Friday, February 24th
Black Tech Summit & Black New Venture Competition
Keynote Speakers
Carla Harris is a Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She was most recently a Vice Chairman responsible for increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the firm. She formerly headed the Emerging Manager Platform, the equity capital markets effort for the consumer and retail industries and was responsible for Equity Private Placements. In her 30+ year career, Ms. Harris has had extensive industry experiences in the technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial, and healthcare sectors. In August 2013, Carla Harris was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council.
For more than a decade, Ms. Harris was a senior member of the equity syndicate desk and executed such transactions as initial public offerings for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Ariba, Redback, the General Motors sub-IPO of Delphi Automotive, and the $3.2 Billion common stock transaction for Immunex Corporation, one of the largest biotechnology common stock transactions in U.S. history. Ms. Harris was named to Fortune Magazine’s list of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America”, Fortune’s Most Influential List, U. S. Bankers Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance (2009, 2010, 2011), Black Enterprise’s Top 75 Most Powerful Women in Business (2017), and “Top 75 African Americans on Wall Street”, and to Essence Magazine’s list of “The 50 Women Who are Shaping the World”, Ebony’s list of the Power 100 and “15 Corporate Women at the Top” and was named “Woman of the Year 2004” by the Harvard Black Men’s Forum and in 2011 by the Yale Black Men’s Forum.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Carla received an MBA, Second Year Honors from Harvard Business School and an AB in economics from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude. Carla has also received Honorary Doctorates of Laws, Humanities and Business from Marymount Manhattan College, Bloomfield College, Converse College, Jacksonville University, Simmons College, the College of New Rochelle, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Babson College and Fisk University, Wake Forest University and Felician University respectively. Carla Harris is actively involved in her community and heartily believes that “we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to someone else.”
She is the past Chair of the Board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation and of The Executive Leadership Council, and sits on the boards of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), The Sesame Workshop, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and is an active member of the St. Charles Gospelites of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and the Mark Howell Singers. She is a member of the board of overseers of Harvard University and of the board of directors of the Walmart Corporation, Cummins Corporation and MetLife. Ms. Harris was co-chair of the National Social Action Commission of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She has been named to the New Jersey Hall of Fame (2015) and has received the Bert King Award from the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association, the 2005 Women’s Professional Achievement Award from Harvard University, the Pierre Toussaint Medallion from the Office of Black Ministry of the Archdiocese of New York, the Women of Power Award given by the National Urban League, the Women of Influence Award from The Links, Incorporated and many other awards. In her other life, Carla is a singer who has sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theatre, and released 4 Gospel CDs:“O This is Christmas” (2021) “Unceasing Praise” (2011), “Joy Is Waiting”(2005), and her first CD entitled, “Carla’s First Christmas”(2000), was a bestseller on Amazon.com in New York and was featured on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather in his “American Dream” segment. She is also an internationally renowned public speaker and the author of the books, Strategize to Win (2014), Expect to Win (2009) (Hudson Press) and of Lead To Win (2022).
Carla Harris
Senior Client Manager
Morgan Stanley
Sevetri Wilson is the Founder and CEO of Resilia, a SaaS technology platform that helps nonprofit organizations increase capacity, and enables funders to scale impact and provide on-demand technical assistance to their partners. Headquartered in New Orleans with a second office in New York, Resilia was named to Venture Beat’s top startups to watch out for in 2019, and in 2020 named a Rising Star on the Forbes Cloud 100 List. Sevetri was named in Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders building world-changing companies and in PitchBook’s 27 leading Black founders and investor list in 2019. Sevetri’s second book, Resilient: How to Overcome Anything and Build a Million Dollar Business With or Without Capital was released in 2021 and became an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. In 2022, Resilia announced its Series B raise, making Sevetri one of few Black women in history to have raised $50M in venture funding.
Prior to Resilia, Sevetri founded Solid Ground Innovations, LLC., a nonprofit management and strategic communications agency. Sevetri is a 2010 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Public Service and the Jefferson Award, and her work was featured in the U.S. Senate report to the White House on Volunteerism in the U.S., under President Obama. Sevetri’s work and that of her clients has been featured in national publications such as USA Today, Time Magazine, and CNN. A graduate of Louisiana State University and Harvard University, she serves as a voice for communities as a Forbes contributor and has amassed a loyal following of over 200,000 across social media.
Sevetri Wilson
Founder & CEO
Resilia
Panelists & MOderators
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Esusu, the financial technology platform unleashing the power of data to bridge the racial wealth gap and dismantling credit barriers for low to medium-income households. In 2021, Esusu was named to the Forbes Fintech 50 Most Innovative Companies List and in 2022 raised $130 million at a $1 billion valuation. Prior to Esusu, Abbey founded Clean Water for Everyone, a global social venture providing affordable access to clean water for 250,000+ people in six countries. He also founded a data analytics company designed to gather machine-readable data on NGOs operating in Africa which was acquired in 2014. Previously, Abbey was a mergers and acquisitions consultant at PwC, where he worked on more than 20 buy and sell-side deals valued at over $50 billion. His early career covered politics, finance, and international development working with Accenture, European Commission, Goldman Sachs, and campaigning for President Obama.
Wemimo Abbey
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Esusu
As an inventor and investor, Dominick Ard’is is a lifelong student of people, culture and teams. He has designed and directed accelerators with the aim to transform the minds of early-stage founders for the past decade. Dominick has also developed innovative programming for ecosystems across America, including companies such as Apple and John Deere.
Starting his first company in 2012, and then consulting alongside a cadre of innovators for 5 of the Fortune 100 companies, his hunger for innovation was satiated when he started the ACT House, a b-corp that helps innovators find their identity, find their dream team, and accelerate their dreams into market. This is where Dominick invented the ACT Model - a proprietary team model and assessment to accelerate connection, collaboration, and creation amongst team, innovators, and founders.
Alongside a dynamic team of Architects, Creatives, and Techies, Dominick architected ACT House’s $5 million accelerator which has invested in 26 Black and Latino-led startups in the past 18 months, while serving as managing partner of ACT Venture’s a subsidiary of ACT House, INC.
Speaking on stages across domestic, international, and even within the metaverse, Dominick’s work has been celebrated for his models of diversity centered around ethnicity, expertise, and experience for organizations. His models of personal transformation exude long-lasting impact, all centered around the mantra of ‘getting 2% better’ everyday.
Dominick is a proud HBCU grad of Florida A&M University, and holds two graduate degrees from Florida State University. Always loving and enjoying the intersection of creativity and cross-cultural collaboration, Dominick is also a proud summer graduate of the #1 immersion school in the world, Middlebury Language Schools where he learned to speak Hebrew and Arabic, with French and Spanish on the horizon. Fundamentally, Dominick is provoked by the notion to love God, love people, and make everything you do memorable.
Dominick Ard’is
CEO
ACT House
Kenneth Chestnut was Global Head of Technology GTM Partners at Stripe where he is responsible for building the go to market technology and solutions partner business from the ground up. Prior to Stripe, he was Global Segment Lead at Amazon Web Services where he and his team defined and drove partner strategy across 14+ horizontal technology domains. Previously, Ken was responsible for building and scaling both the analytics and machine learning AWS partner ecosystems across hundreds of partners.
Prior to joining AWS, Kenneth defined and launched new SaaS and Cloud initiatives at Infor. As Vice President of Product Marketing at MarkLogic, he repositioned the company and its product to significantly increase market traction. He has held management and executive positions at several start-ups including Interlace Systems, a business intelligence and operational planning solution acquired by Oracle. Kenneth holds a Bachelor of Science from MIT, a Master of Science from Wayne State University, and a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Ken Chestnut
Global Head of Technology GTM Partnerships
Stripe
Daniel Acheampong is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Visible Hands, a venture capital firm with a virtual-first accelerator on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. At the earliest stages of company-building, Visible Hands provides meaningful funding, personalized support, and social capital, helping our founders build exceptional technology startups. Daniel oversees investment processes at Visible Hands as the firm has made 90 investments across multiple industries.
He received a dual Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School and Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to graduate school, Daniel was an associate at Summit Partners, a premier investment firm, where he managed the firm’s due diligence process to raise investment funds. Previously, he was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he supported senior management in supervising the New England Private Wealth Management business.
Daniel received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics in from Brandeis University, where he was a Posse Scholar and Gates Millennium Scholar. He is an Entrepreneur In Residence at MIT’s DesignX and Venture Advisor at Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale University. He is a national board member of The Posse Foundation.
Daniel Acheampong
Co-Founder & General Partner
Visible Hands
Maya is an Award-Winning Product Manager, Educator, Speaker, and Entrepreneur in New York City. An ex financial analyst turned web developer turned product manager, she’s spent the bulk of her career at the intersection of Fintech and EdTech leveraging her product, technical, and operating expertise. Currently, Maya is an MBA Candidate at Harvard Business School and is building Privy Photos, a blockchain-enabled platform to protect content from leaks and abuse. Maya is also the Co-Organizer of Blockchain NYC, the largest local meetup of blockchain enthusiasts in the New York Area (10K+ members) where she develops programming around Web3 Consumer Tech & Diversity & Access. Maya earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from New York University and holds professional certifications in Web Development, JavaScript, Python, Blockchain, and Cybersecurity. Distinguished fellowships include The Harvard Business School Arthur Rock Summer Fellowship and the Gitcoin Kernel Block Fellowship (Block 7).
May Brooks
Founder & CEO
Privy Photos
Damon Cox is currently the Head of Next Practice and Inclusive Growth at MassChallenge, one of the world’s largest business accelerators. He is responsible for identifying and supporting emerging technologies and working to ensure existing tech and emerging spaces are diverse and inclusive. Prior to joining MassChallenge, Damon served as the Assistant Secretary for Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Massachusetts. For 4 years he set the vision for the commonwealth’s innovation and tech efforts, most notably in FinTech, BioTech, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Robotics. Also during that time, he served as the President & CEO of The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center where he led the organization during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Cox oversaw that organization’s deployment of over $30mil in capital grants and grants to support new Covid testing solutions. Prior to that role, he reestablished The Boston Foundation’s economic development portfolio of investments focusing on workforce development, innovation, and economic mobility, where he steered capital and support to women and underrepresented minorities starting businesses. In addition, he led a joint effort with MassChallenge, to increase participant diversity, resulting in 30 women- and minority-led start-ups completing rigorous business training and mentorship. Damon held leadership roles at Boston Small Business Competition and Boston Rising, providing capital and technical assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs in Boston’s inner-city neighborhoods. Earlier in his career, Cox worked in the entertainment and music industry in New York City. Damon earned a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of North Florida.
DAMON COX
Head of Next Practice and Inclusive Growth
Mass Challenge
Yasmin Cruz Ferrine (fəˈrēen) (she/her/hers) is a General Partner and Co-Founder at Visible Hands (VH), a venture capital firm on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. At the earliest stages of company-building, VH provides meaningful funding, personalized support, and access to amazing networks through accelerator programming, helping founders build exceptional technology startups. Yasmin's responsibilities span capital raising and investment functions of the firm. Yasmin’s sector coverage includes fintech and family-tech.
Yasmin has 16 years of experience leading capital raising, investment strategies, and advising foundations. Yasmin’s career includes cross-sector experiences from the 2020 US presidential election campaign to Head of Growth and Strategy New England region at Brown Advisory to Director of Corporate Responsibility at John Hancock. Yasmin began her career as a buy-side small-cap equity analyst. Yasmin’s current board work includes the Mass FinTech Hub Advisory Board, All Raise Boston Chapter and Social Innovation Forum. Yasmin earned her MBA from Boston College and Bachelor of Science degree from Babson College.
Yasmin Cruz Ferrine
Co-Founder & General Partner
Visible Hands
Felecia is the CEO of Pharrell William’s Black Ambition Opportunity Fund. Felecia is an innovative powerhouse, personal transformation speaker, entrepreneur and author, who's work shapes the way individuals show up, are valued, and financially benefit from playing full out in the innovation economy. Companies like, Google, Spotify, Door Dash, Target, Samsung, and Etsy call on Felecia to help them empower their teams and shape their inclusive innovation strategies and empower their team to step into their Zone of Genius. Felecia has been featured on the NBC Today Show, MSNBC, The Cooking Channel, Wall Street Journal, and White House Champion of Change Honoree.
Felecia Hatcher
CEO
Black Ambition
Joe Hurd is a public and non-profit board director and early-stage investor. Currently, he is a Non-Executive Director of Trustpilot Group plc (LSE: TRST; Audit, Nominations, Trust & Transparency) and Hays plc (LSE: HAS; Audit, Nominations, Remuneration). Earlier, Joe was the Lead Independent Director of SilverBox Engaged Merger Corp I (Audit, Compensation) until its successful combination with Black Rifle Coffee Company in February, 2022 (NYSE: BRCC); and a Non-Executive Director of London-based GoCo Group plc (Remuneration, Nominations) from 2018 to 2021 when it was acquired by Future plc.
As an operating executive, Joe is the Operating Partner at SOSV, LLC, a $1B early-stage venture fund, where he leads strategy and business development efforts for the fund’s life sciences, deep tech hardware and mobile portfolio companies. He is also a Venture Partner for Good Growth Capital, a female-led venture fund; and advises innovative Silicon Valley-based pre-seed and seed stage startups on go-to-market strategy, revenue models, and international expansion through The Katama Group, LLC, with a particular emphasis on diverse founders.
Joe built his business career leading strategic business development, strategy and sales teams globally for Facebook, Gannett, and AOL/TimeWarner. During President Obama’s first term (2009-2012), he served as a senior political appointee in the U.S. Commerce Department, where he helped implement the National Export Initiative, a successful effort to double U.S. exports over five years. Active in his community, He is on the Board of Trustees for Menlo College (Development Committee), and the Computer History Museum (Audit Committee); and the American Swiss Foundation Board of Directors. Currently, he is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations (Membership Committee, Co-Chair of the Diversity Subcommittee), the Trilateral Commission, and the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Joe graduated from Harvard Law School (J.D.), Columbia University (Master of International Affairs), and Harvard College (A.B. cum laude, East Asian Studies / Government). He is a member of the New York Bar and a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Married with one daughter (16), two sons (13 & 6) and one Cavachon (1), Joe enjoys running, traveling (50 states; 62 countries), and reading historical biographies.
Joe Hurd
Operating Partner
SOSV
Dr Jameel Feshitan earned his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering at University of Missouri, Columbia in 2007, with a minor in mathematics, and attained a PhD in chemical engineering at Columbia University in New York City in 2012. He has 15 years’ experience performing research on ultrasound contrast agents known as microbubbles for diagnostic imaging, ultrasound targeted drug/gene delivery and oxygen delivery to treat hypoxia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. He helped pioneer a novel method to make the holy grail in microbubble engineering – stable monodisperse microbubbles which are optimized for precise, non-invasive and efficient anti-cancer drug/gene delivery in combination with medical ultrasound. In 2020, he founded the biotech startup, Advanced Microbubbles Inc, with the goal of clinical translation of the ultrasound triggered monodisperse microbubbles as the state-of-the-art drug/gene delivery platform to overcome the current challenges facing conventional drug delivery such as poor drug penetration to the disease region, terrible drug side-effects and poor survival outcomes. His startup’s platform will focus on treatment of various solid tumor cancers including pancreatic, liver, breast, colorectal cancer and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS etc.
Jameel Feshitan
Co-Founder & CEO
Advanced Microbubbles
Brian Hollins is Founder and Managing Partner of Collide Capital. Prior to Collide Capital, Brian spent six years working at Goldman Sachs across investment management, investment banking, and merchant banking. While at Goldman, he helped launch the Emerging Entrepreneurs Coverage group to extend resources and capital to early-stage founders and assisted in deploying over $100M of capital as a software investor for GS Growth Equity. Brian is a Founding Board Member of BLCK VC, the largest Black investor community in the US providing the access, education, and community Black investors need to accelerate their careers. Born and raised in DC, Brian was exposed to the art of deal negotiation as a caddy at local country clubs, which played a pivotal role in his ability to navigate the intricacies of cultures, languages, and people. He founded the Takeoff Institute, which equips Black undergraduate students with the resources and mentorship needed to launch successful young professional careers. Brian received his undergrad from Stanford University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a member of Class 26 of the Kauffman Fellowship and is a CFA Charterholder.
Brian Hollins
Founder & Managing Partner
Collide Capital
EBEHI IYOHA
Asst. Professor Of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
Songe LaRon is the Co-Founder and CEO of SQUIRE Technologies. Founded in 2015, SQUIRE created a new software category- barbershop business management- to reinvent the way daily operations are handled and give barbers and shop owners the tools they need for the business side of barbering. Today, SQUIRE delivers the only all-in-one barbershop management platform to over 3,000 barbershops— with 7.6 million clients having booked appointments through the platform.
LaRon spent the early part of his career as a corporate lawyer. And, while he experienced success, he yearned to put his energy towards the thing that mattered most to him. He wanted to help build wealth in his community in a way that would create a lasting impact.
His vision was to use his business experience to help elevate an industry that he knew played a critical role in all communities: the barbershop. He saw the opportunity for barbershops to be more efficient and effective in running their businesses and so he set out to build the tools they’d need to do it.
In partnership with Co-Founder and President, Dave Salvant, he has led SQUIRE to remarkable growth: the company is now valued at $750m after completing a Series D fundraising round led by Tiger Global- increasing its valuation by 30x in two years.
As CEO he believes it’s his job to be an innovator and uses that mindset to set strategic direction for the company. He is proud of the incredible growth SQUIRE has experienced taking on innovation for one of the oldest professions in the world, but is most proud to have built a company that truly respects the value and impact of barbershops on their communities while doing so.
When asked what he wants to be remembered for, LaRon says, “As someone who made a positive impact and changed people’s lives. Who really tried to go big for something and succeeded. As someone who gave it his all.”
LaRon earned his J.D. from Yale Law School and graduated Cum Laude from UCLA with a degree in Philosophy.
Songe LaRon
Co-Founder & CEO
Squire
KJ Miller is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mented, a multi-million dollar cosmetics brand celebrating the beauty of diversity. Since its 2017 launch Mented has achieved rapid growth by helping women feel seen and empowered with its inclusive shade range. KJ led the company in securing over $9M in venture
funding, and has been featured in several publications including Forbes, Fast Company and The New York Times for her authentic, relatable approach to entrepreneurship.
Prior to founding Mented KJ spent most of her career working in retail, with a two-year hiatus to attend Harvard Business School graduating in 2014. Her immense retail and product experience spans across functions including merchandising, assortment planning, and supply chain management.
Outside of Mented, KJ is a Lecturer at Yale School of Management and an angel investor with a focus on women-led consumer product companies. KJ has mentored and advised dozens of entrepreneurs, and her ground-breaking online course, Startup Starter Kit, levels the entrepreneurial playing field and makes the business world accessible to all.
KJ MIller
Co-Founder & CEO
Mented Cosmetics
Named among the “Top 10 influential African Women in Blockchain” and featured on “10 women who used crypto to make a difference in 2021” by Cointelegraph, Olayinka Odeniran is a recognized educator, speaker, and advisor. She has 16+ years of experience in compliance helping financial firms navigate through domestic and international regulations. Olayinka is a highly respected compliance, cybersecurity and risk management expert. She is the founder and chairwoman of Black Women Blockchain Council, a benefit organization that educates the African diaspora about blockchain, and creates opportunities for black women in the blockchain ecosystem. Previously, Olayinka oversaw the regulatory and compliance framework for a global corporate governance and responsible investment firm in her role as the Chief Compliance Officer. In 2019 she started her own cybersecurity firm CybSecWatch which provides compliance, infosec educational tools and cybersecurity consulting to the financial industry. She holds a BA from Boston University, and M.S. in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from University of Maryland Global Campus.
Olayinka Odeniran
Founder/CEO
Black Women Blockchain Council
Rotimi Opeke is a product manager with over 5 years of experience in the tech industry. He has a strong track record of successfully launching and scaling products, building cross-functional teams, and driving growth.
In his current role as a product manager at Stripe, Rotimi is responsible for the development and execution of the product strategy for their Cards payments platform, meeting the needs of both startups and corporations at scale. He has a deep understanding of his customers' needs and is skilled at gathering and synthesizing customer feedback to inform product decisions.
Prior to joining Stripe, Rotimi held product management positions at Meta, where he played a key role in the launch and growth of both consumer payments and AI products.
Rotimi holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Stanford University. In his spare time, he looks to help others break into the space and avoid pitfalls commonly made in the earliest stages of being a product manager (he's made a lot of them).
Rotimi Opeke
Product Manager
Stripe
Stephanie is a Lead Product Manager with BCG DV New York. She has extensive technical expertise as a Software Engineer for VR & wearables as well as in Product Management. At BCG DV, Stephanie has experience leading teams within the Public Sector, Healthcare, and IG practice areas building out 10+ ventures for our corporate partners.
Stephanie Reaves
Lead Product Manager
BCG Digital Ventures
Danielle oversees the product roadmap, development, and technical support for LINGO, a STEM Education company that teaches about the fundamentals of coding through project-based learning. Danielle is part of the founding team of LINGO, but prior to business school, she worked for the U.S Federal Government. She started her career as an embedded software developer which is when she fell in love with what it's like to create technology that has an impact. She then went on to manage a portfolio of multimillion-dollar technology development contracts that ranged from strategic R&D to mission-critical system delivery. While in business school she served as a HBS Career and Professional Development Peer Advisor for Product Management and interned at Google as a Product Manager. Danielle is a graduate of Harvard Business School and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University.
Danielle Regis
Director of Product Management
Lingo
Cornell Scarborough is from New York. He graduated from the City University of New York in 2011, where he studied art and design. His interest in sneakers, and his entrepreneurial spirit, spilled over into a career of selling sneakers and streetwear. After being introduced to StockX in 2017, he was able to scale his business, and leave his traditional job for an entrepreneurial lifestyle. With this new level of freedom, Cornell likes to create art and travel with family and friends. His mission is to help others reach financial freedom through entrepreneurship.
CORNELL SCARBOROUGH
Power Seller
StockX
Vernon Simms is an entrepreneur, and serves as the CEO of Hybrid Base. Vernon is considered one of the leading resellers in sneaker culture. Known as "Sizzle" he is described as one of the most successful online ecommerce beings in the world - he recognizes supply and demand promptly to help others understand how to leverage consumer behavior.
Whether its 3rd party apps like eBay, StockX, GOAT, in person sales or wholesale distribution, Vernon understands how to bring retail arbitrage to the forefront.
Vernon Simms
CEO
Hybrid Base
Kimberly Smith is Chief Capital Formation Officer at Techstars, in this capacity she is responsible for the firm's fundraising and investor relations activities as well as new business development.
Previously, Kimberly was a Partner/Director of Marketing and Investor Relations at Owl Creek Asset Management, L.P. Where she was responsible for managing relationships with Owl Creek’s investors as well as forging new relationships with prospective investors. Additionally, Kimberly was a member of the Owl Creek Risk Management Committee. Prior to joining Owl Creek, she was in Client Service at Davidson Kempner Capital Management, LLC where she was responsible for maintaining and developing relationships with institutional investors, high net worth investors, fund of funds and investment advisors. Prior to joining Davidson Kempner, Kimberly was an Assistant Vice President at ABNAMRO Securities Inc., Global Futures Group, where she worked on the global futures marketing effort in addition to trading energy, coffee, sugar and cocoa. She began her career at Ziff Brothers Investments.
Kimberly received her M.B.A. from Fordham University and her B.A. from Middlebury College. Kimberly is the Chair of the Board of Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. She is also a trustee of the Bridge Golf Foundation and the Group for the East End. Additionally, Kimberly is on the advisory board of MeshEd, an EdTech company based in New York City.
Kimberly Smith
Chief Capital Formation Officer
Tech Stars
Osahon Ojeaga is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aja Labs, a materials engineering company supporting the consumer beauty and apparel industries. Named after a Nigerian spirit of the forest, Aja Labs strives to replace harmful plastics with plant-based fibers. Aja Labs is the brainchild of Osahon’s passion for contributing to the health and wellness of our planet and each other. Armed with a degree in Consumer Sciences from Baylor University, she has an uncanny ability to build and foster long, meaningful relationships between the customer base and within her organization.
Before Aja Labs, Osahon spent four years in the heart of Silicon Valley executing comprehensive strategies to exceed sales goals, drive profitability, and deliver resounding results at a number of venture-backed start-ups. By leveraging her experience in the industry, she connected with venture partners and influential individuals to seek out multiple forms of support, including capital investment, mentorship, and professional development. Osahon is one in a small circle of Black women founders who are part of the multi-million dollar club for funding raised in 2021 and 2022 for their ventures, a list that includes Rihanna and her Savage x Fenty line.
Osahon Ojeaga
Founder & CEO
Aja Labs
Alonzo Page is currently the Head of Global Consumer Strategy at Peloton. A former consultant at Bain & Company, Alonzo is a results-oriented strategy executive with demonstrated success building dynamic teams and leading consumer-centric strategies for category-defining products. Alonzo is currently pursuing his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Columbia Business School. He attended Yale University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in English with a Concentration in Writing. Alonzo is passionate about consumer products at the intersection of technology and culture.
Alonzo Page
Head of Global Consumer Strategy
Peloton
Ashley Reid is a second year MBA Student at Harvard Business School passionate about technology, public policy, and social impact. Born in Chicago, Ashley started her career volunteering for political campaigns and interning in local and national government, before pivoting into the tech industry. Prior to business school, Ashley worked on a variety of marketing teams at Facebook (Meta) and Google. Most recently, Ashley was a product marketing manager at Google focusing on community engagement and social impact. She also worked closely with the policy team on programming to connect the dots between racial justice, civil/human rights, and tech policy. While at HBS, Ashley has interned with Female Founders Fund, a seed stage venture fund that invests exclusively in female-founded companies; Goodie Nation, a nonprofit and community organization for diverse founders and investors; and Bain & Company Management Consulting in the social and public sector practice. After graduation, Ashley hopes to continue working at the intersection of corporate social responsibility and accessibility in the tech industry. Ashley holds a B.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Spelman College. She now lives in Boston, MA.
Ashley Reid
MBA Candidate
Harvard Business School
Alex Sambvani
Co-Founder and CEO
Slang.ai
A Forward-thinking Techprenuer specializing in the design, development, and scaling of technology-enabled platforms with a special interest in the field of B2B Services and Last Mile Delivery. Mesongo has spent the last 5 years building e-commerce and banking solutions for neighbourhood stores who contribute about 80% of retail transactions in Africa.
Mesongo Sibuti
Chief Technical and Innovation Officer
Marketforce
Tyler, a native of Georgia, started her career off at the National Basketball Association in their Global Partnerships group. In this role she managed relationships with large brands focused on executing marketing and merchandising partnerships with the league. In 2018, she attended Harvard Business School where she spent her time learning about the tech and entrepreneurship sector. The highlight of her experience was co-founding the African-American Student Unions Black New Venture Competition and Tech Master series, which provides non-dilutive funds for Black, early stage entrepreneurs. After business school she worked as a Product Marketing Manager for Meta's AR Commerce and Facebook Live teams. She currently works as a Product Manager at Amazon for the Amazon Shopping video team where she leads the team's outbound channel efforts.
Tyler Simpson
Senior Product Manager
Amazon
Vanessa is a senior marketer and creative, always interested in finding new ways to shine a light on different cultures and give a spotlight to traditionally overlooked communities. She currently does this through her role as Senior Creative Marketing Manager at Prime Video / Amazon Studios, leading the rollout of Prime Video's first evergreen Black audience marketing campaign, Culture Rated. She has worked in the tech industry for her entire career, starting on the Google sales team, before transitioning to the Google marketing team across teams like YouTube and Google's internal startup incubator, Area 120. After Google she worked at Square and Meta before landing in her role at Amazon. On the side, she also works as a career coach/strategist for underrepresented communities. You can check her out at @herabundantcareer.
Vanessa Williams
Senior Creative Marketing Manager
Prime Video & Amazon Studios
Auriel Wright is a Product Manager in Google Research and a Product Mentor(PM) at Google for Startups. Before graduating with a Computer Science degree from Harvard, Auriel founded her own startup, StrattyX, through Harvard's Innovation Lab. Beyond her core role as an Machine Learning PM, Auriel is a mentor for various Startups and dedicates her time to supporting young tech professionals and entrepreneurs through their journeys, teaching CS workshops for several universities, orchestrating founder dinners and connecting CS majors through happy hours.
Auriel Wright
Product Manager
Neil Wusu has spent the past 5 years at Spotify where he currently serves as Director of Premium Subscription Strategy. In this role he works to identify, launch, and scale new Premium subscription plans aimed at better monetizing Premium subscribers and improving Spotify’s margin in our most developed markets. Prior to his current role Neil spent over 3 years as the Global Head of Spotify’s Premium Student plan. Neil graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School in 2015 and with a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in 2010. Neil also served as Co-President of the Harvard Business School African American Student Union Class of 2015.
Neil Wusu
Director, Premium Subscription Strategy
Spotify
Black New Venture Competition Judges
Brian Dixon is one of the first and youngest African-American Partners at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He is committed to making sure entrepreneurs of all backgrounds have access to advice and capital in order to make their business succeed. For the past ten years, he has worked his way up from intern to Partner at Kapor Capital.Brian is a Kauffman Fellow, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) Fellow, and two-time tech startup founder. Brian has an MBA from F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from Northeastern University.
To-date, Brian has shared his investment experience on over 50 stages, including TechCrunch Disrupt, SXSW, and SOCAP. He has also been featured on NPR and has earned several recognitions, including being named one of Business Insider’s 46 Most Important African Americans in Technology.
Brian Dixon
Founder & Managing Partner
Kapor Capital
Mr. Nasir C. Qadree is Founder and Managing Partner at Zeal Capital Partners, an inclusive investment vehicle partnering with diverse management teams building tech enabled focus on narrowing the Wealth and Skills gaps. In his role he defines the fund's focus, leads investment activities, and manages post-investment value creation strategies and support mechanisms for portfolio companies. Prior to Zeal, he served as the Associate Director for AT&T's $400 million Aspire Social Investment Fund, where he oversaw direct investments in Education/Employment Technology companies, led the tech giant's investment readiness program, and managed partnerships with national accelerators across the US. Prior to AT&T, he led Village Capital's US Economic Opportunity Portfolio and served as Global Head of Education. At Village Capital, he evaluated early stage businesses in Education, Health, and Financial Services and developed investment theses across the three sectors. He began his career in the public markets, at Goldman Sachs and State Street Corporation. Today, Nasir is a Kauffman Fellow Class 26. He serves on the board of LearnFresh Education, the official education nonprofit for the NBA. He is committed to completing 51 full marathons, in all 50 states and D.C. having already completed 19 to raise $1 million in scholarship funding for first generation college students. In 2018, Washington Business Journal recognized his contributions to his industry and community by naming him a 40 under 40 recipient. The Atlanta native resides in the Woodridge community in NE Washington, DC and is a proud Hampton University Pirate.
Nasir Qadree
Founder & Managing Partner
Zeal Capital Partners
Dave Salvant is the Co-Founder and President of SQUIRE Technologies, the premier all-in-one barbershop management platform. Since its inception in 2015, SQUIRE has reinvented the concept of barbershop community and turned daily operations on its head.
Salvant’s vision was this: to create a solution to a problem that he observed since childhood; a way for getting haircuts to become seamless for the client and barbershops to become more efficient in running their businesses.
He believes that technology can genuinely help improve lives and that SQUIRE’S most important impact is on helping local communities. By reducing the amount of time spent on back office, administrative, and daily operational tasks through using SQUIRE’s technology, the often family or independently owned barbershop businesses have more time to spend with their own families and in service to their communities.
In partnership with Co-Founder and CEO, Songe LaRon, he has led SQUIRE to remarkable growth: the company is now valued at $750m after completing a Series D fundraising round led by Tiger Global- tripling its valuation in just under two years.
As President of a growing company that has seen incredible success, he also believes that failure is necessary in order to succeed, “People fail in projects, in school, in work, but the ability to rebound and learn from those failures is a critical part of what makes someone successful. There are many examples of folks failing, but when you fail, it makes the triumph so much more memorable.”
Salvant is a graduate of the University at Albany, with a background in finance. He’s also a University of Wisconsin Consortium fellow.
DAVE SALVANT
Co-founder & President
Squire
Jillian Williams
Partner
Cowboy Ventures
Nicole DeTommaso
Senior Associate
Harlem Capital
Olamide Olowe is a recent graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles where she was a pre-Med student and received a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in Race, Ethnicity, and Politics and a minor in Entrepreneurship. In 2015, Olamide co-founded the beauty brand SheaGIRL, in partnership with SheaMoisture. Sundial Brands, parent company of SheaGIRL, was later acquired by Unilever in 2017. Currently, Olamide is the founder and CEO of Topicals, a skincare company transforming the way people feel about skin through effective products for eczema and hyperpigmentation. Olamide is passionate about harnessing the power of culture, technology, and science to improve the relationship between women of color and the beauty industry. She has received notable recognition from Harvard Business School, Google, the PAC12, and the UCLA Alumni Association.
Olamide Olowe
Founder & CEO
Topicals
Dakotah Rice is the Founder and CEO of Poolit – an alternative asset distribution platform that structures both investment and software products for mass affluent consumers and the RIAs that serve them. Poolit features top managers like Coatue, Greycroft, and Kohlberg and is backed by Harlem Capital, David Rubenstien, and Thomas Laffont. Prior to Poolit, Dakotah was an investment analyst at Coatue Management covering companies across the internet, media, and telecommunications sectors. Earlier in his career, he worked as an investor at The Carlyle Group and as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Rice graduated from Brown University in 2016 with a Bachelors in Political Science and is currently on a leave of absence from pursuing his Masters in Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He sits on the Board of Directors for BUILD NYC and on the junior boards of both Teach for America New York and Breakthrough Greater Boston.
Dakotah Rice
Founder & CEO
Poolit
McKeever “MAC” Conwell
Founder & Managing Partner
Rare Breed Ventures
Kwesi Acquay
Principal
Redpoint Ventures
Chris Wallace
Angel Investor
SATURDAY, FEBruary 25th
H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference
Keynote Speakers
Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Allen Media Group in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Charleston, SC. Allen Media Group owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO TELEVISION NETWORK, THIS TV, and PATTRN. Allen Media Group also owns the streaming platforms HBCU GO, SPORTS.TV, THEGRIO, THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP, COMEDY.TV and LOCAL NOW--the free-streaming AVOD service powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 70 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Allen Media Group provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, and multimedia digital. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.
Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is a full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company specializing in wide release commercial content. ESMP released 2017's highest-grossing independent movie, the shark thriller 47 METERS DOWN, which grossed over $44.3 million. In 2018, ESMP also released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Western HOSTILES, the historic mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK and the sequel to 47 METERS DOWN, 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED. The digital distribution unit of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.
In 2016, Allen Media Group purchased The Grio, a highly-rated digital video-centric news community platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets. The Grio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles and opinion pieces on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business and entertainment. Originally launched in 2009, the platform was then purchased by NBC News in 2010. The digital platform remains focused on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than 100 million annual visitors.
Byron Allen
Founder & CEO
Allen Media Group
Tawan W. Davis is founding partner and CEO of The Steinbridge Group. Steinbridge has structured and executed over $2.2 billion of institutional investments and is currently focused on developing nearly $1 billion of high-quality residential homes for working families in America’s major metros. Davis’ leadership combines deep training and experience in finance and economics with a prolific social activism. He began his career as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and was later a real estate private equity investor with Prudential Financial, leading and managing investments both in Europe and the United States.
Davis later served as Vice President and Head of Public-Private Partnerships in the administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and as CIO of a $5 billion national real estate development firm.
Forbes Magazine, the Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg News among others have recognized Davis as one of America’s emerging business, economic, and social leaders.
In addition to leading Steinbridge, Davis is also an Adjunct Professor of Real Estate at New York University (NYU). He has served on the boards of Harlem Hospital, the New York Urban League, the New Horizons Children’s Advocacy Group, and was appointed to the New York Utility Board by Mayor DeBlasio. Tawan Davis earned his Bachelor’s degree with honors from Georgetown University, a Masters of Sciences degree from England’s Oxford University and an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School.
Tawan Davis
Founding Partner & CEO
The Steinbridge Group
Jay is the Vice President for Investments and New Ventures at Combs Enterprises, the portfolio of companies and investments owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs. In Jay’s role, he invests in early-stage companies, incubates & launches new businesses, and strategically acquires businesses.
Prior to joining Combs Enterprises, Jay led growth strategy and transformation projects at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He has also previously worked in finance and began his career at a middle and high school teacher in New York City with Teach for America.
Jay founded FuelGood Protein, a health & wellness company, and Civitas, a govtech platform. He invests and advises early-stage companies in the consumer, healthcare, fintech, and arts spaces.
Jay is based in Los Angeles with his wife and two young children. Jay is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Kennedy School, and The Wharton School.
Jay Lundy
Vice President, Investments & New Ventures
Combs Enterprises
Telisa was named enterprise president in November 2022. In this role, she directs strategy and operations for product, marketing, claims and all business units for both the agency and direct sides of American Family Insurance Group companies which include American Family, Homesite, The General, CONNECT powered by American Family and Main Street America. Previously, Telisa served as president of American Family Direct since July 2021, with oversight of the organization’s direct-to-consumer companies – Homesite, The General and CONNECT.
Prior to that role, she served as chief operating officer of American Family’s agency business from 2019, with primary accountability for the personal, commercial, and life lines of business, as well as the sales and claims operations.
Telisa joined American Family in 2009 as advertising director in the Marketing Division and was promoted to vice president of Marketing in 2013 and chief marketing officer in 2016. In her Marketing roles, Telisa oversaw all brand, customer and marketing activities for the company, including launching the award-winning “Dreams” campaign in 2011 and its numerous extensions. She also introduced the concept of inspirational brand ambassadors to serve as “dream champions.” Prior to joining American Family, she served in sales, marketing and general-management leadership positions at several companies, including Ford Motor Company and Burger King.
Telisa is a graduate of the University of Illinois and earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business. She currently serves on the board of Directors for the Deluxe Corporation, a payments and business services public company.
Telisa Yancy
President
American Family Insurance
Tarik A. Brooks is a seasoned executive with more than 22 years of experience driving large scale business transformations across several industry sectors including hospitality, spirits, and media. As the President of Combs Enterprises, Brooks oversees all business operations and investments owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs. This diverse portfolio includes ventures in spirits (Ciroc Vodka and DeLeon Tequila), media (REVOLT TV), music (Bad Boy Records and Love Records), consumer packaged goods (AquaHydrate), education (Capital Preparatory Schools) and more. Brooks also leads all new business development activity, including the launch of Our Fair Share, a platform that helped minority owned businesses access capital through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In this role, Brooks leads transformations across the portfolio, manages a team of business unit leaders and serves as Combs’s conduit to a broad set of stakeholders. Brooks serves on the boards of REVOLT, DeLeon Tequila, AquaHydrate and Capital Prep Harlem.
Prior to Combs Enterprises, Brooks was the Chief Operating Officer of the Account Management and Trading department at Bridgewater Associates, a global investment management firm with approximately $160 billion under management. He was responsible for building and managing the department’s Program Management Office, overseeing the budgets, and leading long-term planning. Brooks was previously the Executive Vice President at RLJ Companies, a portfolio of companies led by investor Robert L. Johnson, where he led the development of several businesses including gaming/nightlife ventures in the Caribbean and the completion of RLJ Kendeja, a resort hotel in Monrovia, Liberia. Throughout his career, Brooks has represented companies in a variety of transactions, including acquisitions and capital raises, led major strategic initiatives, and oversaw compliance in highly regulated industries.
Brooks is a graduate of Howard University and Harvard Business School. He lives in Miami with his wife and two children.
Tarik Brooks
President
Combs Enterprises
Mr. Lewis serves as President of Harbor Bankshares Corporation (OTC: HRBK) and its principal subsidiary, The Harbor Bank of Maryland, a Baltimore, Maryland-based Minority Depository Institution (“MDI”) and Community Development Financial Institution (“CDFI”). His portfolio includes affiliates: The Harbor Bank of Maryland Community Development Corporation, Harbor Financial Services, Harbor Bankshares Capital Management SSBIC and Harbor Bankshares Corporation New Markets Tax Credit CDE.
Mr. Lewis’ work at Harbor includes creating and implementing social impact programs such as Our Fair Share (with Combs Enterprises) and the Minority Pre-seed Venture Capital Fund (with Maryland TEDCO), serving as launch partner for the Harbor Plex bank account (with Google), creating the Emerging Developer Program and a 6,000sf co-working space, and distributing the Empower Shares Money Market Fund (with JP Morgan Chase Asset Management), a $1.5B social impact investment share class. He formerly served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief of Staff for Bank Product Distribution at Merrill Lynch and as an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston and Fleet Financial Group.
He serves as Trustee and Investment Committee Chairman of the Maryland Teachers and State Employees Supplemental Retirement Plans, Trustee and Vice Chairman of Baltimore City Community College, a designated Minority Serving Institution, and Trustee of the Severn School. He is a member of the Greater Washington Partnership’s Inclusive Growth Committee, CFA Institute, Young President’s Organization, Real Estate Executive Council, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Mr. Lewis received his B.S. from Cornell University where he was an INROADS Scholar and M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration where he was a Robert Toigo Fellow.
John lewis
CEO
Harbor Bank of Maryland
Christopher O.H. Williams is a global executive with 25+ years’ experience leading transformational enterprise change at some of the world’s best-known sport and lifestyle fashion companies and consumer brands.
He is currently the Founder and Principal of Custament Partners LLC, an impact advisory firm that caters to supporting disruptor and challenger brands, organizations, and leaders. He is also Board Director of Reach University, a pioneer of apprenticeship-based degrees in teaching and Chair of the Board of Enda Athletic, a private sportswear brand inspired by Kenyan long-distance runners.
Previously, he was the 1st President and a Board Director of African Leadership University (1,500 students), founded to create Africa’s next generation of consequential leaders, with responsibility for the undergraduate campuses in Mauritius and Rwanda and the graduate School of Business in Rwanda.
Christopher retired from active corporate work in 2018. His most recent executive experience includes senior leadership roles at adidas Group, helping to drive the company’s 2015 Creating the New strategy: as Senior Vice President Global Sales Strategy for adidas Group, Senior Vice President Sales Strategy & Business Development for adidas Europe, and Vice President Commercial Planning and Development for adidas Group. His responsibilities included the development and implementation of commercial and regional strategies for the brand, as well as the Global Head of adidas Key Cities (Paris, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, New York City, Los Angeles), Global Co-Head of Brand Leadership, adidas’ new operating model, and Head of Europe Category Specialty Sales and Sales Operations.
Prior to adidas he was Vice President Strategy & Growth Platforms for VF Corporation’s Jeanswear business unit in the years leading to its spin-off as an independent public company, Kontoor Brands. In this role, Christopher led brand, commercialization, and innovation strategy as well as Consumer Insights, Licensing and Ecommerce for the flagship denim brands Lee and Wrangler.
Christopher spent 8 years at Nike Inc. where his roles included Global Head of Strategy Nike Brand Global Operations, Head of Strategy Nike USA Footwear, and Country Manager/Commercial Director for Nike Malaysia. His responsibilities included the global geographic and marketplace strategies for the Nike brand during its seminal strategic shift to Category Offense and Marketplace Transformation in 2006. He also served as Co-Chair for the company’s Black Employee Network (BEN) affinity group.
Before Nike, Christopher spent 4 years at Gap Inc. as Manager of Strategy for the Old Navy brand, where he led a number of new market, seasonal execution, consumer, product and supply chain initiatives, and Senior Treasury Analyst in Corporate Finance, where he was responsible to execute a $1 billion share buyback plan and lead real estate acquisition and other capital structure initiatives.
He started his professional career in Investment Banking in Analyst and Associate roles at Goldman Sachs & Co. and Lehman Brothers Inc., in Global Convertibles trading as well as in Corporate Finance (equity/debt financing and mergers & acquisitions) for consumer products/industrial, food/beverage/restaurant, technology, and communications/media/entertainment clients.
Other Activities
He is a former Executive-in-Residence at both ALU and European School of Management and Technology (ESMT Berlin) and pursues a passion for brand building, the consumer experience, international management, teaching, and developing people. He sits on the advisory boards of Mizizi African Consumer Holdings, a U.S.-based house of African brands, Pacific University College of Business and Emory & Henry School of Business. He is also a member of both the National Association of Corporate Directors and Private Directors Association. He regularly writes, lectures, and gives keynote speeches to audiences on the topics of Brand Management, Systems Thinking, Multi-Cultural Experience, Consequential Leadership and Courage.
Education
Christopher earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts and a BA in Economics from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude and Omicron Delta Epsilon Economics honors.
Personal and Family
Christopher enjoys travelling, painting, and writing. He has lived and worked in 13 cities across the United States, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Today, he, his wife, and two young children live in Denver, Colorado.
Christopher O.H. Williams
Founder and Principal
Custament Partners
Panelists & Moderators
Beverly Anderson has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry and became the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BECU in December 2022. As CEO of the fourth largest credit union in the United States, she is responsible for all aspects of leading an organization with more than 1.3 million members and $30.2 billion in assets. Beverly’s core areas of focus include strategy development and sustainable growth, overseeing daily operational activities, and fostering BECU’s culture of promoting the financial well-being of its members and communities.
Prior to BECU, Beverly most recently served as President of Global Consumer Solutions at Equifax, leading a team of 2,000 employees across product, marketing, and operations for the consumer credit reporting agency in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Previously, Beverly led in executive roles defining and executing growth strategies at Wells Fargo and American Express.
Beverly’s career and leadership recognitions include American Banker’s “23 People Who Will Matter in Banking in 2023,” Black Enterprise’s “Most Powerful Women in Corporate America,” CardLinx’s “Top 20 Women in Digital Commerce,” and the Kenneth A. Powell Award for Professional Achievement from the Harvard Business School African-American Alumni Association.
Beyond the office, Beverly is dedicated to giving back to her community, serving on the boards of Expedia Group, Accion, Sword Health, and the Harvard Business School African-American Alumni Association. She has also served as chairperson of the Card Policy Council of the American Bankers Association and board chair of the Council of Urban Professionals.
Beverly holds a Master of Business Administration with distinction from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in business from Florida A&M University.
Beverly anderson
President and CEO
BECU
Based in Spencer Stuart’s Chicago office, John Burt is a consultant in the firm’s global Consumer Practice. His lengthy experience as an adviser on leadership and diversity with a professional arc that’s included CFO of a $2 billion business unit and global import/export trade, management consultant, diversity and inclusion and entrepreneurship as a co-founder of an advisory firm. As a trusted adviser to organizations and individuals, John has a track record of problem solving and execution, talent engagement, and leadership development and recruitment.
Decades of expertise finding and guiding leaders
Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, John was CEO of the JumpStart Advisory Group, a talent pipeline and diversity advisory firm that he co-founded, and shaped JumpStart’s focus on Fortune 500 and top tier academic institutional client relationships across consumer goods, professional services, financial services, private equity, technology and other industries.
Earlier, he was director of diversity at the Boston Consulting Group, where he was responsible for recruiting as well as integration to onboarding, professional development and retention processes across 13 US offices. Engagement of diverse talent included a local strategy as well as annual retreat with participation by the firm CEO and other leaders.
In addition, John was a management consultant at Booz Allen in New York and spent more than seven years as part of the finance organization at Eli Lilly, with increasing responsibility in each role.
John holds a B.S. in finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. John is a member of the Dean’s Council at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and is a board member of the Oaks Academy.
john burt
Executive Search and Leadership Advisor
Spencer Stuart
Jason R. Crain is the President of Slutty Vegan, Inc. which includes 3 vegan concepts: Slutty Vegan Atl, Dinkies and Bar Vegan Atl. Previously, he was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Amazon.com, where he built innovative visual search and augmented reality products for mobile online shopping. Jason also Co-founded & served as Chief Operating Officer of Partpic, Inc., a VC backed visual search and machine learning startup focused on the MRO/hardware industry. In 2016 it was succesfully acquired by Amazon.com. He also held leadership roles at Shazam, which was acquired by Apple, and Google, Inc. in NYC.
Jason works to encourage entrepreneurship and to decrease the disparity gaps surrounding technology and education. He is currently the Founding Chairman of ScholarMade Charter Schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, and serves as a startup advisor/investor to a number of small companies.
Jason graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Morehouse College, where he earned degrees in Spanish and Business: Marketing and pledged as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He earned his MBA from Kellogg School of Management in 2019. Jason was born and raised in Kansas City, MO. but currently lives in Atlanta, GA.
jason crain
President
Slutty Vegan
Yasmin Cruz Ferrine (fəˈrēen) (she/her/hers) is a General Partner and Co-Founder at Visible Hands (VH), a venture capital firm on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. At the earliest stages of company-building, VH provides meaningful funding, personalized support, and access to amazing networks through accelerator programming, helping founders build exceptional technology startups. Yasmin's responsibilities span capital raising and investment functions of the firm. Yasmin’s sector coverage includes fintech and family-tech.
Yasmin has 16 years of experience leading capital raising, investment strategies, and advising foundations. Yasmin’s career includes cross-sector experiences from the 2020 US presidential election campaign to Head of Growth and Strategy New England region at Brown Advisory to Director of Corporate Responsibility at John Hancock. Yasmin began her career as a buy-side small-cap equity analyst. Yasmin’s current board work includes the Mass FinTech Hub Advisory Board, All Raise Boston Chapter and Social Innovation Forum. Yasmin earned her MBA from Boston College and Bachelor of Science degree from Babson College.
Yasmin Cruz Ferrine
General Partner and Co-Founder
Visible Hands
Dan is a Partner at Flare Capital Partners, where he has led investments into and sits on the Boards of Somatus, Eden Health, Oui Health, Vita/Vytyl Health, Votive Health and Elektra Health. Dan was a practicing Internal Medicine Physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital and had a Faculty appointment as an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2010 until 2019.
Prior to joining Flare Capital, Dan served as a Medical Director at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan, leading Population Health Analytics, Value-Based Purchasing, and General Strategy. Dan also spent time as an entrepreneur and operator in the Health IT Industry, cofounding and managing two separate businesses in the Electronic Health Records and Online Medical Education industries.
Dan’s other interests include Healthcare Policy and Global Health. Dan served on Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s Board of Nursing Home Administrators from 2016 to 2020. He has served as a Senior Health Policy Advisor for the Campaigns of Governor Charlie Baker, Congressman Joseph Kennedy III and Congressman Jake Auchincloss. He has worked to expand healthcare infrastructure in the developing world, serving as a consultant for the Clinton Foundation Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Ethiopia.
Dan earned a B.S. with honors from the University of California, San Diego, an M.D. Summa Cum Laude from the Morehouse School of Medicine, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Dan completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dan Gebremedhin
Partner
Flare Capital
Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and chair of the Leadership Initiative. Hill is regarded as one of the world’s top experts on leadership. She was named by Thinkers50 as one of the top ten management thinkers in the world in 2013 and 2021 and received the Thinkers50 Innovation Award in 2015. Hill is the author or co-author of several award-winning articles and books including Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives of Becoming a Great Leaderand Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership.
Hill’s TED talk on how to manage for collective creativity has over 2.6million views and Hill’s Collective Genius has also been named to the inauguralThinkers50 Booklist: 10 Management Classics for 2022. Hill’s research and consulting focuses on leadership development, leading change and innovation, and implementing global strategies. In 2014, she co-founded Paradox Strategies—an advisory and research firm that advises organizations and boards on leadership, innovation, and diversity and inclusion. Hill is a member of the Board of Directors of Relay Therapeutics and is on the Board of Trustees of the Art Center College of Design and of Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
She is also a member of the Team8 Fintech Strategic Committee and she serves on the advisory boards of several organizations including the American Repertory Theater, the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), Eight Inc., the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. She sits on the board of the Global Citizens Initiative, Inc. and is a Special Representative to the Board of Trustees of Bryn Mawr College.Hill is a former member of the Board of Directors of Harvard Business Publishing, State Street Corporation, The Bridgespan Group, and the Eaton Corporation. She is also a former member of the Board of Trustees of The Rockefeller Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund USA.Hill completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Harvard Business School and earned a Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences at the University of Chicago. She has a B.A., summa cum laude, in psychology from Bryn Mawr College.
Linda hill, ph.d
Professor of Business Administration
Harvard Business School
A lifelong resident of Boston, Segun is a proud product of the Boston Public Schools. Following his graduation from Boston Latin Academy, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and honors from the Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key Societies.
In August 2014, Segun organized the Boston Police Camera Action Team (BPCAT) with his colleague, Shekia Scott. BPACT’s mission was to further accountability and safety in Boston through the mandatory use of police body-worn cameras. As a result of their efforts, Boston began a yearlong mandatory body-worn camera pilot program and policy in September 2016. In 2018, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced a $2 million investment in a permanent citywide body-worn camera program.
In 2018, Segun was elected to serve as the first Vice President for the Boston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the first chapter of the oldest civil rights advocacy organization in the nation. In this role, he managed the much heralded and research intensive report card project that assessed the city’s efforts and results in addressing systemic racial disparities.
In 2019, Segun stepped off the NAACP board to join the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Massachusetts and focus on other board obligations at Mass Budget and Policy Center, Southwest Boston CDC, and the New Leaders Council (NLC). He also advised initiatives at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
Beginning in November 2018, Segun served as the President and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, Inc. (BECMA), the chief advocacy organization for Black businesses across the Commonwealth. BECMA represents the over 2,000 Black firms that employ 17,000 Massachusetts residents and generate over $2B in annual revenue. In this role, he helped transform the organization, including growing membership by 300%; tripling the budget to help develop new services; increasing staff support to more than ten people; expanding the footprint of the organization beyond Boston’s limits to communities across the Commonwealth; establishing dozens of partnerships with local business support organizations, as well as with local and state government officials and entities; shepherding key pieces of state legislation to successful ends, helping to reshape the procurement process for Massachusetts and direct millions in relief grants to small businesses; and working with allies to file a federal civil rights complaint against the City of Boston when reports showed a lack of contracts awarded to diverse small businesses.
In April 2020 and 2021, Boston Magazine recognized Segun as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the City of Boston.” In July 2020, the Boston Globe recognized him on the front page of their Sunday edition as a “Man of the Moment” for his work in ramping up BECMA’s efforts to advocate for and direct resources to Black businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Globe also honored him as a “Bostonian of the Year” later that December. In 2021, Lawyers for Civil Rights recognized Segun as their “Keeper of the Flame,” and Eastern Bank recognized him as their “2021 COVID Warrior.”
Segun stepped down from his role as BECMA’s CEO in December 2021 in order to join the Wu Administration as the Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, beginning this role on January 3, 2022. In this new position, he is focused on making Boston a resilient, economically equitable, and vibrant city that centers people and creates opportunities to build generational wealth for all communities.
Segun Idowu
Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion
City of Boston
Kevin M. Johnson currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Seven Ventures, Inc., a consulting company specializing in intergovernmental affairs and sports industry development. Prior to his role with Seven, Kevin served as the Mayor of Sacramento for two terms and was an NBA All-Star.
As Mayor, Kevin led the effort to keep the city’s only professional sports franchise, the Sacramento Kings, in the city by assembling a new ownership group, raising $535 million to purchase the team, and building the recently opened Golden 1 Center. The new arena has catalyzed a $1.5 billion investment in the downtown core and was financed through innovative uses of public resources without raising taxes.
Kevin is General Partner of the Black Capital Fund, a $10mm early stage venture capital fund focused on investing in Black and underrepresented entrepreneurs. He and his wife Michelle are also the founders of Fixins Soul Kitchen, which seeks to set the standard for the American soul food experience. Before taking public office, Kevin served as CEO of St. HOPE, a community development organization focused on education and economic development in under-resourced communities.
Kevin Johnson
Founder
Black Capital
Mayor Phillip D. Jones was elected–at-large as Mayor to the Newport News City Council November 8, 2022 as the city's youngest-elected mayor. On January 10, 2023, Mayor Jones took the oath of office as the 27th Mayor of Newport News, Virginia. The Mayor presides over the meetings of the Council. In this role, he strives to improve education, invest in public safety, and modernize City Hall.
Over the last decade, Mayor Jones has served in leadership roles in the public and private sectors. As a Marine Corps infantry officer, he led his Marines to support peacekeeping and security cooperation missions on multiple continents. As a management consultant with a leading global firm, he advised Fortune 500 companies, municipalities, and nonprofits on strategy, marketing, organization, and operations across all industries.
In the wake of 9/11, Mayor Jones accepted a nomination to the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated with merit with a Bachelor of Science in History. He completed his graduate course of studies at the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School, where he served as a Tillman Scholar and Co-President of the Veterans Club. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Public Policy (MPP).
Mayor Jones' vision is for Newport News to become an All-American City, focused on leveraging public-private partnerships, modernizing City Hall processes, and elevating the Newport News narrative on a national level.
Boards/Associations:
Board Member, Ironbound Boxing
Board of Trustees, Veterans Service Foundation
Hampton Roads Community Foundation (Member)
Leadership Now Project (Member)
Newport News Planning Commission (Former Member)
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. (Life Member)
phillip jones
Mayor
Newport News, VA
William M. Lewis, Jr. joined Apollo Global Management in November 2021 as a Partner and member of the Management Committee. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Lewis was a Managing
Director and Chairman of Investment Banking at Lazard Ltd. which he joined in 2004. At Lazard,
Mr. Lewis advised a number of global corporations including Alexion, American Express, Amgen, Boeing, CBS, Fortress, Global Infrastructure Partners, Hess, Macy’s, Maytag, Metalmark Capital Partners, Owens Corning, Procter & Gamble, Silver Lake Partners, Smurfit Stone Container, Texas Instruments, Tyco, WestRock, Whirlpool and Xerox. In addition, Mr. Lewis chaired the Firm’s Global Investment Banking Managing Director Promotion Committee.
Mr. Lewis was elected a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley in 1989, becoming the firm’s first African-American Managing Director. Between 1994 and 2004, Mr. Lewis was head or co-head of the Global Corporate Finance Department, the Global Mergers & Acquisitions Department and Morgan Stanley Realty. His last position at Morgan Stanley was Co-Head of the Global Banking Department where he was responsible for the firm’s global industry practices and regions. In addition to his transaction, business development and management responsibilities at Morgan Stanley, Mr. Lewis was also chairman of the firm’s charitable foundation, chairman of its diversity task force, member of the firm’s Political Action Committee, and member or chairman of numerous other internal committees including recruiting, mentoring, promotion, evaluation and compensation.
Mr. Lewis currently serves on the boards of a number of not-for-profit organizations including Uncommon Schools, New Visions for Public Schools, New York Presbyterian Hospital, the New York City Police Foundation, the Posse Foundation, the National Constitution Center, the Economic Club of New York and Echoing Green. He is also a member of the Harvard Management Company which is responsible for the $58 billion Harvard University endowment. In the past, he has served as Co-Chairman of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Treasurer of the National Urban League, Chairman of A Better Chance and as a member of the boards of Phillips Academy, the American Museum of Natural History, the Executive Committee of the USGA, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the New York Philharmonic, Morehouse College, the Central Park Conservancy, the NCAA Advisory Board, Harvard’s Committee on Alumni Affairs and Development, Harvard’s Task Force on Students and Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). In addition to his not-for-profit activities, Mr. Lewis serves on the boards of ADT Inc., Lazard Ltd., Ariel Alternatives, LLC and formerly served on the boards of Freddie Mac and Darden Restaurants.
Mr. Lewis was born in Richmond, VA. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, MA and received the Academy’s highest award, the Aurelian Honor Society Award. In addition, he played Varsity Football, Basketball and Lacrosse. Mr. Lewis graduated with honors from Harvard College where he also played Varsity Lacrosse. Mr. Lewis received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982.
Mr. Lewis is married to Carol Sutton Lewis, an attorney and award-winning podcast producer and has four adult children.
William M. Lewis, Jr.
Partner
Apollo Global Management
Brian McClure is the Racial Equity Policy Manager at Lyft. He is responsible for helping the organization to normalize, operationalize, and organize around racial equity.
Prior to joining Lyft, Brian was the founding Director of CORE, the DC Council Office of Racial Equity. This was the first racial equity office ever created in the Nation's Capital. There he created a process to review legislation to determine it's racial equity impact on communities of color.
Prior to joining CORE, Brian served in several leadership capacities for Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie and the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development. There, he helped lead the District’s efforts to operationalize racial equity into the Council’s legislative process. He also helped provide innovative solutions to increase opportunities for the District’s small and local businesses and in particular, Black and minority-owned businesses.
Brian received his BA in History at Hampton University, an MA in History from North Carolina Central University, and his PhD in US History, African American History, and Atlantic World History from the University of Memphis. When he is not working at Lyft, he can be found roaming local bookstores, searching for vinyl records, cooking, or spending time with his wife and two children at their home in Charleston, South Carolina.
Brian McClure
Racial Equity Policy Manager
Lyft
Marlon Nichols is the co-founder and managing general partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see.
Prior to MaC Venture Capital, Marlon was founder of Cross Culture Ventures and served as Investment Director at Intel Capital. Marlon has an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment. His unique eye for global and cultural trends, along with shifts in consumer behavior, has helped him uplift and accelerate entrepreneurs and companies that are on the verge of their breakthrough moment. Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity, Gimlet Media, LISNR, Mayvenn, MongoDB, PlayVS, Pipe, Thrive Market and Wonderschool, among others.
Marlon was recently honored as a member of the 2022 class of the LA500 list and as a top early stage investor on Insider’s 2022 Seed 100 list. Additionally, he is the recipient of MVMT50’s SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year award, Digital Diversity’s Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award and was a TechWeek 100 winner. He was named Pitchbook’s 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and one of Silicon Republic's 26 VC professionals spearheading change. Marlon has been featured on TechCrunch, Fortune, Cheddar, MSNBC, Blavity and NBC, and is adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship and venture capital at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.
Marlon Nichols
Co-Founder and Managing General Partner
MaC Venture Capital
Dr. Richard Orbé-Austin is a psychologist and a founding partner of Dynamic Transitions Psychological Consulting LLP, a career and executive coaching consultancy. Dr. Orbé-Austin has worked in the field of diversity, equity, & inclusion and executive coaching for over 15 years. He was the Founding Director of NYU’s Graduate Student Career Development Center, developing the strategic vision and leading a team responsible for managing the career needs of over 14,000 master’s and doctoral students in over 100 different disciplines. Prior to his tenure at NYU, Dr. Orbé-Austin served in a variety of leadership roles, including as the Chief Diversity Officer at Baruch College-City University of New York and as President of the NY Association of Black Psychologists. He also served as a faculty member at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, teaching courses on career development, multicultural counseling, research methods, and human development.
In his practice, Dr. Orbé-Austin works with executives, senior leaders, and mid-career professionals to identify their best-fit career options, advance their career goals, and strengthen their leadership skills. He also regularly consults to academic institutions, corporations, and nonprofit organizations on issues related to leadership, career development & transitions, diversity, equity, & inclusion, anti-racist practice,burnout, impostor syndrome, communication, and conflict.
Dr. Orbé-Austin’s opinions and writings have appeared in a variety of publications and academic journals including Forbes, Fast Company, ThriveGlobal, Diversity Executive, the Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development and the Handbook of Racial-Cultural Counseling and Psychology.He earned his PhD in Counseling Psychology from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education and his BA in Psychology from NYU. He is aTEDx speaker and the author of the book Own Your Greatness: Overcome Impostor Syndrome, Beat Self-Doubt, and Succeed in Life (Ulysses Press, 2020), co-authored with his partner, Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin. The goal of the book is to provide a systematic formulato eliminate impostor syndrome and to assist readers to own their talents and power, in order to fully realize theirgoals, & to lead a more balanced life. Itwas a ForewordINDIESBook Award Finalist. His newbook Your Unstoppable Greatness, Break Free From Imposter Syndrome, Cultivate Your Agency, and Achieve Your Ultimate Career Goals (Ulysses Press, December 2022), also co-authored with his partner, focuseson how to sustain your impostor syndrome-free life, reduce burnout, improve healthy leadership skills, while conquering toxic work cultures
Dr. Richard Orbé-Austin
Co-Founder
Dynamic Transitions Psychological Consulting
Mr. Nasir C. Qadree is Founder and Managing Partner at Zeal Capital Partners, an inclusive investment vehicle partnering with diverse management teams building tech enabled focus on narrowing the Wealth and Skills gaps. In his role he defines the fund's focus, leads investment activities, and manages post-investment value creation strategies and support mechanisms for portfolio companies. Prior to Zeal, he served as the Associate Director for AT&T's $400 million Aspire Social Investment Fund, where he oversaw direct investments in Education/Employment Technology companies, led the tech giant's investment readiness program, and managed partnerships with national accelerators across the US. Prior to AT&T, he led Village Capital's US Economic Opportunity Portfolio and served as Global Head of Education. At Village Capital, he evaluated early stage businesses in Education, Health, and Financial Services and developed investment theses across the three sectors. He began his career in the public markets, at Goldman Sachs and State Street Corporation. Today, Nasir is a Kauffman Fellow Class 26. He serves on the board of LearnFresh Education, the official education nonprofit for the NBA. He is committed to completing 51 full marathons, in all 50 states and D.C. having already completed 19 to raise $1 million in scholarship funding for first generation college students. In 2018, Washington Business Journal recognized his contributions to his industry and community by naming him a 40 under 40 recipient. The Atlanta native resides in the Woodridge community in NE Washington, DC and is a proud Hampton University Pirate.
Nasir Qadree
Founder and Managing Partner
Zeal Capital Partners
Mr. Richardson is the CEO of IMB Partners. Founded in 2010, IMB Partners is an acquisition driven business that invests in middle market companies that provide services to the utility sector and government agencies, with a focus on women and minority business initiatives and solutions.
Today, IMB has over a billion in revenues and 700 plus employees via eight partner companies: Pro Foods Solutions, a $300 million food supplier to US military markets; Carr & Duff, an $100 million electrical contractor; Farwest, a $65 million corrosion control company; e&e IT and Ashburn Consulting, a $40 million combined provider of IT solutions to state agencies and the federal government; and IMB Solutions, a $550 million provider to the pharma industry.
Prior to IMB, Mr. Richardson was the cofounder and managing director of ICV partners. In addition, Mr. Richardson has served as CEO and or Lead director of Chung’s Foods, Gold Coast Securities Ghana, The Hilsinger Company, and PFM. Mr. Richardson is also the founder of the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), the founding board chair of All Star Code.
He received a BS in Accounting from Purdue University. He also received an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Robert Toigo Fellow.
Tarrus Richardson
CEO
IMB Partners
Dr. Brook Dennard Rosser is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and currently serves as the Associate Director of DEI Strategic Initiatives at Harvard Business School, where she also formerly served as the Assistant Director of MBA Admissions & DEI Strategy & Outreach.
Brook is a former management consultant, and spent almost ten years working in industry, primarily serving nonprofit organizations, K-12 districts, and institutions of higher education. Brook’s areas of expertise and work in consulting focused largely on strategy, strategic planning, change management, diversity, equity, inclusion, and leadership development.
Brook is an adjunct professor at The George Washington University, and her research and instructional areas of interest are deeply rooted in strategy, leadership, organizational behavior, and the experiences of marginalized and intersectional identities at work.
Brook holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human and Organizational Development with a double minor in Women’s Studies and Sociology from Vanderbilt University and a Masters of Education in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior from the University of Georgia. Brook completed her Doctorate in Organizational Learning and Leadership at The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.
When she’s not serving her community and advocating on behalf of issues of equity, access and opportunity for all, Brook enjoys traveling and spending time with her partner Bryson, family, and friends.
Brook Dennard Rosser, Ed.D.
Associate Director of DEI
Harvard Business School
Myleik Teele is the Founder of CURLBOX, the first monthly subscription service for textured hair. A multi-hyphenate career woman with many passions and interests; she has forged a unique professional path that reflects her marketing, community building, and commerce expertise. Myleik spent many years as host of the MyTaughtYou podcast, organized a luxury retreat, founded an investment club and recently launched an online community, empowering Black moms. Myleik’s work centers Black women, and the most significant intention behind her work is to be of service to Black women who aren’t afraid to do the internal work external success hinges on. Many major brands have sought her talents as a consultant and collaborator.
Myleik Teele
Founder
CURLBOX
Talitha Watkins is President and Head of ColorCreative Management – a management and production company. ColorCreative was founded by Issa Rae and Deniese Davis with the mission of delivering women and people-of-color creators best-in-class representation to build career-defining brands through ownership, commercial success, artistic fulfillment, and visibility amongst the multicultural community and industry at large.
Formerly a Motion Picture Agent and Cultural Executive at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Watkins is based in Los Angeles and represents producers, writers, directors and actors. In addition, Watkins helps build out CAA’s multicultural business and capabilities including the multicultural leadership event CAAAmplify.
Previous to CAA, Watkins spent seven years as Vice President of Multicultural Marketing at Universal Pictures, where she worked across all marketing divisions, including publicity, media, digital, creative, research, and partnerships, to maximize the studio’s outreach efforts to African American audiences. While at Universal, she worked on numerous films, including the multicultural blockbusters FAST & FURIOUS 6, FURIOUS 7, and the record-breaking STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON. She was also instrumental in supporting the success of African American films, such as the box-office hits THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY and RIDE ALONG.
Prior to Universal Pictures, Watkins was an Assistant General Manager with Telepictures Productions, Inc. and oversaw operations, sales, and marketing for five female-focused digital properties in the Warner Bros. portfolio, including Ellentv.com, Extratv.com, and TyraShow.com, as well as worked in a development capacity for Essence.com. Watkins is a board member of the WIF, Saturday Morning, and Made in Her Image organizations. Watkins received her B.B.A. in Marketing from the Fox School of Business at Temple University. She lives in Los Angeles with her daughter, Selah.
Talitha Watkins
President
ColorCreative Management
Herman Bulls is Vice Chairman, Americas, as well as an International Director and the founder of JLL’s highly acclaimed Public Institutions which specializes in delivering comprehensive real estate solutions to federal, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions. Mr. Bulls works with the firm’s largest public and corporate clients to devise and implement integrated real estate strategies to lower occupancy costs and increase productivity. During over 33 years at JLL, Mr. Bulls has worked in the areas of development, investment management, asset management, facilities operations and business development/retention. He provides thought leadership and strategic guidance to senior level executives. Mr. Bulls has served as an expert witness on real estate matters in court and testified before Congressional committees on real estate issues.
Mr. Bulls co-founded and served as President and CEO of Bulls Capital Partners, a multi-family financing company. Additionally, he founded Bulls Advisory Group, LCC, a management and real estate advisory firm. Prior to joining JLL, Mr. Bulls completed almost 12 years of active-duty service with the United States Army. His last active-duty assignments were working in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management at the Pentagon and as an Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance at West Point. He has completed the Army’s Airborne, Ranger and Command and General Staff College courses and served overseas in the Republic of Korea. He retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves in 2008.
Mr. Bulls received a BS degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA in finance from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Bulls serves on several public, private and not for profit boards. He is Chairman of Fluence Energy (NASDAQ:FLNC) and Vice Chairman of USAA. He is Vice Chairman of the West Point Association of Graduates and serves on the Department of Defense Policy Board. He also serves on the boards of Host Hotels (NASDAQ:HST), Comfort Systems, USA (NYSE:FIX) Collegis Education, the American Red Cross National Board of Governors, the Real Estate Advisory Committee for New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, the Board of Directors of the Thayer Leader Development Group, and the Military Bowl- a NCAA sanctioned football bowl game played in the nation’s capital each December. Mr. Bulls former board service includes Tyco International, Exelis, Inc., Computer Sciences Corporation, American Campus Communities, and Rasmussen, Inc.
Mr. Bulls has received various awards including:
Passing the Torch Legacy Award 2007 African American Real Estate Professionals (AAREP)
2007 National Minority Leader of the Year Commercial Real Estate News Commercial Property News)
Top 100 Blacks in Corporate America, Savoy Magazine, 2008 & 2012
Trail Blazer Award 2008 Global Real Estate Diversity Conference, Atlanta, GA
Minority Business Leader Award 2009, Washington Business Journal (WBJ)
APEX Award 2015 Morgan State University Earl Graves School of Business & Management
NACD 2017 Top 100 Directors
2018 Global Game Changer Award from PRT (The President’s Roundtable, Inc.)
2016, 2017 and 2020 Most Influential Black Directors in Corporate America, Savoy Magazine
2020 The Executive Leadership Council and Foundation Achievement Award
2022 Brigham Young University Marriott School International Executive of the Year
herman bulls
Vice Chairman, Americas
JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle)
With deep experience in both finance and community nonprofit and foundation leadership, Bithiah Carter has a passion for fueling the 21st Century mindset by emphasizing leverage of the considerable assets of BIPOC communities to improve education, workforce, and economic resources. The mission of her organization, New England Blacks in Philanthropy (NEBiP), is to inform, reform and transform philanthropy through a focus on Black assets, rather than deficits.
Honored as a “Trailblazer in Diversity” by the Boston Business Journal, Bithiah creates opportunities for discussion and activism around diversity, inclusion, and communities. NEBiP’s research series Giving Black has been published in three cities thus far (Boston, Cincinnati, and Richmond) with the fourth (Hampton Roads) in process. This research focused on Black assets, was the centerpiece for her Federal Reserve Bank of Boston article, “Revaluing Black America”, published in 2017.
Bithiah’s previous nonprofit experience includes serving as Executive Director of Grand Circle Foundation, Senior Director in the Community Impact Division of United Way, and Program Director at the Girls' Coalition of Greater Boston. Prior to that, she traded taxable fixed income bonds on Wall St. before joining John Hancock in Boston. She is a current member of Governor Baker’s Black Advisory Commission and a board member of Boston Medical Center Philanthropic Board, West End House, Parenting Journey, G| Code House, Inc., and Jose Mateo Ballet Theater, and a former board member of many other organizations including Boston Children’s Museum, Boston Women’s Fund Green Light Fund, Room to Grow, and ABFE.
Bithiah Carter
President and CEO
New England Blacks in Philanthropy
Eric Darnell is an agent at William Morris Endeavor, based in the motion picture literary department. His client list spans artists both behind & in front of the camera as well as writers, music artists and athletes. Clients he works with include Denzel Washington, Idris Elba, and Eva Longoria. Before joining WME, Darnell was a studio executive at Columbia Pictures where he worked on films such as 65, starring Adam Driver. Darnell is an alum of The George Washington University and is a Washington D.C. area native.
Eric Darnell
Agent
William Morris Endeavor (WME)
Gisele Garraway has held senior leadership roles spanning corporate strategy, business development, P&L management and business intelligence at Sephora USA; Devonshire Investors, the private equity affiliate of Fidelity Investments; Staples Inc, and Staples.com. Her penchant for devising profitable growth strategies rooted in rigorous analytics began with a five-year consulting stint at Boston-based Bain & Company.
In addition to optimizing corporate and business unit performance, Gisele is known for her long-time dedication to advancing economic mobility for U.S. working families. She has affected programmatic turnarounds with a metrics focus as CEO of Starfish Initiative and as board member of MetroWest YMCA and Brookview House which provides services for women and children experiencing homelessness in Dorchester, MA.
Ms. Garraway is currently founder & CEO of THRIVEfunds Inc. a philanthropic platform which helps donors invest in discrete economic mobility projects for individual U.S. families. Originally from Petersburg, VA Gisele received her BBA in Finance, summa cum laude from Howard University and an MBA from HBS '97. Beyond spending time with family, Gisele enjoys reading and hiking in the San Francisco Bay area with her shorkie.
Gisele Garraway
CEO and Founder
THRIVEfunds
Chloe Gbai is an Emmy-nominated producer and filmmaker. Her film work centers around issues of race, gender, and immigration. She's worked for over a decade on independent and commercial projects that have addressed these issues, starting with her first PA job working for Amir Bar-Lev on HAPPY VALLEY (2014, A&E Indie Films). Her most recent producorial project, SHUT UP AND PAINT, follows artist Titus Kaphar and he grapples with an insatiable art market seeking to silence his activism. The short film was released in 2022 on POV Shorts, played numerous film festivals, and has been honored with a Cinema Eye Nomination and Shortlisted for the 2023 Academy Awards for the Short Documentary category.
She currently works on the Original Documentary Films team at Netflix. She joined Netflix from IF/Then Shorts at Field of Vision, a program that identifies and supports original, standalone short documentaries made by filmmakers working in and representing their communities. Previously, as the POV Shorts and Streaming Producer, she launched POV Shorts, which in its first season earned a Documentary Short Oscar nomination, two Emmy nominations, and an IDA Awards nomination for Best Short Form Series. She's a graduate from NYU's Gallatin School and a proud member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, a 2020 Impact Partners Producing Fellow, a DOC NYC New Leader, and a member-in-residence of the Meerkat Media Collective.
Chloe Gbai
Studio Executive
Netflix
Patricia Howard serves as the Chief Operations Officer of Point32Health, a $9.5B health insurance company headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts. Point32Health is one of the top twenty health plans in the United States. In her role as Chief Operations Officer, Howard is responsible for enterprise operations strategy development and execution.
As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, Howard has primary responsibility for the direction of Point32Health’s Healthcare Service, including Behavioral Health and Pharmacy Care Management operations, Administrative operations, Information Technology, Corporate Data and Analytics, Healthcare Quality, inclusive of Health Equity, Provider Network Partnerships and Management, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Institute and shared services organizations; including Corporate Integrations, Enterprise Project Management Office and Vendor Acquisition and Business Performance Management.
Howard is responsible for service delivery to Point32Health’s 2.2 million customers while leading or overseeing all facets of the organization’s operations and some 3,500 Point32Health colleagues and 2,500 extended colleague community. Patricia partners with the corporation’s P&L president, legal, finance & human resources executives and reports directly to Point32Health’s CEO. Prior to joining Point32Health, Howard served as the founder and principal of C-Suite Assets. Leveraging a group of former C-Suite leaders, C-Suite Assets provided consultative services to C-Suite Leaders in the healthcare industry. These services primarily focused on healthcare claim administration and care management deficiencies, providing solutions that spans the entire healthcare eco system delivering improved performance and tangible outcomes to corporation’s bottom line.
Prior to launching C-Suite Assets in 2020, Howard served the healthcare industry as an operations executive for more than 30 years. She commenced her career on the frontlines supporting consumers and ascended to the senior level ranks of large for profit and not for profit organizations leading 2.3K – 6K employees supporting more than 6 million members in the delivery of healthcare administrations across all products and markets.
Howard served as senior director of operations of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, senior vice president of clinical, administrative and revenue cycle operations of Magellan Behavioral Health, United Health Group, Optum 360 and Highmark Inc. an $25B integrated delivery healthcare system. During her assignment at Horizon, Howard served as the advisor to the President and CEO & Chief Medical Officer for the startup of Horizon Healthcare Innovations subsidiary. For the past 20 years, Howard has collaborated with C-Suite leaders in the areas of finance, clinical, technical, strategy and mergers and acquisitions serving as the General Operations expert. Howard’s portfolio includes but is not limited to the transformation of large scale operations from transaction based to value based leveraging digital solutions via a partnership with the CIO & Google, the management of global operations, the head of consumer experience, the business lead for technology acquisition and optimization, service operations audit and compliance, human capital strategy and enterprise risk management.
In addition to her corporate roles, Howard serves as the executive sponsor for two Point32Health corporate board committees; Quality & Healthcare Services and Information Technology and Integration. Howard serves on several not for profit governance boards; United Way & Big Brothers Big Sisters. Howard also served on the Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas/Monmouth Medical Center board and in the capacity of advisor to the President and CEO of Monmouth Medical Center. Howard recently served as the advisor for three start-ups; Hueman, an Artificial Intelligent DEI Gaming Application, Listeners on Call, a front door solution to Behavioral Healthcare & MedPay, a POS financing solution for medical, dental, vision, prescription and durable medical equipment.
Howard was recently appointed member of the International Women’s Forum and will be appointed to the Point32Health Foundation Board in June 2023. Throughout her career, Howard has led a multitude of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts inclusive of hosting Mellody Hobson Lucas at a Fireside Chat on the topic of “The Power of Diversity. Howard was also featured in the May 2020 Anniversary Issue of “O” Magazine.
Howard attended Upsala College and is a member of the Darden School of Business & Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Howard has also attended executive leadership programs through the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and United Healthcare and is a member of HFMA, Healthcare Financial Management Association. Howard has dual residences in Boston Massachusetts and New Jersey with her husband, Carl Howard, retired NFL Player turned IT executive and their three children and 2 bonus children.
patricia howard
Chief Operations Officer
Point32Health
Jelani Johnson is currently the EVP of Film & Production at MACRO. In this role Johnson oversees the development and production of a wide array of motion pictures ranging from independent cinema to more expansive major studio fare. In addition to his feature work, Jelani is also an active producer in television. He recently Executive Produced the Nas directed docuseries SUPREME TEAM, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival before rolling out on Showtime in the summer of 2022; and he currently has projects in development at both Apple TV+ and Netflix. Prior to his current position, Jelani served as one of the founding partners of the industry leading management company M88. After helping oversee the formation of the M88 (during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic), he seamlessly segued into his current senior executive role at M88’s sister company MACRO.
Jelani is actively involved philanthropically. He has served faithfully MPTF’s NEXTGEN BOARD OF DIRECTORS since 2016 and he recently joined the Board of Directors for THE BLACKHOUSE; a trailblazing organization that helps Black creative voices and executives gain a better foothold within the entertainment industry.
Before joining MACRO, Johnson spent 4+ years as a Motion Picture Agent at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). While at CAA his clients included: Melina Matsoukas, A$AP Rocky, Cheo Coker, Jesse Williams, Prentice Penny, Lenny Kravitz, Storm Reid, Angel Soto, Solvan “Slick” Naim, Gina Rodriguez, Virgil Williams, Mara Brock Akil and André Holland amongst others. Johnson began his career in entertainment as an intern at CAA and transitioned into talent management at the Santa Monica-based management company Generate. He subsequently co-founded The Mission Entertainment, a management and production company focused on multicultural content creators, before returning to CAA. Johnson received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University where he double majored in History and Anthropology.
Jelani Johnson
EVP of Film & Production
MACRO
Brandon Jones is a technology leader, investor, board director, and the founder of Gravy, a fast-growing community-driven education and investment platform. Before founding Gravy, Brandon built a track record as a senior executive growing and scaling technology products into category leaders. Most recently, he served as Vice President and Head of Global Sales Development at ServiceNow. His organization was responsible for driving new business pipeline and grooming future sales leaders for one of the world’s fastest-growing enterprise software companies with over $1B in revenue.
Before joining ServiceNow, Brandon led the Sales Development organization for LinkedIn for North America, driving 65% of new business acquisition across the company’s Talent, Sales, and Learning Solutions business lines. Before joining LinkedIn, Brandon spent nearly seven years in several leadership roles at Google, including leadership roles on its Commerce and Virtual and Augmented Reality teams and heading Sales Development for Google Cloud Americas during periods of substantial growth. Before Google, Brandon held several operational, strategy, and M&A roles at companies, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Johnson & Johnson.
Brandon is a board director and finance committee chair for SCAN Group, which, after a combination with CareOregon, expected to close in 2023, will form the HealthRight Group, a community-based healthcare organization serving nearly 800K members with $6.8B in revenue. Brandon is also a board director and finance committee chair for the SCAN Foundation.
Brandon is an active angel investor passionate about building generational wealth within underrepresented communities. Brandon holds a BA in Computer Systems from Howard University and MBA from Harvard Business School. He has traveled to over 50 countries and lives in the Washington, DC, area with his wife, Charlotte, and three young kids.
Brandon Jones
Founder
Gravy
Miriam is a general partner at JMT Capital, LLC, as well as the Managing Director of HP Capital, LLC (Kampala, Uganda) - both multifamily investment partnerships.
Miriam has over two decades of experience in Human Resources/People Operations, Marketing and Accounting/Finance at Fortune 500 companies. Miriam spent most of this time (a decade) at Google HQ, leading teams in the design of innovative HR programs in Performance Management, Talent Management and Critical Talent Retention, as well as partnering with Senior Engineering Executives as their HR leader. Miriam’s career includes 2 big pivots: first, from Accounting/Finance to Human Resources, and most recently from Corporate to Entrepreneurship. Each pivot required courage to follow a still, small voice leading her into unchartered waters, often to the dismay of those who believe in a more traditional career path. Miriam’s philosophy on work and life was impacted profoundly by an early career experience that taught her - there is no use winning, if you are running the wrong track. She now evangelizes the importance of taking the time to thoughtfully determine what “winning” in life is to you - then aggressively, and courageously, building the life you really want.
Miriam received her MBA from Harvard Business School, a MSc in Accounting from the University of Virginia (summa cum laude) and a BS in Business Economics with a minor in Accounting (summa cum laude) from UCLA. Her previous work experience includes Morgan Stanley- Equity Capital Markets, Ernst and Young - Audit and Litigation Advisory Consulting, as well as Procter and Gamble - Marketing and Human Resources.
In light of Miriam’s passion for innovation and solving hard problems, she is also an investor/advisor for startups and organizations supporting the innovation ecosystem, particularly concerning Africa and the diaspora. This work includes her role as an Angel investor and advisor for WiProsper, a pre-launch (pending SEC submission approval) US based black owned
investment firm start up, as well as a long time supporter and advisor for the Innovation Village, a Kampala, Uganda based ecosystem builder connecting a network of entrepreneurs with the resources required to deepen the application of technology in powering economic prosperity.
Miriam Kudizia
Founder and General Partner
JMT Capital LLC
Dr. Courtney L. McCluney (she/her) is an award-winning educator, researcher, consultant, and social scientist. Dr. McCluney has received several grants and recognition for her work on racial equity and inclusion including groundbreaking research on the emotional tax and racial codeswitching in the workplace. Her work is featured in several peer reviewed academic journals, and she is a contributing writer to Forbes, Chief, and the Harvard Business Review. Dr. McCluney is on the faculty at Cornell University's ILR School and the founder and principal of EquiWell Partners™, a consulting advisory firm reimagining our relationship with work through building systems that promote equity and wellness.
Dr. McCluney completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, earned her PhD in Psychology at the University of Michigan and BA in Psychology and Interpersonal/Organizational Communications at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a former Research Fellow at Catalyst, Inc. and previously served as an AmeriCorps Social Impact Fellow.
Dr. Courtney McCluney
Principal
Equiwell Partners
Kym Lew Nelson joined the NOM unit of the Harvard Business School as a visiting lecturer in January of 2020. In July of 2020, she became a senior lecturer in the unit teaching Negotiations. Prior to joining the faculty, Kym was a guest lecturer in the negotiations class at HBS for over 4 years. She has spent the last year writing new cases with the focus on diverse protagonists.
Twenty years ago, Ms. Nelson started The KLEW Company, a consulting and training firm focusing on strategic sourcing, procurement optimization, negotiations and supplier diversity. Her customers include Fortune 100 companies, midsize firms, colleges/universities, public entities as well as minority-owned firms.
Prior to the formation of KLEW, Ms. Nelson was with the Procter and Gamble Company where she spent over 18 years. More than 10 of those years were spent in the area of Procurement/Purchasing where she was involved in a variety of negotiations and contract development around the globe. She was the first African American women to be promoted to Director/VP in the Procurement organization. She also spent 8 years in Brand Management/Marketing in the Health Care business unit. In addition, she spent two years at Bain and Company working on corporate strategy development.
Ms. Nelson has managed global organizations, global suppliers and global Brands. She has extensive experience in developing and implementing both business and procurement strategies with successes in growing the business and significantly reducing costs. Additionally she has many years of experience working with minority companies to enhance their ability to become effective suppliers.
Kym received her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1983. While at HBS, she was president of the African American Student organization (AASU). Her undergraduate degree is from Stanford University where she majored in Economics. While at Stanford she developed and implemented the Stanford - Howard University student exchange program and attended Howard University for a semester. She was also a member of the Stanford women’s basketball team. Ms. Nelson has two daughters. One is the “Black Forager”, a well know social media star and the other is also in the film industry. She currently commutes between Cincinnati and Boston.
kym lew nelson
Senior Lecturer
Harvard Business School
Dr. Olayiwola is one of the nation’s preeminent physician executive leaders in health equity, health systems redesign and primary care-public health leadership. Raised in Columbus, OH, Dr. Olayiwola has had an impressive career as an internationally renowned Board-certified family physician, public health professional, health systems and primary care transformation leader, workforce diversity and inclusion champion, health technology pioneer and a published author of four books. She is the inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer & SVP for Humana, Inc., leading health equity related efforts and population health initiatives for millions of members across the nation. In this role, she led the creation of an ambitious health equity strategy and her team is implementing multiple product, workforce, clinical and community health innovations and programs tackling health disparities and social needs for populations that have been marginalized or made vulnerable. She also currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at The Ohio State University College of Medicine & College of Public Health, a community leader in New Albany, OH and a practicing family physician Heart of Ohio Community Health Center, serving a largely medically underserved patient population. Until 2021, she served as the Professor and Chair of the Department of Family & Community Medicine and Chief of Family Health Services at The Ohio State University, where she also founded the Center for Primary Care Innovation and Transformation and was the Chancellor appointed Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism/Health Equity Action Plan for the entire medical center and OSU’s 7 health sciences colleges. She is respected internationally as an innovator and expert in harnessing technology and developing novel programs that increase access to care for underserved and disenfranchised populations, both in the United States and globally. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, she emerged as a national leader and voice for telehealth expansion, primary care operations and redesign, and a champion for health equity strategies. Her OSU team’s efforts to expand telehealth during the pandemic and her novel description of a new “frontweb” of care was published in JMIR-Public Health in August 2020, demonstrating unprecedented success in bridging the digital divide in healthcare. She is also the creator and curator of the successful national Minority Women Professionals are MVPs Conference series and professional development program, which has empowered and equipped thousands of minority women of diverse backgrounds across the US to survive and thrive in their careers. In October 2022, she was inducted to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the most prestigious honors in healthcare and one so few young women of color achieve.
Dr. Olayiwola was named to Columbus CEO’s Future 50 Class of 2021. In 2020, she delivered her first and widely acclaimed Tedx Talk, Do No Harm: Combating Racism and Place-ism in Medicine. She has received the Woman of the Year award from the American Telemedicine Association, the Public Health Innovator Award from the Harvard School of Public Health, the Alumni Achievement Award from the Ohio State University College of Medicine, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award from University of California, San Francisco, one of the Most Influential Minority Health Executives recognition by Fierce Healthcare, and was named one of eight Black Women to Watch in Corporate America by Essence Magazine in 2021. She is a member of the White House Office of Public Engagement’s non-partisan Clinician Innovators Roundtable. Dr. Olayiwola is also an active member of her community, serving as a member of the New Albany Plains Local School District’s COVID-19 Task Force, a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA) Committee for the City of New Albany and a Board Member for Healthy New Albany. Dr. Olayiwola was a Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellow in Minority Health Policy at Harvard Medical School and received her master’s degree in public health with a concentration in health policy from the Harvard School of Public Health. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Human Nutrition/Pre-Medicine at the Ohio State University, Summa Cum Laude and With Distinction, and her medical degree from the Ohio State University/ Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She completed her residency training in family medicine at Columbia University/New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she was a Chief Resident. She also completed the Marshall Memorial Fellowship by the German Marshall Fund of the United States in 2014. Dr. Olayiwola is married and has two school-aged children. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
J. Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MBA
Chief Health Equity Officer and SVP
Humana, Inc.
Dom Packer is a membership expert and community builder with expertise in creating value-driven ecosystems. He has experience launching communities across the country in his role as Head of New Markets at The Gathering Spot, a members-only club rooted in community, growing it from 1 to 8 cities. Dom holds a BA from Harvard College and serves as Membership Chair for the Harvard Black Alumni Society, leveraging his experience and passion to build community for alumni. In his free time, Dom enjoys snowboarding, surfing and dinner parties with friends.
dom packer
Head of Connected Cities
The Gathering Spot
Kedra Newsom Reeves is Managing Director and Partner based in BCG’s Chicago office. She is a core member of BCG’s Financial Services and Social Impact practice areas. She serves as a co-lead for BCG’s Center for Inclusion and Equity which partners with clients to help build inclusive cultures, deliver social impact, create business value, and drive systemic change. Her recent work has been focused at the intersection of social impact and financial services including work with foundations on closing the wealth gap and banks on building more socially inclusive strategies. In addition, she has deep expertise in asset and wealth management operations, data and technology. Internally, Kedra leads BCG’s North America Black and Latinx cadre and sits on the board of BCG’s Center for Illinois’ Future which guides pro-bono project investments locally. Outside of BCG, Kedra serves on the boards of Chicago Public Media, City Year Chicago and the Chicago Civic Consulting Alliance. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT.
Kedra newsom reeves
Managing Director and Partner
Boston Consulting Group
Cheraé Robinson is an entrepreneur and cultural architect currently leading Community at Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage VC fund. Her journey to venture started as a founder building Tastemakers Africa, an experiences marketplace connecting travelers to unique tours in African cities - Flybridge was the largest investor. She is also the creator of “The Thread,” a community platform for the African diaspora built in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cheraé has been named one of “10 Emerging Women Entrepreneurs in Africa” by Forbes, “20 to Watch” by Culture Shift Labs, a “Woman to Watch” by the United Nations Foundation and one of "44 People Changing The Way We Travel" by Condé Nast Traveler Magazine. She was pivotal in the success of “The Year of Return” in Ghana and is a pioneer in Black Travel - especially among millennials. She serves on the board of Birthright Africa and is on the host committee for the AMREF ArtBall.
Cheraé graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Morgan State University. Before launching her career in tech, she sat at the intersection of science, business, and partnerships at the CDC, CIMMYT/World Bank, and CARE. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Cherae Robinson
Head of Community
Flybridge Capital Partners
Adina is a Principal at Khosla Ventures, focused on investments in application layer software and consumer-oriented businesses. She is especially interested in companies with disruptive business models and/or that are building products and services for markets / demographics that have historically been underserved.
Previously, Adina was an investor at Canaan Partners where she supported and served on the boards of companies such as ScaleFactor and Hugo. While there, she also built, launched, and co-led, Beta, the firm’s consumer seed practice and led the firm’s investments in companies including: Brigit, Tia Clinic, Superplastic, Bumblebee Spaces, The Inside, and Bev. Prior to investing, Adina was on the other side of the table, operating at technology companies both large and small. She began her career as a Solutions Architect at Oracle before joining Zenefits as an early employee. While there, she worked in cross-functional roles across operations, strategy, and partnerships during the company’s hyper-growth phase.
Adina holds a B.S. in Stanford University’s programs in Science, Technology, & Society and Management Science & Engineering. She was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List for Venture Capital.
Adina Tecklu
Principal
Khosla Ventures
As Chief Executive Officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, Chip is responsible for further enhancing and evolving the company’s culture, driving an even greater experience for guests, and bolstering the excellence and growth of its businesses. Chip joined the USHG Executive team as President, in 2019,following a rich 30-year career in operational leadership in the hospitality industry. In 2022, he was named Chief Executive Officer. Before, Chip was the Executive Vice President of Operations for Red Lobster and an Officer of the company. As the senior leader of all operating functions, Chip was responsible for in-restaurant execution, P&L’s, and driving strategy to maximize the guest experience and EBITDA growth for 677 U.S. restaurants, located in 45 states, and 27 restaurants in Canada with average unit sales of $3.3M and $2.4B systemwide. Previously, Chip was Senior Vice President of Enterprise Operations for Darden, the world’s largest full-service restaurant operating company. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President of Red Lobster’s Liberty Division where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of nearly 100 restaurants located in seven states and the District of Columbia. Chip initially joined Darden as the Director of Revitalia for Olive Garden’s existing restaurants. Revitalia was part of a system-wide repositioning of the brand. Chip spent two years away from Darden when he served as Chief Operating Officer for Legal Sea Foods, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. In this role, he managed all operations for the family-owned group’s 31 restaurants and oversaw the launch of the Legal Test Kitchen, a new concept. Chip also led as the Senior Vice President of Development for Smokey Bones, a former Darden concept. Earlier in his career, Chip spent 13 years with T.G.I. Fridays where he progressed through various management positions, in Operations, Human Resources and New Business Development. A Pennsylvania native, Chip received his culinary degree from Johnson & Wales College, his B.S. from Widener University, and his M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Dallas. In addition to his professional experience, Chip also serves on the following boards: Cracker Barrel, Johnson & Wales University, Share Our Strength, a national organization working to end childhood hunger and poverty in the United States, and Youth Villages, a non-profit offering services and support for families of children with emotional, mental, and behavioral problems. He is also a senior advisor for Junzi Kitchen, a Chinese fast casual restaurant and concept based in New York.
Chip Wade
CEO
Union Square Hospitality