The 2023 ERG International Symposium
100% Virtual | July 11, 2023
Featuring Special Guests
Brooklyn Dicent
Chief Happiness Officer Brooklyn Dicent has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS and dozens of podcasts championing the power of a positive mindset as a critical component for health and wellness. Now, she brings The Science of Happiness, live, to ELA's virtual stage.

Melissa Stockwell
Veteran, mom and Paralympian Melissa Stockwell is the first female soldier to lose a limb in active combat and was awarded both The Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. This three-time Paratriathlon World Champion and USA Triathlon’s female Paratriathlete Of The Year for two consecutive years has some things to say about balance and she'll be with us live, to share it with you.

2023 PROGRAM AGENDA
All times are EDT
9:00 AM - 9:05 AM Welcome!
9:05 AM - 9:20 AM The ERG is Right - The Best Practices Learning Game!
9:20 AM - 9:30 AM Facilitated Networking
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM PANEL: Balancing Your Hired Job With Your ERG Work with guest experts from Xerox, Hagerty, and WPS Health Solutions
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM Self-Coaching: How Will You Achieve and Maintain Balance for Yourself?
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CHOOSE A WORKSHOP
- Defining Your Group's Purpose, Leadership Roles and Process
- Recruiting & Onboarding Members, Leaders & Executive Sponsors
- Selecting Programming that Best Supports Your Members, Diversity & Business
- Oversight Managers Only: Recognizing & Rewarding ERG Leaders
12:00 - 12:30 PM LUNCH/BREAK & Optional Software Demo
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM The Science of Happiness: with Chief Happiness Officer, Brooklyn Dicent, M.Ed.
Brooklyn teaches organizations how to become culture curators and growth facilitators by embracing joy at work. She's appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS and dozens of podcasts championing the power of a positive mindset as a critical component for health and wellness.
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM CHOOSE A WORKSHOP
- Informing & Engaging All of Your Group’s Stakeholders
- Collecting and Reporting Critical Group Metrics
- Ensuring Your Own & The Leadership Team’s Development
- Oversight Managers Only: Balancing Oversight with Encouraging ERG Leader Autonomy
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM Balance Is a Verb: with veteran, mom and Paralympian, Melissa Stockwell
Melissa is the first female soldier to lose a limb in active combat and has been awarded both The Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. Participating as a swimmer in the Beijing Paralympics, Melissa then became a three-time Paratriathlon World Champion. She was named USA Triathlon’s female Paratriathlete Of The Year for two consecutive years and was twice nominated for an ESPY award.
3:05 PM - 3:15 PM Closing Remarks
Why attend the ERG Symposium?
- Build and confirm your ERG plans and priorities in morning and afternoon workshops using The ERG BlueprintsTM.
- Gain new insights and strategies to balance your ERG and other work and reduce burnout.
- Connect and collaborate with other ERG champions who are as dedicated to this work as you are.
Who attends the ERG Symposium?
- Leaders of individual employee groups
- Program managers who oversee multiple ERGs
- Executive sponsors and allies working with ERGs
- Other members of the HR and DE&I community who are involved in diversity and inclusion efforts–including, but not limited to employee resource group initiatives.
Registration Details
Tickets are $695 per person. Ticket sales end on Monday, July 10th at 5pm ET.
Discounts
If you have access to ELA Online as part your membership, you'll find a discount code inside for 20% off your individual ticket.
If you are bringing >5 people to the Symposium, contact us for group ticket pricing.
Refund Policy
Virtual tickets may be refunded until 9am ET on July 4, 2023.
Disability Access
Closed captioning will be enabled for all sessions.
Panelists:
Balancing Your Hired Job with Your ERG Work

Mary Garcia
Director of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at Hagerty Insurance
Mary leads the strategy and execution to increase diversity & employee volunteerism to foster a culture of belonging across the company.

Ryan Crozier
Program Manager, US Federal Operations at Xerox
Ryan currently serves as the Global President of GALAXe, Xerox' LGBTQ+ ERG, having held various other roles within the ERG Executive Board. Additionally, he is actively involved in promoting gender diversity and serves as the Co-Chair for The Women's Alliance as a Global Manbassador (Male Ally) and as the Chair for the company-wide DEIB events called "All of Us Together."

Mandi Costic
Compliance Specialist at WPS Health Solutions
Mandi also serves as the chairperson for ABLE (disability and mental health ERG) and the co-lead for Generation-ALL (professional development ERG).
Workshop Facilitators, Moderator & Host

Zarita Fears
Facilitator & Certified Expert ERG Trainer
Zarita is an Independent DEIB Consultant and has helped build an award-winning, global DEI program for Nashville’s largest private employer and supported Asurion, Border States Electric, The Center for Reproductive Rights, Pillsbury Law, The Center for Nonprofit Management and others.

Marinda Monfilston
Faciliator & Certified Expert ERG Trainer
Marinda oversees 8 affinity groups as the Senior Diversity Coordinator of the Yale University Office of Diversity & Inclusion. She also voluntarily leads the Future Leaders of Yale Community Outreach & Civic Engagement Committee, Yale African American Affinity Group Professional Development Committee, and was the Founding Chair of the Working Women’s Network Recognition Award Committee.

Kimberly Tate
Facilitator & Certified Expert ERG Trainer
Kimberley is a career coach and diversity, equity, and inclusion advocate. She has helped organizations launch and grow Dep initiatives including Dell Technologies, doTERRA, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Asurion, and
Big Brother Big Sister of Middle TN

Host Alyssa Dver
Alyssa is the founder and chair of the ERG
Leadership Alliance, and also leads the
American Confidence Institute, which delivers
brain science-based training and keynotes. ERG Intelligence: What every leader needs to know about employee groups is her
8th expert-endorsed book.

Moderator Kristy McHugh
Kristy is ELA’s Client and Community Experience Manager and brings
expertise launching and managing community-based and ERG programs for Shift.org and Global Monday.
Feedback from past events
Martina Hranova
Inclusion and Diversity Champion at NortonLifeLock
"It was amazing! Thank you! I have to say I was skeptical - some of these forums are nice to have, but you don’t walk away with much more than an uplifting feeling that lasts one day. I loved the participants and the takeaways!"
Ninh Nguyen
DEI Program Manager at Foursquare
"I learned so much in how to engage executive sponsors, and I’m super excited about implementing some of the things I learned today into our ERG programming for 2022. You and your team were able to secure a great lineup of speakers."

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