Kiera Fernandez

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES AND CHIEF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION OFFICER, TARGET CORPORATION

In her current role, Kiera Fernandez serves as the Senior Vice President of Talent & Change and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. Kiera is responsible for leading and advancing Target’s enterprise-wide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion strategy as well as leading our Talent and Change team; specifically amplifying our learning and development strategies and culture and team member experience vision. In addition to her human resource expertise, Kiera has an extensive background in retail operations, process and project management, and large scale frontline leader and team development.

Kiera began her career at Target in 2001, as an Executive Team Leader for Stores, subsequently serving in a variety of frontline leadership roles. Since that time, Kiera has lead teams in Merchandising, Stores, Operations and Human Resources. Over the last several years, she has continued to build a career across multiple HR functions, including her enterprise role leading DEI, Talent Management and Development.

Kiera received her Masters or Arts degree in Human Resource Management from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Connecting the importance of well-being to her personal life, Kiera is a certified yoga instructor, and spends much of her free time teaching and practicing in her community.

Joy Fitzgerald

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION OFFICER, UNITEDHEALTH GROUP

Joy Fitzgerald currently serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at UnitedHealth Group where she leads business strategies and initiatives that create a culture of innovation and performance to deliver on the company’s mission, enable growth and drive financial returns. She partners with business leaders across the enterprise to attract and develop talent, improve health equity outcomes and make a societal impact.

Prior to this role, she served as Chief Diversity Officer at Eli Lilly & Company and Rockwell Collins. As a global business leader, Joy has over 25 years of experience working with highly matrix business sectors in both the private and public sectors including three Fortune 500 companies. She is a highly sought-after executive coach helping leaders go from where they are to where they aspire to be. As a dynamic speaker and strategic thought partner, Joy has presented keynote speeches and workshops in more than 25 countries and 5 continents. Recognized as a disruptive leader in corporate America, she has dedicated her career to improving the lives of individuals – especially underserved populations including the Black community.

As a global business executive and thought leader, she is one of the most respected national voices on diversity as an organizational strategy to not only help underrepresented people but also achieve business goals. She has been featured in numerous publications including Harvard Business Review, Fortune Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Insider, Black Enterprise, Gallup and Profiles in Diversity Journal.

She was named by Diversity Journal as a “Woman Worth Watching,” Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association as a “Rising Star,” and Black Enterprise as a ”Top Executive in Corporate Diversity” and “Most Powerful Woman in Corporate Diversity.”

She is an accomplished leader who works tirelessly to champion inclusion by creating safe spaces for brave conversations on topics of injustice and inequities. She has led major transformative business strategies, built marketing immersive strategies, and developed global training curriculums. Her work has been cited in several publications as best practices in top publications.