Darnell L. Moore is the Director of Inclusion Strategy for Marketing and Content at Netflix. He is a media maker, educator, writer and thought leader whose work on marginal identity, equity and social has had impact in the U.S. and abroad over the past two decades.

He wrote the 2019 Lambda Literary Award-nominated memoir, No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America, which was listed as a 2018 NYT Notable Book and a 2018 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick, among many other honors.

He assisted in organizing the Black Lives Matters Ride to Ferguson in the wake of Mike Brown’s tragic murder and along with Alicia Garza, Patrisee Cullors, and Opal Tometti (#BlackLivesMatter Co-Founders) developed the infrastructure for the BLM Network.

Dorothy Hammond is a Vice President of Human Resources at Netflix partnering with the Awards, Communications and Publicity teams. Previously, she has supported organizations across Netflix globally including Product, Finance, Talent, and Legal. In her role, she works with business leaders to champion Netflix's unique culture and guide organizational development. She is a leader with the Black@Netflix employee resource group and plays a key role as Netflix builds a more inclusive and diverse talent pipeline. Prior to Netflix, Dorothy worked in HR at Live Nation partnering with Artist Nation and Merchandising departments. She spent nine years at NBCUniversal in various areas of Human Resources including HR Manager at NBCUniversal supporting the Operations & Technical Services, Universal Studios Hollywood and managing the West Coast internship program.

Dorothy is a graduate of Pepperdine University where she received her Bachelor’s in Industrial Organizational Psychology and a Master’s of Science degree in Organizational Development.

Cheick Soumaré joined Netflix in July 2020 as Director of Human Resources. Currently living in Houston Texas, he will be relocating to Los Angeles and currently supports the Global Public Policy teams, as well as the Business Development, Marketing and Product Legal teams. 

Cheick grew up in Africa (Angola and South Africa) and went to college in Paris, France, where he obtained a Bachelor in Economics and a Master in Human Resources. He started his career in Paris with a French company in the nuclear mining business. From there, he joined General Electric’s Human Resources Leadership Program (HRLP) and held a variety of leadership roles in Italy, United States and Angola.

Cheick was also based in Brazil for a few years as the Head of HR for LATAM, travelling around the region. Being in the Oil & Gas industry, he was transferred to Houston Texas, which became home, as he settled in his role of VP of HR, supporting sales teams, geophysicists and engineers around the world. 

Prior to joining Netflix, Cheick was based in Vancouver, Canada, as the Chief People Officer of Clearly, an E-commerce company.

As a global citizen, Cheick enjoys travelling the world discovering new cultures and spending time with his family.

For over 20 years, Ayanna has practiced Human Resources in a variety of industries including start-up organizations, not-for-profit, technology, law and professional services. She is recognized and respected as a leader committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture of integrity, leadership, and accountability. Ayanna is currently a Director of Human Resources at Netflix Inc. where she provides strategic partnership to leaders by influencing, coaching and supporting them in decisions on organization design, culture, talent density, strategic planning, etc.

Ayanna earned a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Employment Relations from Pennsylvania State University. She is a former Penn State Alumni Association Atlanta Chapter Board Member as well as a former Penn State African American Alumni Organization of Atlanta (AAAO) Board Member.

Alex Smith is Chief Human Resources Officer for the City of Memphis, reporting directly to Mayor Jim Strickland. Alex is the visionary and architect behind the city’s talent management, training, employee relations, compensation, benefits, and diversity initiatives. She is also the “Chief Change Officer,” focused on evolving the City of Memphis’s culture to enable Mayor Strickland’s mission of “improving the quality of life for all Memphians, every day.” Under Alex’s guidance and focus on innovation, collaboration, accountability, and service, she is helping position the City of Memphis as a model for a 21 st century city.

Prior to her service for the city, Alex was the Director of Human Resources for Brightstar Device Protection, a subsidiary of Brightstar Corporation where she led key culture and organizational development projects. Formerly, she served in HR management roles for industry leaders, including Target Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, building a career of being a strategic HR partner for key business leaders.

Alex is also a strong believer in community service and has volunteered in several leadership roles, most notable being the global chairperson for Blacks at Microsoft, the first employee resource group at Microsoft Corporation. She also served on the board of Youth Eastside Services in Bellevue, WA.

Alex holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University in Economics, and earned a master’s degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota. She currently resides in Memphis with her two daughters.

Verrene V. Butler, Human Resource Business Partner at Alto Pharmacy, is a professional with 20+ years of human resource experience. She has a unique background that is the intersection of tech, retail and start-up environments. Verrene has worked for Target, Electronic Arts and Stitch Fix. She has notable experience in strategic human resource planning, performance management, training and development and executive coaching. She holds a master’s degree in Communications from University of St Thomas (Houston, TX) and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from University of Houston. When she isn’t working, Verrene is the professional snack holder and event manager for her daughter, York. When not holding snacks, she’s an avid runner, baker, puzzle enthusiast and creative spirit. She is currently working on her coaching certification. You can reach her at vvquinerly@yahoo.com or on IG at vvquinerly.

Damian Smith is SVP, Inclusion and People Management where he is responsible for embedding diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the employee lifecycle, as well as building out the organization's strategic talent strategy. Damian has nearly 20 years of human capital experience with a specific focus on inclusion, talent management, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness.

Previously, Damian was Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for Societe Generale, focusing on the Americas Region, where he led the development of the Americas diversity and inclusion strategy and roadmap. Previously he has held positions in talent management at leadership development at Citi, MetLife, and The Coca-Cola Company.

Damian has a degree in Psychology from Harvard University.