Be an Advocate for Diversity & Inclusion 

Galahad Dong is currently the Director, HR Systems and Total Rewards for Simpson Strong-Tie, a global manufacturing company focused on creating structural products that help people build safer and stronger homes and buildings. Whether it’s working with senior executives, individual contributors, or on cross-functional teams, Galahad provides practical HCM solutions in a resource constrained world to drive business results.  Galahad has experience in designing, implementing, and administering broad based, cash, and equity incentive plans, as well as health and welfare and retirement plans.  Beyond Total Rewards, he has led and global implementations of HRIS (Workday), timekeeping (UKG Dimensions), and learning (Cornerstone OnDemand) solutions. His team currently provides all HCM analytics to the organization and when he’s not busy designing the next compensation plan or building a business requirements document for a future system enhancement, you can usually find him buried in a spreadsheet trying to find a HCM trend and analysis with the sole intent of using HR data to help push the business forward.  Galahad holds the Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), Global Remuneration Professional (GRP), and Certified Benefits Professional (CBP) designations through WorldatWork and is a member of NASPP, GEO, WorldatWork, NACD, and SHRM.

Dana is a native of Columbus, Ohio and currently works as the Senior Manager of Compensation for the Corporate Offices of Designer Brands Inc. Her team manages the compensation programs for their business segments in the United States. This includes base compensation, short-term and long-term incentive plans. Dana has worked in the field of compensation for over 22 years, primarily in the retail industry.

Dana majored in human resources and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University. She is a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and has also earned her Equity Compensation Associate (ECA) designation.

Fernando joined Microsoft as a Stock Programs Manager in September 2016. During this time, he has managed Microsoft’s ESPP, broad-based vest execution and domestic payroll reporting, restricted trading implementation and daily broker interactions with multiple stock plan service providers. He has also worked on various technical projects related to internal stock tool enhancements. From August 2013 to September 2016, Fernando brought experience from Mattel, Inc. where he led an implementation of fully outsourced stock administration between two stock plan service providers. Prior to Mattel, Inc., Fernando worked at William O’Neil and Co., where he provided technical and fundamental analysis on publicly traded companies in the US and Southeast Asia.

Fernando is a first generation Mexican-American and currently serves on the leadership team for the Hispanic and Latinx Organization of Leaders in Action (HOLA), HR Chapter at Microsoft. He is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and is focused on increasing awareness around financial wellness as a means to break systemic barriers.

Fernando holds a BS from the University of California, Riverside and is a Certified Equity Professional.

Carolina Koch, CPA, CMA, is a Senior Manager in the Corporate Accounting department at Procter & Gamble. She has over 20 years of experience in the accounting and finance field with a focus on equity and share-based accounting. She manages the accounting and forecasting of over $300M in annual share-based compensation and serves as consultant on accounting matters to the Legal, Treasury and HR/Executive Compensation departments. She has received numerous awards at P&G, including the 2017 CEO award for her leadership on the implementation of the automated share-based compensation project. Carolina is a frequent trainer at P&G and over the last few years has delivered trainings in topics such as Proxy Reporting, Money Flow and Finance for Non-Finance Managers.

Carolina has an undergraduate and an MBA from Xavier University. She is a member of NASPP, IMA, Alpha Sigma Nu Society, SEC professionals and other non-profit organizations. She enjoys mentoring other professionals in the field and volunteering.

Roman López currently is a Team Leader of Central Relationship Managers in the West Region for Fidelity Investments. Utilizing his diversified background and skills, from his 15 years in manufacturing to his degrees in Fine Arts with and Emphasis in Painting and Drawing and a degree in Art History, Roman’s career at Fidelity quickly flourished. In three years he moved from an entry level role in customer service to leadership all while performing several roles in Stock Plan Services and earning his Certified Equity Professional (CEP) certification.

Passionate about JEDI (justice, equity diversity and inclusion), Roman has been a cornerstone of change for Fidelity both locally and nationally. He is a co-lead of the Utah chapter of Aspire, a Fidelity employee resource group for Latinx and Black associates and allies. He is the Director of Student Affairs for ALPFA - Salt Lake City (Association for Latino Professionals of America), an organization that helps the Latinx community connect professionally and accelerate their careers. Volunteering in his local community is also very important to him.

Roman has always driven diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives because he cares so much about the community. He wants to make the path for those that follow him easier and more equitable. His passion is fueled by educating those that had more to give more or to simply understand, and empower those that had less equity to continue to strive and break the barriers.

Jane joined Herc Rentals in July 2019 as the Senior Director of Benefits and took on the additional responsibility of overseeing the strategy and execution of Payroll, HRIS, Benefits, Executive Compensation and Corporate HR in March 2021. Prior to joining Herc, she spent 6 years with Hertz as the Senior Director of Compensation and worked with the team from Herc in the separation of the two companies. Herc recently celebrated the 5-year anniversary as a stand-alone public company after the spin from Hertz.

Jane has over 30 years’ experience in HR with public, private and government organizations with a true passion for Executive Compensation.

Asasia Pierce is an Associate attorney in the Compensation and Benefits practice group at Cooley LLP. She focuses her practice in the areas of executive compensation, equity compensation and employee benefits for public and private companies. Asasia has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Patricia is Vice President, Compensation for Wintrust. Wintrust is a financial holding company with more than 150 community banks and subsidiaries that provide banking, wealth management and financial services primarily in the Midwest and Canada. She leads a compensation team that manages broad-based and variable pay, sales and incentive pay, long-term equity incentives and executive compensation.

Patricia has over 25 years’ experience in compensation and leadership in the insurance, healthcare and telecommunications industries. She has an MBA from University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and coursework from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Center for Professional and Executive Development as well as executive education from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Business. She is also a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a Six Sigma Yellow Belt.

Elena Thomas is the COO for Plan Management Corp., a full-service equity plan and securities administration software and services provider. Elena leads the operations and product development of PMC's leading equity management platform, OptionTrax. In this capacity, she works closely with both public and private company clients to ensure delivery of best practice plan administration software and services. She is also the spearhead of the OptionTrax Gender Equity in Equity Compensation study and Equity Inclusion Initiative. Areas of expertise include best practice performance award administration, financial reporting, and workplace equality. She currently serves as a Board Member of the Philadelphia chapter of NASPP and is a Certified Equity Professional. Elena is passionate about helping clients to leverage equity compensation and technology in order to attract talent, drive performance, and as a tool to promote workplace equality.

Elena was previously a Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, focusing on financial technology and access to capital for micro, small and medium enterprises worldwide. In addition to the U.S., she has worked extensively across Latin America and Europe. Prior to pursuing her M.B.A at the University of North Carolina, Elena worked with CGI-AMS, Inc. as a Project Manager and client relationship lead for software design and development projects.

As Head of Inclusion Transformation, Kai ensures that the delivery of Retirement and Personal Wealth Solutions’ products and services are effective in meeting the needs of diverse clients and communities. In this role, he collaborates with colleagues and partners to enhance employee well-being, foster financial inclusion and address the unique challenges confronting diverse populations.

Kai began his career as an executive in Global Wealth & Investment Management and most recently served as Enterprise Relationships Director. In this role, he was responsible for delivering innovative thought leadership, actionable ideas and relevant solutions to clients as an effective means in attracting, retaining, and motivating employees in an increasingly competitive business environment. 

He also served as the National Director of Institutional Client Relationships where he was responsible for coordinating the service and acquisition functions of the institutional and national client segment with over $200 billion in assets and four million accounts under management.

Kai is a leading industry professional with over 25 years of experience in retirement and financial services. Prior to joining Bank of America, he held a variety of positions with market leading financial services firms where he focused on helping corporate executives meet their fiduciary obligations, and empowered their employees to achieve financial wellness.

Kai holds a B.S. in mathematics from Gordon College and maintains certification in economics from the University of Wisconsin. He maintains the FINRA Series 7, 66 and 24 registrations and is an acting member of the American Economic Association, the Society of Human Resources and the Florida Council on Aging. Kai is also member of the firm’s Black Executive Leadership Council, co-executive sponsor for the Jacksonville Inter-Generational Employee Network and a member of the Retirement and Personal Wealth Solutions Operating Committee.