[IN-PERSON SESSION IS FULL] Ally/Change Agent/Culture Keeper: The Roles We All Have As Leaders
Growing in your career includes raising your awareness of and increasing the impact of your actions on others. How can you be intentional about building and sustaining a great culture that will drive your business results while attracting and retaining the best talent? This session will explore the essentials of building a strong culture, specific skills professionals at all levels can practice everyday and actions you can practice being an ally.
Speaker
Jennifer Goodwin
Jennifer Goodwin is a Senior Director in the Talent and Performance department at Northwestern Mutual. In her current role, she leads Employee Relations and Culture Strategy for the company’s salesforce.
Jennifer graduated from Marquette University for both her undergraduate and law degrees. For over eight years, she practiced employment law in a boutique labor and employment law firm. However, driven by a newfound interest in the field of human resources from working with her clients, Jennifer made a bold career transition to Northwestern Mutual.
During her journey, Jennifer’s passion for company culture was ignited when she pursued an Organizational Development Certificate at UWM School of Continuing Education in 2011. It was during this time that she encountered an influential instructor who instilled in her the belief that “one person can change the culture of a company.” This realization fueled Jennifer’s dedication to cultivating positive and impactful work environments.
Laila Valters
Laila has 26 years of experience at Northwestern Mutual and is currently VP – Field Talent. In this role she leads the overall strategy and support for Northwestern Mutual’s exclusive distribution system growth, including Talent Acquisition and Growth, Field Training, Field D&I and Leadership Development.
Prior to this role Laila was Regional Vice President for the East Region of Northwestern Mutual, with overall accountability for the performance of the Eastern Region across all sales, leadership & culture, financial results, distribution growth and securities supervision.
Laila joined Northwestern Mutual in 1997 as a Customer Service Representative and has been promoted through successive roles in sales support, compliance, supervision and continued working with the field to advance the culture, sales and community impact of Northwestern Mutual. Her career included time in as Vice President – Corporate Strategy / Transformation where she developed a new enterprise-wide approach to change management to enable the enterprise to increase the success of the strategic plan.
Laila holds a B.A. degree in Political Science and French from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, where she achieved an Honors Diploma and Phi Beta Kappa. She holds an M.A. from Marquette University in Dispute Resolution. She completed the Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion Leadership at Cornell in January 2021 and Leading Organization Change at Wharton Executive Education in 2018. She is a Fellow of Life Management Institute (FLMI) and is S6, 26, 7, 24 and 66 qualified.
