Featured Speakers

Jeff Harry

Sunday, April 23 | 5:00-6:15 p.m. 

Out of all the challenges getting in the way of our success, the one that affects us the most that we talk about the least is our inner critic. It is that voice that prevents us from taking risks, holds us back from showing up fully, and tells us what we have to say is not worthy enough for people to listen to. In his keynote, Jeff Harry will show us how to recognize our inner critic, bring it into the light, and ultimately learn how to play and build a healthy relationship with it. 

About Jeff Harry:
Jeff Harry combines positive psychology and play to heal workplaces, help teams build psychological safety and assist individuals in addressing their biggest challenges by embracing a play-oriented approach to work. He was selected by BambooHR and Engagedly as one of the top 100 HR influencers and has been featured in The New York Times, Mashable, Upworthy, Shondaland and Wired and has worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day-to-day. Over the past 15 years of facilitation and speaking, his main goal has been to help work suck less by assisting leaders in building a playground workplace atmosphere that motivates their staff to do their most vibrant work.

Sponsored by 

Kevin McDonald

Monday, April 24 | 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

The challenges facing human resource leaders in higher education and campus communities are unending: COVID, economic instability, recruitment/retention, diversity crises and more. These challenges have created levels of trauma that have resulted in tremendous uncertainty in educational and organizational environments. In his keynote, Kevin McDonald, vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion and community partnerships at University of Virginia, will discuss important lessons learned from navigating diversity crises in higher education environments while moving forward with the vital work of diversity, equity and inclusion. 

About Kevin McDonald:
Kevin McDonald is vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion and community partnerships at University of Virginia. Prior to this appointment, he served as the chief diversity officer and vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity at the University of Missouri System and the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has also held positions at several other universities, including vice president and associate provost for diversity, equity and inclusion at Rochester Institute of Technology; vice president for equity and inclusion at Virginia Tech; associate director for compliance and conflict resolution at Johns Hopkins University; and campus compliance officer at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to his work in higher education, McDonald worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and for Network Solutions, Inc.

Sponsored by   

Ira Shepard and Carolyn Pellegrini

Tuesday, April 25 | 9:00-10:15 a.m.

For our closing keynote, Ira Shepard, CUPA–HR’s general counsel, and Carolyn Pellegrini of Saul Ewing LLP will present the latest information and updates on key cases impacting higher ed employment and labor law. Then, they’ll lead an interactive exercise where they’ll present the facts and explain the precedent and argument for some recent cases so you can test your own knowledge by judging for yourself which side won each case. The winner in each case will be revealed and questions answered along the way. The decisions are tough for most of these cases, which will make for an exciting discussion!

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