Keynote Speakers: HR Virginia 2025 Annual Conference

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. Recently named one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” by Savoy Magazine, Mr. Taylor’s career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer and an executive, serving at IAC, Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, among other organizations.

He is a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees and serves on the corporate boards of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO), Flores & Associates, and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Mr. Taylor writes a weekly column in USA Today and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional.

USA Today recognizes Dr. Taryn Marie as the #1 international expert on resilience, mental health, and wellbeing, and she serves as a sought-after international inspirational keynote speakers on topics related to psychological safety, compassionate accountability, personal leadership, and navigating change. Leveraging her two decades of expertise, as the former Head of Executive Leadership Development and Talent Strategy at Nike and the former Head of Global Leadership Development at Cigna, she founded the Resilience Leadership Institute (RLI) where she works with her family office along with individuals, teams, and organizations within Fortune 500 Companies to amplify leadership capabilities, turn businesses around, and support businesses to scale. LA Progressive magazine calls her “the go-to person” and “a secret weapon” for teams who want to find their edge and rise above the competition.

Dr. Taryn Marie is a #1 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Bestselling Author of the book, The Five Practices of Highly Resilient People: Why some flourish when others fold.

Dr. Taryn Marie earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, along with master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, and completed pre- and postdoctoral fellowships in neuropsychology at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, funded by the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) at the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Track Cyril's current journey kayaking from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic to Martinique....that will end right before our conference: CYRIL DERREUMAUX – Solo, Unsupported, Human-powered His general website with more information is: Cyril Derreumaux Adventurer

French born, now American citizen, Cyril Derreumaux considers himself a citizen of the world. Fluent speaker of 6 languages (and counting!) Cyril is attracted to learning and discovering new cultures and places all the time.

This natural curiosity of people and places led Cyril to backpack around the world at 25 for one year. With $7000 and a can- do attitude Cyril embarked on this life changing experience that permanently changed his outlook on life and how he wanted to live it.

A move to California following his profession in the wine business led Cyril to begin exploring the world of outrigger canoeing and kayaking and reignited a childhood passion for windsurfing and all things water related. He soon began pushing his limits further and further in ultra endurance water events. A serendipitous find of the Great Pacific Race which advertised “you don’t need to be a rower to row an ocean” led Cyril to embark on his biggest challenge at the time, rowing in a team of 4 men from California to Hawaii which resulted in in a Guinness Record for the fastest ocean rowing crossing of a team in 39 days and again changing Cyril’s perspective on what was possible.

Always a dreamer, Cyril soon found himself thinking about his next expedition. Inspired by the stories of maverick ocean explorers, Cyril began to plan his biggest expedition to date, crossing the mid pacific on a kayak with solely human power from California to Hawaii.

Despite delays and a failed attempt, Cyril accomplished this goal in September 2022 reaching Hawaii to become the first 100% human powered kayaker to accomplish such a feat.