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.

Lauren DeLisa Coleman is part of the new technorati-to-watch. A digi-cultural trend analyst, mobile strategy specialist, author, speaker, and consultant, Lauren is an expert at deciphering and forecasting power trends and public sentiment within the intersection of popular culture and emerging tech and the impact of such on business and governance—with a unique focus on millennials. She helps brands create messaging and content that better resonates with today’s tech-savvy, pop culture millennial consumers by providing innovative communication strategies, as well as forecast, analysis, and insight into cultural trends, attitudes, and behavior as it all intersects with emerging tech usage. A successful innovator, thought leader, and entrepreneur with over 14 years of experience, Lauren has provided digi-culture intelligence and trend consulting to notable clients from Jay-Z and Snoop Dog to Microsoft execs and public policy leaders. She is an on-air commentator for MSNBC, a columnist at Inc. magazine, and a regular contributor to Forbes. She also contributes to other major media outlets, such as Daily Beast, cnbc.com, The Next Web, Business Insider, and Campaigns & Elections.

Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown are agents of change who are known for their surprising and entertaining approaches to purpose-driven leadership and igniting culture shifts that reposition organizations to scale growth and make a profound impact in their teams, and with their customers. At the foundation of Colin and Garrett’s philosophy is the idea that the most successful leaders and teams are the ones who are able to evolve transactional encounters into transformational experiences where connections are made, solutions are created, and value is felt. After decades of collective experience as sales professionals, leaders, and executives, Colin and Garrett’s paths crossed at enterprise software company Bitium, where they played key roles in growing the business from relative obscurity to a prominent acquisition by Google. They now serve as adjunct professors of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, where they teach the hugely popular, first-of-its-kind class, “Sales Mindset for Entrepreneurs.”

Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen are two of the nation’s most influential journalists. For years, they worked together building the nationally renowned digital media company POLITICO, transforming it from a newcomer on Captiol Hill to the website and accompanying newsletter that all of Washington considered a “must-read.” Now, they are co-founders of disruptive media company Axios, delivering quick, punchy news and insights on politics, business, media, and technology to a smart and highly-engaged audience. The company has already proved a disruptive force in the digital media space, specializing in high-quality news and analysis easily shared across social platforms by the country’s influential readers.

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.

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.

Ron Fournier is an award-winning and nationally-acclaimed political columnist formerly of National Journal and The Atlantic. He is a 20-year veteran of the Associated Press who served as their Washington bureau chief. Called “a consistent news-breaker” and “one of the savviest political journalists of his generation,” he is also the author of the best-selling book Applebee's America: How Successful Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Connect with the New American Community. A familiar voice around the Beltway and widely respected by his peers, he is known for his hard-hitting reporting on Congress, the White House, and actions of both major parties. He is currently President at Truscott Rossman.

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.

A decorated combat veteran, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jason O. Harris is revered for his distinguished track record leading his air crews on successful missions and instilling a culture of trust in which each person owned his or her role in keeping the team out of harm’s way. Lt. Col. Harris brings his unique battlefield experience to his talks. Using real-world examples, he empowers audiences to unleash their untapped potential and sheds light about the invaluable talent each person brings to an organization and how this talent can be harnessed to positively impact the organization’s greater mission. His experiences served as the launching point for “No Fail Trust™,” a methodology Lt. Col. Harris created to empower executives and employees to foster an environment of mutual trust, responsibility, and productivity that uplifts organizations as they set out to achieve their goals.

With a master-level understanding of what it takes to survive and thrive in the workplace and how organizations can create more equitable spaces for all, Carice Anderson is a workplace development and success engineer who empowers individuals to strategically navigate their careers and advises some of the world’s top companies on aligning their talent strategies to their business objectives. As a director in leadership and manager development for a leading, multinational asset management firm, her work sits at the intersection of talent and leadership development, workplace evolution, and diversity, equity, and inclusion — helping individuals, teams, and organizations unlock the potential within and consistently perform at the highest levels.

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.

Tall and thin, with remarkable onscreen energy and ease, the actor possessed intense malleable features that he used to good effect in both dramatic and comedic roles. Despite this gift, he surprisingly began his career with off-screen pursuits. Jones worked as writer and story editor for NBC's college-set comedy "A Different World" from 1991 to 1992. In 2000, he took on a role in a sports-themed feature set in the recent past in "The Replacements" and in 2002, Jones portrayed a band director out to prove that he has the best band/drumline that the historical black colleges and universities have to offer in the drama "Drumline." Jones has appeared in numerous television series including "Rules of Engagement," "Necessary Roughness," "House M.D." and "Pushing Daisies."