2021 Conference Speakers (alphabetically)

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The Power of Allyship

Samaria Chicas joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. through the Software Engineering Program in 2017. She leads an application development team in the Corporate Sector.

Her personal passion for Diversity & Inclusion has led to her participation in various internal groups at JPMC including the local Ohio chapter of the LGBT+ Business Resource Group, of which she is currently co-chair.

Samaria earned two degrees at Ball State University in Muncie, IN graduating with her bachelor's degree in 2012 and then returning to complete the Center for Information & Communication Sciences master's program in 2017.

The CICS program allowed her to make a career pivot into technology, creating opportunities to drive diversity and inclusion goals in this space.

She is originally from Houston, TX but happy to now call Columbus, OH home. She lives with her partner Daniel and enjoys visiting aquariums and museums (during non-COVID times). 

Making Remote Work Work For You

Abigail Hoyt has a background in Interpersonal Communication & Information Sciences, she graduated from the CICS program in July of 2020. After graduation, she got the opportunity to join a new graduate program at Salesforce as an Associate Customer Success Guide. Outside of work, she is a volunteer softball coach at an Indianapolis highschool & she loves participating in other local volunteer activities through Salesforce.

Opening Keynote Panel: Digital Transformation   

Mr. Linder is the Chief Information Officer for the State of Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration. He currently leads enterprise efforts for health and human services technology solutions, focusing on IT modernization, data and analytics, and systems interoperability. Jared also represents the state by serving on committees and boards both locally and nationally, focusing on furthering the delivery of health and social programs through advancements in technology and data. Jared has previously held roles at private sector technology and consulting firms and has 10 years’ experience teaching IT project management to graduate students. Jared holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in Information and Communication Sciences, both from Ball State University, and an MBA from Butler University.        

The Power of Allyship

Efosa joined Salesforce in 2017. He leads sales of Salesforce Success Plans for the Financial Services vertical.

His desire to create change around the topics of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion have been driven by his participation in the Salesforce ERG BOLDforce( Black Organization for Leadership Development), of which he is currently the Global EVP.

Efosa earned a B.B.A  at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI graduating in 2011 and then pursued a Master's degree from Center for Information & Communication Sciences and graduated

 in 2012. The CICS program helped hone his skills in both business and technology.

He is originally from Nigeria but now calls Naperville, IL home. He lives with his wife Molly and their three year old son.

A Model For Having Difficult Conversations

Dr. Sylvester is a Professor of Marketing and Personal Branding at Anderson University. Amongst other classes, he teaches personal brand management and diversity and intercultural leadership in the Falls School of Business. Dr. Sylvester has published in both the US and the UK. He is a regular guest speaker at several regional Indiana colleges, including Rose-Hulman Institute, Indiana University, and Purdue University. As a management consultant and personal branding coach, Dr. Sylvester has worked with senior company executives, professional athletes, chart-topping artists, and musicians. He is a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He holds a Master of Science in Behavioral Science and a Master of Arts in Management (Community Cohesion concentration). Dr. Sylvester completed his doctoral research in the field of personal brand management. His interdisciplinary credentials and experience allow him to provide expert insight in the realm of intra-personal and inter-personal communication and diversity.

Jodi Wolfe joined Ascension Technologies three years ago and has served as the IT Director at Medxcel responsible for Business Relationship Management and Business Applications. At Medxcel, Jodi has lead the IS team in implementing cloud solutions and launching an Enterprise Data Lake with robust analytics. She has more than 20 years of IT consulting experience working with a variety of businesses undergoing enterprise-wide change. Prior to Ascension, Jodi was a Risk Assurance Director at PwC working with clients to align programs, projects, and processes to company business objectives to ensure desired outcomes. She has delivered project assurance services to ERP clients in a variety of industries including healthcare and financial services and managed large-scale transformational programs where she was responsible for portfolio planning and management, product planning and delivery, support, and release management.