AESC Global Conference - New York

Michael Clinton is the former president and publishing director of Hearst Magazines, and now serves as special media advisor to the Hearst Corporation’s CEO. He is the author of ROAR into the Second Half of Your Life - Before It’s Too Late (Atria Books/Beyond Words, Sept. 2021). From his working class roots to success in the New York magazine world, Michael shares his own journey as an avid traveler, having experienced 124 countries, and running marathons on seven continents. A photographer, private pilot, part owner of a vineyard in Argentina, and founder of a nonprofit foundation, Michael holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, plus two master’s degrees (from Columbia University and Pace University). He serves on the boards of trustees of International Center of Photography and Pace University; and has written for The New York Times, Town & Country, and Runner’s World, among other outlets. He resides in New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Knowledge Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.

During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).

Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.

Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.

Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.

Stela Lupushor is a Senior Fellow in Human Capital and Program Director for The Conference Board. Stela is on a mission to humanize the workplace and accomplishes that in several major ways:

At the macro/cross-industries level: She is a Senior Fellow in Human Capital Center and the Program Director for The Conference Board Strategic Workforce Planning Council, and Talent Management Executives II where she works with Fortune 500 corporations-members and helps them rethink their workplace and workforce strategies through research and facilitated conversations so they can prepare for what's ahead.
With the organizational leadership: She leads Reframe.Work Inc. and consults on how to create inclusive workplaces through the use of technology, human-centered design, people analytics, and future-thinking.
At the individual level: Stela's founded amazing.community - a nonprofit extending the work horizon for women 45+. Our sweet spot is age+gender+technology and our solutions are focused on helping women prepare for the workplace of the future, and for organizations to create inclusive environments for them.
At the professional development level: Stela is an adjunct at NYU School of Professional Studies teaching Digital Workplace Design and Design Thinking for HR.
At the network level: Stela is the co-founder of the Strategic HR Analytics Meet-up that over the past five years is bringing together almost 2,000 members in the NYC area to shape their thinking around people analytics. Previously Stela transformed the workplaces at the intersection of technology, analytics and HR at Fidelity Investments, TIAA, IBM, Price Waterhouse and PwC Consulting and their clients.
Lupushor holds a diploma in Mathematics and Computer Science; speaks English, Romanian and Russian; has a patent pending for a social sentiment analysis tool; has published articles and papers; and is a sought-after speaker on the topics of people analytics and the future of work.

Dr. Monique James is a psychiatrist who specializes in caring for people who are acutely or chronically ill, and who are experiencing psychiatric symptoms related to their illness. She focuses on helping people cope with the physical and emotional challenges of cancer. Patients can have unique psychiatric needs throughout their illness, from diagnosis to treatment, and with whatever lies ahead. These needs include the re-exacerbation of underlying psychiatric illness, adjusting to cancer diagnosis and treatment, depression, anxiety, symptoms associated with hormone therapy, fatigue, interpersonal conflict, confronting mortality, and other psychosocial distress.

Dr. James has a particular interest in women’s health and works in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She also supervises fellows, residents, and other trainees who rotate through the Psychiatry Service. Furthermore, she serves as a member and consultant of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Ethics Committee.

Donna F. Zarcone is a seasoned corporate executive and board director. She currently serves on four corporate boards, CDW Corporation, Cigna Corporation, The Duchossois Group, and Quinnox, Inc., and previously served on The Jones Group board. She also serves on the National Board of the Smithsonian Institution and on the advisory board of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago.

Donna is the former president and CEO of the Economic Club of Chicago, having served in that role for nine years. The Economic Club is one of the nation’s most influential forums for the discussion of economic, social and business issues, and is dedicated to fostering the development of leaders within Chicago’s business and civic community. During her tenure, the Club welcomed over 200 speakers including US Presidents, Ambassadors, Fortune 500 CEOs and even a rock star. Donna was honored to have her last interview at the Club be with Dr. Anthony Fauci in July 2020.

Donna previously served as president of Harley-Davidson Financial Services, Inc. and board chairman for Eaglemark Savings Bank, which are subsidiaries of Harley-Davidson, Inc. In her eight-year tenure as President, managed loans grew from $1.1 billion to $6 billion and market share grew from 20% to 50%. She also served on the Executive Committee for Harley-Davidson, Inc. and oversaw the creation, development and leadership of Harley-Davidson Enthusiast Services, a collection of service offerings including the motorcycle affinity group (HOG), rider training classes, museum development and web-based commerce. Earlier in her career, Zarcone served as CFO for two successful entrepreneurial startups in technology leasing and financial services, both of which were sold to larger corporations.

Donna received her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and bachelor's degree in Accounting from Illinois State University. She is a NACD Certified Board Director, is credentialed in ESG, holds the CERT Certificate in CyberSecurity Oversight, and is also a CPA.

Throughout her career, Donna has engaged extensively in volunteering and supporting organizations committed to women in leadership roles and has worked to mentor and sponsor talented women leaders for executive and board roles. Donna believes that a truly diverse leadership group is best qualified to make the optimal decisions for growing and building organizations. Donna’s inclusive leadership style and commitment to lifelong learning was profiled in the book, “Women in Business, The Changing Face of Leadership” with the chapter entitled, “Leading a Learning Organization”.

Kirsty Graham is the Global Leader of Sectors and Global Chair of Edelman's Health team; she also sits on Edelman's Executive Leadership Team. Kirsty brings over 25 years of public affairs experience to Edelman, where she leads a diverse team of over 275 public affairs professionals across Edelman’s global network. Together with her team, Kirsty is focused on helping clients – from companies to governments to NGOs – win in the world in which they operate by navigating change, mapping risk, and communicating to their constituents through policy and public affairs campaigns.

Prior to joining Edelman, Kirsty spent 10 years at Pfizer Inc, where she most recently served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs for their Biopharmaceuticals Group. In that role she oversaw the full scope of Corporate Affairs for Pfizer’s innovative medicines businesses, which operate in more than 125 countries and have a portfolio of more than 600 products generating approximately three-quarters of the company’s revenues. Kirsty was previously SVP, Global Policy and International Affairs at Pfizer. Before joining the business world, Kirsty spent 16 years in the New Zealand Foreign Service working on a wide range of economic, security and trade policy issues with responsibilities spanning bilateral relations with China, Japan and the United States. Her diplomatic assignments included a secondment to support the Foreign Minister, Sir Don McKinnon (1994 to 1996), a five year posting to Washington DC (1996-2000), a secondment as Deputy Spokesperson at the British Embassy in Washington (2001), and 5 years as New Zealand’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (2006-2010.)

She holds a BA in English Literature and a postgraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Otago.