Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Liberty Global
Soraya Loerts is the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer of Liberty Global, where she is responsible for driving and implementing the multi-year DE&I strategy.
Soraya joined the Liberty Global family in 2009, leading Omni-Channel Care and Retention at the former UPC Netherlands, before serving in various global leadership roles, VP Strategic Marketing & Digital transformation, VP Customer Experience and VP Product Quality. Soraya has over 22 years of experience in driving, customer and product experience, technology, and digital transformation at Cendris, Dell and Liberty Global.
Soraya has a BA in Management and Economics and a master’s degree in Quality and Business Transformation, she also completed the INSEAD CTAM Executive Program and The WICT Network’s Executive Stanford Program. She has been named “Leader of the year” by the Customer Management association and featured in the prestigious Rijksmuseum as an” Influential woman making a difference”. She is also recognized by “Topvrouwen” a platform showcasing top women leaders in the Netherlands and a member of the World Economic Chief DEI officers Forum.
In 2019, Soraya co-founded The WICT Network: Europe chapter and served as president.
Soraya’s personal aspiration is to encourage leaders to play a pivotal role in creating a consciously inclusive culture where everyone can feel as though they belong, in addition to driving a level playing field for women in the industry.
Joan Marwitz has over 15 years of product management leadership experience with Fortune 500 companies (Motorola Inc, T-Mobile, Oracle) for Telecommunications, Mobile Applications, SaaS, GeoSpatial Information Software and Services (GIS) and Next Generation 911 systems.
Currently, Joan Marwitz is a Senior Manager of Mobile Product for Charter Communications in Denver, CO. She is a product management leader responsible for one of the organizations first converged connectivity products, Spectrum Speed Boost. Joan has led all digital customer experiences for speed boost with a long list of accomplishments. In 2022 Joan successfully launched iOS and Android speed boost opt-in for My Spectrum App as well as an equipment swap experience in the app and portal. Joan has also been a leading voice in working with Connectivity Technology to develop a way to do WiFi based SIM authentication for Spectrum Mobile devices, which would greatly improve the overall customer experience for speed boost.
In 2023 she created a cross functional team across Charter, and specifically the Connectivity team, to better understand mobile customer needs, pain points, and desires as well as the competitive landscape earlier in the product development process.
Joan is passionate about getting young women involved in technology. She has been the WICT Strategic Partnerships Board Director for the past year. She has been a catalyst and inspirational in establishing our relationships with the next generation for young women in STEM. She has also been working with Colorado School of Mines, CU Boulder, Cherry Creek High School, and Cherokee High School in successfully getting students connected to an internship opportunity in Rocky Mountain WICT’s Walk of Fame program in May. Joan’s leadership in WICT will enable the next generation to be poised for future careers in technology. Joan is also a volunteer Board Director on the CO Women’s Hall of Fame whose mission is to inspire by sharing the contributions of Colorado’s extraordinary women. She is actively working on incorporating the Hall’s inductee’s stories into the CO Public Schools’ Social Studies curriculum.
Kyli Nail is a Manager of Growth Initiative Programs for Altice in Tyler, TX. In her role, she is responsible for the overall strategy of key company infrastructure-related initiatives designed to drive subscriber growth. Kyli’s career of over 22 years in the cable industry has allowed her great experience in various roles within technical support, network operations, engineering, technical operations, customer engagement, and project/program management at Altice.
In addition to her professional work, Kyli co-leads the Diversity & Inclusion Affinity group for women, HER Impact Network, at Altice. As well as being a member of all 8 Diversity & Inclusion groups within Altice. She is passionate about empowering people by respecting and appreciating what makes them different. Being a leader of HER Impact Network gives her the opportunity to engage, educate and build a sense of belonging in the workplace.
Kyli is always eager to learn, grow, and help others anyway she can. She is driven and motivated to make a positive impact everywhere she goes. She always has a positive attitude and continuously welcomes a new challenge as learning opportunity.
Kyli grew up in a variety of countries overseas before moving to Tyler, TX. She currently lives in Whitehouse, TX with her twin sons and three rescue cats. She enjoys reading, listening to music, going on adventures with her sons and she is a DIY enthusiast.
Sydney Schwartz serves as Manager, Communications and Client Experiences, Content Distribution at NBCUniversal. In this role, Schwartz supports internal and external communications by writing press releases, pitches, executive bios and other media documents for NBCUniversal Content Distribution. Additionally, Schwartz partners with sales and marketing teams to engage distribution clients across MVPD, dMVPD, connected devices, social/digital platforms. Schwartz also executes special events for distribution clients, both nationally and internationally, including the 2022 World Cup, Olympics, and Super Bowl.
Previously, Schwartz served as Coordinator, Unscripted Communications at NBCUniversal where she supported publicity campaigns for series including “The Real Housewives” franchises, “Below Deck,” and “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
Schwartz is an NYU graduate with a B.S. in Media, Culture and Communications. Throughout college, she interned for MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Universal Kids. After NYU, Schwartz joined the NBCU Page Program with rotations in Corporate Communications, Bravo & Oxygen Social Media Marketing and TODAY Booking.
She is originally from Chicago, Illinois. Outside of work, Schwartz is an avid golfer, certified Pilates instructor and former figure skater.
As a Senior Resource Coordinator for ESPN’s Field Operations Group, Allison Violette is responsible for managing the department’s contract operational technicians. This population is a special classification of employee, unique to ESPN and The Walt Disney Company, with policies, workflows, and performance expectations requiring careful maintenance. She is the main liaison between these 130 plus technicians and the multiple teams involved in their usage and scheduling within Field Operations.
Prior to her current role, Allison helped start and lead the Third Party Team within Field Operations. This team was responsible for streamlining the process of hiring, managing payroll, and tracking the thousands of local daily workers utilized for ESPN’s remote events, within three separate payroll agencies. Before joining ESPN in 2014, Allison worked in small business management.
An advocate for elevating and promoting women and minorities within the industry, Allison was introduced to WICT by a colleague in 2016. Immediately an active and engaged member, she won Protégé of the Year for the New England chapter’s Mentor Program in 2019. She then first joined the board in 2020 as a Programming Director and moved to the position of Membership Chair in 2022.
In her spare time, Allison is an engaged member of the Peloton community, loves to garden, cook, and bake, and can sometimes be found lost in a good book. A lifelong resident of Connecticut, Allison is thrilled to have recently move back to her hometown with her two young sons.
Rachel Walden is a Sr. Manager Human Resources Business Partner at Comcast in the Technology Product, Experience (TPX) Organization supporting the Network and Connectivity team. Before joining TPX, Rachel was the Manager of HR Operations and Programs for the Beltway Region and spent time supporting Xfinity Mobile and other Headquarters businesses in the group now known as Xfinity Growth Innovation & Experience (XGIE). Before joining Comcast, she worked at EY as a Senior Consultant in their People Advisory Services practice. Rachel earned her bachelor’s degree from Penn State in the Smeal College of Business, majoring in Human Capital Management. Rachel is currently pursuing her MBA at Temple University, Fox School of Business.
Rachel is a mentor in the Comcast ERG Mentorship program and has previously participated in the WICT mentorship program. Rachel is an active member of the Women’s Network and other ERGs at Comcast including her prior role as the Marketing and Communications lead for the Beltway Women’s Network at Comcast.
Rachel lives in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania with her husband, Jordan and two dogs Charlie and Wally. In her free time, she enjoys running, getting involved in the community through Big Brothers Big Sisters and local dog rescues, traveling to new places, and spending time with family and friends.
