Panel: Intersectionality & Advancement In The Workplace
Every woman is different in how they experience the world. Factors like race, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, cultural differences and differing abilities “intersect” and overlap with one another. For women, the discrimination that stems from this intersectionality profoundly impacts their ability to professionally advance. Our panelists will share their experiences in corporate America and outline how leaders can model better allyship in the workplace.
Teresa Black
Teresa Black serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, North America Surety for Chubb, a position she was appointed to in December 2022. In this role, Ms. Black provides underwriting leadership and strategic direction to the Commercial and Construction underwriting teams in the U.S. and Canada. Ms. Black also plays a critical role in developing and cultivating new client and broker relationships and in ensuring that clients and distribution partners leverage Chubb’s growing international surety capabilities. She works collaboratively with the underwriting teams outside the U.S. to execute the business plan for domestic surety clients and to ensure the attainment of growth and profitability targets for the North America Surety business. Ms. Black is based in New York City.
With over 25 years of insurance industry experience, Ms. Black joined Chubb Surety in 2013 as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. business. Ms. Black previously served as Senior Vice President, Distribution Management, Vice President, National Segment Leader for New York, and Assistant Vice President, Financial Lines, where she co-created and implemented a two-year training program for professional liability underwriters that is still in place. Prior to her tenure with Chubb, she served in an underwriting management capacity for several carriers, focusing on Directors & Officers (D&O) product lines.
Ms. Black received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Binghamton University, located in Binghamton, New York, and an MBA in Finance from The Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. Ms. Black is a member of the Board of Directors of the Spencer Educational Foundation and a sustaining member of the Junior League of Central Westchester County, New York.
Chubb is the fifth largest surety underwriter in the U.S., representing more than 70 of the Engineering News Record top 400 contractors. The business offers a wide variety of surety products and specializes in underwriting both commercial and contract bonds and has the capacity to issue bonds on a global basis.
Kelli Clark
Kelli Clark is Emerson’s vice president, culture, employee experience and employee communications since July 2022. With more than 20 years’ experience in culture, employee engagement, and corporate communications, Clark leads efforts to build Emerson’s purpose-centric culture, develop effective internal communications and strengthen the employee experience. In this role, which is the first of its kind for Emerson, Clark also has responsibility for Emerson’s global learning & leadership development strategy; employee listening and engagement programs; and diversity, equity & inclusion strategy that includes the 12,000-member employee resource group community.
Clark specializes in creating comprehensive engagement, communications and change management programs that promote robust culture, encourage collaboration, build trust, and engage and enable teams to achieve business objectives. Before joining Emerson, Clark served as chief culture officer at Aon, a multi-national financial services firm with over 50,000 employees. She has also held leadership roles in human resources, change management and communications at Exelon, Sears Home Services, Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Clark earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Missouri State University and a master’s degree in international business from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. She and her family reside in Chicago, Illinois.
Shanti Das
Shanti Das is an accomplished entertainment industry veteran, speaker, author, andPhilanthropist.
Shanti worked in the entertainment business for over 25 years. Her music industry career (from intern to Executive Vice President) included promotions & marketing positions at Capitol Records, LaFace Records, Columbia Records, Sony Urban Music and Universal Motown where she worked directly with some of music’s top talent like OutKast, Usher, Prince, TLC, Toni Braxton, Erykah Badu, and more.
On a personal note, Shanti has suffered from depression/anxiety over the years and has also experienced loved ones affected with mental health disorders. This led her to step away from the labels in 2009 to begin using her pain for purpose in her community of Atlanta, Georgia and beyond. So, because of Shanti’s extensive community work in the 2010 decade, she decided to establish her very own nonprofit, The Hip-Hop Professional Foundation, Inc. The foundation was rebranded under the name Silence the Shame, Inc., the mental health movement that lead the way since 2016.
Silence the Shame, Inc. has received global awareness and has become a commonly used hashtag to normalize the conversation in America. In 2018, the National Day Calendar recognized May 5th as National Silence the Shame Day! The foundation curates community conversations and care, wellness trainings, creates content and broadens awareness & education around mental health and wellness. (In 2019, Silence the Shame was awarded one of five awards by the American Psychiatric Association Foundation for advancing minority mental health). In addition to running her nonprofit, Shanti is a public speaker. She speaks live at companies/universities sharing her inspiring story and now facilitating virtual webinars around mental wellness with licensed mental health clinicians. Companies include Warner Chappell Publishing, National Geographic, SB Projects, Translation agency, NBA, Sony Music Publishing, EA Sports, LVMH, Sony Music UK, Freddie Mac, BMI, Clinton Foundation, Dechert LLC, Spotify, Cushman & Wakefield, Warner Media, PUMA,
Warner Music Group, Reebok, Def Jam records, Freddie Mac, Dillard University, Syracuse University, Alabama A&M and more.
In 2023, Shanti formed a new brand mibo focusing on mind and body wellness. The brand is launching a new podcast called the mibo show, where Shanti will interview musicians, actors, athletes, corporate executives, and high achievers around their mental and/or physical wellness journey. The show will also curate live conversations throughout the year in various states.
Awards and Honors:
• 2019 - Shanti was named a Top Changemaker in the World (#7 out of 100) by a UK
publication called The Big Issue!
• 2019 - The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) has named
Shanti Das as the recipient of the 2019 Media Award for her program entitled,
Silence the Shame, which openly addresses the stigmas and misconceptions on
mental health.
• 2020 – NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) awarded Shanti Das their 2020
Multicultural Award.
• 2020 Named an Essence magazine Essential Hero in Mental Health
• 2021 Culture Creators Health and Wellness Award
Starla Sampaco
Starla Sampaco joins us again this year to serve as SHRM24's Main Stage host! She is a Filipino-American columnist, host, and international speaker with a background in TV news for Seattle's PBS Channel. She is a contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review, where she focuses on teaching women and people of color how to advocate for themselves in the workplace. She also leads keynotes for clients like Microsoft and AT&T. As an extension of this work, Starla taught graduate students as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington Communication Leadership Master's Program, where she developed a course on executive presence, public speaking, and communication strategy. Prior to anchoring for PBS, she covered Washington state politics as a legislative reporter and hosted a technology news show.
Dr. Sheila Robinson
Dr. Sheila Robinson is a celebrated publisher, author on leadership, inspiring speaker and talent innovation specialist. Her company Diversity Woman Media is recognized nationally as a leading multi-platform enterprise with program offerings that advances all dimensions of diversity and inclusion (D&I).
An expert in diversity and inclusion Dr. Robinson helps leading companies transform their culture to reach gender parity, equity and belonging by combining her first-hand experience climbing the corporate ladder with the highest academic degrees, best practices from her leading magazines, and a deep passion for evidence-based workplace learnings.
During her 14-year career at a Fortune 100 company, Dr. Robinson rose from working on the factory floor to the executive office, ultimately directing communications for a $6 billion division of a global chemical company. Her experiences, including the obstacles she faced as an African-American businesswoman in the South, led her to want to help other business leaders achieve leadership success in their career journey. Over the past two decades Diversity Woman Media has grown to become a multi-faceted company that helps customers drive and deliver business results through diversity, inclusion, and talent development initiatives.
Dr. Robinson is the author of two books: Lead by Example: An Insider’s Look at How to Successfully Lead in Corporate America and Entrepreneurship (2014) and Your Tool Kit for Success: The Professional Woman’s Guide for Advancing to the C-Suite (2017)
She serves with the most influential organizations that are working to foster equity, equality and inclusive workplaces, including: Paradigm for Parity (Advisory Board Member), Catalyst (Strategic Business Partner), Executive Leadership Council (Media Partner), Women’s Business Collaborative (WBC – Chair of Diversity), Twitter (Member, Inclusion Diversity Council), and Simmons College Institute for Inclusive Leadership (Board of Advisors).
She holds certificates from Stanford University’s Professional Publishing Program (2007), Wharton’s School of Business Chief Learning Officer Program (2013) and Cornell University’s Diversity and Inclusion Program (2019). In 2017 she became a Certified Executive Coach and member of the International Coach Federation, the world’s largest community of professionally trained coaches and is an advisor to CEO’s and CHRO’s.
Dr. Robinson earned both a Masters of Education and a Doctorate of Education from the University of Pennsylvania.