Krystal Hicks is a Career Strategist and Founder of JOBTALK, a career counseling practice offering inclusive one-on-one support to professionals in transition and employer branding and recruitment consulting to companies. Before launching JOBTALK in 2019, she spent 11 years in staffing, career services, and corporate talent acquisition—most recently leading recruitment for Lindt Chocolate’s U.S. headquarters, where she filled over 200 roles without agency support.

Krystal previously served as UNH’s Director of Career Services and facilitated a weekly pre-release employment program at the Strafford County Department of Corrections. She was named one of the Seacoast’s “10 to Watch” and New Hampshire’s “40 Under 40” for her community impact.

She teaches College to Career: How to Stand Out in Today’s Job Market at UNH’s Paul College and co-founded the Seacoast’s first 100 Women Who Care chapter, which has donated over $100K to local nonprofits. Outside of work, you’ll find her on a bike at Studio One Cycle or catching shows at The Music Hall in Portsmouth.

Deb Kaplan is an Organizational Performance Consultant and Full-Suite Trainer with Dale Carnegie Training. With decades of experience spanning leadership development, executive coaching, and team building, Deb helps organizations unlock the courage, confidence, resilience, and critical thinking in their workforce to embrace and navigate change and growth.

Through keynote speaking, panel discussions, and trainer-led programs, she equips leaders and teams to build stronger communication, elevate human skills in a high-tech world, and inspire collaboration that drives engagement and performance. Since her graduate studies in organizational development from Antioch New England—and with certifications in various assessments, including emotional intelligence—Deb brings both deep expertise and a proven track record of transforming workplace culture to spark growth, retention, and sustainable organizational success.

Laura Kender is a Polymer Process Engineer who currently works for Corning Life Sciences, a division of Corning Incorporated that develops and manufactures laboratory consumables and equipment that support research and development in areas like cell culture, bioprocessing, drug discovery, and genomics. Laura has been at Corning for 3 years where she focuses on manufacturing design, material development, injection molding, and sustainability. Prior to that, Laura worked at Converse for 5 years as a Footwear Product Developer where she helped to design and develop converse shoes. 

Laura studied at University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Plastics Engineering. Laura is also a Board Member of the Society of Plastics Engineer.

In her role as Chief Operating Officer, Cathy leads the IAPP’s operational excellence needs, collaborating with IAPP leadership to define company strategies and manage impacts to daily operations. This includes playing a vital role in ensuring operational resilience through technology-enabled innovation and delivering transformational change initiatives that ensure operational health. 

Prior to joining the IAPP team in February 2019, Cathy held various executive technology leadership positions at Liberty Mutual across infrastructure, applications and technology services. She is an advocate of Women in Technology, and passionate about technology literacy for business leaders. 

Cathy earned a BS in Mathematics from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. She is a native of New Hampshire and when not working, she enjoys traveling, biking, skiing and other outdoor activities with her three sons, their families, and her friends.