2026 HR Professionals Conference
Join us for an engaging conference day Moving Forward Together. Human Resources Professionals will learn from thought leaders, subject matter experts, and fellow HR practitioners focused on the trending topics that are shaping the future of human resources at NC State and beyond. We look forward to seeing you on September 9, 2026 at the McKimmon Training and Conference Center.
Capture the Journey: The HR Time Capsule
Schedule
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Registration 8:00 - 8:30 | Registration & Networking |
| General Session 8:30 - 9:45 (Ballroom) | Moving Forward Together - Welcome - Remarks from Senior Leader Career Panel - Remarks from Tim Danielson |
| Morning Break 9:45 - 10:00 | |
| Concurrent Sessions 10:00 - 11:00 | Advancing People Beyond Algorithms: Engaging a Multi-Generational Workforce Stephanie Davis, Alexa DeFalco Transforming Process Diving into the Messy Middle: Practical Tools for the People Side of Change Genevieve Rockett, Scott O’Leary Digital Acceleration AI Content Design for HR Professionals Amy Flippin Greene Pack Howls: Advancing People Anne White, Kevin Rice, Frank Smith |
| Morning Break 11:00 - 11:15 | |
| Concurrent Sessions 11:15 - 12:15 | Advancing People Creating a Culture of Resilience: How Managers Cultivate Adaptability Merranie Zellweger, Mariana Gallegos Transforming Process Ditch the Monologue: Interactive Tools to Get Every Voice in the Room Chris Vestal Digital Acceleration Power Up Your Productivity with Gemini Katie McInerney Pack Howls: Digital Acceleration Ryan Bernaducci, Morgan Cheek, Jesse Dean |
| 12:15 - 1:15 (Ballroom) | Lunch & Networking |
| Concurrent Sessions 1:30 - 2:30 | Advancing People Stronger Together: Mapping Clifton Strengths to Employee Wellbeing and Retention at NC State David Herpy and Panel Transforming Process Process Improvement Toolkit for HR Professionals Ellen Coster, Avery Tuttle Digital Acceleration Storytelling with HRNow: Using Data to Drive and Influence Work Frank Smith Pack Howls: Transforming Processes Chris Vestal, Doug Rowe, Carrie Baum-Lane |
| HRpalooza 2:30-4:00 (Ballroom) | HRpalooza is your destination for connection, creativity, and community! Explore interactive exhibits hosted by campus partners and vendors, discover valuable resources, and network with colleagues throughout the afternoon. Enjoy hands-on experiences including relaxation stations, a Bloom Bar, jewelry making, a photo booth, visits with the NC State mascot, and unique offerings from vendors like Poetry Fox. You'll also have opportunities to support charitable initiatives while enjoying a fun, interactive atmosphere. The event concludes with closing remarks and exciting prize drawings. You must be present to win, so plan to stay through the end! |
Sessions and Speakers
This year’s conference theme, Moving Forward Together, reflects the many ways HR professionals can drive meaningful impact across people, processes, and technology. Sessions are organized into three learning tracks: Advancing People,Transforming Process, and Digital Acceleration designed to help you tailor your conference experience based on your interests and professional goals. Review the track associated with each session and choose those that best align with the knowledge and skills you want to strengthen.
Concurrent Sessions
| Title | Speaker | Description | Track |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creating a Culture of Resilience: How Managers Cultivate Adaptability | Merranie Zellweger, DELTA, Mariana Gallegos | Change and uncertainty requires teams that can adapt, persevere, and thrive. This session digs into organizational data and the neuroscience of workplace change to show how managers can actively shape a resilient team culture. We’ll cover practical ways to balance team autonomy with alignment, redefine what accountability looks like, and champion prioritization. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of what a resilient team looks like in practice, immediate steps you can take to support your people, and a straightforward plan to foster adaptability in your teams. | Advancing People |
| Beyond Algorithms: Engaging a Multi-Generational Workforce | Stephanie Davis Alexa DeFalco, Learning and Organizational Development | As AI continues to reshape the workplace, HR professionals play a critical role in balancing technology with human connection. This session explores how AI influences employee engagement across generations in higher education. Participants will learn practical strategies to strengthen engagement, improve retention, and foster a more connected, human-centered workplace culture. | Advancing People |
| Stronger Together: Mapping CliftonStrengths to Workforce Wellbeing, Student Success, and Retention at NC State | David Herpy, CALS Extension, Tiffany McLean, Shelton Leadership, Jai Jackson, Outreach and Engagement, Alicia Lecceardone , Wilson’s College of Textile | With global employee engagement sliding to 20% and manager engagement facing a sharp decline, traditional retention tactics are no longer enough. This panel discussion explores how diverse departments across NC State are moving beyond simple "color wheels" and instead using CliftonStrengths as a data-backed tool for wellbeing, staff performance, and student-employee development. Grounded in Gallup's Q12 Employee Engagement framework, our campus panelists will share how they explicitly align daily tasks with what faculty, staff, and student workers do best. Attendees will leave with a practical blueprint to bridge the gap between individual strengths and a thriving university culture. | Advancing People |
| Process Improvement Toolkit for HR Professionals | Ellen Coster Avery Tuttle Learning and Organizational Development | HR professionals play a key role in helping organizations operate effectively and adapt to change. This session provides practical techniques for improving business processes and fostering accountability across teams. Participants will learn how to map workflows, clarify roles using a RACI matrix, and prioritize initiatives with an Impact/Effort matrix, leaving with tools they can immediately apply to increase efficiency, collaboration, and organizational effectiveness. | Transforming Processes |
| Diving into the Messy Middle: Practical Tools for the People Side of Change | Genevieve Rockett, Institutional Effectiveness Scott O’Leary, NC State Continuing and Lifelong Education | Most of us are navigating a change initiative smack in the "messy middle", that critical space where the old way of working has ended, but the new future state hasn't quite taken hold. Join us for a practical working session focused on the human side of transition. We’ll dive into ways to diagnose employee threat responses, align messaging across leadership levels, and empower local champions. You’ll leave with actionable tools to move past friction and anchor lasting change. | Transforming Processes |
| Ditch the Monologue: Interactive Tools to Get Every Voice in the Room | Chris Vestal, Employee Career Development | How do we truly move forward together if our meetings only ever hear from a fraction of the room? Traditional meeting formats often slow us down and leave brilliant ideas on the table. This session is designed for HR professionals at all levels who want to transform everyday processes into inclusive, high-impact collaborations. In this interactive session, you will test-drive simple, field-tested facilitation tools that unlock the collective intelligence of any group, instantly. Come ready to move, connect with your peers, and walk away with fresh approaches that will change how your team works forever. | Transforming Processes |
| AI Content Design for HR Professionals | Amy Flippin Greene, Learning and Organizational Development | AI tools can generate videos, slides, voiceovers, and written content faster than ever. As AI-generated content becomes more available, HR teams face a new challenge: knowing when to use it wisely. This session takes an instructional design approach to examine how factors like audience, brand visibility, emotional weight, and content goals should shape your use of AI in design outputs. | Digital Acceleration |
| Storytelling with HRNow: Using Data to Drive and Influence Work | Frank Smith, HRIMA | Data is more than numbers, it tells the story of how HR serves our campus. In this session, discover how HRNow data can be transformed into meaningful insights that drive decision-making, improve service delivery, and influence organizational change. Through practical examples and real-world scenarios, participants will learn how to move beyond reporting metrics to uncover trends, identify opportunities, and communicate compelling stories that inspire action. Whether you're supporting leadership, improving operations, or measuring impact, this session will equip you with strategies to use data as one of your most powerful HR tools. | Digital Acceleration |
| Power Up Your Productivity with Gemini | Katie McInerney OIT | In this session, discover how to get the most out of Google Gemini and Gemini Notebook (previously NotebookLM). Learn smart prompting techniques and source-based strategies to streamline your workflows, organize information, and enhance your daily productivity. | Digital Acceleration |
Pack Howls
Pack Howls are a series of fast-paced, TED Talk-inspired presentations designed to spark new ideas and practical solutions for HR professionals. Each session features three engaging 15-minute presentations (10-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A), exposing attendees to a variety of timely topics, innovative practices, and fresh perspectives in just one session. In the spirit of our Think and Do culture, every presentation includes at least one actionable tool, strategy, or resource that participants can immediately apply to strengthen their work, teams, and organizations.
| Topic | Speaker | Description | Track |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot: Work Smarter, Not Harder! | Jesse Dean, MCATS | This presentation will show how to get better results from Microsoft Copilot by using effective prompting techniques and refining responses through follow-up prompts. Attendees will also learn practical ways to use Copilot across Microsoft 365 apps to save time, improve productivity, and streamline everyday tasks. | Digital Acceleration |
| AI Governance | Ryan Bernarduci, HRIMA | This session covers how to properly use AI tools in HR to improve daily work activities while focusing on protecting employee privacy. Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of specific employee data domain classification rules, learning exactly which information is safe to input (like job descriptions) and which is restricted (like health or employee performance records). You will also get practical insights for fact-checking AI outputs to ensure quality outputs through human oversight in every decision. | Digital Acceleration |
| The Prompt Framework: A Practical Tool for Better AI Responses | Morgan Cheek, HRIMA | Stop spending time crafting the perfect prompt from scratch. We’ll cover a simple framework that structures your requests for better, more reliable AI responses. You'll leave with a customizable template ready to use for your next task. | Digital Acceleration |
| One Page to Find It All: Building Your HR Resource Hub | Doug Rowe, Poole College of Management | HR professionals spend significant time searching websites, bookmarks, policies, shared drives, and HR systems for information they use every day. Learn how to create a customizable one-page resource hub using Smartsheet or Google Sheets that centralizes your most valuable tools, links, and references into a searchable, easy-to-maintain workspace. You'll leave with a template you can immediately adapt for your own team. | Transforming Process |
| Job Description Makeover | Carrie Baum-Lane, Talent Acquisition | Join this interactive session to learn how intentional messaging and thoughtful structure transform job postings into recruitment tools that connect with the talent you want to hire. | Transforming Process |
| Change the Question, Spark the Progress | Chris Vestal, Employee Career Development | When a process needs fixing, our automatic reflex is to ask, "What’s wrong?" But the fastest way to move forward together is to shift our mental focus to a much more powerful question: "What is already going right?" Welcome to Appreciative Inquiry, an intentionally positive, strengths-based approach to organizational change. Join us for a high impact, 15 minute session where we bypass traditional problem solving and jump straight into asset thinking. You’ll experience firsthand how a simple pivot in your thinking can instantly reenergize a situation, and you'll practice reframing challenges on the spot. You’ll walk away with a fresh perspective and a specific set of forward looking questions to spark positive momentum in your very next team conversation. | Transforming Process |
| Outside of Your Scope: Developing Teams to Grow Beyond their Role Description | Frank Smith, HRIMA | The strongest teams don't just meet expectations; they continuously grow beyond them. This session explores how leaders can intentionally develop employees beyond the boundaries of their job descriptions by creating opportunities for learning, ownership, and innovation. Drawing on real experiences leading cross-functional initiatives and organizational change, participants will learn practical strategies for identifying hidden talent, building confidence, and preparing team members for future opportunities. Leave with actionable ideas to foster a culture where growth, curiosity, and collaboration become part of everyday work. | Advancing People |
| Boost Your EQ-i: Three Simple Habits for Stronger Leadership | Kevin Rice, Learning and Organizational Development | Emotional intelligence is one of the strongest predictors of leadership success, and small changes can make a big difference. In this fast-paced session, you'll discover three practical strategies to strengthen your EQ-i, improve relationships, and lead with greater self-awareness and impact. Leave with simple techniques you can apply immediately at work. | Advancing People |
| Making the Most of HR Academy | Anne White Learning & Organizational Development | Discover how HR Academy helps HR professionals build the foundational knowledge needed to succeed at NC State. You'll learn how to navigate the program's resources and use a practical tool to create a focused learning plan for yourself or others. | Advancing People |
2026 Conference Recap
Conference Photo Gallery
