Keynotes
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Panelists & MOderators
Angela Miller-May currently serves as the Chief Investment Officer for the Illinois Municipal
Retirement Fund, a $52.5 billion pension fund that services a membership of over 457,000
members and over 3,030 employers. She engages with many boards and organizations and has
been honored with numerous awards. Ms. Miller-May holds an MBA from Kellstadt Graduate
School of Business at DePaul University and has earned her BA in Economics from Northwestern
University.
Angela miller-may
Chief Investment Officer
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
Beatrice Dixon is the CEO, Co-Founder, and Chief Innovation Officer of The Honey Pot Company, the
personal wellness brand “made by humans with vaginas, for humans with vaginas.” ®
Beatrice created The Honey Pot Company in 2014 out of great personal need during an eight-month
battle with bacterial vaginosis. The constant symptoms and fruitless search for solutions led her to
formulate what became The Honey Pot Company’s first product, a vulva-safe wash.
The Honey Pot Company currently offers feminine washes, wipes, tampons, pads, and products for
personal health and wellness. Today, The Honey Pot Company’s plant-derived products can be found in
4.6 million U.S. homes and in retailers nationwide.
Beatrice Dixon
CEO, Co-Founder, Chief Innovation Officer
The Honey Pot Company
Investor and philanthropist, Demond Martin is the co-founder and CEO of Wellwithall, an innovative health and wellness company that pours a significant portion of its profits into health equity for Black, Brown and underserved communities. Prior to becoming CEO of Wellwithall Demond was a senior partner at Adage Capital Management where he invested in the consumer sector for 21 years. Demond joined Adage after graduating from Harvard Business School and received his undergraduate degree in accounting from UNC Charlotte. He subsequently worked as the assistant to President Clinton’s White House Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles. Demond and his wife Kia through their family foundation focus on erasing gaps created by racial and social injustice in the areas of education and healthcare. Demond has served on a number of non-profit boards including as a trustee at the Berklee College of Music, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Grammy Global Venture Board, and the Obama Foundation
Demond Martin
Co-Founder, CEO
WellWithAll
J.Dennis Jean-Jacques serves as Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Ocean Park Investments LP. He is an accomplished and seasoned investor having invested approximately more than $3.2 billion of client capital in the US and European public markets during various market cycles over 20 years. For a decade, prior to Ocean Park, Mr. Jean-Jacques was a Managing Director and portfolio manager at alternative platforms including Verition Fund. Prior to running low net, alternative strategies, Mr. Jean-Jacques was an investor in the Public Equities Division at Olayan Investment Group and apprenticed at Mutual Shares focusing on companies undergoing or likely to undergo significant change, dislocations and other unique special situations with a strategy and asset mix consisting of domestic and foreign equities, arbitrage positions, shareholder activism and bankruptcy positions. For ten years, Mr. Jean-Jacques served as a board advisor and as an actively engaged shareholder in several campaigns including in the operational restructuring of a global industrial company, the outright sale of an American appliance manufacturer, and, at the boardroom level, helped lead the break-up of an S&P 500 conglomerate where his work was profiled in BARRON’s, Business Week and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Jean-Jacques is also an author on portfolio construction, valuation, and risk management where his published work, “The Five Keys to Value Investing” is used at many universities and has been translated into three languages including Mandarin Chinese. He began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in equity research in 1993. Mr. Jean-Jacques received a BSSE from Boston University College of Engineering and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
J. Dennis Jean Jacques
Founder, Chief Investment Officer
Ocean Park Investments LP
Derek Jones, Vice Chairman, Private Equity Investments
Mr. Jones is a member of the Private Equity, Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Committee and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. He has led the firm’s private equity diverse manager practice for the past 16 years. As of March 31,2023, the firm has committed $8.7bn to women and people of color in over 230 investments. He also led the firm’s private equity co-investment practice from 2010-2020, which had approximately ~$5bn AUM. His responsibilities include team management, deal sourcing and investment underwriting activities.
Derek Jones
Vice Chairman
GCM Grosvenor
HBS Senior Lecturer Henry McGee is Chair of the Governance, Sustainability, and Corporate Responsibility Committee of Cencora (NYSE: COR), the global pharmaceutical services firm that is the 10th largest company in the Fortune 500. He also serves as chair of the Governance, Public Policy, and Corporate Responsibility Committee of TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA), the broadcast and digital media company that is the largest affiliate group of the NBC television network. In 2018 the National Association of Corporate Directors named McGee to the Directorship 100, the organization’s annual recognition of the country’s most influential board members.
Henry mcgee
Senior Lecturer
Harvard Business School
Leaning into her passion of inclusivity and desire to live a purpose-filled life, Foster launched Be Rooted in 2020 with a mission to empower women of color and create a space for them to see themselves in the stationery they love. With a lineup of colorful journals, planners and writing instruments designed by Black and Brown artists, by 2021 Be Rooted became the first and only Black-owned stationery brand available at retail giant Target.
jasmin foster
CEO, Founder
BeRooted
Kurt Summers is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Public-Private Partnership Investments in the Infrastructure Group. In this capacity, Kurt is responsible for investment strategies in partnership with governments, public entities, civic and labor organizations, and broader stakeholders to help advance local infrastructure priorities.
Previously, Mr. Summers served as Senior Advisor to Blackstone. He was elected and served as Chicago’s 70th City Treasurer until 2019. In this role, Mr. Summers managed a more than $8 billion investment portfolio, served as a fiduciary for nearly $25 billion in pension assets and created the Chicago Community Catalyst Fund, a first-of-its-kind $100 million local investment fund focused on private investments in Chicago neighborhoods.
Prior to becoming Treasurer, Mr. Summers served in as a Senior Vice President and member of the Office of the Chairman for GCM Grosvenor. Mr. Summers began his career at McKinsey & Company and later worked as an investment banker in both the leveraged finance and industrials groups at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Summers received a BSBA with Management Distinction High Honors in Finance and International Business with a minor in East Asian Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he is the subject of a 2016 published case study entitled “Kurt Summers: Investing in Our Chicago.”
Kurt summers
Senior Managing Director, Head of Public-Private Partnership Investments
Blackstone
Archie L. Jones, Jr., a Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Business School teaches required and elective curriculum in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit and is a co-founder and course head for an elective field course: Scaling Minority Businesses and co-teaches: Investing for Impact. Outside the classroom he is the faculty co-sponsor of the Black Investment Club, faculty advisor to the school’s Social Enterprise Initiative, the faculty lead of the Upswell Forum, and a recipient of the Robert F. Greenhill Award in recognition of his positive impact on the Harvard Business School community.
As the founder and CEO of NxGen COACH Network™ Archie draws on his own leadership journey and decades of directing successful private equity investments, value creation and corporate M&A transactions for public and private companies, to empower and coach the next generation of global leaders. On the top-ranked podcast, Training Camp for Leaders with Archie L. Jones Jr., Archie provides insights and actionable advice to aspiring and seasoned leaders on topics ranging from leadership to intrapreneurship. He shares deeper insights and expertise on leadership capital in his forthcoming book, The Treasure You Seek: A Guide to Developing and Leveraging Your Leadership Capital. Named one of Savoy Magazine’s “Most Influential Black Corporate Directors,” Archie is a member of The Executive Leadership Council, contributes to Impact Entrepreneur Magazine, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Fleetcor Technologies, Inc.
Prof. Archie Jones
Senior Lecturer, Founder, CEO
Harvard Business School, NxGen COACH Network™
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 Negotiations unit. Prior to joining the faculty, Kym was a guest lecturer in the Negotiations class at HBS for over four 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 ten 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 eight 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 known social media star and the other is also in the film industry. She currently commutes between Cincinnati and Boston.
Prof. kym lew nelson
Senior Lecturer
Harvard Business School
QuHarrison Terry is the bestselling author of The NFT Handbook (Wiley, 2021) and The Metaverse Handbook (Wiley, 2022). He is a 4x recipient of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology award, a notable entrepreneur, and a growth marketer who advises Mark Cuban’s portfolio of 200+ venture companies.
Quharrison terry
Head of Growth Marketing
Mark Cuban Companies
Cornell William Brooks is Hauser Professor of the Practice of Nonprofit Organizations and Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the Director of The William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice at the School’s Center for Public Leadership. Brooks served as the 18th president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 2014 to 2017.
Rev. & Prof. Cornell william Brooks
Professor of Public Practice of Leadership & Social Justice, Director
The William Monroe Trotter Collaborative of Social Justice
Alphonso David, one of America’s foremost civil rights attorneys and a life-long advocate for social and economic justice, serves as the President & CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. Alphonso brings more than two decades of experience in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, where he has worked to advance the rights of marginalized communities through policy, legislation, litigation, and advocacy.
alphonso david
President & CEO
Global Black Economic Forum
President Joe Biden nominated Candace Bond as U.S. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago on March 18, 2022. The United States Senate confirmed her appointment on September 29, and Vice President Kamala Harris administered the oath of office on November 14 at the Vice President’s residence in Washington, D.C.
Ambassador Bond leads U.S. foreign policy goals in Trinidad and Tobago that strengthen citizen security; advance sustainable and equitable economic growth with an investor-friendly business climate; promote laws, regulations, and best practices focused on good governance and anti-corruption; and build capacity to enhance climate resiliency, and a transition towards clean and renewable energy production.
Prior to her posting in Trinidad and Tobago, Ambassador Bond was a business owner, consultant, and social entrepreneur who specialized in helping public and private sector entities to develop innovative, effective, and scalable solutions to address the socioeconomic and environmental needs of local communities. She advised businesses and nonprofits on tangible ways to promote environmental sustainability, community development, affordable housing, quality education, health equity, and corporate governance. She had a distinguished career as a senior executive of major media and entertainment companies, and also served on several boards and in leadership positions pertaining to public education, health and wellness, housing, economic development, entrepreneurship, bioscience, clean energy, and energy sustainability.
A native of Missouri, Ambassador Bond holds a bachelor’s degree in Government with honors from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. She is the recipient of numerous leadership and service awards, including Los Angeles County Woman of the Year, and the Special Needs Network Woman of Distinction Award. She was also recognized as one of Los Angeles’s Women Leaders by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. She is married to entertainment executive Steven McKeever, and they have two children, Brent and Maddox.
ambassador candace a. Bond
United States Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Anita Elberse is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.
An award-winning teacher and scholar, Professor Elberse develops and teaches an MBA course covering the "Businesses of Entertainment, Media, and Sports," which ranks among the most sought-after courses in the School’s curriculum, and chairs a short executive education program, also named "The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports." She further chairs a semester-long mentoring program, "Crossover Into Business," that is specifically designed for professional athletes. In her research, Professor Elberse primarily aims to understand what drives the success of products in the entertainment, media, sports, and other creative industries, and how firms can effectively manage products and talent in such sectors. She is acclaimed for her work on digital-media strategies, the power of superstar talent, and leadership and team management. Professor Elberse has conducted case studies on dozens of entertainment companies, personalities, and other entities. Several of these are described in her first book, Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment.
Professor Elberse is one of the youngest female professors to have been promoted to full professor with tenure in Harvard Business School's history.
anita elberse
Professor
Harvard Business School
Beatrice Dixon is the CEO, Co-Founder, and Chief Innovation Officer of The Honey Pot Company, the personal wellness brand “made by humans with vaginas, for humans with vaginas.” ®
Beatrice created The Honey Pot Company in 2014 out of great personal need during an eight-month battle with bacterial vaginosis. The constant symptoms and fruitless search for solutions led her to formulate what became The Honey Pot Company’s first product, a vulva-safe wash.
The Honey Pot Company currently offers feminine washes, wipes, tampons, pads, and products for personal health and wellness. Today, The Honey Pot Company’s plant-derived products can be found in 4.6 million U.S. homes and in retailers nationwide.
beatrice dixon
CEO, Co-Founder, Chief Innovation Officer
The Honey Pot Company
Brentt Baltimore serves as a Principal at Greycroft, where he focuses on investment opportunities in software, data, and machine learning.
Before joining Greycroft, Brentt was on the founding team at TernPro (acquired by Smartsheet), led business development at Operator, an early player in the conversational commerce space, and worked on technology commercialization at Numenta, a machine intelligence research company. Prior to this, he was an Associate at Detroit Venture Partners, and he began his career in investment banking at Credit Suisse.
He is a Kauffman Fellow, and has led Greycroft’s investments in NextData, Bobsled, Merly, Groundlight, Storyteller, Trullion, Mapped, 1build, Craft, and Sailplan. Brentt received the NVCA rising star award and the Venture Capital Journal rising star award. He serves on the advisory committee of PledgeLA and co-leads the LA chapter of BLCK VC.
brentt baltimore
Principal
Greycroft
Brickson Diamond leads Spencer Stuart’s commercial DEI efforts and focuses on CEO searches, board effectiveness engagements and supporting PE firms in reinforcing culture in pursuit of maximum value creation. He is the former COO of the Executive Leadership Council, spent 15 years at The Capital Group Companies and is chair of the board of Tides. He was the last solo president of AASU (1998-1999).
brickson diamond
Partner
Spencer Stuart
Chris Womack is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Southern
Company, one of the nation’s leading energy providers serving 9 million customers
nationwide.
Prior to his current role, since 2021 he served as chairman, president and CEO of
Georgia Power, leading Southern Company’s largest subsidiary.
He assumed leadership of Georgia Power after serving as executive vice president and president of external affairs for Southern Company where he led overall external positioning and branding efforts including the company’s public policy strategies and oversaw the company’s governmental and regulatory affairs, corporate communication initiatives and other external and strategic business engagements.
A native of Greenville, Alabama, Womack joined Southern Company in 1988 and has held several leadership positions within Southern Company and its subsidiaries. He has served as executive vice president of external affairs at Georgia Power and senior vice president and senior production officer of Southern Company Generation, where he was responsible for coal, gas, and hydro generation for Georgia Power and Savannah Electric. Womack also served as senior vice president of human resources and chief people officer at Southern Company, as well as senior vice president of public relations and corporate services at Alabama Power.
Prior to joining Southern Company, Womack worked on Capitol Hill for the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC. He served as a legislative aide for former Congressman Leon E. Panetta and as staff director for the Subcommittee on Personnel and Police for the Committee on House Administration.
Womack is co-chair of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Customer Solutions Policy Committee and a member of the board of directors of Invesco Ltd. and the Georgia Ports Authority. He is past chair of the board of the East Lake Foundation and is on the national board of The First Tee. Womack has chaired the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau board and the Atlanta Sports Council. He has received numerous honors, awards and recognitions.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University and a master’s degree from The American University and completed the Stanford Executive Program in 2001.
Chris womack
President & CEO
Southern Company
Investor and philanthropist, Demond Martin is the co-founder and CEO of Wellwithall, an innovative health and wellness company that pours a significant portion of its profits into health equity for Black, Brown and underserved communities. Prior to becoming CEO of Wellwithall Demond was a senior partner at Adage Capital Management where he invested in the consumer sector for 21 years. Demond joined Adage after graduating from Harvard Business School and received his undergraduate degree in accounting from UNC Charlotte. He subsequently worked as the assistant to President Clinton’s White House Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles. Demond and his wife Kia through their family foundation focus on erasing gaps created by racial and social injustice in the areas of education and healthcare. Demond has served on a number of non-profit boards including as a trustee at the Berklee College of Music, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Grammy Global Venture Board, and the Obama Foundation
demond martin
Co-Founder, CEO
WellWithAll
CJ Farley is the author of the NAACP Image Award-winning novel “Around Harvard Square,” and the bestselling nonfiction biographies “Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley” and “Aaliyah: More Than a Woman,” as well as other bestselling books. He is a former music critic for Time magazine and has interviewed the greatest musicians in the world including Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Prince, Adele, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. He is a graduate of Harvard University, a former editor of the Harvard Lampoon and is currently Senior Director, Arts Programming and Development for PBS.
Christopher Farley
Senior Director, Arts Programming & Development
PBS
Didier P. Dumerjean is a dual Master in Business Administration and Master in Public Policy candidate at the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to Harvard, he was the Global Head of DEI for the Corporate Functions at Google. While pursuing the joint degree, he has centered financial stability and mobility as a primary lever in solving some of these social ills, through philanthropic grantmaking and tri-sector coalition building with the Rockefeller Foundation, and through impact investing with the BlackRock Impact Opportunities platform.
Didier is currently a fellow at The Center for Public Leadership and at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at HKS. He was previously a Socrates Fellow at the Aspen Institute, focusing on contemporary issues around globalization, policy, power, and racism. He graduated from New York University with a BA in Mathematics.
Didier dumerjean
MBA Candidate Class of 2024
Harvard Business School
Erin Teague is a Senior Director of Product Management at Google. In this role, she serves as the product and technical advisor across Google’s Search, Ads, Maps, Bard, Assistant, Commerce, Shopping and Long-term Bets product areas. Prior to this role, Erin was the global product lead across several YouTube verticals including Sports, Film, and TV. She also founded and led YouTube’s Racial Justice, Equity, and Product Inclusion product teams. Erin previously led YouTube’s Virtual and Augmented Reality product team where she was responsible for immersive video and created the YouTube VR app which is rated #1 across multiple platforms. Before YouTube, Erin was the Director of Product for Yahoo’s Fantasy Sports and Product Manager at Twitter. She began her career as a software engineer at Morgan Stanley, where she designed algorithms embedded in electronic trading applications in the firm’s Algorithmic Trading Technology group.
Erin is the recipient of the BET Her Tech Maven Award and has been recognized as one of the
“100 Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley” by Silicon Valley Business Journal, “The Next Generation of Tech Stars” by Refinery29, “40 Under 40 in Silicon Valley”. She has also been named one of Glamour Magazine’s “35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry” and one of Business Insider's "Silicon Valley 100."
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Erin holds a MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Morgan Stanley Fellow, and a BSE in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, where she graduated with distinction as an Intel Scholar.
erin teague
Senior Director of Product Management
Google
Jelani Johnson is a film & television producer. His most recent feature film FREAKY TALES debuted as the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Opening Night Premiere. The film was directed by Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden; and stars Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Normani, Ben Mendelsohn and Dominique Thorne; as well as Angus Cloud in one of his final roles. The film is set in Oakland and also features cameos from several notable Bay Area icons including: Tom Hanks, Marshawn Lynch, Too Short and former NBA All-Star Sleepy Floyd amongst others. On the television side, Johnson is currently in production on the show GOVERNMENT CHEESE for Apple TV+ starring David Oyelowo.
Before producing full-time, Johnson worked as the EVP of Content Strategy at MACRO and was a founding partner at their sister company M88, an industry leader in talent representation. 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.
Jelani is a current member of MPTF’s NEXTGEN BOARD OF DIRECTORS and is also a directorial board member for THE BLACKHOUSE; a trailblazing organization that helps Black creative voices and executives gain a better foothold within the entertainment industry. He received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University where he double majored in History and Anthropology.
jelani johnson
Film & Television Producer
Kanwulia is a student at Harvard Business School. Prior to HBS, Kanwulia spent five years as an engineer at Cummins, supporting the development and validation of diesel engines and electric powertrains globally. Kanwulia also interned at Bain & Company’s Private Equity Group in their NYC location. Kanwulia is passionate about product development and entrepreneurship.
kanwulia gwam
MBA Candidate Class of 2024
Harvard Business School
Kristen is a current student at Harvard Business School. Prior to HBS, Kristen worked as a Product Marketing Manager at YouTube and Google. Kristen also interned as an investment associate at Obvious Ventures, an early stage VC with more than $1B AUM.
Kristen shipley
MBA Candidate Class of 2024
Harvard Business School
Lisa Skeete Tatum is founder and CEO of Landit, a personalized executive coaching and career pathing technology platform created to increase the success of women and diverse groups in the workplace. The platform offers a turn-key “one size fits one” solution that enables companies to attract, develop, and retain their talent.
Lisa Skeete Tatum
Founder and CEO
Landit
Mark Tatum was appointed NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer on Feb. 1, 2014, following unanimous approval by the NBA Board of Governors.
Tatum, who joined the NBA in 1999, is responsible for the NBA’s business operations, including leading the league’s international efforts. He oversees the Global Partnerships, Marketing, Communications, Events, Global Strategy & Innovation and Team Marketing & Business Operations, New Business Ventures, and Data & Analytics departments in addition to the NBA G League.
Prior to joining the NBA, Tatum worked for Major League Baseball in Corporate Sponsorship and Marketing, the Clorox Company as a Regional Sales Manager, Pepsi-Cola Company in their Sports Marketing department, and Procter & Gamble in sales management.
Tatum sits on numerous boards including USA Basketball, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, General Motors, LA 2028 Summer Olympics, and Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors. He is a board member of the Harvard Business School Club of New York, and a member of the Executive Leadership Council, a national organization that empowers African-American corporate leaders to make impactful contributions.
Tatum received a B.S. in Business Management from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard University.
mark tatum
NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer
NBA
Melvin is a Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Healthcare Systems and Services practice. He leads McKinsey's research and client work on health equity globally. He has extensive experience in healthcare delivery as a physician, researcher and consultant, and primarily works with providers and healthcare services organizations on operations and strategy topics.
Over the past 15 years, Melvin has worked with on topics related to reducing disparities in health outcomes across the world. He is passionate about empowering communities and providers to better tailor interventions to support vulnerable populations.
Melvin received his medical degree from University College London where he trained as an intensive care physician; Melvin also holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Oxford and a BSc from University College London.
melvin mezue, MD
Partner
McKinsey & Company
Michael Persaud is a Portfolio Manager and Financial Advisor with Morgan
Stanley in Beverly Hills, CA. Over the last decade he has built a practice
that focuses on providing strategic and investment solutions for
foundations, institutions, non-profit organizations, endowments as well as
ultra-high net worth individuals and families.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Michael was President at MUSE
Communications, a Hollywood based advertising agency. Additionally,
Michael co-founded the brand marketing agency, Persaud Brothers, where
he also served as President and advised c-suite executives of several
Fortune 500 companies and brands.
Michael earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and BS in Finance
from University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. Michael is a
co-founder and current Board Chairman of the Council of Urban
Professionals. He is also an active board member with Harvardwood and
SteamCoders, as well as serving on the fundraising committee of the
Polytechnic School in Pasadena.
Michael resides in Sherman Oaks, CA with his two daughters.
michael persaud
Portfolio Manager Global Sports and Entertainment, Associate Director
Morgan Stanley
Malcolm D. Lee is an award winning writer, director and producer of film and television. Lee has directed 11 feature films including his critically acclaimed feature film directorial debut The Best Man, as well as other cultural and box office hits including Undercover Brother; Barbershop: The Next Cut; The Best Man Holiday, Night School, Girls Trip, and Space Jam: A New Legacy to name a few. In 2022, Lee co-wrote and directed Peacock’s The Best Man: Final Chapters, an eight-part series finale to Lee’s iconic The Best Man franchise.
Malcolm D. Lee
Director, Writer, Producer
Best Man Holiday, Girls Trip
After winning $1.3 million in scholarships himself, Christopher Gray founded Scholly, an app that helps students easily find scholarships for college and graduates pay off their student debt. Scholly was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, landing a deal with Daymond John and Lori Greiner and sparking the biggest fight in Shark Tank history. Scholly maintains over 5 million users and has helped students raise over 100 million dollars. The company was acquired by consumer banking corporation, Sallie Mae, in 2023.
Christopher Gray
Founder, CEO
Scholly
Alencia Johnson is a social impact strategist and political & cultural commentator, cultivating over 15 years of experience marrying advocacy, politics, corporate & entertainment to disrupt for good. She has worked for the presidential campaigns of President Obama, Senator Elizabeth Warren & President Biden as well as Planned Parenthood’s national office where she was the architect behind its “Stand With Black Women” campaign. Alencia founded the social impact consultancy 1063 West Broad, serves on the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Social Justice Fund & Human Rights First boards, and was appointed to the Virginia Council on Women. Alencia has been recognized by EBONY’s “Power 100” list, PRWeek’s “40 Under 40” & more, and regularly appears on MSNBC and CNN.
Alencia Johnson
Founder, CIO
1063 West Broad
Robert L. Greene is President & CEO of the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC).
NAIC is the largest industry association for diverse-owned alternative investment firms. For more than 52 years, NAIC has focused on increasing the flow of capital to high-performing diverse investment managers often underutilized by institutional investors.
Robert Greene
President, CEO
National Association of Investment Companies (“NAIC”)
Kirk Sims is the head of the Emerging Manager Program at Teacher Retirement System of Texas (“TRS” or “Texas Teachers”), one of the largest public pension funds in the world with approximately $200 billion AUM. Before joining TRS, he was a Senior Investment Officer for the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois. Sims had oversight and management responsibility of TRS's Emerging Manager Program, a $750 million evergreen pool of capital designed to identify and invest in emerging investment managers across all asset classes.
Prior, Sims worked at Prudential Retirement, where he was responsible for a manager's retirement platform as well as an open architecture investment platform.
He also has a background in asset management, holding various positions with both large and small asset managers. Sims is a CFA charter holder and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University in Washington, DC.
Kirk sims
Managing Director, Emerging Managers Program
Teachers Retirement System of Texas
Dan Gebremedhin, MD is a Partner at Flare Capital Partners and serves on the Board of Flare portfolio companies Somatus, Eden Health, Positive Development, Vita Health, Oui Therapeutics, and Elektra Health. Prior to joining Flare Capital, Dan served as a Medical Director at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan. Dan spent over 8 years as a practicing Internal Medicine Physician on the Faculty of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, after completing Internal Medicine Residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 2010. Dan served on Former 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 Former Governor Charlie Baker, Former Congressman Joseph Kennedy III and Congressman Jake Auchincloss. Dan earned a BS from the University of California, San Diego, an MD from the Morehouse School of Medicine, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Dan Gebremedhin, MD
Partner
Flare Capital
Herman Bulls is Vice Chairman, Americas, as well as an International Director and the founder of JLL’s highly acclaimed Public Institutions Division, 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.
Herman Bulls
Vice Chairman, Americas International Director
JLL
Frantz Alphonse is Senior Managing Director at Ariel Alternatives, LLC and a member of its Investment Committee. He brings over 18 years of private equity experience formerly as the Co-founder and Senior Managing Director of APC Holdings, LLC where he served on 11 private company boards. He served in various operational and strategic roles at Procter & Gamble in Latin America and North America. Frantz is an Executive Fellow with the faculty at Harvard Business School and a member of the Young Presidents Organization. He supports Olympic and Paralympic athletes through the USA Triathlon Foundation Board and has contributed to The Prevent Cancer Foundation and The Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida. He holds a BA from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Frantz Alphonse
Senior Managing Director
Ariel Alternatives
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.
Tynesia boyea-robinson
Founder, CEO
CapEQ
Virginia A. Caine, MD is the Director and Chief Medical Officer of the Marion County Public Health Department. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine Infectious Diseases Division. She is the President-Elect of the National Medical Association.
Virginia a. Caine, MD
President-Elect, Director & Chief Medical Officer
National Medical Association
Solo Ceesay is CEO and Co-Founder at Calaxy, a next-generation social platform redefining the creator-fan relationship. Before co-founding Calaxy with his business partner, Brooklyn Nets star Spencer Dinwiddie, Solo held the position of Securitization Investment Banker at Citi after graduating from the Wharton School of Business. As a 28-year-old tech founder, Solo has successfully spearheaded over $33.5 million in private funding for Calaxy. He was named one of Variety’s Hollywood’s New Leaders of 2022, and has brought his financial expertise to many mainstream audiences including Nasdaq, CNBC, and Cheddar News, as well as on his own video podcast New Money. You can follow Solo on Instagram and Twitter.
solo ceesay
Founder, CEO
Calaxy
Shar is the Global Head of Marketing at TIDAL, leading teams across insights, integrated marketing, RISING, marketing operations, and creative. Prior to joining TIDAL in 2022, Shar was VP of Developer and B2B Marketing at a fast-growing gaming company and won numerous awards as the Head of Creator Marketing at YouTube for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Shar Cesar douglas
Global Head of Marketing
Tidal
Damien Hooper-Campbell is StockX’s first-ever Chief Impact Officer. In his role, he oversees Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), as well as environmental, social, and community engagement initiatives globally. A tech industry vet, Hooper-Campbell brings over 20 years of expertise in culture, leadership development, DEI, social impact, and community engagement. He served in similar capacities at companies including Google, Uber, Goldman Sachs, and most recently, eBay and Zoom, where he held the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer roles.
Damien holds a BA in economics from Morehouse College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Harry’s, Inc. and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). He serves as a member of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science Dean’s Advisory Board, the Chelsea Factory’s Advisory Council, and The Steve Fund’s Crisis Response Task Force and Corporate Leadership Council.
Damien Hooper-Campbell
Chief Impact Officer
StockX
Deepa Janha
CEO, Managing Principal
DPI Advisors LLC
Greg is a partner in Sustainable Investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and serves as head of the Inclusive Growth strategy. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2022 as a partner. Previously, Greg served as a managing director at Bain Capital, co-founding the
Double Impact Fund, Bain Capital’s private equity fund focused on social impact. Prior to joining Bain Capital, he was a portfolio manager at Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo (GMO), and a senior equity analyst in the Global Equity Research group at Columbia Management Group.
Greg has served on the boards of several nonprofits, including the New England Advisory Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Point32 Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, The Boston Foundation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. Greg earned a BS in Political Science with a concentration in Economics from MIT in 1997 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2001.
Greg Shell
Partner/Managing Director of Inclusive Growth Fund
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Justin is an experienced leader in the alternative investment space, where he has focused his time building, scaling, and leading differentiated investment platforms in both public and private markets. Throughout his career, he has emphasized developing genuine, long-term relationships across the investment, media, and sports ecosystems. At JAZZ, Justin leads Capital Formation & Investor Relations, in addition to developing creative ways to expand the JAZZ platform and network.
Prior to JAZZ, Justin spent nearly a decade at TPG, a $150B global alternative investment firm. While at TPG, Justin held various senior leadership roles, including Partner & Head of Fundraising for TPG Public Equity Partners. He also co-founded TPG NEXT, a platform focused on investing in diverse entrepreneurs and investors. Justin helped lead TPG NEXT’s strategic investments in VamosVentures, LandSpire Group, and Harlem Capital.
Prior to TPG, Justin spent several years at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, where he started his career in Investment Banking.
Justin graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in History and was a member of Columbia’s Division I-AA Football team for four years. In his final season at Columbia, Justin was an Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award Winner, and was also named to the inaugural National Football Foundation Honor Society.
Justin is an avid boxer and runner, but his true passion is spending his free time with his wife and two children.
Justin Nunez
Jazz Venture Partners
Partner
Kel Jackson founded Clay Ridge Capital out of a passion for entrepreneurship and desire to revitalize American manufacturing. His operational experience, people skills, and analytical capabilities provide the firm with a competitive advantage in sourcing, evaluating, and operating investments.
Prior to Clay Ridge, Kel worked with Boeing as the Counter-UAS Program Manager at ~1,000-employee subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences. In this role, he owned multiple Profit & Loss businesses and led cross-functional teams to develop, test, manufacture, demonstrate, and deliver multiple aircraft systems, software, and other capabilities for the United States Department of Defense. Prior to this role, he served as Chief of Staff to two consecutive CEOs.
Prior to Boeing, he spent his career with Pratt & Whitney where he led a 350,000 square-foot forging and machining operation with 120+ employees. The facility produced compressor and turbine blades and vanes for the entire Pratt & Whitney engine portfolio. Prior, he worked as a Process Engineer and then Lead Process Engineer in a jet-engine overhaul shop, where he was responsible for hot and cold section cost reduction and process improvement. The facility overhauled and tested V2500, PW2000, and F117 high-bypass turbofan engines.
Kel serves on the MBA Interview Board at the Harvard Business School and as a Board Director of the FACTS Initiative, an outpatient mental health center.
Kel holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Kel and his wife Ebony reside in Boston with their 2 daughters.
Kel Jackson
Managing Partner, CEO
Clay Ridge Capital; Hueson Wire & Cable
Alternative investment fund pioneer, gallerist, and strategist, Lewis Long has developed an innovative vehicle to invest in art collections and works by contemporary artists. A Harvard Business School alum, White House Fellow and corporate veteran, Long's career began on Wall Street at Prudential Securities issuing closed end bond funds after studying finance at Howard. From that experience, he has steadily pivoted towards roles at the intersection of culture and business. After an extensive corporate career of launching new businesses for big brands, he opened the Long Gallery Harlem, which gained a reputation as a key destination for talented emerging artists. He also helped mastermind the re-launch of Columbia University's Wallach Art Gallery, in its new West Harlem Renzo Piano designed space, and helped curate the Uptown Triennial exhibitions as a Wallach associate director. Now, he is leveraging his extensive network, access and eye for art to realize value across the visual arts eco-system and broader cultural landscape.
Lewis long
Gallerist, Strategist
Long Gallery Harlem
Marty Nesbitt is a founding partner and Co-CEO of The Vistria Group, a private investment firm that seeks to deliver both financial returns and societal impact. With more than $10 billion in AUM, The Vistria Group delivers attractive returns and positive outcomes for the lives and livelihoods its portfolio companies support.
Prior to founding The Vistria Group, Mr. Nesbitt served as CEO of The Parking Spot, an operator of off-airport parking facilities. He conceptualized and co-founded the company and was responsible for all strategic and operating aspects of the company. Mr. Nesbitt also served as an officer of the Pritzker Realty Group, L.P., the real estate group primarily responsible for the Pritzker family business interests. He also served as Equity Vice President and Investment Manager at LaSalle Partners.
In his various leadership capacities, Mr. Nesbitt has been successful at guiding executive teams toward exceeding goals, maximizing investment returns and trailblazing on the importance of diversity and equity in the workplace.
Mr. Nesbitt currently serves on the Board of Directors of American Airlines Group and Chewy, Inc. He serves as Trustee of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee and was Treasurer of President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.
Mr. Nesbitt has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA and honorary doctorate from Albion College.
Marty Nesbitt
Founder &.CEO
Vistria
Verdun S. Perry is the Global Head of Blackstone Strategic Partners (“Strategic Partners”), Blackstone’s dedicated secondary fund manager, with over $68 billion of assets under management. Since 2000, Strategic Partners has been one of the market’s most prolific investors, having completed over 2,000 transactions focused on the purchase of private equity limited partnership interests and co-investments in leveraged buyout, real estate,
venture capital and infrastructure assets. Mr. Perry joined Strategic Partners when it was founded in 2000 and chairs the investment committee for each of Strategic Partners’ funds.
Mr. Perry received a B.A. from Morehouse College, where he graduated magna cum laude and was elected Phi Beta Kappa, as well as an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Robert Toigo Foundation Fellow.
Mr. Perry is a member of the Morehouse College Board of Trustees, where he serves as a member of the Financial Sustainability Committee. Mr. Perry also serves on the boards of The Blackstone Charitable Foundation, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) and Partnership for Education Advancement. Mr. Perry founded Blackstone’s Diverse Professionals Network (“DPN”) in 2014 and chaired the network for its first 6 years. Mr. Perry was a member of the David Rockefeller Fellows Class of 2016. In 2021, Mr. Perry was selected as a Fellow of the fifth class of the Finance Leaders Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Verdun PErry
Global Head
Blackstone Strategic Partners
Zuhairah Washington is an awarded technology executive with a track record of driving billion-dollar outcomes across the spectrum—from pioneering startups to Fortune 500 giants like Uber and Expedia Group. With over 15 years under her belt, she has mastered the art of scaling operations in intricate B2B and B2C marketplaces. Her sectors of expertise include consumer retail, transportation, hospitality, and real estate.
As the CEO of Otrium, Washington oversees all aspects of global operations across the United States and 19 European markets. Otrium leads the transformation within the fashion industry by convincing premium brands to sell, rather than burn, last season’s merchandise. Prior to her role as CEO, Washington served as Otrium’s President and COO.
Previously, as SVP & GM at Expedia Group, she led a thousand-person global team, steering billions in revenue. This role taught her the intricacies of large-scale operations and underscored the importance of individual contributions to collective success. Washington's journey at Uber was transformative; in the DC-MD-VA market, she steered a 1300% increase in trip volume and escalated revenue to a $1B annual run rate in just three years. Beyond the numbers, she was at the forefront of shaping ridesharing regulations, emphasizing responsible growth.
While she's been acknowledged by renowned platforms like Harvard Business Review, NPR, Forbes, and Fortune, Washington views each day as an opportunity to learn and better herself. With strong academic roots including a JD/MBA from Harvard University and a BA magna cum laude from UCLA, she appreciates formal education but values real-world lessons just as much. Washington sits on two public boards—Five Below and Olo—alongside the national non-profit board of Planned Parenthood.
Outside of the professional sphere, Washington revels in family time with her three children and husband, finds joy in collecting art, singing, creative writing, traveling, and cheering for the Seattle Seahawks.
Zuhairah Scott washington
Corporate Officer & Former CEO
Otrium
David Grain is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Grain Management, a telecom-focused Private Equity firm with $9Bn in AUM.
Prior to founding Grain in 2007, Mr. Grain led Pinnacle Towers (later renamed Global Signal) from bankruptcy to a successful IPO, transforming it into one of the largest independent wireless communication tower companies in the world. Before Global Signal, Mr. Grain served as Senior Vice President of AT&T Broadband’s New England Region and was an Executive Director in the High Yield Finance Department at Morgan Stanley.
Mr. Grain is the Lead Independent Director of Southern Company’s Board of Directors, Independent Director of Dell Technologies, Director of New Fortress Energy, Trustee of the Brookings Institution, a member of the Advisory Council of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and a member of the Board of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. He is also a Lifetime Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2022, Mr. Grain was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Mr. Grain holds an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, where he serves on the Board of Advisors. He holds a B.A. in English from the College of the Holy Cross, where he served for eight years as a Trustee.
david grain
Founder & CEO
Grain Management
Petros Kusmu is an MBA candidate and Business in Global Society (BiGS) MBA Fellow at Harvard Business School (HBS). As a recent Sustainable Investing Associate at Morgan Stanley, Petros helped advance the firm’s climate / ESG agenda across its private equity and credit teams. Prior to studying at Harvard, he was a Senior Manager in (Monitor) Deloitte's Strategy & Operations consulting practice with experience in corporate and innovation strategy, digital transformation, and operating model design across a range of industries in North America.
Petros is a co-founder of Black CAN (formerly, Black Voters Matter Canada), director at the Hogan's Alley Society — one of Canada's only Black-led non-profits building and acquiring affordable housing — and serves as a board member for a national charity focused on civic engagement (the Banff Forum). Petros holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics where he studied as a Chevening Scholar. He is a regular commentator on the CBC's News Network and has written opinion editorials for Canada’s leading news publications.
Petros Kusmu
MBA Candidate Class of 2024
Harvard Business School
Melissa Bradley is a serial entrepreneur and investor. She sold her tech platform last year and founded 1863 Ventures in 2016. She is also a GP in a family of funds, as well as a Professor of Practice at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
Melissa Bradley
General Partner
1863 Ventures