Meet the Speakers

Susie SIlver, CDE
Director of Client Success, The Diversity Movement

Susie is a nationally-recognized DEI thought leader. A Certified Diversity Executive, she has worked with more than 200 clients as a consultant, facilitator, strategist, and speaker. Susie’s career includes 18 years in public education and in 2015, she founded With Pride Consulting to create actionable change for the LGBTQ+ population in workplace and educational institutions. Today, Susie specializes in leadership development, LGBTQ+ inclusion, employee resource group/DEI council development, and organizational business strategy. Susie’s approach, paired with her down to earth humor, compels groups to share openly and feel safe while they are learning. Her expertise has deepened recruitment pools, increased employee productivity, and boosted companies’ bottom lines.

Kurt Merriweather, CDE
Co-founder & VP, Marketing, The Diversity Movement

Kurt is an accomplished business strategist and marketing executive with a passion for helping organizations implement growth strategies. He is a Certified Diversity Executive and thought leader on building teams through the integration of DEI and technology. Kurt has worked for global brands like Discovery, AOL, and Procter & Gamble. With over 20 years of experience, Kurt’s approach to advising clients and developing strategy blends creative thinking and data analysis. He is an avid speaker, a workshop leader, and a patent holder. Kurt holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He advises startups through Google for Startups Black Founders Exchange and mentors students at UNC and SKEMA Business School. Kurt also serves on NC TECH’s Board of Advisors.

Shelley Willingham, CDE
Chief Revenue Officer, The Diversity Movement

Shelley is a serial entrepreneur and business strategist with more than 20 years of corporate and small business experience. In 2003, Shelley founded the National Organization for Diversity in Sales and Marketing (NODSM), a company focused on helping corporate America recognize the increasing purchasing power of diverse segments and helping them market to these groups without using stereotypes or being offensive. In 2006 she partnered with FORTUNE magazine on a special diversity section highlighting her work in this space. Shelley speaks at various business events and conferences, coaches and consults aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners, and is a frequent on-air contributor to CNBC. Shelley is a Certified Diversity Executive and leads the client acquisition strategy and execution while supporting each of the TDM business units in the development of their respective strategies.

Melanie Sanders, CDE
Senior Consultant, The Diversity Movement

Melanie is a Certified Diversity Executive and Senior Consultant at The Diversity Movement. Previously, she spent more than 20 years as a television journalist in markets around the United States. Drawing on her years of broadcast experience, Melanie facilitates executive media, presentation, and workplace communications trainings with global organizations of all sizes from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups.  As an expert communicator, Melanie trains our clients on equity, inclusive language, unconscious bias, and more.

Meet the Client Panelists

Kimberly Velazquez

Director, Talent, and Engagement, Builders Mutual

With over 20 years of experience identifying the right talent to help companies build strong teams and foster great workplaces, Kimberly Velazquez is a human resources leader who makes a meaningful impact. She is passionate about her work at Builders Mutual, where she leads a team of talent acquisition partners. Kimberly focuses on creating initiatives that promote inclusion and diversity, enhance employee engagement, influence company culture, support community initiatives, and develop early career intern programs.

Joe Wendover

Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), BAYADA Home Health Care

Prior to his current role as Director of DEIB at BAYADA, Joe served as Chief Diversity Officer and Lead Consultant at Deb Russell Inc. In that role, Joe was responsible for conducting DEI assessments with clients around the globe to determine needs and growth opportunities. In addition, Joe provided executive and leadership coaching to individuals on inclusive management tools and practices and provided input on internal policy design and implementation. Earlier in his career, Joe served as the Corporate Field Inclusion Manager for Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), where he was responsible for an initiative to recruit, hire, and retain individuals with disabilities in the company’s workforce. Using the training model he helped create, Joe successfully placed over 250 people with disabilities into the company’s Connecticut based New England Distribution Center and replicated the training model throughout the division in 18 other centers, resulting in increasing the number of people with disabilities hired nationally. He replicated this success with several other diversity initiatives around women in supply chain, veterans, increasing racial and ethnic diversity in management, and outreach to the LGBTQIA+ community. With a master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology, and over 20 years HR and diversity experience, he is skilled in how behaviors and attitudes can be improved through hiring practices, training programs, and feedback systems.  He has worked with a variety of clients representing academic, not-for-profit, and for-profit sector. Joe also currently serves as the President of the Board for Disability:IN Connecticut and has been appointed as Vice Chair of the Connecticut State Rehabilitation Council.

Debbie Hamm

Human Resources Program and Culture Manager, Abrigo

Debbie has lived in the Raleigh area for the past 25 years. Her background has always been in hospitality sales and event planning, as well as fundraising and advocating for the National MS Society. Debbie has recently found her passion to promote DEI at Abrigo while implementing their Employee Resource Groups. Abrigo recently launched their 8^th ERG and formed a Champions Committee of volunteers who lead these groups. Sharing best practices, facilitating open, healthy communication and empowering others to reach their full potential is what drives Debbie on a daily basis.