Educational Conference

DFW Diversity Strategies Conference 2015

Date: Thursday, September 10
Time: 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM

The Dallas-Fort Worth Staffing Management Alliance (DFW SMA), a member services area of DallasHR, is partnering with the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources – Dallas Chapter (NAAAHR) and Mid-Cities Human Resource Management Association (MCHRMA), to host the Seventh Annual Diversity Strategies Conference.

The New Workplace Diversity: Strategies for Cultivating Inclusion

Join us for a live and informative panel discussion about what diversity looks like in 2015. The concept of diversity has always been about acceptance and respect of an individual’s uniqueness and differences in race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, socio-economic status, physical abilities, political beliefs and/or other ideologies. On the heels of new regulation and demands for greater acceptance and integration of diversity in the workplace, we will aim to understand the journey that some organizations are taking to create a more inclusive environment. The panel discussion will include focused dialogue on a multitude of emerging issues to include LGBT and generational issues.

Our panel is comprised of top leaders who champion diversity and inclusion by educating their employee population and encouraging their executives to:

• Explore how to take your leadership to the next level for better execution.
• Understand the value of a diverse organization.
• Define your current diversity model.
• Develop strategies that will cultivate inclusion.

They will share real examples from their respective organizations on how they are doing just this! These best practices will arm participants with additional insight, increased perspective and additional tools to also help create strategies for cultivating inclusion.

About the Panelists

GUWAN JONES, MPH, CHES | CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER | BAYLOR, SCOTT & WHITE HEALTH - DALLAS, TX
Guwan Jones has spent her adult career as an advocate for underserved and vulnerable patient populations. She has worked with three health care systems and not-for-profits on issues such as funding to increase access to health insurance for children, focusing community resources on providing health care access for low socio-economic populations, organizing resources for HIV/AIDS patients, designing meaningful interventions for minority diabetes patients, and designing analytic dashboards to measure human capital investment and patient outcomes. With nearly two decades of experience working with health care systems such as Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Ark., Arkansas Minority Health Commission, Children’s Health in Dallas and Baylor Scott & White Health she brings a unique understanding of the interaction between care delivery and talent management programming.

Since October of 2009, Guwan has helped advance Baylor’s work around access and health care improvement produced the Baylor Health Care System Health Equity Performance Analysis, participated in the nationally recognized Disparities Leadership program lead by the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston which is designed to tackle racial and ethnic disparities in health care. She has served on the CitySquare board, an organization supporting basic needs for low-socioeconomic Dallas families and homeless communities. 

Over the past three years, Guwan has spearheaded the development of the first HR analytics dashboard and furthered Baylor's understanding and infrastructure for workforce planning as part of her move from Baylor’s healthcare improvement team to the human resources team to lead work in creating a more diverse and inclusive patient care and work environment. Since she joined HR, Baylor has achieved recognition as leaders in diversity programming with the 2012 Corporate Leadership DiversityFIRST Award. She was featured as a case study in the 2014 book, “Be the one to start change at work and in life: Make Waves,” because of her reputation of marrying the business case for working in parallel on the diverse needs of both talent and patients.
  
Prior to joining Baylor, Guwan served for seven years as advocacy manager at Children’s Health (formerly Children’s Medical Center Dallas) and has held various advocacy positions with other organizations, including: the Tarrant County Health Department; The La Sima Foundation, INC.; and the Arkansas Minority Health Commission in Little Rock.

Guwan holds a Master's on public health from the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth and a Bachelor of Science in health science from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Guwan is also a certified health education specialist and received the 2008 U.S. Surgeon General’s Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future Champion Award.

DOUG KARR | VICE PRESIDENT | PRO STAFF - HOUSTON, TX
Doug Karr is responsible for managing account development and service delivery, as well as promoting the value and services provided by Pro Staff, in its light industrial and administrative specialty, to customers and talent.

Doug has been a member of the Pro Staff team since July 2013. During his 15 years of tenure in the staffing industry, he has held leadership positions with responsibility for Texas and Louisiana markets as well as national management responsibilities. He has served as an officer on several boards to include the Texas Association of Staffing and is currently the chair for the Greater Houston Business Leadership Network.



SAM SANTIAGO | MANAGER, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION | AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CENTER - DALLAS, TX
Sam Santiago is a long-time corporate social responsibility professional with more than 25 years of experience in global corporate volunteering, talent management, diversity and inclusion, fundraising, board service, and non-profit leadership in the travel and hospitality industries with organizations like American Airlines, Hilton Worldwide and the American Heart Association.  

In 1995, while at Hilton Hotels International, Sam performed international human resources functions for properties in Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Aruba, Venezuela and Colombia. Those functions included hiring, training, collective bargaining agreements and other responsibilities. Between 1997 and 2000, Sam was part of the team that managed one of the most active recruitment and training periods in American Airlines’ history.

Sam has served several terms on the board of directors of the International Association for Volunteer Effort and the VolunteerNow (formerly the Volunteer Center of North Texas), and is chair emeritus of the Global Corporate Volunteer Council. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Earl G. Graves Award for Leadership for his work in the advancement of diversity and inclusion, in 2012 he was bestowed the President's Volunteer Service Award by Points of Light on behalf of President Barack Obama, for his work in the development of global corporate volunteering as a professional practice. In 2014, he was recognized as a BIG Influencer by the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Sam attended business school at the University of Puerto Rico and studied French at the famed Alliance Française. He also holds a Training Manager Certificate from The Training Institute and a Nonprofit Management Certificate from CNM Connect. After a career that spanned almost three decades, he retired in early 2014 from his position as principal of community programs at American Airlines. In addition to his consulting, public speaking and voice over work, Sam joined the American Heart Association in 2014 as the first-ever staff member exclusively dedicated to advancing diversity, inclusion and the development of cultural competencies for the entire organization.

Payment

Payment is due with registration. No POs or requests for invoicing can be honored. Checks should be made payable and mailed (to be received no later than Friday, September 4) to: 

DallasHR
5001 LBJ Fwy Ste 800
Dallas, TX 75244
214.631.8775
214.631.4533 - Fax
[email protected]

IMPORTANT: Advance registrations are strongly recommended. Due to hotel catering requirements, we cannot guarantee seating for onsite registrants. To receive cancellation credit, your written request must be received at DallasHR by 12:00 pm, Friday, September 4, 2015.