DAVID McWILLIAMS
AC 2019
KEYNOTE ADDRESS – WHAT GLOBAL QE FROM TOKYO TO
TORONTO MEANS FOR YOU, ME, AND EMERGING MARKETS
“The idea here now is to rip economics away from self-indulgence
and to look at it in a different way,” said David McWilliams of the
discipline he has influenced deeply.
An economist, broadcaster and bestselling author, McWilliams
is one of the most influential economists in the world. Consistently
accurate in his forecasts, he was the only economist in Ireland who
accurately forecast a strong U.K. Brexit vote, the Trump victory
and the 2008 global crash.
McWilliams brings economics to life and makes it relevant and
understandable to the widest audiences. Rock star Bono recently
praised McWilliams’ approach, “It is genuinely his gift; to take
dense subjects and sort of aerate them.”
He is a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum,
is a regular contributor to Google’s famed Zeitgeist confer-ence
and has been named Ireland’s most influential Twitter user.
With the objective to make economics easily digestible and fun,
McWilliams draws on his unique sense of humour when he trav-els
the globe speaking on trends in growth, currencies, financial
markets and geo-politics.
He is an Adjunct Professor of Global Economics at Trinity
College Dublin, writes a weekly economics column for The
Irish Times and is a regular international contributor to The
Financial Times.
A bestselling author of four books, McWilliams recently
launched his new book, Renaissance Nation, exploring the trans-formation
of Irish society in the four decades between two
papal visits.
McWilliams has presented award-winning documentaries and
brought a sell-out, one-man economics stand-up show to the stage
at Ireland’s renowned national theatre, The Abbey. As a speaker, he
has presented for companies on four continents including Google,
Erickson, Sony, Altgeris, Citywire, Casenove and the National
Bank of Abu Dhabi.
McWilliams worked as economist in the Irish Central Bank and
later in the financial markets with UBS and Banque Nationale de
Paris. He studied economics at Trinity College Dublin and the
College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
Attend David McWilliams’ keynote address at HRPA’s Annual
Conference and Trade Show, Feb. 1 at 8:30 a.m.
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