WEC Summit

The way we approach work is changing before our eyes. Technological advances, demographic shifts and new perspectives on the employee/employer relationship have led to a major cultural shift when it comes to the workforce. The Workforce Executive Council Virtual Summit will convene WEC members to discuss key program themes, including the future of work, employee engagement and talent development, and diversity and inclusion.

 

Chief human resource officers, diversity and inclusion leaders, and top talent and benefits executives often are the guardians of a company’s culture. They face a delicate balancing act, and the stakes are high. The role of the HR executive never has been more challenging — and the opportunities more exciting. As corporations and financial markets place more value on human capital concerns like stakeholder capitalism, corporate culture and jobs of the future, it’s clear that senior Human Resources Officers will be central to redefining how businesses survive and thrive in the next era.

 

To be the agent of change in these complex times, the right tools and resources are needed. The WEC is the unparalleled resource for senior HR executives, equipping them with the information and network necessary to succeed in today’s business environment. The WEC is a  community of members from a wide range of industries with access to exclusive private events, intimate peer-to-peer networking, professional development, and news and information products tailored uniquely for them.

 

Learn more about the council here.

Speakers

Dan Schulman

Dan Schulman is President and CEO of PayPal.

Erika H. James

Erika H. James became the dean of the Wharton School on July 1, 2020. Trained as an organizational psychologist, Dean James is a leading expert on crisis leadership, workplace diversity and management strategy.

Prior to her appointment at Wharton, Dean James was the John H. Harland Dean at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School from 2014 to 2020.

An award-winning educator, accomplished consultant and researcher, she is the first woman and first person of color to be appointed dean in Wharton’s 139-year history. As such she has paved the way for women in leadership both in education and corporate America. Dean James has been instrumental in developing groundbreaking executive education programs, including the Women’s Leadership program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School.

Rhonda Morris

Rhonda Morris is Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Chevron Corporation and a member of the CNBC Workforce Executive Council.

Jewel

Jewel is a Singer-songwriter and Mental Health Advocate.

Louise Pentland

Louise Pentland is Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer of PayPal and a CNBC WEC Member.

Scott Gottlieb

Scott Gottlieb, MD is a physician and served as the 23rd Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Gottlieb’s work focuses on advancing public health through developing and implementing innovative approaches to improving medical outcomes, reshaping healthcare delivery, and expanding consumer choice and safety.

Dr. Gottlieb is an aggressive advocate for advancing the health of patients, promoting healthcare access, and driving innovation. The agency’s historic and prolific advances in new policy distinguished his tenure as the FDA’s commissioner, in addition to a record-setting number of approvals of novel drugs, medical devices, and generic medicines.

Under his leadership, the FDA advanced new frameworks for the modern and safe and effective oversight of gene therapies, cell based regenerative medicines, targeted drugs, and digital health devices. The agency implemented new reforms to standardize drug reviews and make historic improvements of post market data collection and the use of real world evidence. He promoted policies to reduce death and disease from tobacco, improve food innovation and safety, and aggressively confront addiction crises.

Previously, Dr. Gottlieb served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs and before that, as a Senior Adviser to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where he helped advance policies to improve healthcare quality and promote the effective use of new medical technologies. A healthcare futurist, he works as a venture capitalist and has been a founder and board member to companies that have developed new medicines and advance the delivery of healthcare.

Dr. Gottlieb is widely published in leading medical journals and periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He has held editorial positions on the British Medical Journal and the Journal of the American Medical Association. Fortune Magazine recognized him as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” in 2018 and again in 2019. Modern Healthcare named Dr. Gottlieb as one of the “Most Influential Physician Executive and Leaders” in its annual survey of 50 physician executives, and Time magazine named Gottlieb one of its “50 People Transforming Healthcare in 2018.”

Dr. Gottlieb was a practicing hospitalist and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the New York University School of Medicine. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC.

Sid Sijbrandij

Sid Sijbrandij is Co-founder and CEO of GitLab.

Cecilia McKenney

Cecilia McKenney is Chief Human Resources Officer of Quest Diagnostics and a WEC Member.

Darren Murph

Darren Murph is Head of Remote at GitLab.

Julia Boorstin

Julia Boorstin is CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech Correspondent based at the network’s Los Angeles Bureau. She covers media with a special focus on the intersection of media and technology. Boorstin also plays a key role on CNBC’s bi-coastal tech-focused program “TechCheck” (M-F, 11AM-12PM ET/8AM-9AM PT) delivering reporting, analysis and interviews around streaming, social and the convergence of media and technology. She joined CNBC in May 2006 as a general assignment reporter and in 2007 moved to Los Angeles to cover media.

In 2013, Boorstin created and launched the CNBC Disruptor 50, an annual list she oversees, highlighting the private companies transforming the economy and challenging companies in established industries. Additionally, she reported a documentary on the future of television for the network, “Stay Tuned…The Future of TV.” She also helped launch CNBC’s ‘Closing the Gap’ initiative covering the people and companies closing gender gaps, and leads CNBC’s coverage of studies on this topic. She is currently writing a book called, “WHEN WOMEN LEAD: What they achieve, Why they succeed, and How we can learn from them,” about female founders that Simon & Schuster’s Avid Reader imprint is publishing in October 2022.

Boorstin joined CNBC from Fortune magazine where she was a business writer and reporter since 2000. During that time, she was also a contributor to “Street Life,” a live market wrap-up segment on CNN Headline News.

In 2003, 2004 and 2006, The Journalist and Financial Reporting newsletter named Boorstin to the “TJFR 30 under 30” list of the most promising business journalists under 30 years old. She has also worked for the State Department’s delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and for Vice President Gore’s domestic policy office.

She graduated with honors from Princeton University with a B.A. in history. She was also an editor of The Daily Princetonian.

Michael Beschloss

Michael Beschloss is an award-winning historian, scholar of leadership and bestselling author of ten books -- most recently the acclaimed New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Presidents of War. The New York Times Book Review calls Presidents of War “a superb and important book, superbly rendered.” The Financial Times says that the book “looks at leadership from every angle” and calls it “epic” and “magisterial.” The historian Ron Chernow calls the book “monumental and profoundly important.” Tom Hanks says, “Once again, Beschloss captures our Presidents in terms both historic and human.”

The Charlotte Observer says, “Michael Beschloss knows more about America’s Presidents than perhaps anyone on earth.” Beschloss appears regularly on television as the NBC News Presidential Historian and contributor to the PBS NewsHour. He has also been a contributing columnist to the New York Times. He has won an Emmy for his television work and received six honorary degrees and numerous other awards. He has the largest Twitter following of any American historian, in the neighborhood of 400,000. His Twitter account appears on Time Magazine’s list of the world’s top Twitter feeds.

Born in Chicago, Beschloss is an alumnus of Phillips Academy (Andover) and Williams College, where he studied under James MacGregor Burns, author of what remains the classic book on leadership. At the Harvard Business School, Beschloss studied leadership in both the private and public sectors. He has served as an historian at the Smithsonian, a scholar at the University of Oxford, and a senior fellow of the Annenberg Foundation. Among his earlier books are two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s secret tapes, The Conquerors, about Franklin Roosevelt, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, and Presidential Courage. He was also co-author (with Caroline Kennedy) of the number-one global bestseller Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations about Life with John F. Kennedy.

Lynne Oldham

Lynne Oldham is Chief People Officer of Zoom and a WEC Member.

Richard Baker

Richard Baker is Governor and Executive Chairman of Hudson's Bay Company.

Adam Bryant

Adam Bryant is managing director of Merryck & Co., a senior leadership development and executive mentoring firm.

Prior to joining Merryck in 2017, Bryant worked for 30 years as a journalist, including 18 years as a reporter, editor and columnist at The New York Times. He interviewed more than 500 CEOs for ""Corner Office,"" a weekly series on leadership and management that he launched in 2009.

He is the author of two books based on themes that emerged from those interviews, ""Quick and Nimble; Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation,"" and ""The Corner Office; Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed."" Bryant is a frequent speaker at business schools, industry events and corporate off-sites. Follow him on Twitter @AdamBBryant

Becky Quick

Becky Quick is co-anchor of "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET). Quick is also anchor of the nationally syndicated "On the Money."

Quick is known for her hard-hitting interviews and profiles of some of the world's richest and most influential investors, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan, T. Boone Pickens, Jamie Dimon, Charlie Munger and many others. She also has interviewed three U.S. presidents and has hosted panels at some of the most prestigious conferences in the world such as the Microsoft CEO Conference, Fortune's Most Powerful Women's Conference and the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Media Conference. Quick also authors a regular column for Fortune magazine as well as contributes to CNBC.com.

Previously, Quick, a seven-year veteran of The Wall Street Journal, covered the Wall Street beat for CNBC as part of the network's partnership with Dow Jones.

Prior to joining CNBC in February 2001, Quick covered various beats for The Wall Street Journal, including retail, e-commerce and the Internet. She also played a crucial role in the launch of The Wall Street Journal Online, while serving as the site's International news editor.

She graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., and previously served on the board of The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Dominic Chu

Dominic Chu is a senior markets correspondent for CNBC, located at the network’s Global Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. He appears during CNBC’s Business Day programming and contributes to CNBC.com.

Previously, Chu was a New York-based markets correspondent for Bloomberg Television, where he covered the stock, bond, currency and commodities markets. During that time, he interviewed some of the world’s top money managers and business executives, and he also was part of the team that covered Hurricane Sandy and the Boston Marathon bombings. In addition, Chu handled sports business reporting for the network.

Chu brings extensive knowledge of the financial markets, having worked in sales and trading for UBS Investment Bank, mutual fund management for Hennessy Advisors and investment management for Seascape Capital.

He has spoken at numerous industry conferences and was a regular contributor to radio and television outlets across the country.

Chu holds a Bachelor of Science degree in hotel administration from Cornell University.

Meg Tirrell

Meg Tirrell joined CNBC in April 2014 as a general assignment reporter focusing on biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. She appears on CNBC's Business Day programming, contributes to CNBC.com and is based at the network's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Tirrell has covered development of new drugs for Alzheimer's, cancer and rare diseases, and tracked public health emergencies from Ebola to Zika. Her work has explored why fewer drugs are developed for children, chronicled the sequencing of her own genome, and followed the manufacturing of a flu shot from egg to pharmacy. In 2014, she revealed the agonizing decision-making behind Compassionate Use of unapproved drugs, and in 2016, she reported extensively on drug pricing controversies and the impact of politics on development of new medicines.

Prior to joining CNBC, Tirrell covered the biotechnology industry for Bloomberg News, where she also contributed to Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Businessweek.

She holds a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in English and music from Wellesley College.

Deirdre Bosa

Deirdre Bosa is anchor of CNBC’s tech-focused franchise, “TechCheck,” based out of the network’s San Francisco Bureau. Previously, she was anchor of the network’s daily program, “TechCheck,” that ran from April 2021 to February 2023. Before that, Bosa served as a technology reporter, owning stories on the biggest names in tech from Amazon to Alphabet, key players in China’s tech scene like Alibaba and Huawei, and Silicon Valley’s largest disruptors from Airbnb to Uber to WeWork. Prior to that, she was a frequent presence on air and online as a CNBC contributor, reporting out of Vancouver, Canada.

Bosa joined CNBC in 2012 covering the markets and economies of London and Singapore. She has co-anchored morning programs including “Squawk Box Asia,” “Squawk Box Europe,” and “Worldwide Exchange.”

Prior to CNBC, Bosa was an anchor and reporter for CCTV News International based in Beijing, as well as a contributor to Fox Business News. Deirdre also worked for several multinational corporations including Barrick Gold in Toronto and Rio Tinto in Shanghai.

She is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Canada and University of Hong Kong’s Masters of Journalism program.

Tyler Mathisen

Tyler Mathisen co-anchors CNBC's "Power Lunch" (M-F, 1PM-3PM ET), one of the network's longest running program franchises. He is also Vice President, Events Strategy for CNBC, working closely with the network's events team to grow the rapidly expanding business.

Previously, Mathisen was co-anchor of "Nightly Business Report," an award-winning evening business news program produced by CNBC for U.S. public television. In 2014, NBR was named best radio/TV show by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW). Since joining CNBC in 1997, Mathisen has held a number of positions including managing editor of CNBC Business News, responsible for directing the network's daily content and coverage. He was also co-anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell."

Mathisen has reported one-hour documentaries for the network including "Best Buy: The Big Box Fights Back," "Supermarkets Inc: Inside a $500 Billion Money Machine" and "Death: It's a Living." Mathisen was also host of the CNBC series "How I Made My Millions."

Prior to CNBC, Mathisen spent 15 years as a writer, senior editor and top editor for Money magazine. Among other duties, he supervised the magazine's mutual funds coverage, its annual investment forecast issue and its expansion into electronic journalism, for which it won the first-ever National Magazine Award for New Media in 1997.

In 1993, Mathisen won the American University-Investment Company Institute Award for Personal Finance Journalism for a televised series on "Caring for Aging Parents," which aired on ABC's "Good Morning America." Mathisen served as money editor of "GMA" from 1991 to 1997. He also won an Emmy Award for a report on the 1987 stock market crash that aired on New York's WCBS-TV.

A native of Arlington,Va., Mathisen graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia.

AGENDA

12:45pm ET

Virtual Doors Open

Agenda subject to change

1:00pm ET

Mainstage Programming and Concurrent Roundtables

The Election, Pandemic and Civil Unrest: Seeking Precedent in Unprecedented Times
The next Commander-in-Chief will be charged with governing an ailing and divided nation. The Coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the deep mistrust in our institutions such as government, science and news that is pervading society. With racial, ethnic and socioeconomic divisions only widening, we turn to noted Presidential historian and New York Times best-selling author, Michael Beschloss for context and a compass to help leaders chart the course forward.
Michael Beschloss, Presidential Historian and Bestselling Author
Interviewer: Tyler Mathisen, “Power Lunch” Co-Anchor & Vice President, Events Strategy, CNBC

Watch the full interview

                          

Covid-19: America’s Pandemic Prognosis & Business Plan
Over the last nine months, we have faced a barrage of stressful and often confusing and conflicting reports about the constantly evolving battle against Covid-19. For business leaders analyzing a web of human, legal and financial considerations, getting clear and unambiguous guidance is critical. One voice has emerged as a trusted source of valuable information for this community: Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former practicing physician who most recently ran the FDA has an unparalleled capacity to marry the scientific and regulatory considerations. Gottlieb can help you with a game plan for the tough winter ahead while offering a fact-check on potential vaccine efficacy and distribution timelines
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Fmr. Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration
Interviewer: Meg Tirrell, Senior Health and Science Reporter, CNBC

Watch the full interview

 

Hindsight 2020 in their own words:
Cecilia McKenney, CHRO Quest Diagnostics (WEC Member)

 

Diversity and Inclusion: Turning Promises into Results
In 2020, Corporate America answered calls to address systemic racial inequity and injustice with money and pledges of long-term action. But for all the good intentions, initiatives and goals touted in press releases, a key question remains: How can HR and D&I leaders keep their organizations – up to and including the CEO & Board – invested and focused on delivery? For some answers, we’ll look to Dr. Erika James, Dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Not only is she the first African American and first female to hold this prestigious position, she’s also an organizational psychologist by training whose scholarship has focused on leadership during crisis and diversity.
Erika James, Dean, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Interviewer: Julia Boorstin, Senior Media and Entertainment Correspondent, CNBC

Watch the full interview

                                                         

Putting big ideas into action: How PayPal is rethinking capitalism and making it work
Paypal President and CEO Dan Schulman has been one of the most outspoken CEO’s on the business case for stakeholder capitalism. In fact, he’s gone so far as to publicly declare that employees are the company’s “most important stakeholder.” To be sure, Schulman is doing more than talking; he’s cut employee healthcare costs; upped pay; given all employees equity and financial education. How’s it going? Employee engagement, morale and financial results are all soaring. Louise Pentland, PayPal’s Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer– who is also head of the company’s HR function partners with Dan to make this vision a reality. Together they’ll share secrets from the journey to a more equitable workplace, and how other firms can follow their footsteps.
Louise Pentland, Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer, PayPal (WEC Member)
Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal
Interviewer: Deirdre Bosa, Technology Reporter, CNBC

Watch the full interview

CONCURRENT ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

Plans for lasting change: D&I strategy for long term success
Your organization likely gave a hard look at its DEI strategy this year to make sure your culture is inclusive and has a more diverse talent pipeline. From changing algorithims to make for a more equitable search, to formalized mentorship and sponsorship plans, members share with us ways large and small that they are creating more opportunities at all levels of their organization for a diversity of ideas which is critical for long term success.

Watch the full session

 

What the workplace looks like in 2021 and beyond
This year has made everyone rethink the meaning of “workplace.” From new protocols to help keep employees safe, to flexible work arrangements and reimagined physical office space, ideas abound – but there are few simple, one-size-fits-all solutions. In this session, members will share ways they are successfully integrating physical and virtual culture in our new normal.

Watch the full session

                           

New rules for a new reality: Rethinking the employee experience
The success of an organization often hinges on the experience of its workforce. This year the employee experience has never been more important to the success of an organization, or more challenging. From flexible work schedules to onboarding and growing talent in a remote environment, to managing the needs of working parents and their peers; to keeping productivity up and burnout down; this session looks at how you and your peers are rethinking some of the most fundamental parts of HR now.

MAINSTAGE SESSIONS RESUME

Embracing Remote Work: Meet the Oracles
Global open source software firm GitLab has been “office-less” for nearly a decade. In that time, they’ve grown to 1,300 employees in 66 countries. The model has been so successful that GitLab literally wrote the book on remote-work best practices (it’s 38 pages and has tens of thousands of downloads since March). But GitLab’s model doesn’t compute for some industries or job functions that can’t operate in a permanent, asynchronous, radically transparent environment. And even for those that can, culture is an obvious concern. With companies facing the inevitability of flexible arrangements in their post-pandemic policies, we talk to the pioneers at GitLab and the leading academic expert studying “Work from Anywhere” companies, including GitLab.
Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Darren Murph
, Head of Remote, GitLab
Sid Sijbrandij
, Co-founder and CEO, GitLab
Moderator: Dom Chu, Senior Markets Correspondent, CNBC

Watch the full interview

 

Hindsight 2020 in their own words:
Lynne Oldham
, Chief People Officer, Zoom (WEC Member)

 

Superhuman Resources in the Age of COVID: From a Seat at the Table to Owning the Table
Before COVID, CHROs were gradually reinventing a role that – at most companies – was limited to personnel matters. In COVID’s wake, many CEOs and Boards embraced and expedited this evolution, giving CHROs a broad — and even more critical — mandate virtually overnight. As the changes wrought by the pandemic become norms, it’s clear there are opportunities for CHROs to maintain their elevated stature as strategic and operational business leaders driving quantifiable bottom-line value. Executive leadership experts like Adam Bryant are beginning to identify who these “High Impact” CHROs are, what sets them apart, and how others can learn from them.
Rhonda Morris, CHRO, Chevron (WEC Member)
Interviewer: Adam Bryant, Managing Director, Merryck & Co.

Watch the full interview

 

Suffering in Silence: A Mindful Reminder of the Importance of Mental Health
Eight months into the pandemic, our nation deeply divided and enduring a long-overdue reckoning with systemic racial injustice, studies show isolation, anxiety and depression surging, even as access to traditional mental health services gets disrupted by distancing and funding challenges. Employers offering generous mental health benefits see enormous challenges identifying which employees most need help – and that’s only gotten tougher in an all-remote or hybrid work environment. But, as a community, companies must confront the crisis head-on. And HR leaders are the tip of the spear.

So, for some fresh solutions we look to Grammy nominated singer/songwriter and best-selling author, Jewel, who channeled her own emotional strife into a powerful science-based platform that’s powering mental wellness programs for the corporate giants including Kroger and Saks.
Jewel, Singer-Songwriter, Mental Health Advocate
Richard Baker
, Chief Executive Officer, Hudson’s Bay Company
Moderator: Becky Quick, “Squawk Box” Co-Anchor, CNBC

Watch the full interview

4:00pm ET

EVENT CONCLUDES

INFORM

Timely and tailored news and information

ENGAGE

Exclusive invitation-only membership experience

ELEVATE

Learn from and engage with the best in the business

LEARN MORE

The WEC Summit is an exclusive event for members of the CNBC Workforce Executive Council. Learn more about the WEC and apply for membership.

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