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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Summit
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The Central Penn Business Journal and Lehigh Valley Business host the 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit. This online summit will discuss the importance of adopting diverse practices and creating a diverse culture that will help them become better community leaders, attract strong talent, and develop innovative ideas and practices.
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March 20, 2024
The State of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and What it Means for Business
Diversity in business matters to employees, customers and your longterm growth. Attend this critical virtual conversation to ensure your organization understands the latest trends, has created goals and accountability to ensure you are a diverse and inclusive organization, and to ensure your organization’s success in years to come.
Individual tickets now available for $45!.
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities and benefits, please contact your account manager or email [email protected].
If you have questions about this awards event, please email [email protected].
2024 Agenda
8:30 AM Welcome
8:40 a.m. Keynote Speaker: Sesha Yalamanchili (she/her/hers), President, On the Mark Consulting – What lies on the horizon for organizations in the future, considering the emergence of new challenges related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I)? How will these challenges shape the course of existing DE&I initiatives within organizations and impact their pursuit of the intended positive outcomes they strive to achieve? In addressing these questions, we explore approaches to best position your organization to achieve desired positive impact despite the evolving new challenges.
9:15 a.m. Panel Discussion – A strong focus on DEI can enhance organizational performance in many ways. Learn how to be successful and intentional about DEI while avoiding common pitfalls.
Panelists:
Desha Dickson, MS, CDE, VP, DEI and Community Wellness, Tower Health
Ericka Powell, MD, FACEP, MBA, Vice President of Medical Affairs, WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital
Kathy Sweigert, Mid-Atlantic Division Vice President, The GIANT Company
Moderator:
Sloane Brown, Host/Producer, Bridgetower Media
10:00 a.m. Open forum discussion with speakers to create tangible actions to take back to your businesses after the summit.
10:30 a.m. Virtual summit concludes
This is a working agenda subject to change.
Keynote Speaker:
Sesha Yalamanchili
President, On the Mark Consulting
Sesha, a seasoned leadership consultant and trainer with nearly two decades of experience leading teams in a range of business sectors that span across consumer, healthcare, banking and technology. She is not only a proficient expert in equipping leaders for organizational success but also a dedicated advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I). With a proven track record, Sesha has significantly advanced the DE&I efforts of numerous organizations, helping them foster inclusive cultures and navigate the complexities of diversity. Specializing in strengths-based and positive psychology practices, she seamlessly integrates DE&I principles into her leadership development programs. Sesha’s unique blend of experience, coupled with her commitment to understanding real-world challenges from a human perspective, positions her as a dynamic speaker who not only accelerates professionals’ growth as leaders but also catalyzes positive change in organizational cultures through her DE&I expertise.
Panelist:
Desha Dickson, MS, CDE,VP, DEI and Community Wellness
Tower Health
Desha Dickson joined Reading Hospital in 2011 and currently serves as the Vice President for DEI and Community Wellness at Tower Health. She oversees development, implementation and management of community benefit and health improvement programs. Desha has created programs that provide local students with educational opportunities in healthcare. She developed an internship program at Reading Hospital that enables local high school students to gain work experience in a variety of departments within the healthcare setting, while advancing their professional skills through monthly seminars covering topics such as interview skills and financial planning.
She is responsible for leading the Community Health Needs Assessment for the hospitals within the Tower Health system. She aligns internal and external stakeholders to address pressing community health needs. She has led the Hospital in adding innovative programming to address the social needs of patients, such as the Medical Legal Partnership program, Community Connection Program and Street Medicine.
Desha serves as the organizational leader within the system to drive the development, implementation, and integration of best practices and resources to increase DEI and cultural proficiency within Tower Health. She co-chairs both the Reading and Tower Health DEI councils.
She has over twenty years of combined experience working with healthcare and community based nonprofit organizations. Desha believes strongly in the value of strategic, community-centered partnerships to address population and community health. She holds a Masters degree in Organizational Management from Eastern University.
Panelist:
Ericka Powell, MD, FACEP, MBA
Vice President of Medical Affairs WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital
In her role as vice president of Medical Affairs with WellSpan Health, Dr. Ericka Powell oversees improvements in quality, safety, and patient and physician satisfaction. She strives to maintain effective relationships with employed and independent physicians and advanced practice providers while advancing strategic alignment for the operational success of the organization.
Dr. Ericka Powell received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Temple University and completed her Emergency Medicine Residency at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also holds an MBA from the Haslam School of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Recently, she was awarded the Emerging Leader Award from Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Powell is a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Executive Steering Committee for WellSpan Health. She is a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and graduated from McCaskey High School and Franklin and Marshall College.
By fostering a diverse workforce, WellSpan can better understand and respond to the diverse needs of the communities it serves. Dr. Powell has played an integral role in providing care to a range of patients, coupled with her commitment to serving Lancaster County, exemplifies the importance of having healthcare professionals who reflect and understand the communities they serve. Notably, she has served as the board president of the American Heart Association, the Alumni Board of Franklin and Marshall, and an advisor to Patients R Waiting. She enjoys volunteering at VConnections in Brightside Baptist Church. She is an active member of Temple Shaarai Shomayim and enjoys traveling with her family in her spare time.
Panelist:
Kathy Sweigert
Mid-Atlantic Division Vice President, The GIANT Company
Kathy Sweigert is the Mid-Atlantic Division Vice President at The GIANT Company, an omnichannel grocer known to customers as GIANT, MARTIN’S, GIANT Heirloom Market, GIANT Direct and MARTIN’S Direct that has been proudly serving families across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and New Jersey since 1923.
At The GIANT Company, Kathy is a talented, collaborative, and passionate retail leader, with more than 25 years of experience in the grocery industry. She has been a GIANT team member since 2000 and has held several roles with the company, from an entry-level part-time cashier position to store manager, human resource business partner, regional operations director, and Director of Human Resources..
Kathy proudly serves on the Board of Directors of the Blair County Action Program. This organization serves the citizens of Blair County by providing rent support, housing for the homeless, utility support, and many other services. She also served as the executive advisor to GIANT’s CARE Business Resource Group (BRG) which is an internal committee to support working parents and caregivers. Additionally, she is an active member of the LINC BRG, which is focused on developing the individual growth of women leaders, supporting business ideas, and local communities.
Kathy was honored as the FMI Store Manager of the Year (2018) and the YWCA of Harrisburg as a “Woman of Excellence,” for her professional and philanthropic contributions to the Capital Region. She also received Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery awards (2016 & 2022).
Moderator:
Sloane Brown
Host/Producer, Bridgetower Media
Sloane Brown’s media career covers the gamut: TV anchor/reporter, radio disc jockey/news director; beginning in Monterey/Carmel, California, then Salt Lake City, Utah, before coming to Maryland.
In Baltimore, Sloane has been a news anchor for WMAR TV, news director for Lite 102 Radio, TV host on MPT TV, and arts/entertainment reporter and film critic for Fox45 and Washington DC’s WJLA TV.
She served as the reporter covering Baltimore’s social and style scene for The Baltimore Sun for over two decades, during which she also launched Baltimore Snap – www.baltimoresnap.com – which continues to explore the city’s social and networking landscape.
In June 2020, Sloane began a partnership with The Maryland Daily Record, Lehigh Valley Business and Central Penn Business Journal, hosting video interview series and webinars, featuring leaders in Maryland and Pennsylvania’s business, government, and nonprofit communities.
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