In keynote speeches and discussions catered to each group, award-winning author, filmmaker and activist Marra B. Gad shares profound ideas on belonging, overcoming bias and finding unity. Gad is the author of THE COLOR OF LOVE: A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl, a moving autobiography that won the Midwest Book Award for autobiography and describes her journey as a transracial adoptee.... read full bio
Serial entrepreneur Morgan DeBaun also serves as a corporate advisor. As the founder and CEO of Blavity Inc., the premier digital media company for black culture and millennials, Morgan has expanded the business into the market leader for black media, reaching more than 100 million readers each month through a growing portfolio of brands that includes: Blavity News, 21Ninety, AfroTech,... read full bio
Speaking, writing and media production professional Austin Channing Brown offers inspiring leadership on racial justice in America. She is the Executive Producer of the web series The Next Question and the author of the New York Times best-selling book I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, which was chosen as a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub choice. Her lectures and seminars... read full bio
One of the newest emerging Indie artists to receive streaming popularity is Ella Smoker, also known as gglum. The London native was raised in a musical environment and her varied musical tastes are a result of her English and Finnish heritage. With her debut single "Why Don't I Care" released this year, she impressively secured a slot on Spotify's "Fresh Finds" playlist.... read full bio
The dazzling up-and-coming pop sensation speaks her truth to her audience while channeling the pleasures of alt-rock via a melodic prism. Each new song from Cristina finds her on a journey for freedom. Cristina is a Gen Z voice who isn't about to be boxed in. In addition to having echoes of Tate McRae and Olivia Rodrigo in her style, Cristina... read full bio
With her recent contract to Black Butter Records, multifaceted artist Charlotte Plank is at the forefront of some of today's best electronic music. Although she had contributed to and appeared on several songs before "HATE ME," this is her moment to exclusively show off her uniqueness and talent. Plank's richly melodic vocals provide a 90s/00s pop panache to the music, which... read full bio
AYYBO is an up-and-coming artist from Orange County who specializes in party music and has a variety of hard-hitting house rhythms up his sleeve. After a little more than a year of music releases, AYYBO has already begun to establish his trademark dark, addictive grooves with a hint of funk. Aaron Bonnema has drawn toward music production, videography and design since the second... read full bio
Cero Ismael, who was born in Amsterdam and is Dutch, Surinamese, and Indonesian, was raised in a melting pot of diverse cultures but, regrettably, in a dysfunctional family environment. He discovered early solace in love, faith, spirituality, and music, all of which swiftly became his life and concentration from a young age, with him beginning to produce music for the... read full bio
CEO Trayle would not believe you if you told him that the song "OK Cool" would be the one that made people start paying attention to him as a performer. The rapper, who is now 27 years old, has maintained throughout his career that he possesses superior music. The song "OK Cool" is a heartless breakup anthem in the style... read full bio
Cassandra Jenkins is a musician, singer, and songwriter from the United States who currently resides in the borough of Brooklyn in the state of New York. Cassandra Jenkins was born in New York City to a family with a musical background. In the 1980s, her parents were musicians who performed on cruise ships. She began her musical training at a... read full bio
Award-winning humanitarian Elizabeth Nyamayaro serves as the UN's Special Advisor for the World Food Programme. Through her leadership positions at the World Bank, World Health Organization, UNAIDS and UN Women, Elizabeth, who was born in Zimbabwe, has worked at the forefront of global development for more than 20 years, enhancing the lives of underserved populations. She has also been critical in... read full bio
The place to go for straightforward, seasonally appropriate food is Sweetgreen, whose co-founder and co-CEO is Jonathan Neman. Just three months after graduating from college, Jonathan and his co-founders, Nathaniel Ru and Nicolas Jammet, founded Sweetgreen and launched their first site in Georgetown, Washington, DC. Sweetgreen has become a national brand with more than 70 stores spanning the East Coast,... read full bio
Sekou Kaalund has more than 20 years of expertise on Wall Street with a demonstrated track record of growing revenue and building highly successful client relationships in start-up, turnaround and scale organizations. His diverse resume includes executive positions in line and staff positions in institutional and retail businesses. He has led complicated companies, executed major corporate deals and built market strategies. Sekou is... read full bio
Wallace Peeples, better known by his handle WALLO267, is an American public speaker, business owner, social media influencer, activist and marketer. After completing a 20-year prison term, Wallo caught lightning in a bottle by creating compelling viral material that encouraged people all over the world to step into their greatness and find their purpose. In just two short years, Wallo became a cultural phenomenon. Wallo's... read full bio
Masai Ujiri, vice chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors, is credited with leading the team to its most prosperous era in franchise history, which includes an NBA Championship. Few people speak as passionately and authoritatively about the strategy, teamwork development and entrepreneurial mindset required to accomplish a turnaround as Ujiri has done for various teams as an executive, coach and player.... read full bio
CharlieonnaFriday was born and raised in Seattle, where he began writing songs in his friend's basement when he was in the eighth grade. When he was younger, his mother enrolled him in DJ classes as well as piano and vocal lessons. He simply always thought it was so much fun to layer various instrumentals over various vocalists, and he simply... read full bio
Atlanta, Georgia is the home of the pop duo known as Coco and Clair Clair. As the forerunners of "devil glam rock," this band's unrepentant and undeniably hip-hop-influenced sound gives the low-fidelity bedroom pop subgenre a much-needed shot of adrenaline. In 2012, the two connected on Twitter and shortly thereafter began recording songs together alongside the guys from Atlanta's Awful... read full bio
Aminatou Sow is well-known as the co-host of the popular podcast Call Your Girlfriend, which explores the nuances of feminism, pop culture and the most recent developments in politics. She is also a writer, cultural critic and businesswoman. Aminatou, a former leader of Google's Social Impact Marketing and a member of the Sundance Institute Director's Advisory Group, has been recognized as one of... read full bio
The author of the book Virtual Leadership is Bart Banfield. In addition, he oversees EPIC Charter Schools, the biggest public school in Oklahoma and one of the biggest online education centers in the country. Bart has been a pioneer, innovator and leader in the virtual learning-work environment ever since he became Oklahoma's youngest public school superintendent at the age of twenty-seven. He... read full bio
With a focus on food, hunger, humanitarian operations, political organizing, community development and resilience methods, Ertharin Cousin has more than thirty years of leadership experience in non-profit, government and business settings on a national and worldwide scale. Cousin served as the 12th Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) for eight years. At the same time that she championed and acted as... read full bio
