Nathaniel Alston is the President & Founder of THE HORIZONS GROUP, Inc., a human capital consulting firm specializing in human resources strategic planning, succession planning, talent acquisition, executive search, business coaching, and management/leadership development training.Nat has over 40 years of executive level and mid-level human resources experience in a variety of positions covering such industries as financial services, health care, hospitality, food service, food distribution, and higher education, local and state government.Prior to the December 2000 founding of The Horizons Group, Nat was the Vice President of Human Resources for State Employees Credit Union of Maryland. In that capacity he directed the overall human resource function for the largest credit union in the State of Maryland. With over 450 employees and one billion dollars in assets, Nat was part of the senior management team that set the strategic direction for the credit union.Before joining SECU, Nat was the Regional Director for Human Resources for Service America Corporation, a major food service contractor. In that capacity, Nat supervised a team of 4 and was responsible for the company’s largest regional human resources function, which consisted of approximately 8,000 employees in 16 states.Nat has been employed by The Marriott Corporation as Corporate Manager of Employee Relations and Manager of Employment, by Holiday Inns, Inc. as Manager of Employment, by Baptist Memorial Hospital Health Care System as Manager of Human Resources, by PYA Monarch a division of Sara Lee Corporation as Manager of Corporate Employee Relations, and by The HBH Corporation as an Overseas Recruiter.Prior to entering corporate America, Nat spent 10 years in Law Enforcement serving as a Maryland State Police Officer, a Prince George’s County Police Officer and as Director of Public Safety, Bowie State College (now Bowie State University).In 1998, Nat along with twelve other senior human resources’ executives founded the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources. In 2001 he was elected as the National President. This is an organization which represents over 15,000 African American Human Resource professionals in 30 cities. In 2007 Nat was bestowed the Lifetime Member Emeritus designation of the organization. In 2013, Nat was elected Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources.Nat was also the 2010 – 2012 President of The University of Maryland University College National Alumni Association. The Alumni Association represents over 120,000 UMUC Alumni.Nat is the President & Founder Ujamaa Business Network, a board member of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum and the Chair of the Howard County Maryland Equal Business Opportunity Commission.Nat was a weekly contributor to radio station WEAA, Morgan State University on Mondays on the Sandy Mallory Show with his “Tips to Elevate Your Career” and a frequent presenter at the “Moneywise Empowerment Seminars “with Kelvin Boston.He has spoken before numerous Civic Organizations, Colleges, and business organizations.Nat received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland University College.

Dr. Carl C. Jefferson is President of The Performance Principles, LLC, an Atlanta based performance-leadership, executive development and process improvement consultancy. He developed the Performance Principles leadership framework from his dissertation research as a guiding heuristic to improve the under-performance of individuals and organizations. His clients include United States Presidential Appointees, Corporate Officers and Directors. He has over two decades of experience using performance-leadership in his previous roles as Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief People Officer, Executive Vice President, and Talent Management Solutions. Dr. Jefferson earned a BA in Psychology from the University Of Baltimore. Additionally, he holds a Master of Science (M.S) degree in Organization Development & Human Resources Management, and also an Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degree in General Management from The Johns Hopkins University. Further, he completed his Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. He is a certified coach, and is also trained to administer multiple psychometric assessments. Dr. Jefferson is the Vice Chairman of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources National Board. He is frequently interviewed and quoted in the national media and is a sought after speaker, lecturer and facilitator known for his candor and provocative thinking on the intersectionality of people leadership themes. He is a member of the International Coaching Federation, Society for Human Resource Management, the International Leadership Association and a lifetime member of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources    

William is the Immediate Past President & CEO for the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources. NAAAHR exists to provide a unique global forum for the career development of Black and African American human resources professionals.NAAAHR is an inspirational and unique career development and networking powerhouse for over 15,000 Black and African American human resources practitioners and those who are aligned with our goals to provide: Networking, Career Opportunities, Educational and Professional Development, Mentorship and Coaching and Tools, Tips and Resources.William’s experiences include 24 years of combined Human Resources and Global Diversity & Inclusion strategy development. Previously Senior Director of Workforce Strategy, Diversity, Inclusion and Strategic Alliances for Major League Baseball Officer of the Commissioner and Global Marketplace Diversity & Inclusion Director for Adecco Group North America.He has been featured on the Black Enterprise Business Report, WMHT’s New York Now, News 12 Long Island, Newsday, The Network Journal, The Black Collegian, Long Island Business News and has received a proclamation from the New York City Council for his work as a mentor, professional coach and contributions in the human resources field. William also served on the Executive Board of the Urban League of Long Island and the Graduate and Adult Enrollment Advisory Board for Marist College. He has served as an adjunct professor at the State University of New York Brooklyn Economic Opportunity Center, and is a highly sought after public speaker. He has been a guest speaker for organizations such as the Columbia University School of Business, World Diversity Leadership Summit at the United Nations, Harvard University, Vienna, Austria and The Global Women’s Leadership Forum, London, UK just to name a few.He received his BS degree in business administration from South Carolina State University and his M.B.A. from Long Island University.

Erika Broadwater has over 22 years of experience in Human Resources as Head of Talent Acquisition, Recruiting Manager, and Diversity & Inclusion Champion. She is experienced in global talent workforce, talent mobility, retention, data analytics, recruiting operations and performance management; supporting all lines if business and client groups. Throughout her career, she has traveled across the Mid-Atlantic and Mid-West, speaking at local, and regional and national conferences and symposiums, which included executive panels, training workshops, and delivering keynotes.Erika is currently the Recruiting Operations Manager at OneMain Financial working on large-scale projects that have company-wide exposure and positively impacting the maturity of talent analytics through improving hiring strategies, gathering data, and acting as a recruiting advisor for Workday optimization. In 2011, Erika was appointed the first Delaware State Chapter President of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources. After 6 years of building the Delaware Chapter and demonstrating exemplary leadership in driving Diversity & Inclusion throughout the State, the National Board of Directors promoted Erika to the Senior Vice President of Membership on the National Board.Erika received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Cheyney University in Pennsylvania in 1991. While obtaining her degree, she was actively involved in the Young Business Professionals program and completed two internships at IBM and JP Morgan. She has obtained nine Professional Certifications including two as a certified trainer: Franklin Covey’s “7 Habits for Managers” and DDI’s “Behavioral Interviewing”. In 2014, she received recognition from the HR Leadership Team of DuPont for Talent Acquisition process improvements, strategic planning, and brand initiatives in collaboration with the Center of Excellence team.Among several awards and recognition, Erika was nominated for the 2016 Ron Shane “Human Resources Lifetime Achievement” award, recipient of the 2016 NAAAHR National Conference “Most Represented Chapter” award and was published in the 2010/2011 Global Directory of “Who’s Who Among Professionals”.Outside of her profession, Erika enjoys spending time with her friends and family. Above all, she is a dedicated mother to her awesome children, Tre (her Pride) and Mayah (her Joy).