NEHRA's Online Learning Lab - Empowering Professionals: A Roundtable on Career Navigation and Lessons Learned

Julie Coote, MBA has a thirty-year tenure in financial services, most recently as the Head of Human Resources at Geode Capital Management, LLC (“Geode”). She is a founding employee of Geode, which spun off from Fidelity Investments and after a twenty-four-year tenure at the firm she retired in June of 2024.  Julie was instrumental in helping to cultivate, grow and develop the firm, which has expanded from three employees to over one hundred and eighty employees. 

Julie is currently the Board Advisory Chair for Tomorrow’s Women TODAY. She is very active with volunteer activities in her community and acts as a mentor for working women.  She recently launched a home furnishings and decor business, siena&sill, located in Foxboro, Massachusetts.  

Harika Diaz is a Human Resources Coordinator at Loomis, Sayles & Company, where she helps oversee human resources operations and manages specific human resources-related projects and initiatives. She serves as co-lead of the Loomis Sayles Learning & Development Council, and a co-founder and leader of the firm’s mental health program, LS Healthy Minds and LS Black Community affinity group. She joined Loomis Sayles in 2015, earned a BA from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a certificate from the CFA Institute Investment Foundations Program.

Cheryl Jacobs is Senior Vice President, Executive Coach, Leadership Developer & Facilitator at MCG Partners, a consultancy specializing in leadership and talent optimization. With over 20 years’ experience leading teams and organizations to sustainable success, Cheryl develops and delivers a broad spectrum of customized training and development programs. Her program participants span various organization levels, industries, and cultures, and speak to Cheryl’s ability to create personalized learning experiences and transformative and sustainable changes.

A skilled interactive and collaborative facilitator, Cheryl has extensive expertise in solving the leadership challenges of individuals and organizations. She specializes in employee and leadership effectiveness, succession planning, organizational innovation, change and alignment. Cheryl is a Harvard Business School executive coach providing coaching and advisory services to attending global executives. Previously, Cheryl leveraged her passion for developing people and founded Talent Transformation, a coaching, training and talent management consulting firm.

Cheryl also served as the Executive Director of Sales for The Providence Journal Company, a multimedia organization owned by Belo Corporation. At The Providence Journal Company, she oversaw a sales and marketing staff of 60 and drove strategies, revenue, and multimedia product development with a $50m budget. Prior to the Providence Journal, Cheryl spent 10 years in Sales and Strategic Planning at Boston.com and The Boston Globe.

Cheryl holds a BA from Boston College and a MBA from Suffolk University. In addition, Cheryl is a certified Executive Coach through the International Coach Federation (ICF) and is a certified Analyst in the Predictive Index^® (PI^®) and DiSC^®. She is also certified in several 360 assessments. She is also a faculty member of the Northeast Human Resource Association (NEHRA), a SHRM chapter.

Sharon Lavery is VP of Consulting Services at MCG Partners, a leadership, culture, and talent optimization firm that connects people strategy with business strategy for maximum impact. She has over 20 years of extensive experience as a Human Resources Leader across a wide range of industries and organizations of varying sizes. Sharon serves as a strategic partner to leaders, helping organizations identify tailored solutions. Her expertise in leadership development, employee engagement, and talent optimization ensures that organizations receive the support they need to drive sustainable success. Sharon holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Kiersten Peterson started her career in the staffing industry at Adecco and Randstad, before transitioning to internal HR at State Street Global Advisors.  For two decades, Kiersten headed Human Resources at Winston Flowers, building the HR infrastructure, programs and team, and leading the company’s expansion into new markets.  Kiersten has recently joined RogersGray, a Baldwin Group Partner, in the small and growing HR Consulting team, providing tailored HR solutions to small business clients.