Fearless
LEADING SPEAKERS IN STEM
Join us for an exciting line-up of speakers including astronauts, inventors, CEOs, influencers, and more!
ALL-NEW FEARLESS SERIES
Thursday – Saturday
Convention Center, Main Stage, Room W208
Sponsored by Rockwell Automation
Curated by the SHPE CEO Chris Wilkie, this new 8-session series will inspire us to take risks when we normally would not, conquer the fears that get in our own way, and lead a fulfilling life of clear purpose, defined intent, and maximum impact.
Speakers include STEM influencers, astronauts, CEOs, and leading experts on topics such as leadership, diversity and inclusion, technology, equity in the workspace, and more.
SCHEDULE
Thursday, November 3
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Presents Speaker Kat Echazerreta
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Who’s Your Caddie? presented by Fernando Rosario
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Fireside Chat with Nike’s Jorge Casimiro
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
STEM Influencers Panel – Fearlessly Building a Brand
Friday, November 4
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Community Panel – Fearlessly Driving Your Own Career
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Rockwell Automation CEO Blake Moret
Saturday, November 5
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Fireside Chat with Alba Colon
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Presents Jay Flores – Beat That Wall

WORKSHOPS
These are tentative and are subject to change.
Are you a professional looking to make a career move, or simply want to take the next step in your career journey? Then this session is for you! Join us as a career coach highlights the best strategies to align both your personal and professional goals towards success. The session will be followed by a group coaching engagement and opportunities for potential one-on-one coaching sessions. Speaker: Gina Covarrubias, Career Coach and Engineer, Deliberate Doing LLC
Networking is something we should be engaging in constantly. Whether it’s staying in touch with old colleagues and bosses or going out of your way to meet new people and companies, networking may require getting out of our comfort zones. Learn new and fun ways of breaking the ice, making meaningful connections, and leaving a lasting impression so you can build and maintain your professional network.
At nearly every point of our career we catch ourselves thinking: “What’s next?” Discussing with and leaning on our community is both healthy and beneficial to all parties. Join SHPEtinas and Professionals in STEM as we discuss the importance of community in the workplace, and the impact coaches, sponsors, and mentors can have over the course of your career.
Employee Networking Groups are an excellent way to become involved in Leadership within your company, gain visibility, and advance your career. Learn about what other ERG leaders are doing successfully, what have been their biggest challenges, and how they’ve overcome obstacles along the way to avoid crashing in “The Big One.”
Having a diverse range of ages at work means that everyone learns from everyone else, but how do you ensure that all qualities and voices are valued? Join us as we navigate through a series of discussions that’ll empower everyone to thrive in a multi-generational workforce.
Engineers can be Leaders, and most already exhibit leadership skills even when not in Management. When leaders and managers are also engineers, everyone benefits! Learn how to plan your move, enlist mentors & sponsors, identify your unique leadership style, and make the jump from a technical to a management role. A panel of accomplished engineers will discuss their paths to management, their good habits, and the benefits of leadership.
A panel of engineers who have reached the executive suite during their careers will share their insights on the obstacles they overcame, what they would have done differently, what you can do to stand out, and tips on how to achieve success and climb to the top of the leaderboard.
Entrepreneurs share best practices on starting their own businesses and how those strategies can be applied to propel your career.
Building a leadership aspect to your career is essential to every career path, but how do you do so? Join us as our speaker breaks down the most sought-after leadership capabilities that’ll empower you to be an authentic leader in your professional career, as well as how to build strategic relationships along the way.
Meet the Speakers

BLAKE MORET
Rockwell Automation
Chairman & CEO
Blake Moret is Chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation. Joining Rockwell Automation in 1985 as a sales trainee, Blake has built his career with the company and has held leadership positions in many areas of the business. He is passionate about creating a diverse worldwide team of employees that can and want to do their best work. He graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering and serves on multiple boards and executive committees.

ALBA COLON
Hendrick Motorsports
Director Competition Systems & Technical Partnerships
In 2018, Alba Colón joined Hendrick Motorsports as director of competition systems. She works to enhance capabilities that directly support at-track competition with responsibility on data analytics and communication technologies. Alba has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez.

LORI COSTEW
Ford Motor Company
Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
Lori Costew is Ford Motor Company’s Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer. In this role, she oversees the company’s DEI efforts to cultivate a culture of belonging and advance the organization’s mission and business objectives. Lori has a master’s degree in human resources from The Ohio State University.

CHEYA DUNLAP
Honeywell
Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer
As Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer for Honeywell, Cheya Dunlap leads efforts to foster an environment in which everyone can contribute at their full potential. A Tuskegee University and Drucker MBA alumna, her career spans two decades with GE, Baker Hughes, Nestle, and Lieberman Research. Cheya is based in Charlotte, NC.

KATYA ECHAZARRETA
Electrical Engineer, Science Communicator, & STEM Influencer
Katya Echazarreta is a Mexican-born American electrical engineer, science communicator, and civilian astronaut. In June 2022, she became the first Mexican-born woman to go to space as part of Space for Humanity’s Citizen Astronaut Program. Katya is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree at Johns Hopkins University in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

KEVIN EDWARDS
Bechtel Global Corporation
CDIO
Kevin is responsible for developing a visionary, strategic Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) roadmap and enterprise plan to implement key region-specific program actions at Bechtel. This includes advancing diverse talent within leadership roles; opportunities for diverse talent hires; and cultivating a work culture where everyone has a feeling of belonging and inclusion.

JAY FLORES
Invent The Change
Founder & CEO
Jay Flores is founder of Invent The Change and a star on American Ninja Warrior! He hosts PBS’s innovation show Make48 and starred in Telemundo and ESPN shows. Jay is the most influential Hispanic voice in K-12 STEM reaching millions of students monthly as a member of Discovery Education’s Mystery Science Team.

GINA MORENO
STEM Influencer
Gina Moreno is a First-Gen Mexican American. She holds an Industrial Engineering BS & Systems Engineering MS from University of Texas at El Paso. She gave a TEDx talk in 2019- Empowering Women through STEM & Leadership.

ELIO MORILLO
STEM INFLUENCER
Elio Morillo is a SHPE Lifetime member and space systems engineer. Born in Ecuador and raised in Puerto Rico and New York, Elio graduated from the University of Michigan with a mechanical engineering degree and a master’s in systems engineering.

FERNANDO ROSARIO
Exeqpath LLC
President & Founder
Fernando Rosario’s career trajectory includes 20+ years of consulting experience as an executive with Accenture, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for a commercial real estate company, leading the North America Diversity recruiting efforts for a Fortune 500 management consulting firm, founder of Exeqpath, and SHPE Lifetime member.

FERNANDA SULANTAY
STEM Influencer
Fernanda Sulantay Vargas is a chemical engineer, Ph.D. student at Yale University and winner of the prestigious NSF GRFP fellowship and GEM fellowship. She was born and raised in El Salvador and moved to the US at 19 years old.

CID WILSON
HACR
President & CEO
Cid Wilson was named President & CEO of HACR in July 2014. He leverages more than 30 years of corporate finance and Wall Street equity research experience to work closely with corporations, their CEOs and board directors, and chief diversity officers to increase the representation of Hispanics in Corporate America.
Sponsored by
