Event Categories: Leadership

Featured Speakers

Regina Gordin, Deputy Managing Director, EXIM

Regina Gordin joined EXIM Bank in November of 2009 and is the Deputy Managing Director, Eastern Region.  Prior to joining the Bank, Regina spent seven years as Senior Vice President at Broad Street Capital Group, where she originated and managed a wide variety of international project finance and export finance transactions. Before joining Broad Street she was a VP and Senior Financial Advisor at Wachovia, The Bank of New York and Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group. Regina holds a BBA in Finance from The Wharton School and an MSOD in Global Management and Leadership from the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ali Natale, Senior International Trade Specialist,  U.S. Commercial Service Philadelphia

Ali Natale is a Senior International Trade Specialist with the U.S Department of Commerce – U.S Commercial Service Philadelphia. Ali covers the Education, Textiles, Chemicals, Automotive, and Consumer Goods industries, working closely with U.S. businesses to assist them in growing internationally and identify sales opportunities around the world.  

Prior to her time at the U.S. Commercial Service, she worked in the chemicals industry, where she most recently held a Product Management role, specializing in managing product portfolios and leveraging and transferring technologies and products across global regions. 

Ali was also a previous intern with the U.S. Commercial Service, where she supported efforts to connect U.S. products with international buyers.  Ali graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in International Business and minors in Spanish and Economics and is a NASBITE Certified Global Business Professional.

Ed Schick, Export Finance Manager, U.S. Small Business Administration Pittsburgh

Ed joined the Office of International Trade team in October 2021. Prior
to joining the SBA, Ed worked at several regional banks marketing
different trade finance programs with an emphasis on doing business
in Latin America. Among his responsibilities was to promote US exports
by offering financing to foreign buyers purchasing US made
equipment. At the SBA, Ed is responsible for promoting SBA’s three
core export programs to businesses and lenders in Pennsylvania,
Delaware and southern Ohio. He also works with the Resource
Partners throughout his footprint. Based in Pittsburgh-PA, Ed is fluent
in Portuguese and proficient in Spanish.

Featured Speakers

C. Anwar A Chahal, MD, PhD, FACC, MRCP, FESC
Cardiac Electrophysiologist
Co- Medical Director of Precision Medicine at WellSpan Health 
Principal Investigator, The Gene Health Project at WellSpan

Dr. Anwar Chahal is a board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist with expertise in cardio-genetics. He is originally from the UK, studying at the University of Leeds School of Medicine, followed by an internal medicine residency at King’s College Hospital London, and fellowship in cardiology at Barts Heart Centre and University College London. He was then granted a PhD from Mayo Clinic, an American Heart Association-funded fellowship, before completing a clinical fellowship in cardiac electrophysiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. As the director of the Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases at WellSpan Health, Dr. Chahal is driven by a fascination with science and genetics combined with service to humanity. He is the principal investigator of The Gene Health Project.

David G. Kann, MD, MPH, FACC
Preventive Cardiologist
Co-Medical Director of Precision Medicine at WellSpan Health
Co-Principal Investigator, The Gene Health Project at WellSpan

Dr. David Kann is a board-certified cardiologist specializing in prevention. He went to medical school at Hahnemann University School of Medicine, followed by an internal medicine residency at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh. He then completed a fellowship in cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania. He was granted a master’s degree of public health from Columbia University and is a diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Lipidology. As a lipidologist, Dr. Kann helps people with complex lipid problems. Dr. Kann is the co-medical director of the Precision Medicine program at WellSpan Health. He shares Dr. Chahal’s fascination with science and the commitment to serve humanity.

Featured Speakers

Geoff Moomaw is the President of Interstate Tax Service and they have been representing employers regarding unemployment matters since 1943.  He is a graduate of Widener University and has been appointed by 2 governors to the UC Advisory Council.  In addition, he has testified before both the PA House and Senate Labor & Industry committees multiple times, worked with the Chamber’s governmental affairs office since the early 1990s and was on the committee that worked with L&I on the UC benefit web portal.  Finally, he has been to more UC hearings than he is able to count. 

Maria Macus was appointed Deputy Secretary for Unemployment Compensation (UC) Programs for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in February 2023.  In this position, she is responsible for the administration and oversight of the Commonwealth’s UC Programs, including the Office of UC Benefits Policy, the Office of UC Service Centers, and the Office of UC Tax Services.  Prior to this appointment, Maria served as the Deputy Chief Counsel for UC, having come to that position from the Department of Corrections (DOC), where she served as counsel in the litigation section, representing DOC employees in litigation before state and federal courts. Maria graduated from Elizabethtown College, summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. She received her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University.  In her free time, Maria enjoys running, reading, and spending time with her cats, Mitzi and Bernie.

Featured Speakers

Melissa Early works for Truist as a Senior Career Program Manager leading early career programs for the Leadership Development Program, Enterprise Track and FSE (Financial Services Enterprise) Interns. Prior, she worked as a DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Consultant for 5 years, focused on creating and implementing the organization’s BRG (Business Resource Group) strategy. Melissa also worked in Operational Risk Management and Mortgage Operations. She joined Truist in 2012 from Toys R Us and Babies R Us where she managed a tri-state region of stores for HR and Asset Protection.

In 2021, Melissa and her BRG Co-Chair coordinated the inaugural Carolinas Veterans Day Festival in partnership with Truist and Veterans Bridge Home. In 2023, the event was elevated to include a benefit concert presented by Truist and home giveaway in partnership with True Homes, a Truist client. This is now an annual event for all generations, abilities and backgrounds that celebrates and honors veterans, service members and their families. She was recognized with the 2020 Council of Korean Americans Empower Award. Melissa has also been a Truist Performance Awards nominee consecutively for 5 years and earned a Presidential Volunteer Service Award for 7 consecutive yrs. In 2019, she relocated to Charlotte, NC from Richmond, VA where she served as a board member on the VCIC’s State Board and Richmond Advisory Chapter, YWCA Young Women’s Leadership Alliance, Equality Virginia – VA Competes Advisory Board, Girls on the Run
Richmond, United Way Young Leaders Society and Family Lifeline’s YP. Melissa also served as a board member for PFLAG Charlotte (2021-22). Currently, she and actively supports many non-profits in the Carolinas, to include Veterans Bridge Home, VOWS (Veterans on Wall Street), and NAAAP (National Association of Asian American Professionals).

Karen Grant is the Managing Director of Corporate Human Resources at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts (HE&R). Working with company leadership, she ensures the action and sustainability of vital human resource initiatives and programs across the organization. Karen holds her PHR and SHRM-CP certifications. 

For more than 22 years, Karen has been a member of the HE&R HR team. She joined the company in 2001 as an intern while studying Business Administration at Lebanon Valley College where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree with concentrations in both Human Resources and Marketing in 2002. 

During her tenure with HE&R, Karen has been nominated seven times for the Legacy of Excellence Award, the company’s highest level of peer-to-peer recognition. In addition to her daily responsibilities leading the HR team, Karen supports HE&R’s Core Purpose of providing value to Milton Hershey School (MHS) by serving as a mentor to a student in the Mentoring Our Leaders’ Development (M.O.L.D.) program. Karen is also a member of the organization’s Workforce Inclusion Committee and DE&I Council.

Lorelee Isbell serves as the Associate Vice President for Career and Workforce Development at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. In this leadership position, she drives strategic initiatives that strengthen career readiness, broaden workforce development opportunities, and contribute to regional economic growth by attracting and retaining top talent in South Central Pennsylvania. With her expertise in higher education, Lorelee plays a key role in bridging the gap between education and employment, advancing programs that prepare students for successful careers while fostering partnerships with industry leaders.

Lorelee’s professional journey includes 23 years of service with the Office of the Chancellor for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. During this time, she led strategic efforts at higher education centers in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, enhancing access to education and providing premier spaces for business and organizational events. Her work centered on building collaborative relationships across the 14 State System universities to deliver impactful continuing education and workforce development programs.

Beyond her role at Shippensburg, Lorelee actively engages with the community through leadership roles on various committees, including Leadership Harrisburg Area, South Central PA Works, and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. She also serves on the board of directors for Community Carepoint. Lorelee holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Messiah College and a master’s degree in organizational development and leadership from Shippensburg University.

As senior vice president, work-based learning, Laura Love leads Strada’s work-based learning agenda, which focuses on paid internships and apprenticeships that help students connect their education to their career aspirations. Love’s work emphasizes ways to scale paid, quality work-based learning experiences across the United States and focuses on the research, policies, and practices needed on a national level to achieve systems change.

Before joining Strada in May 2024, Love served as a partner at Grads of Life, an initiative of the national workforce development nonprofit organization Year Up, where she worked to advise large employers on inclusive talent strategies.

Love spent 10 years at Year Up and Grads of Life, its consultancy arm. In 2014, Love helped launch Grads of Life as a national communications campaign with the Ad Council, focused on changing public narratives about young people who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market. Following the campaign, Love played a key role in leading Grads of Life’s strategic growth and impact, supporting the creation of a consulting practice, and developing a research and thought leadership strategy. Earlier in her tenure at Year Up, Love developed a blueprint for program expansion, overseeing the launch of Year Up’s first employer-based training model in partnership with multinational toy maker Hasbro.

Love also led international expansion projects for global nongovernmental organization Ashoka, based in Singapore. She connected social entrepreneurs with seed funding, built strategic partnerships with business leaders, philanthropic entities, and nongovernmental organizations, and helped secure support to expand the organization’s presence into Malaysia.

Love holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Oxford’s Said Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in international studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Angela “Angie” Meyers is the Director of Talent Acquisition at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts (HE&R). Angie’s passion for HE&R’s Core Purpose of providing value to Milton Hershey School (MHS) has kept her engaged and driven throughout her 25 years with the company. Before her appointment to lead company-wide talent acquisition efforts in 2022, Angie was the Director of Revenue Management & Reservations. Throughout her tenure with HE&R, Angie held various roles in the Reservations department. 

Angie is a proud member of the HE&R-MHS Partnership Committee which drives engagement for HE&R team members with the School. She serves as the Board President of Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), Central PA Chapter. Breakthrough T1D is the leading global organization harnessing the power of research, advocacy, and community engagement to advance life-changing breakthroughs for type 1 diabetes (T1D). 

Angie recently earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Elizabethtown College.

Nichole Torpey-Saboe is Vice President of Research for Strada Education Foundation. She provides leadership and support in designing and producing original research aligned with Strada’s strategic pillars and facilitates collaboration and collective impact across the field to improve equitable pathways to opportunity through postsecondary education and training. Key research projects include the State Opportunity Index, alumni outcomes studies with more than 70 institutions, and Strada’s Public Viewpoint research series to track the impact of the pandemic on education and the workforce. Prior to joining Strada in 2018, she worked as an independent consultant, advising higher education, nonprofits, and local government on research, evaluation, and strategy. She is the author of the book Measuring Education Inequality in Developing Countries (Springer, 2018). Torpey-Saboe holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Colorado Boulder and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Georgetown University

Featured Speakers

Christina McKinley is an experienced trial lawyer and appellate specialist, serving in Babst Calland’s Litigation, Energy and Natural Resources, and Environmental groups. Ms. McKinley currently serves as co-chair of the Firm’s Litigation Group. Ms. McKinley continually strives to provide business-focused solutions to her clients and routinely serves as a general advisor, counseling clients on day-to-day legal and business questions involving any number of issues. Her practical, proactive approach to problem-solving allows her to provide solutions to clients in a variety of industries. Her experience spans a wide range of industries, including chemicals, manufacturing, retail, energy, and environmental.

As a litigator who focuses on complex commercial matters, Ms. McKinley’s trial litigation practice encompasses all phases of litigation, from early alternative dispute resolution through post-trial motions. She has concentrated experience in complex purchase agreement and commercial contracts disputes, environmental statutes, protection of competitive interests (e.g., Lanham Act, unfair competition, tortious interference, trade secret protection, restrictive covenants), technology disputes (e.g., software services and license agreements), and corporate governance. She has tried numerous cases to verdict.

Notwithstanding her significant first-chair trial experience, Ms. McKinley’s passion lies in the appellate realm. An experienced appellate litigator, Ms. McKinley has practiced before the United States Supreme Court at every stage of the process, including the briefing and preparation of two merits cases that were argued before the Court. She also has briefed and prepared cases for argument before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Sixth, and D.C. Circuits, and she has argued numerous cases before the Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court. Her appellate practice spans a range of substantive fields, including intellectual property, immigration, tax, bankruptcy, and criminal law. In addition, her appellate practice frequently involves challenges to regulatory action and agency decision-making via petitions for review, complex statutory construction issues, and the intersection of regulation and policy.

Sonal Parekh is an associate in Lamb McErlane’s Health Law Department. Sonal’s practice is focused on healthcare transactional matters and a broad range of healthcare regulatory-related issues on behalf of healthcare systems, physicians, dentists and other healthcare providers. Sonal has experience in:

• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a myriad of healthcare related contracts, including employment and service agreements, confidentiality disclosure agreements, shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, collaborative practice agreements, and clinical study agreements;
• Drafting and reviewing various agreements and governance documentation related to mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic transactions, corporate restructuring, and general corporate matters;
• Filing motions and appeals relating to Needs Exception Allowances; and
• Filing applications and certificates relating to Licensure, Recognition of Tax Exemption under Sections501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) of the IRC, Medicare and Medicaid Enrollment, Provider-Based Attestations, and Tax Clearance Certificates.

In addition to her legal practice, Sonal actively engages in numerous professional organizations. Sonal is a member of the American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division (YLD) where she serves as Chair of the Health Law Committee, a Liaison for the Health Law Section and an Early Career Representative for the Life Sciences Interest Group. She is also a member of the, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Chester County Bar Association, Philadelphia Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association, and American Health Lawyers Association. She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Sonal is based at the firm’s West Chester, PA location.

Erin J. McLaughlin, a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Group, handles complex employment matters and provides strategic, day-to-day guidance to employers on their personnel matters. Erin helps her clients in numerous industries with employment litigation, litigation avoidance, effective employee training, and positive employee relations. 

Throughout her career, Erin has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® consistently since 2016 under the Employment Law – Management in Litigation – Labor and Employment categories and recognized by Chambers USA as an up-and-coming Labor & Employment lawyer in Pennsylvania in 2023.

Erin works with clients in the technology services, higher education, oil and gas, telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, pharmaceutical sales, construction, transportation, sports, retail, manufacturing, gaming and entertainment, financial services, retail, and nonprofit industries. In addition to her private sector clients, Erin works with universities, local authorities, municipalities, and public schools.

Erin is a frequent lecturer on various employment topics at conferences across the country, such as the Pennsylvania Society for Human Resource Management’s Annual State Conference, and is a contributing author to well-regarded publications such as the Pennsylvania Employment Law Deskbook.

David R. Fine heads the appellate practice at K&L Gates LLP. Based in Harrisburg, David practices in appellate courts around the nation including, in the last two years, the federal Third, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth and D.C. Circuits and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Oregon Supreme Court, the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Delaware Supreme Court. David currently serves as the president of the Third Circuit Bar Association and as a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a Master’s degree from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law.