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4th Annual Women Speak Luncheon

 

POSTPONED

STATEMENT ISSUED ON MARCH 12, 2020

Due to growing concerns surrounding COVID-19, we have chosen to postpone our Women Speak event scheduled for March 19 at the JW Marriott Essex House. This decision was made in the interest of the health and safety of our event presenters, corporate sponsors, donors, staff, youth and volunteers—upon recommendations by city and health officials to avoid large gatherings in an effort to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.

We are following up with ticket buyers and will be working in the weeks ahead to identify a new date and/or alternative plan. We will keep you posted and until then, please stay safe.

If you would like to make a donation to support our efforts to keep youth connected to critical services, click here. 

 ELEVATION AND ADVOCACY 

HMI is excited to host its 4th Annual Women Speak event — an afternoon of networking, panels, and interviews that address the safety and success of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and heterosexual women. As we enter 2020, HMI pledges to create even more safe spaces, where all women are treated as equals and with the upmost respect. We look forward to celebrating the diversity of all women that HMI embraces, and the men who support us as well.

PROGRAM

As a young person, having a positive role model in your life can offer valuable insight and guidance. This is especially true in the LGBTQ+ community. HMI knows that shared, affirming mentorship opportunities are paramount for LGBTQ+ young people in order for them to succeed in life. This year’s event will celebrate mentorship, the gift of guidance, and the positive impact it can have, especially in women’s lives.

PANEL ONE
THE GIFT OF MENTORING

Three HMI youth mentees will meet with their chosen mentor (from the event’s leading sponsors), and discuss the importance of goal setting and mentorship in the LGBTQ+ community. This conversation is preceded by time each pair spent together prior to the event.

featuring

Tammy Binns
American Airlines
Boeing 737 Pilot

Stephanie Eckersley-Ray
TD Bank
Head of Solutions & Service Delivery, Shared Services

Tesha Gary
Bloomberg L.P.
Network Operations Engineer

Click on Photo for Bio

PANEL TWO
ELEVATION & ADVOCACY OF LGBTQ WOMEN

Three panelists will discuss the importance of leadership among women today. This session will build on the theme of mentorship, focusing on the importance of elevating the voices of female leaders and their contributions to society, as well as how we can increase opportunities for women.

featuring

Amy White
Nordstrom
Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Relations

Beverly Morgan
Make Up For Ever
Executive HR Business Partner and Head of Academy

Anna Valenza
Facebook, Inc.
Business Integrity Associate

Click on Photo for Bio

FEATURED SPEAKERS

OPENING REMARKS

Imara Jones
TransLash & The Last Sip
Writer, Journalist, Host, and News Analyst

CLOSING REMARKS

Lisa Moore
Verizon Media
VP, Head of HR Business Partnering & People Operations

PREMIER SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSORS

INFLUENCER SPONSORS

LVMH / Make Up For Ever

Verizon Media

Wells Fargo Advisors

March 19, 2020 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

JW Marriott Essex House

160 Central Park S
New York, NY 10019 United States + Google Map
(212) 247-0300
View Venue Website

2019 Women Speak Photos

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Amy White is Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Relations at Nordstrom. Prior to joining Nordstrom, Amy served in leadership roles at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Pride Foundation, the largest LGBT community foundation in the nation. She also served at the Political and Outreach Director for Washington United for Marriage – playing a strategic role in winning full marriage equality in Washington State in 2012. Amy is a founding member of the YMCA National GLBT Affinity Group and served on the Human Rights Campaign National Board of Governors. She is a trustee at the Henry Art Gallery and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, where she is an executive board member.  

Tammy Binns, a Boeing 737  Pilot at American Airlines, was the first African American woman to achieve the rank of Check Airman at Envoy Airlines (formerly American Eagle Airlines), a wholly-owned regional partner for American Airlines. While not flying, Tammy spends her time working with Sisters of the Skies, a non-profit organization made up of black female pilots whose mission is to inspire young ladies of color to pursue their own pilot career dreams. She is also a mentor for the American Airlines Cadet Program, created to provide people with the desire to be airline pilots with the means and opportunity to go from zero time to being hired with one of its wholly-owned regional partners.

Beverly Morgan is the Executive HR Business Partner and Head of Academy at Make Up For Ever. Specializing in diversity and inclusion policies, practices and engagement, along with talent management, organizational design and compliance, Beverly has worked with some of the biggest names in the fashion industry as Global Head of HR prior to Make Up For Ever. She is actively involved in building engagement and philanthropic initiatives with the HMI and United Way. Beverly is a member of the Rutgers University Customer Experience Advisory Board, Women United (part of United Way), EllesVMH Committee (Women’s Leadership Group of LVMH) and is a national committee member of ALLVMH, the LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group of LVMH. Beverly lives in Connecticut with her wife and son.

Stephanie (Steph) Eckersley-Ray is Head of Solutions & Service Delivery (SSD) for Commercial, Retail and Payment Operations within Shared Services for TD Bank. Since beginning her career with them in 2005, Steph has been a motivating leader and team builder for driving organizational change while working strategically and synergistically with her business partners within several key areas of the bank. She is the LGBTQ2+ Executive Lead for TD Bank and has always been passionate about Diversity and Inclusivity, mentoring, and developing talent and is an active participant in Women in Leadership and LBGTQ2+ groups. Steph has led a highly successful World Pride Program in 2019 with an engaging and productive Diversity & Inclusion Summit for TD. She and her wife, Lynn, live in Yarmouth, ME and have two sons, Ethan and Noah as well as a great dog, Rocky.

Anna Valenza is a Business Integrity Associate for Facebook, Inc. Before joining Facebook, she worked in Global Operations at Tesla and served as an Arabic Linguist in the United States Navy. Anna serves in a leadership capacity at Facebook for both the Pride@ (LGBTQ+) and Veterans and Allies@ employee resource groups. Embracing the confluence of these two areas of her life has filled her heart with gratitude, motivating her to further advocate for diversity and inclusion. Anna is an active member of Women in Product, Cal Alumni Club of New York, and Veterans in Tech. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her two rescue dogs and getting better acquainted with New York City.

Lisa Moore is VP, Head of HR Business Partnering & People Operations  at Verizon Media, where she leads a global team of 75 across 10 countries. Lisa moved from London to New York with AOL in 2017 to take up her current role upon the creation of Oath (merger of Yahoo! and AOL). Having studied French, German and Spanish, she has worked for various global companies across multiple sectors from professional services to media and tech. Lisa is an HMI Board Member and executive sponsor of the PRISM ERG, Verizon Media’s employee resource group for the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. When she is not at work, Lisa hangs out with her 2 teenage kids, walks her dog Captain, spends whole days in thrift stores and listens to all kinds of music. She also ran her third New York marathon in 2018.

Imara Jones, whose work has won Emmy and Peabody Awards, is the creator of TransLash a multi-episode docuseries about what it is like to be trans at a time of social backlash. In 2019 she chaired the first-ever UN High Level Meeting on Gender Diversity with over 600 participants. As a journalist and intersectional news-producer, Imara is the host of The Last Sip a weekly, half-hour news show currently on hiatus which targets millennials of color, especially women and the LGBTQ community. Imara’s work as a host, on-air news analyst, and writer focuses on the full-range of social justice and equity issues. Imara has been featured regularly on a number of leading news outlets such as The Guardian, The Nation, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, Mic, and Colorlines. She has held economic policy posts in the Clinton White House and communications positions at Viacom. Imara holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Columbia, and she is currently a Soros Equality Fellow and on the board of the Anti-violence Project. She goes by the pronouns she/her. 

Tesha Gary is a Network Operations Engineer at Bloomberg L.P. where she is responsible for implementing, maintaining and supporting Bloomberg’s high availability network infrastructure. In addition to her primary job role, Tesha also serves as co-lead of the Black Professional Community at Bloomberg L.P., leading the charge to foster and support the development of black employees by promoting a collaborative and inclusive environment that leverages all perspectives and expertise. Throughout her career, Tesha has built a reputation for developing people and business strategies. She revels in solving challenges and leading, coaching, and inspiring individuals. Tesha is a board member of Service Program for Older People (SPOP) in NYC, where they help provide affordable mental healthcare and related services for older people. She lives in West Orange, NJ with her wife and their 12 year old daughter. Tesha is a basketball mom who travels near and far to watch her daughter play, and she also loves to DJ. 

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