Meet the Voices of Imagine Admin
Administrative Professionals from across the country sharing bold ideas, real stories, and practical strategies.
Event 1 - April 10
Event 2 - April 16
Event 3 - April 29
Jacqueline Steinkamp & Jenn Escamilla
Executive Assistants
Biohub (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)
Speaking on
Leading Through Change with Agentic AI: How to be a steady support for others as an EA— and use AI agents to work smarter along the way!
New tools don’t transform organizations. People do. In this practical session, Jacqueline Steinkamp and Jenn Escamilla explore the unique role Executive Assistants play in driving AI adoption across teams. Positioned at the center of communication, priorities, and workflows, EAs are often the ones who help new ideas stick. Jacqueline and Jenn share how AI can act as a daily “multiplier” to reduce friction in drafting, summarizing, planning, and organizing work while also demonstrating how EAs can lead adoption through simple change-management practices that help new tools become lasting habits for team members.
About Jacqueline Steinkamp & Jenn Escamilla
Jennifer (Jenn) Escamilla is an Executive Assistant at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with nearly two decades of experience supporting C-suite and senior leaders across tech, gaming, and philanthropy. Known for her expertise in navigating complex organizational change, redesigning executive workflows, and building the operational infrastructure that keeps teams aligned and moving forward, Jennifer is a trusted strategic partner and passionate advocate for the EA profession. She is joined by her CZI colleague Jacqueline (Jackie) Steinkamp, an EA in Central Technology at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, who specializes in workflow optimization and integrating emerging tools like AI to drive team efficiency. Together, they bring a combined 44 years of experience and a shared belief in the evolving, strategic power of the modern EA.
Judy Bingenheimer
Executive Assistant
MEC
Speaking on
Doing It Afraid
Judy Bingenheimer’s career started because someone else took a chance on her. Years later, she realized that if she wanted to move forward, she had to do the same thing for herself. This talk is about big opportunities that feel terrifying, and why the most important career move you’ll ever make might be the one you take scared.
About Judy Bingenheimer
Judy Bingenheimer is an Executive Assistant at MEC supporting the CEO and executive leadership team. A nearly 20-year Administrative Professional, she founded Midwest Admin Connection after attending an Admin Awards event, creating a community where Admins connect, speak openly about the work, and support one another.
LaTisha Carter
Special Assistant to the COO
Chicago Public Schools
Speaking on
The Strategic Architect: It’s Not Preparation, It’s Mise en Place!
For years Executive Assistants have been called the “glue” of organizations. LaTisha Carter believes that’s far too small. In today’s fast-moving business environment, the real opportunity is to become the architect. This session explores the mindset shift from managing an executive’s time to actively shaping their impact.
About LaTisha Carter
LaTisha S. Carter is the Special Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer at Chicago Public Schools and a proud West Side Chicago native. With a background in hospitality leadership and a passion for operational excellence, she helps leaders turn strategy into action while advocating for Administrative Professionals to step into their role as true business partners.
Lynda Giattino
Executive Assistant
Rubrik
Speaking on
When The Ladder's Leaning On The Wrong Wall
Lynda Giattino once climbed the corporate ladder all the way to way being offered a Director role at HBO. There was just one problem: she hated it. In this funny and refreshingly honest talk, Lynda shares why she made the bold decision to double down on the career she always loved, being an Executive Assistant, and what happens when you define success on your own terms.
About Lynda Giattino
Lynda Giattino is a Senior Executive Assistant at Rubrik with more than 20 years in the administrative profession, supporting C-suite leaders across media and tech. A proud Brooklyn native, she is passionate about elevating the Executive Assistant role and helping others build careers they genuinely love.
Yesenia Hernandez-Brito
Chief of Staff
Healthcare Businesswomen's Association
Speaking on
Stop Disregarding Your EA’s Discernment
Yesenia Hernandez-Brito explores why when an EA raises a concern about team dynamics, business decisions, or personnel issues, it’s not speculation, it’s insight. Built from proximity, experience, and intuition, an EA’s discernment is one of the most underutilized leadership assets in an organization. She shares why the role naturally develops deep situational awareness and how leaders who listen sooner build stronger partnerships, make better decisions, and avoid problems before they surface.
About Yesenia Hernandez-Brito
Yesenia Hernandez-Brito is the Chief of Staff and Director of Global Board Affairs at Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. With more than 25 years of experience in board governance and C-suite executive support, Yesenia plays a key role in administering HBA’s most prestigious recognition programs, including the ACE and Woman of the Year awards, ensuring exceptional experiences for award recipients and distinguished leaders across the organization. Prior to joining HBA, Yesenia served as Director of Board Relations and Programs for a New York City nonprofit association, where she led board and executive leadership operations. She holds a degree in Business Administration from Baruch College and several professional certifications focused on strategic partnership, executive leadership, and association management. In 2023, Yesenia was honored as the Above the Call Award Winner at the Washington, D.C. Admin Awards, widely regarded as the administrative profession’s highest honor. She currently serves on the ASAP Advisory Board, the Admin Awards Advisory Board, and the EA Pros Board, and is a frequent mentor, speaker, and advocate for the administrative profession.
Jillian Hufnagel
Guest Speaker
Hufnagel Enterprises
Speaking on
Reclaiming Your Value - Part 1 of a 3 Part Series
Join Jillian Hufnagel over three sessions as she discusses Reclaiming your Innate Value, Making the Case to Get Paid for Stretch Work, and Future Proofing your role. This is not about doing more, it’s about thinking differently about your value, your compensation, and your future. These discussions with Admin Awards Founder, Sunny Nunan, will be kicking of each Imagine Admin Session during April.
About Jillian Hufnagel
Jillian is an executive coach, leadership facilitator, and strategic advisor who partners with founders and senior leaders to navigate growth and high-stakes change. Before coaching, she spent more than 20 years as the operating right hand to CEOs in Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff roles, supporting leadership teams through IPO preparation, mergers and acquisitions, executive recruiting, and major organizational transitions across startups and enterprise organizations.
Desiree Kramer
Executive Assistant
Huntington National Bank
Speaking on
Coming Home To Yourself
In the constant rhythm of responsibility, it’s easy for Administrative Professionals to lose touch with their own center. In this restorative and reflective session, Desiree Kramer invites attendees to pause and reconnect with what steadies them. Through grounding tools, directional work, and thoughtful reflection, she creates space for participants to listen inward and rediscover the clarity and wisdom that allow them to lead from a more grounded place.
About Desiree Kramer
Desiree Kramer is an Executive Assistant at Huntington National Bank, supporting the Regional President of the Illinois–Wisconsin market. With more than 26 years of experience in banking, she plays a key role in advancing regional consumer and business banking by supporting strategic initiatives, coordinating leadership priorities, and ensuring seamless operations across the region.
Meredith Randall
Executive Assitant
Genworth
Speaking on
Act Like An ADULT
In high-pressure moments, emotions show up fast. A tense conversation, a surprising comment, a stressful situation. The reaction is human. The response is a choice. In this lively session, Meredith Randall shares a practical framework she calls “Act Like an ADULT.” It’s a simple, memorable approach for navigating emotionally charged moments that keep conversations constructive and relationships intact.
About Meredith Randall
Meredith Randall is an Executive Assistant at Genworth with more than 35 years of experience supporting leaders across small businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies. Meredith also helped spearhead the creation of an Administrative Professionals Network at Genworth, focused on training, development, and strengthening the administrative community.
Stephanie Richardson
Senior Executive Assistant
Capital Blue Cross
Speaking on
There’s Power In Numbers: Building an Admin Council That Moves the Organization
Administrative Professionals often work across teams but rarely have a formal structure that brings their collective insight together. At Capital Blue Cross, that changed with the creation of the Capital Administrative Support Team, known as CAST. Stephanie Richardson shares the story behind the development of the council, how it gained executive sponsorship, created structure and engagement, and ultimately helped strengthen collaboration across the organization. The initiative was later recognized nationally with the 2025 Admin Awards Team Achiever Award.
About Stephanie Richardson
Stephanie Richardson is a 30+ year veteran of the Administrative Profession, currently as Senior Executive Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer at Capital Blue Cross. She serves as co-chair of the Capital Administrative Support Team (CAST), which received the 2025 Admin Awards Team Achiever Award at the Admin Awards - Washington DC & Mid-Atlantic region. Stephanie also earned the Certified Administrative Professional designation in 2020 through IAAP.
Sarah Sanford
Executive Assistant
NAVEX
Speaking on
Small Projects That Deliver Big Impact.
Administrative Professionals see operational gaps every day. The difference between staying a task-taker and becoming a strategic partner is choosing to solve them. In this session, Sarah Sanford shares a simple approach for turning everyday frustrations into pilot projects that create real business value. The result: more visibility, stronger executive trust, and a clear path from task execution to strategic problem solving.
About Sarah Sanford
Sarah Sanford is an Executive Assistant based near Portland, Oregon, supporting multiple C-suite leaders across go-to-market and customer services functions. With eight years of experience in founder-led businesses and SaaS environments, she has developed a playbook on creating operational clarity, building repeatable systems, and maximizing her executive's level of strategic output.
Magaly Santos
Chief of Staff
Toyota Motor North America
Speaking on
Behind The Scenes Until Literally You're Not
When Magaly Santos was asked to step in front of the camera for the first PSA created for the Administrative Profession by the Admin Awards, to be released on April 1st, her first instinct was hesitation. Like many Administrative Professionals, she was far more comfortable making things happen behind the scenes than standing in the spotlight. But something interesting happens when you say yes to something that scares you. In this talk, Magaly shares the unexpected emotional journey of stepping into visibility for the first time and what it revealed about confidence, identity, and leadership. Because sometimes the opportunities that feel the most unnerving are the ones that stretch us into who we are becoming. What she discovered is that visibility isn’t about ego. It’s about representation.
About Magaly Santos
Magaly Santos is the Chief of Staff to Kevin Voelkel, SVP of Manufacturing Operations at Toyota Motor North America. She's been with Toyota for over 16 years where she began as a receptionist before advancing to Executive Assistant and most recently to Chief of Staff. She lives in San Antonio with her husband and two precious boys.
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Syreeta Taylor
Executive Assistant
UNC Charlotte- College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences
Speaking on
If You Don't Believe Your Voice Matters, Don't Expect Anyone Else To
Nine years in the U.S. Marine Corps taught Syreeta Taylor something fast: if you don’t believe your voice matters, no one else will. In this powerful talk, she shares how finding the courage to speak up transformed the way she leads, influences decisions, and shows up as an Administrative Professional.
About Syreeta Taylor
Syreeta Taylor is the Executive Assistant to the Dean of the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences at UNC Charlotte and a nine-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran. She holds a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and is passionate about helping Administrative Professionals stop playing small and start using their voice. She is a recipient of the Admin Awards' Leadership Award in the Washington & Mid-Atlantic Region.
Brandi Whitson
Sr Exec Assistant to CEO
Pizza Hut
Speaking on
Break The Plane of the Door .. Overcoming Fear
What holds most people back isn't a lack of preparation — it's fear. In this session, Brandi shares what it truly means to take bold leaps in your career, even when you don't have perfect visibility, a guaranteed outcome, or a fully formed plan. Sometimes courage is simply the decision to go forward.
About Brandi Whitson
Brandi Whitson is Senior Executive Assistant to the CEO of Pizza Hut at Yum! Brands, where she partners closely with C-suite leadership at the center of global executive operations and enterprise initiatives. With more than 30 years of experience supporting CEOs and senior leaders across organizations including Yum! Brands, Ryan LLC, Bottle Rocket Studios, McAfee, and Intuit, she brings deep expertise in executive partnership and leadership operations. Brandi is the recipient of the Admin Awards Colleen Barrett Award for Administrative Excellence in the Dallas, Fort Worth & Southwest Region.
Cynthia Willliams Young
Guest Speaker
Southwest Airlines, Retired
Speaking on
Say The Thing. Silence Isn't Support.
After decades at Southwest Airlines working alongside Colleen Barrett, the legendary Executive Assistant turned President and COO, and founder Herb Kelleher, Cynthia Young learned a simple truth about the Administrative role: sometimes the most valuable skill isn’t organization, diplomacy, or multitasking. It’s having the nerve to say the thing that needs to be said. In this hilarious and refreshingly honest session, Cynthia shares stories from inside one of the most celebrated corporate cultures in America and reveals why the assistants who earn the most respect are often the ones willing to speak up at exactly the right moment.
About Cynthia Willliams Young
Cynthia Williams Young is a human resources and organizational development leader with a career spanning education, public service, and corporate leadership. She currently serves as a Human Resources Consultant with People Results, helping organizations strengthen employee engagement and productivity. Cynthia previously held leadership roles at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Ambit Energy, and spent 21 years at Southwest Airlines where she helped build departments focused on employee relations, internal customer care, and culture. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of North Texas.
Paul Xavier
Executive Assistant
Bain & Company
Speaking on
Let Me Finish
Paul Xavier had a boss who interrupted him. Again. And again. The third time, Paul stopped the conversation and said, “I need to finish this point.” That moment changed everything. In this candid talk, Paul shares why Administrative Professionals must trust their voice, the difference between being assertive and angry, and the surprising respect that follows when you speak with conviction.
About Paul Xavier
Paul Xavier is an Executive Assistant at Bain & Company with more than 35 years in the administrative profession across engineering, energy, construction, mental health, and consulting. A longtime mentor to fellow Admins, he believes confidence, experience, and assertiveness are some of the profession’s most powerful tools.
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