AACA 2026 Annual Forum

  • October 13, 2026
  • 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
  • The Carter Center, Cecil B Day Chapel, 453 John Lewis Freedom Pkwy NE, Atlanta, 30307
  • 6

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2026 ANNUAL FORUM

Total Rewards in a Globally Connected World

The Annual Forum is our biggest event of the year.


Tuesday, October 13, 2026

8:00 – 3:30 PM

The Carter Center, Cecil B. Day Chapel
453 John Lewis Freedom Pkwy NE
Atlanta 30307


The Total Rewards Business Case: Turning Engagement into Measurable ROI

In a cost-constrained, globally connected workplace, Total Rewards leaders are under pressure to demonstrate that every investment drives meaningful business value. Yet even well-designed programs can fall short when participation is low, recognition is inconsistent, and outcomes are difficult to measure.

This session offers a practical framework for connecting Total Rewards strategy to the behaviors and outcomes that matter most. Attendees will explore how to build an engagement system that combines meaningful recognition, targeted incentives, inclusive participation opportunities, and clear measurement—then translate that approach into a compelling ROI story for business and finance leaders.

Participants will leave with actionable ideas for increasing adoption, strengthening employee connection, and making a more credible case for Total Rewards investment in any economic environment.

Presented by

Nathan Figg
CEO & Co-Founder
Woliba

Nathan Figg is the founder and CEO of Woliba, an AI-powered People Operations platform helping organizations strengthen employee wellbeing, engagement, recognition, and workplace culture. An entrepreneur, global people leader, and U.S. military combat veteran, Nathan has built high-performing international teams and advised hundreds of HR leaders. He is passionate about combining technology, data, and human-centered strategy to create healthier, more connected, and higher-performing workplaces.

Pay Under Pressure: Governing Executive Compensation Risk
in a Globally Connected World

Global disruption is now an operating condition, and it pushes companies toward exactly the arrangements where executive compensation risk concentrates. This session traces how pay decisions fragment across compensation, legal, payroll, finance, and deal teams. A single governance discipline is applied to the three doctrines that follow nonqualified compensation through its lifecycle: ERISA top hat status at the front end, Section 409A in ongoing operation, and Section 280G at a change in control. Attendees leave with a governance calendar covering all three, and the case law and correction rules behind each.


Presented by 

Jeremy Sharp
Partner
Hall Benefits Law

Jeremy J. Sharp is an accomplished benefits and compensation attorney with extensive in-house and law firm experience advising corporations, executives, and plan governance committees on ERISA, tax, and compliance matters across diverse industries. His practice focuses on pension and retirement plan governance, executive compensation strategy, health and welfare program management, fiduciary training and committee advisory, vendor selection and contract negotiations, regulatory filings and government audits, and risk mitigation strategies that align benefits design with financial objectives.


Preparing for HRIS Implementation –
Building a Job Architecture and Pay Structure Framework

Implementing a new HRIS system is as much a foundational HR exercise as it is a technical one, and organizations need clean, consistent job architecture and pay structures for the system to run on. In this session, we'll follow the journey of Zeus, a global organization, as it partnered with Culpepper to build a job architecture framework and design pay structures across the US and internationally in preparation for a major HRIS implementation — covering why this groundwork matters, key decisions along the way, and lessons learned to help attendees apply the same approach to their own initiatives.


Presented by 


Natalie Croy
VP of Consulting
Culpepper & Associates

Natalie has nearly 20 years of compensation experience in which she has helped a broad range of organizations in the review and design of compensation programs, including privately owned companies, government organizations and large, publicly traded organizations. Prior to joining Culpepper and Associates as their Director of Compensation Consulting, Natalie served as Director, Global Compensation for a $4.5B publicly traded technology company. Prior to that, Natalie worked at Mercer, gaining deep expertise in job evaluation, compensation analysis, and project management. 

Natalie earned a BS in Business Administration from University of Phoenix. She is a member of the Atlanta Area Compensation Association (AACA) and received her CCP designation from WorldatWork in 2007. 


Tyria Taylor-Matthews
Sr. Compensation Manager
Zeus

Tyria Taylor-Matthews is an executive Total Rewards and workforce strategy leader with more than 18 years of experience across compensation, benefits, job architecture, HR technology, and organizational transformation. With experience in private equity-backed, public, pre-IPO, and high-growth organizations, Tyria is known for connecting people strategy, financial discipline, and business performance. She holds an MBA in Accounting and Finance, an LLM, and the CECP credential.




AI for Compensation Professionals: Practical AI Applications in Total Rewards

Discover how compensation professionals can leverage AI to work smarter, not harder. This interactive session explores practical applications of generative AI across market pricing, job architecture, salary structures, and employee communications, while addressing key risks and governance considerations.

Presented by Our Panel


Brian Smith (Moderator)
Senior Vice President, Talent Business Line
Gallagher

Brian Smith is a Senior Vice President with Gallagher's Talent Business Line. Brian helps clients navigate human capital strategy and organizational change. With 18 years of Human Capital Consulting experience, Brian has developed deep technical expertise in Compensation, Employee Engagement, HR Technology, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition Strategy, Mobility, Workforce Transformation and Change Management services.

As a frequent speaker, you can often find Brian on a stage discussing the Future of our Global Workforce, the latest trends in compensation, and best practices in developing a consumer-grade Employee Experience. 

Brian holds a B.A. from Indiana University and is deeply involved in multiple charities including Purple Pansies End Pancreatic Cancer and Charlie’s Army Foundation.


Cheryl Strong
Director of Compensation
Insight Global

Cheryl Strong is Director of Compensation Management at Insight Global, bringing more than 25 years of compensation experience to her work as a leader, strategist, and trusted business advisor.

Throughout her career, Cheryl has helped organizations translate complex compensation challenges into practical, business-focused solutions. Her experience spans compensation strategy, job architecture, market analysis, program design, and the development of compensation professionals and teams.

Cheryl is particularly passionate about making compensation easier to understand. She believes great compensation professionals do more than analyze data—they understand the story behind the numbers, ask the right questions, and communicate recommendations in language business leaders can actually use. Known for combining analytical rigor with a practical, people-centered leadership style, Cheryl focuses on helping compensation professionals move beyond simply providing data to becoming confident, thoughtful advisors to the business.

As a speaker, Cheryl brings authenticity, energy, and more than two decades of real-world experience to conversations about compensation, leadership, and the evolving role of the compensation professional.


Shaun Drawdy
Director of Compensation
Saia

Shaun Drawdy is the Director of Compensation at Saia, a national less-than-truckload carrier, where he leads broad-based compensation strategy and programs supporting a workforce of more than 14,000 employees nationwide. In his role, Shaun oversees compensation initiatives across job architecture, salary structure design, incentive compensation, and enterprise compensation programs. Prior to joining Saia in 2023, Shaun held compensation roles with HD Supply, BJ's Wholesale Club, EnerNOC, and J.Jill and holds CCP, CSCP, CECP, and CSRP certifications through WorldatWork.


Gabe Lowy
Senior Manager, Compensation & Organization Design
Lazer Logistics 

Gabriel Lowy is Senior Manager of Compensation & Org Development at Lazer Logistics, where he focuses on modernizing how the organization designs and evaluates pay. He holds a Master's degree in Data Analytics and spent three years at Mercer before joining Lazer, bringing a technical, numbers-first lens to compensation work.

Within Lazer's Compensation & Org Development function, Gabriel has applied AI to modernize core comp processes. He is building automated market-benchmarking workflows to speed up pricing cycles, developing a framework for evaluating and improving starting-rate competitiveness against financial constraints, and designing the career-leveling structure supporting Lazer's job architecture initiative. He is also leading a redesign of the company's merit process, introducing a weighted-share methodology in place of a prepopulated matrix, across both corporate and operations populations.


Annual Forum - Community Outreach


Each year, we dedicate a portion of our Annual Forum to a community outreach initiative. This year, AACA is proud to partner with the Banneker High School SAFE Center to host a Fill the Backpack event, procuring clear backpacks, hygiene products, and school supplies.

The Student and Family Engagement (SAFE) Center at Banneker High School is a school-based hub providing food, clothing, mental health support, and job placement services to remove barriers to learning for students and families — a model now replicated across Fulton County Schools.

Our goal is to fill at least 5 to 10 bins with school supplies, clear backpacks, and hygiene items.

There are two ways for you to participate:

  1. Amazon Wishlist - purchase items from the curated Amazon Wishlist and ship directly to the address supplied.
  2. Purchase items yourself and bring them directly to the Forum, using the Amazon Wishlist as a reference.

Donation bins will be located at the Banneker High School SAFE Center booth at the Forum.


With Thanks to Our Annual Sponsors:


Connect With Us
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