AESC Global Conference 2018

Rebecca Ray serves as executive vice president, Knowledge Organization, The Conference Board. In this role, she has oversight of the research planning and dissemination process for all three practices areas (Corporate Leadership, Economy & Business Environment, and Human Capital) and is responsible for the research agenda which, in turn, drives much of the business planning process for The Conference Board. She is responsible for overall quality and the continuing integration of our research and engagement efforts. She oversees Ask TCB™ our business information service. Ray is also the leader of the global human capital practice. Human capital research at The Conference Board focuses on human capital analytics, labor markets, workforce readiness, strategic workforce planning, talent management, diversity and inclusion, human resources, leadership development, and employee engagement. In addition to published research, related products and services at The Conference Board include peer learning networks, conferences, webcasts, and experiential and other executive events. Ray hosts the monthly Human Capital Watch™ webcast, which explores current issues, research, and practitioner successes in the field of human capital. She oversees the Human Capital Exchange™, a website that offers research and insights from The Conference Board, human capital practitioners, and our knowledge partners. She created the Senior Fellows program in human capital with some of the profession’s most acclaimed leaders. She is the Director of The Engagement Institute™, a research community of practice she created with Deloitte Consulting and Sirota.

Ray is the co-author of numerous publications with a focus on leadership development and engagement including an employee engagement chapter for the latest edition of the Talent Management Handbook (ATD, 2015). Ray is a frequent speaker at professional and company-sponsored conferences and business briefings around the world. She is often a guest in business media such as Bloomberg TV (Hong Kong and Europe), Bloomberg Radio, and CNBC India. Her research, commentary, initiatives and accomplishments of her various teams have been featured in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and South China Morning Post newspapers as well as in Harvard Business Review, Chief Learning Officer, Leadership Excellence, Training, CIO, Workforce Management, Human Resources, HR Magazine (Hong Kong), Chief Executive Officer, HR Magazine (UK), EMBA Magazine (Taiwan), Bloomberg BNA, People & Strategy (The Professional Journal of HRPS) and Talent Management. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including her co-authored works: Measuring Leadership Development (McGraw-Hill, 2012); Measuring the Success of Leadership Development (ATD, 2014); and Measuring The Success of Employee Engagement (ATD, 2016).

Ray was previously a senior executive responsible, at various times, for talent acquisition, organizational learning, training, management and leadership development, employee engagement, performance management, executive assessment, coaching, organizational development, and succession management at several leading companies. She taught at Oxford and New York Universities and led a consulting practice for many years, offering leadership assessment and development services to Fortune 500 companies and top-tier professional services firms. She was named “Chief Learning Officer of the Year” by Chief Learning Officer magazine and one of the “Top 100 People in Leadership Development” by Warren Bennis’s Leadership Excellence magazine. She serves on the advisory boards for New York University’s Program in Higher Education/Business Education at The Steinhardt School of Education and the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Program in Work-Based Learning Leadership. She was elected to serve on the Business Practices Council of the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). Ray received her Ph.D. from New York University.

Sheena S. Iyengar is the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Columbia Business School. She has taught on a wide variety of topics, including leadership, decision making, creativity, innovation, and globalization.

Considered one of the world's leading experts on choice, Dr. Iyengar’s core research focuses on the psychology of choice and decision-making, addressing how humans face challenges in a world where they are inundated with options. Her research regularly appears in premier academic journals and her book, “The Art of Choosing,” received one of the six Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Books of the Year 2010 awards, and was ranked #3 on the Amazon.com Best Business and Investing Books of 2010. Dr. Iyengar received the Presidential Early Career Award in 2002, and has been voted among the Top 50 most influential business thinkers by Thinkers50 and rated one of the world's best B-School Professors by Poets and Quants. Her research is regularly cited in the popular media, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and BBC. Dr. Iyengar has also appeared on television programs like the Today Show, the Daily Show, and Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on CNN. Her TED Talks have collectively received over five million views and her research continues to inform markets, businesses, and people all over the world.

Dr. Iyengar graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in Psychology and received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Stanford University.

Karen Greenbaum is President and CEO of the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), the global association representing the nearly $13b+ profession worldwide. with membership of 325 firms in 72 countries around the world. AESC’s rigorous Code of Professional Practice and Standards of Excellence guide its members, spanning nearly 1,300 offices in 74 countries and beyond, to serve as strategic advisors on behalf of their clients. AESC members are best positioned to provide companies with a competitive advantage—the ability to find, attract and develop the best talent in the world and ensure that executives are successfully integrated.