Speakers

Iliana Quinonez
Sr. Director
Solutions Engineering & Latinoforce Advisor
Salesforce
Iliana is an award winning, Latin Trailblazer Woman in Engineering and a Developer of Leaders. She is a passionate advocate and ambassador for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion. Her career in the high tech industry spans over 25 years across 3 continents and more than 15 countries, working at both enterprise and startup companies. She is the former Chair of the Board for Latinoforce, the Salesforce Latinx Employee Resource Group and currently serves as their Advisor.

Lisa Smith
Engineering Manager, Netflix
Director, Women Who Code
Lisa Shissler Smith is an Engineering Manager at Netflix, and a Director for Women Who Code. She lives near Raleigh, NC with her husband and their 5 children. She is passionate about inclusion and diversity and has spoken to groups large and small about recruiting and retention. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, video games, desk dancing, and all things small.

Michael Kyle
Head of Talent and Belonging
Planet
Michael Kyle is Head of Talent and Belonging at Planet based in San Francisco. Previously to Planet he led both Talent and D&I at Redbubble based in Melbourne, Australia. During his time in Silicon Valley and abroad Michael has seen first hand the opportunity that the tech industry has to get better faster in dismantling the systems that continue to cause inequity and a deepening wealth gap. Previous to his experience in the technology industry, Michael spent ten years at Fortune 500 financial services firms where he served as a key change maker in advancing LGBTQIA+ inclusion (including adding Transgender communities to a enterprise wide employment non-discrimination policy in 2006) and helping bank the unbanked and improve financial wellbeing of the most underserved. Michael specializes in ERGs, strategic planning, user-centered program management, and inclusion-based recruiting. Michael has regularly donated his time away from work with trailblazing organizations like the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Techtonica, Code Like a Girl, and LYRIC.

Valerie Jackson
Chief Diversity Officer
Zuora
Valerie Jackson has built and led inclusion and culture initiatives in global, billion dollar companies for 15 years in the technology and legal industries, after being recruited into the field by former Georgia elected official Stacey Abrams. Prior to shifting into people and culture work, Valerie practiced securities law and served as an international policy advisor and negotiator with the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. A lifelong student of people and cultures, Valerie has lived in six countries and can communicate in multiple languages. She earned her undergraduate degree in Government/International Relations with honors from Harvard University and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.