Shannon Allen is the SAS Senior Director of Employer Branding and HR Communication - two fields that typically don't go together. But SAS wants its teams to understand that HR is not just about hiring and firing - it's about intentionally building a culture with values and a mission that everyone can get behind. And that culture has led SAS to be named a Best Workplace in Technology by Fortune in 2021.

"If you're not intentional about the culture you're creating, it will create itself." Jackie Ferguson is the co-founder of The Diversity Movement, and she's seen companies want to build a culture that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. But sayig so in a press release is one thing - how do corporations truly make lasting change happen? And then for smaller companies, how do they get started from the ground up?

No one can do it all, but so often, we feel like we have to be the best mother, the best employee, the best friend...the best everything. But Brittany Harris Flowers, Communications Leader at Enact Mortgage Insurance, talks about why that's simply not possible. Plus fighting imposter syndrome and taking risks in your career.

Dr. Debbie Granick's Power Presentation on Mental Health and Restoring Well-Being had everyone on their feet, smiling, and motivated to take care of self moving forward. But in this new hybrid work model with more responsibiliites, more doubt, more inner voice telling us we're not good enough, taking care of self isn't easy. Today, Dr. Granick gives us some tips on how we can all be kinder to ourselves.

According to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Segment CFO of Government Markets Dr. Endya Perry, "You can close that window and you can close every door in this place, but it's not going to stop me because my dreams are too big to be contained in one building. You didn't create me. So you can't confine me. You didn't design me. So you can't deny me." Powerful message from Dr. Perry, who today is joined by fellow Blue Cross NC executive Reagan Greene Pruitt, Vice President of Marketing and Community Engagement. Together, they discuss the culture at Blue Cross NC that empowers women to thrive in leadership.

Association of Junior Leagues International CEO Patsy Doerr delivered the keynote speech at Executive Women's Day presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina at the SAS Championship, sharing her three-pronged approach to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Today, Patsy unpacks the keynote and discusses some of the challenges of DEIB.