The Human OS: Rebooting Wellness for Better Performance and Leadership
Today’s technology leaders are expected to operate at peak performance in an environment defined by nonstop acceleration, constant decision-making, organizational pressure, talent challenges, and relentless connectivity. Yet behind the titles, dashboards, and strategic initiatives are human beings whose mental clarity, physical health, resilience, and personal well-being directly impact how effectively they lead.
This peer-led interactive wellness workshop will create a candid, practical, and highly relevant conversation around sustainable performance, work-life balance, stress management, physical health, mental resilience, and self-care for senior technology leaders.
Through facilitated discussions and small-group breakout sessions, attendees will explore actionable strategies to improve focus, energy, leadership presence, decision-making, and overall quality of life — both personally and professionally. Participants will leave with practical wellness insights, peer perspectives, and evidence-based approaches that support stronger leadership performance, healthier teams, and a more sustainable career in technology leadership.
Join your fellow technology leaders for a practical and honest conversation about the connection between personal wellness, sustainable performance, and long-term leadership success. Invest in the one asset that drives every decision, conversation, and outcome you lead: yourself.
How It Works
The evening opens with a brief kickoff framing the wellness challenges unique to technology leadership. Attendees then choose two 20-minute facilitated focus group sessions — each led by an experienced technology executive with 8–10 peers at the table. After both sessions, facilitators share key observations and participants close with personal wellness commitments.
Focus Group Sessions (choose two)
Reframing Pressure: How Mindset Shapes Performance and Well-Being
Lauren Saenz | Managing Director, Layer-Z | SIM NY Board Member
The way we interpret challenges and speak to ourselves has a direct impact on resilience, confidence, and performance. This session explores practical mindset shifts that reduce stress and create a more constructive response to everyday pressure.
Lauren Saenz is Managing Director of Layer-Z and a go-to-market leader focused on cybersecurity and AI. As a founding member of the marketing team at Horizon3.ai, she built the global field marketing function and helped support the company's growth through multiple funding rounds. Her career spans founder-level advisory work and the development of technology executive communities across the United States. Lauren has served on the SIM NY Metro Board for nearly a decade, first as Vice President of Membership and now as Director of Events.
Building a Resilience Mindset for Health Challenges
Derrick A. Butts | Board President, Prostate Health Matters | AI Cyber-resilience Advisor
Resilience is a decision shaped by daily actions — not a trait reserved for crisis moments. Drawing on lived experience as a 10-year cancer resilience survivor, Derrick leads a conversation on building intentional habits, early screening, and support systems before challenges arrive.
Derrick A. Butts is an Enterprise AI Cyber-resilience Advisor, prostate cancer advocate, and resilience leader whose career spans more than two decades in cybersecurity technologies and business resilience. As a second-generation 10-year prostate cancer resilience survivor, he serves on three National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Advisory Boards and is co-author of Prostate Cancer — A Family Affair. He is a master martial arts instructor with 51+ years of experience and an avid cyclist.
The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Small Changes, Big Transformations
Geoff Scott | CTO, OneEleven Financial Wellness | Founder, Growth Science Executive Coaching
Ten years ago, Geoff was told he would never run again. This session explores the narratives we use to justify neglecting our own well-being — and the small, consistent changes that make transformation possible.
Geoff Scott is CTO at OneEleven Financial Wellness, founder of Growth Science executive coaching, and a board member of SIM New York Metro. He has built three startups, launched dozens of products, and held leadership roles at three Inc. 500 and two Fortune 500 companies. He is co-inventor on five U.S. patents in digital health and AI.
The Hidden Story Behind Your Food: How It Shapes Energy, Stress, and Leadership Performance
Samanta Ruiz-Giler | Product Marketing, Sugar Hill Consulting
Food is infrastructure for leadership performance. This session examines how food quality, the gut-brain connection, and chronic stress interact to affect energy, cognitive performance, and resilience — with practical, science-informed habits you can apply immediately.
Samanta Ruiz Giler is a Corporate Communications and Product Marketing leader with 10+ years of experience across government, technology, and food & beverage in LATAM and the U.S. Her career includes presidential-level communications, reputation strategy, and senior roles within the Ecuadorian government. In the private sector, she has led market positioning, go-to-market strategy, and brand growth. She is also the Managing Partner of Moosa.