Platform Open | Welcome
Opening remarks from WGR DEI Committee Lead, Sylvia Aguilera 

 Impact of EOs on Legal, Legislative & Regulatory Advocacy
Leslie Silverman

 In this timely session, former EEOC Vice Chair Leslie Silverman will explore how recent executive orders are reshaping the legal and regulatory landscape for workplace equity and inclusion. Drawing on her deep experience in employment law and policy, she’ll examine the implications for compliance, advocacy, and agency enforcement—offering practical insights for navigating today’s shifting environment.

Evolving Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: A Business and Social Imperative 

Nefertiri Sickout, SVP, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Share Our Strength
Rachael Forester, Senior Consultant, Inclusion and Belonging, Nonprofit HR
Stephanie Wu Winter, Associate Director for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Share Our Strength

Although recent federal executive orders seek to abolish diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, which have resulted in organizations retreating from DEI commitments, there are many organizations remaining steadfast to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion practices. This session will highlight a number of major companies that are continuing to make DEI a business imperative and will identify common business objectives across these organizations that substantiate the rationale for continued DEI investment. This session will also help participants ground their understanding of DEI in a historical context, drawing connections between current political efforts to undermine DEI and similar challenges faced in the past, reinforcing the importance of staying committed to the cause. The session will conclude with insight on the evolution of equity, diversity and inclusion as an outcomes-based strategy, with shifts in language and recommended strategies for staying engaged as government relations professionals.

Beyond Hiring: Cultivating a Culture that Celebrates True Diversity

Opulence Abundance, Opulence Abundance Consulting
Crystal Espie, AARP

This two-part session explores how to engage diverse communities through advocacy and how to create internal cultures that authentically support difference.

Together, these sessions will provide attendees with tangible strategies to drive external impact and foster meaningful inclusion from within.

Reclaiming Our Narrative: Defining Opportunity Through Diversity

Todd Bemis, VP Client Innovation - The Lukens Company
Lindsay Shuba Donnelly, SVP Advocacy - The Lukens Company
Capin Alexander, VP Noonprofit - The Lukens Company

Through research insights and market experience, we’ll demonstrate the critical value of diversity in audience targeting and messaging. You’ll see how embracing diversity leads to stronger connections and better outcomes. Then, we’ll explore how to seize control of the narrative and redefine the language of opportunity. This talk will equip you with a powerful new vocabulary to champion the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion—without relying on terms that have been co-opted by opponents. Learn how to navigate the battle for program success by emphasizing the value of multi-faceted perspectives, and how to ensure the focus stays on impact, not terminology. Using our work with Latino audiences, we’ll illustrate how these principles benefit any organizational cause. Equip yourself with the tools to advocate for inclusive values in an environment where the concept of diversity has been weaponized.

Plenary: Self-Inflicted: How Incomplete and Problematic DEI Approaches Are Hurting our Efforts and What to Do About Them

Dan Egol, Executive Director and Co-Founder, IDEAS Generation

With its roots in the Civil Rights movement, current DEI efforts have evolved from Equal Employment Opportunity Office initiatives originally confined to federal institutions. In recent years, they’ve become commonplace across sectors and an expectation especially of younger generations. Yet, the expansion of organizational DEI roles and initiatives has not been accompanied by commensurate checks on the approaches or practices guiding this work. Absent widespread consensus about the substance of DEI and agreement about how DEI professionals come into the this dynamically evolving space, the DEI ‘field’ today produces wide variability in practitioner efficacy and inconsistent impact. As a result, the best-intended DEI efforts unintentionally fuel many of the critiques against it.  

Against this backdrop, this session will examine detrimental practices common in the DEI space which have been since contorted by political actors to give this needed body of work a bad name. Through a series of interactive exercises, we will explore how government relations leaders can address these shortcomings and shift the narrative around DEI as critical for effective policy and advocacy work in an age of DEI backlash. 

Closing Remarks

May 7, 2025

Keynote

Data-Driven DEI: The Tools and Metrics You Need to Measure, Analyze, and Improve 

Dr. Randal Pinkett, Managing Partner, BCT Partners and Author of "Data-Driven DEI"

There is an ever-evolving suite of tools and metrics to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for people and organizations. This includes various solutions for DEI assessment, benchmarking, planning, learning, measurement, performance management, reporting and much more. Which tools and metrics are right for you? Your organization? How can you effectively use data to accelerate your DEI efforts? Data-Driven DEI™ is a simple, step-by-step process—centered on people first and then organizations—to assess your DEI current state, analyze that data to create a personal and organizational action plan, and implement data-driven, science-based, and technology-enabled interventions to improve DEI. During this session, participants will learn this approach by developing their own DEI mini-strategic plan to guide their personal DEI journey and how it can be applied to guide an organizational DEI journey.

Strategic Planning for Progress: Advancing DEI Initiatives in a Challenging Political Landscape

Jackie Wu, Founder & President, J Wu Consulting
Justine Hsu, Founder & President, Juhsu Consulting

As the political climate becomes increasingly polarized and resistance to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives mounts, it is crucial for DEI champions to navigate these complexities effectively. Government relations professionals play a pivotal role in shaping the future of DEI initiatives in organizations and communities. This interactive session will focus on power mapping as a strategic tool to identify key stakeholders, harness influence, and justify, accelerate, and defend DEI initiatives during these trying times.

Plenary: Improve Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization with Emotional-Intelligence Based Leadership Skills

Anne E. Collier, CEO of Arudia
Gamble L. Hayden, Coordinator, Federal Compliance Services, State & Federal Communications
Ryann Hill, CEO, Indigo Hill Strategies

Learn an emotional-intelligence based framework and real-life examples of leading with emotional-intelligence, creating a culture in which all feel welcome, safe, and are doing their best work and are thriving. Learn how your actions – regardless of whether you are a leader – affect culture and thus whether you are successful in creating true inclusion and belonging, which is essential to DEIB. An organization with true DEIB is able to provide excellent client service with enthusiasm, and professionalism as it maximizes wellbeing and retention.  You will learn: A framework for understanding how one’s positive and stress-induced actions affect culture, including how one’s leadership profile affect culture via a free short-form assessment (https://atpfree.com/arudia/). How to mitigate the effects of your own stress so that you are more resilient as you empower yourself and your colleagues, improving performance, well-being and community. Real examples of how leadership actions affect inclusion and belonging.