The co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, founder of Know Your Value, and New York Times bestselling author Mika Brzezinski is a celebrated, go-to voice on current events, world affairs, and women's empowerment. A former anchor of CBS Evening News Weekend Edition and CBS News correspondent who frequently contributed to CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes, Brzezinski has covered some of the most pivotal moments of the 21st century, from the September 11 attacks to multiple presidential elections. Brzezinski is also the author of seven bestselling books that serve as essential and inspiring guidebooks for empowering women, offering encouragement and practical advice on claiming and communicating their worth. As a speaker, Brzezinski brings a powerhouse combination of journalistic integrity, leadership insights, and empowering advocacy to your event.

Brzezinski offers empowering insights into women's equality and work-life balance as well as a dynamic perspective on the current political and media landscape, which she has shared with hosts including Harvard University, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the Lake Nona Institute.

Tyler Perry is an established American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, playwright, and author.  Born into poverty and raised in a household scarred by abuse, Tyler fought from a young age to find the strength, faith and perseverance that would later form the foundations of his work. 

Tyler started his career writing plays, many of which later became the inspiration for his film projects and included the introduction of the now-legendary Madea character, played by Tyler himself.  Tyler’s first feature film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, debuted at number one nationwide. His ensuing films include Madea's Family Reunion, Daddy's Little Girls, Why Did I Get Married?, Meet The Browns, The Family That Preys, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, Why Did I Get Married Too?, For Colored Girls, Madea's Big, Happy Family, Good Deeds, Madea's Witness Protection, The Single Mom’s Club, Boo! and Boo! 2: A Madea Halloween, A Madea Family Funeral, Gone Girl, Vice and more.

With the historical official opening of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Perry is the first African American man to ever be at the helm of a major studio.

In conversation, Perry touches upon all of his experiences, ranging from his work in film and television to his activism on behalf of others and the journey it took for him to get where he is today.

One of Hollywood’s most versatile and sought-after talents, Amy Poehler’s credits include that of actress, writer, director, producer, and bestselling author. Poehler is perhaps best known for her starring role on the Emmy-nominated NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation, in which her portrayal of Leslie Knope earned her a Golden Globe award for “Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical, or Comedy,” the award for “Best Actress in a TV Comedy” at the American Comedy Awards, and a Gracie Award. For her work on the show, Poehler also received six consecutive Emmy nominations, two additional Golden Globe nominations, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. She can currently be heard as the titular character in the scripted podcast Say More with Dr? Sheila, where she is also an executive producer in partnership with Audacy and her production company, Paper Kit Productions. Her film credits include Wine Country (which she also directed and produced), The House, Sisters, Wet Hot American Summer, Baby Mama, Blades of Glory, Mean Girls, and many more. Among many voice acting credits, Poehler lent her voice as Joy in Disney Pixar’s Oscar-winning smash hit Inside Out. Her first book, Yes Please, was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller, spending over 23 weeks on the list. Despite her stardom, Poehler’s down-to-earth personality and relatability connect with any audience, as anyone can connect to her impactful message of positivity, creativity, and perseverance.

Last year, Poehler made her documentary directorial debut with Amazon’s Emmy-winning documentary Lucy & Desi. Other recent projects include Peacock’s unscripted series The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (executive producer & narrator), Peacock’s Baking It (executive producer & co-host alongside Maya Rudolph), NBC’s hit crafting competition series Making It (executive producer & co-host alongside Nick Offerman), FOX’s animated series Duncanville (co-creator, executive producer, and lead voice), Netflix’s Emmy-nominated series Russian Doll (executive producer), Amazon’s Harlem (executive producer) and Adult Swim’s Three Busy Debras (executive producer). She also starred in and directed Netflix’s Moxie and will star in and produce the upcoming Roku film, First Time Female Director. She has several additional projects in development as part of Paper Kite Productions, including NBC’s thriller-drama The Mother-In-Law, and the Netflix animated feature Steps. Poehler’s fantastically successful Hollywood career inspires audiences to pursue their passions, stay motivated, and make a difference in the world.

Sociopolitical comedian, Emmy- and Peabody-winning producer, and New York Times bestselling author W. Kamau Bell is a revered cultural commentator, using hilarity and profound insight to illuminate today’s biggest issues – and where we can go from here. He is the host and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning CNN docuseries United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell, in which he explores communities across America to understand the unique challenges they face. Kamau is known for his Netflix stand-up comedy special Private School Negro, his one-man show The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About an Hour, and his FX & FXX comedy series Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. His first book, The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian, is a humorous, well-informed take on the world today from “the most promising new talent in political comedy in many years” (The New York Times). Kamau is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Do the Work!: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, with Kate Schatz. In sought-after talks, Kamau leverages humor as a tool for transformative conversations.

Kamau serves on the advisory boards of Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!), Donors Choose, and is an ACLU Artist Ambassador. He’s been nominated for multiple NAACP Image Awards, a GLAAD award, and has been featured on Conde Nast’s “Daring 25” list. He has hosted three critically acclaimed podcasts: Kamau Right Now!, Politically Re-Active, and Denzel Washington is The Greatest Actor of All Time Period. Kamau is the director of the critically acclaimed documentary Cultureshock: Chris Rock’s Bring the Pain, and is the director and producer of the four-time Emmy-nominated docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby. Kamau tackles some of the nation's most longstanding complex issues in accessible and empowering talks for audiences of all kinds.

Celebrated journalist, bestselling author, and revered political analyst Tiffany D. Cross delivers every time in motivational, insightful, and thought-provoking events. She is the current co-host of iHeart Media’s Native Land Pod, which debuted in 2024 on Apple as the number one downloaded podcast in America across all categories. Cross also hosts ACross Generations, a broadcast show and podcast with Will Packer Productions and iHeart Media, where she focuses on a variety of topics from a multigenerational perspective. Cross previously hosted The Cross Connection on MSNBC, averaging 4.6M viewers a month. She is a longtime cultural commentator, having previously served as the D.C. Bureau Chief for BET Networks, an Associate Producer for CNN, and freelancer. She is also the founder of The Beat DC, a platform that provides critical analysis of national politics, policy, business, and media, highlighting their impact on and relationship with communities of color. An influential voice in the discourse of the moment, Cross is in-demand with groups including the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., the Society of Social Work Research, TriNet, Howard University, and more.

A 2020 fellow of Harvard University Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, Cross has spent more than 20 years navigating politics, media, labor, communities of color, and the private sector. She is the bestselling author of Say It Louder: Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy, which Kirkus Reviews hailed as “a compelling exploration of how Black voters have the power to shape the country's future.” Cross regularly receives stellar feedback for her events, such as: ”Tiffany was superb. A joy to work with, engaging and fully invested in making the event a stand-out” (Robert Toigo Foundation Annual Gala) and ”The event was absolutely wonderful and well received! Tiffany Cross was outstanding and prolific.” (Society for Social Work Research)

Columnist, New York Times bestselling author, and political commentator Charles Blow fearlessly tackles today’s most pressing issues with depth, nuance, and tremendous insight. Now an Op-Ed columnist at The New York Times, Mr. Blow previously served as the paper’s Graphics Director, leading The Times to significant awards. He has also worked as the Art Director of National Geographic Magazine and for The Detroit News. Blow is the New York Times bestselling author of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, which won a Lambda Literary Award, the Sperber Prize, and appeared on numerous “best of” lists. A memoir, the book was called “searing and unforgettable” by People Magazine and was adapted into a critically-acclaimed opera with a groundbreaking run at The Metropolitan Opera – the first performance of an opera there by a Black composer. His second book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, draws on both his personal experience and observations of society to call for an end to systemic racism. He is also a contributor to the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Blow is a prolific and insightful commentator on politics, public opinion, and social justice, often challenging those in power with clarity and candor.

Heralded for his forward-thinking coverage of American politics and society, as well as his skill in graphic design to create powerful narratives with compelling visuals, Mr. Blow is also an in-demand speaker and gifted moderator. He is a consultant for the MacArthur Foundation and Press Forward, a half-billion-dollar philanthropic effort to help maintain and restore local news. Mr. Blow hosts “Ideas at Ford with Charles Blow,” a lecture series at the Ford Foundation, and he is a consultant for the MacArthur Foundation and Press Forward, a half-billion-dollar philanthropic effort to help maintain and restore local news. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, SalonTV, CBS News, and regularly as an analyst on MSNBC, and has been featured in The Washington Post, The Ringer, Oprah Daily, and more about his highly acclaimed work. An advocate for social justice and racial equity, Mr. Blow speaks about income inequality, xenophobia, and mental health, generating impactful conversations that resonate with audiences of all kinds.

As one of the 20th century's most respected and influential people, Billie Jean King has long been a champion for social justice and equality. She has created new inroads for both genders in and out of sports during her legendary career and she continues to make her mark today, primarily through the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, which is dedicated to promoting equality and inclusion in the workplace.

King, who won an astounding 39 Grand Slam tennis titles during her career, blazed trails for women everywhere in 1970 when she became one of nine players to break away from the tennis establishment and accept a one dollar contract to compete in the newly created Virginia Slims Series. The revolt led to the birth of women's pro tennis and the formation of the Women's Tennis Association. King went on to star in one of the greatest moments in sports history when she defeated Bobby Riggs in the famous match dubbed “The Battle of the Sexes,” which was immortalized on the silver screen in the film of the same name. Her memoir, ALL IN: An Autobiography, published by Knopf in August 2021, is garnering rave reviews.

Named one of the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century" by Life, King is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, and France's Légion d'honneur. King moves audiences with empowering lessons on leadership, inclusivity, equality, and finding your purpose.

American icon Dr. Mae C. Jemison broke more than the sound barrier in 1992 when she climbed aboard the space shuttle Endeavour – she became the first woman of color to travel into space. Dr. Jemison was NASA’s first Science Mission Specialist, performing experiments in material science, life science, and human adaptation to weightlessness. She now leads 100 Year Starship (100YSS), a bold, far reaching nonprofit initiative to assure the capabilities exist for human travel beyond our solar system to another star within the next 100 years. Dr. Jemison is a highly sought-after speaker on issues of health care, social responsibility, technology, education, STEM, and motivation.

Dr. Jemison is the Founder and President of The Jemison Group, Inc. (JG) – a technology consulting firm integrating critical socio-cultural issues into the design of engineering and science projects, as well as BioSentient Corporation - a medical devices and services company focused on improving health and human performance is such a company. An inductee of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame, she is the author of Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life and editor of 100 Year Starship Canopus Award Anthology. Dr. Jemison is in demand with groups including DePaul University, MKTG, Girl Scouts of the USA, Qatar Foundation, among many others.

Award-winning composer, lyricist, and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking and history-making Broadway shows have impacted and inspired audiences worldwide. 

The creator and original star of Broadway’s smash-hit musicals Hamilton and In the Heights, Miranda is the recipient of countless prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, three Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Kennedy Center Honor.

 A passionate and dedicated philanthropist, Miranda has been instrumental in providing support for Puerto Rico and is a vocal advocate for equality nationwide. 

Funny, candid and inspiring, Miranda sheds light on the creative process and innovative thinking, his life and career, and the power of supporting the missions that matter to you. 

Acclaimed chef, restaurateur, New York Times bestselling author, and beloved TV host Marcus Samuelsson inspires audiences with his powerful storytelling and engaging cooking demos. Samuelsson is the chef behind many renowned restaurants worldwide, including Red Rooster Harlem, Red Rooster Shoreditch, and Marcus B&P. Samuelsson was the youngest person ever to receive a three-star review from The New York Times. He has won eight James Beard Foundation Awards and was the guest chef for the Obama Administration’s first state dinner. Samuelsson is also the author of multiple books including the New York Times bestselling memoir Yes, Chef – which The New York Times called “one of the great culinary stories of our time,” Make It Messy, The Red Rooster Cookbook, and his latest groundbreaking cookbook The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food. Through his insightful conversations and thoroughly delightful live demos, Samuelsson offers uplifting, entertaining, and though-provoking experiences that resonate with audiences of all kinds.

Samuelsson was crowned champion of the TV shows Top Chef Masters and Chopped All-Stars, and served as a mentor on ABC’s The Taste. His PBS series No Passport Required celebrates the wide-ranging diversity of immigrant traditions and cuisine woven into American food and culture. A committed philanthropist, he co-produces the annual week-long festival Harlem EatUp!, which celebrates the food, art, and culture of Harlem. Samuelsson serves as a UNICEF Ambassador, a member of the U.S. State Department’s Chef Corps, and as the co-chairman for the organization Careers Through Culinary Arts Program. He was selected as a guest chef at the White House under the Obama Administration, where he planned and executed the administration’s first state dinner honoring Prime Minister Singh of India. For his sought-after programs, Samuelsson receives consistent rave reviews: ”Wow! You were utterly amazing. Added such depth and perspective. We can't thank you enough! Hope you'll join another at some point in the future” (Crain’s New York Business) and ”Marcus was thoughtful, personable, and left us wanting more!” (Kraft Heinz Company)

Ambassador, Congressman, Mayor, and Civil Rights icon Andrew J. Young has been serving and shaping our country for almost 70 years. Ambassador Young became active in the Civil Rights movement as leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to teach non-violent organizing strategies. Considered the diplomat among Dr. King’s community, he was a key strategist and negotiator in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Now a Patriarch in the Civil Rights movement, audiences look to Ambassador Young as a powerful voice honoring the legacy of Dr. King’s work and the future of human rights.

Ambassador Young became the first African American representative from the Deep South to serve in Congress since Reconstruction, and was appointed to serve as the first African American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He served as Mayor of Atlanta, worked with GoodWorks International to facilitate sustainable economic development in the Caribbean and Africa, and produced and hosted the Emmy Award-nominated docu-series Andrew Young Presents, exploring contemporary issues. He is the author of several books, including An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America, which is being updated and re-released in a special edition commemorating his 90^th birthday.

The veteran civil rights leader received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and France’s Legion d’Honneur, each representing the highest civilian honor for that nation, and was awarded the NAACP Springarn Medal, an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, and his portrait is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The Andrew J. Young Foundation, Inc. supports and promotes education, health, leadership, and human rights in the U.S., Africa, and the Caribbean, building on his legacy and developing new generations of innovative leaders to tackle this era’s global challenges. Ambassador Young has been a powerful and active voice in the movement for Civil Rights for more than half a century, honoring the past and shaping the future, and shares a message of hope and humanity that uplifts and inspires audiences of all kinds.

Powerhouse journalist Joanne Lipman has transformed newsrooms across the country – and now she’s turned her keen eye to transforming work and life in the post-pandemic era. In her blockbuster new book, Next!: The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work (March 2023), she offers a deeply reported, delightfully readable look at how to change your life, your workplace, or your career -– and how to inspire innovation in others. It follows her No. 1 bestseller That’s What She Said, about achieving gender equity at work and at home, inspiring men as well as women to join together to promote diversity, innovation and excellence.

One of the nation’s most prominent journalists, Lipman is the former editor-in-chief of USA Today and the USA TODAY Network, Conde Nast Portfolio, and The Wall Street Journal Weekend Journal, leading those organizations to six Pulitzer Prizes. Dubbed “innovator in chief” by The New York Times and “star editor” by CNN, Lipman began her career at The Wall Street Journal, where she rose to become the highest-ranking woman in the paper’s history. Lipman has been in-demand with groups such as Motorola, Google, Aetna, Chevron, NBC Universal, among many others.

Lipman is sought after for her insights, appearing on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, and CBS, and is an on-air contributor at CNBC. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TIME, Fortune, and Harvard Business Review. She teaches a popular Yale University course on Media & Democracy, focused on issues including polarization and combatting misinformation. A lively and entertaining speaker, Lipman offers action-oriented insights and critical analysis into issues ranging from workplace culture, to personal and business growth and transformation, to fostering diverse and equitable organizations, and more.

Renowned for their personal documentation of their experience in gender transition, Chella Man is celebrated for their motto, "be your own representation." As a deaf, genderqueer, Chinese, and Jewish individual, Chella found they didn’t have role models to look up to, and so they became a voice and a true representation for himself and for others. With over 257K subscribers and many millions of views on their YouTube video entitled "One year on testosterone: voice updates," Chella is normalizing the conversation around gender issues for disabled and LGBTQ+ youth. 

A New York-based artist, director, and author, Chella's work features the continuums of disability, race, gender, and sexuality. They blend the genres of painting and performance art while simultaneously exploring sculpture, writing, and live workshops. They are currently a mentor and resident at Silver Art Projects located in The World Trade Center. Man has shown at institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, Mana Contemporary, and will be exhibiting at The Pacific Design Center, and The Abrons Arts Center this coming year. They were an artist-in-residence at the Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy in 2020. Man published their first book, Continuum, with Penguin Publishing, highlighting how to heal from systemic oppression and the revelations they have come to growing up. 

Award-winning producer, director, and screenwriter Ryan Coogler is a singular storyteller and one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. Coogler is known for the history- and headline-making films Fruitvale Station, Creed, and The Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The Black Panther shattered box office records to become the highest-grossing film of all time by a Black director. Coogler’s work is not just critically and commercially successful but has been hailed for celebrating often overlooked cultures and characters and bringing unprecedented diversity to the silver screen. As a speaker, Coogler offers eye-opening insights on the power of storytelling, creating racial equality, and innovative approaches to changing the world.

Coogler has been named to TIME’s “30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing the World,” and has won numerous awards, including four NAACP Image Awards and three Academy Awards. His short film Locks won the Dana and Albert Broccoli Award for Filmmaking Excellence at the Tribeca Film Festival, and his breakout film Fruitvale Station received the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance. Coogler’s upcoming projects include a series with Disney+ set in the world of Wakanda as well as a scripted drama for Onyx Collective for Hulu, Sheba – the story of the first African queen’s rise to power, based on true events. Coogler has been in demand for events with groups like Google and Salesforce, who shared this rave review after his keynote presentation: “Ryan was a firm favorite both with the team and the audience.”

Design expert, Emmy-nominated TV host, and founder Bobby Berk illustrates the critical connections between design and life. Bobby is perhaps best known as the resident design expert and member of the Fab Five on Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Queer Eye, bringing change to peoples’ lives by teaching them that a happy home means a happy life. In addition to his Emmy-nominated work as a host on Queer Eye, Bobby served as the host of Netflix’s Blown Away: Christmas and was a semi-finalist on the sixth season of FOX’s The Masked Singer. With a ”superpower for transforming lives and living spaces” (Los Angeles Times), Bobby offers a memorable program for groups looking to empower their teams, uplift creativity, and build a welcoming company culture.

Bobby leads his eponymous multi-faceted brand, including comprehensive lifestyle destination BobbyBerk.com. His design firm has quickly become a leader in the home building industry, and in 2020, Architectural Digest crowned Bobby as one of the “most famous interior designers working today.” He brings a unique viewpoint to the design experience, with substantial experience across many facets of the trade. Bobby grew up quickly at a young age and faced many challenges before settling in New York in his 20s, where he worked his way up in companies like Bed Bath & Beyond and Restoration Hardware. His determination, specific creative eye, and love for people soon earned him leadership titles and led to him opening his own design practice. With his extensive background, Bobby has spoken across the globe on topics including retail, manufacturing, interior design and licensing, branding, and more.

Lena Waithe is an award-winning writer, creator, producer, actor and CEO establishing herself as a Hollywood powerhouse, who expertly taps into emerging cultural sensibilities with a sharp wit and unique perspective, challenging audiences to think outside conventional norms. Lena became the first Black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for her work on the critically acclaimed Netflix series Master of None. She continues to grow her body of work with diversity, charisma, and comedy.

Beyond the screen, Lena’s production company Hillman Grad Productions has partnered with Indeed to launch Rising Voices, a $1.35M investment in BIPOC filmmakers to fight against the status quo by giving marginalized storytellers the opportunity to access the industry and tell their stories. A tireless advocate for representation, Lena was honored at the 2020 Essence Black Women in Hollywood event, took home a Gracie Award for her Showtime series The Chi, and was featured on the 2018 TIME 100 list in a tribute written by Vice President Kamala Harris. Lena is a sought-after leader in the entertainment industry, speaking to the endless possibilities of intentional collaboration that centers under-represented voices.

Award-winning CFDA designer Christian Siriano is a groundbreaking, ambitious, and fearless businessman. Known for whimsical and show-stopping design, the collection is shown each season at New York Fashion Week and sold in retailers across the globe. In 2012, the first flagship Christian Siriano store opened in NYC and his latest retail venture, “The Curated NYC”, was located in the heart of midtown. Siriano’s designs have been worn by current FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden, former FLOTUS Michelle Obama, Angelina Jolie, Oprah, Zendaya, Ariana Grande, Julianne Moore, Lady Gaga, Tiffany Haddish, Billy Porter, Cardi B, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Whoopi Goldberg and Julia Roberts to name but a few. After serving as the Season Four winner and a subsequent mentor on Project Runway, he launched his own digital BRAVO talk show called So Siriano which saw him break down all things fashion and pop culture with guests ranging from Drew Barrymore, Leslie Jones, Billy Porter, Ashley Graham, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. With over a decade of fashion experience, Siriano’s work in the industry promotes celebrations of beauty, diversity, and change.

Siriano was named one of TIME’s "100 Most Influential People," Forbes “30 Under 30," and Crain's "40 Under 40" for his leading contributions to body diversity on the runway and red carpet. A designer, activist, and entrepreneur, Siriano brings his one-of-a-kind charisma to worldwide organizations for conversations about business, entrepreneurship, fashion, diversity, and the power of being your authentic self.

Pioneering, two-time Peabody Award-winning comedian Hasan Minhaj is the creator of Netflix's comedy show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, which brought an inclusive and nuanced perspective to global news, politics and culture. 

As Host of The Daily Show Trevor Noah wrote in TIME: "Patriot Act is the manifestation of Hasan’s whip-smart commentary, charisma and sincerity. It’s also a consistent reminder that Hasan is America. And America is Hasan.”

Named to TIME's "100 Most Influential People in the World," Minhaj originally rose to prominence as a senior correspondent on The Daily Show. He has gone on to host the White House Correspondents' Dinner and air his own critically-acclaimed one-hour Netflix comedy special, Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King. 

A first generation American, Minhaj comes from a Muslim family originally from India. In his comedy and at speaking engagements, he draws on his personal history and the immigrant experience to explore the modern cultural and political landscape with depth and sincerity. 

Deshauna Barber is a dynamic international motivational speaker, Army veteran, former Miss USA and founder of the Women Veterans For Change. Renowned for her impactful and inspiring approach, Barber recently partnered with E.L.F. BEAUTY and Emerald Audio Network as the host of their new limited podcast series, Valor, to highlight the extraordinary stories of courageous servicewomen throughout history, celebrating their bravery and resilience. 

Leveraging her unique experiences as an Army officer, STEM graduate, and advocate, Deshauna exemplifies the power of perseverance and resilience. Her journey from a decorated military career to becoming a top- rated speaker, sought after by Fortune 500 companies, underscores her remarkable ability to inspire and motivate. In 2019, Deshauna made history as the youngest President and CEO of the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), a leading nonprofit dedicated to advocating for servicewomen and female veterans. During her tenure, she championed women’s rights and resources on Capitol Hill, making significant strides in support of our nation’s service members. She has also launched a speaker mentorship course called Thrive, a cohort-based training program with 18 aspiring students pursuing careers as motivational speakers. Deshauna holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Virginia State University, a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and Services from the University of Maryland University College, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certification from Cornell University. Crowned Miss USA in 2016, Deshauna became the first soldier to win the title. She used her platform to advocate for increased support for soldiers with Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

With over 11 years of military service, she continues to emphasize the importance of mental health for service members and veterans. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Deshauna channels her experiences into empowering others, dedicating her life to inspiring and uplifting those around her. As a motivational speaker and advocate, her global mission is to encourage, inspire, and strengthen individuals, embodying her commitment to making a positive impact in the world.

BAFTA and MOBO award-winning hip-hop artist, bestselling author, and social entrepreneur Akala is the co-founder of The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company. Akala is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire, which was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize, The Jhalak Prize, The Bread and Roses Award, and long-listed for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, which has sold over 450K copies worldwide. Immovable Limited, a creative publishing hub co-founded by Akala and his manager Chanelle Newman, produced The Ruins of Empires for BBC Two and Akala’s Odyssey for BBC Four. Akala has gained a reputation as one of the most dynamic and articulate talents in the UK and internationally.

With an extensive global touring history, Akala has appeared at numerous festivals both in the UK and internationally, and has led innovative projects in the arts, education and music across South East Asia, Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. Akala has also appeared on NPR, PBS, MTV, BET, Channel 4, ITV, Sky Arts, and the BBC promoting his music, poetry and speaking on wide-ranging subjects from music, race, youth engagement, British/African-Caribbean culture and the arts. His writing has been featured in The Guardian, Huffington Post, GQ, and The Independent, to name a few. Akala has been awarded honorary Doctorates by Oxford Brookes University, the University of Brighton, and Brunel University and has been consistently included on the annual Powerlist of the 100 most influential Black British people in the UK. Akala has been sought-after for keynotes at Oxford Union, Google Zeitgest, Spotify, and a TEDx Talk, which has garnered over 1.6M views.

Athlete icon, entrepreneur, and advocate Allyson Felix is the most decorated Track & Field Olympian in U.S. history. An eleven-time Olympic medalist. Seven-time Olympic Champion. World Record Holder. She has won a mind-blowing thirty-one global medals at the Olympics and World Championships. Felix has redefined athletics as she continues to cement her iconic status on and off the track. She is an investor in multiple companies, serves as an advisor to a female-led and focused venture fund, and is the Founder of her own shoe company for women, Saysh. Sought after for her empowering insights about striving for greatness in business and in life, Felix has captivated audiences across industries.

Felix has been featured in major publications including Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Glamour, Essence, Self, O Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Elle. Her documentary "She Runs the World," which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, follows her success and track and field alongside her battle with Nike.

She is passionate about her community and serves on the Board of Directors for &Mother, Right to Play, and others, and through partnerships with Voice in Sport, the Women’s Sports Foundation, and more. Felix has received numerous accolades for her athletics and her advocacy, including being named to TIME’s “100 Most Influential People of the Year” in both 2020 and 2021 as well as the Sports Illustrated ‘Unrelenting List’. In demand with groups such as Trellance, Princeton University, Paypal, and World 50, Inc., to name a few, Felix consistently receives rave reviews for her speaking engagements: “The event with Allyson Felix was a great success! She presented such a genuine, focused, inspirational story that displayed her journey of ups and downs; her great lessons and appreciation of what teamwork can bring. A true champion.” (ATG Global Entertainment)

A New York Times bestselling author and global fashion icon with a remarkable rags to riches story, Dapper Dan pioneered streetwear in the early 1980s with his eponymous store on 125th Street. Co-opting luxury branding to design original garments with high-end detail, Dapper Dan first drew powerful New York City hustlers as clientele, who flocked to him thanks to his strong street reputation as a legendary professional gambler and dandy. He then went on to outfit the world’s top entertainers and celebrities, all leading to his notoriety. 

Dapper Dan’s incredible personal journey from a hungry boy with holes in his shoes, to a teen who gambled drug dealers out of their money, to a beloved legend in the worlds of Harlem, fashion, and hip hop, is chronicled in his New York Times bestseller, Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem. It’s a story that inspires and resonates with audiences worldwide, and is now being developed into a premium drama series and a documentary series. In his empowering and riveting remarks, Dapper Dan highlights the importance of tenacity, curiosity, and determination to make ones wildest dreams a reality.

Award-winning poet, author, performance artist, and scholar Caroline Randall Williams is a change-maker and a catalyst. She rose to the international stage with her powerful New York Times piece You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument, a reckoning in the movement to dismantle systemic racism. A multi-genre writer, Caroline co-authored the NAACP Image Award-winning cookbook Soul Food Love with her mother, as well as The Diary of B.B. Bright, Possible Prince, which won the Harlem Book Fair’s Phyllis Wheatley Prize. Her debut collection of poetry, Lucy Negro, Redux, has been turned into a critically-acclaimed ballet by the Nashville Ballet and she is the host Disney+’s Hungry for Answers, a docuseries and revelatory cooking show focused on Black food history in America produced by Viola Davis. A highly sought-after speaker, Caroline speaks to the places where art, business, and scholarship intersect, moving people closer to their best lives and corporations closer to their ideal identities.

Recognized as one of The Root’s 100 Most Influential African Americans and a Nashville Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, Williams is celebrated for her ability to move seamlessly between page, stage, and screen. Caroline has appeared on MS NOW’s Morning Joe and The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Dr. Oz, among many others, and her writing has been featured in The Iowa Review, The Massachusetts Review, Essence, The New York Times, and more. Her recipes can also be found in the feature cookbook for Cherry Bombe, as well as Southern Living Magazine. Caroline regularly receives rave reviews of her speaking engagements, such as: “After you hear Caroline your life will never be the same! And if it is the same… you weren’t listening!” (Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission) 

Kelly Rippon is an teacher, author and single parent of six children, including her oldest son, Olympic medalist, Adam. She transformed her skills as an experienced college philosophy educator into a career as a motivational and professional development speaker. She started her own consulting company, Authentic Change Inc, with the mission of “Changing the world one conversation at a time.”  

As a humorous and empathetic storyteller, her presentations, tailored to meet each organization's specific needs, leave participants with heightened awareness and tools that widen perspectives on the subjects of Parenting, Optimism, Wellness, Women's Empowerment, Education, Leadership, Motivation, Communication, Diversity, Student Retention, Conflict Resolution, and Customer Service.

A dynamic keynote speaker and breakout presenter for parenting and education conferences, healthcare groups, customer service teams, leadership training, and women’s conferences, among others, Rippon inspires audiences to ignite their influential power, think bigger, and heighten their own purpose and worth. 

Award-winning journalist, editor, and author Phillip Picardi is known for his role in revolutionizing Teen Vogue, Allure, and Out Magazines. Under Picardi’s leadership, the digital audience of Teen Vogue grew from just 2M unique visitors per month to over 12M, making the Condé Nast title the fastest-growing women's magazine in America for two years running. He was then appointed by Anna Wintour to oversee the digital operations of Allure, where he concepted “The End of Anti-Aging,” an industry call to action for brands to eradicate the shame and stigma around getting older. Dubbed “the prince of Condé Nast” by The New York Times, Picardi went on to launch a community-driven platform for LGBTQ+ youth called them. From building empowered and diverse teams to generating disruptive and out-of-the-box ideas, Picardi’s speaking engagements offer an abundance of insights.

Picardi went on to rebrand and relaunch Out Magazine, the largest and most influential publication for the queer and trans community. An expert in building empowered teams, he assembled and led the most diverse staff in the brand’s history. During Picardi’s career, he has been a sought-after consultant for clients like Levi's, Ralph Lauren, Lego, Burberry, and Nike. He is also the recipient of multiple awards, including Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People, the Forbes 30 Under 30, the AdWeek Hot List, a GLAAD Award, and more. Picardi recently graduated from Harvard Divinity School, where he was one of eleven students selected for the inaugural Masters of Religion and Public Life program. His studies inspired a podcast about religion and spirituality from Crooked Media called Unholier Than Thou, and his Substack newsletter Religiously Blonde. He is currently working on his forthcoming memoir based on his thesis, “Is Jesus Kinda Hot?” In motivational events, Picardi shares his expertise that resonates with corporate leaders as well as college audiences, and moderates powerful conversations with cultural luminaries.

Groundbreaking Hollywood visionary and power player Mara Brock Akil is the writer and producer of nearly 400 episodes of television, truly leaving her mark on the industry. A trailblazer in many ways, Akil created the seminal television series Girlfriends-- a witty, intelligent and honest exploration of the many facets of black womanhood. Additionally, Akil developed the spin-off series The Game, which became the most-watched scripted-series premiere ever on ad-supported cable. The series continued on for a total of 9 seasons, earning praise throughout its run for its verisimilitude and, during the reality television boom, as one of the few shows on television that felt truly specific to its moment. Akil is also the creative force behind BET’s Being Mary Jane, which further cemented her ability to tell powerful and engaging stories that speak to women through honest, true-to-life reflections, The CW’s Black Lightning, and OWN’s Love Is___. Now, she is co-executive producing Netflix's adaptation of Ibram X Kendi's three anti-racism books, which will be a mix of a documentary and scripted features. 

A regular on the Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment Power100, Akil is a leader in her field. She's been honored with the prestigious Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award; the American Black Film Festival's Industry Visionary Award, Essence magazine’s Visionary Award; named to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter’s Showrunner Power Lists; and been inducted into Northwestern’s Medill Hall of Achievement.  

As a passionate, dynamic, and empowering speaker, Akil has been sought-out to speak at Google, George Washington University, The Wing, and more. Akil shares remarks on self-growth and love, finding the power to be bold, loving life at every age, and breaking barriers in all facets of life. 

Esteemed broadcast journalist, sports anchor, and television personality Cari Champion has advanced the sports media industry for women today. For nearly a decade, she served as anchor and host at ESPN – her roles included co-hosting SportCenter’s Coast to Coast, hosting SportsNation, and moderating ESPN’s popular debate talk show, First Take. Champion’s influence resonates across mediums, and she is the host of the podcast Naked with Cari Champion, showcasing her authentic interview style that brings refreshing and nuanced conversations to the forefront from thought-leaders and culture-shifters within the entertainment industry. Champion recently hosted CNN's New Year's celebration and she can be seen frequently as a regular contributor to the network. She currently hosts TNT’s The Arena, creating a thought-provoking forum for provocative topics from the most popular voices in sports. She hosts the eponymous Cari Champion Show, which aired on Amazon. She served as co-anchor of NBC’s primetime studio show, Tokyo Tonight on NBC’s Peacock Channel during the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, as well as co-host of NBC’s reality competition series The Titan Games. Champion made history with her move to Vice TV, working alongside Jemele Hill as the first Black women to host a late-night cable show, Cari & Jemele: Stick to Sports. Champion shares her unparalleled insights about creating her own path to working at the top of her field, the intersections of race, ethnicity, and gender in sports and media, and how to cultivate leadership, teamwork, and perseverance at work and in life.

Champion has been profiled in Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Bustle, The Grio, Essence, and more, and she was honored by Essence at its inaugural Black Women in Sports event. She was selected to host the prestigious 2021 SI (Sports Illustrated) Awards. She is the Founder of Brown Girls Dream, a powerful mentorship network supporting high potential women of color, inspired by the mentorship she received early in her career. She also writes a bulletin for META, ‘I Said What I Said’, debunking harmful stereotypes and unpacking provocative stories. Champion is a gifted keynote speaker and moderator, getting to the heart and soul of today’s biggest issues, and making a lasting impact on audiences of all kinds.

Renowned communications expert, political strategist, and writer Jennifer Palmieri has been on the frontlines of national politics for more than two decades. Author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Madam President, Palmieri served as White House Communications Director for President Obama and head of Communications for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. With her unparalleled level of knowledge and experience in the West Wing, she is sought-after for her shrewd insights about crisis management, voter mindset, and the media environment impacting current events.

One of the most accomplished communications advisors in politics today, Palmieri was the co-host of Showtime’s Emmy-nominated political docu-series The Circus, pulling back the curtain with insightful analysis and a unique perspective on the role gender plays in electoral politics and the media. She is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and hosted the podcast Just Something About Her. After losing her sister to early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2017, she has written and spoken about her family’s experience in an effort to aid other families facing the same disease. In moderated conversations and engaging point-counterpoint debates, Palmieri has been in demand for events with groups like Starbucks, Google Zeitgeist in London, the Center for American Progress, the Bloomberg MAKERS Women’s History Month event, and more.

Award-winning author, writer, and cartoonist Liza Donnelly uses her creativity to draw (literally) connections between global events, feminism, and what’s funny. An innovator of digital visual journalism, Liza has live-drawn events including the Oscars, the Olympics, presidential debates, and White House Press Conferences. By disrupting how we make sense of everything from global politics to pop culture to gender equity, from history to the present, Liza invites audiences to shift their perspective, think differently, and innovate better.

Liza is known for her viral TED Talk “Drawing on humor for change,” which has been translated into 40 languages. She has written 18 books for adults and children, and is a contributor to The New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Medium, CNN, and CBS News. Liza directed the documentary adaptation of her hit book, Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Women Cartoonists, about women cartoonists globally. She writes a wildly popular Substack newsletter “Seeing Things,” with an ever-growing readership. Liza’s unique and interactive programs enhance events, empower teams, and inspire innovation.

Former White House Social Secretary and business executive Desiree Rogers has helped major organizations reinvent business models and reach new and more diverse audiences with tangible results. The first black CEO and Co-Owner of Black Opal Beauty and Fashion Fair Cosmetics, the first black female CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, and a former CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, Rogers is heralded for her uncanny business acumen and innovative approach to marketing and brand development. Beyond her experience in the private sector, Rogers was appointed by President Obama as White House Social Secretary, re-positioning the White House as the “People’s House” and implementing innovative events.

Named to the "50 Most Influential People in the Multicultural Market" by WWD, "Top 25 Women to Watch" by Crain's Chicago Business, and "Top 50 Most Powerful African American Business Women" by Black Enterprise, Rogers offers insights on everything from how to make marketing work in a digital and global age, to how to talk about race and foster a positive, inclusive work environment. Sought-out to speak at Chicago Ideas, TED, the Society for Human Resource Management, and more, Rogers has the unique ability to connect with her audience, energize and inspire teams, and illuminate new strategic pathways and operational approaches.

Former Texas State Senator and Founder of the non-profit Deeds Not Words, Wendy Davis is renowned as a passionate advocate for women in social, economic and political spheres. After skyrocketing to near celebrity status through her historic 13-hour filibuster in the Texas Senate to stop a legislative effort that would have dramatically reduced women’s access to healthcare, Davis emerged as a leader in the national conversation surrounding women’s leadership and issues which threaten our individual opportunities. Long before she was a Texas State Senator and Texas’ Democratic nominee for Governor in 2014, Davis struggled with the same obstacles faced by women around the country. Determined to break the cycle of poverty she’d been born into, Davis fought to juggle school, career and single motherhood and uses those experiences to connect with others in order to shape perspective. Through Davis’ work at Deeds Not Words, for which she earned a spot on Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” she is shaping the next generation of leaders and directly working to foster diversity, inclusivity, and change at the highest levels of business and government.

At the podium, Davis combines the power of personal storytelling with her deep policy understanding to explain why equitable policies matter in the lives of women as well as the overall health and vibrancy of our economy, guiding organizations across industries toward a better understanding of the institutional value in creating diverse work environments, and key issues such as pay equity, family leave, and harassment policies. A living testament to the ability we each possess to rise above challenges and succeed, Davis demonstrates the power of each of our unique voices, and the value in raising them for what we believe in. Audiences are left inspired to utilize their individual strengths into meaningful contributions, and organizations are left with the tools and insights needed to advance positive change.

Writer, political activist, and feminist organizer Gloria Steinem is an iconic visionary of the women’s movement. She founded New York and Ms. magazines, and is the New York Times bestselling author of The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!, Revolution From Within, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, and My Life On the Road, which was named one of the “best books of the year” by both O: The Oprah Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar and became the basis for the biopic The Glorias, directed by Julie Taymor and starring Julianne Moore. One of the most visible symbols of the movement, Steinem continues to be an ever-present and sought-after speaker on all fronts of social activism.

Steinem is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum. For her writing, Steinem has received the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations, among many others. Steinem co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Free to Be Foundation, the Women’s Media Center, Equality Now, Donor Direct Action, and Direct Impact Africa. She produced Viceland TV’s WOMAN, a series exploring human rights and violence against women around the world. As an in-demand speaker, Steinem consistently receives glowing reviews such as: "Gloria was absolutely amazing. It was like an out of body experience to hear from her. Everyone was blown away." (The Robert Toigo Foundation)

Writer, cultural critic, and entrepreneur Aminatou Sow is renowned as co-host of the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend, which tackles the intricacies of feminism, pop culture and the latest in politics.

A member of the Sundance Institute Director's Advisory Group, and previous head of Social Impact Marketing at Google, Aminatou has been named one of Forbes "30 Under 30 in Tech." She is also the co-founder of Tech LadyMafia, an organization created to increase the visibility of women working in and around Technology. Her book, a TIME's 100 Must-Read Book of 2020, Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close (June 2020), makes the bold and compelling argument that a close friendship is the most influential and important relationship a human life can contain—helping you improve as a person and in your relationships with others.

A passionate public speaker, Aminatou has been sought-out for events like SXSW, Chicago Ideas Week, and the Sydney Writers Festival. She convenes and facilitates conversations about the most important cultural issues of our time, and has interviewed everyone from Hillary Clinton to Roxane Gay, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ali Raisman, and so many more impressive women. At engagements, Aminatou shares candid insights into female ambition, money and power.

Award-winning Broadway, television, and film producer Richie Jackson is best known as the author of Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son (HarperCollins). Most recently, Jackson produced the Tony Award-nominated Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song on Broadway and executive produced Showtime’s Nurse Jackie (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee for “Best Comedy Series”) for seven seasons. Jackson’s writing on LGBTQ+ issues and more have appeared in O: The Oprah Magazine, Out, Town & Country, and The Advocate. With a rich career spanning various facets of entertainment and activism, Jackson brings a unique blend of wisdom, passion, and authenticity to every event.

As an alumnus of NYU, Jackson endows a program at his alma mater to train the next generation of LGBTQ+ activists called the Richie Jackson LGBTQ+ Service Fellows. He and his husband, Jordan Roth, were honored with The Trevor Project’s Trevor Hero Award. Jackson’s speeches inspire individuals and communities to embrace their true selves, advocate for change, and build a more inclusive world.

Known to millions as the “Medical Mythbuster,” Joel Bervell is a Ghanaian-American doctor and science communicator reshaping how the world talks about medicine, race, and equity. With over one million followers and 300 million views, Bervell is leading a movement that brings transparency, accountability, and humanity to healthcare. His work exposes the hidden biases that shape medical systems—and empowers audiences to challenge them.

A Peabody Award recipient and TIME100 Creator honoree, Bervell has become one of today’s most influential voices bridging medicine and media. He’s spoken for Google, Meta, Novartis, the Clinton Foundation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Congressional Black Caucus, and has served on advisory councils for the White House, WHO, and the Council for Responsible Social Media. Featured by The New York Times, NPR, and Good Morning America, his storytelling turns complex science into powerful, actionable insight.

As a speaker, Bervell brings intellect, warmth, and storytelling together to spark essential conversations about trust, inclusion, and innovation in healthcare and beyond.

The fastest-growing audiences in America are reshaping the market, and Chad Easterling helps brands keep up.

As co-Founder and CEO of Obsidianworks, the agency he launched with Michael B. Jordan, Easterling operates at the intersection of culture and commerce. His work with brands including Target, Marriott, Coach, Meta, and Jordan Brand reflects a clear thesis: growth follows cultural fluency. Drawing on more than a decade inside Nike and Jordan Brand, where he led global moments and shaped strategy for signature athletes, Easterling brings both enterprise experience and lived perspective to every stage.

In his speaking engagements, he offers leaders a direct lens into the economic power of emerging audiences and the discipline required to earn trust in a shifting marketplace. Audiences leave with sharper insight into relevance, resonance, and what it truly takes to build brands that move with culture rather than chase it.

Elite professional rock climber Sasha DiGiulian is constantly pushing the boundaries of possibility. An Female Overall World Champion, three-time U.S. National Champion, and decade-long undefeated Pan-American Champion, DiGiulian has traveled to over 50 countries while accomplishing 30+ First and First Female Ascents. As a woman making a career within a traditionally male-dominated space, DiGiulian stands for equality in sport, access, pay, and treatment of female athletes.

DiGiulian’s amazing story has been recounted in her memoir, Take the Lead, and the HBO Documentary on her life, Here to Climb. She has been featured in or on the cover of Oprah, Good Morning America, The Today Show, 60 Minutes Sports, Nightline, CNN, BBC, Vogue, TIME, and many more. Deeply focused on giving back to her community, DiGiulian sits on the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation and Ascend Afghanistan and is an ambassador for UN Goodwill, Protect Our Winters, and Right to Play International. She has testified in front of the US House Committee of Natural Resources to support the EXPLORE Act. In motivational talks, DiGiulian offers inspirational and actionable strategies for setting and achieving courageous goals for individuals, teams, and organizations.

Cru Luv Wine's President and CEO Jermaine Stone was raised worlds away from wine country with plans to become a rapper. By 19, he had the attention of prominent figures in music including Chris Lighty and LL Cool J, but a temporary job packing boxes at Zachys Wine Auctions persuaded him to make a career in fine wine. Jermaine began an accomplished 9-year career, rising to the position of Logistics Manager, overseeing the inbound and outbound transport of $60M worth of fine wine annually. Jermaine became one of the founding Directors of Wally’s Auctions, where he co-created and implemented a full client experience. In addition to major operational roles, he provided strategic advice to Wally’s President and VP, and served as an auctioneer and public speaker at commercial and charity auctions.

Jermaine is the Founder and CEO of Cru Luv Selections, a New York-based wine branding and marketing firm dedicated to blending the best elements of wine and hip-hop culture. He is also the Founder of The Original Wine & Hip Hop Festival, which hosts events, diverse tastings, and master classes. Jermaine is the host of the critically acclaimed podcast, Wine and Hip-Hop and the Street Somm series with Tastemade+. In signature events that are both educational and elevated, Jermaine brings his expertise to bespoke themed events pairing hip-hop music and wine.

Organizational leader, political strategist, and senior advisor Stephanie Schriock is a strategic, adaptive leader with a 20-year record of success in both startups and mature organizations. An inspirational visionary, Stephanie’s strengths in management, strategy, and media relations are underpinned by her down-to-earth ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and views. From 2010 through 2021, Stephanie was President of EMILY’s List – a national organization dedicated to electing women to office. During her tenure, she tripled its income to $120M, quadrupled its staff to 120, built an online community of over 5M, and trained more than 14K women to run for office. She is the author of Run to Win: A Leadership Guide to Women Who Want to Change the World, an Amazon Editor’s Pick in Best Nonfiction. Stephanie has been sought-after to speak for groups including Yale University, George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, the Harvard Women in Law Program, America Votes, and more.

Before joining EMILY’s List, Stephanie managed the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Jon Tester in Montana, building a campaign organization from scratch and defeating an 18-year incumbent. She served as Senator Tester’s Chief of Staff until 2010. Stephanie also managed Al Franken’s Senate campaign in Minnesota and was the national finance director for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, where she pioneered the digital techniques that have since transformed political campaigning and fundraising. She serves on the boards of the Goldman School’s Center on Security in Politics at UC-Berkeley, Priorities USA, and Democracy Docket, and is currently consulting for Precision Strategies, FrontRow, and the Strategic Victory Fund. With expertise spanning leadership, politics, business, and more, Stephanie is an uplifting speaker who offers actionable strategies for growth and empowerment.

Riz Ahmed is an Academy Award winning multi-hyphenate, excelling in his unique blend of critically acclaimed acting, producing, writing and creating music.

Ahmed won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film alongside director Aneil Karia for the short film “The Long Goodbye,” a visual accompaniment to his universally acclaimed 2020 solo album of
the same name. The short film, which Ahmed co-created and wrote, was also named British/Irish Short Film of the Year also won Best Short Film at the London Critics’ Circle and British Independent Film.

In 2023, he starred in Apple’s FINGERNAILS, opposite Jessie Buckley and Jeremy Allen White. Ahmed voiced one of the lead roles in Netflix’s Oscar nominated animation, NIMONA, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards.

Ahmed was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for his lead performance in the 2021 film, SOUND OF METAL. He won the National Board of Review, IFP Gotham Award and Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor, as well as more than fourteen leading critics groups. The film, directed by Darius Marder, follows a professional drummer’s descent into unexpected hearing loss. It originally premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival to career-topping performance reviews,
which led to the acquisition by Amazon Films.

Ahmed became one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors following the explosive success of HBO’s THE NIGHT OF (written and created by the legendary Steven Zaillan), for which he won an Emmy Award, and was Golden Globe and SAG Award nominated.

Ahmed’s award-winning production company, Left Handed Films, has a first-look TV deal with Amazon Studio. Left Handed Films produced Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s FLEE, which made history as the first movie to earn Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature. Left Handed Films executive produced JOYLAND, the first Pakistani film to play at the Cannes Film Festival and to be shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar. Initially banned in its home country for its LGBTQ+ themes, JOYLAND is a visually radiant, subversive family drama set in the bustling megacity of Lahore. It won the Indie Spirit Award for Best International Film in 2023.

In June 2021, Ahmed launched a multi-layered initiative for Muslim representation in media, in partnership with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the Ford Foundation and Pillars Fund. Powered by USC Annenberg’s latest study on Muslim representation in media — which found that less than 10% of top grossing films from 2017-2019 had a Muslim character on screen, with less than 2% of those characters having speaking roles — the coalition created the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion, as well as the Pillars Artist Fellowship, offering selected grantees an unrestricted award of $25,000.

BRANDON KYLE GOODMAN (they/them) – Actor, Writer, and Activist are words often attributed to Brandon Kyle Goodman. In 2020, they emerged as a voice for the Black and Queer communities, best summed up in Revolt TV’s piece ‘7 Reasons Why Brandon Kyle Goodman is Comedy’s Next Big Name.’ 

Brandon served as writer and producer on Netflix's Big Mouth for multiple seasons. Goodman also wrote and voiced the lead character Walter for the spin-off series Human Resources. As an actor, they have previously appeared in Amazon's Modern Love, Netflix's feature film Feel the Beat, a cameo in Curb Your Enthusiasm, a guest role in Abbott Elementary, and as Clay in Mel Brooks' Hulu series History of the World Part II. Most recently, Brandon co-hosted the digital E! show called, RE!CAP, where Brandon and co-hosts serve up hot takes on Hollywood’s biggest nights! In Fall 2025, Goodman will hit the stage for an off-Broadway run of their new show heaux church with the award-winning theater company, Ars Nova. 

Expanding on the cult-like following for their Messy Mondays series on Instagram and now live show every Monday night on Substack, Brandon has partnered with iHeart Media to launch their podcast, Tell Me Something Messy. 

Hachette Book Group published their book You Gotta Be You in 2022.

Brand partnerships range from Prada, Bellesa, and Alicia Keys Soulcare, among others. The New York Times named Brandon as one of their 2021 Up Next. 

"With a knack for trying and succeeding at new things," according to Forbes, Abigail has been described by Pop Culturist as “one of the voices of her generation.” 

Abigail is a New York Times best-selling author, a filmmaker, and a woman-in-tech leader specializing in artificial intelligence, as well as a wife and mother of two. Abigail is a frequent speaker on topics of leadership, equity, representation, ethics and creative careers, including keynotes at the National Conference of State Legislatures, US Presidential Scholars, Y’Allfest, as well as talks with Talks at Google, San Diego Comic Con, LA Comic Con, the California Commonwealth Club (with Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland and Deb Liu, CEO Ancestry), META, Facebook AI, Paypal, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Target, Twitch, The League of California Cities, Munger Tolle, as well as Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth and Berkeley among other venues.

Abigail penned the New York Times bestselling novel, Loveboat, Taipei and companion novels. She serves as executive producer for the film adaptation Love in Taipei, now on Netflix, and directed her first short film, The Vale — Origins, starring Lea Salonga, a prequel to her novel The Vale. 

She and her work have been profiled in print and tv, including Entertainment Weekly, People Magazine, Bloomberg TV, Forbes, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, The Hollywood Reporter, Seventeen, NBCNews, NBC Bay Area, ABC7 and the World Journal.

Abigail holds a BA from Harvard, JD from Columbia and MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In her career in tech, she has negotiated multibillion-dollar deals on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, worked in venture capital and hosted Intel’s Artificial Intelligence podcast featuring leading industry experts including Andrew Ng, Facebook's Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun and US Congresswoman Robin Kelly. She also served with the Partnership on AI. Forbes describes her as, “One of the most respected voices in fairness and AI.”

Her works include multiple novels for young people, including a graphic novel exploring cognitive diversity, as well as original film and TV projects. She serves on the board of Harvardwood, is a member of Dan Lin’s Rideback Rise Circle 2025 and served as a judge for the Golden Trailer Awards recognizing the industry’s most outstanding film trailers. Abigail lives with her husband and two children in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Cristela Alonzo is a trailblazing comedian, actress, writer, and producer who uses laughter as a tool for connection and truth. She made history as the first Latina to create, write, and star in her own network sitcom Cristela and later brought her voice to millions as Cruz Ramirez in Disney Pixar’s Cars 3. Her acclaimed Netflix specials Lower Classy and Middle Classy showcase her unique blend of humor and storytelling, with a new special, Upper Classy, recently released. She is a masterful storyteller, as evidenced by her bestselling memoir full of humor and heart, Music to My Years: A Mixtape-Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up. In her podcast To Be Continued, Cristela’s stories range from the ridiculous to the sobering and have also been shared in interviews on NPR , the Chicago Tribune and It's Been A Minute With Sam Sanders. Cristela is also a dedicated advocate for a variety of philanthropies focused on immigration, citizenship, economic opportunity.

On stage, Alonzo moves seamlessly from sharp comedy to powerful reflection, sharing stories shaped by her experience as a first-generation Mexican American. She invites audiences to see both the challenges and the possibilities of today’s world, sparking conversations that linger long after the applause. Known for her authenticity and warmth, Alonzo brings people together through humor, insight, and a message of resilience that resonates across generations.

Wanda Sykes has been called "one of the funniest stand-up comics" by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly's "25 Funniest People in America." Her smart-witted, award-winning work has broken barriers and sent her career across platforms. 

Wanda joined forces with veteran producer Page Hurwitz to form Push It Productions, a production company dedicated to creating quality, comedy-based programming for network and cable television outlets. The company's diverse slate of projects includes sketch comedy, concerts, reality talk/variety, and competition formats. 

Known for her performances in HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and ABC's "black-ish," Sykes is a pioneering comic. She was the first African-American woman to perform at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, as well as the first to conceive and star in her own prime-time sitcom, "Wanda at Large."  

Her first book titled Yeah, I Said It, is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family and current events.

Leadership & culture expert Kim Scott is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss without Losing your Humanity, which launched a global management revolution. Kim is the co-Founder of Radical Candor®, LLC – a company dedicated to helping organizations and teams move from a culture of command and control to one of collaboration. Previously, Kim led AdSense, YouTube, and Doubleclick Online Sales and Operations at Google, and then joined Apple to develop and teach a leadership seminar. She has been a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and several other tech companies.

Kim was the co-Founder & CEO of Juice Software – a collaboration startup, and led business development at Delta Three and Capital Thinking. Earlier in her career, she worked as a senior policy advisor at the FCC, managed a pediatric clinic in Kosovo, started a diamond cutting factory in Moscow, and was an analyst on the Soviet Companies Fund. Kim is the author of three novels, and her book Radical Respect is an essential guide leaders and their employees need to create more just workplaces and establish new norms of collaboration and respect.

Mexican actor, author, and activist Tenoch Huerta brings undeniable complexity and insights to his roles onscreen and his compelling conversations. Best known for his performances in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, The Forever Purge, Days of Grace, Güeros, and Sin Nombre, Huerta joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his character Namor, in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. His work has received widespread praise and catapulted him onto the global stage, where he is leading vital conversations about race, identity, and representation.

Huerta combines his professional career with activism against racism and discrimination and speaks out in favor of various social causes including equality and the construction of new masculinities. He has received numerous accolades for his more than 70 films and television series, including the Ariel Award for Days of Grace and being named one of AP’s “Breakthrough Entertainers of 2022.” Huerta is the author of Orgullo prieto / Brown Pride, the #1 Best Seller on Amazon in its category, which he wrote with young people in mind: “I try to create, as much as I can, a better place to live for them.” Huerta brings star power and passionate insights about inclusivity and social justice to memorable events.

Trailblazing leader, entrepreneur, and executive Christine Simmons brings vast experience in some of the most prominent organizations in the world to her spellbinding keynote presentations. Simmons is the Founder of consulting firm Alis Volat Propriis, LLC – which means “she who flies with her own wings” in Latin – advising businesses at every scale on operational excellence, strategic planning, business development, and representation initiatives, and more. Her clothing and merchandise line, Unapologetically™ Christine, encourages everyone to live UNAPOLOGETICALLY™ - which she defines as “Being Bold, Attacking Life’s Challenges in Extraordinary Fashion, & Loving Oneself – Flaws and All!” In 2019, Christine was named Chief Operating Officer at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science – the first Woman and Black person to hold the position. Prior to this role, Simmons was President & Chief Operating Officer of the three-time WNBA Champion Los Angeles Sparks, and was an Executive Vice President with Magic Johnson Enterprises, where she evaluated investment opportunities and was responsible for business development. Speaking globally on topics including business, strategy, leadership, inclusion, and empowerment, Simmons has been sought after by groups including the Bank of America Women’s Conference, UCLA Velocity Conference, and The Black Employee Network from Blue Shield of California, among others.

With over two decades of leadership experience in creating strategic alliances, leading business development, and driving corporate initiatives, Christine has worked with many Fortune 500 corporations and multi-million-dollar companies including Disney and NBCUniversal. A proud UCLA graduate, Simmons currently holds seats on UCLA Foundation Board of Directors and the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Advisory Board. Previously, she served on the UC Board of Regents, where she served on the Finance and Capital Strategies, Public Engagement and Development, Investments & Basic Needs committees. She is a Past President and Director on the Board of the UCLA Alumni Association representing all 500,000 global Bruins. Simmons is on the Advisory Council for Playbook Makers, Spry, Next Play Capital, Shared Harvest Fund, and MyCOVID MD. She also volunteers for Better Futures for Thomazeau – a small, grassroots nonprofit that provides aide and is currently building a vocational school in Haiti. A huge advocate of mentoring, Christine formally mentors the next generation of Black and Brown women through Cari Champion’s foundation, Brown Girls Dream, and has informally mentored countless others.

Legendary NFL wide receiver, entrepreneur, Emmy-nominated TV personality, and philanthropist Brandon Marshall is a dedicated mental health advocate who continues to lead conversations promoting awareness, ending stigma, and sharing inspiration. After 12 years shattering records and collecting countless awards and accolades, Marshall is now a two-time Emmy-nominated sportscaster with Showtime’s Inside the NFL and FS1’s First Things First. Amassing over 30M views and 500K YouTube subscribers, he is also the creator and host of I AM ATHLETE podcast, moderating authentic conversations that make an undeniable impact. After winning his own battle with mental illness, Marshall has become the face of mental health awareness, sharing his personal experiences and struggles, and offering a message of resilience and hope that enables audiences of all kinds to unleash their full potential.

As the Founder and CEO of House of Athlete, a lifestyle wellness brand, Marshall leverages his years as a peak athlete and champion for mental fitness to support athletes at every level. As Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of PROJECT 375, a non-profit dedicated to unlocking human potential through conversation, education, and inspiration, Marshall embodies his commitment to the mental health community. He has appeared on The View, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and more, and has been featured in The New York Times, People, Forbes, and many others. Marshall has participated in hundreds of speaking engagements, speaking to Fortune500 organizations, the Forbes Healthcare Summit, The Kennedy Forum, before the U.S. Senate, the Vatican, to NFL Owners & Coaches, and school kids, among others. In addition to championing conversations in the mental health space, Marshall is an in-demand speaker for his insights on teamwork, cultivating resilience, and developing values-based leadership within organizations and as individuals.

Founder, entrepreneur, and mentorship expert Denise Woodard is the groundbreaking Founder and CEO of Partake Foods – a natural food company inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Launched in 2017, Partake’s delicious, allergy-friendly products can now be found in more than 9,000 retailers including Target, Kroger, and Whole Foods Market. Denise is the first Black woman to raise more than $1M publicly for a consumer-packaged goods (CPG) food startup, and the company has raised over $19M to date from investors including HER, Rihanna, Cleveland Ave, FF2032, and Marcy Ventures Partners. Partake was recently named #45 on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list, and Denise was named on Inc.’s “100 Female Founders” list for building a fast-growing snacking brand that everyone can enjoy. After winning a pitch competition with just the idea, Denise conducted hundreds of demos, leveraged her supply chain expertise, and created a product and company that has attracted the attention of major funders and publications alike. She delivers actionable, no-nonsense insights with optimism, creating an uplifting and memorable event for groups including Microsoft, Victoria’s Secret, Danone, Carta, and Target, to name a few.

Denise serves on the board of Naturally New York, the advisory board for the UNC Shuford Center for Entrepreneurship, and on the WP Carey School of Business Dean’s Council. Prior to launching Partake, Denise spent a decade in CPGs at various Fortune 100 companies. A mentorship expert, she has participated as a mentoring founder-in-residence for three cohorts of Target’s Forward Founder’s program supporting 30 founders in that time. Denise is also the Founder of Black Futures in Food & Beverage, a fellowship program that offers mentorship, internships, and job opportunities within the food and beverage industries for active HBCU students. From her commitment to excellence in branding, to growing a strong team that exceeds goals, Denise shares her leadership perspective that resonates with everyone from entrepreneurs looking to make their mark to C-suite executives looking to inspire their teams around a unified vision.

Rohini Kosoglu is the go-to expert on AI, health care, and the future of work—bringing deep expertise in global trends and industry dynamics, having navigated both the public and private sector at the highest levels. As a Venture Partner at Fusion Fund and a Policy Fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, she sits at the intersection of emerging technology and societal impact, advising both public and private sectors on what’s next.

Kosoglu counsels Fortune 500 companies, startups, and academic institutions and sits on corporate and nonprofit boards. Her presentations deliver a practical, nonpartisan roadmap for AI governance to spur innovation and unlock human-centered outcomes—leaving every audience energized, informed, and ready for the future.

Award-winning writer, sociologist, and cultural critic Tressie McMillan Cottom is celebrated for her profound yet personal ideas and the dynamic accessibility of her analysis. Dr. Cottom’s first book, Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy, led to appearances on The Daily Show, NPR’s Marketplace and Fresh Air, and has been name-checked by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and activists like The Debt Strike Collective. Since the release of her second book, Thick: And Other Essays, Dr. Cottom’s career has skyrocketed. Thick became a Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award, and the following year Dr. Cottom received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship – known as the ‘genius grant’. Her work is prolific – beyond her books and celebrated New York Times opinion column, she has written a Substack newsletter “Essaying,” is a contributor for Vanity Fair, co-hosted the Black feminist podcast Hear to Slay with Roxane Gay, and has sat in as a guest host for The Ezra Klein Show. Her books have become modern classics, and her commentary is in demand on a wide range of topics like inclusive marketing, creating policy narratives, technology, the future of democracy, and the cultural zeitgeist.

Dr. Cottom is a public academic whose work is as impactful on Twitter as it is in groundbreaking research, and continually reimagines how our society might function better on behalf of the most marginalized. She has a devoted fanbase for her essays (Tressays, as her fans call them), which defy the form – she explores the intersections of race, class, and gender, in the same breath as incisive pop culture critique and personal history. Dr. Cottom is currently a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and is sought after as a consultant for both global brands and on Capitol Hill.  In her writing, as well as in luminous keynotes and moderated conversations, Dr. Cottom tells creative stories of her research and herself – taking theory into real-world understanding for audiences of all kinds.

Seven-time Emmy-winning journalist Ann Curry is a cornerstone of U.S. news and journalism. Her reporting is raw, bold, and deeply personal, fueled by human connections. She has appeared before the camera on some of America’s largest networks, including NBC News, PBS, TNT, and more. Her TED talks have been viewed around the world. Curry brings the same deep meaning, message, and sharp intellect to her speaking events as she does her iconic interviews.

Curry is recognized not only as a journalist but also as a humanitarian. Her work has garnered honors such as the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Global Citizenship, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Medal of Valor, the NAACP's Excellence in Reporting Award, the Centre for Responsible Leadership's Truth in Media Award, the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award, and more. Hosts such as Colgate University, the Holocaust Memorial Center, the National Court Reporters Association and more have been captivated by her memorable stories.

From cutting in his mom’s garage to becoming a world-renowned barber, entrepreneur, and social media sensation, Vic’s life has been a unique journey of hustle, perseverance, and the relentless pursuit of inspiring others. At the young age of 25, some of his accolades include over 20M followers across social media, creating a clothing brand PLANTED, Forbes 30 under 30, the first licensed barber school in CA prison history, and a show titled Deep Cut. 

He is a barber by trade, but changing lives is his mission. This is proven by his massive success on social media where he shares inspiring videos of him giving out free haircuts to unassuming strangers. During these cuts, he engages in deep conversations from home life to personal dreams to sports to relationship advice. In short time, Vic has amassed over 15 Million followers and over 200M likes on TikTok. He also has a significant following on Instagram with 3.6M followers and YouTube with over 2 Million subscribers.

Giving back to his community and leaving a legacy are two major goals for Vic, which prompted him to launch Vic Blends Academy. The Vic Blends Academy is an online curriculum for the next generation of barbers. Thousands of inspired fans and students have already signed up. His passion for bettering the community doesn’t stop there. This year Vic built a basketball court in his hometown of Fayetteville to give back to the kids there and was given a key to the city from the Mayor. He is also working with Scott Budnick to open the first licensed barber schools in California Prison history which will give incarcerated men the opportunity to obtain their barbers licenses with hopes of setting them up for success upon release. 

His video podcast series DEEP CUT launched in April 2024 with his first guest, Tom Brady, and is produced by Tom’s production company, Shadow Lion. Guests so far include Tom, Barack Obama, NLE Choppa, Lil Yachty, Tony Hawk, Polo G, Noel Miller, Shakur Stevenson and Jake Paul. He also just launched an emote with Fortnite and partnered with Macy’s on their new menswear launch.

Amanda Montell is a New York Times-bestselling author and iHeart Radio Award-winning podcaster. Her nonfiction books include Cultish, Wordslut, and The Age of Magical Overthinking—an instant New York Times Bestseller and Indie Bestseller. Montell’s books have been praised by The Atlantic, The Economist, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and others. Her podcast Sounds Like A Cult was named a best podcast of 2022 by Vulture, Esquire, and Marie Claire and won the 2023 iHeart Radio Award for Best Emerging Podcast. Her newest podcast, Magical Overthinkers, premiered in May 2024 and landed on both Apple and Spotify’s charts of the Top 10 Society & Culture podcasts in the USA. Montell shares her research to give audiences a new approach to handling stress, anxiety, and overthinking that can provide a positive, refreshing new perspective.

Amanda’s writing has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, and elsewhere. Speaking about her work, she has appeared in documentary series including Netflix’s How to Become A Cult Leader and Vice TV’s True Believers. Montell has delighted audiences at The Strand, the LA Times Festival of Books, the Live Wire Radio Festival, the Books in Bloom Festival, and many more.

Ginni Rometty was the ninth Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of IBM. Under her leadership, the 100-year-old company reinvented 50 percent of its portfolio, built a $25 billion hybrid cloud business, and established leadership in AI and quantum computing. Rometty also drove record results in workforce transformation and supported the explosive growth of an innovative high school program to prepare the workforce of the future in over twenty-eight countries. 

Through her work with the Business Roundtable, Rometty helped redefine the purpose of the corporation. She has been named Fortune’s #1 Most Powerful Woman three years in a row, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and has been honored with the designation of Officier in the French Légion d’Honneur. Today, Rometty serves on multiple boards and cochairs OneTen, a coalition of companies driving a SkillsFirst movement to unlock career opportunities for talent without four-year degrees. She is married to Mark Rometty, and the author of the bestselling book Good Power: Leading Positive Change in Our Lives, Work, and World.

Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has inspired millions on her path to become a top track and field athlete. The youngest U.S. Olympian to compete in track and field since 1972, McLaughlin set both junior world and NCAA records before winning two gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Named the Gatorade National Girls Athlete of the Year two years in a row, McLaughlin-Levrone is known for her dedication both to sports and her ability to inspire. Her her status both as an athlete and a cultural icon. She expands on her uplifting story in her book Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith and through her work as a brand ambassador for New Balance. In her motivational talks, McLaughlin-Levrone helps us see that our dreams are possible with hard work, perseverance, and determined pursuit.

Touching both on her faith and the obstacles she has faced on her way to success, McLaughlin-Levrone offers empowering and inspiring remarks on perseverance, learning and evolving from your mistakes, staying open to new experiences, and the pursuit of success. When recognized by TIME Magazine as an emerging leader, her teammate and world-record holder ALLYSON FELIX described her as someone with “a quiet confidence that demands your attention...[and] the potential to impact lives.”

Emmy Award-winning journalist Jemele Hill is known for bringing a unique perspective to her analysis of sports and social issues. Hill’s 20-plus year journalism career has included stops at the biggest sports media network and several reputable newspapers. She is currently a contributing writer for The Atlantic, after rising to prominence through ESPN, where she provided undeniably fresh takes on sports content as a host of SportsCenter, First Take, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters, and Outside the Lines. Her independent commentary took off with a weekly, late-night show on Vice Network called Cari & Jemele: Won’t Stick to Sports, co-hosted with Hill’s longtime friend, former ESPN anchor Cari Champion. As fans flocked to her personal brand, Hill’s podcast career launched with the two-time Webby award-winning podcast Jemele Hill is Unbothered, featuring in-depth, thought-provoking conversation with some of the biggest newsmakers across entertainment, culture, music, and politics. Previous guests include Vice President Kamala Harris, Ice Cube, Spike Lee, Chelsea Clinton, Stephen Colbert, Issa Rae, and more A-listers. Her memoir, UPHILL, one of Oprah Daily’s Best Nonfiction Books, reveals her tumultuous childhood, complicated family dynamics, and her life-saving journey into journalism. Hill explores topical and controversial issues with humorous, candid commentary.

Hill’s career emphasizes the power of dialogue and conversation in bridging divides, fostering understanding, and driving positive change within society. Hill founded a podcast network, Unbothered, and co-founded Lodge Freeway Media to empower other women of color in sports media production. She is a highly lauded journalist, honored with two NAACP Awards and the National Association of Black Journalists’ Journalist of the Year Award. Hill has been invited to speak at Harvard University, Stanford University, Google, and many more.

Former NBCUniversal executive Imani Ellis is the CEO and Founder of CultureCon and The Creative Collective, a community dedicated to facilitating brave spaces for Black and Brown creatives. Founded in Ellis’s one-bedroom apartment, The Creative Collective has grown into the largest community devoted to creatives of color. In addition to community events, The Creative Collective provides countless resources and workshops. The Creative Collective’s marquee event, CultureCon, is the first-of-its-kind ideas conference that caters to all aspects of creative and young professional life. Past CultureCon speakers have included Tracee Ellis Ross, Will Smith, Regina King, John Legend, Spike Lee, Lena Waithe, and more.  As a leader in talent development in media and creative industries, Ellis’s perspectives are crucial for organizations seeking a creative spark.

Ellis is regularly invited to speak at high-profile events and conferences, including Amazon, Jordan Brand, Pinterest, Advertising Week, Meta, the Women of Power Summit, Columbia Business School, and many more. Named a "Breakthrough Creative" by Ebony, a “Visionary” by Forbes, “One to Watch” by Black Enterprise, and a “Diversity Champion by AdWeek, Ellis shares invaluable insights on cultural competency and innovation.

Renowned wildlife ecologist, equity and justice advocate, and storyteller Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant is a trail-blazing conservationist whose insights about STEM, equity, and the power of nature inspire audiences of all kinds. As an active scientist, Dr. Wynn-Grant researches how human activity influences the behavior of wild animals, spending long periods in the wilderness tracking and observing black and grizzly bears in the Western U.S. and African lions in rural Kenya and Tanzania. Her wildlife exploration and media work has taken her to six of seven continents and over 25 countries. A native Californian, Dr. Wynn-Grant attributes her interest in wildlife and conservation from the nature shows she watched on television as a child, and today she uses media to increase representation of Black scientists and explorers. Dr. Wynn-Grant is the Host of a new NBC series, Wild Kingdom - a new version of the iconic wildlife show premiering Fall 2023.

Dr. Wynn-Grant envisions a near-future where the outdoors is a safe, equitably accessible, and positively transformative space for all people, and she shares her passionate insights in riveting keynotes and conversations. Dr. Wynn-Grant is a faculty member at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California at Santa Barbara, serves on the Golden Gate regional board of NatureBridge, and is a National Geographic Explorer. Her PBS podcast, Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, takes listeners deep into the heart of the world’s most remote jungles, savannas, tundras, mountains, and deserts with her as she studies wild animals in their natural habitats. A phenomenal leader in her field and a compelling speaker, Dr. Wynn-Grant uses the power of storytelling to make science accessible, emphasizing the importance of creating equitable opportunities for young people to experience nature first-hand.

Respected political and cultural organizer Alexis McGill Johnson is the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Planned Parenthood, which provides vital health services to 2.4M people each year through more than 600 health centers across the country, offers a vision of a world of equity: where sexual and reproductive rights are basic human rights; where access to health care doesn’t depend on who you are or where you live; and where every person has the opportunity to choose their own path to a healthy and meaningful life. Alexis, a researcher by training, co-founded and co-directed the Perception Institute, which creates solutions that reduce bias and discrimination and drive equity and belonging. Alexis is a thought leader on brain science and narrative change, has written and spoken extensively on equity, race, and culture, and is sought-after for events with groups like Viacom, SXSW, MAC World AIDS Day, the United Nations Global Compact Gender Equality Summit, and more.

A tireless advocate for reproductive freedom, Alexis has served in Planned Parenthood’s leadership for more than a decade. She also serves on the boards of Color of Change and is the Founder of The Culture Group. Alexis is uniquely positioned to offer in-depth analysis, actionable insights for individuals and organizations, and shares an affirmative vision of protecting and expanding reproductive health care.

Civil rights litigator and New York Times bestselling author Qian Julie Wang uses her unique gift for storytelling to transcend the business, legal, political, and literary worlds and focus on the humanity at the heart of these issues.

Qian Julie’s debut Beautiful Country: A Memoir became an instant New York Times bestseller, and was heralded as “an incandescent debut from an astonishing new talent.” Lauded as an “essential book for our times” and named one of the New York Times Book Review’s “Notable Books of 2021,” Beautiful Country is a poignant and heartrending literary memoir that intimately retraces Qian Julie’s childhood footsteps where at age seven, she moved from China to Brooklyn, New York with her parents, and overnight went from being the daughter of professors to being deemed “illegal.” As a litigator, Qian Julie has been praised by clients as "exceptionally talented" and "exemplary.” For a decade, she has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex civil litigation. Qian Julie is now a managing partner at Gottlieb & Wang LLP and is dedicated to advocating for marginalized communities' education and discrimination rights.

Qian Julie’s writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Cut, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, and she has appeared on PBS Newshour, ABC News, NPR, BBC World Outlook, C-SPAN, The TODAY Show, among many others. A highly sought-after keynote speaker, Qian Julie is in demand for events with groups like the Association of Small and Rural Libraries, Datadog, the Nantucket and Savannah Book Festivals, Sentara Healthcare, and Central Synagogue, to name a few. For her open heart and strong passion for advocacy and bringing awareness to marginalized communities, she regularly receives rave reviews, such as: “Thanks to Qian Julie for a tremendous program last night. She gave such a beautifully crafted, powerful talk that had the audience alternatively chuckling, nodding, wiping their eyes, and occasionally even startled… Qian Julie is a supremely talented writer and thinker, and I am sure she will continue to challenge the world with her sharp and nuanced insights. And she couldn’t have been nicer and more gracious to staff and guests and trustees alike." (Museum of the City of New York)

Emmy Award-nominated sports journalist Taylor Rooks is an acclaimed interviewer whose probing questions give rise to some of today’s most pressing discussions beyond the game. Rooks is the Host and Executive Producer of Take It There With Taylor Rooks, her interview show for Bleacher Report, among other duties for Turner Sports. She is the Primary Host of Amazon Prime Video's NBA coverage and Feature Reporter of Amazon's Thursday Night Football. Previously, she worked as a host, reporter, and correspondent for the Big Ten Network and as a sideline reporter for CBS Sports Network. She is known for asking daring questions that lead to revelatory conversations with some of sports’ biggest stars.

Praised in a profile by the New York Times: “Taylor Rooks gets the interviews that go viral.” She shares meaningful insights about succeeding in her industry by focusing on making connections and honoring the humanity of the players, as well as understanding the larger context behind the game. With her incomparable coverage of the NBA season during the pandemic, Rooks was tapped as featured writer for GQ’s “Men of the Year” issue. She offers unparalleled analysis based on her expertise in media as a keynote speaker, host, or interviewer to amplify meaningful events for audiences.

Award-winning design veteran, podcaster, and author Mauro Porcini is PepsiCo’s first ever Chief Design Officer. Since joining the food & beverage corporation in 2012, Porcini has infused design thinking into PepsiCo’s culture and is leading a new approach to innovation by design that impacts the company’s product platforms and brands. Leading international teams, his focus extends from physical to virtual expressions of the brands – including fashion and art collaborations, retail activation, digital media, and beyond. He is the author of The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People, which focuses on innovation, design and leadership and was named a Gold Winner of the Better Future New York Design Award. Porcini offers insights from his journey across startups and multinational corporations for building high-impact brand and design efforts that put people first.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Mauro served as the first ever Chief Design Officer at 3M, where his mission was to build and nurture a design sensitive culture in a technology driven global corporation. He is also the author of L’età dell’eccellenza: Come innovazione e creatività possono costruire un mondo migliore, which is in its fifth reprint, and hosts the successful video podcast In Your Shoes - with Mauro Porcini, where he interviews inspiring personalities from the creative community worldwide. Mauro has been a presenter and judge on CBS’ New York by Design and Amazon’s America by Design. He has been on the board of directors for several organizations, and currently serves as the President of the Politecnico of Milan Foundation in the United States (Fellows of Politecnico), sits on the board of directors of the Design Management Institute, and on the advisory council of other design, art, innovation, and business institutions.

Award-winning whiskey master blender Victoria Eady Butler is one of the key women behind the fastest-growing whiskey brand in U.S. history, Uncle Nearest, Inc. A relatively new face in the spirits world, whiskey is definitely in her blood. Butler is the great-great-granddaughter of the first known African American master distiller Nearest Green and carries on her family’s legacy first-hand. An Imbibe 75 alumnus, Butler was concluding a successful career as an analytical manager for the Regional Organized Crime Information Center in Nashville when Uncle Nearest Whiskey Founder and CEO Fawn Weaver invited her onboard. Butler quickly transitioned to master blender after curating a definitive batch of whiskey for the brand, which sold out immediately and won numerous awards, including two double-golds at international competitions.

Butler is a member of the executive team, and oversees the blending process of the core and Master Blend portfolios for the many-time award-winning Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. Butler has been sought after to speak for groups including the Bourbon Women Association, the Vibe Conference, The Mercantile Library, Tennessee Whiskey Festival, the Black Bourbon Society, to name a few.

Butler is one of Imbibe Magazine’s “75 People to Watch,” and has been featured in Wine Enthusiast Magazine, The New York Times, Garden & Gun, Food & Wine, and many more. Butler currently oversees the Nearest Green Foundation, a 501(s)(3) non-profit organization that provides scholarships to Nearest Green’s descendants, which is funded by the sales of Uncle Nearest whiskeys. An industry trailblazer, she was the first female to be awarded Master Blender of the Year at the American Icons of Whisky Awards and in 2022, she became the first person in history to win that title back-to-back. In compelling keynotes, moderated conversations, and Q&As, Butler shares her incredible journey to the top of her industry and her insights about building a purpose-drive and profitable brand.

CNBC correspondent and author Julia Boorstin delivers insightful analysis with a focus on the intersection of media and technology. Boorstin serves as CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech Correspondent, playing a central role on the network’s bicoastal tech-focused program TechCheck. Before joining CNBC as an on-air reporter in 2006, she served as a reporter for Fortune magazine, and was an intern for Vice President Gore’s domestic policy office. Boorstin released her debut book When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them in October 2022, which features lessons from the leadership approaches of women running the world’s most innovative and successful companies.

Boorstin has contributed to CNN and CNN Headline News, among others. She is the creator of the CNBC “Disruptor 50,” an annual list she curates highlighting private companies transforming the economy and challenging companies in established industries. She also helped launch the network’s ‘Closing the Gap’ initiative, which covers people and companies closing gender and diversity gaps. In her writing, reporting, and speaking, Boorstin is a sought-after expert exploring groundbreaking leadership and business innovations that resonate across industries.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is a mother, wife, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Her lifelong advocacy for women and girls remains a constant thread she weaves through both humanitarian and business ventures. Her core belief that representation matters and her connection to community have helped define her as a cultural catalyst for positive change.  

She was named one of TIME Magazine’s "100 Most Influential People" in 2018 and 2021. She is also noted as one of the most powerful women in the world, topping lists such as The Financial Times’ "25 Most Influential Women of 2022" and British Vogue’s "Vogue 25" in 2021.  She was the first guest editor in the history of British Vogue for their July Issue in 2019, which was the fastest selling copy in the history of the publication.

Alongside her husband, Prince Harry, she co-founded The Archewell Foundation, whose mission is: ‘show up, do good’, reflecting the ways in which they work to support communities, offline and online, in ways big and small. Meghan is a New York Times bestselling author with her children’s book, The Bench, and continues to create compelling content as she did in 2022, when she launched Archetypes, a record-breaking podcast which topped the charts at number one in 47 countries and received a Gracie Award. Her 2025 Netflix series, With Love, Meghan highlights her love of entertaining and finding the joy in every day, and also complements her consumer products brand, As ever. She is the creator of Confessions of a Female Founder, a new podcast with Lemonada Media that invites listeners to be a fly on the wall for candid conversations with fellow female founders and friends.

Meghan resides in California with her husband, Prince Harry, and their children, Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex. Together, they remain dedicated to building a more compassionate, equitable world for future generations.

Multi-Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Michele Tafoya joined the NBC Sports Group from 2011-2022 as a sideline reporter for Sunday Night Football after more than a decade at ABC/ESPN, as a reporter for Monday Night Football and ABC’s coverage of the NBA Championships. Tafoya was a part of NBC’s Olympic coverage and has served as the sideline reporter for NBC's coverage of Super Bowl XLVI, XLIX, LII, LVI, and ABC’s coverage of Super Bowl XL. Today, she provides political commentary via social media and her eponymous podcast, The Michele Tafoya Podcast.  

Tafoya has been honored for her broadcast work with various awards: The American Women in Radio, two Television Gracie Awards for “Outstanding Achievement by an Individual On-Air TV Personality,” and the Davie Brown Index’s “Biggest Trend-Setter.”

Model, actor, activist, and writer Lily Cole has been engaged in environmentalist work and advocacy for nearly two decades. Following a successful career in fashion – she was named by Vogue France as one of the top ten models of the 2000s – Cole began investigating supply chains and sustainable business practices, becoming a patron of the Environmental Justice Foundation and an ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund. She has founded several of her own social businesses, including the incubator Impossible.com. Cole is the author of Who Cares Wins: Reasons for Optimism in Our Changing World, which has been considered a guidebook for those looking for actionable insights and hope in the face of climate crisis. In her accompanying podcast, Who Cares Wins, Cole hosts impactful conversations about climate solutions.

Cole is an in-demand speaker for events with groups like Google, Wired, LeWeb, the Global Fashion Agenda, the Houses of Parliament, COP26, at Davos alongside the The World Economic Forum, where she has spoken multiple times for Arctic Basecamp and Goals House, and on behalf of the United Nations’ ECE Sustainability Pledge. As an actor, Cole has performed at The Globe Theatre, The Old Vic, and Trafalgar Studios, and has appeared in BBC’s The Split, and the upcoming feature film Hilma, among others. She has co-written and presented documentaries for Sky Arts and the BBC, and directed multiple short documentaries for VICE and Nowness. She holds an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Glasgow for her contribution to humanitarian and environmental causes through social businesses, and received an Honorary Award at the German Sustainability Awards for her dedication to climate and human rights activism.

Thai Randolph was most recently CEO of Kevin Hart’s global media company HARTBEAT, fundraising over $100M. As an award-winning marketer, business leader and architect of NextGen media companies, Thai has been honored on Variety and Entrepreneur's "Women of Impact" lists and AdAge's "40 Under 40," to name a few.

She has built her career at the intersection of content, commerce, and community and led the launch of Women Write Now – a first-of-its-kind screenwriting fellowship developed in partnership with the Sundance Institute and HARTBEAT to champion the next generation of Black women in comedy through mentorship, advocacy, production, and exhibition. Continuing her mission to carve out spaces for overlooked – yet influential – voices in the industry, Randolph and co-founder/actress Tika Sumpter also launched Sugaberry, an audio-first media company for and by Black women – and co-host the Gracie-award winning podcast, The Suga.

Thai’s leadership perspective is in demand at high profile events such as Advertising Week, CES, Sundance, SXSW, Cannes Lions Festival, The Wrap’s TheGrill, Variety’s Inclusion and Entertainment Summits, Future of Television Conference, Digital Entertainment World, Adobe’s Digital Marketing Conference, YouTube's Publisher Summit, Cynopsis’ Big TV Conference, and Streaming Media East, among others. As a result-focused and empathetic leader, she continues to advocate for inclusive representation in entertainment and advertising, pay equity across industries and maternal and mental health for women and people of color.

Michael Nutter served as the 98th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, his hometown. He served 22.5 years as an elected official in Philadelphia, serving 14.5 years as a City Council member, and then 2 four year terms as Mayor, leaving office on January 4, 2016 due to term limits.

Mayor Nutter was considered one of the foremost leaders in innovation, tackling challenges of public safety, increasing funding for educating children, revitalizing the economy and spurring economic growth, restoring ethics and integrity to city government, ensuring fiscal discipline and making Philadelphia one of the great green and sustainable cities in America.

Known for keeping an active and engaged schedule as Mayor, Michael Nutter is doing the same as a private citizen. He's a Professor at Columbia University, a Senior Fellow with Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities Program, Chair of the Mayors Advisory Board for Airbnb, and holds numerous Fellowships and Advisory positions in academic, political, non-profit and corporate entities. Mayor Nutter is actively engaged in the work of cities and trying to make them work better on behalf of their citizens.

Former Congresswoman and Orlando Police Chief Val Demings is a rising political star who has made an impact with her message, “everyone counts, and everyone is accountable.” A lifelong public servant, Demings broke numerous glass ceilings in her rise through the Orlando Police Department, her election to Congress, her appointment to prosecute the first impeachment of former president Donald Trump, her campaign for Senate in Florida, and her consideration as a potential running mate to President Joe Biden. She is heralded as a tireless champion for public safety, civil rights, the rule of law, and the American Dream – Demings shares her perspective and insights as a riveting keynote speaker.

Demings served as the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 10^th District from 2017-2023, and held positions on numerous House Committees including Judiciary, Intelligence, Homeland Security, and Oversight and Government Reform. Demings was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Women’s Caucus, and New Democratic Caucus, as well as a member of the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Review Board and the Elections Security Taskforce, to name just a few. At sought-after events with groups including the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the Orlando Economic Partnership, League of Women Voters, 92^nd Street Y, and many others, Demings shares her uplifting and inspiring vision for the promise of what America could be, if we have the courage to fight for it.

Legendary basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne has been sharing her expertise on leadership and inspiring people to be all they can be for the last 25 years. As the winningest coach in ASU women’s basketball history, Turner Thorne holds the second-most career wins in the Pac-12, has received the Pac-12 “Coach of the Year” award twice, and has been inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame. In addition to tremendous success on the court, she has been heralded for her impact beyond basketball – embracing the community and building a program that motivates her team in every aspect of life. In entertaining and informative presentations, Turner Thorne tailors her remarks to businesses and organizations of all kinds, speaking to the unique goals of her audience.

In her coaching and consultations, Turner Thorne is sought-after for her insights on building a Championship Culture. She has used her ability to manage her large and diverse staff – and consistently field winning teams at the highest level – to help numerous corporate clients, leaders in education, and other eclectic populations create winning strategies to have a healthy culture and maximize success. Turner Thorne shares practical takeaways and actionable strategies for values-discovery, setting high standards, improving communication skills, and maintaining mental and emotional wellbeing that resonate with audiences of all kinds.

Tyler Oakley is an independent creator on YouTube, one of the largest digital platforms to date. With over 7.5M+ subscribers on YouTube and over 23M+ across his social media platforms, he has been established as one of the most influential LGBTQ+ vloggers and is an A-Lister in the digital age. Tyler’s videos are hilarious, engaging, and unapologetically personal. With an undying love for all things pop culture, his quick wit, and an innate sassiness, Tyler is immediately lovable and undeniably viral. Tyler and his best friend Korey Kuhl launched Psychobabble, a weekly podcast discussing "unfiltered gossip" and untold stories and it has gone to number one in the iTunes podcast chart, while the duo also placed 3rd on season 28 of The Amazing Race. He also completed 30 stops of his international Slumber Party themed tour, was on the New York Times Bestseller List for 11 consecutive weeks for his book Binge, and released his much anticipated documentary, SNERVOUS.

Among his many accomplishments, Tyler has been a consultant for both the President and the First Lady of the United States on using digital platforms to connect with youth, raised over $1M for The Trevor Project, has been nominated and won Teen Choice Awards, Streamy Awards, Shorty Awards, and a Webby! With extensive experience hosting red carpets (i.e., Grammy Awards, the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Kids Choice Awards, mtvU Fandom Awards), and hosting award shows (The Streamy Awards), he's got plenty of behind-the-scenes Hollywood stories to share. Tyler was also named one of Time Magazine’s 30 Most Influential People on the Internet, was considered one of Time Magazine's Next Generation Leaders, and was included in The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 25 Digital Stars list two years in a row and on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list & OUT Magazine's Power 50 list.

Entertainment entrepreneur, YouTube personality, and viral storyteller Steven Lim offers uplifting and entertaining talks about following your dreams, AAPI representation, and the power of food to create world peace. Lim is a former chemical engineer who worked at Procter & Gamble and went home from work to create virally popular YouTube videos. He was tapped by Buzzfeed to join their staff, and worked his way up to become an Executive Producer. Lim is known for creating and hosting Buzzfeed’s biggest food show, Worth It – a Webby winner and three-time Streamy Winner that has racked up billions of views and reshaped food criticism.

Lim is the CEO and co-Founder of Watcher Entertainment, a digital media studio that creates television-caliber, unscripted series that aim to bring joy, inspire curiosity, and genuinely connect with our audience. An advocate for diverse representation in media, Lim is passionate about amplifying diverse voices and creating a space where all stories – and storytellers – matter. Sought after for uplifting and relevant conversations with groups like Georgia Tech, SMU, University of Michigan, and more, Lim’s presentations, keynotes, and moderated conversations leave audiences with a feeling of connection and hope.

Olympic Gold Medalist, two-time World Champion, and U.S. and World Hall of Fame figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi is a powerful force of nature both on and off the ice. Yamaguchi has appeared as an NBC Olympics broadcast analyst for NBC’s Universal Sports Network, a special correspondent for the Today Show, and was the celebrity champion of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. Throughout her career, Yamaguchi has been a highly sought-after corporate spokesperson, working with Kellogg’s and the American Lung Association, Celanese Acetate, as well as serving as the Goodwill Ambassador for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, performing at the opening and closing ceremonies. She has been invited to speak to Marriott International, Illinois Libraries Present, Philips Oral Healthcare, and many more.  

Yamaguchi’s philanthropic passions include promoting early childhood literacy through her Always Dream, which finds innovative ways to improve access to books, technology, and family engagement strategies for children of historically and intentionally excluded communities. Yamaguchi authored the New York Times bestselling children’s books Dream Big, Little Pig! and It’s a Big World, Little Pig!, among other titles. She has received the Inspiration Award from the Asian Excellence Awards, the Women's Sports Foundation Flo Hyman Award, the Heisman Humanitarian Award, and the USPOC Jessie Owen’s Olympic Spirit Award. Yamaguchi’s commitment to excellence, clear vision, and uplifting message provide inspiration to all audiences.

Global Fashion Editor, Fashion Director, and Stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson is known for her stylistic vision and ability to tell stories through an inclusive gaze. A New York-based stylist and editor of Caribbean and West African descent, Karefa-Johnson has a keen eye for up-and-coming designers and a narrative-led approached aimed at diversifying representation in fashion. She worked as an associate fashion editor under fashion director Tonne Goodman at Vogue, and later became Vogue’s Global Contributing Fashion Editor at Large. Karefa-Johnson made history as the first Black woman to style a Vogue cover and has styled more than a dozen international covers of Vogue featuring Serena Williams, Paloma Elsesser, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Amanda Gorman, among many others.

Gabriella is known for her fierce propagation of inclusion in the industry, breaking barriers and disrupting the status quo to tell a more expansive story about the world – one that is full of possibilities. In 2017, she was named Fashion Director of biannual fine art and high fashion publication GARAGE Magazine, where she harnessed her expertise in contemporary American Art, and has served as a guest judge for Netflix’s Next in Fashion. Karefa-Johnson has shared her vision for a more inclusive fashion landscape with groups including Fashion Scholarship Fund, LVMH Prize, Woolmark Prize, Vogue Forces of Fashion, and Barnard’s Class of 2023 Commencement.

Scholar-activist, cultural critic, award-winning author, and consultant Dr. Yaba Blay centers her scholarship, work, and practice on the lived experiences of Black women and girls, with a particular focus on identity/body politics and beauty practices. Widely respected as one of the foremost thought leaders on Black racial identity, colorism, and beauty politics, Dr. Blay is a globally sought-after speaker and consultant with an extensive client list of over two dozen academic institutions including Harvard University, Duke University, Spelman College, New York University, to name a few; and such corporate entities as Netflix, Revlon, International, SheaMoisture, Estee Lauder Companies, Procter & Gamble’s ‘My Black is Beautiful’, and the #meToo. Movement. Her commentary is featured in A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond, a permanent installation exhibited in the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and she is the author of the award-winning book, One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race. In riveting keynotes and conversations, Dr. Blay inspires both critical thinking and grounded, meaningful action, offering incomparable insights from her personal experience, research, and creative work that make an impact with audiences of all kinds.

Dr. Blay served as a producer on CNN’s television documentary, Who is Black in America? and has since been named one of today’s leading Black voices by “The Root 100” and Essence Magazine’s “Woke 100.” She has appeared on CNN, BET, MSNBC, BBC, and NPR, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, EBONY, Essence, Fast Company, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Colorlines, and The Root, to name a few. Lauded by O Magazine for her social media activism, she has launched several viral campaigns including Locs of Love, #PrettyPeriod, and #ProfessionalBlackGirl, her multi-platform digital community. Dr. Yaba has been sought after for events with groups including Shondaland, National Anti-Racist Book Festival, Courageous Conversation, and more.

Award-winning and internationally bestselling author Mohsin Hamid is a radically inventive storyteller with his finger on the pulse of the world. Called “one of his generation’s most inventive and gifted writers” by The New York Times, Hamid is the author of several books including the New York Times bestsellers The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Exit West, and The Last White Man – which was named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Vogue, and NPR. Foreign Policy described him as “a master critic of the modern global condition” and named on its list of “100 Leading Global Thinkers.” Hamid transports audiences with universal themes and timeless storytelling, touching on today’s most vital issues with his wide-reaching perspective as a journalist and visionary storyteller.

Hamid has spoken at universities around the world such as Princeton University, the University of California at Berkeley, the London School of Economics, and the National University of Singapore; at festivals such as the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Jaipur Literary Festival, and the Melbourne Writers Festival; at government and intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the U.S. State Department; and at corporate events for firms such as GSV Ventures and Baillie Gifford.

In addition to his practice as a novelist and essayist, he studied international affairs at Princeton and law at Harvard, worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York and at Wolff Olins in London, was involved in starting a music technology company in the UK, helped establish the Lahore Literary Festival and the Lahore Biennale, and has lectured and taught pro bono at schools and universities in Pakistan. This background shapes and informs his public appearances, and he speaks on topics ranging from literature, the arts, and culture, to migration, technology, business, and politics.

Pioneering television showrunner, producer, writer, director, and founder of Little Chicken Productions, Ilene Chaiken is best known for creating the hit Showtime series The L Word, which made history as television’s first ensemble cast depicting gay women. Chaiken is also an executive producer of FOX’s Empire, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, for which she won an Emmy award, and of The L Word sequels: The L Word: Generation Q and The L Word: New York.

Heralded for bringing marginalized voices and storylines to mainstream TV, Chaiken shares powerful remarks on diversity and inclusion, the creative process, and today’s media landscape.

Renowned comedian, satirist, New York Times bestselling author, and multi-hyphenate creative Randy Rainbow is a viral sensation who dispenses musical comedy salve for a divided nation (Washington Post). A four-time Emmy and Grammy-nominated comedian, producer, actor, singer, writer, satirist, and host, Randy is known for his popular web series, The Randy Rainbow Show. Touring the U.S. with his sold-out solo musical comedy concerts, the influencer and Internet sensation's viral comedy videos have received hundreds of millions of views across all social media and digital platforms. His debut memoir Playing with Myself became an instant New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller.

Rainbow's musical parodies and political spoofs have garnered him worldwide acclaim. As an actor, Rainbow has appeared as a featured guest star in the FX comedy/drama series Better Things, and on the New York stage as a lead in the Encores! series revival of Call Me Madam at New York City Center. His EP Hey Gurl, It’s Christmas! debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Comedy chart and #1 on the iTunes Holiday chart. His first full-length studio album, A Little Brains, A Little Talent, also debuted at #1 and earned Rainbow his first Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.

Rainbow’s fresh take on politics and current events has led to interviews and profiles by The Washington Post, CBS Sunday Morning, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, NPR, ABC News, OUT, People, and Entertainment Weekly. Through his engaging, hilarious, and uplifting comedy, music, and moderated conversations, Rainbow leaves a lasting impression on every audience.

Creator, screenwriter, producer, and showrunner Lee Sung Jin is known for the hit series Beef for Netflix and A24 starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, which currently sits at 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. Beef received immediate critical acclaim as a visceral dark comedy that is also profoundly contemplative about the way people relate to one another through extreme emotions and ultimately shared experiences. A brilliant creative and storyteller, Lee speaks to the creative process and celebrating authentic voices in his uplifting and insightful events.

Lee’s past credits include FX’s Dave, Amazon's Undone, HBO’s Silicon Valley, and more. On the feature side, Lee is currently writing Thunderbolts for Marvel, among other projects. Beyond his numerous successful onscreen projects, Lee is an advocate for mental health and wellbeing, spiritual and personal growth, and speaks to shared human experiences that resonate across class and culture.

Back-to-back WNBA Champion and 2022 All Star Game MVP Kelsey Plum brings motivational insights from her stellar career and commitment to mentorship to uplifting events. The “un-guardable” Kelsey graduated as the NCAA Division I women’s basketball all-time scoring leader, and went on to be named the AP, John Wooden, Naismith, and USBWA College Player of the Year, and went No. 1 overall in the 2017 WNBA Draft. Despite a huge setback with a torn Achilles injury during her 2020 season, Kelsey went on to lead the inaugural USA Olympic 3x3 Team to an Olympic gold medal, earned the WNBA 6th Woman of the Year and All-Star MVP awards, and was named to the All-WNBA First Team. Kelsey led her Las Vegas Aces to its first WNBA championship in franchise history.

Beyond her championship athleticism, Kelsey is a passionate advocate for family & faith, mental health awareness, and giving back to her community. She introduced her inaugural Dawg Class Camp with Under Armour that will work on and off the court with nine of the top women’s college basketball guards to navigate the transition to a professional career. Kelsey is known for her passion for philanthropy, working with Safe Haven NV and coaching several youth basketball clinics. Her meteoric rise to the top of her game has generated major social media capital and given her a platform she uses to share a positive message about being part of a winning culture, navigating life’s transitions, and leaving your legacy.

Scottish tennis coach Judy Murray OBE is one of the most influential and inspiring voices in the sport. A former captain of Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team, Judy was the tartan Chris Evert of her time, winning 64 Scottish titles. She is also the mother of two World No. 1 tennis players – capturing Grand Slam and Olympic titles along the way. For a decade, Judy was the National Coach of Scotland, and was the first woman to pass the Lawn Tennis Association’s Performance Coach Award. Judy offers expert insights and inspiration on building teams, developing resilience, nurturing talent, creating a champion mindset, and the parallels between sport and business.

Judy has created several initiatives to grow grass roots tennis globally and has played a pivotal role with many governing bodies in encouraging more girls to play, as well as increasing the number of female coaches and developing female leaders. In 2017, Judy was awarded an OBE for her services to tennis, women in sport, and charity. In addition, she is known for her appearance on the reality TV show, Strictly Come Dancing and is the presenter of the Driving Force docuseries - which explores the back stories of 20 of Britain's most successful female athletes. Highly respected for her creativity and insight, Judy shares her inspirational story with groups including Brodies LLP Solicitors, HSBC, JP Morgan, WTA, IBM, Salesforce, Deloitte, Peugeot, PayPal UK, among others.

Founder and CEO of Jubilee Media Jason Y. Lee is a leader on the business side of the creator economy, with a focus on empathy and making a positive impact on the world. After graduating from The Wharton School at UPenn, Jason worked as a consultant at Bain & Company. He also previously worked on the 2007 Obama Campaign and for the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Zambia. But Jason stepped away from his successful consulting career to follow his purpose, founding Jubilee Media first as a non-profit, then transitioning to a digital media startup. Jubilee Media creates experiences to promote understanding and create human connection. Known for the viral series Middle Ground, Spectrum, and Odd One Out, Jubilee has developed an audience of more than 7.5M subscribers and garnered more than 3B views.

As the world becomes more divided and media more divisive than ever, Jubilee swims against the current – bridging people together to create empathy, discourse, and love. Jason is a proud Korean-American, and recently received the Digital Influencer Award at Character Media’s Unforgettable Gala. He shared his incredible career journey in a TEDx Talk, and has been sought-after for events with groups including Spotify Space, Boston College, Wharton Asia Exchange, Bain Alumni Speaker series, and more.

Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and producer Alan Yang is a groundbreaking comedian as well as advocate for AAPI and immigrant communities. Shortly after college, where he wrote for Harvard's comedic magazine The Lampoon, he moved to LA to pursue a career as a writer. Some of his earliest jobs were writing on the late-night show Last Call with Carson Daly and the television series South Park. Those jobs eventually led to a position as staff writer on the hit series Parks and Recreation, where he met his Master of None co-creator, Aziz Ansari. Now a seasoned writer and producer who is responsible for series like Amazon Prime's Forever and Apple TV's Little America and Netflix's Free Food for Millionaires, Yang is fast becoming a household name. Yang is the writer and director of his feature film, Tigertail, loosely based on his family's immigration story from Taiwan. Yang is a powerful storyteller, usually finding the funniest way possible to connect to the heart of a narrative.

Today, Yang uses the tools of his trade to advocate for Asian Americans and immigrant communities. Audiences describe Yang as open and funny, honest, sincere, and upbeat. His past hosts include Proctor & Gamble, Latham & Watkins, and many more.

As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III has seized the torch lit by his parents and is continuing their quest for equality and justice for all people. Whether speaking to an audience in Mozambique or Mississippi, Israel or Indiana, his vision of the future has touched thousands. Motivating audiences around the world with his insightful message of hope and responsibility for nearly twenty years, Mr. King's dedication to creating and implementing strategic nonviolent action to rid the world of social, political, and economic injustice has propelled him to the forefront as one of the nation's most ardent advocates for the poor, the oppressed, and the disillusioned.

Cam writes music to tell the truth, especially truths that help women understand themselves. The GRAMMY®-nominated artist has released music that is brazen, bold and transcends genre boundaries as seen through songs like the viral fame of “Diane” and the breakthrough debut of her double-platinum hit, “Burning House.” “Burning House” garnered Cam multiple award nods and to date, is the most-downloaded song by a female country artist since 2015. Along with joining international superstar Sam Smith on the North American leg of his “Thrill of It All Tour” this Summer, Cam has shared the stage with artists like Harry Styles, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, George Strait, Alicia Keys, Eric Church, Smokey Robinson and others.

Paralympian, disability advocate, author, and philanthropist Dylan Alcott AO is one of Australia’s most successful and well-recognized Paralympians. A multisport Olympian, Alcott was the youngest member of the gold-medal winning team at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics, competing in wheelchair basketball. After winning silver at London in 2012, Dylan returned to wheelchair tennis, winning 15 Grand Slam tournaments as well as double Paralympic gold in Rio. In 2021, Dylan became the only male in any form of tennis to win the ‘Golden Slam’ – winning the Australian, French, Wimbledon, and US Open Championships. Dylan has been in high demand as a speaker, with powerhouse talks for TEDx, Johnson & Johnson, Oracle, Salesforce, McDonalds, Meta, LinkedIn, Deloitte, and more.

Alcott was named Australian of the Year in 2022, and GQ Australia called him “a champion for the ages.” In 2017, Dylan launched the Dylan Alcott Foundation with a mission to help young Australians with a disability achieve their goals in the workplace, on the sporting field, or at university. Alcott is also the Founder of Get Skilled Access – a consulting firm committed to making inclusion a reality for organizations of any size. Dylan was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2022 for distinguished service to Paralympic sport, particularly to tennis, and as a role model for people with disability, and to the community through a range of organizations.

Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár is the International Chess Federation's official greatest female chess player of all time. At the age of 12, Polgár took the lead in the adult women’s world ranking, which she would hold for the next 26 years. By 14, she was already a two-time Women's Chess Olympic Champion (1988, 1990). Polgár won two further silver medals as member of the Hungarian men's team. At the age of 15 years and 4 months, she became a male international grandmaster, breaking Bobby Fischer's age record. In October 2005, Polgár ranked 8th in the absolute world ranking, as the first and, to date, the only female top 10 chess player. Polgár gave the informative and entertaining TED Talk “Giving checkmate is always fun,” and her talks on breaking the glass ceiling and strategic decision-making have delighted audiences worldwide.

Since retiring, Polgár has focused on the international promotion of the sport of chess, writing, and the Judit Polgár Chess Foundation. The World Chess Hall of Fame inductee has authored many books on chess, including Chess Palace, the Best European Learning Materials award-winning program now used by 40K children daily. Polgár has been an expert commentator at major international tournaments. Polgár has spoken at TED Conference, Morgan Stanley, CITI Bank, Exxon, the Warwick Economics Summit, and McKinsey: “We collectively think the speech Ms. Polgar gave during her presentation at our Executive event in September was excellent.”

Influential in steering the dialogue of the country, Dr. Julianne Malveaux shares her groundbreaking views on race, women, the economy, and the state of America. 

A distinguished labor economist, syndicated columnist, and colorful commentator, Julianne has been hailed by Dr. Cornel West as "the most iconoclastic public intellectual in the country.” She is president emerita of Bennett College, America's oldest historically black college for women, and founder of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, Economic Education. Julianne has taught at some of the country’s most prestigious universities, while her scholarship and progressive observations have been featured in several anthologies. A popular author, her latest book is Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy.

Armed with a Ph.D. in economics from MIT and a passion for social justice, Julianne shapes public opinion in 21st century America through her profound contributions to the discussion of issues involving race, culture, and gender, and their economic impacts. Well-versed in public affairs and economic issues, she shares her unique perspective on the future of our country and enlightens with thought-provoking analyses on issues that matter most to the American public.

Katica Roy is an award-winning gender economist, former Global 500 global executive, programmer, data scientist, and the CEO and founder of an award-winning SaaS company, Pipeline. CNN, MSNBC, ABC,CBS, Bloomberg, Fox News, Cheddar, MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, Wharton Business, Newsy, and NBC have sought Katica for her sharp and unconventional take on the day’s headlines.

Katica broke the story in her MSNBC byline that 300,000 Black women left the U.S. labor force in just three months — a piece that went viral, shared by Secretary Hillary Clinton, Senator Raphael Warnock, and other national advocates. That analysis sparked a wave of coverage across ABC News, NBC Washington, NBC Atlanta, Fox LA, Fox Philadelphia, CNN, Essence, Ebony, Forbes, The King Center, and Bernice King. Her insights were subsequently featured on the front page of the Sunday And Monday New York Times, and have since been cited or commissioned by S&P Global, The Boston Globe, HR Brew, and numerous other outlets.

She has interviewed former President Biden, former Vice President Harris, Senators Booker and Gillibrand, former Secretary Pete, Canadian Pay Equity Commissioner Karen Jensen, Sophia Bush, Eve Rodsky, Gretchen Carlson, and Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.

She has spoken on over 100 of the top stages across the world, including major stages at SXSW, CES, Web Summit, and for major corporations such as BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, P&G, Cisco, Google, and Microsoft.

Her high-octane, visionary articles have been published by the World Economic Forum, Fast Company, Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg, MSNBC, Katie Couric Media, Entrepreneur, The Hill, The Advocate, Harvard Business Review, and Morning Consult. Her articles have garnered over 2.9 billion impressions.

Katica is the flagship expert columnist for Equity Observer, a new vertical from Design Observer led by Editor-in-Chief Ellen McGirt, the former Fortune editor and creator of the award-winning RaceAhead newsletter. Her biweekly column, Equity by Design™, explores how equity must be intentionally built into the foundations of business, technology, policy, and the economy.

Katica’s work has been cited by multiple New York Times bestselling authors across more than 10 books. Her research has also been cited in multiple U.S. congressional publications and proceedings, and she serves as a resource to policymakers.

In 2017 Katica was named a Luminary by the Colorado Technology Association; in 2018 a Colorado Governors' Fellow; in 2019 a Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business and awarded the Stevie Entrepreneur of the Year—Gold Award; in 2020 she was named the Colorado Entrepreneur of the Year; in 2022 a LinkedIn Top Influencer for gender equity. She is a member of Fast Company’s Impact Council, Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, The Aspen Institute's Tech Accountability Coalition, and a former member of the US Small Business Administration’s National Women’s Business Council (where she advises the President, Congress, and the SBA on funding female entrepreneurs—including oversight of the $34 billion in federal contracting set-asides earmarked each year for female founders).

Pipeline uses advanced technology to make intersectional gender parity a reality in our lifetime. Under Katica’s leadership, Pipeline created the first gender equity app on Salesforce’s AppExchange and was named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2019. The company has also been recognized on Fast Company’s lists 2020 and 2023 World’s Most Innovative Companies, 2021 Next Big Things in Tech, and 2022 World Changing Ideas. In recognition of Pipeline’s groundbreaking work to close the gender equity gap, Governor John Hickenlooper officially declared April 10 “Equity for All® Day” in the State of Colorado.

Katica’s passion for equity is deeply personal. She is the daughter of an immigrant and a refugee, plus a proud, breadwinner mother raising a teenage daughter and son. Nearly 60 years to the day after her father and sisters climbed the stairs of Air Force One to freedom—thanks to the humanitarian intervention of President Eisenhower—Katica received a letter from another U.S. President, Barack Obama, thanking her for standing up and speaking out. It was a full-circle moment that underscored the generational impact of her work.

Tamika Tremaglio is an accomplished finance professional with a distinguished career spanning various leadership roles. For over 30 years, she has been instrumental in driving success and growth in professional services in the areas of strategy development, operations management, risk management, talent development, forensic accounting, and regulatory compliance.

Tamika is currently the Managing Director at Secretariat. She has also served as the Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and held the positions of Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Think450, the NBPA's commercial arm.

Known for her adeptness in establishing robust corporate governance practices, Tamika's leadership ensured compliance with regulatory and financial frameworks and implemented impactful compliance programs at global companies such as Exxon Mobil, Olympus, Embraer and Johnson & Johnson, among others. Tamika’s professional finance and accounting experience, includes leading large, high-profile global and domestic corporate investigations, matters involving collective bargaining agreements, modeling player licensing, and earnings distributions, strategy development, operations management, talent development, compensation, corporate governance, corporate citizenship initiatives, franchise disputes, board compliance, and real estate matters.

• On Sports Illustrated Power List: "The 50 Most Influential Figures in Sports"
• Received the Triple-Impact Executive Award from the Positive Coaching Alliance 
• "Managing Partner of the Year," Washington Business Journal 
• Listed as one of Washington’s "150 Most Powerful Women" 
• Listed on Essence's Game Changer's Power List
• Serves on numerous Boards of Directors, including Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, United Way of the National Capital Area, & Tuskegee University

Tina Tchen shares hope, ideas and strategies that inspire others to recognize the power of diverse teams and keep equality on the forefront of the global agenda.

A high-powered lawyer, Tina’s career accomplishments have established her as a powerful advocate for gender equality. As the former President and CEO of TIME’S UP Now and the TIME’S UP Foundation, Tina oversaw the organizations’ efforts to change culture, companies, and laws in order to make work safe, fair, and dignified for women of all kinds. In 2017, Tina co-founded the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, which has connected more than 3,600 people to legal or PR support for sexual harassment across dozens of different industries. Tina currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Policy Officer for the Obama Foundation.

During her eight years at the White House, Tina served as chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, special assistant to President Barack Obama, and the executive director of the Council on Women and Girls, leading the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families and the first-ever United State of Women Summit. 

A passionate champion for women’s and children’s issues, including women in positions of leadership, Tina shares her unique perspective and insights on workforce diversity and inclusion, breaking through male-dominated industries, and ending campus assault. Energetic, authentic and engaging on stage, she empowers the next generation to raise their voices and take action now to secure a better tomorrow for women and minorities across the country and world.

Acclaimed and award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and producer Attica Locke is an unparalleled storyteller whose uplifting delivery resonate with audiences of all kinds. A New York Times bestselling author, Locke’s novels include: Heaven, My Home, sequel to the Edgar Award-winning Bluebird, Bluebird; Pleasantville, winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and longlisted for the Bailey’s Prize for Women’s Fiction; The Cutting Season, winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence; and her debut Black Water Rising, which was nominated for an Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, as well as a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her books have appeared on countless Best Book of the Year lists including The New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, and receive glowing praise by critics and devoted readers alike. As she does in her creative work, Locke offers a powerful experience for audiences, leaving them feeling more motivated, connected, and hopeful than before.

Locke is also an award-winning screenwriter and producer for TV and film. A former fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Feature Filmmaker’s Lab, she wrote and produced on Ava Duvernay’s Netflix miniseries When They See Us, Fox’s Empire, and Hulu’s Emmy-nominated limited series Little Fires Everywhere – for which she won an NAACP Image Award. Locke co-created and executive produced an adaptation of her sister Tembi Locke’s bestselling memoir From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home for Netflix, which was a top 10 hit in 50+ countries during its first weeks on air. In her delightful and engaging talks, Locke shares insights about authenticity, transformation, leadership, and teamwork that resonate with audiences across industries.

Kendra Bracken-Ferguson is an internationally acclaimed thought leader. In demand for her strategic vision and attention to brands that want to grow to scale quickly and sustainably, she is a sought after speaker and c- suite/board advising powerhouse.

Kendra's ecosystem of leadership is rooted in her global conglomerate BrainTrust where she is the Founder, CEO and General Partner.

BrainTrust is an award-winning, global force created by Kendra in 2015. It was the first of her suite of BrainTrust enterprises leading to her founding BrainTrust Founders Studio in 2021, now the largest membership-based platform designed for diverse founders of beauty and wellness companies that has not only changed the face of beauty but also empowered overlooked business owners to enter the room and sit at the tables of capital and wealth generation.

She also is a General Partner in the adjacent BrainTrust Fund I, dedicated to investing in breakthrough beauty and wellness brands. A transformative brand builder, Kendra is the secret ingredient in guiding and monetizing more than 200 influencer-driven brands that have collectively generated more than $100MM in revenue. Kendra has created and launched seven brands in partnership with celebrities and influencers. Among her firsts, Kendra has the distinction of one of the first 100 Black women ever to have raised more than $1MM in investment for her first company.

Not only has she innovated and partnered into the worlds of celebrity and influence, she has also been early to the power of technology to open new gates of opportunity as the youngest Vice President at Fleisham-Hillard New York, the first Director of Digital Media at Ralph Lauren and the first Chief Digital Officer at CAA-GBG (Creative Artists Agency - Global Brand Groups) when her company was acquired.

She also developed Influencer Data Mapping™, a proprietary advertising marketing solution to drive ROI (return on influence).

Kendra hosts Business of the Beat podcast that sheds light on the business of beauty through the eyes of BIPOC founders, senior executives, influencers, and operators who are in the process of starting, growing, and scaling their businesses. With a focus on empowering and inspiring diverse leaders in the beauty and wellness industry, this podcast features over 170 episodes, and season four is now underway. Each episode uncovers key takeaways and behind-the-scenes stories of entrepreneurs, highlighting the beauty of their success.

Kendra’s first book, The Beauty of Success: Start, Grow and Accelerate Your Brand was released on February 13, 2024 and was named the #1 New Release in Business Entrepreneurship on Amazon.

As much as she does, she also gives. A noted philanthropist, mentor and advisor, Kendra has received numerous awards and has an endowment at her alma mater, Purdue University for a female student of need in the School of Liberal Arts.

Kelly Yang is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over 14 books for children, teens and adults, including The Take, the Front Desk series (Front Desk, Three Keys, Room to Dream, Key Player, Top Story, and Chef’s Secret), New From Here, Finally Seen, Finally Heard, Parachutes, Private Label, as well as the picture books Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country and Little Bird Laila.

With over 2 million copies sold to date, the Front Desk series has changed the landscape of children’s literature. Based on Kelly’s childhood experience living and working in a motel as a first-generation immigrant child from China, the Front Desk series authentically describes the immigrant experience through its heart-warming, spunky protagonist, 10-year-old Mia Tang. Named “one of the 30 most influential children’s books of all time,” Front Desk has won some of the most prestigious awards in literature, including the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, the Parents' Choice Gold Medal, was the 2019 Global Read Aloud, and many other honors.

Kelly immigrated to America when she was 6 years old and grew up in Southern California, where she and her parents worked in three different motels. She went on to attend college at the age of 13 and law school at the age of 17. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School, where she was one of the youngest women ever to graduate. Her experience going to school early provided Kelly a unique perspective on aging, which she used to write The Take, her adult debut novel, forthcoming in Spring 2026 from Berkley/Penguin in the US, and Little, Brown in the UK. The Take is about two women, a young Asian American writer in her 20s, struggling to be taken seriously, and a white powerful Hollywood producer in her 50s, clinging to relevancy. Both are tired of being judged by society for their age. They make a deal that upends their lives. The Take interrogates not just the way we look at aging, but how it intersects with power, privilege and race. 

Kelly is the founder of The Kelly Yang Project in Hong Kong, the leading writing and debating program for kids in Asia. She’s written op-eds for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. In addition to being a novelist, she is also a screenwriter. She has written screenplays and television pilots for Netflix, CBS Studios, and the CW. She has three children and lives in Los Angeles. In 2023, she served as the Honorary Chair of the American Library Association for National Library Week.

A passionate and dynamic speaker, Kelly has appeared on Good Morning America, NPR, NBC, ABC, and frequently gives interviews to The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, as well as many other publications.

Over the past decade, Brandon P. Fleming has become one of the most highly awarded and sought-after educators, entrepreneurs, authors, and speakers in the world. Fleming’s miraculous story of transformation, captured in his book Miseducated, has become such a national hit that it is currently being optioned for television and film, and it is in the process of becoming a major theater production.

An at-risk youth and college dropout turned award-winning educator, Fleming is a former debate coach at Harvard University and Founder & CEO of the Veritas School of Social Sciences, a prestigious private school in Atlanta, GA.

In 2017, Fleming was recruited to become Harvard University’s assistant debate coach at the age of 26. Fleming soon made history at Harvard as the founder of the first pipeline program called the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, which was designed to increase Black and brown enrollment at Harvard’s residential debate program where hundreds of gifted young scholars from over 25 different countries study and compete in an international academic debate competition.

Over seven years, Fleming has raised millions of dollars to enroll more than 250 students of color into Harvard’s summer debate residency on full scholarship. But there was one challenge that Fleming faced: How would he take Black and brown youth from mostly under-resourced schools in Atlanta, who had never been exposed to the rigors of academic debate, and prepare them in just one year to compete against some of the most elite debaters from across the globe? Fleming created a transformative curriculum that is designed to level the playing field for underserved students. And it did. For seven consecutive years, since the program’s inception in 2017, every cohort trained by Fleming has won the international competition as seven-time consecutive champions. News of the achievement has gone viral and broke national headlines, being featured on CNN, Good Morning America, the Steve Harvey Show and many more.

Fleming’s school has gained the financial backing of Fortune 100 companies such as The Coca- Cola Company, UPS, Chick-fil-A, and many more.

As a renowned speaker, Fleming has keynoted for international governmental organizations such as the United Nations. Fleming has spoken at the nation’s most prestigious colleges, universities, and K-12 conferences. Fleming has also keynoted conventions for corporate executives at the nation’s largest brands such as Walmart, Bank of America, Air BnB, McDonald's, and more. At the age of 29, Forbes Magazine named Fleming to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. In 2020, The Root Magazine named Fleming one of the top 100 most influential African Americans in the United States. And in May 2021, North Carolina Wesleyan College bestowed upon Fleming the honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Dr. Adjoa B. Asamoah is an experienced executive and strategic consultant to Fortune 500 companies and has worked with local, state, and federal governments for over 25 years. As atrained behavior specialist, she brings to the boardroom a unique ability to ascertain and discern complex issues and deliver thoughtful insights that help companies achieve strategic agendas. With both domestic and international experience, she works as a senior advisor to CEOs, heads of state, ambassadors, secretaries/ministers, and members of Congress across diverse industries and sectors (including consumer brands and products, government, behavioral health, education, and entertainment). Adjoa has extensive risk management, regulatory, and compliance expertise. Additionally, she is responsible for allocating a $76 billion dollar appropriated budget. She leverages cultural intelligence and behavioral insights to create national multicultural marketing campaigns that improve brand image, corporate social responsibility, and companies’ market share. 

Known for his starring role as George Washington in Hamilton: An American Musical on Broadway, Bryan Terrell Clark shares life-changing lessons from his career on Broadway and work in arts education and philanthropy to empower young people to leave their mark on the world.

An actor and singer-songwriter, Clark's numerous acting credentials span theater, television and movies. He starred in the iconic role of Marvin Gaye in Motown: The Musical and starred opposite Laurence Fishburne and Angela Basset in The Pasadena Playhouse production of Fences. Bryan has also appeared in numerous television shows including NCSI: New Orleans, Blue Bloods, Empire and Ava DuVernay's Central Park 5 for Netflix. In addition, Clark appeared in the film Collateral Beauty. Musically, he has written for such artists as Mary J. Blige, and he has performed with Brandy, Patti LaBelle, Ciara, and Michael Bublé. He is now in the studio recording his solo album.

Terrell co-founded the lifestyle brand inDEFINED, created to inspire and teach youth through the arts. The online apparel brand raises money for various charities and philanthropic organizations and supports arts education for at-risk youth.

In keeping with the theme of his life’s work, Bryan has made it his mission to help as many young people as possible find their unique purpose in life. He connects his experiences on Broadway and the entertainment industry to relatable, real-life issues, like tackling insecurity and finding motivation, while inspiring audiences to use their past to fuel their future and discover the best version of themselves.

Tru Pettigrew spent four seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx of the NBA and WNBA, and takes great pride in serving as the organizations' first Chief Impact Officer. Pettigrew previously served as the Timberwolves and Lynx Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, and Vice President of Player Programs and Diversity and Inclusion. 

Pettigrew is also a published author. His first book, Millennials Revealed, continues to provide guidance and direction to countless organizations, helping them to understand how to build bridges across the different generation gaps. His upcoming book, We Can All Be Bridge Builders, scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2024, serves as a comprehensive guide for leaders of all levels, equipping them with tools and strategies to help bridge gaps across differences and cultivate genuine relationships and cultures of inclusion.

Tru currently operates his own consulting firm, Tru Access (www.tru-access.com) where he helps organizations build bridges of trust and understanding across various areas of division. This includes but is not limited to racial divides, gender divides, generational divides, and relational divides of all kinds. As a part of his bridge building efforts, he founded Barbershop Rap Sessions, which serves as a platform that leverages barbershops across the country as a trusted venue for hosting facilitated dialogue between law enforcement and communities of color. He has also served as a Subject Matter Expert for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and has shared his bridge building and marketing expertise with brands such as Nike, Adidas, Hennessy, Heineken, Unilever, Timberland, and Ford. 

Former professional racing driver, motorsport executive, and entrepreneur Susie Wolff has spent more than 20 years at the forefront gender diversity and representation internationally. At the 2014 British Grand Prix, she made history by becoming the first woman to take part in a Formula One race weekend in 22 years by driving for 16-time World Champions Williams Racing. After retiring from competition, Susie continued to be the driving force of change in the sport by founding Dare To Be Different – a mission to inspire the next generation and increase female participation in all levels of motorsport.

Susie took her first steps into management and ownership as Team Principal and shareholder of Venturi Racing in Formula E. After building the series’ most gender-diverse team, she became the marque’s Chief Executive Officer and secured two vice World Championship titles before leaving in 2022. Now, as the Managing Director of the all-female driver category, F1 Academy, Susie continues to inspire the next generation of female talent by creating opportunities and improving accessibility.

For her services and contribution to women in sport, Susie was awarded an MBE in 2017 and received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Edinburgh and continues to be an inspirational role model for women across the world.

LGBTQ Civil Rights advocate and nationally-recognized gun safety activist Brandon Wolf is a dynamic public speaker with a powerful personal story of community, love, and resilience in the face of adversity. 

On June 12th, 2016, life changed for Brandon. He crouched in a bathroom while a gunman opened fire at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, killing his best friends, Drew Leinonen & Juan Guerrero, and 47 others. Rather than be swallowed by the anger and fear of tragedy, Brandon set out to honor the victims’ legacies with action. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Brandon co-founded The Dru Project, a nonprofit organization that works to empower youth and provide future leaders in the LGBTQ community funding for higher education. To date, the organization has given over $100,000 in college scholarships to rising leaders. He also became an outspoken activist in the gun violence prevention movement, partnering with March For Our Lives, Everytown, Giffords, and others to demand legislative solutions to the epidemic. In 2019, he became the first survivor of the tragedy at Pulse Nightclub to testify before Congress.

A powerful public speaker, Brandon serves as the Press Secretary for Equality Florida, the state's LGBTQ civil rights organization. Wolf is a frequent guest on MSNBC (The Reid Out & American Voices), CNN, and in print publications (CNN.com, USA Today, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, Washington Post, The Advocate, Out Magazine) weaving his story into calls to action. He has been recognized by HuffPost as one of “30 modern-day LGBTQ pioneers” and Business Equality Magazine as one of 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40. Brandon's debut book, A Place For Us, is an unforgettable memoir of getting through the darkest times with healing, hope, and resistance. “With our backs against the wall,” he writes, “we find a way out together.”

Like every VC firm, Freada Kapor Klein, Ph.D. and Mitch Kapor have experienced high-profile blowups and total losses. But Kapor Capital’s investing principles have created a stunning new ecosystem of Black and Latinx entrepreneurs, CEOs, and investors, all devising innovative, effective solutions to address the most pernicious problems afflicting many of America’s poorest communities. In their talks, Freada and Mitch share their core beliefs that all companies must make a positive impact, and that the obstacles entrepreneurs overcome in life are a far better predictor of long-term success than the schools they attend or investment dollars raised from friends and family.

Using stories behind some of the most remarkable companies ever launched, they show that the standard investment model doesn’t work, how it can be fixed, and what the future could look like if more investors joined them.

Internationally-recognized media executive TJ Adeshola is a leader at the intersection of tech, media, and culture. Adeshola is the Former Vice President of Global Content Partnerships at Twitter – providing strategic consult for media properties across sports, gaming, entertainment, and news. He helps the biggest media brands in the world leverage Twitter and new media spaces to generate revenue and connect with culture, and TJ shares his actionable takeaways in transformative speaking engagements.

TJ has appeared on CNBC, Good Morning America, ESPN, NBA TV, NFL Network, and more. He has been recognized by the American Advertising Federation as an inductee in the Hall of Achievement, Sports Business Journal, Ad Age, and Black Enterprise "40 Under 40" awards, and was named one of 29 "Young Influentials" by Adweek. Through all his ventures, TJ prioritizes amplifying diverse voices across the entertainment, music, and sports industries. Adeshola has been sought after for thought leadership on high profile stages and conferences including including Advertising Week, SXSW, Cannes Lions, CES, MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School, the World Congress of Sports and more.

Business executive Lisa Wardell has more than 25 years of experience managing business strategy, operations, finance, and mergers and acquisitions, while driving shareholder value, stakeholder engagement, and company mission. Lisa currently serves as the Chairman of Adtalem Global Education Inc. – which aims to empower students to achieve their goals, find success, and make inspiring contributions to our global community. Lisa previously served as Adtalem’s President and CEO, then CEO & Chairman, and Executive Chairman. During her tenure as CEO, Wardell oversaw the strategic repositioning of Adtalem’s portfolio, and was the only African American woman CEO in S&P’s MidCap 400 Index. Under her leadership, gender and ethnic diversity has increased at the Adtalem board to 67%. Wardell has also led the higher education sector in implementing new standards in transparency and financial literacy, and in cultivating quality partnerships to fill critical global workforce needs. With expertise in business strategy, mission-driven growth, fostering diverse workforces, higher education, and advancing equity in healthcare, Lisa has been sought-after for her perspective by groups including Bloomberg, ASU+GSV Summit, Executives Breakfast Club, and more.

Prior to her work with Adtalem, Wardell was the Executive VP and COO for The RLJ Companies, a Principal at Katalyst Venture Partners, and a Senior Consultant for Accenture. She has also worked extensively in the media, entertainment, sports, gaming, and hotel industries, including assisting with the founding and management of Our Stories Films Studio and the now Charlotte Hornets. Lisa serves as the Vice Chair on the executive committee of The Business Council, and as Vice Chair of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund. She also serves on the boards of American Express and GIII Apparel Group, Ltd., has served on the Adtalem board since 2008, and previously served on the Lowes Home Improvement board. A fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion and access to education at scale across diverse communities, Lisa also is a member of the board of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executive Leadership Council, CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Fortune CEO Initiative. Lisa has been featured on CNBC and Cheddar as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Business Insider, Black Enterprise, and other publications.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, composer, and lyricist Michael R. Jackson is the creator of A Strange Loop, which the New York Times has called a “bravura meta-musical.” The piece – which took Jackson eighteen years to create – won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2020. A Strange Loop went on to receive eleven Tony Award nominations and was called a “gutsy, jubilantly anguished musical with infectious melodies” by The New York Times. The musical received a New York Drama Critics Circle Award and won two Tony Awards – for Best New Musical and Best Book. In The New Yorker, Vinson Cunningham wrote, "To watch this show is to enter, by some urgent, bawdy magic, an ecstatic and infinitely more colorful version of the famous surreal lithograph by M. C. Escher: the hand that lifts from the page, becoming almost real, then draws another hand, which returns the favor." In engaging moderated conversations, the much-lauded creator shares the importance of making an impact in your own time, and leaves audiences feeling inspired and connected through shared empathy.

Jackson has been named one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” (2022) and has received numerous awards including a New Professional Theatre Festival Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award, a Whiting Award, the Hellen Merrill Award for Playwriting, the Windham-Campbell Prize, among many others. He has appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, CBS Sunday Morning, and Late Night with Seth Meyers, to name a few. The Pulitzer Prize-winner also wrote the book, music, and lyrics for White Girl in Danger, which will premiere in New York City in 2023. Jackson has been sought after for candid and compelling conversations about art and authenticity by audiences worldwide.

Merline Saintil – a software engineer turned Silicon Valley COO and investor who has taken six companies through their IPOs – is an active investor in dozens of companies that are shaping the future of work, e-commerce and technology.

A frequent featured speaker and with her perspectives quoted in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Forbes, Merline is now starting a $50M fund that invests in early stage management teams.

She is a Fortune 500 board member and co-founder of Black Women on Boards, a global organization of 200 executives at market-leading companies who help prepare, place and propel Black top talent into boardrooms of the most innovative companies.

Her Carnegie Mellon master’s degree in software engineering serves her well as lead independent director of Rocket Lab. She also advises the C-suite as a board member and committee chair at GitLab, Symbotic, Lightspeed Commerce, and TD Synnex.

Away from cap tables and quarterly meetings, Merline is a passionate fan of the Stanford Women’s Soccer team, which conveniently plays home games near her office in Palo Alto and which includes her daughter, an equally ardent student of computer science.

Keynote speaker, thought leader, researcher, and author Heather E. McGowan is one of the leading voices on the Future of Work. McGowan is a sense maker, a dot connector, a deep thinker, and a pattern matcher who sees things that others miss. Heather gives people the courage and insight that illuminates their path forward. She’s transforming mindsets and entire organizations around the globe with her message about how the next phase of work will focus on continuous learning and how leadership must shift to guide these expeditions. Her groundbreaking approach to learning has made employees more fulfilled and innovative, leaders more potent and empathetic, and businesses more effective at reaching their goals in a rapidly evolving market.

Her message is never more powerful than when she’s onstage, where her no-nonsense approach creates a fundamental mindset shift across the audience leaving them both transformed in their thinking and clear in their path of action.

McGowan is the co-author of The Adaptation Advantage (April 2020) and The Empathy Advantage (March 2023).

Daryl Davis is committed to helping people ignite positive change – using conversation to build bridges. His jaw-dropping experiences speak for themselves. For nearly 40 years, he’s engaged leaders of the KKK and White supremacist groups face to face to find the answer to a question: “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” That question stemmed from his first encounter with racism at age ten when he was pelted with rocks, bottles, and soda cans by a handful of White spectators while marching in a parade. Seeking to understand, not to change minds, Daryl met their hatred with civility, patience, and listening. Those conversations spawned genuine and lasting friendships with many who changed their own minds and disavowed hateful beliefs. Some even gave Daryl their robes and hoods when they did. As a speaker, Daryl is an extraordinary storyteller who inspires and empowers audiences with tools they can use to make better workplaces, communities, and relations with family and friends. Daryl’s work is chronicled in his book Klan-Destine Relationships and the documentary Accidental Courtesy. Daryl’s TEDx Talk has over 12M views.

Daryl graduated from Howard University with his Bachelor of Music Degree. He has performed extensively with Chuck Berry, The Legendary Blues Band (formerly The Muddy Waters Blues Band), and many others. While music is his profession, improving race relations is his obsession. He is known to many as “The Rock'n'Roll Race Reconciliator.”

Through his work, Daryl has discovered a successful method of transforming enemies into friends. His stories of his encounters with – and transformations of – White supremacists have inspired people all over the U.S. and abroad. His audiences leave his presentations empowered to:

• Overcome Their Fears
• Confront Their Prejudices
• Recognize Similarities
• Appreciate Differences
• Navigate Diversity
• Improve Relationships with Others
• Better Their Lives While Creating a Positive Impact on Others

Belinda Parmar OBE is a corporate campaigner who has worked for the past twenty years  transforming company cultures. Belinda works alongside CEOs and leaders using the power of empathy in language and leadership. 

Belinda founded her first company ‘Lady Geek’ in 2010 which inspired women to become tech pioneers and wrote a book called Little Miss Geek. Belinda’s experience of running a gender focused company led her to the conclusion that gender can shut down a conversation, but empathy can open it up to everyone. In 2015, Belinda received an OBE by the Queen for her services to women in technology. Belinda then went on to launch The Empathy Business which is a consultancy helping some of the worlds biggest brands. She currently works with some of the world’s most complex companies in the world including Barclays, Facebook, Aston Martin and British Gas.

Belinda pioneered the first ever way to measure empathy in companies and is the creator of the Global Empathy Index, featured in the Harvard Business Review. Belinda speaks at Davos for the World Economic Forum and was voted one of the top global public diversity figures in Nov 2020 alongside Kamala Harris. 

In 2019 and 2020 Belinda was invited to Davos to speak on the power of empathy in responsible leadership. Belinda has written for The Guardian, been voted one of the most influential women on Twitter by Forbes and regularly appears on the BBC and Sky News talking about empathy, tech, inclusion and responsible leadership. 

Katara McCarty is an organizational coach, speaker, entrepreneur and author. She is a fierce woman driven by a passion that is exuded in everything she does and contagious to those around her.

For 25 years, Katara has led women of all ages in both non-profit and for-profit sectors of business.  In 2000, at just 22 years old, Katara partnered with her husband to open God’s House, a non-profit organization, in Marion, Indiana, where she served as an executive and co-pastor, growing the congregation from 40 to more than 600 members over 16 years while simultaneously founding and leading the development of God’s House and Ceelelo School in Zambia, Africa.

Katara then went on to co-found and direct The Center for Success, a community center for at-risk children in Marion, Indiana, which has since expanded into Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan.

Branching into the corporate world, from 2016-2018, she served as the director of culture for Carmel, Indiana-based TCC, the nation’s largest Verizon Authorized Wireless Retailer. She led all of TCC’s cultural initiatives for over 3,000 employees at 1,200 store locations across 43 states.

Led by passion and inspired by the strength of women, Katara left the corporate world to live and execute her “Why” through public speaking, coaching and writing. She currently works with companies and individuals to look for opportunities where they can improve their cultures and enable women to grow, advance, thrive and succeed.

Yamiche Alcindor is the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, Host of Washington Week, and a contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. She often tells stories about the intersection of race and politics. 

As a contributor for NBC News and MSNBC, she often appears on a number of shows including Morning Joe, Andrea Mitchell Reports, and Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.

Previously, Alcindor worked as a national political reporter for The New York Times where she covered the presidential campaigns of Mr. Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders as well as Congress. She also wrote about the impact of President Donald Trump's policies on working class people and people of color.

In 2020, the White House Correspondents’ Association named Alcindor the recipient of the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage. She has also been honored with the Gwen Ifill Next Generation Award by Simmons University and NextGen Leader Award by the Georgetown Entertainment & Media Alliance.

Arjun Singh Sethi is an internationally recognized human and civil rights lawyer, writer, and professor. He has worked closely with communities targeted by hate, state violence, and surveillance for more than a decade. His essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and CNN, and he is featured regularly on national radio and television. In his book, American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, Arjun traveled the country and documented the stories of people targeted by violence in connection with the 2016 presidential election. Arjun holds faculty appointments at Georgetown University Law Center and Vanderbilt University Law School and co-chairs the American Bar Association’s National Committee on Homeland Security, Terrorism, and Treatment of Enemy Combatants. 

A Grammy and Emmy Award-Winning Songwriter, Composer and Actor and the original George Washington in the Tony and Grammy Award-Winning Broadway Musical, Hamilton; Christopher Jackson is currently the star of the hit CBS drama Bull, and most recently appeared in Ava DuVernay's Central Park 5 for Netflix.  His story is powerful and motivational, as he shares his remarkable journey from a small town in Illinois (population 3,000) to performing for a constantly-packed house on Broadway. From school plays, to Off-Broadway productions, to starring as George Washington in the revolutionary, critically-acclaimed musical Hamilton, Jackson reveals the lessons learned along the way and the mantras, moments, and mentors that made a difference. Taking audiences behind the scenes of Broadway's biggest hit-- sharing everything from befriending Lin Manuel-Miranda back in 2002, to performing for President Barack Obama-- Jackson also reflects on the social impact of Hamilton, addressing issues of inclusion and race. With talks as riveting as they are thought-provoking, Jackson leaves audiences inspired and empowered (and maybe with a song or two stuck in their head).  

Jackson is also a powerful advocate for social inclusion, the arts and autism. Since his son was diagnosed with autism in 2007, he has become a vocal and passionate supporter of Autism Speaks, KultureCity, and Sesame Street's autism outreach program.  In his speech “The Power of Kindness” he talks about his own family's struggle with more questions than answers and shares the challenges and opportunities that come with working with children on the spectrum. He opens up about the "beautiful struggle" of raising his own son, as well as ways to create acceptance and inclusion for all people with unique abilities. 

Angela Davis offers thoughtful analysis of ongoing liberation efforts and insights on the intersectional struggle for racial, economic and gender equality.

Angela has been deeply involved in our nation’s quest for social justice. Her work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice.

The author of nine books, including Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, she is now a Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness, an interdisciplinary Ph.D program, and of Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Drawing upon her own infamous arrest, imprisonment and ultimate acquittal in the early seventies after being placed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List,” Angela shares a powerful critique of racism in the criminal justice system. As both an observer and participant to consciousness-shifting global movements, she bridges the past and present with incisive insights on the interconnected fight for civil rights, feminism, and working class issues. Having helped to popularize the notion of a “prison industrial complex,” she now urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without prisons and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement.

Combat tests you. Being a beat cop tests you. Life tests you. Three brothers and being the only girl...tests you. Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour has been tested her whole life. A gutsy trailblazer, her resume is an impressive collection of “firsts” including America’s first Black female combat pilot. She served two tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine. She was also a diversity liaison officer to the Pentagon for Headquarters Marine Corps. After her military service, FlyGirl revved up her career in the private sector as an entrepreneur, consultant to business, and author of Zero to Breakthrough: The 7-Step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter.

As a speaker, FlyGirl unleashes hard-hitting advice and amazing anecdotes from her adventures on the battlefield and in business. She helps individuals and organizations Get Gutsy and build a sustainable inner force and conviction, that results in accomplishing significant goals.

Ms. Liu is an accomplished entrepreneur, business leader and journalist with unmatched access to C-suite executives across a variety of industries, particularly in Asia. She is also author of two books including Work Smarts: What CEOs Say You Need to Know to Get Ahead. 

She most recently served as the Executive Vice Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and Chief Experience Officer for NYSE’s parent company, ICE (NYSE:ICE). While at the exchange, Ms. Liu was actively involved in more than 25 initial public offerings, including some of the largest listings in recent history like Uber, Pinterest and Tencent Music Entertainment. She also founded the NYSE Board Advisory Council which brought together CEOs of companies like Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Procter & Gamble, and Goldman Sachs to advance diversity in the boardroom. The Council is still going strong and has placed multiple women and minorities on major public company boards.

Ms. Liu also has extensive experience raising public and private capital. She founded the special purpose acquisition company D and Z Media Acquisition, whose IPO was ten times oversubscribed and was traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:DNZ). Ms Liu also founded the ed-tech company Radiate, which raised two rounds of venture capital before being bought in 18 months by ICE in 2018.

Prior to her business career, Ms. Liu was an award-winning journalist for over 25 years, and is best known for serving as a leading anchor and editor-at-large at Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio in New York City. Ms. Liu hosted “In the Loop” and developed several franchises including “Titans at the Table,” which featured leaders in finance, capital markets, entertainment, and business, reaching over 340 million viewers globally. 

Self-made mogul, CEO, and Founder Emma Grede is a groundbreaking and globally successful executive known for building incredible teams and beloved brands. Emma is the CEO and co-Founder of Good American, the first fully inclusive fashion brand that celebrates all dimensions of female power. She launched Good American alongside Khloé Kardashian and they engineered the largest denim launch in history. Their brand is now an iconic inclusive fashion line, and has expanded to ready-to-wear, swim, shoes, and activewear. Emma is also a founding partner of SKIMS, a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear, and co-Founder of Safely, the plant-powered cleaning brand delivering chemical-free cleaning products to the masses. Emma’s passion for bettering the world through socially responsible and conversation-advancing decisions is consistently reflected in the culture of her teams and the businesses she builds, and she shares her actionable insights in sought-after keynotes and conversations.

Emma is a recurring Shark on ABC’s critically acclaimed Shark Tank, making history as the first Black woman to serve as an investor on the show. She joins the upcoming season of the BBC's Dragons' Den, set to air in 2024. In March 2024, the first season of her Roku series, Side Hustlers, premiered as the #1 on-demand title on The Roku Channel, followed by season two in August 2024; also at #1. Grede co-hosts the show alongside Ashley Graham, where they help female entrepreneurs turn their side hustles into full-time careers. As an activist as well as an investor, Emma has used her wealth of experience to identify and invest in groundbreaking entrepreneurs and start-ups rooted in inclusivity, diversity, and sustainability. As the visionary behind the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast, Emma empowers audiences through transformative conversations with some of the world’s most successful minds: diving deep into the habits, mindset, and strategies that drive real success.

She was named one of “America’s Richest Self-Made Women” (2022 & 2023) and “America’s Richest Self-Made Women Under 40” by Forbes, and sits on the Glamour Women of the Year Advisory board. Emma serves as Chairwoman of the Fifteen Percent Pledge and also as a board member of Baby2Baby and Obama Foundation’s Board of Directors. As an immersive leader, she continues to advocate for inclusive representation across industries, while finding opportunities to foster real change. Emma’s leadership perspective is in-demand at notable events such as Forbes Women’s Power Summit, Hubspot INBOUND, MediaSlopes, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Summit, Stanford Black Leadership Conference, among others.

Naval Aviator and Air Force Combat Pilot Colonel Merryl Tengesdal (Ret.) shares a story of relentless determination. One of the most interesting and compelling maverick women in aviation, Colonel Tengesdal piloted the “Dragon Lady” high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, deploying worldwide in support of combat and military operations for over two decades. She has served as the Director of Inspections for the Air Force Inspector General, Commander of Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, and made history as the first and only African American woman USAF U-2 Pilot. With experience flying in combat zones, she offers insights into staying focused and making critical decisions in high-risk situations. Colonel Tengesdal’s lessons translate seamlessly for business leaders, executives, and professionals navigating fast-paced industries.

Colonel Tengesdal’s remarkable career is chronicled in her memoir Shatter the Sky. She invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood in the Bronx, to her years deployed in the Middle East, South America, and Asia, to her experience on the hit reality show Tough As Nails. In her latest book, Shatter the Sky: Tales of Dragon Lady 788, she takes readers inside the cockpit of the U-2, focusing on the mindset and discipline required to operate at 70,000 feet. Colonel Tengesdal speaks on overcoming obstacles, pushing past limitations, and succeeding in any industry, no matter the odds. 

Colonel Tengesdal has also appeared as a commentator on PBS’ UNLADYLIKE2020: The Bessie Coleman Story, as a technical consultant on Bridge of Spies, and as a featured contributor for Smithsonian Channel’s Air Warrior. Colonel Tengesdal was inducted into the 2019 Gathering of Eagles Foundation as an aviation pioneer and is a dedicated advocate for women and children of color in STEM. Her story is one of relentless determination, making her an excellent choice for audiences seeking motivation to break barriers and embrace changes.

Author, Emmy-winning journalist, and Latinx advocate Paola Ramos is sought after for her informative, relatable, and engaging programs. Ramos uses multi-media platforms – in both English and Spanish – to uplift the voices of marginalized communities, break down stereotypes, and mobilize people toward civic engagement. She was the former Deputy Director of Hispanic Media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign, a political appointee during the Obama Administration, and also served in President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Ramos is a host for VICE News, as well as a contributor for MSNBC and Telemundo News. An in-demand voice for making sense of the latest headlines as well as meaningful shifts in culture and politics, Ramos has been an impactful speaker for groups such as Comcast, Planned Parenthood, UTA, Athena Health, Syracuse University, Orrick, and more.

Ramos is the author of Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity and Defectors, assiduously reported explorations of the political and ideological experiences of Latinx Americans. Ramos and her work have been featured in Forbes, Washington Post, The Cut, Hola!, among many others. Ramos is a Hauser Leader in the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, where she received her Masters in Public Policy, and recently joined her alma mater Barnard College’s Board of Trustees. With every speaking engagement, Ramos receives rave reviews, such as: “We had an incredible fireside chat with Paola Ramos. She was informative, relatable, and engaging. Our audience learned about different Latinx communities and shared their own experiences during the event.” (Athena Health)

Symone Sanders Townsend: Strategic Communicator | Leadership Catalyst | Advocate for Change

Symone Sanders Townsend is a powerhouse communicator and thought leader whose TED Talk Stop asking permission! challenges audiences to lead with courage, authenticity, and conviction. A dynamic voice on leadership, resilience, and social change, Sanders Townsend has built a career at the intersection of strategy, communication, and equity—advising leaders and organizations on how to navigate high-stakes challenges with clarity and purpose.

Sanders Townsend made history as the youngest national press secretary for a U.S. presidential campaign, working with Senator Bernie Sanders. She later served as a senior advisor for President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and as a senior member of the Biden-Harris administration. She went on to become a prominent political commentator for CNN and currently serves as host of SYMONE on MSNBC, in addition to anchoring and hosting for MSNBC’s streaming platform, The Choice.

The author of No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America, Sanders Townsend shares her take-no-prisoners approach to leadership and career success, inspiring a new generation to embrace authenticity and drive meaningful change. She has delivered energizing keynotes at SXSW, Politico’s Women Rule Summit, the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, and beyond. As principal of the 360 Group, she has also advised corporations, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations on messaging, strategy, and social impact initiatives.

With humor, insight, and unshakable authenticity, Sanders Townsend delivers transformative talks on leadership, communication, diversity, and navigating change—empowering audiences across industries to stop asking for permission and start making their mark.

Award-winning community organizer, political strategist, and jazz singer LaTosha Brown is a trusted expert and resource in political strategy, rural development, and special programming for philanthropies. Brown is the co-Founder of Black Voters Matter Fund and Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute – a power-building southern-based civic engagement organization – leveraging over two decades of experience as a revered institution-builder in non-profit and philanthropy sectors. A renowned philanthropic consultant, she has served as an advisor for groups such as the Ford Foundation, Friends of New Orleans, and the Clinton Global Initiative for over 25 years, and is the principle owner of TruthSpeaks Consulting, Inc. Brown is the Visionary, Founder, and Co-Anchor of the Southern Black Girls & Women’s Consortium, a $100M, 10-year initiative to invest in organizations that serve Black women and girls. Beyond her regular media appearances on MSNBC, CBS, ABC, BET, Fox Soul, CNN, NPR, PBS, Brown was recently featured in three documentaries, including "Finding Justice " "Battleground Georgia," and "Vigilantes." She has launched and served countless organizations with her nationally recognized expertise in issues related to social justice, economic and leadership development, wealth creation, and civil rights.

Brown has served as an American Democracy Fellow with the Charles Warren Center at Harvard University, and is a Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School. She was named to Forbes' "50 Over 50" list. She serves on the board of the National Coalition on Black Civic Engagement (NCBCP), the Southern Documentary Fund, and is an active member of several national and international organizations. She and her work have received numerous awards, including the Beloved Community Award from The King Center, Forbes "50 Over 50 Impact List," the Dove Crown Award, Ms. Foundation's "Woman of the Year," the Humanitarian Choral Arts Award at the Kennedy Center, and many more.

In recent years, Brown has delivered over 50 keynote addresses, spoken at more than 20 colleges and universities, and served as commencement speaker for Harvard Black Students graduation and Pitzer College. Sought after for her uplifting keynote speeches, Brown shares message of hope and shared humanity, inviting audiences to envision a future and a democracy we deserve.

Dr. Jessica B. Harris is one of the ranking authorities on the culture, cuisine, and community of the African Diaspora. Her New York Times bestselling cookbook, High on the Hog, winner of 2 NAACP Image Awards, was the basis for the acclaimed Peabody Award-winning Netflix series of the same name. Dr. Harris led the Culinary Institute of America’s African Diaspora Foodways Initiative, conceptualized the award-winning cafeteria of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, and served as lead curator for the exhibit African/American: Making the Nation’s Table presented by New York’s Museum of Food and Drink. Dr. Harris was a professor at Queens College/CUNY in New York for five decades and is currently professor emerita at that institution while consulting internationally. Dr. Harris’s unique depth of expertise and brilliant intellect inspire every audience member’s thirst for knowledge. 

Dr. Harris’s work has been honored with the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award, and her books were inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame. She was named to the TIME Most Influential People list and is the winner of the 2023 IACP Award for Culinary History. As a speaker, Dr. Harris has been sought by Sysco, Rutgers University, Adobe, and more.

Elizabeth Nyamayaro is an award-winning humanitarian, author, and former United Nations Senior Advisor on gender equality.  She is a leading voice on human skills, resilience, and the future of work in an AI-driven world with over two decades working on global development through her leadership roles at the World Bank, World Health Organization, UNAIDS, UN Women, and the United Nations World Food Programme. Her work helps organizations and institutions strengthen what technology cannot replace: human connection, critical thinking, adaptability, and purpose. 

Elizabeth is the mastermind behind HeForShe, a United Nations global solidarity movement for gender equality that took the world by storm, generating more than 1.2B conversations on social media and galvanizing men in every single country in the world in just five days. Her book Human Skills is a guide to strengthening relationships and leading a fulfilling life. With her TED Talk garnering more than 1M views in its first weeks alone, Elizabeth is a prominent thought-leader and has engaged at global forums such as World Economic Forum in Davos, Cannes Film Festival, Skoll World Forum, Harvard, Oxford, the British Parliament, among others.

Named as Apolitico’s "100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy" in 2018 & 2019, Elizabeth has been touted by The New York Times as “one of only two women transforming Davos.” She has been featured in Vogue, Fast Company, Wired, Fortune, Elle, BBC, and CNN. She has also served as a Glass Lions jury at Cannes Lions and has received the PR Council Trailblazer Award for Social Impact and the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Global Women’s Rights Award. A Political Scientist by training, Elizabeth holds a Masters of Science in Politics from the London School of Economics & Political Science and leadership education from the Harvard Business School. 

Award-winning wordsmith, change-maker, and #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Amanda Gorman is the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Amanda began writing at only a few years of age and has become one of the most recognizable poets in the world. A committed advocate for the environment, racial equality, and gender justice, her activism and poetry have been featured on The Today Show, PBS Kids, and CBS This Morning, and in the New York Times, Vogue, and Essence. Amanda has performed multiple commissioned poems for CBS This Morning, and she has spoken at events and venues across the country, including the Library of Congress and Lincoln Center.

Amanda has appeared on the cover of TIME, was the first poet to grace the cover of Vogue, was one of 5 Variety Power of Women honorees and cover star, as well one of 3 cover stars for Glamour's Women of the Year. She has received a Genius Grant from OZY Media, is the recipient of the Poets & Writers Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and is the youngest board member of 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the United States.

Amanda is the author of the special edition of her inaugural poem The Hill We Climb, as well as the poetry collection Call Us What We Carry and the children’s book Change Sings, all debuting at #1 on New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Her next children’s book, Someday, Something, is due out in the fall of 2023. Amanda’s profound and uplifting remarks ensure an unforgettable experience for her audience.

Hannah Beachler is an Academy Award-winning production designer and curator known for blockbuster projects like Black Panther and Beyoncé’s stunning visual concept albums Lemonade and Black is King. She became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Production Design for her work on Black Panther. Hannah designed the interstitials for Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s mega tour OTRII, and was tapped by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to curate and design the exhibit “Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room.” Other notable film designs include Fruitvale Station, Creed, Miles Ahead, No Sudden Move, Dark Waters, and Moonlight.

Following her groundbreaking Oscar Award, Hannah was named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” one of Marie Claire’s “50 New Guard,” Ellevate’s International Woman of Change, and was listed on Elle’s “2019 Women in Hollywood’s Power List” and InStyle’s “50 Badass Women List.” She is a sought-after speaker for events, engaging audiences at Google, Ford’s World Symposium, Detroit CityLab, UX Week 2018, MoMa NYC, World 50, Inc., Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and United Nations African Descendants. Hannah offers insights about her work in the film industry, the power of storytelling, and the role of art and design in innovating for the future.

Abby Phillip anchors CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip. She joined the network in 2017 to cover the Trump Administration and served as White House Correspondent before transitioning to the campaign trail. In January 2020, she moderated CNN's Democratic Presidential Debate in Iowa. She also anchored special coverage of Election Night in America surrounding the 2020 election and hosted the CNN Special Report: Kamala Harris: Making History about the Vice President's barrier-breaking career. Prior to CNN, Phillip worked at The Washington Post as a national political reporter and ABC News as a digital reporter for politics. She also covered the Obama White House for POLITICO as well as campaign finance and lobbying. She was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy for her powerful hour-long documentary on Black maternal health: Homebirth: Saving Black Moms. She was part of CNN's Emmy Award-winning coverage of the Israel-Hamas War and for her contributions to The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. With her engaging presence and incisive commentary, Phillip illuminates key issues and sparks meaningful dialogue on the forces shaping our democracy.

Phillip has been honored with the National Urban League’s Women of Power Award, named to the TIME “100 Next” list, and named to the Ebony "Power 100" List. Committed to advancing democracy at every opportunity, she serves on the board of the News Literacy Project and the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard Institute of Politics. Phillip has spoken to Kean University, the National Press Foundation, the University of Rhode Island, and many more.

Public servant and New York Times bestselling author Huma Abedin began her career in national politics as an intern in First Lady Hillary Clinton’s office in 1996, later serving as a Senior Advisor to Senator Clinton and Traveling Chief of Staff for Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. She was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of State, served as Vice Chair of Hillary for America in 2016, and currently serves as Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff. Abedin is the New York Times bestselling author of BOTH/AND: A Life in Many Worlds, a stunning memoir grappling with family, legacy, identity, faith, and more through her profound believe that in an either/or world, she can be both/and.

Abedin is a regular contributor for MSNBC on issues ranging from politics to foreign affairs to women’s leadership. She serves as Vice-Chair of the Forbes 30/50 Annual Summit held every March in Abu Dhabi to mark International Women’s Day. In 2023, Huma was awarded the Celebrating Women Award from the New York Women’s Foundation. She is on the board of Vital Voices, a non-profit organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights.

Abedin is a contributor for MSNBC and has been featured in Vogue, The Washington Post, The Cut, Puck, The New York Times, and more, and appeared on Bloomberg, CBS Sunday Morning, The Today Show, Morning Joe, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Lead with Jake Tapper, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Drew Barrymore, BBC, The Guardian, Snap Chat Good Luck America, Twitter Spaces, among many others.  She has been sought-after for events with groups like 92Y, Forbes 30/50 Women’s Summit, The Asia Society Texas, and many others. Abedin shares her journey through opportunities and obstacles, as well as insider insight into the political landscape and today’s most pressing issues, with compassion, courage, resilience, and grace.

Award-winning Chingona and Xicana Hollywood creative Linda Yvette Chávez uses storytelling to create a more inclusive world. Linda has emerged in the entertainment industry as a powerful voice, bringing fearless, inclusive and impactful stories to the big and small screens. She is the co-Creator, co-Showrunner, Director, and Executive Producer of the hit Netflix series Gentefied. Gentefied’s first season was nominated for a Peabody Award, and recently received seven Imagen Foundation award nominations, including “Best Comedy Series” and Best Directing for Linda's directorial debut. Linda is adapting the New York Times bestselling book I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter into a feature film for MACRO and Anonymous Content, which will be directed by America Ferrera. Named by Glamour as one of the top Latinas changing the game for representation in television, she wrote Eva Longoria’s directorial debut, the Searchlight Pictures feature film Flamin’ Hot. In sought-after talks, Linda shares her insights from the entertainment industry, as well as impactful takeaways about creating more diverse and equitable teams, workplaces, and communities.

Linda has been highlighted by Variety as part of their Comedy Impact Report alongside comedy heavy hitters like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Dave Chapelle. She has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Wired, and AdWeek, among many others. She and her Gentefied co-Creator graced the cover of the Writers Guild of America 2020 Summer Issue of Written By Magazine, and she recently inked a multi-year overall deal with 20^th Television to develop new series for Disney’s many platforms. Linda has been in demand for events with groups like AACI, Qualtrics, and United Ways of California, who raved: ”Linda was a fantastic speaker at the 2022 United Way Western Regional Conference. Through the power of her storytelling, she inspired our United Way audience with her authenticity and the need to organizationally look like the people we serve every day. We are so grateful to her.”

Tennis icon, founder and serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist Naomi Osaka has transformed the world of sports with her outspoken advocacy for racial justice and player wellbeing. Ranked among the best in the world, the four-time Grand Slam Singles Champion made history as the first Japanese tennis player to win a Grand Slam and the first Asian player to hold a No. 1 ranking. The proud daughter of a Haitian father and Japanese mother, Naomi has used her platform to bring attention to racial inequality and police brutality, and sparked a global conversation about mental health awareness.

Naomi is the Founder of KINLÒ, a functional skincare solution for melanated skin and underserved communities, the co-founder of sports representation company Evolve and media company Hana Kuma, and has equity in more than a dozen brand partners, including Hyperice, Sweetgreen, and the crypto exchange FTX, in addition to being an early investor and advisory board member for Tom Brady’s NFT platform Autograph. Renowned for her advocacy for mental health, Naomi has partnered with Modern Health, a mental health resources company, as the company’s chief community health advocate. Her decision to take a break from tennis sparked an international conversation about the wellbeing of athletes, and of women of color in the workplace, and she became the leader of a movement for greater mental health care and awareness that continues to make an impact today.

Naomi has written powerful pieces for The New York Times, TIME, Esquire, and been profiled in countless publications, including Vogue, which heralded her as “the people’s champion.” She has been named to the TIME 100 three years in a row – in his profile for her, Russell Wilson wrote: “But sometimes, someone’s sphere of influence is so great, they can change a culture, change a society, change a whole world. Naomi Osaka has the power to do that.” She has been named a Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year, received the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award as well as the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award, and was chosen as the AP Female Athlete of the Year, among numerous honors.

Grammy Award-winning independent international superstar, education advocate, and entrepreneur Armando Christian Pérez – Pitbull – is a sought-after motivational speaker who invites disruption on a global scale. With billions of audio streams and videos views, plus hundreds of gold and platinum certifications, Pitbull has one of the most impressive careers in music history. Pitbull returned to the road in 2022 with the sold out North American Can’t Stop Us Now Tour along with his SiriusXM Globalization DJs packing amphitheaters and arenas coast-to-coast. From his danceable hit songs to his philanthropic actions, Armando shares a message of hope, hard work, and positivity that resonates worldwide.

Beyond music, Armando has leveraged his business acumen through a diverse portfolio of investments and partnerships. He is co-owner of the NASCAR racing team Trackhouse and has successfully developed other ventures including his own record label Mr. 305, Inc. and Voli 305 Vodka. Armando successfully established Sports Leadership Arts and Management (SLAM!) – tuition-free public charter schools across the country, recognized as one of the top school networks in the world. His next long-awaited Spanglish album, Trackhouse, releases Fall 2023 and Pitbull will join Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin on The Trilogy Tour. He has performed for millions worldwide, and even joined forces with the #1 life and business strategist, Tony Robbins, for a global motivational speaking tour. Sharing his uplifting journey to success, Pitbull emphasizes the power of learning from your mistakes – “must-takes,” as he calls them – and embracing a growth mindset to achieve your dreams.

Pitbull melds practical knowledge with personal experiences, ensuring that his talks are not just informative but also deeply resonant and inspirational. His multifaceted career and endeavors reflect a man who is not just an artist, but a leader, entrepreneur, educator, and philanthropist, making him an enriching speaker for a multitude of audiences and events.

Ursula Burns made history as the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company when she became CEO of Xerox in 2009. Her journey from the lower east side projects, to earning two engineering degrees, and landing an internship at a company she would one day run, is a story that will inspire many. Burns is the author of Where You Are Is Not Who You Are: A Memoir, which received a rave review by the New York Times.

When Ursula took the helm at Xerox in 2009, she was tasked with turning around a company that was quickly becoming obsolete. Pushing for diversification and development of new products and services, and spearheading the largest acquisition in Xerox history, Ursula oversaw a monumental transformation and massive growth.

Ursula regularly appears on Fortune’s and Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful women. She helped lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) from 2009-2016, currently sits as the Chairwoman of the Board at Teneo Holdings LLC and is on the board of Exxon Mobil, Endeavor, and Uber, and was previously on the board at Nestlé. She is also Co-Founder of Integrum Holdings, a private equity firm. Burns is on the Board Diversity Action Alliance, leading an effort to support diversity on corporate boards. 

An absolute force and American icon, Ursula shares her executive insights on leadership in a time of disruption, and instructs leaders how to answer the call to create more inclusive and diverse organizations. Her powerful and important conversations challenge and inspire audiences.

Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun is one of the entertainment industry’s biggest entrepreneurs and innovators. Braun is the founder of SB Projects, a diversified entertainment and media company with impact, and the CEO of HYBE-America, the North American subsidiary of South Korean entertainment company Hybe Corporation. After dropping out of college, Braun quickly became a rising star in the hip-hop world as a party planner. During his time as a talent manager, Braun broke countless household names, including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and more. Braun proved to be the music industry’s ‘first-responder’ when he organized the One Love Manchester benefit concert and Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief telethon, within just months of one another. Braun’s rich experiences make him an exceptional choice for hosts looking to educate and inspire culturally engaged audiences.

Also profoundly philanthropic, Braun serves as Chair of the Advisory Board of Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that builds schools in developing countries. He is also on the board of Fuck Cancer, an organization focused on the prevention and early detection of cancer, which his wife Yael Braun co-founded. Braun, his clients, and his companies have – together – granted more wishes for Make-A-Wish than any other organization in the history of the foundation. Braun’s undeniable impact on entertainment and society is undeniable.

Kahlil Greene uses his unique leadership experiences and Gen-Z perspective to provide a youthful, forward-looking, and much-needed intervention to commonplace and antiquated DE&I strategies. He has authored op-eds about organizational equity in the LA Times and Washington Post; and his article “Dear CEO’s: A Gen Zer’s Open Letter to His Future Employers” was published in the Harvard Business Review. As a junior in college, Greene completed a summer internship with McKinsey and Company and later earned a Hall of Fame designation from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington for his fundraising and support of the nonprofit.

Prior to this, Kahlil Greene was elected the first Black student body president in Yale's 318-year history. At the end of his year and a half-long term--which lasted through the COVID-19 pandemic--his administration’s successes included grassroots fundraising over $57,000 for racial justice organizations in one week; launching six affinity networks to increase racial, socioeconomic, and gender representation on the Council; and kickstarting a walk-in mental health counseling program for students. Greene stayed true to his campaign promises to be direct in critiques of Yale’s administration and actively supportive of student-led movements and protests--a hallmark of his presidency.

Today, Greene is also a New York Times featured social media influencer who is verified on Instagram and has over 440k followers and 12mm views on TikTok. Both Instagram and Facebook, Inc. have collaborated with and sponsored Greene’s work directly. He often engages in political discourse with social media influencers and users from all backgrounds, and now uses his influence to generate awareness around social issues as they arise in real-time.

A leading vaccine expert and viral immunologist, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is renowned for leading a team that developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record-breaking speed. Dr. Corbett’s patented technology is used in many vaccines around the world, including Modern, Pfizer, and Novavax.

“It was Kizzmekia’s previous work that led to what we knew about the coronavirus and prepared us for making that vaccine so rapidly,” noted renowned global vaccinologist, Dr. Barney Graham.

Dr. Corbett’s patent portfolio not only boasts COVID-19 vaccines, but also COVID-19 antibodies (developed by Eli Lilly and used globally during the pandemic), as well as next-generation COVID-19 and flu vaccines, which are currently in clinical trials. Her work over the past two decades has resulted in over 50 scientific publications and 100 invited speeches. With global media presence, she has shared insights into vaccine safety, pandemic preparedness, and public health for a range of leading publications, including Time, Oprah Daily, and USA Today, and she has participated in television interviews for major news networks, such as MSNBC, CNN, CBS, and PBS. For her outstanding contributions to the fight against COVID-19, Dr. Corbett was named one of Time’s 100 Heroes of the Year in 2021, and a 2021 Bostonian of the Year by the Boston Globe. She has also received several international awards for her research, including the Hans Sigrist Prize, the Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, the Sabin Vaccine Institute Rising Star Award, the Salzman Memorial Award in Virology, and numerous honorary doctorates from leading universities.

Dr. Corbett is currently a professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Her lab focuses on using virology and immunology to inform vaccine and therapeutics development for viruses that have pandemic potential, such as coronaviruses and bird flu.

Outside of the lab, Dr. Corbett engages with the community towards the goal of health equity and vaccine education. Passionate about igniting the youths’ interest in science, Dr. Corbett invests much of her time mentoring and advocating for STEM education. Her advice for aspiring scientists? “Own your dreams.” 

New York Times bestselling author, activist, educator, and consultant Kate Schatz has been talking, writing, and teaching about race, gender, social justice, and equity for many years. Her “Rad Women” books – Rad American Women A-Z, Rad Women Worldwide, and Rad American History A-Z – have sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into four languages, and her book Rid of Me: A Story is part of the cult-favorite 33 1/3 series. Schatz is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, with W. Kamau Bell, the comedian and Emmy-winning host of CNN’s United Shades of America. An accessible and engaging keynote speaker, Schatz has given talks at hundreds of events including: ComicCon, United Nation’s GirlUp! Summit, the American Library Association, Facebook, Spotify, Pixar, and more.

Schatz’s writing has been featured in Buzzfeed, LENNY, Oxford American, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and she has appeared on Conan, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), NPR, WNYC, WBUR, and Minnesota Public Radio, and on podcasts like Nerdette, Sibling Revelry, Inflection Point, and Politically Reactive. She co-led Solidarity Sundays, a nationwide network of 200+ feminist activist groups aimed at empowering women to become effective political activists. In all she does, Schatz is committed to sharing radical histories that shine light on the marginalized people who've truly made America great, making a major impact on audiences of all kinds.

Bestselling author and workplace strategist Erica Keswin has spent the past twenty years working with some of the most iconic brands in the world as a consultant, speaker, writer, and professional dot-connector. Her book Bring Your Human to Work: Ten Sure-Fire Ways to Design a Workplace That is Good for People, Great for Business, and Just Might Change the World became a Wall Street Journal bestseller in its first week, serving as a powerful guide to a workplace revolution that honors relationships and puts people first. Her book Rituals Roadmap: The Human Way to Transform Everyday Routines into Workplace Magic is a #2 Wall Street Journal bestseller and an indispensable guide to taking your employee engagement to the next level. The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company is a game-changing playbook filled with accessible and actionable case studies and research that will prove how transforming old ideas into new beginnings is good for people, great for business, and just might change the world. In Erica's game-changing keynotes, she highlights how relationships are the most powerful driver of success for individuals and companies striving to attract and retain talent and loyal customers.

Keswin and her work have been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Huffington Post, O Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Mogul, and Conscious Company, among others. She is also the Founder of the Spaghetti Project, a platform devoted to sharing the science and stories of relationships at work. Leaving audiences deeply informed and engaged, Keswin reveals her tried-and-true, human roadmap for people seeking a more meaningful and connected work life, and provides actionable insights on everything from how to cultivate a work culture of diversity and inclusion, to how to connect with customers in an authentic way.

Eugene Daniels is a distinguished journalist currently serving as a Senior Washington Correspondent for MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) and the co-host of The Weekend.

He joined MS NOW full-time in early 2025, having previously contributed to the network during his time as White House Correspondent at Politico and co-author of the influential Playbook newsletter. During his time at Politico, Daniels covered the midterms, the Democratic presidential primary, and the general election through print, video, journalism, and podcasts. During the country’s reckoning with race in 2020, Daniels moderated Politico's “Confronting Inequality” Town Hall series that examined how inequities in policing, housing, healthcare, education, and employment permeate and plague the United States. He recently completed his term as president of the White House Correspondents' Association.

Prior to Politico, Daniels covered elections and national politics as a political reporter at Newsy, after starting his career in local television in Colorado Springs. As an engaging moderator and compelling keynote speaker, Daniels shares his unparalleled perspective on culture and diversity, what’s to come in U.S. politics and policy, and how the media and voters are making sense of the headlines.

Peabody and two-time Emmy-winning correspondent, producer, and author Antonia Hylton reports at the intersection of politics, civil rights, and immigration. She is currently a correspondent for NBC News and an Anchor at MS NOW (formerly MSNBC). From 2016 to 2020, Antonia was a Correspondent and Producer for Vice Media and HBO’s nightly news and documentary show, Vice News Tonight. Since 2019, she has served as an annual judge for the American Mosaic Journalism Prize. She is the co-host of the hit podcasts Southlake and Grapevine, and author of the book Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum. Hylton reports on the hardest-hitting stories of today, shaping the conversations beyond the headlines with her sharp critical analysis.

Hylton is one of the most respected journalists of her generation, winning a Peabody, two Emmy Awards, two Gracie Awards, a NAMIC Vision Award, and two Front Page Awards for special reporting and breaking news. She was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30 - Media.” Beyond the professional sphere, she has conquered a rare form of colon cancer and is an outspoken advocate for preventative care and screenings. Hylton’s will to change the world and dedication to storytelling are consistent across her award-winning journalism, public health advocacy, and live engagements.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and scholar of African American life and culture Dr. Marcia Chatelain helps organizations respond to and solve the challenges that confront them. Dr. Chatelain was a Reach for Excellence Assistant Professor of Honors and African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, and is currently a Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She also served on the Georgetown University Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, and is a renowned voice on universities, slavery, and reparations. Her first book, South Side Girls: Growing up in the Great Migration, reimagines the mass exodus of Black Southerners to the urban North from the perspective of girls and teenage women. Dr. Chatelain uses her deep background and experience as a facilitator to help organizations create practical strategies to achieve their goals.

Dr. Chatelain won a 2021 Pulitzer Prize for her latest book, Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, which examines the intersection of the post-1968 Civil Rights struggle and the rise of the fast-food industry. Franchise was chosen as a New York Times Critics’ Top 10 Book, and received the Hagley Prize for Best Book in Business History, the Organization of American Historians’ Lawrence W. Levine Award, as well as the James Beard Award. She was a 2019 Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and was named a Top Influencer in Higher Education by the Chronicle of Higher Education in recognition of her curation of #FergusonSyllabus, a response to the crisis in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. She also serves as a consultant for many media outlets including The Atlantic, C-Span, MS NOW, CNN, and BBC America. Dr. Chatelain has offered her insights about the many ways history impacts our present and shapes our future in sought-after events with groups like St. Olaf College, Creative Mornings, The Aspen Institute, the Smithsonian Institution, A&E Networks, and more.

Fawn Weaver is CEO of Uncle Nearest, the best-selling Black-founded spirit brand in history. A TED speaker, two-time New York Times best-selling author, and Harvard-certified director, she’s among just five Black women to lead a $1B+ U.S. company and served on the board of Endeavor Group Holdings (NYSE: EDR). Weaver is a highly sought-after voice in conversations about accelerating growth without sacrificing values, inclusive organizational strategy, and leadership, making an impact with audiences of all kinds.

World-renowned, award winning professor of business administration Anita Elberse is acclaimed for her publications on products in the entertainment, media, sports, and other creative industries, using econometric modeling techniques and case studies to examine media-industry problems. Professor Elberse teaches an MBA course covering the "Businesses of Entertainment, Media, and Sports," which ranks among the most sought-after courses at HBS and chairs an eponymous executive education program. Professor Elberse has published her case studies on dozens of entertainment companies, personalities, and other entities across major industry publications, such as the Harvard Business Review, Marketing Science, the Journal of Marketing, and several other journals. Several of her case studies are described in her bestselling book, Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment.

Professor Elberse is acclaimed for her work on furthering equality in sports media. She chairs a semester-long mentoring program, "Crossover Into Business," specifically designed for professional athletes and leads the Summer Venture in Management Program for college students from minority backgrounds. Poets & Quants named her one of the "World's Best Business School Professors Under the Age of 40," and she has received teaching awards on multiple occasions from both students and Harvard Business School itself. Professor Elberse provides actionable takeaways for organizations to effectively manage products and talent in media, reflecting her fruitful work on digital-media strategies. As a speaker, Professor Elberse provides insightful stories, commentary, and case studies unpacking the best of sports, media, and pop culture.

Trailblazing chef, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Melissa King is a proud Chinese American and queer chef who is also a creative entrepreneur outside of the kitchen. King (she/they) is the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars: Los Angeles (Season 17) and the winner of All-Star’s Fan Favorite. With more challenge wins than any other competitor in the history of Top Chef, King has gone on to serve as a culinary judge on the series as well as The Food Network’s The Julia Child Challenge. Known for her technical precision and ability to blend modern California cuisine with Asian flavors, King has helmed several Michelin starred kitchens in San Francisco and has cooked for notable figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Al Gore, and curated the menu for the 2022 Met Gala alongside Anna Wintour. Called on as a creative consultant for companies around the world, Chef King is a sought-after motivational speaker supporting women’s empowerment, sustainability, food education, and entrepreneurship. 

King has been recognized as “one of the best female chefs in San Francisco,” and was named FSR Magazine’s “40 Under 40: Rising Star.” They authored Cook Like a King: Recipes from My California Chinese Kitchen and founded a company focused on partnerships and culinary experiences. King also launched a brand of small-batched sauces called King Sauce, an apparel line, and virtual cooking classes. Chef King is passionate about cultural inclusivity, media representation, environmental sustainability, and social justice – working with groups such as Stop AAPI Hate, The Trevor Project, and World Central Kitchen, among others. She is the face of IBM Research’s “5 in 5” series, focused on five innovations that will change our lives within five years. King is a featured chef in the Williams-Sonoma’s Chefs’ Collective. They have performed at food & music festivals from Coachella, Outsidelands, BottleRock, and more, and spoken for groups including Google, Facebook, Chase, and Capital One.

Dynamic, significant, and prophetic, Jemar Tisby is a public historian with the ability to explore racial justice solutions and cultural conversations that compel listeners to action. Tisby is the CEO and founder of Tisby Media—a visionary educational studio creating a moral, imaginative, and creative counterculture to disinformation, social injustice, and the politics of fear. He is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism. He is also the author of How to Fight Racism, which won the 2022 ECPA Christian Book Award for Faith & Culture and is an Editor’s Pick for “Best Nonfiction” on Amazon. His latest book, The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, & Resistance was published in September 2024. In addition, Tisby is a co-host of the Pass The Mic podcast, and writes the Footnotes Substack newsletter, and helps audiences across mediums become lifelong advocates for racial justice.

Tisby received his PhD in History at the University of Mississippi studying race, religion, and social movements in the twentieth century, and in his sought-after engagements he brings history to bear with contemporary relevance. His writing has been featured in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, among others. He is a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN's New Day program. Tisby provides audiences with richly-informed explorations, unflinching moral insight, and clear paths forward to meaningful conversation and action for more anti-racist workplaces and communities. He has spoken for groups including Cisco Systems, Lakeside Chautauqua, and Alteryx, a data analytics software company, where attendees raved: “This is the best approach I’ve experienced yet on digging into deeper feelings and perceptions – Dr. Tisby is gifted” and “Thank you for this incredible and forever impactful session.”

Nigerian-American writer, lecturer, curator, and speaker Enuma Okoro hosts public conversations with the grounding premise that stories, through their varying mediums, are how we challenge old or false narratives, free our imaginations, and tell new, expanded truths that shift perceptions and instigate change. She is a weekly columnist for the Financial Times. Her column, “The Art of Life,” reflects her broader research and writing interests: how the intersection of art, philosophy, spirituality, ecology, and culture can speak to the human condition and interrogate how we live with ourselves and one another, and how we relate to the more-than-human. She curated the multidisciplinary group exhibition, “The Flesh of the Earth” for Hauser & Wirth gallery. Okoro has published four books of nonfiction, and her articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Artsy, Harper’s Bazaar, Cultured Magazine, CNN African Voices, Vogue, AEON Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Essence Magazine, and other media outlets.

As an international speaker, Okoro has spoken at over 100 engagements including universities, corporate institutions, organizations, and conferences. Her multiple speaking invitations have included the Harvard Business School, Oxford University, Princeton University, the Business for Africa and the World Forum in Egypt, the Atlantic Dialogues Conference (Policy Center for the New South) in Marrakech, The Abu Dhabi Culture Summit, The Bloomberg Media Conference, Frieze, and more. She has delivered a TEDx talk on the global perceptions of multicultural women, identity, and the power of cultural collisions.

Actor, activist, and New York Times bestselling author Ashley Judd is heralded for her unforgettable performances and tireless advocacy work. From starring roles in box office hits and award-winning independent films, Judd’s films tell very personal stories that tap into larger issues, and she brings this gift for storytelling to all her speaking engagements. A voice for the often voiceless, she shines an illuminating light on the vulnerable and the at-risk. Judd has traveled the world with her international public health work, from maternal health to child survival, human rights to disease prevention and treatment. She has been working with NGO’s, grass roots organizations, governments, and supranational bodies since 2004, and detailed her experience in her New York Times bestselling book, All That Is Bitter and Sweet. For her sought-after speaking engagements, Judd regularly receives glowing praise such as: “Ashley Judd walked onto the Ford Hall Forum stage and hit it straight out of the park from her first word to her last. She is not only incredibly intelligent and a top-notch presenter, but also thoroughly knowledgeable and committed... It was clear that the audience found Judd completely captivating and a true inspiration.” (Ford Hall)

Judd was named one TIME’s “Persons of the Year” for her role as a silence-breaker and change-maker of the #MeToo movement, shifting the culture and conversation around sexual abuse and harassment. She is a sought after public speaker and frequent OpEd author on topics as diverse as conflict mineral mining and child marriage. She serves as the Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNFPA, the Global Ambassador for Population Services International, and is Chairperson of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project: Curbing Abuse, Expanding Freedom. She has received the Muhammad Ali Kentucky Humanitarian Award and her alma mater, the University of Kentucky, established the Ashley T. Judd Distinguished Gradate Fellowship in the Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women. Judd illuminates topics of women’s rights, mental health, the environment, and more with her indelible storytelling and global experience, and hosts rave about her impact: "Ms. Judd was the perfect choice for the closing keynote. She had obviously done her homework on the ATHENA leadership principles because she connected her remarks directly to them. She was intelligent, thought provoking, humorous, sincere, warm and extremely engaging. Conference attendees raved about her and she and her staff were delightful to work with. I would highly recommend her as a speaker." (Güd Marketing | Marketing That Matters)

Please visit ashleyjudd.com to learn more about Judd's latest projects and advocacy work.

LeVar Burton launched his acting career while still a student at the University of Southern California. At 19, he found himself on the cover of TIME Magazine after landing the groundbreaking role of Kunta Kinte in the landmark television series Roots. A seemingly impossible act to follow, Burton achieved further global acclaim as Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge in the iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, a role he reprised in Star Trek: Picard in 2023. However, it has been his role as host and executive producer of the beloved PBS children's series Reading Rainbow of which he is most proud. Airing from 1983 to 2009, it was not only one of the longest-running children's television shows in history but also one of the most acclaimed, earning over 200 awards, including multiple Emmys and a Peabody. 

As the honored recipient of six NAACP Awards, a Peabody, a Grammy, and 14 Emmys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Inaugural Children's & Family Emmys, Burton has demonstrated that he can do it all. In 2024, Burton was awarded the National Humanities Medal by the National Endowment of the Humanities at a ceremony in the Oval Office, bestowed by President Biden. Honored for his contributions to literacy in America, LeVar continues his focus on the importance of literature and storytelling in our everyday lives and is a staunch advocate against the banning of books. 

With over 4M social media followers, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a dedicated park in his hometown of Sacramento, this pop culture icon has the unique ability to reach across all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups - communicating to a large fan base that is highly engaged and motivated to embrace his message. 

Linsey Davis is an award-winning journalist, ABC News Live "Prime with Linsey Davis" and ABC World News Tonight Radio correspondent, and bestselling author whose timely and balanced reporting have earned her many honors including two Emmy Awards, a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, and multiple Gracie Awards. Davis is renowned for her tough but fair moderating skills in the arena of political debate, as well as insightful interviews with major influential figures, including Hillary Clinton, Mike Pence, and Dr. Anthony Fauci. She is a sought-after moderator, having led the first roundtable discussion with Black female mayors of Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Baton Rouge, and Tacoma, as well as a series of interviews with the spouses of presidential candidates in a series called Running Mates. In addition to her wave-making reporting, Davis is the author of six books, including The New York Times bestsellers Girls of the World and The Smallest Spot of a Dot, and the titles How High Is Heaven, Stay This Way Forever, The World Is Awake, and One Big Heart. As a speaker and moderator, Davis’ voice is in-demand on a dynamic array of subjects and audiences are energized by her presence.

Trailblazing community leader Mayor Aja Brown made history as the youngest mayor ever to serve the City of Compton. Leveraging her expertise as an urban planner, an economic developer, and community servant, Brown quickly became known for her pragmatic 12-Point Vision for Compton revitalization strategy, deploying evidence-based initiatives and attracting new record levels of reinvestment from the private sector. Prior to her ground-breaking tenure as mayor, she co-founded Compton Community Development Corporation, a non-profit emphasizing education programming, scholarships, and small business loans. Brown is a strong and consistent leader in the movement for equity and justice, lending critical support to actionable policy changes, and has joined with mayors around the country committed to guaranteed income, launching the largest city-based guaranteed income program in the country, The Compton Pledge. Brown is an inspiring changemaker, motivating audiences of all kinds through her visionary leadership and commitment to community-driven change.

Brown has been profiled in Vogue, Elle, ESSENCE, TIME, and many more. She participated in Policy Link and ESSENCE’s All-In Cities Initiative, which brings Black women mayors around the country together to share, ideate, and then build better communities. Brown is highly sought-after for keynote speeches as well as moderated conversations, and regularly receives rave reviews, such as: “The event was wonderful!!! She was a hit. Everyone had nothing but positive feedback on her and said it was probably one of THE best lunch and learns we have ever had! So kudos to the Mayor! She is really delightful and inspiring” (Intuit Inc.).

Award-winning humanitarian, Global Changemaker, and disability and environmental justice advocate Eddie Ndopu serves as one of the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Goal Advocates and sits on the board of the United Nations Foundation. Ndopu is the founder of A Billion Reasons, a groundbreaking social impact incubator established in partnership with the World Economic Forum to tackle the U.N.’s SDGs through a lens of universal design and disability-based innovation. He also sits on the impact boards of The Valuable 500, IMAGINE, and Verizon’s Global Advisory Board for Accessibility and Disability Inclusion. He formerly served as a member of both the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council for the New Agenda for Social Justice and the World Economic Forum’s Partnering for Racial Justice in Business Initiative. Ndopu’s debut memoir, Sipping Dom Pérignon Through a Straw, was selected by Apple as one of the best books in August 2023. Ndopu is a highly in-demand speaker for his insights about the intersections of disability, sustainability, and how we can best work together to make meaningful change for our planet’s future.

Honored by TIME as the Person of the Week, recognized as one of Pacific Standard’s “Top 30 Thinkers Under 30,” and described by Salesforce as “one of the most powerful voices on the planet right now,” Ndopu deeply enriches audience experiences with his charisma, perspective, and storytelling skills. He has delivered keynotes and conversations at venues such as Facebook, Amazon, Discovery Health, the COP26 Climate Change Summit, The World Economic Forum, The Skoll World Forum, and more.

Fashion model and Indigenous Land Protector Quannah Chasinghorse is the face of a new generation of models and a powerful advocate and activist for Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and representation. Chasinghorse is from the Han Gwich’in from Eagle Village, Alaska and Sicangu/Oglala Lakota tribes from the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota. She grew up learning Indigenous ways of life and values and continues to uphold them. She is a fourth-generation land protector for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, growing up in the movement to protect those sacred lands from oil development, fighting for climate justice. With each new opportunity, Chasinghorse educates people about her culture and her journey.

Chasinghorse has walked the runway for Gucci and Chloé and starred in campaigns for Calvin Klein and Chanel, among other high-end brands. She has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Elle, Allure, and National Geographic, and was honored on Teen Vogue’s 2020 list of “Top 21 Under 21.” Quannah and her mother were recently featured on an episode of Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s Apple+ TV series Gutsy, which celebrated environmental activists, and was the subject of the documentary Walking Two Worlds. Beyond her advocacy as a land protector, she champions Indigenous rights and sovereignty, and justice for the movement MMIWG2S, which stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People. In all she does, Quannah celebrates indigenous practices and fashion and works to increase representation and break the trail for those following in her footsteps.

Olympia Snowe is recognized as a policy thought-leader in Washington. She is also an inspiration for the barriers she overcame to become one of the most powerful women in Washington. The Washington Post summed up Senator Snowe's powerful legacy as a politician, "with several historic distinctions to her name: She is the first woman in U.S. history to serve in both chambers of a state legislature and both chambers of Congress. She was the first Greek American woman to serve in Congress, the youngest Republican woman elected to the House and the first Republican woman to serve on the Senate Finance Committee." 

She made the decision not to seek a fourth term in the United States Senate when she arrived at a stark reality: that the excessive political polarization in Congress would not diminish in the short term.  As a result, she joined the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, to take her fight for bipartisanship in a different direction.  At the BPC, she serves as a Senior Fellow where she is able to harness her insider’s knowledge to promote change from outside of Congress.  

Professional basketball player Grant Williams is a leader on and off the court, as two-time back-to-back SEC Player of the Year and First Vice President of the National Basketball Players Association. He is recognized by fans of his college team as one of the best players in their history and has been called “a true student of life and basketball” by the Boston Globe. Known for his passion for strategic thinking, Williams is a dedicated academic mentor. He graduated in just three years from the University of Tennessee with a degree in supply chain management from the University of Tennessee, one of the top public programs in the country for supply chain management. The league’s Senior VP of Player Development, Jamila Wideman, called him "an incredible storyteller" with a good sense of humor and a willingness to be vulnerable. Williams brings humor and insight to high-powered events, touching on leadership, teamwork, gender equality, mental health awareness, and more.

Dubbed a “high-energy Renaissance man” in a glowing Forbes profile, he’s received accolades for his commitment to giving back to the community, a passion which is central to his purpose. Williams has leveraged his platform as an NBA rookie to make a major impact in the lives of young people, creating a group mentoring program. For his work empowering young people, he received the Bill Russell Mentoring Award. Williams is a former Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics player and current Power Forward for the Charlotte Hornets. Williams invigorates audiences with his sharp wit, compelling personal story, and his belief that your dreams should be central to your everyday life for maximum success.

Comedian, writer, and actress Ziwe has captured audiences with her signature candor, wit, and salient commentary on race and politics in America. Ziwe hosted the A24 produced late-night variety sketch show, Ziwe, which was heralded by audiences and critics alike. As one of TIME’s 100 Next Gen Leaders, her refreshing approach to broadcast journalism represents the renaissance of late-night. Her guests have included Fran Leibowitz, Gloria Steinem, Stacey Abrams, Chet Hanks, and Julia Fox, among others. Ziwe is the author of a much-anticipated book of essays, Black Friend.

Hailed as the multi-hyphenate comedic voice to emerge from social media, Ziwe garnered attention during the early months of the pandemic with her provocative and hilarious interviews on her Instagram Live & YouTube talk series, Baited. The show featured interviews full of hard truths with the likes of Caroline Calloway, Alison Roman, Rose McGowan, and Jeremy O. Harris. She has released an album of songs from her Showtime show, Ziwe: A Famously Iconic Soundtrack, and has been featured as an actor on Succession, The Great North, Dickinson, and more. Ziwe’s iconic comedic voice, balanced with her incisive perspective as a cultural critic, ensures a memorable event that will resonate with audiences of all kinds.

TV personality, entrepreneur, crypto economy advocate, and activist Matt James is known for his historic role as the first Black male lead on ABC’s The Bachelor, which gave him the opportunity to be a role model for young people and encourage important conversations around racial justice and social change. While pursuing a career in finance and real estate, Matt co-founded ABC Food Tours, which creates experiences for students facing the challenge of food insecurity and adversity at home and seeks to provide opportunities on a larger scale. He is also a minority owner, ambassador, and shareholder in Lettuce Grow, a hydroponic farming company. Matt uses his platform of over 1M followers to foster awareness for food justice and human rights.

In addition to being a fan-favorite TV personality, Matt is a leader in the crypto economy, taking his advocacy work into cryptocurrency, blockchain, and NFTs. Matt is a co-founder of Encrypted Energy, a cryptocurrency mining company that sources clean energy to mine bitcoin. He is also a member of Crypto for Black Economic Empowerment, a collective of the most influential Black crypto and blockchain thought leaders. James is also an owner and supporter of the NFT movement, focusing on artists of color and female creators, and has partnered with crypto marketplace BlockFi to create crypto educational content geared toward women & communities of color and is working with Gemini to develop a financial literacy curriculum. He is a sought-after advisor for several digital media companies on the future of the Metaverse and Web3. He is an avid supporter of the Lebron James Family Foundation, Hack the Hood, and the Getting Out and Staying Out Foundation.

Michael B. Jordan is an award-winning actor, director, producer, and social activist who uses his considerable platform to advocate for inclusion and diversity. Jordan is known for iconic roles in global blockbuster films Black Panther, Just Mercy, the Creed trilogy, and Fruitvale Station, his breakout film which won accolades at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as memorable starring roles on the television series’ The Wire, Friday Night Lights, and Parenthood. An industry leader, Jordan invests in social change through his cutting-edge production company Outlier Society Productions, which partnered with Amazon on a 360-degree creative relationship. In 2020, Jordan launched a partnership with Color of Change to raise awareness about inclusion and lead the charge for industrywide new policies such as inclusion riders, which will dramatically shift the culture of the film industry. Jordan embodies the role of artist citizen, and galvanizes audiences with his commitment to making a difference and changing the world.

Jordan was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 and one of New York Times’ 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century, and speaks profoundly about how justice is central to his work in art and philanthropy. His charitable efforts are significant, and through his superb storytelling and personal journey, he sparks meaningful conversations about creating a values-driven mission for your business, team, and in your life.

Author, cultural critic, New Yorker staff writer, and writer-at-large at The New York Times Magazine Jay Caspian Kang writes and speaks about race, identity, economics, the history of immigration, and more. He was a founding editor at Grantland and an Emmy-nominated correspondent on VICE at HBO. Kang is the author of The Loneliest Americans, which was named one of the best books of the year by NPR, Mother Jones, and TIME, which called it “provocative and sweeping.” It was also named an Editor’s Choice book by The New York Times Book Review, which raved that Kang’s “exploration of class and identity among Asian Americans will be talked about for years to come.”

Kang’s writing has been featured in numerous publications and outlets including This American Life, The New Yorker, and The Nation, among others. He is a co-host of the beloved eclectic podcast Time to Say Goodbye, which Slate called one of the Best Chat Podcasts of 2022. A substantive speaker and insightful moderator, Kang speaks on topics as varied as city planning, the history of immigration in the U.S., education policy and Affirmative Action, and more for hosts including the Korean American Spine Surgical Society, the Collegiate School, and Ohio State University.

Sekou Kaalund has two decades of Wall Street experience spanning leadership in institutional and retail businesses, making him a highly regarded authority on strategic leadership and targeted, sustainable impact. A former leader at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as well as Citi, Kaalund has established key connections across client segments and industries. He is a highly sought-after speaker for his insights on strategizing growth, developing talent, and forming inclusive teams that have a major impact on organizations of all kinds. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, he spent the last 15 years at JPMorgan Chase in a variety of leadership roles across institutional and retail businesses, most recently serving as Senior Executive Vice President of the Managing Committee of the U.S. Bank. While managing complex firmwide relationships, he launched Advancing Black Pathways, the first global corporate initiative that leveraged a data-driven strategic framework to develop scalable programs to reduce the racial wealth gap, which led to a historic five-year firm-wide $30B commitment to advance racial equity. He has offered riveting keynotes at the Milken Global Conference, National Urban League, the Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference, and many more, and has led engaging conversations at Chase Talks with Kevin Hart, Grant Hill, Dominque Wilkins, among many others.

Kaalund’s contributions have received numerous accolades including being named on Ebony’s “Power 100” list as a “Titan of Industry,” the SAID Institute’s Mark of Excellence award, World of Money’s Wall Street Legacy Award, and being named one of Face2Face Africa’s “30 Black Stars.” He has been featured in Forbes, Black Enterprise, Essence, and on the BBC, NBC, and CNBC. Kaalund has been honored by the All Stars Project for leadership and community impact, the Council of Urban Professionals, the Harlem YMCA, and the Boys and Girls Club of American inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He serves on several boards, and his leadership initiatives include the tech partnership “Advancing Black Entrepreneurs” StartupBus, a hackathon on wheels.

Korean American singer-songwriter, TV host, and entrepreneur Eric Nam is one of the most popular and recognizable celebrities in Asia, whose music and advocacy is having a global impact. In an interview for GQ, Nam was described as having “amassed one of the most varied and entrepreneurial legacies to come out of the K-Pop scene.” After growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, and deferring a job offer from Deloitte Consulting, Nam was invited to audition for Korea’s version of American Idol, which launched his meteoric rise as a TV host and pop icon. He was named one of GQ Korea’s “Men of the Year,” one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30 Asia,” and YouTube’s Global Trending “Artist On the Rise,” eventually co-founding and serving as Creative Director for DIVE Studios (DS) – a K-pop focused media company with multiple award-winning podcasts. With the help of his brothers, Nam launched Mindset, a mental health and wellness platform with a library of authentic and intimate video and audio collections from world-renowned celebrities. For his mental health advocacy, Nam received the Time100 Impact Award. Passionate about social impact, diverse representation, and mental health advocacy, Nam has been sought-after to speak for groups like the White House, Milken Institute, JED Foundation, UNESCO, Cornell University, The Korea Society, and NYU, among others.

Nam has been featured in Forbes, Vulture, NPR’s Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, TIME, and many more, and was awarded the Embrace Unity Award by the Council of Korean Americans. He wrote a powerful op-ed for TIME, raising awareness about anti-Asian violence and inspiring change. Nam hosted the DS podcast Daebak Show, celebrating spectacular music, media, and people. Eric's first independent album There And Back Again, which debuted at #3 and #7 on the US and UK Spotify Charts and peaked at #22 Album Sold on Billboard Charts, is inspiring the next generation of change-makers. In 2022, Eric played 60 shows in 54 cities in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania with over 85,000 hard ticket sales. In 2023, his second independent album House on a Hill was released to critical acclaim, celbrated with an 80+ city World Tour. Nam debuted as an actor in the psychological thriller, Transplant (2023) further expanding his illustrious career. With authenticity and insight, Nam sparks thought-provoking conversations on important contemporary issues that make an impact with audiences of all kinds.

Journalist, author, podcaster, and cultural figure Jenna Wortham is a thought leader at the intersection of tech, culture, and identity, offering engaging and incisive analysis to spellbound audiences across mediums. They co-edited the critically acclaimed visual anthology Black Futures, and is currently a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, whom editor Jack Silverstein called “one of the most savvy and intelligent voices anywhere covering digital business and culture.” Jenna is also the co-host of the highly popular New York Times podcast Still Processing, which won a Webby Award and has appeared on year-end ‘Best of’ lists for The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, and Indiewire.

Jenna’s writing has appeared in Vogue, WIRED, The Economic Times, and more, and they have received numerous honors, including the prestigious MacDowell Fellowship. Jenna is uniquely positioned to speak to the challenges and possibilities of globalization of culture via the internet, and how we can continue to build our collective future in ever-changing digital spaces.