\nPanelists:
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La Tanya Pitts-Lipprand is a Kansas City native and 30-year lupus survivor who founded Marlene'\;s Kaleidoscope\, a nonprofit supporting those affected by lupus across the Greater Kansas City area. After a high-risk pregnancy triggered a life-threatening health crisis and a three-year prognosis\, La Tanya turned her survival into a mission &mdash\; advocating for awareness\, improving quality of life for survivors\, and working toward a cure. Her guiding belief: Marlene'\;s Kaleidoscope is "\;turning one conversation at a time into ACTION for LUPUS!"\; \; \;
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\nStephanie Winters McConnell is a Marketing &\; Communications senior executive with nearly 30 years&rsquo\; experience leading enterprise growth\, reputation\, and transformation. She is known for building marketing organizations that accelerate revenue\, strengthen reputation\, and operate at enterprise scale\, especially in complex\, high-value sales environments. Most recently\, Stephanie was the Managing Executive Director of Pursuit &\; Reputation Marketing at Accenture\, overseeing a global team of 150+ professionals and managing a multimillion-dollar budget to accelerate enterprise growth and strengthen market trust. Throughout her storied career\, she has led marketing &\; communications through moments that matter including major M&\;A\, large-scale transformation\, global investor communications\, and high-stakes executive communications. She led marketing for global sales &\; strategic accounts\, pioneered Accenture&rsquo\;s pursuit-based marketing program and drove the transformation of the global marketing &\; communications function. Stephanie has also led executive communications for Accenture&rsquo\;s global Products operating group\, serving as the strategic director for both internal and external communications. She was also the director of marketing &\; communications for Accenture&rsquo\;s Products North America operating unit. Prior to her marketing roles\, Stephanie spent more than a decade as a talent &\; organizational consultant for the pharmaceutical industry where she specialized in improving business performance through operating model design\, change management\, and process reinvention. Stephanie currently serves as the Vice Chair on the Board of Trustees for Graceland University and is a former board member for Connections to Success\, a not-for profit organization with a vision to help individuals and families achieve economic independence.
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\nWendy Wright is the Global Head of Learning &\; Org Effectiveness at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC.
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\nBio coming soon!
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Moderated by: \;
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Lori Samazin is a dynamic executive leader with 30+ years of experience in strategy\, operations\, and leadership development\, most recently for T-Mobile where she served as Director/Chief of Staff to the CIO and CTO. Outside the scope of her Chief of Staff role\, she designed innovative programs focused on leadership growth\, executive coaching\, and AI-driven development experiences for senior leaders. \;Lori holds an MBA and a BSBA from Rockhurst University and began her telecom career at Sprint as an intern during graduate school. \;She is the past Treasurer of the Central Exchange\, having served on our board for six years. \;After stepping away from corporate America a little over a year ago\, Lori is fully embracing this new chapter&mdash\;sleeping in an hour later\, working in her yard\, taking BodyCombat classes\, and enjoying every moment with her first grandchild.Today\, Lori brings her energy\, insight\, and deep leadership experience to guide our conversation as panel facilitator.
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