ISA SUMMER SESSIONS
How to Build a Culture of Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion & Belonging (DEI&B)

Building Inclusive Climates, Intentionally

Your workplace is a robust ecosystem comprised of individuals with different roles and responsibilities. Each day, your team members bring their personal and professional backgrounds & experiences with them, adding perspectives and beliefs from their lives that can be very similar AND very different from your own.

How does this mix of people and belief systems impact the climate of your organization and your clients’ experiences of your company?

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are critical to every organization’s sustainability. The trick is to understand the real (and sometimes less obvious) value of creating an inclusive climate and examining how you fit into the equation.

Join Ellen Feldman Ornato, Founding Partner & CMO of the Bolder Company, and Yvonne Alston, Chief Culture Architect & CEO of Indelible Impressions Consulting as they help session participants better understand:

• The role of leadership in building a strong, truly inclusive team
• Keys to developing one’s DEIB journey through knowledge, experience sharing, and practice
• How to increase empathy and compassion to build organizational strength
• Ways to build muscle memory for new perspectives and behaviors

Yvonne  Alston (She/Her/Hers)

Chief Culture Architect & CEO, Indelible Impressions Consulting

Yvonne Alston is an unapologetically authentic amplifier and advocate for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. She established Indelible Impressions Consulting to advance important conversations, education, and competencies to help organizations understand the importance of culture and its impact on the human experience. Her firm and team focus on centering the employee experience, amplifying personal and professional value, and inspiring hearts and minds as they challenge systems of inequity, champion dimensions of diversity, and drive inclusive practices holistically.

Ellen Feldman Ornato (She/Her/Hers)

Partner & Chief Marketing Officer, The Bolder Company

Ellen has extensive experience working in manufacturing, building essential supervisory and leadership skills with leadership teams and individuals. She is bilingual (English/Spanish) and has facilitated conversations about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging since 1997. Ellen is a certified facilitator of Unconscious Bias through the Cook Ross Institute and has worked extensively with the Anti-Defamation League. She blends her knowledge of diversity-related content and Unconscious Bias with a passion for equity and justice, to create challenging content that focuses on behaviors that impact inclusion in workplaces.

Ellen Feldman Ornato has a diverse work background that includes stints as a city planner, an economic development official, and a marketing director in a large retail chain. She is an entrepreneur at heart and owned a DEI-focused learning company prior to launching Bolder Company with Jenny Drescher in 2014.

Reimagining DEIB from Intention to Impact

Over the past few years, the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) has been increasing for every industry. Can the supply chain industry lead the way by embracing DEIB efforts and commit to transformative change?

This session will provide insight on how to shift from having intentions about DEIB to truly integrating a people-first culture where DEIB is woven throughout the fabric of your organization throughout all key moments of the employee lifecycle to drive impact and innovation while creating a sustainable workforce.

Ashley Marie Fernandez (She/Her)

Corporate Change Agent and CEO, Ashley Marie Coaching

Ashley Marie is the CEO of Ashley Marie Coaching, a career development, and personal growth company and the hype woman everyone wants in their corner. She is a smartly disruptive thought leader changing the consciousness conversation in corporate organizations and her approach when working one on one with clients has been described as “the loving and radically honest person you need to actually get out of your own way”. She is a Professional Certified Career Coach by an ICF-accredited program and a trauma-informed mindset practitioner. She leverages her background in psychology, people/talent strategy, and DE&I to help individuals and organizations cultivate best practices for career development. A sought-after speaker, who has performed keynote addresses, workshops, and breakout sessions for audiences ranging from 5 – 500+ attendees across a number of events such as WomenTech Conference, Go All in Fest and has been featured in outlets such as Business Insider, Yahoo, and SHRM. Ashley has a no-nonsense and practical approach blending strategic insights, quantum physics, and metacognition to provide a transformation that is the foundation for personal and professional growth for individuals and organizations.

DEIB Insights from ISA Members: A Panel Discussion on Lived Experiences

This panel discussion will feature ISA members sharing their personal experiences related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the workplace. The panelists will discuss challenges they have faced, lessons they have learned, and strategies they have used to navigate DEIB issues. Attendees will gain powerful insights and perspectives on DEIB initiatives and this impacts employees personally and professionally.

Shernale Kenney (She/Her)

Vice President, Supply Chain, Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

Robert Farmer II

National Sales Manager, BAHCO, Snap-on Incorporated

Brittany Benoit

Territory Sales Manager, Relevant Industrial, LLC

Sonia Timmons

Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis, Vallen Distribution

Sonia Timmons, Vallen’s Vice President of Finance, has oversight and responsibility for Vallen’s financial & data analysis, planning, reporting, and modeling. She has been a part of Vallen for 15+ years. Sonia is passionate about DEIB and understands the importance to her organization’s people strategy. Her efforts include the establishment of the Women Employee Resource Group and Black Employee Resource Group at Vallen.

Sonia is based in Charlotte, NC, and is the Advancement & Equality committee leader for ISA Women In Industry.

Molly Langdon

Senior Vice President of Customer Experience, Stellar Industrial

Molly Langdon has been with Stellar Industrial Supply, Inc. since 1999 and is currently the Senior Vice President of Customer Experience.  With 20+ years in the industrial supply space, she has had experience in roles that include Product Management, Branch Management and Operations Management and loves leading teams and developing people.  She is the Executive Quality Management Representative responsible for leading Stellar’s AS9120B/ISO9001:2015 related initiatives and certification audit team. Molly has a passion, experience and skillset dedicated to creating continuous improvement in the areas of core function and measurement tools, and Lean focused customer service and operations processes.

Molly is an active mentor within and outside of Stellar, focusing on the professional and personal development of other women and emerging leaders within the industrial space.  She is the Chairperson of the Women in Industry Network within ISA and was a member of the WISE network since 2012.