Why Attend
Going Beyond Performance isn’t about checking boxes or chasing yesterday’s metrics. It’s about seeing what others don’t see — using generative AI to uncover talent you didn’t know you had, aligning your people to roles that matter, and making workforce planning a living, breathing process. It’s about turning data into insight, insight into action, and action into momentum. The teams of tomorrow won’t wait for HR to catch up. They’re counting on you to lead the way. If you’re ready to move from managing performance to shaping the future, EmpowerHR 2025 is where it begins.
MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Pulitzer Prize winner

Charles Duhigg
Pulitzer Prize winner
Charles Duhigg is the bestselling author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, which explores the science of habit formation in our lives, companies and societies. His newest book, Supercommunicators: The Power of Conversation and Hidden Language of Connection, delivers a simple but powerful lesson: With the right tools, we can connect with anyone. His book Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business is a fascinating exploration of the science of productivity, and why, in today’s world, managing how you think—rather than what you think—can transform your life.


Val Wright
Internationally acclaimed innovation expert Val Wright was named as one of the top 50 resources for Chief Operating Officers by ClickSoftware. She is one of only 64 experts inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant® Hall of Fame.
The global clients who have requested her help include Starbucks, LinkedIn, Amazon, Lenovo, Ingram Micro, Arrow, francesca’s, Microsoft, Avnet, Financial Times, Seagate, Gartner, Datto, and the LA Lakers. Val’s corporate experience includes tenures during dramatic growth periods at Amazon, BMW, Microsoft, Harrods, and Xbox.


Zoe Kasper
Zoe Kasper is Assistant Vice President of Employee Experience at Lincoln Financial, responsible for employee engagement, with a focus on performance management, employee listening and feedback, recognition and the onboarding and new hire experience.
Zoe has nearly 18 years of industry experience working in workplace culture and HR technology roles. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial in 2022, she spent 15 years consulting with large organizations to design and implement employee listening strategies, analyze data and synthesize feedback to support company culture through actionable engagement insights.


Deanna Lapierre
Deanna brings 30+ years of progressive human resources experience in leadership and generalist roles across multiple industries including; technology - software, consumer electronics, financial services, fintech, healthcare, and retail services. She brings her experience to companies to drive the design and implementation of programmatic solutions to align talent and culture to top level organizational goals. These solutions include leadership development, employee upskilling, engagement programs, and activities to support creating and maintaining a great employee experience.
Deanna currently serves as the Senior Director, Global Head of Talent Development at LivePerson, a global leader in delivering AI-powered conversations between brands and consumers. In this role, Deanna’s focus is on leading a team focused on creating a great employee experience throughout the employee lifecycle including redesigning a modern, streamlined performance management process through the use of Betterworks performance platform.


Dani Johnson
Dani is Co-founder and Principal Analyst for RedThread Research. She has spent the majority of her career writing about, conducting research in, and consulting on human capital practices and technology.
Before starting RedThread, Dani led the Learning and Career research practice at Bersin, Deloitte. Her ideas can be found in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CLO Magazine, HR Magazine, and Employment Relations. Dani holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University.


International, SE and HRBPs, HelloFresh

Syed Ali Abbas
International, SE and HRBPs, HelloFresh
Syed Ali Abbas is Vice President of People – International, SE and HRBPs at HelloFresh, the largest meal-kit company in the world. In this role, Abbas serves as the matrix People leader for our SE corporate HQ in Germany plus all HelloFresh markets around the world excluding North America; and functionally leads the SE HR Business Partner team supporting our Global / International functions including Tech.
He has previously held various leadership roles in other companies including Group HR Director for Global Fashion Group, Chief HR Officer for Pacnet Group, Chief Strategy Officer for Epitome Global and Executive Director of HR for AT&T Inc. Abbas has also served on Boards in Executive Director, Non-Executive Director and Board Committee roles. He is an HR Transformation and HR Tech veteran, who also has experience as a leader, advisor and investor in the HRTech startup space.



Vidya Krishnan
Vidya Krishnan is the Chief Learning Officer of Ericsson, leading Ericsson’s Global Learning and Development team as part of Ericsson’s Global People organization, and amplified by an incredible extended community of learning leaders across the company. Vidya and her team have responsibility for transforming capability creation for every one of Ericsson’s 95,000+ people in over 180 countries around the world. Ericsson is empowering an intelligent, sustainable, and connected world by enabling the full value of connectivity—and lifelong learning and leadership are vital to success.


Dolça Freixes Pascual
Dolça Freixes Pascual is Talent & Culture Advisor at Ferrer, responsible for cultivating an inclusive workplace culture focused on purpose-driven initiatives, talent development, and social impact.
Dolça brings extensive leadership experience across HR consultancy, FMCG, and Pharma sectors. Prior to joining Ferrer’s Talent & Culture team in 2021, she successfully guided organisations in developing people-centric strategies that align business objectives with social justice commitments, ultimately empowering employees to thrive.


DouG Dennerline
Before becoming CEO at Betterworks in 2018, Doug was the CEO of Alfresco and President of SuccessFactors. He spent 11 years at Cisco Systems, Inc. [CSCO], and 10 years at 3Com Corporation, and began his technology career as an HP sales representative in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also a published co-author of the book, Make Work Better. Doug holds a Bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University. He is married and has 4 children.


Cheryl Johnson
Cheryl Johnson is a visionary leader, advocate for diversity and inclusion, and change agent with a proven track record of driving growth in disruptive software companies. As the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Betterworks, she brings her wealth of experience and strategic leadership to the organization.
Prior to joining Betterworks, Cheryl held similar roles at early-stage startups. Notably, she was instrumental in generating tremendous growth during her 13-year tenure at Salesforce while growing the company's nonprofit and education business to hundreds of millions in just 4.5 years.


Jamie Aitken
As VP of HR Transformation at Betterworks, Jamie helps clients reimagine the way employee performance is managed with proven systems and processes that work. As co-author of the book, Make Work Better, she draws inspiration from her more than twenty-five years of HR leadership experience, spearheading organizational development, HR transformation, and employee engagement strategies that boost business performance. Her work as a consultant and an in-house HR practitioner spans the entire spectrum of human capital practices and multiple industries.
Jamie has a deep understanding of talent management strategies and principles and has ideated and implemented global talent practices system redesign, strategic planning, and positioning in public and private for national and international organizations spanning all associated processes. As a McKinsey-certified facilitator, Jamie has also been instrumental in cultural transformations for several large enterprises – supporting fundamental change with her background in executive coaching, change management, and employee experience strategies.


John Schneider
John Schneider is the CMO at Betterworks, responsible for marketing, which includes brand, product marketing, public and analyst relations, demand generation, events, and customer marketing. In this role, he develops growth strategies based on market and segmentation strategies, positioning, and competitive dynamics aimed at developing the market for Betterworks products.
Prior to joining Betterworks, Schneider was Vice President of Platform and Solutions Marketing at Intapp. In this role, he was responsible for evolving product positioning to a platform-based solution that drove increased value for customers, expanded the business into new markets, and led to successful acquisitions of adjacent technologies to fulfill Intapp’s position as the market leader. His work at Intapp directly contributed to accelerated revenue growth, which ultimately resulted in a $1 billion+ IPO.
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