David Alcocer, Associate Vice President for Budget Analysis and Planning at the UC Office of the President.
David Alcocer’s team develops and oversees the University’s operating budget, including the annual budget request to the State, and works closely with campuses on a wide variety of budget and planning issues. Previously, David helped coordinate the University’s core student financial aid programs, which are designed to enable students from all socioeconomic backgrounds to attend UC. David was a first-generation college student himself and has a bachelor’s degree from M.I.T. and master’s degrees in business administration and labor relations from Cornell.
Professor Cameron Anderson, Professor | Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Chair in Leadership & Communication
Cameron Anderson is an expert on topics pertaining to power, status, and influence processes, leadership, negotiations and conflict resolution, and team dynamics. Anderson, a professor of
organizational behavior, teaches courses in Power and Politics in Organizations, Negotiations, and Conflict Resolution. He was awarded the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award in 2008.
Prior to joining the Haas faculty in 2005, Anderson taught at the Kellogg School of
Management at Northwestern University and at the Stern School of Business at New York University, where he was awarded Professor of the Year. In addition to his research and teaching responsibilities,
Anderson regularly consults with leading organizations and corporations worldwide.
Expertise and Research Interests
● Status Hierarchies
● Psychology of Power
● Self and Interpersonal Perception
● Team Dynamics
● Influence Processes
● Personality
● Emotions
● Groups and Teams
Brittany Fraser is a 2018 UCR Alumni with a degree in Cellular, Molecular, and Development Biology. She currently serves as the Events Manager for the University of California, Riverside in CHASS Facilities Management. Her main responsibilities include managing the Facilities Reservation System, managing 11 event spaces, coordinating over 940 events a year, as well as assisting with Facilities upkeep within the CHASS INT, Humanities, and Arts buildings. During COVID, she served as assistance to several departments as a temporary financial analyst and has also assisted in roles of HR. She has an immense passion for advising and leading her student staff as well as those around her. She has served in many roles on campus such as a Wellness Ambassador for CHASS, the Director of Administration for Staff Assembly, a committee member for the UCR Highlander Mentor Connection program, and currently the Chair for LEAD.
Pierre Khawand, Founder & CEO of People-OnTheGo
Pierre Khawand has more than twenty years of experience in the software industry. He has led several technology ventures, completed successful mergers and acquisitions, and founded People-OnTheGo in 2001. His Accomplishing More Leadership Program helps today’s leaders develop the awareness and behaviors needed to focus on results and develop people in the midst of the information overload. His bestselling Accomplishing More With Less workshop is enabling today’s business professionals to make breakthroughs in their work and personal lives.
Pierre holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan, and has completed several Executive Education programs at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (Stanford California). He is the author of several books including The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook, Time for Leadership, and more recently The Perfect 15-Minute Day: Managing your Time, Thoughts, and Emotions.
When not tackling productivity issues, Pierre enjoys hikes with his wife and friends in the San Francisco area, as well as Tai Chi and Argentine Tango.
Jay Henderson, Associate Vice President of Total Rewards, UCOP
John Stephen (Jay or J) Henderson has over 25 years of experience in Human Resources, primarily focusing on Total Rewards. Before joining the Office of the President as the Associate Vice President of Total Rewards in 2022, he served as the Director of Total Rewards at UC Riverside and UC Berkeley. He has also served as the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor & Chief Human Resources Officer at UCR.
Other higher education experience includes serving as the Director of Total Compensation at The Ohio State University. He also served as the Assistant Director of Human Resources at the University of South Florida. He was responsible for a multi-disciplinary team covering Compensation, Benefits, Employee Relations, Labor Relations, Employment, HRIS, and Records Retention. In addition, Jay has several years of HR experience in private sector organizations, including Disney, Nestle, Charles Schwab, and Toyota.
As a participant and spectator, Jay has enjoyed sports for most of his life. He played football, basketball, and baseball through high school and continued to play baseball through college. He attended his first live professional basketball game in Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers. Even though the crowd was for the Knicks, Jay cheered for the underdog Cavs, who won, making him a Cleveland fan for life. Jay plays jazz clarinet, enjoys poetry slams, sky diving, the arts, live theatre, and discussing works of philosophy.
Laura Kray
Laura Kray received her PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Washington. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, she taught at the University of Arizona and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Kray studies the role of gender stereotypes and mindsets on workplace behavior, including negotiations and ethical decision-making. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and has been recognized with multiple best research awards from the Academy of Management and the International Association of Conflict Management. Her research has been featured in a wide range of media outlets, including Washington Post, New Yorker, National Public Radio, Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Financial Times, Slate, Forbes, Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Scientific American, Business Week, LA Times, and Time.com. She is an outgoing Co-Editor-in-Chief at Research in Organizational Behavior.
Priya Lakireddy currently serves as the Assistant Regional Director for The Central CA Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Regional Network which is a project under the UC Merced, Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED) Department and is operated under contract in cooperation with the U.S. Small Business Administration. In her role, she is the lead Central California SBDC fiscal and grant/cooperative agreement monitor with the primary responsibility to ensure budget control, as well as grant, and contract compliance. She also oversees the operations of the UC Merced SBDC service center which provides SBDC services directly to entrepreneurs and small businesses in Merced and Mariposa counties.
Since her start in 2014, Priya has been an active member with the UC Merced Staff Assembly. She served as a Co-Chair for Events and Outreach (2016-2017), Co-Chair for Fundraising (2017-2018), Vice President and Junior CUCSA Delegate (2018-2019), President and Senior CUCSA Delegate (2019-2020) and finally as Past President during the 2020-2021 academic year. During her two years with CUCSA, she worked with Fostering a Flexible Work Culture delegation and Succession Planning delegation and advocated for equitable polices for all staff. During her tenure as Vice President, she and the board created a new staff excellence award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2018 and the first award was given in 2019. As President, she was staff representative on the Search Advisory Committee for UC Merced Chancellor, planned and hosted a system wide CUCSA meeting at UC Merced in March of 2020, collaborated with the Office of EDI and Chancellor’s organization to introduce virtual leadership chats as a way for staff to directly hear from and connect with senior leaders on campus during the early months of the pandemic. Last year, she volunteered for The Valuing Black Lives Task Force, Student Support and Policing and Anti-Black Violence subcommittees. Priya is a current member and Co-Chair of the Police Advisory board.
Priya was the recipient of UC Merced 2020 Staff Excellence Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and also was one of the four recipients for the Kevin McCauley Outstanding Staff Award in March of 2021.
Cheryl Lloyd, Vice President of Systemwide Human Resources
Cheryl Lloyd is the Vice President of Systemwide Human Resources for the University of California’s 10-campus system, including its medical centers. As Vice President, Ms. Lloyd is responsible for Systemwide Human Resources, from Strategic Planning and Employee/Labor Relations to Talent Management, Health & Welfare benefit policies, Senior Management Recruitment, and Compensation. She ensures compliance with UC’s Human Resources policiesand oversees the University’s pension plans and retirement administration center. In short, she has a hand in multiple programs that impact work and life for over 200,000 people in diverse roles across the UC system.
Ms. Lloyd graduated from UC Berkeley with a dual degree in Mass Communications and Sociology and was the corporate risk manager for Core-Mark International before joining UC in 1998.
An experienced executive with over two decades of university administrative leadership expertise, Cheryl Lloyd served as the University’s Chief Risk Officer, managing all aspects of UC’s Enterprise Risk Management program. She also oversaw the university’s Environment, Health, and Safety programs (EH&S), business continuity programs, Student Health Insurance Program, emergency management, travel, and risk-security programs. She founded and has served as president of Fiat Lux, the University’s wholly-owned captive insurance company.
A music lover and 49ers fan, Vice President of Systemwide Human Resources Cheryl Lloyd leads UC’s efforts to build upon the human resources organization, emphasize service, and add strategic value.
Jo Mackness serves as the Chief Operating Officer for the Division of Student Affairs and the Assistant Vice Chancellor overseeing Residential and Student Service Programs, a portfolio that includes Housing, Dining, Cal1Card and the Early Childhood Education Program.
Jo has held a variety of leadership roles across UC Berkeley including over two years serving as UC Berkeley’s interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, a role in which she provided strategic leadership for the department; oversaw Berkeley’s transition to a new HR & payroll system; invested in staff diversity, equity and inclusion; and championed staff development, career mobility and engagement programs.
Before her HR role, Jo served as the Chief Strategy and Operating Officer and Senior Assistant Dean for the Haas School of Business, where she led the development, approval, and implementation of Haas’ strategic operational plan. Previously, Jo served as the Executive Director of Haas’ Center for Responsible Business and as a professional faculty member.
Before joining UC Berkeley, Jo’s roles ranged from working as a human capital consultant, to snowboard instructor, to corporate responsibility leader at Ernst & Young.
Jo serves on the Sustainability Advisory Board for Kimberly Clark Corporation and until recently, chaired the UC Retirement System Advisory Board.
A product of the UC System, she is fortunate to call two UC schools her alma mater: Jo holds an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCLA.
Missy Matella, Associate Vice President, Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations, UCOP
Melissa “Missy” Matella is the Associate Vice President, Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations at the University of California, Office of the President. She is an employment, labor, and education attorney and an administrator with over a decade of experience advising on and implementing complex and collaborative workplace initiatives in private practice and university settings.
Before joining UCOP in 2022, Missy advised organizations on workforce development, organizational culture, collective bargaining, and diversity and equity initiatives. At the University of Oregon, Melissa was Senior Director of Employee and Labor Relations and Associate General Counsel. She was also interim co-Chief Human Resources Officer during her tenure there. As a member of the University’s senior leadership team, she counseled executives and HR partners on workforce development, personnel, and collective bargaining issues.
In addition, Missy has worked with Title IX, Title VII, and state law discrimination compliance; crisis and incident management; academic personnel issues; tenured and non-tenured instructional and research faculty; and graduate employees. She was the lead negotiator for several rounds of on-cycle and off-cycle bargaining and negotiating and drafting labor contracts. Other areas of expertise include higher education, employment, labor, equity initiatives and compliance, negotiations, employee engagement, and workplace culture initiatives.
Dania Matos, Vice Chancellor for the Division of Equity & Inclusion (E&I) at UC Berkeley
Dania Matos (she/her/ella) leads with love. As the fourth Vice Chancellor for the Division of Equity & Inclusion (E&I) at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), and a member of Chancellor Carol Christ’s Cabinet, she guides strategies that prioritize social justice, anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Specifically, she oversees E&I’s opportunities for students, staff, and faculty. Dania also leads divisional Thriving Initiatives, each of which offers culturally responsive services to specific communities across campus.
Dania has always championed equity work in the private, nonprofit, and government sectors, and has even taken her talents to Broadway. She was the first deputy chief diversity officer at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia; and served in Virginia’s public defender’s office. Prior to coming to UC Berkeley, she was the first associate chancellor and chief diversity officer at the University of California, Merced.
Ann-Marie Odling
Ann-Marie Odling joined UC Berkeley’s Compensation department in 2000 to work on a UC Berkeley project that is now a systemwide job classification system called Career Tracks. In 2015, she joined Systemwide Compensation and joined the team that implemented Career Tracks to the other UC campuses.
Prior to UC, Ann-Marie worked at Worlds Savings Bank as a compensation analyst, and at Levi Strauss as human resources generalist.
Ms. Odling holds a master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Golden Gate University, San Francisco. She lives in Alameda with her family.
Janie Pinterits, Ph.D.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Program Manager, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Janie Pinterits promotes solutions for inclusive leadership and belonging in organizations. She enthusiastically oversees LBNL’s nine Employee Resource Groups and provides DEI facilitation and consultation. As a former Diversity Officer, Assistant Provost, and professor she has conducted engaging workshops and presentations for over 20 years. Janie has been awarded grants to support pipeline programs for underrepresented students in behavioral science careers. Her publications related to DEI have appeared in The Journal of Counseling Psychology, Counselor Education and Supervision, PsycCRITIQUES, and The Oxford Handbook of Social Class in Counseling. She earned the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Society of Counseling Psychology Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity’s Outstanding Service to Diverse/Underserved Communities award. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from UC Santa Barbara. An avid bicyclist, she is a recipient of East Bay Bike Coalition’s Bicycle Commuter of the Year award.
Lalitha Sankaran, Office of Workplace Inclusion & Belonging, UCOP
Lalitha Sankaran leads the Office of Workplace Inclusion & Belonging with the charge to lead equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI) and anti-racism efforts at the University of California, Office of the President (UCOP). She is currently focused on architecting a long-term unified strategy to advance EDI and a culture of anti-racism at UCOP. She focuses on system solutions to mitigate bias with the philosophy “make the right thing to do, the easier thing to do.” In her prior roles, Lalitha led the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the San Mateo Medical Center, developing a roadmap and strategic framework for the work and led efforts on cultural competence and inclusion of patient demographic data in electronic medical records at Kaiser Permanente. In her professional practice, Lalitha identifies as an imperfect leader, a deep listener, and a continual learner.
Jody Stiger, Systemwide Director of Community Safety, UCOP
Mr. Stiger has most recently served as the aide to the Inspector General of the Los Angeles Police Commission, where his duties included revising the department’s system for investigating use of force, workplace and community complaints and increasing oversight. Jody has worked with POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) in revising their Basic Academy Workbook to incorporate procedural justice into statewide training for officers in California and advised the University on trainings. Mr. Stiger has testified as an expert witness in numerous cases involving police use of force, including testifying to when use of force has been excessive. He has provided an unbiased expert opinion in numerous high-profile use of force cases.
Mr. Stiger is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and had a 29-year career with the Los Angeles Police Department. Jody served as a patrol officer for over 7 years and worked numerous assignments. He later became an instructor in the academy, training over 3,000 officers in de-escalation techniques and best practices in patrol work. Jody later served as a supervisor for 8 years, where he partnered extensively with business and community leaders and conducted reviews and oversight of all use of force incidents. As someone who embraces diversity, equity and inclusion, Jody was the president of the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, representing African American employees within the Los Angeles Police Department and helped develop a collaborative relationship with other affinity groups throughout the city of Los Angeles.
Dr. Angela L.M. Stopper is the Chief Learning Officer at UC Berkeley where she leads the team that creates and delivers campus-wide workforce education programs, career and professional development initiatives, and organization development and change management consulting services for the campus. She is an author, researcher, and global thought-leader in areas of learning and organization development and strategic workforce planning. She has a deep passion for coaching and advising executives and leaders from around the world as they explore ways to ensure that their organization, and their workforce, is future ready.
Sara Thacker has served the Director of the Staff Ombuds Office at the University of California, Berkeley since 2009. Prior to joining Berkeley, she was an Adjunct Professor and Hewlett Fellow in Conflict Resolution and Legal Problem Solving at Georgetown University Law Center where she taught courses in negotiation, mediation, and multi-party dispute resolution. Sara is a self-described “recovered attorney” having found more progressive ways to resolve disputes after working for several years as a litigation associate at international law firms.
She is a certified mediator and has mediated cases for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the DC Office of Human Rights. In addition, she served on the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) Board of Directors, the largest professional association for organizational ombudspersons and is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner. She holds a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law and a LL.M. in conflict resolution from Georgetown University Law Center.
Eugene Whitlock, Chief People & Culture Officer / Associate Vice Chancellor – Human Resources, UC Berkeley
As UC Berkeley’s Chief People & Culture Officer (Associate Vice Chancellor), Eugene leads a one hundred person human resources department including talent acquisition, people and organization development, employee and labor relations, total rewards, diversity equity, inclusion and belonging, business intelligence and human resources information systems. Eugene also serves on the governing boards of CUPA-HR (the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources) and the American Research Universities-Human Resources Institute, and is the Chair of the Human Resources Leadership Council for the University of California. During his time at UC Berkeley, Eugene has emphasized the creation of a workplace where everyone can be themselves and feel like they belong and helped elevate Berkeley to be among the best institutions to work for in the University of California system.
Prior to UC Berkeley, Eugene served as the Vice Chancellor, Human Resources and General Counsel for the San Mateo County Community College District. Eugene is most proud of his work to infuse equity into the hiring process by rewriting job announcements and interview questions, as well as training each person who is part of the decision-making process on the benefits of diversity and reducing the impact of unconscious bias. In 2017, the Association of California Community College Administrators selected Eugene for its “Progress in Diversity” Award given for “Outstanding Achievement in Support of Diversity in the Higher Education Community.”
Eugene also served as a Deputy County Counsel for the County of San Mateo for eight years where he primarily served as outside counsel for K-12 school districts. Eugene has also worked as a corporate attorney for DavisPolk in New York, Tokyo and Menlo Park, as an investment banker for Deutsche Bank in San Francisco and as a project manager for Stiftung, Wissenschaft und Politik in Berlin.
Eugene obtained his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and earned his law degree cum laude from the University of Michigan. He is also a fluent speaker of Spanish and German.