WAW Logo Summit White


New York Agenda

Tuesday March 3, 2026

UBS, 11 Madison Ave NY 10010

08:00 – 09:00

Registration, Networking, Meeting and Connections

09:00 – 09:10

Welcome and Setting the Scene

An overview of the day's proceedings from your Co-Chairs
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Mark Rix
CEO, Wellbeing at Work
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Rachel Duncan
Vice President, Regional Management Americas / Chair, dbEnable US, Deutsche Bank
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09:10 – 09:30
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Welcome from our Host

An introduction to the Summit from our Venue Host Partner
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Marc Montanaro
Head of Human Resources, Americas Region, UBS
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09:30 – 10:10

Leadership Panel: Wellbeing as the Power Behind Performance, Culture and ROI

- What is the association between workplace wellbeing and company performance? Beyond ROI – what are the true measures of wellbeing on performance? Where does emotional insight fit when building positive workplace cultures for business impact? What is the value of designing wellbeing programs as integrated experiences that are embedded throughout the employee journey? How can employers truly help people thrive and grow?
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Max Iacocca
Head of Global People Operations, Shutterstock
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Wendy Macias
Head of Benefits, Dropbox
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Candice Chafey
Chief People Officer, Zeta
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Jeanette Bronée
Keynote Speaker, Performance & Wellbeing Culture Strategist, Mindful Leadership & Executive Coach
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Karen Alight

Your Expert Panel Chair:

Karen Alight
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Karen Frost
Senior Vice President, Health & Navigation Solution Leader, Alight
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10:10 – 10:40

Fireside Chat: The Future of Work

Hear from three global experts on the future of wellbeing at work.
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Jen Fisher
Bestselling Author & Founder, The Wellbeing Team
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Will Ajayi
Former Head of Well-Being, Netflix
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Chris Cummings
Founder, Wellbeing at Work
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10:40 – 11:10

Mid morning Conversations & Refreshments

11:10 – 11:35
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We’re Not Built for This: Redesigning Work for Humans

Every major shift in human progress started with measuring what matters: finance for growth, sports for limits, manufacturing for precision. But for work health and wellbeing, we've never truly measured our resilience. That's the next revolution. AI now reveals the unseen—how we behave, move, focus, and recover in daily work, not sporadically but in real time. It's a new era where insights help us overcome burnout, build mental strength, reduce physical strain, and turn productivity into sustainable, vibrant humans.
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Simon Fiechtner
Co-Founder, Deep Care
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11:40 – 12:40

Leadership Workshops

A selection of hosted workshops, showcasing the latest solutions and innovation in employee wellbeing and mental health strategies
Emma Soy

1 - The Hidden Productivity Crisis: How the Sandwich Generation Is Bleeding Your Bottom Line (And What to Do About It)

Uncover the real cost: 73% of your workforce will be caregivers within 5 years, losing 18 hours per week to eldercare crises—that's 23% of their productivity vanishing. Learn how to quantify and address this hidden drain on your organization. - Why your current solutions aren't working: From unused EAP programs to manager training that stops at awareness, discover why well-intentioned benefits fail to prevent burnout, absenteeism, and costly turnover among caregiving employees. - Navigate the generational perfect storm: Gen X leaders managing aging parents while leading teams, Boomers staying longer while juggling eldercare, and Millennials watching how you respond—understand the demographic collision reshaping your workplace. - The Three-Pillar Framework that works: Normalizing caregiving conversations through manager training, providing expert navigation during crisis moments, and building proactive wellness strategies to prevent decline. Walk away with an actionable roadmap. - Implementation strategy for your company: Interactive roundtable discussion where you'll identify barriers specific to your organization, design pilot programs, determine ROI metrics, and create a 90-day action plan to launch eldercare support.
Emma Soy
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Emma Soy, Founder & CEO
Gentle Shepherd Care
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Rajiv Kumar

2 - AI for Employee Wellbeing: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why

AI is creating exciting new possibilities in employee wellbeing—but only when it’s applied in ways that employees actually use and organizations are willing to adopt. This interactive session is for wellbeing, benefits, and people leaders who are considering AI-powered solutions for employee wellbeing and want to understand what’s working in practice, where AI is creating real value today, and how organizations are moving from early experiments to sustained impact. We’ll explore evaluation criteria for AI-native programs, best practices for high adoption, and common missteps to avoid. Attendees will leave with a clear mental model for AI in wellbeing, a practical adoption roadmap, and a framework for measuring impact.
Rajiv Kumar
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Rajiv Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, Goal AI
and Lee Pichette, Co-Founder & COO, Goal AI
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Dr. Sidney Hankerson

3 - Building a Resilient Workplace in Uncertain Times

According to the World Health Organization, about 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety, costing the global economy $1 trillion annually. Some of the biggest factors contributing to these employee mental health challenges are the growing uncertainty of global competition, the rise of AI, and stressors of caretaking responsibilities. Training employees to become more resilient – their ability to bounce back from adversity – is more critical than ever. Thus, the purpose of this breakout session is to provide tactical skills and strategies to create a resilient workforce in uncertain times. Takeaways: 1. Understand the unique work-related stressors that increase risk for depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges 2. Name the 9 core components of resilience 3. Describe three strategies to create a resilient workplace
Dr. Sidney Hankerson
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Dr. Sidney Hankerson
Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
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4 - Proactive HR protects performance before crisis hits

In this workshop we explore: Why burnout isn’t an individual failure — it’s a systems problem HR, with the business, can design against. How life-stage benefits (caregiving, fertility, menopause) reduce compound stress and attrition. The role of managers as early-warning sensors for workforce risk .
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Cassandra (Cass) Pratt
Chief Human Resources Officer, Progyny
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12:40 – 1:35pm

Lunch and Conversation Time

1:35 - 2:00pm

Employer Case Study: Culture is King

2:00 - 2:40pm

Leadership Panel: Wellbeing for All Employees to Prevent Burnout and Improve Engagement

Where does wellbeing intersect with culture? How do organizations achieve wellbeing for all employees? What are some examples that show why wellbeing needs to be addressed from an equity standpoint? How do organizations transcend belonging from the leadership to all employees?
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Keline Adams
Director DEI, Penguin Random House
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Singleton Beato
Global Chief DE&I Officer, McCann Worldgroup
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Kristen Jacob
Associate Director of Wellbeing, EY
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Mira Dewji
Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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Grant Clarke-Crews

Your Expert Panel Chair:

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Grant Clarke-Crews
Director, Social Impact & Inclusion, Cisco
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2:40 – 3:20pm

Leadership Panel: Keeping Work Well: Why Interpersonal Skills are Essential for Mental Health in an AI impacted Workplace

Why must organizations now offer a more fulfilling experience of work in a world of uncertainty? What is the impact of more meaningful and authentic relationships and interactions with colleagues and managers and opportunities to develop and grow both professionally and personally as members of a community with a shared identity and purpose? What is the link between how employees think about what they want and need from work and how they achieve their personal aspirations and collective social goals in the context of accelerating turbulence, uncertainty and social anxiety?
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Suzi Craig
VP of Workplace Mental Health, Mental Health America
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Tanya

Tanya
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Tanya Saffadi
Chief Human Resources Officer, Kushner
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Dr Carla

Dr Carla
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Dr. Carla Natalucci
Clinical Psychologist
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Jillian

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Jillian Morgan
Former Director of Community & Wellbeing, IPG Mediabrands
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Shivan Bhavnani
Partner, evio.vc
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Your Expert Panel Chair:

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Rawle Andrews Jr. Esq
Executive Director, American Psychiatric Association Foundation
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3:20 - 3:40pm

Networking Break & Conversation

3:40 - 4:20pm

Legal Panel: The Pressure We Don’t Talk About: Rethinking Wellbeing in the Legal Profession

This session brings together legal professionals who have lived through, witnessed, or supported others through the demands of working in the legal profession. Through candid stories and grounded insight, the panel will explore how stress becomes normalized in legal culture, how it affects individual and organizational wellbeing, and where meaningful shifts are beginning to take hold.how stress becomes normalized in legal culture, how it affects individual and organizational wellbeing, and where meaningful shifts are beginning to take hold.
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Duane Hughes
Managing Director and Chair, Americas Advisory Council, UBS
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Tarik Gause

Tarik Gause
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Tarik Gause
Associate General Counsel, Business & Legal Affairs (EMEA), Roku
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Myrna Forney

Myrna Forney
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Myrna Forney
Chief Legal Counsel, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
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Your Expert Chair:

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Janet Thompson Jackson
Founder & CEO, Well-Law
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4:20 - 4:50
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The Genius of the AND

Leading Across Contradiction in the Age of AI Outlining the "Speed vs. Soul" philosophy and the Jidoka/Toyota principle
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Chris Schembra, Founder and Chief Question Asker, 7:47 Gratitude Experience™
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4:50 - 5:00pm

Closing Remarks

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WAW Logo Mark
Mark Rix
CEO, Wellbeing at Work
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Rachel Duncan
Vice President, Regional Management Americas / Chair, dbEnable US, Deutsche Bank
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5:00 – 6:30pm

Networking Reception