2025 Session Speakers

Jeff Heiser

Jeff Heiser is a Senior Trainer and Strengths Coach for Workforce Development in the Division of Student Affairs at UC Davis. He holds an M.S. in non-profit management, is a Gallup-certified Strengths coach, an ACC with the ICF, and holds a Team Coaching certification. Jeff specializes in team coaching, facilitation, and creative brainstorming, helping teams enhance their impact and achieve results. Through team and leadership coaching, he is passionate about empowering individuals to discover and use their strengths for greater engagement and well-being at work and in life.

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Kris McGuigan

Kris is no stranger to courageous disruption. Early in her career, a supervisor coined the term “professional courage” to describe her direct and fearless approach to problem-solving. As a trailblazing entrepreneur, award-winning speaker, and author, Kris has consistently embraced new challenges with breathtaking audacity.

At the same time, she has fought to live authentically, combining her expertise with a fierce passion for igniting “ah-ha” moments of clarity and courage in others. In 2015, she left a successful corporate career to found Professional Courage, a premier career...

Danyelle Gibson Grant

Danyelle Gibson-Grant, is a Master Certified Professional Coach (MCPC) with over 25 years of corporate Human Resources experience, specializing in talent acquisition and leadership development.

Certified in DISC, Diversity & Inclusion and The Fascinate System, she is dedicated to empowering senior leaders and executives from diverse backgrounds to align their careers with their personal values and purpose.

Danyelle's approach is empathetic yet action-oriented, integrating reflective practices, purpose-driven frameworks, to...

Jeanette Lindsay

Jeanette Lindsay, owner of Northdawn Coaching & Consulting, LLC, brings over 15 years of experience from Stanford University, where she served as Director, Talent Management and Organization Development. She created and facilitated the Owning Your Career@Stanford program and led various career development initiatives. Jeanette holds a BS in Business Administration from Cal Poly and a Masters in Organization Development and Change from Penn State University. As an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation, she specializes in career...

Belle Walker

Belle Walker is the Founder and CEO of Belleview Consulting, a TEDx speaker, and the international bestselling author of Generation Innovation: Business, Family, and the Journey to Success. As the only Organizational Efficiency Engineer she knows, Belle takes her clients from Friction to FunctionTM by aligning structures and processes with strategic goals. She has recaptured lost efficiency and engagement for clients across sectors from tech companies to nonprofits,
professional services, cannabis, and more.

Belle has a...

Dinorah Meyer

Currently Berkeley Career Engagement’s Assistant Director for Environmental Design, Dinorah Meyer, MS, NCC, RYT 500, C-IAYT, has 25 years’ experience as a career counselor/coach, including 20+ years at Cal and in private practice. She enjoys integrating yoga concepts and practices with Western career counseling approaches to engage clients holistically in exploration and problem-solving. She has offered yoga-infused career development workshops for several audiences, including two within People & Culture’s NOW Encore Series for staff. Dinorah has an MS in Counseling, a...

Kelly Johnson

Kelly is a certified Somatic Coach and Sr. Human Resources professional with over 25 years of experience spanning consulting, government, and private industry. She has led initiatives in talent acquisition, HR management, workforce development, DEI, and community engagement and outreach, bringing a unique blend of strategic insight and human connection to every role she undertakes.

Currently, Kelly serves as the Executive Chair for the Alameda County Workforce Development Board (ACWDB) and is a valued member of the MESA Industry Advisory Board. She...

Diego Holguin

Diego A. Holguin (he/they) is an alumni of UC Berkeley and a College Advisor for the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS). Diego's journey from student employee to professional staff embodies the transformative power of education and community engagement. Currently, Diego Co-Leads an informal gathering of colleagues that provides a network of support, a toolkit of resources, and an opportunity to build community among supervisors of student employees.

Originally from Compton, Diego has embraced the Bay Area for over 8 years....

Sofia Angelina Vita-Casquejo

Sofia (they/them) is a College Advisor at the Rausser College of Natural Resources and advises students pursuing the Genetics & Plant Biology major. They co-supervise the college’s peer advising program and they directly supervise 2 student DeCal facilitators. Their approach with their students and supervisees can be described as holistic, taking into account a student’s background and who they are outside of the classroom. Sofia has a B.A in Sociology from UC Santa Cruz and a M.A. in Counseling, specializing in Higher Education & Student Affairs and Professional...

Rebecca Robles

My name is Rebecca Robles (she/her). I am a first-gen Latina and grew up in the Bay Area. I completed my undergraduate degree at UCLA in Linguistics and Psychology with a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. I attended graduate school at the University of La Verne and received a masters in Psychology. I previously worked in mental health, providing individual and group therapy. Now, I enjoy working in academic counseling and supporting first-gen students in STEM succeed as they navigate higher education. In my free time, I love spending time with family, snuggling my...