the who’s who of
HR industry leaders

Kristi Maynor brings to her role as Chief Experience Officer: People and Technology, a deep understanding of and passion for digital transformation, the process of building a strong performance and people-oriented company culture, business strategy, and leadership development and well-being. Under her leadership, both the Technology Experience team and the People team ensure that as Topgolf continues to grow, the company remains focused on delivering an out-of-this-world experience that sparks joy and engages both our Players and our Playmakers (aka Associates) through venue technology and mobile experiences, product innovation that delights and growth opportunities that help Playmakers experience their highest potential.
Before joining Topgolf as Chief People Officer in August 2021, Kristi served as partner and Global Head of Consumer Practice at Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory firm. Among divisions she specialized in and oversaw: Multi-unit Retail and Hospitality, E-commerce, Consumer Products, Gaming and Entertainment, Marketing and Customer Centricity across the C-suite. While there, Kristi also strengthened her expertise in culture and leadership by coaching executives on how to help best prepare their teams for growth and innovation.
Earlier in her career, Kristi developed her technology and consumer brand knowledge while working with Procter & Gamble, Mary Kay, JCPenney and one of the first digital agencies on the block – imc2 – advising leaders within these companies on e-commerce strategies and digital transformation capabilities while serving as a contributor to Forbes with a focus on leadership insights.
Kristi graduated from Northwestern State University and earned her MBA from The University of Texas. She currently lives in Frisco, Texas, with her family. To keep her creativity flowing, she designed a makeshift art studio in her house where she churns out masterpieces on the fly.

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Ramcess is an attorney and HR/Labor Relations professional. He has over 20 years’ experience as a change agent and delivers human capital and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) solutions in media, tech and biopharma. He is the Global Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Pfizer. He is responsible for developing and leading the execution of Pfizer’s global, enterprise-wide strategies to transform the company’s DEI agenda. He oversees the teams responsible for executing Pfizer’s Global DEI programs and initiatives across the enterprise. His priorities include but are not limited to creating the strategy, infrastructure and programs to make sure Pfizer’s internal talent pool resembles the society and patients that Pfizer serves. He advises HR and business leaders on division- and region-specific culture and DEI strategies. He was previously the Global Chief DEI Officer at Verizon Media. He was responsible for strategic outreach, external relations and stakeholder engagement to Verizon’s global DEI efforts. He worked collaboratively across the enterprise, as well as with all senior leadership and educated, engaged and created momentum in relation to Verizon’s company-wide diversity & inclusion brand, reputation, and community engagement strategy. He represented Verizon’s multicultural and D&I efforts externally and upheld a culture where diversity & inclusion, corporate social responsibility, supplier diversity and community investment were valued and respected. He ensured that diversity was reflected in the workforce and in all business activities, including advertising and marketing, programming, purchasing of goods and services, deployment of services, and community-facing efforts. Ramcess was the Director of DEI at Comcast. He was responsible for developing and executing strategies that made Comcast more reflective of the communities served and drove diversity across all levels of the organization. He had responsibility over the Employee Resource Groups, the live National Employee Enrichment Series broadcast, National Partnerships, Outreach Programs, Military Hiring, Diversity Councils and Champions. He has served as an ADA in the NYC District Attorney’s Office; Dir., AG Worldwide/Phenom, a NY based advertising and marketing consulting company that launched the New York Police Department and Con Edison diversity campaigns. He also served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at SPIN, an organization dedicated to securing employment opportunities and full inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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Yee Deng has over twenty-six years of experience in human capital excellence, working in various locations across Asia Pacific and the Americas. Through her career, she has built in-depth expertise in optimizing performance of teams and organisations – during periods of renewal and change, as well as phases of consolidation and stability.
As the CHRO of PwC Singapore, Yee Deng has led the HR transformation journey, from people analytics dashboards for data-driven decision making, through to launching the people value proposition. Prior to PwC, Yee Deng served in HR leadership roles at the National University of Singapore as well as at BMC Software. In these roles, she has led the discussion, strategy, design, and implementation of people practices, while ensuring people strategies are aligned to business outcomes. She has also had the opportunity to lead roles in the consulting space – in Rewards and Analytics, working on the analysis and design of compensation pay plans, benefits, performance management and workforce trends, and, in the Financial Services sector, working on large-scale systems implementation, commercial banking practices and mergers and acquisitions.
Yee Deng is currently serving as Vice Chair and Board Member for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore (CPAS) and is on the Board of Directors for The Children’s Charities Association of Singapore. She is passionate about being able to contribute and help leading NGOs improve operational processes in the HR space. She graduated from the University of New South Wales with an honors degree in Psychology, and earned her MBAs from the National University of Singapore and the University of California, Los Angeles. She is looking forward to her next long drive along the Adriatic coast with wind in her hair.

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Mignon Early is the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Vice President at Fresenius Medical Care. She has more than 25 years of experience in the nephrology industry. She has held numerous leadership roles, including Regional Vice President, Group Vice President, General Manager, and Vice President of Clinical Quality. She has served as a mentor and leader to others, providing coaching and guidance to help each become the best they can be while pursuing their goals. Mignon holds a master’s degree in Nursing from Drexel University and has been a Registered Nurse for more than 30 years.
She believes that as a nurse, her perspective of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion always puts the patient first and that the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a campaign or initiative but a lived experience that must be part of a forever journey both personally and professionally.
Mignon has spent countless hours serving others in her spare time, volunteering for organizations serving at-risk and minority communities. She serves on the board for the Boys and Girls Club of the Upstate, Drexel University Quality Risk Management, and Patient Safety Nursing Advisory Council. She is a Diversity Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council member for the American Nephrology Nurses Association. She is a member of The Links Inc., a non-profit volunteer service organization with a long tradition of promoting and engaging in educational, civic, and intercultural activities that enrich the lives of members of the Black community. Currently, she serves as the President of the Greenville (SC) chapter. Mignon is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first historically African American sorority to partner with local communities and regional, national, and international organizations to solve problems and provide service programs at home and abroad.
Outside of work and volunteering, Mignon enjoys cooking, experiencing new foods and wine, traveling with her husband of 38 years, and spending time with family and friends. She is a proud new grandmother of two.

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Roberto is the Sr. Director of People Services at Taylor Morrison, a top five residential homebuilder in the US. Roberto is responsible for Operations, Talent Acquisition and DEIB and has more than 15+ years of HR experience where he has strategically supported operations in the retail, finance, and homebuilding industry. Roberto’s focus for the organization is to leverage cultural immersion (TM Living) to attract the best talent, mine for innovation and continuously engage team members for optimal performance.

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Alison Bowzer is a Rewards and Recognition Analyst at Charter Communications. Alison is responsible for integrating recognition into daily activities for more than 101,000 employees. She will celebrate five years with Charter later this year, with the two most recent within the recognition sector. Alison received a BSBA in Marketing from the University of Central Missouri and an MBA with an emphasis in HR from Lindenwood University. She is a Certified Recognition Professional through Recognition Professionals International. Alison also volunteers as a mentor for an international youth organization focusing on the growth and empowerment of young women.

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Katie Ventola is a HR leader accountable for compensation programs at CVS Health. She is an expert in implementing high impact projects and rewards programs. Katie’s approach is to focus on the view from the top while understanding and overcoming complexities in the details. Katie and her team are proud to deliver programs which are fiscally responsible, impactful, fair and consistent. She is an avid reader (The Last Mrs. Parish by Liv Constantine is a 2023 favorite), MBA Grad student, and player of Farmville 3. She resides outside of Boston, MA with her husband, two daughters and her golden retriever.

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Melissa leads Allstate’s HR Benefits Design and Planning team responsible for health & welfare plans, retirement plans, wellbeing programs, and recognition. The team is responsible for the strategy, implementation, and execution of Allstate’s plans and programs.  While Allstate mainly offers high deductible health plans, supplemental benefits are offered to support employees on their journey to get and stay healthy.  Melissa helped develop and implement Choice Dollars which allows employees to direct Allstate’s benefit dollars to plans and programs that are important to them.  Allstate recently launched Applause, a peer-to-peer recognition program available to all employees. 

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Sandra is the global lead for Employee Recognition at General Motors. In her role, Sandra focuses on helping GM create an environment where employees feel valued and appreciated for the work they do. Sandra is regarded as a thought leader in global employee recognition and is responsible for the global strategy and design of GM’s global recognition program aligned to the corporate vision and goals. As part of her role, she also leads the ongoing sustainment strategy to continue to drive program engagement and usage through ongoing communication and training efforts. Sandra is a strategic-thinking leader with over 25 years of experience in different functions who has designed and delivered enterprise-wide strategies and programs at global, regional, and local level. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Labor Relations and three professional certifications (CCP®, GRP® and WLCF®) with WorldatWork and the Certified Recognition Professional (CRP®) from Recognition International Professionals.

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Kerilee Snatenchuk is a Director in People & Culture at ATB Financial. Kerilee has pioneered and implemented foundational strategies around physical and mental health, as well as inclusion and diversity at ATB. Currently she is head of Wellness, Rewards & Recognition and Connections at ATB. She has certification in mental health leadership,indigenous awareness, and digital wellness. She has been a speaker at the International Association of Business Communicators Global Conference on communicating I&D in organizations along with being a workplace mental health panel expert at various mental health conferences. Her ultimate goal is to ensure that each team member achieves a holistic view of their wellness and is able to bring their true selves to an inclusive work environment that rewards and recognizes them in ways that THEY want, everyday. In turn, this environment creates a space for team members to deliver their most outstanding work.

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Faith Swanson has over 30 years of retail and leadership experience at Meijer, one of the nation’s largest US private companies. Her most recent role was Recognition & Engagement Manager for Meijer where she led the recognition and engagement strategy to drive engagement and belonging. Faith has a bachelor’s degree in education and certifications including Senior Professional in Human Resources and Certified Instructional Technologist. Faith has a passion for team member engagement and development with a goal of each team member feeling valued, included, and able to use their talents and gifts to their full potential.

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Jenn Kupres serves as the Global Vice President of Human Resources for Vistex.  Jenn is responsible for leading Vistex’s overall human resources strategy, global talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion, organizational design, workplace culture development, compensation and benefits, HR technology, and employee relations.  During her tenure with Vistex, Jenn has redesigned the function, culture, and impact of HR across Vistex to support its business goals and strategies as well as the needs and aspirations of its employees around the globe.  She and her team have worked with leaders across Vistex’s functional areas to build and manage an HR organization that reflects and supports their strategic business needs.  Jenn joined Vistex in August of 2019, bringing to Vistex over 25 years of diverse HR experience, having worked for Fortune 500 companies in the technology, consumer goods, and forest products industries.  In partnership with Achievers, Jenn and her team launched the GEM (Going The Extra Mile) program in Q4 2022, which their workplace culture has widely embraced.  A global effort to drive recognition and appreciation, with nearly 4,000 instances of recognition since program inception.

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Sarah Brade is a Senior People and Culture Advisor, leading Recognition strategy and formal award programs at TELUS. The focus of the recognition team is to provide meaningful programs, tools and guidance to drive a culture of appreciation where giving and receiving recognition is prevalent, authentic and aligned to our core values and strategic priorities

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Katie Potgiesser is a Sr. Consultant in Total Rewards at Kellogg. In her role, she manages the North America emotional and mental health programs as well as the company’s service and recognition program. Katie has been with Kellogg since 2016 and held various other roles such as Crew Scheduler, HR Generalist, and Consultant. Katie has her Master’s in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in HR Management from Colorado State University’s Global Campus and enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband, their two boys, and their family dog.

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Rachel Montañez is a career coach and keynote speaker. Her clients include some of the world’s most innovative companies, and her work draws on an award-winning corporate coaching background and a graduate degree in career guidance. She’s spoken on burnout at an annual WSJ summit in addition to Fortune companies and panels moderated by leading C-suite leaders. Rachel’s lived in Europe, Asia, and now North America, and she covers career development and burnout for Forbes.com.

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