Tiffany Marra (moderator)

Dr. Marra, MS’98, PHD’06, received her PhD in Education from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor with a specialty in maximizing the use of technology to bridge digital divides. She has worked for the University of Michigan for 20 years, focused on creating systemic change to increase enrollment and participation of diverse students across campus. Tiffany is currently the Executive Director at the Center for the Education of Women+, ensuring the services of CEW+ address the needs of women and underserved individuals at U-M and in the community through career and education counseling, funding, workshops, events, and a diverse, welcoming community. Tiffany hosts the Strength in the Midst of Change podcast to highlight each guest’s resiliency and determination.

Lynn Perry Wooten (panelist)

Dr. Lynn Perry Wooten, a seasoned academic and an expert on organizational development and transformation, became the ninth president and first African American to lead Simmons University on July 1, 2020.

Specializing in crisis leadership, diversity and inclusion, and positive leadership — organizational behavior that reveals and nurtures the highest level of human potential — Dr. Wooten is an innovative leader whose research has informed her work in the classroom and as an administrator.

She first joined a university faculty in 1994 and has served in administrative roles since 2008. Dr. Wooten came to Simmons from Cornell University, where she was the David J. Nolan Dean and Professor of Management and Organizations at the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. She also has had a robust clinical practice, providing leadership development, education, and training for a wide variety of institutions.

Dr. Wooten is the author of two books, “Positive Organizing in a Global Society: Understanding and Engaging Differences for Capacity Building and Inclusion” (2016) and “Leading Under Pressure: From Surviving to Thriving Before, During, and After a Crisis” (2010), nearly 30 journal articles, and more than 15 book chapters.

A graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where she earned a BS in accounting, Dr. Wooten also holds an MBA from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business, a PhD in business administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and a Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Wooten began her career as assistant professor at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business. In 1998, she returned to the University of Michigan, where she was on the faculty of the Ross School of Business for nearly 20 years and served as Co-Faculty Director of the Center for Positive Organizations, Co-Faculty Director of the Executive Leadership Institute, and Senior Associate Dean for Student and Academic Excellence. She left Michigan in 2017 for the deanship at Cornell.

Natalie Paul (panelist)

After a decade at Google’s Ann Arbor office in sales and recruiting, Natalie recently made the jump to LinkedIn to serve as a senior recruiter for their Global Business Organization. At Google, Natalie was a member of the diversity and inclusion taskforce working to increase Black and Latinx hiring at the leadership level. She is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance. She loves to discover talent with rich experiences and unconventional backgrounds and is a testament to a varied career journey.

Jill Sacher (panelist)

Jill does partner recruiting at Greene-Levin-Snyder, a legal search firm based in New York. Upon graduating from the University of Michigan, Jill attended Georgetown University Law School and practiced law for two years. She then joined Goldman Sachs and transitioned to Human Resources where she managed various recruiting programs. After a decade at Goldman Sachs, Jill left the workforce to be home with her children. Fourteen years later, Jill participated in Morgan Stanley’s Return to Work Program, a 12-week internship for women who have taken a career break and want to re-launch their careers. Jill worked at Morgan Stanley in Human Resources until joining her current firm in 2020. She has had an exciting journey back!