Workplace Unifying Diversity: Turning Differences into Strengths for High-Performing Teams

Rich Tafel is the Founder and CEO of Public Squared.

Rich is a strategist whose passion is to build bridges between unlikely partners to create successful coalitions to solve the most significant challenges of our day. He works at the intersection of faith, business, and policy.

A minister by training, Rich is the pastor of the Church of the Holy City in Washington, DC, where his ecumenical ministry translates spirituality for a rising generation. He focuses on addressing toxic polarization by offering training to leaders in his Cultural Translator model. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, he served as an Assistant Minster at Harvard’s Memorial Church. Today, he serves on the governing board of the National Council of Churches.

Rich is a pioneer in the social entrepreneur field, having provided strategy to over one hundred social ventures. He facilitated the nation’s first statewide social entrepreneur competition for Michigan. He strategically supported creating the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. He co-founded the Workplace Wellness Council of Mexico and SameSky Health, which connect patients with doctors in their language using a phone app. Today, he is the Director of Social Capital Advisers at Marcum LLP in Washington, DC, where he works with for-profit and nonprofit entities to build business models to create transformative change.

He has long sought to bridge the divide in the public policy sphere in America in Washington, DC, building successful right-left coalitions in the battle to treat AIDS and support same-sex marriage. He served as Adolescent Health Director for the State of MA.

He has led programs at Pepperdine School of Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University, and today serves as a Senior Fellow at George Washington University’s Center for Excellence in Leadership. He is the President of the board of directors of Citizen’s University, a national organization focused on educating the rising generation on civic engagement.

Dr. Steve L. Robbins is the founder and owner of S.L. Robbins and Associates, a consulting firm on issues of human behavior based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The company serves a growing variety of local and national clients. As a keynote speaker and author, Steve has had the opportunity to assist major corporations and clients throughout the world, such as Disney, Walmart, NASA, Caterpillar, Boeing, Microsoft, Gap Inc., Michelin, Toyota, and Daimler-Benz.

​Before starting S.L. Robbins and Associates, Steve was a professor at Aquinas College where he shared his vision and passion for inclusion with his students. He is a specialist in communication, socio-psychology and cognitive neuroscience. At its core, Steve’s work with individuals and organizations is about understanding human behavior and leveraging human differences in an ever-changing, fast-paced 21st century world. Steve began presenting his work to clients and was invited to be a keynote speaker at various events. Now he works with organizations and consults them on creating new solutions and conversations centered on an inclusive workplace. To accompany his ideology, Steve wrote his first book, “What If? Short Stories to Spark Diversity Dialogue,” which is now used by numerous organizations and schools to invite people into deeper conversations about diversity, inclusion and the power of caring.

​In order to put his research into action, Steve founded Something2Say Studios, a video production company dedicated to developing inclusive stories from a different perspective. S2S captures Steve’s more popular pedagogies on screen. This includes the “Inclusion and Insights” series which is as an effective tool for cultivating and maintaining conversations on pertinent inclusion issues. S2S has also created the “Inclusive History & Heritage Series” collection which focuses on important figures from history that are not usually put under the spotlight. Included in the series is Madam C.J. Walker, Ida Tarbell, Rita Moreno, Duke Kahanamoku, and Kyle Maynard.  

Tamla Oates-Forney is an innovative thought leader and speaker, women’s advocate, wellness champion, philanthropist and investor. She serves as Chief Executive Officer of SHRM Linkage, a leadership development firm empowering organizations to achieve business success by unlocking the full potential of women in the workplace.

Oates-Forney previously served as EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for USAA, where as a member of the Executive Council she led USAA’s team of more than 500 HR professionals spanning talent development, talent acquisition, pay and benefits, culture and employee services for 37,000 teammates.

Prior to joining USAA, Oates-Forney served as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at WM (previously Waste Management). She spent the majority of her career (20 years) at General Electric, where she held multiple leadership roles, including HR Leader for GE Africa, Chief Diversity Officer for GE Appliances and Lighting, and Vice President of HR for GE Energy Connections.

Oates-Forney is also an independent director and member of the Human Capital and Compensation committee for Summit Materials. She serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for her alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and is a sought-after speaker, advisor and thought leader for several HR-related technology startups.

She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration. A renowned expert in her field, she has received multiple honors, including being featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business and Savoy’s 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. She is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), a network of black CEOs and business leaders who support the development of diverse talent and the promotion of social justice.