2022 ElevateHER Symposium

Lauren Aguilar, PhD, - Founder and CEO at illuceo - is a leading expert on diversity and inclusion. Lauren specializes in translating the science of diversity into actionable strategies that organizations and teams can use to foster more diverse and inclusive workplaces. She partners with innovative companies like Airbnb, Credit Karma, Clif Bar, and eBay.

Lauren’s superpower is using a data-driven—yet human centered—approach to diversity and inclusion. Her research on diversity, team dynamics, belonging, and communication has been published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Physics Today, Gender News, Symmetry Magazine, the Encyclopedia of Human Relationships, and the Journal of Personality. 

As a thought leader, she has been featured in Fast Company, Yahoo, HRCI, Top Employer, ZDnet, Popsugar, the Women in Science Forum. She was named a “40 Under 40” by San Francisco Business Times, “Top Diversity Influencer” by Culture Amp and a “Distinguished Emerging Global Leader” by Womensphere.

Lauren has presented her research at many conferences around the world, and has taught courses on diversity at Stanford University and Columbia University. 

Lauren earned her PhD in social psychology at Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research and the Department of Psychology at Stanford University.

Jamie Claire Kiser is Zweig Group’s Director of Advisory Services. Prior to joining Zweig Group, Jamie Claire practiced law and also worked in commercial banking. She joined Zweig Group in 2015 with an initial focus on M&A and has transactional experience with businesses in all stages, from new firms with growth needs to established firms seeking to wind down. After being promoted to Director of Advisory Services in 2016, her responsibilities increased to include strategic leadership over all of Zweig Group’s consulting areas, including valuation, ownership transition consulting, marketing consulting, M&A, recruiting and executive search, and strategic planning. She holds a Masters of Business Administration, Juris Doctor, and Bachelors of Arts in History. She is a managing principal at Zweig Group and serves on the firm’s board of directors. Additionally, she is an outside board member to Miyamoto International, based in Sacramento, CA; and is on the board of the Buffalo River Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to conserving the Buffalo National River. Recently, she founded the platform ElevateHER as part of Zweig Group’s mission to Elevate the Industry.

Christy Zweig Niehues has a long history of involvement with management consulting and the AEC industry. She has held a number of roles at Zweig Group, including writing and researching for The Zweig Letter, and civil + structural ENGINEER magazine. She's the firm’s Director of Research & E-commerce as well as the leader of the marketing consulting division.

Christy has a passion for online marketing and has worked with many AEC Firms to find the best processes and methods to drive new and repeat business for their individual organizations. Her marketing experience also includes work at The Sustainability Consortium, as a licensed Real Estate Agent, and she runs a horse boarding and training operation for off the track thoroughbreds. She holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Arkansas.

Curious. Innovative. Passionate.

Chief of Strategy and Growth for leading marketing organization. Marci leads the strategic direction for marketing, engagement, publications, and training for a professional services marketing organization. Marci is a contributing writer for trade publications and a two- time author. Marci studied Social Work at Bowie State University and is certified in instructional design, digital event strategy (DES) and diversity and inclusion (d+i).