As a dynamic, hands-on, highly technical leader with a wealth of knowledge and experience building education, training, and organizational development programs, Dr. Hickman champions complex projects in research and development that uncover the need for continuing education and training throughout the organization. Dr. Hickman is a visionary leader who delivers growth and profit through technological innovations, customer experience, leadership development, and networking. He is a well-known published scholar with expertise in organizational and leadership development at Partners, a Walt Disney Company. 

Andrea Couto is the Sr. Director, Solutions Consulting at PeopleDoc by Ultimate Software. Andrea leads the North American Solution Consulting organization ensuring the team illustrates alignment of customer business processes to the PeopleDoc platform within our Sales organization. Andrea comes with over 18 years of Human Capital Management software experience from implementation, account management and presales.  This spans knowledge and sharing of industry-specific and general HR use cases in recruiting, succession/talent planning, performance and compensation management to HR shared service centers.

Andrea is an experienced, published, researcher of human capital practices specialising in organisational change & transformation, talent and leadership development, performance management, DEIB, and organisational growth mindset.

Prior to Visier, Andrea led research teams at the NeuroLeadership Institute, and Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Andrea loves sports, coffee and Nordic mysteries. andrea-derler.com

Ann joined GKN Automotive in 2020, at a time of transformation following the Melrose acquisition. Her job was to establish and lead a new people strategy, and to build a culture to reflect both the extraordinary heritage of this 250 year old company, and a new future. She came to GKN Automotive with a sense of adventure, following 16 years at BP leading numerous HR teams and transformation programmes, living and working across many countries. Seeing so much change in the 2020s, Ann is keen to keep learning what inspires people now to join and stay with the best companies.

Anne Erni joined Audible as Chief People Officer in 2016. She most recently served as Head of Human Resources at Bloomberg L.P. Anne spent six years at Bloomberg, during which the global workforce doubled, and where her passion for nurturing talent led to the creation of Bloomberg’s Global Leadership Forum. Before Bloomberg, Anne was Managing Director and Chief Diversity Officer at Lehman Brothers, focusing on the recruitment and retention of women and under-represented groups. Anne also spent fifteen years with P&L responsibility in fixed income and equity sales at Lehman Brothers and Bankers Trust.

With a degree in Neuroscience and experience working in strategy and innovation, Anna has a unique perspective on what it takes to drive culture change. As D&I Partnerships Manager, Anna works with a suite of FTSE100 and Fortune 250 companies to help them launch and see the impact from Inclusion Works by Hive Learning – a digital peer learning programme that helps companies build everyday habits of inclusion at every level. Anna works with clients to develop their digital strategy and enable them to run full learning activation plans that drive continuous learning. On Anna’s programmes, 78% of participants engage with the programme each month and 94% feel confident in their ability to demonstrate truly inclusive behaviours at work.