Villanova University Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development
LEVEL UP HR CONFERENCE
March 1-2, 2022 | Virtual & Hybrid Experience
Join HR Professionals, Emerging Leaders, and Students for an epic, 2-day experience that will challenge you to LEVEL UP your HR Passion, your HR Network, and your HR Career.
This conference is hosted by the Villanova University Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development and the Villanova SHRM Student Chapter.
This event will be a hybrid experience. The first two days of the conference will be fully virtual, with the final closing keynote presentation in-person at Villanova University with an in-person networking reception. (The final closing keynote will be live streamed for our fully virtual attendees.)
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Keynote Speakers
In-Person Closing Keynote | March 2nd
MELONIE PARKER
Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer
Melonie Parker currently serves as Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer at Google. She is a HR executive committed to innovative, relevant, and contemporary HR leadership. She is an advocate for change and a passionate thought leader. She is responsible for advancing Google's employee engagement strategy across diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Prior to this role, Ms. Parker served as the vice president of human resources and communications at Sandia National Laboratories. She was responsible for the leadership and lab-wide management of human resources, health, benefits, and employee services. Prior to joining Sandia, Ms. Parker served for more than 17 years in a variety of Lockheed Martin business areas, locations, and progressive leadership roles. During her time at Lockheed Martin, she has held responsibility for employee relations, staffing, EEO/affirmative action, diversity programs, compensation, benefits, and K-12 outreach initiatives.
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Parker was named the 2016 HR Professional of the Year by the New Mexico Society of Human Resource Management and received a Special Recognition Award at the 2014 Women of Color STEM Awards.
Parker is a graduate of the Villanova HRD graduate program and a current adjunct faculty member in the program.
Melonie's Keynote Presentation is Sponsored by the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women's Leadership at Villanova University.
Virtual Opening Keynote | March 1st
CARLOS ESCOBAR
HR Strategic Process Manager
H-E-B
Carlos Escobar is an HR, Talent Development and Organizational Development expert specializing in innovation, change management and talent development processes. He has over 16 years experience in the HR and Organizational Development arena, across multiple industries and has held numerous volunteer roles to include president of the San Antonio HR Management Association and director of college relations for Texas SHRM.
He holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with concentrations in technical communication and electronic media from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Carlos holds senior level certifications from the Society of Human Resource Management , Human Resources Certification Institute and the Association for Talent Development. He also holds certifications in change management, design thinking and is a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator.
Carlos serves as an HR Strategic Process Manager at H-E-B, where he helps teams and employees make the most of their strengths, skills and experience through innovation, change management and talent development processes.
Virtual Closing Panel | March 1st
KEITH BLACK
Principle
Employment Practices Outsourcing, LLC
Villanova HRD Adjunct Professor
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Keith received a B.A. in Labor and Industrial Relations from Penn State University and a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. Keith is currently Vice-President of Human Resources for Philadelphia Media Network, owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com. Previously, he practiced labor and employment law, and worked for the legal department of Zeneca Corporation (later AstraZeneca), serving as the dedicated legal representative for the human resources functions of the organization's three distinct business units
ALI YOUSAFPrinciple
Recruiting Manager​
Chainlink Labs
Villanova HRD Alum
Ali Yousaf is a recruiting manager at Chainlink Labs, having just joined the team in January of this year. He and his team are responsible for hiring across various technical areas focused in the blockchain space. Prior to that, Ali spent 4+ years at Meta (formerly Facebook) supporting recruiting efforts for the Reality Labs org, the team focused on building out the Metaverse. In this role, Ali’s teams were primarily responsible for hiring research scientists, software engineers and hardware engineers. Before joining Facebook, Ali spent a little over four years at Microsoft. While there, he held roles focused on recruiting for several engineering teams, including the team behind the Halo franchise, and also spent time as an analytics product manager.
In his personal time, Ali enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, reading, playing basketball and putting himself through the agony of supporting all the Philadelphia sports teams!
MEREDITH TRUITT
VP Human Resources
Trivalence
Current Villanova HRD Student
Meredith Truitt recently joined Trivalence as Vice President of Human Resources where she is overseeing the People strategy and development of the culture, mission, vision and values. In her new role, she is standing-up the full HR function for a high-growth Fin-Tech start-up focused on healthcare. While not a stranger to setting up various HR programs and Centers of Excellence, Meredith has previously stood-up an HR PMO for Cigna, a Fortune 13 Company, and eviCore healthcare, a private-equity owned mid-sized company.
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Meredith is certified with her SHRM-SCP, SPHR, Mental Health First Aid, Certified Wellness Program Coordinator, Certified Employee Benefits Specialist, Compensation Management Specialist, and Remote Leadership. She also teaches the SHRM certification course to adults new to HR or wanting to solidify their HR knowledge. She received her Bachelor’s from DePauw University and currently is a student in Villanova’s HR Development Master’s program with a certificate in Diversity & Inclusion and will be graduating in summer 2022. She is also currently working on her Associate Certified Coach credential from ICF.
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BETHANY ADAMS
Associate Director
Villanova University HRD Program
Bethany Adams will be moderating this HRD virtual closing panel for the first day of the conference.
Virtual Opening Keynote | March 2nd
RAYMOND LEE
CEO
Career Minds
Raymond Lee is the Founder and CEO of Careerminds, a contemporary global outplacement firm headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. He has over 25 years of human resource, outplacement, and career coaching experience. He is also an industrial/organizational psychologist and a certified retirement coach.
Raymond has contributed to SHRM, ATD, and other publications on the topics of the future of work, employee experience and offboarding, ageism and bias in the workplace, and career fulfillment.
He has a bachelor’s in psychology and holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University. He is an active speaker through the SHRM’s speakers bureau and recently published a book through SHRM publishing titled, Clocking Out, A Stress Free Guide to Career Transitions. Raymond’s been featured on SiriusXM Business Radio, CareerTalk, HR Podcasts, and the Wall Street Journal.
Conference Schedule
The conference schedule is fully virtual with the exception of the closing networking reception & closing keynote. All times are in Eastern Time.
Tuesday, March 1, 2022:
8:15-9:30am | Opening Keynote
12:00-1:00pm | Breakout Networking Group
3:30-5:00pm | Closing Keynote
Wednesday, March 2, 2022:
8:15-9:30am | Opening Keynote
5:30-6:45pm | In-Person Networking Reception
6:45-8:00pm | In-Person Closing Keynote
(livestream for virtual audience)
Registration
Virtual Conference:
Registration for the virtual conference is limited to 300 attendees. Registration is required for access to the conference platform. SHRM membership is not required to register, but SHRM members will receive a discount.
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Free for all current Villanova HRD Students, Faculty, or Staff or any HR Emerging Leader (0-8 years experience), or any HR students at any university
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$25 for all other HR professionals
In-Person Closing Reception & Keynote:
The in-person event will be held on campus at Villanova in The John and Joan Mullen Center for Performing Arts. To attend the in-person event, separate registration is required to attend both the virtual and in-person events. Closing Reception registration includes one hour open beer & wine bar with passed hors d'oeuvres during the networking reception prior to the keynote.
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$15 for all current Villanova HRD Students, Faculty, or Staff or any HR Emerging Leader (0-8 years experience), or HR students at any university
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$25 General Admission for all others
All sessions will be approved for SHRM recertification credits. 5 SHRM recertification credits are available for the entire conference. All sessions will be recorded and available for at least 60 days after the conference concludes. To receive recertification credits, attendees must attend the full conference.
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(Registration for the Virtual Conference does not include the in-person closing keynote & reception. However, the closing keynote presentation will be live streamed to all virtual conference attendees. To attend the in-person event, separate registration is required.)
