Hiring A+ Players: Building High-Performance Teams in a Fast-Changing World
The skills your business needs are changing. The way we work is changing. AI is reshaping roles, teams, and entire industries.
So how do you build a great team when the target keeps moving?
Join Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship for Hiring A+ Players: Building High-Performance Teams in a Fast-Changing World, a free virtual conversation about one of the most consequential challenges facing growing organizations: finding, evaluating, and building teams with the right people for where the business is going next.
Featuring Stephanie Markese, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of NextPath Workforce Solutions, and Marlee Strawn, Co-Founder of AI edtech company Scholar Education and WTE Program & Curriculum Chair, this session brings together two perspectives on the same challenge: one from a workforce strategist helping organizations rethink how they find and deploy talent, and another from an entrepreneur actively building an innovative technology company and team.
Together, we’ll go beyond the polished résumé and standard interview questions to explore what leaders should be thinking about before, during, and after the hiring process.
Because building a high-performing team isn’t simply about finding impressive people.
It’s about finding the right people for what you’re building next.
What You’ll Learn
Whether you’re making your first hire, expanding an existing team, or rethinking the skills your organization needs for its next stage, this conversation will help you approach talent decisions more strategically.
We’ll explore:
- What you actually need: How to get clear on the business problem, capability, and outcomes you need before opening a role
- What makes an A+ player: How to distinguish the right candidate from someone who simply looks great on paper or interviews well
- How to interview smarter: Questions and practices that help uncover how candidates think, communicate, solve problems, and contribute
- How to hire for what’s next: Evaluating talent against where your organization is going—not simply today’s workload
- How to think beyond traditional hiring: When employees, contractors, consultants, flexible talent, or other workforce models may make sense
- How AI is changing the equation: What rapidly evolving technology and skill requirements mean for the teams we’re building today
- How to build for performance: Bringing the right mix of people, skills, and perspectives together to create a team capable of growing with the business
You’ll leave with a stronger framework for answering a deceptively difficult question:
Who does your team need next?
Who Should Attend
This conversation is designed for people building, growing, or shaping teams in a rapidly changing business environment.
Whether you’re a founder making your first few hires, an executive expanding a function, a people leader growing your team, or a professional influencing hiring and talent decisions, you’ll find practical ideas you can bring back to your organization.
It’s especially relevant for leaders in technology, entrepreneurship, startups, innovation, AI, professional services, and other fast-moving industries where finding the right skills—and anticipating the skills you’ll need next—can be a competitive advantage.
Meet the Speakers
Stephanie Markese | Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder | NextPath Workforce Solutions
Stephanie Markese is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of NextPath Workforce Solutions, a women- and minority-owned digital workforce company. She works closely with clients to design modern talent models that align workforce strategy with business outcomes across technology, sales, marketing, and executive functions.
Stephanie is known for helping organizations move beyond transactional hiring toward scalable, future-ready workforce solutions. Her focus on market insight, flexible delivery models, and long-term talent strategy helps clients build high-performing teams prepared for what’s next.
Marlee Strawn | Co-Founder | Scholar Education
Marlee Strawn is the Co-Founder of Scholar Education, where she leads the development of AI tools co-designed with teachers to personalize learning and support classroom instruction. A former teacher and school administrator with nearly 20 years in education, she works to ensure AI meets the real needs of students and educators.
Most recently, Marlee was named one of ASU+GSV’s 2025 Leading Women in AI and delivered a TEDx talk on how AI will shape the future of education. As WTE’s Program & Curriculum Chair, she also helps shape practical educational programming around the challenges professionals, entrepreneurs, and business leaders are navigating now.
About Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship
Unapologetically ambitious, we rise by lifting others. Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship is a community of high-performing, non-conforming women working in technology, start-ups, venture capital, entrepreneurship, economic development, & business support organizations. Our mission is to resource women in tech and entrepreneurship with near-peer mentorship, educational opportunities, and a support network. Connect with us for inclusive, dues-free monthly events.
Learn more about us here.
Meet the Sponsor: NextPath Workforce Solutions
This free WTE program is made possible with support from NextPath Workforce Solutions.
NextPath is a people-first workforce solutions partner built on one simple idea: exceptional results come from exceptional people.
Their team is passionate about connecting great companies with great talent and helping professionals find opportunities where they can thrive. NextPath focuses on delivering talent that moves businesses forward while creating meaningful career opportunities for the individuals they represent.
From workforce strategy and flexible talent solutions to technology and AI advisory services, NextPath helps organizations think beyond simply filling open roles to build the capabilities they need for what comes next.
Learn more about NextPath Workforce Solutions.