Keynote Speakers

YVES VEULLIET
Global Disability & Inclusion Leader at IBM
Chair of the International Labour Organization’s Global Business and Disability Network,
Belgium

---

 

Since 2014, Yves is Global Disability & Inclusion  Leader at IBM located in Belgium. He joined IBM in 1992 and after a series of promotions, in 2005, he joined the IBM Europe Middle East Africa Diversity team as Program Manager. In 2007, in addition to his role with the persons with disabilities community he took up the role of Generational Program Manager. He worked on building a framework that facilitates the creation of values for IBM and its clients through employee engagement, collaboration effectiveness, career paths and knowledge management for all of the generations in the workforce.

From 2011 until early 2013 Yves was Diversity leader of IBM Canada, he defined the diversity business case, formulated the strategy and oversaw actions that delivered results in line with the Global Diversity strategy. In 2014, Yves was appointed Global Disability & Inclusion Leader – to facilitate the inclusion of employees with different abilities, to improve IBM’s existing programs as well as identifying existing inhibitors to a successful work experience.

Yves is member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the US Business Leadership Network, IBM representative within the International Labor Organization’s Business & Disability Global network,  International Associate with Business Disability International, External collaborator of the University of Liege – Belgium for the Academic Years 2011 – 2020, Expert panelist with the GDIB and author of ‘Turning Point – The fall and rise’ in which he explains, through his own experience, the psychological consequences of acquiring a disability and the impact on the social and professional life, and how to make other people, including employers, disability confident. Available at on-line retailers such as Amazon in both eBook and hard copy formats.

DR. THIERRY KOLPIN
Brandman University, USA

---

Thierry Kolpin received his Ph.D. from Stanford University’s School of Education, with an emphasis in school and community-based counseling psychology. He has taught at several institutions of higher education including Santa Clara University, California State University Long Beach, University of La Verne Regional Campuses, and California Southern University. He has developed and instructed on subjects including counseling, psychology, education, law, and ethics.
Dr. Kolpin’s research interests include school counseling perceptions, counseling effectiveness in schools, mindfulness in counseling, and professional development schools, and he has published and presented on research locally and nationally. He practices part time as a psychologist in the greater Long Beach area, and he is one of the researchers and developers for the Professional Development School Exploration and Assessment (PDSEA) process that several schools and universities have used to determine readiness to engage in school-university partnerships. Dr. Kolpin volunteers monthly with his wife and three children at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, and enjoys spending time with family and friends (including four-legged ones) at the beach.