The Skills-Based Revolution: Transforming Hiring, Development, and Employee Engagement

Before founding Skillcrush over ten years ago, Adda ran a web design and development company that built sites for media clients such as The New York Times, ProPublica, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network and MTV. She has been named one of the "20 Women to Watch in Media'' by the Columbia Journalism Review, one of the "30 Most Important Women in Tech" by Business Insider, and has been featured on the BBC, PBS, Fast Company, and Mashable. And she was appointed by former Mayor Bill DeBlasio to the New York City Workforce Development board. Adda is a graduate of Yale University and calls NYC home. When not growing or teaching at Skillcrush, she enjoys exploring her home borough of Queens and hanging out with her husband and two sons.

Jared Andres is an L&D professional with 15 years experience building and leading high impact leadership development, workforce development, and corporate training programs. He currently leads learning experience design at Critical Mass, an award-winning full-service digital experience design agency.

Sienna J. Brown is a visionary Leadership Strategist and Global Speaker with over a decade of experience partnering with global leaders and institutions. As the Head of Growth at PowerToFly, a scaling Series-B start-up, Brown drives innovation and expansion.

Throughout her career, Brown has been instrumental in helping organizations gain investment while prioritizing diverse talent. Her expertise lies in developing strategic programming to enable, elevate, and re-energize leaders to guide organizational transformation. Brown's approach focuses on redefining work through inclusion, impact, influence, and integrity.

Previously, as Sr. Director of DEIB at PowerToFly, Brown built a department from the ground up, delivering strategic learning and development programs that increased employee engagement and advocacy in over 50+ global organizations.

Her work has gained recognition on platforms such as Forbes, TedX, Insider, CNN, and NPR. Brown collaborates with organizations to create transformative strategies that secure employee, consumer, and financial investment while staying true to their vision and values.

Mara Gates is PowerToFly’s Learning Experience Manager. For the past 7 years, she’s focused on creating inclusive and impactful learning experiences in academic and corporate settings. Her mission is to empathetically educate and empower people to own their professional and leadership journeys.