Valerie Capers Workman is the Chief Talent Engagement Officer at Handshake, where she focuses on helping employers define and execute their talent acquisition strategies. She is an established thought leader on #TheFutureOfWork, having grown a global, world-class organization from 50K to 100K employees, and provides expertise and guidance on the imminent impact of #GenAI on the global workforce – all while living her passion for democratizing #AccessToOpportunity for everyone, everywhere. 

Handshake is the career platform for Gen Z. With a community of over 17 million students, alumni, employers, and career educators, Handshake’s network is where career advice and discovery turn into first, second, and third jobs. Nearly 1 million companies use Handshake to build their future workforce—from Fortune 500 to federal agencies, school districts to startups, healthcare systems to small businesses. Handshake is built for where you’re going, not where you’ve been.

Prior to joining Handshake, Valerie served as the VP of People at Tesla, where she reported directly to the CEO. At Tesla, Valerie became known as "Tesla's Top Diversity Advocate” while leading all people functions and overseeing global growth from 50K to 100K employees.

Valerie is also the author of the Amazon Best Selling book Quantum Progression: The Art and  Science of Career Advancement in the Age of A.I. Released in November 2023, her book has received five-star reviews from leaders globally, including Kim Scott, the New York Times best-selling author of Radical Candor who wrote, “This is a fantastic book by Valerie Capers Workman who is a great writer and a wonderful human being!” 

Recently appointed to the Huston-Tillotson University Board of Trustees, Valerie has 20 years of executive leadership experience across a variety of sectors including tech, hospitality, audit and advisory and consumer packaged goods. Valerie received a B.S. in Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. Valerie is admitted to practice law in New York, Washington, DC and Texas and she is the 2024 Diversity Champion Award recipient bestowed by St. John’s University School of Law. 

Valerie is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and Black Women On Boards.

Mr. Brynt Parmeter was appointed as the inaugural Chief Talent Management Officer (CTMO) for the Department of Defense on April 10, 2023. In this role, which resides in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, he works across the Military Departments, Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and with interagency partners to lead the development and implementation of the DoD Total Force talent acquisition, workforce development, and talent management strategy. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Mr. Parmeter was the Head of Non-Traditional Talent and Military & Veterans Affairs for Walmart, the Fortune 1 company and the world's largest retailer. Prior to that, he was the Senior Director for STEM Programs as well as the Senior Director for Military Programs for Walmart.
He is an Army combat veteran with nearly 25 years of service before leaving as a colonel. While in the Army, he served as an infantry officer in light, airborne, air assault, and mechanized units in the US, Korea, Germany, and Iraq, to include 39 months of combat service in Tikrit, Samarra, Baghdad, and Tal Afar. Other assignments included the Old Guard, the Joint Readiness Training Center, and the Human Resources Command.
After the Army, Brynt co-founded and grew several different companies in Palo Alto and San Jose, California, in the technology and manufacturing sectors, including NextFlex, an Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Institute focused on the development of flexible-hybrid electronics where he served as the Director of Workforce, Education, and Training.
He was a Principal, and then Partner, in BMNT, Inc., a Palo Alto, California based consulting company, and, also served as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow for the US Department of Energy. He and his wife also co-founded Call Sign Coffee Company, an eCommerce coffee roasting business that supports members of the military community. In 2017 he was selected to serve as the first Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army (CASA) or California Silicon Valley and continued as a CASA for Arkansas upon his relocation to the state in 2019.
He has served as a member of several national and state boards, including a National Science
Foundation industry advisory board on Preparing Technicians for the Future of Work, a board member for work2future, the Santa Clara County Workforce Innovation Board in Silicon Valley, and as Board Vice President for Camp Alliance, Inc., focused on supporting members of the military community. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the United States Military Academy, Master's Degrees from Louisiana State University and the Army War College, and a graduate certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. His wife, Lisa, is the Executive Director of a national veterans service organization. Their daughter, Ashby, is a former US Army Sergeant, and their son, Will, is a soon-to-be US Army Second Lieutenant.

George Jackson is the director of events at GovExec Media – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast. As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010. George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary “The Dawn of Generation AI.” George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.