Beyond Hiring: Solving HR’s Leadership Crisis

KeyAnna Schmiedl is Workhuman’s Chief Human Experience Officer, responsible for guiding all of the organization’s human experience strategy, including talent, total rewards, learning and development, culture, and employee experience, organizational design, corporate social responsibility, and DEI initiative. Previously, Schmiedl was the VP of Social and Environmental Impact (SEI) at Mozilla, the global head of Culture & Inclusion at Wayfair, and worked with top organizations such as Harvard University, Santander Bank, and IBISConsulting. She has received the industry’s esteemed Diversity Leader Award granted by the Diversity Journal® due to her stand-out work in creating an open, equitable, and inclusive workplace culture. Schmiedl was also featured on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list and was named a DEI Trailblazer by Business Insider in 2021. Her superpowers include navigating complex structures to grow relationships and opportunities, connecting key stakeholders, assessing organizational readiness to allow for dialogue on DEI and people process topics at appropriate levels for all constituencies, and challenging/equipping leaders to move from careful to thoughtful conversations. She holds an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Organizational Learning & Development from Suffolk University, an MBA in Human Resource Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Human Services from Fitchburg State University. She resides in the Greater Boston area with her husband, two boys, and a growing menagerie of pets.

Lauren Starkand is the Sr. Talent Partner for Mercer and leads Marsh's Global Career COE. Managing a portfolio that includes talent management, enterprise learning, performance management, career development, and global early careers, she is currently modernizing the talent experience for 95,000 colleagues through the integration of AI-enabled tools and intuitive development processes. She previously served as Head of Talent Strategy & Careers at Stripe and spent 15 years at Citigroup, where she rose to become the Global Head of Consumer Banking Talent & Diversity. She received her Master’s in social-Organizational Psychology from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and her B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Javier, her 11 year-old son, Luke, and her 8 year-old daughter, Julia.

Tara Cooper is the Global HR Tech Analyst and Advisor at Mercer. She has over 16 years of experience in the HR technology industry, with a special passion for innovative and disruptive tech. With expertise in go-to-market strategy, product marketing, and market research, she leads the HR Tech Analyst practice where she works to uncover and share industry trends and insights with HR leaders, tech buyers and vendors.​​ Before joining Mercer, she played a key role in building and executing go-to-market strategies for brands like HireVue, SmashFly and Beamery, where helping organizations find and retain talent was a top priority.  She also served as a strategic advisor to early-stage work tech founders, guiding them through the industry landscape and positioning their offerings to meet the evolving needs of HR.n Cooper lives just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan where you can find her engrossed in an audiobook, binging on true crime, or hiking with her family.