Arlan Hamilton, founder at Backstage Capital and Runner, is a serial entrepreneur, author and master multi-tasker.

Hamilton founded Backstage Capital in 2015 to invest in founders who are people of color, women and/or LGBTQ. Since its founding, Backstage has raised nearly $30 million and invested in 200 startups led by underestimated founders.

In 2021, Hamilton founded talent operations startup Runner to connect outstanding operations talent with inclusive companies. Runner has already raised $2 million from investors like Precursor Ventures, Lunar Startups, Kapor Capital and others.

Arlan published her book, “It’s About Damn Time,” in 2020, detailing her journey from homelessness to venture capital. Arlan also hosts podcasts “Your First Million” and “Demystifying Faith,” and is the executive producer on “The Valley,” a daily soap opera that is like “General Hospital” but for the tech industry.

Arlan is a proponent of paying it forward and supporting other underestimated people in the tech industry and beyond. She’s a limited partner in funds at Collab Capital, Ganas Ventures, Lightship Capital, RareBreed Ventures and several others. Meanwhile, Arlan and her mother, Mrs. Earline Butler-Sims, founded a scholarship program for Black students at Oxford University and HBCU Dillard University.

Kyla Jenee Lacey is a writer, speaker, and spoken word artist from the Central Florida region. She has performed at over 300 colleges and universities in the United States. Her work is also studied at the collegiate level, and made international news when a teacher in Tennessee was fired for showing it to his classroom. She has been referenced in articles by the New York Times, Boston Globe, the Atlantic, the Washington Post and many others, including Fox News which called her work anti-racist propaganda, because they would definitely know. She has appeared and been featured by the Tamron Hall Show and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. She is also a crazy cat lady who paints on the side.

Netta Jenkins, TEDx speaker is a leading voice in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, Anti-Racism field whose soaring audience engagement was doubtless a key factor in Forbes naming her as one of the top 7 anti-racism consultants in the world. An acclaimed author with a deep background in communications, leadership, and behavioral psychology.

Netta has been advising corporations and audiences of all kinds for years on the most effective strategies to address systemic gaps in the workplace and has over 150k LinkedIn followers. As a result, she was listed as 2020 Linkedin top voice.

Netta founded two startups, Holistic Inclusion Consulting LLC; focused on helping organizations advance their DEI and anti-racism efforts, and Dipper, a review and ratings platform for professionals of color.

Netta has been featured in Black Enterprise, Forbes, Business Insider, CNN, and more for her work. Along the way, Netta has won multiple awards for her impact on corporate and startup diversity.

Lily Zheng (they/them, she/her) is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Consultant and Executive Coach who works with organizations around the world to create high-impact and sustainable change. With their clients, they leverage organizational design, strategy, and culture to find novel solutions to systemic inequalities. A dedicated change-maker and advocate recently named a Forbes D&I Trailblazer, Lily writes for publications including the Harvard Business Review, Berrett-Koehler, and HR Executive. They recently published their second book, The Ethical Sellout: Maintaining Your Integrity in the Age of Compromise.

Ruchika Tulshyan is the author of Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work (MIT Press). She’s also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy practice. A former international business journalist, Ruchika is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review.

As a keynote speaker, Ruchika has addressed audiences at organizations like NASA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and U.S. Congress.

Ruchika’s first book is The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace.

Ruchika is on the Thinkers50 Radar list, LinkedIn’s 2022 Top Voices on Gender Equality and named among Hive Learning's Most Influential D&I Professionals for two years in a row. She's a Singaporean foodie who currently calls Seattle home.

Cynthia Owyoung is the author of "All Are Welcome: How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion that Delivers Results," a playbook for driving progress in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) inside organizations. She has established and led DEIB initiatives for 20 years as an executive at organizations across multiple industries, including Robinhood, Charles Schwab, Github and Yahoo!. In addition, Cynthia founded Breaking Glass Forums, a boutique agency developing strategies to accelerate diverse leadership and inclusive organizations.

Prior to her work in human resources, Cynthia launched a strategic planning consultancy, increasing the capabilities of nonprofit and for-profit organizations in organizational development, brand marketing, and business strategy. She also built a decade-long career as a Brand Strategist for leading global brands and advertising agencies, developing campaigns for Microsoft, Levi Strauss, and Apple.

Cynthia currently serves on the Board of Directors for AbilityPath, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering people with special needs to achieve their full potential. She earned an MBA in organizational behavior from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, a bachelor’s in marketing and finance from UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, also from UC Berkeley.

She is a New Englander at heart but moved to Austin in 2017. Her work is focused around creating equitable spaces, talent, people development and on-boarding. She is an outspoken advocate for diversity, belonging and the ability to be human at work.

She is a self-proclaimed start-up enthusiast and is passionate about building inclusive teams from the ground up with early stage companies. Madison is committed to helping change the narrative around what it looks like to be “human at work”, and hoping to help alleviate unconscious bias in corporate America.

Dr. Nika White is a national authority and fearless advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. As an award-winning management and leadership consultant, keynote speaker, published author, and executive practitioner for DEI efforts across business, government, non-profit, and education, Dr. White helps organizations break barriers and integrate DEI into their business frameworks. Her work has led to designation by Forbes as a Top10 D&I Trailblazer.

She is the founder of Nika White Consulting (NWC) where her firm works with organizations to identify and implement opportunities to embed DEI throughout its operations and culture. NWC is a diversity, equity, and inclusion boutique consulting firm with recognized authority on strategic diversity, intentional inclusion, and organizational effectiveness. Dr. White believes that “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is not just a checkmark for good business, it’s a way to transform the world.”

Over her 20+ years of leadership, Dr. White has worked with over 200 corporate, educational, government, and non-profit brands, managed over $200 million in business assets for her clients, and written two books on diversity, equity, and inclusion including, “The Intentional Inclusionist,®” and “Next Level Inclusionist: Transforming Your Work and Yourself for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Success.” Dr. White’s third book, “Inclusion Uncomplicated: Essential Guide to Simplifying DEI” in partnership with ForbesBooks is scheduled to release fall of 2022.

Dr. White has presented over 200 keynote speeches and presentations across the country on issues such as team engagement, organizational leadership, strategic diversity, race equity, and intentional inclusion. Dr. White’s talks bring a mixture of expertise, passion, vision, and authentic style to create holistic takeaways for audiences.

The heart of Dr. White’s work addresses the ability to create transformative environments with intentionality around inclusion. She helps create professional spaces where people can collaborate through a lens of compassion, empathy, and understanding.

Brittany Janay is the Founder of In Loving Accountability Coaching & Consulting where her work is grounded in supporting leaders and change makers with embodying leadership as a love practice, narrowing the gap between their values and how they show up. She is also the creator of Liberated Love Notes: Critical Self-Reflections and Affirmations for The Culture, an affirmation card deck that centers the experiences of Black folks existing in and healing from predominantly white spaces.

Brittany Janay has spent over a decade in roles focused on supporting organizations and leaders with their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies. Most recently, she served as the Vice-President of Learning & Innovation with The Winters Group, Inc., one of the leading global diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firms. Her contribution to the firm most notably includes expanding its portfolio around mapping the intersection of social justice and traditional corporate DEI work. Her framework for "Centering Justice" has evolved the firm's approach to learning & education design and strategy work.

Brittany has also held human resources, diversity management, affirmative action compliance and consulting roles. She is a graduate of Howard University, where she received her degree in Broadcast Journalism, and Georgetown University where she received her Masters in Human Resources Management with a concentration in diversity and inclusion. She is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®).

Brittany has had the pleasure of serving on boards for The Florida Diversity Council, Women in Cable Telecommunications Florida, The Greater Baltimore Leadership Association, and Pinellas County Urban League Young Professionals. Currently, Brittany serves on the curriculum advisory board for Baltimore City Public Schools’ BeMORE Me Initiative and is a member of the Peer Committee Review Board for The Black Brain Trust.

Journaling, music, and enjoying a glass of wine or cup of coffee are just a few of Brittany's favorite care practices. Today, she lives on land stolen from and originally nurtured by the Piscataway & Susquehannock tribes, known as Baltimore, MD.

Sharon Hurley Hall is an anti-racism activist, writer, and educator. Firmly committed to doing her part to eliminate racism, she is the Founder and Curator-in-Chief of Sharon’s Anti-Racism Newsletter. In this twice-weekly online publication, Sharon writes about existing while Black in majority-white spaces, and amplifies the voices of other anti-racism activists. She has written and ghostwritten articles for companies and non-profits looking to show up authentically with their DEIB and JEDI content. Sharon is also the Head of Anti-Racism for Diverse Leaders Group. Sharon has recently published an essay collection, titled "I'm Tired of Racism".

Carmen Drummond is a Senior Program Manager at the Center for Minority Veterans and a Qualified Inclusive Leader that has continuously proven herself as a noteworthy authority and leader in the advancement of diversity efforts with special emphasis on veteran services.

Working closely with vulnerable populations, Carmen has been an inspiration in her dedication towards correcting workplace and social injustices - but especially when it comes to America's heroes. She provides support, advocacy and resources while working to raise public awareness on how veteran barriers create complications for the veteran, family members and care takers.

Carmen spent time looking for solutions to veteran unemployment early on in her career since she too lacked a home or means of living after transitioning out of the military. This led her to focus on breaking down barriers within the veteran transition process, which increased employment for veterans and their caregivers within the Northeast region, resulting in a cumulative salary of $22M in economic development. She has experienced success working with workplace DEI programs and speaking about entrepreneurship with various audiences. She adds value to her clients mission by providing training, access, and expertise that allows them yo transform workplace cultures and add value to the employee experience .

Joy Donnell is a producer, writer and strategist dedicated to the psychospiritual power of storytelling. Her work has been featured in W Magazine, HuffPost, and Vogue Italia to name a few. She is cofounder of CIME, the Center for Intersectional Media and Entertainment, which focuses on how our stories make us feel and the tools needed to create restorative narratives. Her recent book, Beyond Brand, explores how to use media and personal brand to live the legacy you wish to leave. Joy's latest short documentary, Inseparable from the Sunlight, shines a lens on our innate human connection to plants, the Earth, and our cosmos.

Katrina Jones believes that when we prioritize closing equity gaps, our workplaces can become spaces of learning and growth where everyone thrives. She currently serves as the VP of People & Culture for the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation and is also the founder and CEO of a diversity and talent consulting firm, Advancing Equity + Inclusion. Over the course of her career, Katrina has led HR across the employee lifecycle and helped organizations connect their programmatic efforts to comprehensive DEI strategies that accelerate progress in building more diverse teams and cultures with greater psychological safety. She has more than 15+ years of experience leading and managing functions DEI, HR, and Talent at companies like AWS, Latham & Watkins, and Year Up. Katrina is a Lifetime Member of the Texas Exes, having earned a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. She also has a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management from The Catholic University of America. You can connect with Katrina via LinkedIn, or find her on Twitter, threading tweets on all things DEI and People, and sharing stories about finding joy in the small moments.

Josiane Faubert is a Gabonese-American artist and photographer who brings the diversity of her cultures into a harmonized identity to empower communities and influence conversations. She is the founder of PICHA Stock: a digital company that brings curated, diverse Afrocentric visuals that enable brands and businesses to tell richer stories. Josiane strongly believes that images have the power to shift perceptions, change narratives and tell the right stories that matter.

Josiane also serves on the board of the Digital Media licensing organization.

Josiane Faubert lives in Seattle, Washington

Anthony Vaughan, who prefers AJ is an out of the box , radical hybrid who is obsessed with all things entrepreneurship & employee experience. A current 3x founder, Startup Advisor, HR Tech advisor, Executive and proud Son. His rise within the world of HR/Entrepreneurship is one that is definitely not typical but his focus and dedication to putting Employees First drives him to help forever change the world of work! Anthony (Aj) is currently working on a brand that will hopefully forever change the world of work “The E1B2 Collective” , a collective of brands and practitioners designed to make substantial employee experience within the world of startups and small brands!

Megha Chokshi joined GovCIO in 2019, bringing over 20 years of experience leading large strategic planning portfolios, business operations, and enterprise-scale transformation and modernization initiatives for various government agencies. Megha is a highly accomplished and dynamic executive leading over $1B in IT and business engagement portfolios supported by a large and diverse workforce. She has a proven track record of fostering innovation and design thinking for delivery excellence focused on impactful Veteran-focused solutions. Prior to GovCIO, Megha led multidisciplinary teams supporting IT modernization at SAIC (formerly DRC).

Kimberly Jones is a native of Columbus, OH and is fortunate to have lived and worked across the country. She is a proud graduate of Wilberforce University and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organizational Management. The entirety of her professional career has been spent in Human Resources, specifically Talent Acquisition, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She has worked for some of the most globally recognized corporate brands including Nationwide Insurance Company, Honda, Raytheon, GE Aviation, Northrop Grumman, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Kimberly has managed talent acquisition teams dedicated to the pursuit of talent in a multitude of career disciplines: Accounting, Actuary, Engineering, Science, and Operations. Reflective of these career disciplines, Kimberly proudly boasts that she has staffed positions on all 7 continents. Most notable of her accomplishments is the successful completion of a 6-week deployment to Antarctica, including 3 days at South Pole. Additionally, she previously held a Top Secret Security Clearance.

Kimberly has always been a fearless advocate for diversity and has managed programs in support of INROADS, Tom Joyner Foundation, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, United Negro College Fund, National Black MBA, Society of Women Engineers, Reaching out MBA, National Society of Hispanic MBAs, National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and American Indian Scientist and Engineering Society.

After having spent 20+ years as a member of corporate teams Kimberly founded Kelton Legend in February 2017. Kelton Legend is a multi-dimensional talent acquisition consulting organization focused in the areas of talent acquisition strategy, process, resource management, diversity, career coaching, and HR technology. Kelton Legend is partnered with a number of technology companies across the talent acquisition space. Kimberly has spoken at numerous industry conferences such as National Diversity Council, ERE, Smart Recruiters, and Human Capital Institute.

In an effort to expand her career Kimberly joined University of California, Irvine November 2017 as an Instructor in the Department of Continuing Education teaching a course on Technology Applications in Talent Management. She was selected for a new appointment and joined the Human Resources Division full time July 2020 and now serves as Senior Director, Enterprise Talent Strategy, which includes the UCI campus, hospital, and medical college.

Farzin Farzad is an Organizational Justice practitioner with experience in higher education, trade associations, local government, and the private sector. Holding two master’s degrees in international affairs and diplomacy as well as a certificate in conflict resolution skills, Farzin leverages his unique academic background, extensive travel experience, and experiential knowledge to provide comprehensive, thought-provoking local and global approaches to his work. In addition to training and education programs, Farzin is a seasoned project manager with expertise in developing strategies that build equitable workplace environments and government services. Farzin is the founder of Critical Equity Consulting, LLC, a boutique Organizational Justice consulting firm focused on helping organizations rebuild with a primary focus on creating equitable outcomes and seeking justice.

Based out of Houston, TX, Zach Nunn is a “Big 4” Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant and thought leader, with over 9 years of experience leading cultural and organizational transformation in a variety of industries. As the CEO and founder of Living Corporate, Zach amplifies and centers marginalized voices at work by interviewing Black and brown executives, activists, educators, elected officials and influencers which provides practical insight and that reaches over 25 thousand majority Black and brown Millennial and Generation-X listeners a month. Despite all this work, his biggest passions are his wife, Candis and daughter, Emory.

Dr. Omékongo Dibinga is the UPstander. His life’s mission is to inspire all across the globe to take a stand when they witness an injustice, no matter how small or large. A John Maxwell Team “Top 30 speaker”, he is an international speaker, trilingual poet, TV talk show host, rapper, and professor of Inter-cultural Communication at American University, where he also serves as a faculty affiliate to the Antiracist Research & Policy Center. His Urban Music Award winning work has best been described by Nikki Giovanni as “outstanding, exciting, and new while being very old.” His book, From the Limbs of My Poetree was described by Essence Magazine as “a remarkable and insightful collection of exquisite poetry that touches sacred places within your spirit.” He was one of 5 international recipients out of 750,000 to win the first ever “CNN iReport Spirit Award.” He has received over 1,000,000 views on CNN.com.

Omékongo’s writings and performances have appeared in O Magazine, as well as on TV and radio from CNN, BET, and the BBC to NPR, Music Choice, and Voice of America in millions of homes in over 150 countries. He has also written songs for major motion pictures as well as organizations such as NASA and the Enough! Project. He has spoken before the United Nations, partners with the State Department to conduct leadership trainings overseas, and speaks to corporate, government, and educational organizations across the country on issues centered on leadership, antiracism, diversity, and inclusion.

Omékongo’s music and writings have appeared alongside artists such as Sheryl Crow, Angelina Jolie, Norah Jones, Damien Rice, Angelique Kidjo, Don Cheadle, and Yassine Bey. He has shared the stage with Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Martin Sheen, OutKast, Sonia Sanchez, The Last Poets, and NFL great Aaron Rodgers. Internationally, he has shared his work in over 20 countries on 3 continents.

Omékongo has studied at Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Georgetown, Morehouse, and The Fletcher School, where he earned his M.A. in Law & Diplomacy. He earned his Ph.D. in International Education Policy at The University of Maryland (UMD) where his dissertation centered on the global hip-hop phenomenon and JAY-Z. A book based on the dissertation is in the works. At UMD, he also worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Teaching Diverse Students Initiative.” Across the country he has worked with school districts on culturally relevant instruction including Washington DC, Texas, New York, Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, and California. He worked for four years as the lead Teaching Assistant to Dr. Michael Eric Dyson at Georgetown University. He provides leadership, educational and diversity empowerment as a consultant and motivational speaker for organizations, associations and institutions.

Omékongo he has featured/lectured nationwide in venues from TEDx and Harvard to Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit and the Nuyorican Poets Café. His rap mixtape series “Bootleg”

promotes positive hip-hop with remixes of songs by Tupac, Notorious BIG, JAY-Z, Nas, 50 Cent, and others. His 1,000,000 Youth Campaign has directly impacted over 750,000 youth across the globe to date. He has also partnered with Intel on its campaign to make their computer processors free of minerals that come from the war in the Congo.

Omékongo has published and produced 7 books, 8-fusion music and motivational CDs, and one independent DVD. His motivational book G.R.O.W. Towards Your Greatness! 10 Steps to Living Your Best Life has received praise from great motivational speakers such as Les Brown and Willie Jolley. His most recent book “The UPstander’s Guide to an Outstanding Life” is a life balance book for students.

L. Michelle Smith is the CEO/founder of no silos communications llc, the parent company for six media, content, talent development and strategic communications consulting brands, all fueled by tech. She has more than 25 years of experience as an elite, award-winning communicator and integrated marketer at global agencies, her own boutique agencies and a Fortune 10 technology, telecom and media company. She is a certified executive and business coach, principal of NSC Coaching, a professional private practice. She has worked with executives at American Express, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, AT&T, Lenovo, Zapier, Mary Kay, Warner Media, CNN and more.

She is also the lead trainer at NSC eLearning, a knowledge platform which houses online courses and other digital content for e-learning centered on leadership. Recently an official contributor to Black Enterprise, LMS is also the author of the recently released No Thanks, I’ll Just Include Myself: A Guide to Rockstar Leadership for Women of Color in the Workplace, available on Amazon. She is also the creator, executive producer and host of The Culture Soup Podcast® which is heard in 38 countries and has been consistently at the top of the rankings on Apple Podcasts in the Business/Business News and Business/Entrepreneurship categories. Black Enterprise editors named it one of the top 35 podcasts for 2019, and the show’s episode “The Coaching Corner” has also been added to LinkedIn LIVE, Facebook Watch, Twitter/Periscope and YouTube Live Events.

Previously, she raced to the officer ranks in no time in her career, making vice president before the age of 30. Then she “fell” into entrepreneurship, marking her agency’s million-dollar milestone in year 5. She’s held officer-level positions for about half her career, but most recently answered the call at Fortune 10 company AT&T to build their D&I corporate communications capability from scratch. She did that in two years, then built another innovative, award-winning business model to compliment it, inclusion marketing.

She is one of the most-sought after contemporary keynote speakers, facilitators, panelists and hosts on topics surrounding technology, business and culture, and has been featured across the country on some of the most important stages across multiple industries. She is an adjunct professor of strategic communications at the Texas Christian University Bob Schieffer College of Communications where she also sits on the Board of Visitors. She is also a member of the International Coaching

LeRon L. Barton is a writer from Kansas City, Missouri currently living in San Francisco, CA. A graduate of Paseo Academy of Fine Arts, LeRon is the author of two books, Straight Dope: A 360 degree look into American Drug Culture and All We Really Need Is Love: Stories of Dating, Relationships, Heartbreak, and Marriage. In addition to his books, LeRon is an essayist whose topics cover racism, mass incarceration, politics, gender, and dating. These works have appeared in Black Enterprise, Salon, Harvard Business Review, The Good Men Project, Your Tango, Media Diversity, Raconteur, Elephant Journal, East Bay Times, and MoAD. LeRon is an international speaker who has given multiple talks and appeared on TEDx, Al Jazeera, the University of San Francisco, Navis, Speakers Who Dare, Nas Dubai, Glide Memorial Church, The City of Cupertino, Los Altos Chamber of Commerce, Square, and Defy Ventures. In his spare time, LeRon enjoys mentoring African-American youth, teaching Creative Writing at the San Francisco County Jail, and backpacking around the world.

www.leronbarton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/leron-barton-cwna-2b700b1/ Facebook.com/LeRonLBarton

Sacha Thompson is the founder of The Equity Equation, LLC, a diversity coaching and consulting firm based in the Washington, DC area. With nearly 20 years of experience within the education, non-profit, and tech industries, Sacha has seen the challenges faced by executives with good intentions struggling to make decisions around diversity; where executives are motivated to do the ‘right thing’ regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) but may be hindered by their own biases and fears. She’s also seen and experienced the damage endured by Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) employees when they feel they are not centered/valued in their company’s DEI efforts.

Sacha’s work is about removing barriers or providing support in order to get to a place of equality. She helps executives and leaders have that meaningful dialogue and coach them to the necessary, long-term changes that develop institutional cultures of DEI. Sacha is a Certified Professional Diversity Coach and 4 Stages of Psychological Safety Certified Coach. Sacha received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology, concentrating on Cultural Diversity & Ethnicity and a Master’s in Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership from The College of William and Mary. She has also acquired her Masters of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University, where she focused on management and marketing.

Tara Robertson is an intersectional feminist who uses data and research to advocate for equality and inclusion. She brings over 12 years of experience leading change in open source technology communities, including 3 years leading Diversity and Inclusion at Mozilla. She now works with technology and engineering companies as a DEI consultant.

website: http://tararobertson.ca/

Twitter: @tararobertson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tararobertson/

Honorably discharged from the United States.Army following 12 years of service, Chiriga Moore, affectionately known as Zoe (pronounced ZOH) completed an M.S. in Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism and then started an event planning company in Oakland, CA. Learning that Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) were not prioritized in the meetings, events and tourism industry, she became an advocate to help spark dialogue and action in the areas of supplier diversity, organizational culture and diverse representation in leadership.

Initially, spearheading the formation of an Inclusion & Diversity committee with MPI’s Northern California Chapter, she decided to become a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP)® to deepen her knowledge and place the focus on equity as a strategy. Having dissolved her company, LB Alliance due to COVID-19, she became the co-founder of Moore Consulting Agency LLC along with her son Jourden Moore. Doing business as Grow with Zomo she seeks to support hospitality organizations assess the FIVE Cs:

Characteristics, Commitment, Capacity, Climate & Culture to develop EDI strategies that are measurable and sustainable.

As an independent Hospitality EDI Strategic Consultant, she engages leaders of organizations through her speaking, writing, educational courses and consulting. The outgoing co-chair for MPIs 2021 Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Committee, Zoe is committed to holding industry leaders accountable to their expressed commitment to effective change.

Zoe is a contributing writer to The Meeting Professional, Meetings Today, and her personal blog Unsolicited Advice. She resides in Marietta, GA with her 17 year old son, Jourden Moore of JEM Innovations. She loves homemade chocolate chip cookies, photography, and traveling.

Among their multitude of past positions and accomplishments, Vince and Chris are both former Culture Executives for large (10,000+) federal agencies. Over the past 9-years, their combined culture facilitation and assessment experience has amounted to over 5,000 culture sessions across more than 190 federal and private industry spaces. This includes the Charlottesville Race Riots, the aftermath of the Kavanaugh confirmation, the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, and several other high-profile culture challenges.

They are highly sought after for their ability to assess highly complicated and nuanced situations, specifically around culture and diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging. Additionally, they train and certify Culture and Diversity-to-Belonging Facilitators who are adept at exploring, understanding, and resolving sensitive workplace and societal matters.

Credentials:
Certified Diversity Executive (IDC)
Certified Master Facilitator (INIFAC)
Certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner (OKA)
Certified Coach (ICF)

Ashanti Martin is a veteran communications specialist whose work focuses on the intersection of communication, technology, and Black culture. In 2020, Ashanti wrote an article for the Sunday New York Times about LinkedIn that galvanized a movement to transform the workplace experience for Black and other marginalized communities. Her podcast, “EdUp Explained,” is centered on media literacy, critical thinking, and social justice. Ashanti is a native of Yonkers, N.Y., and holds a master’s degree in communication and media from the Rutgers School of Communication and Information. Over the course of her career, she has worked for The Record of Hackensack, N.J., Rutgers University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Wharton School.

Damian is a Business Operations & Excellence professional at Microsoft. Currently he serves as Business Manager Xbox Gaming Ecosystem, supporting Gaming Executives within the Xbox Organization to meet xbox’s most critical business goals. Prior to his current role in tech, Damian focused on Business Architecture and process improvement for a leading insurance provider and was a former athlete. What really motivates Damian is creating space, mentorship, and being an example for people who come from where he comes from. He strongly believes in the Jay Z quote “Everybody in the world is born with genius-level talent. Apply yourself to whatever you’re genius at and you can do anything in the world”

Damian holds both an MBA and B.A from Aurora University. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc and is a member of the 100 Black Men of Central Illinois. He lives in Seattle Wa, with his wife Andrea and daughter Dallas.

Google- Talent and Organizational Development Leader, Diversity Coach

Education & Certifications

● MBA, Strategy & Marketing, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
● BA, Social Thought & Analysis & French, Washington University Certifications
● Professional Diversity Coach
● Hudson Institute of Coaching
● International Coaching Federation, ACC

Rachel Kay is a talent and organizational development leader at Google and a certified professional diversity Coach. Currently she leads organizational development and culture strategy for a global technical organization of 14k people, owning location strategy, organizational health, leadership development and diversity, equity and inclusion. Prior to her current, role served as the Head of Product Localization Strategy, managing an operational budget of $53M and leading a team responsible for localizing 50+ Google products globally to ensure native user experiences. Rachel has also led enterprise-wide executive talent management processes, served as the learning and development consultant for Google’s technical organizations and managed multiple cross-functional leadership programs for senior executives.

What really makes Rachel tick is leveraging her background in learning and organizational development to drive equitable outcomes for all. Among Rachel’s proudest professional accomplishments is serving on the board of an internal organization with the goal of making the business unit a place where Black+ women thrive. In that role, her focus is on driving manager capability to create equitable and psychologically-safe teams for every employee. In her coaching and consulting practice, Rachel works with individuals and groups. She specializes in helping dominant group members lead with cultural awareness to drive equity in their organizations and working with members of historically excluded groups on defining what success looks like for them and how to meet their goals.

Rachel holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A in Social Thought and Analysis and French from Washington University. She is a Certified Professional Diversity Coach through the CoachDiversity Institute, a Hudson Institute certified executive coach and certified through the International Coaching Federation (ACC). Rachel lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children. When she’s not facilitating leadership, organizational development and coaching programs, you can find her baking challah with her kids, exercising, or reading with a cup of coffee in her hand while listening to some of her favorite jazz artists.

Leads a Quality Assurance team supporting Privacy and Compliance across the Meta Family of apps. A graduate of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership for Girls, she is passionate about empowering women, first-generation students, minorities in Tech, and HBCU students through intentional and infrastructural programming. Klaas is also an advocate for nurturing confidence and belonging in women in tech and engineering and has for the past year worked with Discover E to connect thousands of women around the world for uplifting conversations to help them persevere and thrive in engineering and technology careers through the Discover E monthly virtual speaker series - as a host and moderator of the Discover E Persist series.

Diya is a Global Diversity Equity Inclusion speaker, facilitator, consultant with 20 year’s experience in profit, non-profit, and tech. She worked at Amazon where she led CORE+ (Conversations on Race and Ethnicity), an annual internal conference for 1.3 million employees. Her work is focused on developing DEI programs, strategies, policies at scale. She has developed global work plans for 14 Employee Resource Groups and led courses on the Future of Work and How to Rebuild Workplaces from an Intersectional Lens. She is a proven subject matter expert and is known for big vision and tactical implementation. Diya has a life-long mission of increasing access and opportunity of people across race, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, accessibility, sexual orientation, social class, military, status, religion, age, and language in every professional industry. She worked as a DEI consultant in Canada, Japan, Singapore, Germany and the US. She was a DEI columnist for The Seattle Times, a board member of the Asians@Amazon global board and was appointed to the Seattle Women’s Commission in 2018.

Diya received her Bachelor of Journalism from Ryerson University and Masters of Education with a focus on Curriculum Development from the Comparative and International Development Education Centre at University of Toronto. She has published papers on Anti-Racism Curriculum and Multicultural Education.

Maurice Wiggins is a proven leader with expertise in human capital management, DEI, communications strategy, inclusive leadership, and organizational development. With 15+ years of experience in both the public and private sector and across multiple industries, Wiggins offers a unique perspective on leadership, vision, and communication. In addition to his thoughtful execution, Wiggins' passion for individual and collective growth has aided in building impactful people management initiatives and positioned him as a transitional leader recognized for helping companies grow from a crisis.

Maurice joined Google in 2020 as a Global Lead Diversity Business Partner supporting multiple Product Areas (P.A.) and the face of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team to the P.A. Maurice'sMaurice's role is to develop, elevate, and expand the DEI strategy within the P.A. In Maurice'sMaurice's professional capacity, he operates as a trusted advisor to senior executives and guides the P.A. on appropriate DEI. solutions at the global and regional levels.

Wiggins is a proud alumnus of Florida A&M University, where he earned his B.S. in Business Administration; and Columbia University, where he earned an executive M.P.A. in Advanced Management & Finance and an M.S. in Strategic Communications. Wiggins is also an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Candice Bristow has over 20 years of recruiting and human resources experience with a particular emphasis on equity, inclusion, and diversity (EID). She is currently the Director, EID for Expel, a managed security provider, delivering solutions that enhances workforce engagement, reduces biases in hiring processes, and creating a culture that welcomes everyone to do great work. She works in collaboration with executive leadership to develop and execute strategies to build connections, increase the dimensionality of diversity within our teams, and embed EID into all our employee programs.

Candice’s expertise spans the talent lifecycle from increasing access to opportunities for underrepresented groups through recruiting, retention, and creating space for communities to feel safe and included. She has successfully spearheaded the creation of inclusion statements, developed frameworks to create sustainable ERG groups, and implemented systems and processes that reduces biases.

Candice’s superpower lies in her cultural dexterity, giving her the ability to engage with anyone, have meaning dialogues, and assist in conflict resolution. She loves to mentor up and commers, plan events and social functions, and is a world traveler.

Candice attended the University of Virginia and holds a B.A. in English. She received her certification in Diversity and Inclusion and Executive Presences from Cornell. She is also the author of a TechCrunch article - Why DEI Programs are Failing. Outside of work, Candice also participates in and been a board member for two organizations: The Twelve Days of Christmas, Metro Chapter and The Girl Friends, Inc., Loudon County Chapter.

GM of North America, Lark

Dr. Kimberly Young-McLear currently serves as a senior advisor within Cyber Defense Education & Training (CDET) at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). As a tenured faculty member in higher education, cyber professional, and systems engineer, Kimberly maintains a wide and complex portfolio spanning cyber education, grants program oversight, external outreach, as well as, internal agency-wide workforce culture building. Kimberly, a former State of the Union guest of honor, is a recognized anti-bullying and anti-harassment policy expert who uses evidence-based research to promote justice and equity, including legislative advocacy on Capitol Hill. Kimberly leverages her multidisciplinary approach and original academic framework to systematically build a culture of equity and innovation whereby individuals, teams, and organizations can thrive. Kimberly, who is a senior Coast Guard officer on active-duty, is also actively engaged in her local community through volunteerism. She has numerous publications in peer-reviewed academic journals and has been invited to speak at national events on a wide range of cybersecurity and social justice topics. Kimberly has been featured in several outlets, including, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Forbes, and a cover issue of Glamour.

• 137,000 LinkedIn followers | 56 million views
• College Professor with more than ten years experience teaching American literature, Creative and Professional Writing, and Anti-Racism/DEI at undergraduate and graduate level.
• Director of Instructional Design and Innovation, with eight years of experience developing and deploying college online courses.
• Founder and course developer for Black History & Culture Academy a subscription-based, unlimited access, e-learning platform with 40+ self-paced courses on African history and literature, African-American history and literature, and Diversity, Equity, and inclusion LinkedIn Top Voice, Education - October 2020, Member of the Inaugural LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program - January 2022 Social Justice Advocate with CNN Op-Ed piece published November 2020, featured interview published in NY Times October 2020, Forbes Magazine interview published December 2020, TIME Magazine interview published October 2021, NBC Op-Ed piece published November, 2021
• Host of the Black Power Moves Podcast, part of the Ebony Covering Black America Podcast Network

Tina is passionate about ensuring voices are heard and people are seen. She is motivated by top-tier candidate experience during the recruitment phase and appreciates the opportunity to cultivate change in transforming work environments. Tina is a committed talent acquisition leader who possesses a winning blend of subject matter expertise, skill in global enterprise environments, and practical experience. Throughout her career, Tina has had the opportunity to build a formal talent acquisition function from ground up, leading the integration of employees, processes, and resources under a single governance structure.

Tina enjoys developing and implementing innovative solutions to people-related matters. She is an advocate for others, and self, related to microaggressions in the workplace and brings a consultative and educational approach to every conversation. Tina very much leads with a “people first” philosophy and is passionate about mentoring and developing people. She prides herself on asking the right questions to determine the best avenue to optimize people, solutions, and results.

Tina is currently a key member of CDK Global talent acquisition team where she supports talent needs across product & technology and corporate functions. She enjoys identifying top diverse talent and finding the right position for them that will help enrich their lives, allowing them to grow professionally and personally.

An HR professional who is capable of bringing transformational changes in the lives of the people around her through professional approach and personal touch, who can also be the driver in creating a culture of acceptance, empowerment and a vibrant community of people. My passion lies in understanding of human behavior and developing human potential. This passion makes me to learn new things and unlearn unwanted old things. I have pursued my Post Graduation in HR and Business Analytics during which my skills in Team Collaboration, Decision Making, Resilience and Project leadership have enhanced. Also, having worked in HR, my expertise and understanding with various industries like IT, EdTech, Banking have progressed.

Maithili Dandige is a Partner Group Product leader working in the Security org, and in Microsoft for 18 years. She is a mother to two wonderful boys ages 13 and 8. She has worked on several One Microsoft bets such as the Office trust center experiences, Coherent People card/API and Groups platform and experiences across M365 apps and services. Four and half years back she took on the role to lead the One Microsoft bet for Data Protection and Governance for Security and Compliance working across 20+ teams and scaling the products from incubations to millions for premium E5 users. She is known for taking customer driven approach working backwards to deliver on solutions that meet customer needs. She combines an experimentation and growth approach to driving usage and adoption to scale products from few hundred to millions. She enjoys product evangelism, and is a frequent public speaker across various forums with customers, analysts, and events. She is also an avid leader with Diversity and Inclusion focusing her efforts as an ally for diversity and minority in tech. Two years back, she certified as a professional life coach. Her program is called “worklifeunstuck” and is based on mindset coaching helping leaders cultivate emotional resilience, self-integrity, and self-confidence, to accelerate work and life goals tackling challenges like burnout, time scarcity, & imposter syndrome. She loves to write and share her thoughts and coaching via her newsletter on substack.

Priya Ramesh is an advocate for women in tech, women of color and a Forbes Diversity and Inclusion council member. She is currently the Vice President of Corporate Communications at Informatica and the Executive Sponsor of Somos Informatica, advocating to advance Latinas in Tech. As an immigrant woman of color who came to the U.S. with nothing but a graduate student scholarship, Priya has a first-hand experience of what it takes to break stereotypes and go the extra mile to earn a seat at the table. She has coached several eminent CEOs including women leaders from ethnic minorities on leadership communications which is critical to having a voice and having a positive impact on the organization, it’s people and society at-large. Priya has been recognized as Top 50 Women of Color in B2B Marketing by TopRank Marketing and she continues to be a mentor to many trying to find their voice as a leader.