With an unwavering commitment to public service, The Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones has continually pushed boundaries, shattered glass ceilings, and left an enduring impact in the realm of national security, politics, and beyond.  She has held several high-ranking titles throughout her career, including becoming the first woman of color and first out lesbian to serve as the under secretary of a military department when she was appointed by President Joe Biden as the 27th Under Secretary of the Air Force in July 2021. Unanimously confirmed by the Senate, the appointment made her the second-highest ranking civilian in the Department of the Air Force, which includes the Air Force and the Space Force. She is a name synonymous with trailblazing leadership and an unyielding commitment to creating positive change.

The first African-American woman to hold the top policing job in Seattle, Washington, Carmen Best served with the Seattle Police Department for 28 years. In 2018, Best was promoted to Chief of Police, a job she called “a dream of a lifetime.” Best quickly began efforts to diversify the police force, which had long been less diverse than the city, recruiting more than 40 new officers of color. Chief Best speaks on diversity, inclusion, and leadership lessons-learned guiding a police department during times of crisis.

Regarded as the “CEO-Maker,” “DEI Professor,” and the “Cubicle to Corner Office Empress,” Dethra Giles is a workplace and career optimizer who advises organizations and individuals on how to chart their unique paths to success. She is a four-time TEDx speaker who has been named a “Top 100 HR Influencer” by Engagedly, and was selected by HR Gazette’s “HRchat” podcast as one of the “Top 22 Most Influential Figures in HR.” With clients including Kaiser Permanente, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The Army Corp of Engineers, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Salvation Army, Giles shares a unique blend of advanced education and industry experience that has been described as “university-tested and industry-approved,” and can be implemented by organizations of any size, and across industries.

Carla Harris is Vice Chairman of Wealth Management and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She was Chair of the Morgan Stanley Foundation from 2005 to 2014, and sits on the boards of several community organizations. In August 2013, Carla was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council. She is a gospel recording artist and a popular public speaker who gives impactful career guidance to corporate audiences based on her book, “Expect to Win.” Carla joined Morgan Stanley in 1987 after completing an AB in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Crystal Washington, CSP works with organizations that want to leverage technology to increase profits and productivity! As a technology strategist and certified futurist, Crystal takes complex social media, app, and web topics, and makes them easy to understand and accessible for everyday people. Crystal’s clients comprise Fortune 500 companies including Google, Microsoft, and GE and as a sought-after keynote speaker, she has entertained and educated audiences around the globe. She has appeared in numerous publications including Entrepreneur, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Forbes and is regularly called on by major television networks as a tech expert. Crystal is the author of the books One Tech Action and The Social Media Why.

At 22 years old, Lauren Simmons shattered the glass ceiling and made history by being the youngest and only full-time female equity trader on Wall Street for Rosenblatt Securities. Affectionately called the “Wolfette of Wall Street,” Simmons was also the second African American woman in history to hold the prestigious title. Since Lauren’s departure from the trading floor, she is now a multifaceted entrepreneur, an author, personal finance expert, global motivational speaker, producer, and director. She was also named to Harper’s Bazaar’s “Woman Who Dare” 2019 list. Currently, Simmons is executive producing a biopic of her life story with AGC studio – starring Kiersey Clemons and scheduled to release in summer 2021. Additionally, Lauren is the host of Going Public a new financial tv series on Entrepreneur.com coming out spring 2021.

Stephanie is Owner & CEO of Asutra, where we're passionate about helping people take care of themselves on purpose so they can get the most out of life – what we call active self-care. Asutra offers magnesium-powered remedies for pain relief, sleep and mood, so you can care for yourself well. At Asutra, we’re proud to provide good jobs with career pathways at a living wage with benefits. Asutra is women-owned and women-led; 60% of our team are people of color; and 100% of our staff would recommend Asutra as a great place to work. Stephanie is an enthusiastic board member of Hope Chicago, which sends students and their parents to college debt-free; Very Asian Foundation, which amplifies AANHPI stories; and Naturally Chicago, which creates an ecosystem for natural products companies to thrive. Stephanie was honored to be named to Inc.’s Female Founders 200 list in 2023 and Beacon Award Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021. In her spare time, she’s an avid urban gardener who grows everything from tomatoes to lilacs.

Clara is the Founder and Executive Chair of Hearsay Corporation, which provides software to help companies securely manage and measure their presence across Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. In 2007, Clara created the first business application on Facebook with her Faceconnector application, which integrates Facebook and Salesforce CRM.

Tricia Clarke-Stone is an entrepreneur, multi-award winning innovative marketer, and revenue-producing executive who has spent the last two decades at the intersection of marketing, branding, tech, media, and entertainment. She has a proven track record of building brands and companies and driving tens of millions in revenue through innovation, technology, marketing, business strategy, IP/product development, and team leadership. Tricia is the former CEO of WP Narrative, an award-winning creative and tech agency she cofounded with hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, creating a new marketing agency model uniting code (tech) and culture to power a brand’s purpose and experience. The agency was acquired by Hollywood producer Will Packer in 2017. Currently, Tricia continues to advise the WP Narrative team in addition to consulting blue chip companies, entertainment brands, and innovative startups. Known for being a boundary-pusher with a uniquely attuned business and creative mind, Tricia redefined the status quo with a mandate to future-proof brands, drive innovation, create transformative IP, develop products and game-changing marketing strategies for startups and some of the world’s most iconic brands. The results have been a series of “firsts,” technology patents, and groundbreaking campaigns that have garnered buzz and awards, including SXSW, Cannes Lions, the ONE Show, Clios, D&AD, Shortys, and the Webby’s.

Antoinette Clarke is an author, two-time Emmy Award-winning television producer and the SVP of Branded Entertainment and Media Innovation at ViacomCBS. She is responsible for ideation, pitching, selling, negotiating, developing and activating strategic branded content and advertiser partnerships across multiple platforms for the CBS Daytime slate of shows and specials. In the previous decade, Antoinette worked as a supervising producer/producer for a variety of award-winning talk shows with hosts Montel Williams, Tyra Banks, Rachael Ray, and Nate Berkus. Throughout her career, Antoinette's contribution to producing hundreds of lifestyle-based shows including social experiments, celebrity interviews, home and personal makeovers, holiday Extravaganzas, and tentpole events have led to some of the highest rated episodes on daytime television. Years prior, she worked as the Director of Broadcast Sales Integration for Martha Stewart, where she collaborated with marketing and production teams, executed creative concepts and managed integration sales activities.

Asha Rangappa is a Senior Lecturer at the Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former Associate Dean at Yale Law School. Asha served as a Special Agent in the New York Division of the FBI, specializing in counterintelligence investigations. Her work involved assessing threats to national security, conducting classified investigations on suspected foreign agents, and performing undercover work. Asha has published op-eds in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post, among others, and has appeared on NPR, BBC, and several major television networks. She is an editor for Just Security and is currently a legal and national security analyst for CNN.

Shayla Rivera is an aerospace engineer and former NASA rocket scientist turned salesperson, corporate trainer, and now international keynote speaker, TEDx speaker, radio host, emcee/host, comedian, actor, writer, producer, seminar facilitator, panel moderator and, as of 2017, director of the ENGR[x] program and Professor of Practice with the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. However, none of these labels tells you much about her. She best describes herself as a spiritually irreverent mystic and awareness expert. What many would call a Renaissance Woman.