A pioneer in medicine and leadership, Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall has been on the frontlines of healthcare for more than four decades as a clinician, researcher, and leader in the biopharmaceuticals and life sciences industries. Dr. Lewis-Hall is an incredible storyteller with a flair for well-timed humor who shares with audiences her powerful story and inspiring path to becoming a leader in the healthcare industry. Her talks motivate audience members to embrace pressure and determine their own destinations, just as she did on her path to being the first in her family to attend college, becoming a physician and, subsequently, a biopharmaceutical executive. Dr. Lewis-Hall’s message of perseverance, tenacity, equity, inclusion, and transparency is one that resonates with all audiences and diverse backgrounds.

Maurice Ashley made history in 1999 when he became the first African-American chess grandmaster. He is a three-time national championship coach, author of Chess for Success: Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and Teens, ESPN commentator, iPhone app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker. Maurice is well known for providing dynamic live tournament coverage of world-class chess competitions and matches.

Few people have had the influence that Elliott Harris has had in shaping economic development and policy across the globe through the course of his distinguished 34-year career in international economics. Harris is the former United Nations assistant secretary-general for economic development and chief economist who has been closely involved in the design of the global Sustainable Development Agenda and the policies aimed at reducing poverty, generating more equitable social outcomes and environmental sustainability, and creating resilient and sustainable development. He brings this unparalleled expertise into the analysis of what’s happening now and what’s ahead in the global economic landscape.

Barrier-breaker, transformational leader, a force to be reckoned with — these are just some of the words to describe Daphne E. Jones, an accomplished and seasoned Fortune 50 executive whose forward-looking vision played a key role in unlocking growth within various multinational corporations. Through the course of her illustrious 30-year career, she held executive roles at IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Hospira, Inc. (now Pfizer) — where she shattered the ‘concrete’ ceiling by becoming the first woman and first person of color to report to the Chairman of the Board and CEO, and General Electric, where she became the highest-ranking African American woman in GE IT. Jones is widely regarded as a power player in her field and draws upon her extensive experience using digital technologies strategically, entrepreneurially, and globally to advise organizations in every industry on the way forward for their businesses.

As a young man, Dr. Rolle hopes to be an inspirer of dreams, an educator of purpose, a patient centered healer and a leader for many. Sports enthusiasts and intellectuals alike know Dr. Myron Laurent Rolle as a gifted athlete, scholar and philanthropist. As a graduate medical student at the FSU College of Medicine and neurosurgery resident at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Rolle is achieving his dream of becoming a doctor and hoping to inspire others as well.

Greg Gumbel is a television sportscaster and current host of CBS’s Inside The NFL. Throughout 40+ years in the business, he has become one of the most outstanding and best known announcers in sports television. He has covered everything from Major League Baseball and the NBA to the Summer and Winter Olympic games and the Daytona 500. In 2001, he became the first African-American (and Creole) announcer to call play-by-play of a major sports championship in the United States.

As a child growing up in rough inner city neighborhoods, Chef Jeff Henderson never imagined he would one day become the inspirational success story he is today. Raised in a struggling single-parent household, Jeff didn't go to school to learn--he went for the free lunches which quelled his everyday hunger. At the age of 19, success came exclusively from his $35,000 a week drug business. But when he turned 24, he was arrested, and spent the next ten years of his life in prison.

Shaquem Griffin became the first one-handed player to be drafted and to play in the NFL. When he was just 4 years old, he had his left hand amputated due to a painful condition called amniotic band syndrome, which prevented his hand from developing normally. He has never used his lack of two hands as a reason to feel sorry for himself or to give up when he was faced with a challenge. It actually fueled his desire to prove skeptics and haters wrong, pursue his dream of playing football at the highest level and inspire millions along the way. Shaquem was born just minutes after his twin, Shaquill. At an early age, they made a pact to always stay together, to be inseparable. Both boys went on to become standout athletes at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg and college at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where Shaquem was Conference Defensive Player of the Year and helped lead UCF to an undefeated, national championship season. He even received a vote for the Heisman Trophy given to the most outstanding college football player in the country. After college, Shaquem and Shaquill were remarkably both drafted by the same NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks, where they played together for three memorable seasons (2018 - 2020). Shaquem's most memorable on-the-field highlight was sacking current NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers during the playoffs in 2020. He signed with the Miami Dolphins for the 2021 season and then retired in 2022 to pursue his "Plan A" of making a positive impact in the world full-time.

Chaunte Lowe is a four-time Olympian and current American record holder in indoor and outdoor high jump. Her athletic journey began as a sophomore at Georgia Tech, where she made her first Olympic appearance. Alongside her athletic achievements, she has become an advocate for breast cancer awareness after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease in 2019. Despite undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy, she continued training for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, using her platform to raise awareness about early detection and breast cancer research.