Global Benefits Conference
Shaping for Change
May 13-14, 2025 | San Jose
Learn | Explore | Network
Explore two parallel tracks and click on the buttons below to access the agenda details.
Conference Sessions
Day 1 - May 13
8:15 AM - 9:00 AM
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM
Breakfast and Networking
2025 Global Benefits Conference: Shaping for Change
Welcome!
Speaker Details
Full Name
Lisa Yee
Job Title
President and CEO
Company
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Biography
Lisa Yee is the President and CEO of SVEF, based in Northern California, leads and engages with employers and partners to drive change in global benefits. She enjoys spending time with her family and two rescue dogs, Daisy & Gryffin, volunteering with animal rescue organizations, traveling, and baking.
9:10 AM - 9:55 AM
Brands: Why They Matter and How to Build Them Globally
Presented by Segal Benz and AMD
Just like mass marketers have long understood the importance of strong brand identities, organizations that value their people, culture and benefits invest in internal brands too. Internal brands help to garner employees’ attention and ultimately better engage them in your programs.
Dana Shay, Director of Global Benefits at AMD, and Bridget O’Meara, VP at Segal Benz, will speak about how they led the implementation of a new global Total Rewards brand, tightly aligned with their external brand, across over 35 countries and 30,000 employees. They will share how AMD’s internal brand was created and initially introduced through a revamp of their Total Rewards SharePoint site. You’ll learn how the brand supported and enhanced strategic campaigns including U.S. benefits enrollment, the value of using time-off benefits and recharging, and most recently on communications introducing a new, global mental health provider.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Bridget O'Meara
Job Title
Vice President and Senior Consultant
Company
Segal Benz
Biography
Bridget has nearly 30 years of experience in strategic employee communications. As an award-winning communicator, she’s passionate about providing employees and their families with simplified, easily digestible communications that helps them improve their physical, emotional and financial health. At Segal Benz she currently works with Sandia National Laboratories, University of Idaho, AMD, and several multi-employer clients. Between stints at Segal Benz, Bridget worked with The Boeing Company for more than 12 years communicating the company’s employee benefits, with an emphasis on well-being communications. Bridget also founded and oversees all marcom work for The Mend a Heart Foundation, a non-profit supporting children born with congenital heart defects.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Dana Shay
Job Title
Director of Global Benefits
Company
AMD
Biography
Dana Shay is the Director of Global Benefits at Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and has almost 25 years of experience leading global benefits and wellbeing initiatives across numerous industries. In her role at AMD, she helps to create an environment where top talent can do their best work by driving strategic planning and design for benefit programs globally. In addition, she oversees all domestic and global vendors, ensures programs are current with regard to trends and practices, and manages program cost and vendor support. Prior to joining AMD, Dana held leadership positions at WTW, Panasonic Avionics and Qualcomm.
10:00 AM - 10:40 AM
Employee Values vs. Employer Priorities
Presented by Aon
Insights from our recent study indicate that employers are falling short of of their employees expectations. This session will cover how employers can adapt and better align with organizational and workforce needs to help attract and retain the workforce they need.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Andrew Cunningham
Job Title
Chief Commercial Officer, Human Capital Solutions EMEA
Company
Aon
Biography
Andrew has over 20 years’ experience working with Aon’s large multinational clients in various industries and has held senior leadership positions across the human capital area. Andrew currently leads all commercial activities across our various human capital solutions across the EMEA region.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Gareth Williams
Job Title
West Region Global Benefits Leader
Company
Aon
Biography
Gareth Williams, West Region Global Benefits Practice Leader. Gareth has over 20 years of experience consulting with west coast based multinational clients. He has extensive experience supporting organizations across their global benefits strategy and governance needs including benchmarking, M&A, wellbeing and global financing, and currently leads the Global Benefits team in the West.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Jane Rozina
Job Title
West Region Health Solutions Leader
Company
Aon
Biography
Jane has over 20 years of experience consulting with large complex clients, focusing on technology and health care sectors. Jane currently serves as Health Solutions practice leader for Aon’s West Region where her responsibilities include the development and management of innovative, high value, best-in-class solutions, services and capabilities to meet the needs of Aon’s diverse clients.
10:40 AM - 10:55 AM
Networking Break and Vendor Showcase
11:00 AM - 11:40 AM
Employer only breakout sessions
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Networking Lunch and Vendor Showcase
1:05 PM - 1:45 PM
Measuring Caregiver Health for Savings
Presented by Cleo and Genentech
Nearly three-quarters of the workforce are caregivers in some capacity, balancing work with caregiving responsibilities. As the population continues to age, this number will only rise. How can employers address this challenge? This presentation will explore strategies for employers to reshape their benefits offerings, leverage a population health framework to improve overall well-being, utilize a comprehensive benefits ecosystem, and transform their strategy into one that delivers measurable ROI.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Madhavi Vemireddy
Job Title
Chief Executive Officer
Company
Cleo
Biography
Madhavi Vemireddy, MD is Cleo’s CEO, she has oversight of clinical and product strategy, product development, program outcomes, member operations, business intelligence and marketing teams. She previously served as Cleo’s Chief Clinical Officer. Madhavi is board-certified in Internal Medicine and has over 20 years of experience in advanced clinical analytics, population health programs, and digital health products. Madhavi joined Cleo through the CareTribe acquisition, where she was the cofounder and COO. At CareTribe, Madhavi applied her population health experience and her personal journey of caregiving for her eldest son to support family caregivers, irrespective of age or condition. Prior to CareTribe, Madhavi was Chief Medical Officer and Head of Product at ActiveHealth Management and Head of Program Design for Aetna Care Management (both CVS Health companies), where she led the development of digital health products, evidence-based analytics and services that served over 22 million Americans.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Joshua Freund
Job Title
Senior Benefits Manager
Company
Genentech
Biography
Joshua Freund is a Senior Benefits Manager at Genentech/Roche focusing on healthcare innovation, data analytics and mental health programs. Prior to joining Genentech Josh spent 8 years at Jazz Pharmaceuticals building a long term healthcare strategy that prioritized access to early intervention and preventive programs as a way to improve the employee healthcare experience and to control costs to employees and to the organization. Josh is extremely passionate about ensuring the healthcare system works to improve the health of the people it serves.
Josh graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Redlands. When he isn't spending time thinking about where healthcare is going in the future he's hanging with his wife and kids or out hiking through the wilderness.
1:50 PM - 2:30 PM
Food is Medicine: Harnessing Technology and Innovation for Employee Health
Presented by Kaiser, Instacart and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
With the prevalence of chronic conditions and rising healthcare costs, employers are seeking impactful strategies to enhance employee health and productivity while managing expenses. This session will explore the transformative potential of “Food is Medicine” programs, which emphasize the role of nutrition in preventing and managing chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Discover how innovative technologies and data-driven insights are revolutionizing the implementation of Food is Medicine programs, leading to more effective interventions and improved workforce health and business outcomes.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Pamela Schwartz, MPH
Job Title
Executive Director, Community Health
Company
Kaiser
Biography
Pamela Schwartz, MPH, is executive director of community health for Kaiser Permanente. She leads a broad portfolio of work in the areas of highest need among Kaiser Permanente members and its communities, including food, housing, and financial security. Pam oversees Kaiser Permanente’s $50 million Food Is Medicine commitment to improve access to healthy food in communities as part of the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Health Communities. She leads the new Kaiser Permanente Food Is Medicine Center of Excellence, which she helped create to more fully integrate food and nutrition into health care delivery and to drive the uptake of Food Is Medicine programs across the nation. An experienced leader in health care and community health, Pam has served on many advisory committees and expert panels, and she is currently on faculty at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in the Department of Health System Science.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Sarah Mastrorocco
Job Title
Vice President and General Manager of Health
Company
Instacart
Biography
Sarah Mastrorocco is Vice President and General Manager of Health at Instacart. A longtime Instacart veteran and leader, Sarah oversees Instacart Health, an initiative designed to support businesses, nonprofits and consumers across three key areas: increasing nutrition security, inspiring healthier choices, and scaling food as medicine programs. Sarah has played an integral role at Instacart since joining as the first member of the company’s business development team in 2014. During her tenure at Instacart, she’s taken on various leadership positions across Business Development, Account Management, and Catalog. Prior to her current role, Sarah oversaw and scaled Instacart’s Pickup business.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Brandon Batiste
Job Title
Vice President, Health Care Innovation Morgan Health
Company
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Biography
Brandon Batiste is the Vice President of Health Care Innovation at Morgan Health, where he drives the adoption of innovative partnerships and solutions to improve health outcomes as well as the quality, affordability, and equity in employer-sponsored healthcare. His focus areas include primary care, cardiometabolic conditions, and mental health.
Prior to joining Morgan Health, Brandon worked at Cityblock Health, leading efforts to build and optimize high performing provider networks. As the former Chief Operating Officer of the DC Connected Care Network, he successfully implemented programs focused on total cost of care reduction, ER diversion, and care transitions. Brandon has held leadership roles with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Evolent Health, Magellan Health and The Johns Hopkins Health System. His portfolio includes expertise in private equity, value-based payment, business development, population health and practice transformation.
Brandon is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Fellow and has been honored for his leadership as the 2020 Young Healthcare Executive by the National Association of Health Services Executives; Xavier University of Louisiana, 40 under 40 alumni honoree; and 2019 40 under 40 honoree with the National Minority Quality Forum. His population health experience is also represented through work in Haiti, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Belize. Brandon received his Bachelor of Science degree from Xavier University of Louisiana, his Master of Public Health degree from Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, is FinTech certified from the Harvard Business School, and completed his administrative fellowship with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Health System.
2:35 PM - 2:50 PM
Networking Break and Vendor Showcase
2:50 PM - 3:30 PM
Global Wellbeing: Standards, Data, Impact
Presented by Inflection and NVIDIA
Discover how leading organizations are revolutionizing employee benefits by addressing global minimum standards. This session dives into the real data driving real outcomes, tackling crucial topics like menopause, family-building, and managing loss. Inflection’s co-founder, Jake Anderson, will guide you through the strategies that are shaping the future of employee well-being, providing actionable insights to elevate engagement, boost retention, and create a future-proof benefits strategy that helps close health disparity gaps across the globe. This session reveals how trailblazing companies are harnessing data to create meaningful employee outcomes through global minimum standards. We’ll explore globally impactful yet locally managed issues, from menopause and divorce to family-building and loss.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Jake Anderson-Bialis
Job Title
Co-founder
Company
Inflection
Biography
Jake is the co-founder of Inflection, a global digital education platform that deliver
expert fertility, reproductive health, and family-building information to diverse users in 70+ countries and regions. Inflection was founded in 2015 and has been an important pillar in employers' global well-being offerings. Jake is a resident of New Zealand and the United States. He is a member of fertility societies in Europe (ESHRE), Asia (ASPIRE) and is on the guideline committee for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). He oversees Inflection's global course-building initiatives in 5 countries/regions and speaks both Russian and English. Jake is an expert speaker on the topic of diverse family-building, and he has hosted multiple events with the Human Rights Campaign(HRC) In April, Jake hosted an executive discussion on the new Corporate Equality Index criterion alongside HRC with a few hundred participants.
He is a graduate of Duke University (BA, Russian Studies, summa cum laude) and Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar, top 5% of class).
He is a proud father of 3 children, and 10+ year member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Jim Ingolia
Job Title
Global Benefits Lead
Company
NVIDIA
Biography
Jim joined NVIDIA in 2020. Prior to NVIDIA, he worked at WTW both on the East Coast and in the Bay Area, consulting with large employers on various strategic initiatives. Originally from the Philadelphia area, he now resides in San Francisco.
3:35 PM - 4:15 PM
Supporting Women with Holistic Benefits
Presented by Progyny
In today’s evolving healthcare landscape, organizations must rethink their approach to women’s health by developing comprehensive benefit strategies that address access, quality of care, and coverage complexities. For example, while 50% to 80% of women with pelvic floor pain have endometriosis, it often remains undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years, with an accurate diagnosis taking up to eleven years from the onset of symptoms.
In this session, attendees will learn more about:
- The unique health challenges women face, from reproductive health to chronic conditions, and the importance of specialized care in meeting these challenges head-on.
- Common pain points and knowledge gaps in the member experience when dealing with complex health conditions, leading to long-term health risks and increased claims impact.
- How to integrate expert support in key areas with lifestyle initiatives to create a robust framework that empowers women to take charge of their health.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Julie Stadlbauer
Job Title
Chief Business Development Officer
Company
Progyny
Biography
Julie brings over two decades of strategy and leadership in business development at notable healthcare start-ups and some of the world’s largest health insurance companies. She leads a diverse team focused on Progyny’s strategy and growth execution across key partnerships, industry groups, and employer sales.
Julie is passionate about Progyny’s mission and pairs her experience with employers, benefit consultants, and health plans to ensure that everyone has access to a comprehensive and supported fertility and family building benefit. Julie has been with Progyny since 2017, prior to joining Progyny, Julie held various roles at Cigna, Bloom Health, and ConsumerMedical.
4:15 PM - 4:20 PM
Closing remarks
Speaker Details
Full Name
Barbara Thompson
Job Title
Director
Company
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Biography
Barbara Thompson, Director, based in Northern California, leads SVEF's data analytics & insights and strategic planning. She has held various roles in global and US benefits. She enjoys time with family and friends, reading, exploring hiking trails in her hometown, and is an avid animal lover.
4:20 PM - 6:00 PM
Networking Reception
Generative AI: Transforming HR and EX
Opening by BrightPlan
Generative AI is leading the charge in transforming HR practices for both teams and employees in 2025. Building on our collaboration with Stripe at SVEF last year, where we unveiled insights from the Financial Wellness Barometer Survey, highlighting the increasing expectation among global employees for employers to support their financial well-being. As generative AI continues to gain momentum, employees now demand highly personalized financial guidance, tailored to local regulations and available when they need it. This presents a significant challenge for lean HR teams tasked with enhancing wellness strategies to boost employee productivity, engagement, and retention.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Joelle Vail
Job Title
Chief Revenue Officer
Company
Brightplan
Biography
Joelle leads the direct sales, partnership and client success teams for BrightPlan. Joelle has a track record of successfully scaling organizations from startup to enterprise, taking early-stage companies to over $100 million in revenue and enterprises from $100 million to $2 billion in revenue. Most recently, Joelle was Chief Operating Officer for Capital Factory and has also held senior level and executive positions at Paychex and Ascentis.
Day 2 - May 14
8:15 AM - 9:00 AM
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM
Breakfast and Networking
2025 Global Benefits Conference: Shaping for Change
Welcome!
Speaker Details
Full Name
Christi Williams
Job Title
Associate Director
Company
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Biography
Christi Williams, Associate Director, based in Northern California, leads Marketing and Communications initiatives with an emphasis on events, member services, and strategic and innovation partners. She brings diverse experience in technology, health care, and financial services to this role. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling and spending quality time with her family.
9:10 AM - 9:50 AM
Beyond Compensation: Employee Benefits as a High Performing Work System
Presented by Benifex and Flutter
Global benefits and the technology behind them have evoloved from traditional compensation to dynamic systems driving organizational growth and innovation.
In this compelling new talk, award-winning psychologist, bestselling HR author, and Chief Innovation Officer at Benifex, Gethin Nadin, will be joined by global benefit expert Elaine O’Donnell from Flutter. As the world’s largest online betting and iGaming operator, Flutter serves over 23,000 employees worldwide and is implementing advanced benefits technology across regions including the UK, Bulgaria, India, Spain, and expanding further across Europe and Latin America.
This session will explore how a high-impact benefits architecture transforms benefits from being solely compensation-focused to becoming a high-performance work system. Learn how personalized, flexible benefits technology can amplify performance, reduce turnover, improve wellbeing, and enhance employee satisfaction, backed by real-world examples and data.
In this session, attendees will learn more about:
- The measurable, evidence-based impact of benefits on organizational success.
- The Performance Amplification Framework and its role in leveraging benefits for wider organizational goals.
- The critical importance of benefits technology in today’s workplace, and how global organizations like Flutter are using benefits as a lever for high performance.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Gethin Nadin
Job Title
Multi-Award-Winning Psychologist, two-times bestselling HR Author and Chief Innovation Officer
Company
Benifex and Zellis
Biography
Gethin is an award-winning psychologist, bestselling HR author, and one of the world’s most influential HR thinkers. Gethin was awarded seven trophies in 2024 for his work in influencing the global HR industry, most recently awarded two prestigious Stevie’s awards in New York for HR Thought Leader of the Year and HR Professional of the Year. He was also awarded PwC’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’ at the 2024 The Rewards in London. Gethin is also a Fellow at the historic King’s College London, King’s Business School - a business school in the top 1% globally.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Elaine O’Donnell
Job Title
Director of Benefits & Reward Projects
Company
Flutter
Biography
Elaine O’Donnell is a seasoned reward leader with over 15 years of experience in compensation and benefits. Currently serving as the Director of Benefits & Reward Projects for Flutter Functions and having lead Reward across several Divisions within Flutter Entertainment Plc, Elaine has significant expertise in leading reward strategies in complex matrixed environments. Elaine has been instrumental in shaping and executing the company's reward strategy alongside driving strategic projects to ensure alignment of benefits and reward systems to Flutter’s organisational goals.
In her current role, Elaine’s key focus has been to accelerate the roll out of Benefex’s OneHub platform across the Group whilst leveraging Flutter’s size and scale to identify and deliver value to the Flutter Divisions.
9:55 AM - 10:40 AM
Operationalizing Whole Health: From Vision to Reality
Presented by Elevance Health
Learn how Elevance Health is successfully operationalizing their whole health approach. This session will detail the practical steps they’ve taken, defining whole health and focusing on the use of measurement tools, research-based best practices, and collaborative strategies that have integrated whole health into their operations. Discover actionable insights that can help you leverage similar methods to improve health.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Dr. Melissa Clarke, M.D., CMQ
Job Title
Chief Health Equity Officer
Company
Elevance Health
Biography
Dr. Melissa Clarke, M.D., CMQ, is Chief Health Equity Officer at Elevance Health, where she leads our crucial efforts to advance health equity, reduce disparities, and meet health-related social needs for the people Elevance Health serves. Drawing on 20 years’ experience as a physician, plus an extensive background in community health and academia, she brings a transformational vision to our industry-leading work. Dr. Clarke is highly regarded for her expertise in the fields of population health, healthcare delivery and reform, as well as her extensive work in health equity and health literacy. In 2023 she received the Joseph R. Biden Jr Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service.
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Networking Break and Vendor Showcase
11:05 AM - 11:35 AM
Employer only breakout sessions
11:40 AM - 12:40 PM
Networking Lunch and Vendor Showcase
12:45 PM - 1:25 PM
Employer Leadership in Mental Health Access & Responsibility
Presented by Johnson & Johnson
Mental health is a critical workforce issue, impacting employee wellbeing, productivity, and business outcomes. As mental health challenges arise, employers play a pivotal role in ensuring access to care, reducing stigma, and implementing effective mental health benefits.
1:30 PM - 2:10 PM
AI + Member Engagement in Cardiometabolic Health
Presented by Teladoc Health and Cisco Systems
Most people are familiar with AI-driven recommendations when it comes to streaming shows and social media algorithms. How effective are these recommendations when it comes to driving behavior change to improve cardiometabolic health? In this session, experts will share how precise [successful] AI models are becoming when it comes to virtual care management programs for people for diabetes and heart health, and what to look for when evaluating a cardiometabolic program for your organization.
Key takeaways:
- How AI models work to enhance member engagement in cardiometabolic care programs.
- Outcomes observed.
- Key indicators to ensure AI models are trustworthy, secure, and used responsibly.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Nabomita Dutta
Job Title
Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer for US Group Health
Company
Teladoc Health
Biography
Nabomita Dutta is the Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer for US Group Health, the business unit at Teladoc Health that partners with plan sponsors to bring Teladoc’s full portfolio of virtual-first solutions to 94M members. With twenty years of experience in strategy, partnerships, and product at the intersection of healthcare and technology across organizations such as UnitedHealth Group, Oscar Health and Uber Health; Nabomita plays a pivotal role in driving US Group Health’s growth and innovation priorities aligned to Teladoc Health’s long-term growth goals. Nabomita received an MBA from the University of Michigan and Bachelors degrees in Chemical Engineering and Economics from U.C. Berkeley and is passionate about leveraging technology to transform healthcare delivery and improve access to quality care.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Scott Floyd
Job Title
Global Benefits Leader, People & Communities
Company
Cisco Systems
Biography
As an HR leader at Cisco Systems, Scott brings experience as a benefits and human resources leader with expertise in enterprise-wide program strategy and execution, including employee engagement programs and service delivery model changes. He is recognized for transformational outcomes deployed across business operations, HR service delivery models, and HCM solutions in the health care industry and employer sponsored plans.
Currently, Scott is Senior Director, Global Benefits for Cisco Systems where he oversees benefits globally. He leads a team of 50+, including market responsibility for Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and Greater China. He directs strategy, design oversight, and delivery of high touch, personalized benefits programs in more than 95+ countries as well as oversees the fiduciary regulatory programs and participates in enterprise key committees.
Before joining Cisco Systems, Scott was an executive at Kaiser Permanente, where he was responsible for benefits design, delivery experiences, and change management over program-wide employee benefit programs. In addition, he contributed to the organization labor strategy, employee engagement, and employee service center.
Scott is active in his community as a volunteer, supporting numerous charitable organizations. Other passions include mentoring college students, early career professionals, and small businesses. For personal wellbeing, Scott is a passionate trail runner and may be found on Mt Diablo trails rain or shine.
2:15 PM - 2:55 PM
Coming soon
2:55 PM - 3:10 PM
- Global benefits certificate awards
- Raffle
- Closing remarks
Speaker Details
Full Name
Lisa Yee
Job Title
President and CEO
Company
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Biography
Lisa Yee is the President and CEO of SVEF, based in Northern California, leads and engages with employers and partners to drive change in global benefits. She enjoys spending time with her family and two rescue dogs, Daisy & Gryffin, volunteering with animal rescue organizations, traveling, and baking.
Learning Practice
Day 1 - May 13
8:15 AM - 9:00 AM
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM
Breakfast and Networking
2025 Global Benefits Conference: Shaping for Change
Welcome!
Speaker Details
Full Name
Lisa Yee
Job Title
President and CEO
Company
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Biography
Lisa Yee is the President and CEO of SVEF, based in Northern California, leads and engages with employers and partners to drive change in global benefits. She enjoys spending time with her family and two rescue dogs, Daisy & Gryffin, volunteering with animal rescue organizations, traveling, and baking.
9:10 AM - 9:55 AM
Benefits Session: Brands: Why They Matter and How to Build Them Globally
Presented by Segal Benz and AMD
Just like mass marketers have long understood the importance of strong brand identities, organizations that value their people, culture and benefits invest in internal brands too. Internal brands help to garner employees’ attention and ultimately better engage them in your programs.
Dana Shay, Director of Global Benefits at AMD, and Bridget O’Meara, VP at Segal Benz, will speak about how they led the implementation of a new global Total Rewards brand, tightly aligned with their external brand, across over 35 countries and 30,000 employees. They will share how AMD’s internal brand was created and initially introduced through a revamp of their Total Rewards SharePoint site. You’ll learn how the brand supported and enhanced strategic campaigns including U.S. benefits enrollment, the value of using time-off benefits and recharging, and most recently on communications introducing a new, global mental health provider.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Bridget O'Meara
Job Title
Vice President and Senior Consultant
Company
Segal Benz
Biography
Bridget has nearly 30 years of experience in strategic employee communications. As an award-winning communicator, she’s passionate about providing employees and their families with simplified, easily digestible communications that helps them improve their physical, emotional and financial health. At Segal Benz she currently works with Sandia National Laboratories, University of Idaho, AMD, and several multi-employer clients. Between stints at Segal Benz, Bridget worked with The Boeing Company for more than 12 years communicating the company’s employee benefits, with an emphasis on well-being communications. Bridget also founded and oversees all marcom work for The Mend a Heart Foundation, a non-profit supporting children born with congenital heart defects.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Dana Shay
Job Title
Director of Global Benefits
Company
AMD
Biography
Dana Shay is the Director of Global Benefits at Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and has almost 25 years of experience leading global benefits and wellbeing initiatives across numerous industries. In her role at AMD, she helps to create an environment where top talent can do their best work by driving strategic planning and design for benefit programs globally. In addition, she oversees all domestic and global vendors, ensures programs are current with regard to trends and practices, and manages program cost and vendor support. Prior to joining AMD, Dana held leadership positions at WTW, Panasonic Avionics and Qualcomm.
10:00 AM - 10:40 AM
Learning Practice: Why You Are Here
Presented by Silicon Valley Employers Forum
In this introductory session, Richard Polak will present the overall goals and expectations you will receive from completing this course. This will set the pace for an interactive experience; a collegial atmosphere; a safe place where everybody can participate and contribute. In fact, participation is encouraged…and will even be required at the end where you will be asked to present as part of a team in breakout groups. This is all in the spirit of “we can all learn from each other.”
10:40 AM - 10:55 AM
Networking Lunch and Vendor Showcase
11:00 AM - 11:40 AM
Learning Practice: Primer for Some; Refresh for Others
- ABC’s of International Employee Benefits (IEB)
- Basics of the world, benefits, type of employees, etc.
Here are the basics. You will learn what makes a high-tech company unique in the world of global benefits. We will go over the key differences of employee benefit plans/schemes for sales, engineers, leadership, and admin, including for local nationals, expatriates, and third country nationals, and what defines them. We will explore the basics of financing your benefit plans, the value of consolidating insurances and retirement trends. You will find you won’t need to be an expert to understand Social Security, mandatory programs, and benefit plans worldwide.
11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Networking Lunch and Vendor Showcase
1:05 PM - 1:35 PM
Learning Practice: Social Security and Mandatory Programs
- The difference in social systems around the world
- Mandatory programs which may or may not be government provided
Employers must consider not only the local laws of their international employees but also the culture and expectations employees have from their high-tech employers in each country. This session will review how social and cultural expectations will affect the supplemental employer-provided benefits within high-tech companies. As an example, while there is a National Health System (NHS) in the UK, how will this integrate with private employer-sponsored medical plans (PMI), which virtually all high-tech companies provide? This session will address the different requirements from country-to-country, financing, taxation, and labor and environmental regulations.
1:40 PM - 2:30 PM
Learning Practice: What Do the Typical High-Tech Employers Provide?
- Occupational plans around the world
- Benchmarking
- Well-being offerings
Benchmarking is a practice that gives high-tech companies an accurate idea of how they measure up against the competition. When you understand how your benefits stack up against other companies, you can better market your business. This session explores the benchmarking process, the differences in each company and country, how to differentiate yourselves amongst the competition, and where you could be wasting money and where you can save.
2:35 PM - 2:50 PM
Networking Break and Vendor Showcase
2:50 PM - 3:30 PM
Benefits Session: Global Wellbeing: Standards, Data, Impact
Presented by Inflection and NVIDIA
Discover how leading organizations are revolutionizing employee benefits by addressing global minimum standards. This session dives into the real data driving real outcomes, tackling crucial topics like menopause, family-building, and managing loss. Inflection’s co-founder, Jake Anderson, will guide you through the strategies that are shaping the future of employee well-being, providing actionable insights to elevate engagement, boost retention, and create a future-proof benefits strategy that helps close health disparity gaps across the globe. This session reveals how trailblazing companies are harnessing data to create meaningful employee outcomes through global minimum standards. We’ll explore globally impactful yet locally managed issues, from menopause and divorce to family-building and loss.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Jake Anderson-Bialis
Job Title
Co-founder
Company
Inflection
Biography
Jake is the co-founder of Inflection, a global digital education platform that deliver
expert fertility, reproductive health, and family-building information to diverse users in 70+ countries and regions. Inflection was founded in 2015 and has been an important pillar in employers' global well-being offerings. Jake is a resident of New Zealand and the United States. He is a member of fertility societies in Europe (ESHRE), Asia (ASPIRE) and is on the guideline committee for the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). He oversees Inflection's global course-building initiatives in 5 countries/regions and speaks both Russian and English. Jake is an expert speaker on the topic of diverse family-building, and he has hosted multiple events with the Human Rights Campaign(HRC) In April, Jake hosted an executive discussion on the new Corporate Equality Index criterion alongside HRC with a few hundred participants.
He is a graduate of Duke University (BA, Russian Studies, summa cum laude) and Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar, top 5% of class).
He is a proud father of 3 children, and 10+ year member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Jim Ingolia
Job Title
Global Benefits Lead
Company
NVIDIA
Biography
Jim joined NVIDIA in 2020. Prior to NVIDIA, he worked at WTW both on the East Coast and in the Bay Area, consulting with large employers on various strategic initiatives. Originally from the Philadelphia area, he now resides in San Francisco.
3:35 PM - 4:15 PM
Learning Practice: What About Our Expats, RTW, WFA?
- Different types
- How, when, or if to convert to local nationals
- Trend amongst high-tech peers
- What benefits should I provide?
This session will start with providing you with all the areas of managing an expat’s expectations and how these benefits differ from local nationals and home country benefits. In addition, you’ll understand the reasoning behind offering an expat package and what is generally included in a high-tech environment.
Return to Work and Work from Anywhere:
- Definitions and how it varies from company-to-company and country-to-country
- Legal challenges
- Comp and benefit challenges
In this session, we will focus on how remote work is a working style that allows professionals to work outside of a traditional office environment and is becoming more and more common. This continues to be challenge for HR. The opportunities and challenges with remote work are still being fleshed out. Each company is different. This session will not only examine flexible working arrangements and the implications for employees and employers, but the common misconceptions. We’ll discuss what others in the high-tech space have done to solve this complex issue and present studies that show the most optimal result.
4:15 PM - 4:20 PM
Closing remarks
4:20 PM - 6:00 PM
Networking Reception
Generative AI: Transforming HR and EX
Opening by BrightPlan
Generative AI is leading the charge in transforming HR practices for both teams and employees in 2025. Building on our collaboration with Stripe at SVEF last year, where we unveiled insights from the Financial Wellness Barometer Survey, highlighting the increasing expectation among global employees for employers to support their financial well-being. As generative AI continues to gain momentum, employees now demand highly personalized financial guidance, tailored to local regulations and available when they need it. This presents a significant challenge for lean HR teams tasked with enhancing wellness strategies to boost employee productivity, engagement, and retention.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Joelle Vail
Job Title
Chief Revenue Officer
Company
Brightplan
Biography
Joelle leads the direct sales, partnership and client success teams for BrightPlan. Joelle has a track record of successfully scaling organizations from startup to enterprise, taking early-stage companies to over $100 million in revenue and enterprises from $100 million to $2 billion in revenue. Most recently, Joelle was Chief Operating Officer for Capital Factory and has also held senior level and executive positions at Paychex and Ascentis.
Day 2 - May 14
8:15 AM - 9:00 AM
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM
Breakfast and Networking
2025 Global Benefits Conference: Shaping for Change
Welcome!
Speaker Details
Full Name
Christi Williams
Job Title
Associate Director
Company
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Biography
Christi Williams, Associate Director, based in Northern California, leads Marketing and Communications initiatives with an emphasis on events, member services, and strategic and innovation partners. She brings diverse experience in technology, health care, and financial services to this role. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling and spending quality time with her family.
9:10 AM - 9:50 AM
Beyond Compensation: Employee Benefits as a High Performing Work System
Presented by Benifex and Flutter
Global benefits and the technology behind them have evoloved from traditional compensation to dynamic systems driving organizational growth and innovation.
In this compelling new talk, award-winning psychologist, bestselling HR author, and Chief Innovation Officer at Benifex, Gethin Nadin, will be joined by global benefit expert Elaine O’Donnell from Flutter. As the world’s largest online betting and iGaming operator, Flutter serves over 23,000 employees worldwide and is implementing advanced benefits technology across regions including the UK, Bulgaria, India, Spain, and expanding further across Europe and Latin America.
This session will explore how a high-impact benefits architecture transforms benefits from being solely compensation-focused to becoming a high-performance work system. Learn how personalized, flexible benefits technology can amplify performance, reduce turnover, improve wellbeing, and enhance employee satisfaction, backed by real-world examples and data.
In this session, attendees will learn more about:
- The measurable, evidence-based impact of benefits on organizational success.
- The Performance Amplification Framework and its role in leveraging benefits for wider organizational goals.
- The critical importance of benefits technology in today’s workplace, and how global organizations like Flutter are using benefits as a lever for high performance.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Gethin Nadin
Job Title
Multi-Award-Winning Psychologist, two-times bestselling HR Author and Chief Innovation Officer
Company
Benifex and Zellis
Biography
Gethin is an award-winning psychologist, bestselling HR author, and one of the world’s most influential HR thinkers. Gethin was awarded seven trophies in 2024 for his work in influencing the global HR industry, most recently awarded two prestigious Stevie’s awards in New York for HR Thought Leader of the Year and HR Professional of the Year. He was also awarded PwC’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’ at the 2024 The Rewards in London. Gethin is also a Fellow at the historic King’s College London, King’s Business School - a business school in the top 1% globally.
Speaker Details
Full Name
Elaine O’Donnell
Job Title
Director of Benefits & Reward Projects
Company
Flutter
Biography
Elaine O’Donnell is a seasoned reward leader with over 15 years of experience in compensation and benefits. Currently serving as the Director of Benefits & Reward Projects for Flutter Functions and having lead Reward across several Divisions within Flutter Entertainment Plc, Elaine has significant expertise in leading reward strategies in complex matrixed environments. Elaine has been instrumental in shaping and executing the company's reward strategy alongside driving strategic projects to ensure alignment of benefits and reward systems to Flutter’s organisational goals.
In her current role, Elaine’s key focus has been to accelerate the roll out of Benefex’s OneHub platform across the Group whilst leveraging Flutter’s size and scale to identify and deliver value to the Flutter Divisions.
9:55 AM - 10:40 AM
Learning Practice: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
- Pre
- Post
Due diligence is often overlooked as an important part of acquiring a company. Understanding the possible risks of mergers and acquisitions beforehand can increase confidence and deal success. By acquiring these skills, you’ll be a great asset to your organization. We’ll use a case study to review the pre and post phases of M&A. By the end of this session, you’ll feel like you’ve just been through a merger!
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Networking Break and Vendor Showcase
11:05 AM - 11:35 AM
Learning Practice: Yes, Some People Do Want to Retire
- Saving for the future
- Are there any Defined Benefit plans left in the world of high-tech
- What are the best practices
In some parts of the world, most employees rank retirement as among the most important type of benefit an employer can offer. Most, if not all, of the legacy defined benefit plans in the high-tech world have been wound-up and grandfathered. The world of defined contribution plans has many variations and certain governments are requiring auto enrollment to be provided by employers. There are several types of schemes that are necessary to complete a competitive benefit package for your employees. We will discuss all of them and help you prepare what’s best for your company.
11:40 AM - 12:40 PM
Networking Lunch and Vendor Showcase
12:45 PM - 1:25 PM
Learning Practice: Help Please
- Sources of information
- Hiring a Consultant and Global Benefits Management
- Third-party vendors/suppliers
With all the information online, how do you know if you’re using a reliable source? How do you know what sources you can trust and where to find them? This session will give you information to trusted, reliable, and credible resources to take with you on your job.
1:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Learning Practice: How Do I Pay for This?
- Financing the benefits
- Fully insured, Pooling and Captives, Self-Insurance
The most efficient means of financing and funding your benefit plans are critical. This session will help you with all the alternatives available for each bracketed organization (size and risk). In this session, you’ll learn how to optimize your spending through alternative financial vehicles. At the end of the session, you’ll understand each option and a direction of what will be best for your company.
2:15 PM - 2:55 PM
Learning Practice: A Day in The Life plus a Team/Breakout Session
- Journey through real life
- Data privacy
- Unions and Works Councils
- Travel and security
- Best means to add values to your company
We will conclude our course by reviewing what you have learned and how to apply this knowledge to your company. With these skills, you will be able to impact productivity, financial responsibility and help your organization attract and retain talent. The final assignment will be a team’s approach to real life cases based on what you learned in the past two days.
2:55 PM - 3:10 PM
- Global benefits certificate awards
- Raffle
- Closing remarks
Speaker Details
Full Name
Lisa Yee
Job Title
President and CEO
Company
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Biography
Lisa Yee is the President and CEO of SVEF, based in Northern California, leads and engages with employers and partners to drive change in global benefits. She enjoys spending time with her family and two rescue dogs, Daisy & Gryffin, volunteering with animal rescue organizations, traveling, and baking.