Better Workplaces Challenge Cup Final Pitch Competition
COME GET A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE OF WORKPLACE TECH!
Watch the four final startups compete to be the champion of the Better Workplaces Challenge Cup. Their final pitches will be made to a panel of judges as well as an audience of investors, leading HR professionals, fellow innovators and the media.
This is one competition you won’t want to miss!
Kevin Harrington
Kevin Harrington, chairman and founder of As Seen On TV, Inc., is widely acknowledged as a pioneer and principal architect of the infomercial industry.
In 1984, Kevin produced one of the industry's first 30-minute infomercials. Since then, he has been involved with over 500 product launches that resulted in sales of over $4 billion worldwide with 20 products that reached individual sales of over $100 million.
Kevin founded Quantum International, Ltd. in the mid 1980s, which merged into National Media Corporation in 1991. Under his leadership as President, National Media reached $500 million in annual sales, distributing in over 100 countries and 20 languages. This company's success has been chronicled in a case study at Harvard/MIT for over a decade.
Kevin was also CEO of several other entrepreneurial companies including HSN Direct, a joint venture with Home Shopping Network, in 1994 and Reliant International Media in 1997. Reliant International Media was sold in 2007.
In 2011, Kevin's company As Seen On TV, Inc. acquired the web property AsSeenonTV.com. AsSeenOnTV.com represents a highly trafficked catalog of direct response products with over two million customers, 700,000 email registrants and hundreds of thousands of unique visitors each month.
Throughout his career, Kevin helped to establish two of the most important and recognized global networking associations: the Entrepreneur's Organization, or EO (formally known as the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization) and the Electronic Retailing Association, or ERA. Today, the EO has 113 chapters in 38 countries. The ERA represents the $125 billion electronic retailing industry and is comprised of over 450 member companies and subsidiaries that use the power of electronic retailing to sell directly to consumers via television, radio, Internet and wireless media in over 100 countries worldwide.
Due to his extensive resume, Kevin was selected as an investor "Shark" on the ABC television series Shark Tank produced by Mark Burnett. The show gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their products to a panel of acclaimed judges in hopes of turning their ideas into a successful business reality. He has a book entitled "Act Now: How I Turn Ideas into Million-Dollar Products" that chronicles his life and experiences in the DRTV industry.
Cindy Eckert
A self-made serial entrepreneur and vocal advocate for women, Cindy defies convention. In her industry, in her companies, in her outcomes. Her work today in The Pink Ceiling/Pinkubator continues to break barriers by investing in and mentoring other women to get to her same outcomes. She’s on a mission to make women really rich. You cannot miss Cindy. Everything she touches turns to pink.
Over a distinguished 24-year career in healthcare, in only the last 10 years she has built and sold two businesses for more than $1.5B. First Slate Pharmaceuticals, which redefined long acting testosterone treatment for men then Sprout Pharmaceuticals which broke through with the first ever FDA-approved drug for low sexual desire in women — dubbed “female Viagra” by the media. After selling the company for $1B in 2015, she successfully fought to get the drug back and launch it on her own terms.
Cindy has made waves, and made her own success, creating mission driven companies that deliver big. Her results have become a widely covered business success story featured in major media outlets. She is most proud of helping others take command. The profoundly positive impact those companies have made in people’s lives is what keeps her coming back for more.
Amber Clayton, SHRM-SCP
Amber Clayton is the Senior Director of Knowledge Center Operations at SHRM. Amber leads a team of HR experts who field an average of 60,000 HR-related inquiries from members a year. She is frequently sought after as a speaker and expert for webinars, conferences, and media interviews. Amber co-hosts a podcast called Honest HR. She is SHRM-certified with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore. She also holds specialty credentials in California law, inclusive workplace culture, and workplace investigations. Prior to joining SHRM in 2011, she had years of HR experience in healthcare and retail.
Dedeepya Ajith John
A passionate and multi-tasking business professional with over 13 years of experience, Dedeepya handles the portfolios including Advisory, Research and Academic Partnerships catering to the regions of India, as well as APAC, MENA regions. She further also heads the South Region for SHRM India and is responsible for business development & consulting in the area of Human Capital Management. Prior to this, she has worked with Oracle India as HR Consultant.
Her areas of interest include Knowledge Management, Diversity and Inclusion, Competency Assessment & Development, Organization Development, Research and HR Analytics. She has been involved in the project design, content generation and implementation of consultancy projects in the above areas. She is experienced in using Quantitative and Qualitative research methods for diagnostic purposes including identifying relevant variables, designing questionnaires and using various statistical methods for analysis. She co-authored papers/ book chapters in the areas of Diversity and Inclusion and further has contributed extensively to various articles/interviews in leading newspapers. Dedeepya is a Mechanical Engineer from Jawaharlal Technological University (Kakinada, A.P) followed by an MBA from Indian Institute of Science (IISc, Bangalore, India). She is a certified SHRM Senior Certified Professional ( SHRM SCP), Level -1 Hogan Assessor, SHRM PMQ and is certified in Job Evaluation by KornFerry – Hay. Along with her work, Dedeepya is passionate about painting, dancing and sports.
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.
As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. Recognized as one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” for 2024 by Savoy Magazine and one of the “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."
Mr. Taylor's career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/InteractiveCorp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
He is the author of the national bestseller, RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which immediately upon its release in September 2021, was in the top three of The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling hardcover business books.
Mr. Taylor is a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees and serves on the corporate boards of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO), Flores & Associates, and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the Trump Administration.
The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) named Mr. Taylor as one of its 2023 Trailblazers in Gender Equity and Diversity for his work to achieve equal position, pay and power for all women in business. In 2020, he received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and he was named 2021 ALA Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update.
He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C.