Eighth Annual Isenberg Ethics Competition
Keynote Address by Cara Mulkerrin of Wellington Management, joined by her colleagues Michele Wade and Jen Duest
DEI Journeys: Stories and Strategies
11:15 am-12 pm. DEI Conversations: Questions for our Speakers
Cara Mulkerrin
Vice President & Associate Director – Global Payroll & Global Mobility
As Vice President & Associate Director, Global Payroll & Global Mobility, Cara sets Wellington’s strategy for global payroll and global mobility. She ensures that the Global Payroll Team executes its mission: to pay all employees accurately, on-time, and as efficiently as possible. She oversees the Mobility Team in managing international Long- and Short-term Assignments, Business Trips, and Local Foreign Hires as well as immigration, taxation / shadow payroll, local registration, and social security.
Cara focuses on projects that allow her team to scale globally as the business evolves and grows. Cara has an affinity for systems and, over the course of her career, has implemented a variety of systems in both HR and Finance including goal setting, performance/feedback, compensation, and payroll. Additionally, she has been actively involved in staff development, serving as a mentor, as a member of women’s networks, and most recently as co-chair of Finance & Administration’s Human Capital Sub-committee for DEI.
Cara is an experienced leader in both Finance and HR and has deep expertise in executive compensation, global mobility, payroll, and vendor management. Prior to joining Wellington in 2016, Cara was Global Payroll and Compensation Manager at Cambridge Associates (2014-2016). Earlier in her career, she worked at Bain & Company (2010-2014) as Partner Services Manager and at The Boston Consulting Group (1993-2010) in a variety of HR, compensation, payroll, and accounting roles.
Cara earned her MBA from Boston University and her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Michele L. Wade
Vice President and Business Manager, HR Talent Operations
As the manager of HR Talent Operations, Michele oversees the operational aspects of the HR function globally. She is responsible for providing standardized operational services for employee life cycle processes, reporting, analytics, and all HR transactions, which includes day-to-day management of employee data in Workday.
Her team focuses on providing critical thinking and data driven solutions through project management expertise, reporting, process review and improvement amongst recruiting, talent management, employee relations, diversity & inclusion, and the HR generalist teams.
Prior to joining Wellington Management, Michele worked as the talent acquisition operations manager at Brown Brothers Harriman (2012 – 2016). Before that, she held a variety of positions at both State Street (2006 – 2012) and Fidelity Investments (2000 – 2006).
Michele earned her BS in business administration from Salem State University (1994) and her MS in HR Management from Emmanuel College (2008).
Jennifer J. Duest
Vice President, Associate Director – Global Third-Party Risk, Corporate Insurance & Business Resilience
As an Assoc. Director & VP, Jen oversees the Global Third-Party Risk, Corporate Insurance and Business Resilience programs for the firm. She leads a team that partners with the business areas to help mitigate risks associated with the use of third-party service providers, including operational oversight of the Third Party Risk Management policy, coordinating vendor due diligence, conducting risk assessments and ongoing third party risk management. The Third-Party Risk team works closely with the contract managers in Enterprise Sourcing and subject matter experts across the firm to ensure vendors are onboarded in an accurate, risk-appropriate and timely manner. The Corporate Insurance team is responsible for the management and administration of the firm's global insurance program. The Business Resilience team is responsible for managing the processes for planning for and responding to significant business disruptions, and the Business Continuity program is designed to enable Wellington Management to meet its obligations to provide investment management services to its clients in the event of a significant business disruption.
Prior to joining Wellington Management in 2016, Jen held various positions in finance and enterprise risk at MFS Investment Management (1997-2016), the last being a Vice President for Enterprise Risk Management where she was primarily responsible for setting the corporate insurance strategy for the firm’s and funds’ global insurance needs and the global third-party risk management program. Before MFS, Jen held various roles at Converse Inc (1987–1997), the last running the firm’s global cash management and treasury operations.
Jen earned her MBA from Bentley University and her BS in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts. Additionally, she sits on the Shared Assessments Steering Committee and co-leads the Financial Services Vertical Strategy Group for Shared Assessments, a global membership organization dedicated to developing best practices, education and tools to drive third party risk assurance. She also holds Certified Third-Party Risk Professional (CTPRP) and Certified Cash Manager (CCM) designations.