Employee Excellence & Engagement Summit
Get Konnected! Employee Excellence & Engagement Summit Network Connection
Reimagining Employee Groups as Engines of Relevance, Resilience, and Results
Date:
November 6th, 2025
Time:
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Location:
MCLE Conference Center
10 Winter Pl, Boston, MA 02108
Agenda
8:00AM Registration Networking & Breakfast
9:00AM Welcome & Keynote Introduction: Colette & Michele Courton Brown
How Did We Get Here - 5 years after George Floyd and America's Racial Reckoning How the Current Administration has Dismantled and Redefined Diversity Equity and Inclusion and What We Can Do to Address This
Speaker: Michael Curry
9:30AM Dissecting Executive Orders: Navigating New Business Landscape:
The Legal, Financial, and Reputational Risks
Moderator: Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal
Panelist: Ken Scott, Amanda Thibodeau
10:30AM Morning Break
10:45AM From Engagement to Excellence: Insights From Employee Engagement Leaders, Success Stories & Best Practices
Moderator: Joyya Smith
Panelists: Marques Benton, Dr. Sadie Burton-Goss,
Dahiana Duarte-Pena
12:00PM Fireside Chat: Executive Sponsorship - Social Capital who has it and how best to leverage it within the context of Allyship
Moderator: Ian Matthew-Clayton
Panelists: JD Chesloff, Ira Jackson, Jeff Rosica, Brooke Thomson
1:00PM Unlocking the Power of AI How AI can reshape the workplace, boost your career, enhance productivity, decision-making, and innovation
Speaker: Bathanie Nonami
2:00PM Mental Well-Being Matters How Companies are Addressing Mental Well-Being in the Workplace
3:00PM Thank You and Recap Highlights of the Day
3:30PM Cocktails and Networking
Speakers & Guests:
(More to be announced)
Michael Curry
National Vice Chair, The NAACP; President & CEO, The Massachusetts League of Health Center
Marques Benton
Chief DEI Officer, Loomis & Sayles
Michele Courton Brown
Chief Talent Equity Officer, BlueCross BlueShield
JD Chesloff
President & CEO, Massachusetts Roundtable
Dahiana Duarte-Pena
Vice President, Program Manager Next-Gen Digital Platform, Eastern Bank
Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal
Executive Director, Lawyers for Civil Rights
Sadie Goss
Chief Inclusive Excellence Officer, Babson College
Ira Jackson
Research Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center of Business & Government Harvard Kennedy School
Ian Matthew-Clayton
VP Chief Inclusion Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Bethanie Nonami
Founder & CEO, VINify
Jeff Rosica
Former President & CEO, Avid Technology
Ken Scott
Partner of RC and Civil Rights Lawyer, Relman Colfax
Joyya Smith
VP Diversity, Access & Inclusion, Suffolk University
Amanda Thibodeau
Employment and Compliance Attorney, Prince Lobel
Brooke Thomson
President & CEO, Associated Industries of Massachusetts
Hosts:
Chair: Colette Phillips, Founder & CEO, Get Konnected!
Chair: Michelle Courton Brown, Chief Talent Equity Officer, BlueCross BlueShield
Brooke Thomson, President & CEO, Associated Industries of Massachusetts
Marques Benton, Chief Diversity, Equity &Inclusion Officer, Loomis & Sayles
Sadie Burton-Goss, Chief Inclusive Excellence Officer, Babson College
Ian Matthew-Clayton, Vice President & Chief Inclusion Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Ivelisse Gonzalez, Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Eastern Bank
Joyya Smith, Vice President of Diversity, Action and Inclusion, Suffolk University
Courtney Sullivan, Vice President of Administration, Associated Industries of Massachusetts
Sharhea Wade, Vice President of Global Inclusion & Diversity, State Street
Explore Our Event Booklet 🔍
If your company is interested in partnering for the EE&E Summit, please complete the form:
Thank you to all of our sponsors:
