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Sonya Holt
Former Deputy Associate Director & Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer
CIA

Sonya L. Holt recently retired from the Central Intelligence Agency, serving as the Deputy Associate Director of CIA for Talent for Diversity and Inclusion (DADT/DI) and CIA’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO), leading the Diversity and Inclusion Office. As a veteran officer who served more than three decades at CIA, Sonya brought a wealth of experience and expertise to the Diversity and Inclusion Office. She is widely known for putting people first in order to accomplish the CIA's mission and has a proven track record as an inclusive leader and a champion for diversity. In this role, Sonya served as the senior advisor to the Director of CIA, a member of his leadership team, and had strategic oversight of all things DEIA at CIA.

In her previous role as the Lead for the Director’s Advisory Group (DAG) on Women in Leadership Implementation, a corporate initiative. The DAG was responsible for fully implementing 10 recommendations from the Director’s Advisory Group on Women in Leadership Final Report; a study led by Secretary Madeleine Albright. Ms. Holt conducted outreach briefings, led and managed the DAG staff, oversaw the initiatives and efforts implemented by the working groups and engaged with Agency Senior Leadership and key stakeholders. Through the DAG’s efforts there was an increase in women in leadership from 31 percent to 36 percent with staple deliveries to include a sponsorship toolkit, equity assurance training, and a host of panels and workshops.

Previously, Ms. Holt completed a one year Joint Duty Assignment at the Department of Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSDI), Human Capital Management Office as the Chief of Staff. Ms. Holt provided support to the Director, HCMO and had oversight of the office and its daily activities. The staff consisted of senior officers who had policy oversight of NGA, DIA, NRO, NSA Security and DSS. She served as the Program Manager for the Director, Central Intelligence Agency’s External Advisory Board and managed relationships with key senior officials on his behalf. She was responsible for composing his quarterly meetings, setting the agenda, and pre-briefing the DCIA on events of the day.

She was the Chief, within the Talent Acquisition Office (TAO) where she led strategic direction and planning. She was responsible for the strategic vision and leadership of four unique programs: the Sourcing Unit, Student Programs, Advertising and Marketing Program, and the Regional Recruiter Program which encompassed the strategic planning and direction of the TAO’s diversity initiatives in relation to the Agency’s mission.

Ms. Holt has served in other various positions ranging from Program Management in the Directorate of Science and Technology; to Chief, Diversity Programs in the Talent Acquisition Office.

Ms. Holt obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Strayer University in 1998. She received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Martin University in May 2010. She is the first and only woman to serve as the Chair of the National Urban League's (NUL) Black Executive Exchange Program (BEEP) Executive Advisory Council (EAC) in its 45 year history. She received the first ever BEEP Corporate Liaison Award in year 38, and was inducted in the BEEP Hall of Fame in 2012. And most recently received the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, which is the highest honor bestowed to retiring officers, and was named a Top DE&I Exec to Watch in 2022 by WashingtonExec.

Ms. Holt was employed at the Central Intelligence Agency for 38 years. She used the knowledge and skills that she has gained from both her technical and talent acquisition experiences to establish herself as an expert in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Talent Acquisition, and Management. Ms. Holt acts as a mentor to junior officers promoting self-development and networking strategies.
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Jon Rambeau
Vice President & General Manager
Lockheed Martin
Jon Rambeau is an accomplished business leader, strategist, and inclusion advocate. He launched his professional career in 1996 and rose to his first executive position in record time.

In 2012, he was named one of Aviation Week’s Top 40 Professionals Under 40 in the global aerospace industry. Today, he is a senior executive with Lockheed Martin, leading a large and growing segment of the company.

Over the last decade, he has mentored and spoken to thousands of young professionals, sharing his experience, story, and advice. A graduate of Drexel University and the Wharton School, Jon holds degrees in both engineering and business.

While his career demands include solving some of the world’s hardest technical and business challenges, Jon’s true passion is coaching aspiring leaders to realize their full potential and accelerate their success.

Mr. Rambeau is the author of the book Breaking Away from the Pack, a framework to accelerate professional success.
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Dr. Michele Perchonok
Former Manager
‍NASA Human Research Program (HRP)
Michele Perchonok recently retired after working for 17 years at NASA Johnson Space Center as manager of the NASA Human Research Program (HRP) Program Science Management Office. Prior to holding that position, Michele was the HRP Advanced Food Technology Project Manager and the Shuttle Food System Manager. Prior to joining NASA, Michele worked at Riviana Foods and the Quaker Oats Company Pet Food Division. She has published more than 25 articles and two book chapters.
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JoAnne S. Bass
Command Chief
U.S. Air Force
JoAnne 'JO' Bass is a senior executive manager, professional development expert, team builder, coach, and military veteran with 27-years of proven military experience in the United States Air Force. She has spent the two decades studying leadership development, organizational culture, and everything that falls in the realm of people operations & leading people.

JoAnne is currently the Command Chief Master Sergeant for 2nd Air Force, which is charged with the very foundation of developing, training, and inspiring today's Unites States Airmen. She oversees five training wings, 76 operating locations across the globe, and over 13,000 people that guarantee the foundational development of over 190,000 service members annually. She is also known for being the inspiration of numerous professional & personal development groups and clubs across the Air Force -- creating 'Let's Connect' and 'Lean-In' circles, and touching the lives of thousands of people.

JoAnne is passionate about making people better. It's people that take care of the mission, and they are the lynchpin to organizational success.
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Brad Jakeman
Former President
PepsiCo Global Beverages
Brad Jakeman was President, PepsiCo’s Global Beverage Group, and led global category strategy, brand building, design, advertising, marketing, innovation and branded content for PepsiCo’s.

Brad Jakeman has a passion for developing category-disruptive innovation ideas and marketing programmes that challenge the status-quo and build famous, world-class brands. As a Senior Advisor and Consultant he now works with Founders, CEOs, Boards and CMOs on innovation, brand building and business models that drive disruption of existing industries and creates new economies.
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Diana Frost
Chief Growth Officer, North America
Kraft Heinz
Biography coming soon...
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Shawna Coxon
Deputy Commissioner of Strategy, Governance, and Performance
An Garda Síochána
Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon is known for her continuous innovation and commitment to policing modernization in a rapidly changing, increasingly globalized world. She is currently the Deputy Commissioner of Strategy, Governance and Performance at An Garda Síochána, Ireland's National Security and Police Service. Prior to that, she was a Deputy Chief of Police with the Toronto Police Service where she led three commands at different times. Most recently, she was in charge of the Human Resources Command, which is comprised of three functions: People and Culture, Corporate Risk Management and the Hearings Office. This Command is responsible for driving the progressive hiring, training, discipline and development of Service members.

Prior to that, she led the Priority Response Command followed by the Communities and Neighbourhoods Command. There she oversaw the reactive and proactive policing response of all 16 police divisions in the City of Toronto. These two commands include all front-line policing, community and neighbourhood policing, as well as the investigation functions at Toronto’s police divisions. They also include the Service’s Operations Centre, 911 Communications, Traffic Services, the Parking Enforcement Unit and Court Services. The largest of the two areas is the Priority Response Command where she led approximately 3400 people and a budget of $380 million dollars. Both of these are strategic commands essential to the community-centric model of policing outlined in the modernization plan for the Service.

Deputy Coxon has had a diverse career working in many areas of policing including child abuse, sex crimes, human rights, professional standards, community response, vice, intelligence and national security. She was a proud member of the Transformational Task Force and is also well known for having implemented Service’s inaugural Computer Cyber Crime (C3) Section. She was chosen for both of these initiatives because she has led numerous enterprise-wide innovation projects.

Shawna Coxon has a B.A.(Hons) in Psychology, a M.A. in Criminology, and her Ph.D. in Law. She has published and lectured extensively around the world. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of Guelph-Humber for fourteen years. She has won numerous awards, including becoming an Officer in the Canadian Order of Merit and she was a participant in the 2017 Governor General's Leadership Conference. Despite these awards, she remains most proud of letters received from victims she worked for diligently.
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Betsy R. Glick
Former Public Affairs Specialist
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Betsy Glick's award-winning communications career has been an act of service. She worked with the American Automobile Association to create the inaugural “Most Dangerous Accident Corridors” report to help warn motorists of added risk—a campaign that won an Associations Advance America award.

From personal experience when her father died young, she directed the creation of a national multimedia campaign to educate young parents the value of life insurance. The “Life Insurance: It isn’t for the people who die. It’s for the people who live” campaign and the “Real Life Stories” saw immense success and remain effective 25 years later. Glick was a contractor for the American Battle Monuments Commission and as the director of communications for the National World War II Memorial, helped honor “The Greatest Generation”. Later, her tenure at the Drug-Free Kids Campaign/CADCA helped build safe, healthy and drug-free communities.

Of late, she has served 15 years as a media liaison for the FBI, developing the stories of unsung heroes and victim rescues to help facilitate authentic portrayals and to enhance the public’s understanding of the bureau’s personnel, policies and protocols. The five television public service spots she produced promoting crime prevention, awareness and resources in 2019 reached more than 140 million viewers. She continues to advocate for accurate representation of the FBI in popular media like documentaries, television, movies and podcasts.

In recent months, Glick has been helping write or place stories about the challenges and hurdles faced by deaf and hard-of-hearing employees in hopes of inspiring people facing the hardship as well as the next generation of friends, families, and coworkers alongside them. In 2019, Ragan Communications/PR Daily named her a Leader in its 2019 “Top Women In Communications Awards. In 2020, Glick also received the prestigious “Joseph Wharton Award” from the Wharton School of Business Washington, DC Chapter. In her spare time, Betsy enjoys creating dog and cat color pencil portraits for friends, celebrities and charity causes.
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David Wiseman
Vice President, Marketing & Secure Communications
BlackBerry
As BlackBerry’s Vice President of Marketing for multiple business units, David Wiseman focuses globally on building and leading teams driving demand, pipeline generation, and revenues for SaaS secure communications applications, consulting and secure embedded systems.

In addition to the VP of Marketing role, David also runs an emerging business unit providing secure mobile voice communications for North American governments with responsibility for sales, marketing and partnerships.
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Ted Garrard
Former Chief Executive Officer
SickKids Foundation
Ted Garrard is the Former CEO of SickKids Foundation in Toronto. SickKids Foundation is responsible for raising funds for The Hospital for Sick Children, one of the most respected children's hospitals in the world, and for granting funds across Canada to advance child health. Previously, Ted was Vice-President (External) at The University of Western Ontario, a position he held from 1996-2009.

Ted received his BA and MA degrees in political science and economics from York University and worked for one year as a policy analyst with the Ontario Liberal Policy Research Office before joining United Way of Greater Toronto. He is also an active community volunteer and is presently Chair of Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations.

He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in June 2018.
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Olivia Nunn
Former Director of Communication
US Army
Olivia Nunn is an experienced Former Director Of Communication for the US Army with a demonstrated history of working in the government relations industry. Skilled in developing, executing & assessing strategic communication, crisis communications, social media, media relations and operations management.

Strong media and communication professional with a Master's degree focused in Public Relations & Corporate Communications from Georgetown University.
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Vicenzo Guzzo
Chief Executive Officer & Show Judge
Cinémas Guzzo & Dragon's Den
Vincenzo Guzzo is a Dragon on Dragons' Den and sassy entertainment mogul who has disrupted the movie landscape by living and breathing the Canadian Dream. As the only son of Italian immigrants, he always believed he could turn his dad’s small theatre business (along with his own law and business degrees) into the mega-scaled empire it is today — he just needed to take on “the big guys.

”In 1998, Guzzo did just that, when he sued the biggest movie competition in Canada to gain equal opportunity for “the little guy” to show first-run releases — and won! Twenty years later, Guzzo is the president and CEO of Cinemas Guzzo, the number one operator in Quebec and the third largest movie exhibitor in Canada. His chain has a total of 141 screens: nine IMAX cinemas and ten locations with three more set to open later this year. Size does matter to Cinemas Guzzo.
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Jen Spears
President
Southeastern Homicide Investigators Association
(SEHIA)
Jen is an experienced homicide and cold case detective with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in central Florida. She has been a deputy since 1999, the majority of that time spent in criminal investigations serving in a variety of assignments.

Jen has collaborated with numerous agencies around the nation through her casework and has received several accolades for her accomplishments in cold case investigations.

Jen also serves as a committee member on the Florida Sheriff’s Association Cold Case Advisory Commission, a National Advisory Board member for the FBI’s ViCAP program and a board member with Project: Cold Case. She has a passion for organizing the best training available reaching the largest audience of law enforcement professionals possible.
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Jennifer Bernard
Chief Executive Officer
SickKids Foundation
Jennifer Bernard has impacted communities nation-wide as a Certified Fund Raising Executive. She has held senior, leadership positions within a variety of world-class organizations across the charitable and not-for-profit landscape. Jennifer is currently the Chief Executive Officer of SickKids Foundation, supporting the inclusive vision of one of Canada’s oldest and most iconic healthcare institutions.

In 2020, Jennifer was recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada and presented with the Inclusion Vanguard Award by the Women’s Executive Network. In 2018, Jennifer was also recognized as one of the 25 most influential women in Canada by Women of Influence.
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Jamie Louise Anderson
Professional Snowboarder & Olympic Gold Medalist
Team USA
Jamie Louise Anderson (born September 13, 1990) is an American professional snowboarder. She won the gold medal in the inaugural Women's Slopestyle Event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and repeated the feat at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, making her the first female snowboarder to win more than one Olympic gold medal.She has won gold medals in slopestyle at the Winter X Games in consecutive years in 2007/8 and 2012/3.

She has 14 total medals: seven gold, five silver and two bronze.

About
Obie & Ax Inc.

We connect leading brands, government agencies, and charities to their audience.

Advisory Board

Sonya Holt

Former Deputy Associate Director & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
CIA

Jon Rambeau

President, Integrated Mission Systems
L3Harris Technologies

Dr. Michele Perchonok

Former Manager
NASA Human Research Program (HRP)

Brad Jakeman

Former President
PepsiCo Global Beverages

Diana Frost

Chief Growth Officer, North America
Kraft Heinz

JoAnne S. Bass

Command Chief
U.S. Air Force

Shawna Coxon

Deputy Commissioner of Strategy, Governance & Performance
An Garda Siochana

Betsy R. Glick

Former Public Affairs Specialist
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Olivia Nunn

Former Director of Communication
U.S. Army

Vicenzo Guzzo

Chief Executive Officer & Show Judge
Cinemas Guzzo & Dragon's Den

Jen Spears

President
Southeastern Homicide Investigators Association (SEHIA)

David Wiseman

Vice President, Marketing & Secure Communications
BlackBerry

Ted Garrard

Former Chief Executive Officer
SickKids Foundation

Jennifer Bernard

Chief Executive Officer
SickKids Foundation

Jamie Louise Anderson

Professional Snowboarder, Olympic Gold Medalist
Team USA

Advisory Board Member
and Chief Strategist

Sonya Holt has been with the CIA for 38 years, most recently serving as the Deputy Associate Director of CIA for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Sonya has recently retired from her role at the CIA and has signed on as Obie & Ax’s Chief Strategist. Our clients will have the opportunity to work exclusively with Sonya who brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in Critical Thinking, Intelligence, DEIA, and Talent Acquisition. She will be working directly with our clients for strategic counsel.

Sonya Holt

Former Deputy Associate Director & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
CIA

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