Author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles is the author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker – a New York Times Notable Book about her entrepreneurial great-great-grandmother – that is the inspiration for Self Made, the fictional four-part Netflix series starring Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer that premiered in March 2020. She is at work on her fifth book, The Joy Goddess of Harlem: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, a biography of her great-grandmother, whose parties, arts patronage and international travels helped define that era.

A’Lelia is brand historian for MADAM by Madam C. J. Walker, a line of hair care products developed in partnership with Sundial Brands and Walmart. In February 2022 she was named the inaugural Center for Africana Studies and Culture Prestigious Fellow in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. She is the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives, the largest private collection of Walker photographs and memorabilia.

She is a vice chair emerita of Columbia University’s Board of Trustees and chair emerita of the board of the National Archives Foundation. She is a member of several boards that reflect her interest in history, journalism, political activism, social justice and historic preservation including the March on Washington Film Festival, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Indiana Landmarks, Columbia Global Reports and the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative.

A’Lelia was a network television news executive and producer for thirty years at NBC News and then at ABC News, where she was Washington, DC deputy bureau chief and director of talent development.

Her articles and essays have been published in the New York Times Book Review, Variety, TheUndefeated.com, Al Jazeera, Parade, Ms., O Magazine, Essence, several encyclopedias and books, and on her blog at www.aleliabundles.com. As a speaker and emcee, she has appeared at universities, corporations and book festivals, as well as on ABC, CBS, MSNBC, NBC, NPR, PBS and BBC. She has served as an advisor for numerous documentaries, museum exhibits, biographies, scholarly papers and history texts.

A recipient of an Emmy and a du Pont Gold Baton, she has participated in writing residencies at Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. 

She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received a masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles is the author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker – a New York Times Notable Book about her entrepreneurial great-great-grandmother – that is the inspiration for Self Made, the fictional four-part Netflix series starring Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer that premiered in March 2020. She is at work on her fifth book, The Joy Goddess of Harlem: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, a biography of her great-grandmother, whose parties, arts patronage and international travels helped define that era.

A’Lelia is brand historian for MADAM by Madam C. J. Walker, a line of hair care products developed in partnership with Sundial Brands and Walmart. In February 2022 she was named the inaugural Center for Africana Studies and Culture Prestigious Fellow in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. She is the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives, the largest private collection of Walker photographs and memorabilia.

She is a vice chair emerita of Columbia University’s Board of Trustees and chair emerita of the board of the National Archives Foundation. She is a member of several boards that reflect her interest in history, journalism, political activism, social justice and historic preservation including the March on Washington Film Festival, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Indiana Landmarks, Columbia Global Reports and the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative.

A’Lelia was a network television news executive and producer for thirty years at NBC News and then at ABC News, where she was Washington, DC deputy bureau chief and director of talent development.

Her articles and essays have been published in the New York Times Book Review, Variety, TheUndefeated.com, Al Jazeera, Parade, Ms., O Magazine, Essence, several encyclopedias and books, and on her blog at www.aleliabundles.com. As a speaker and emcee, she has appeared at universities, corporations and book festivals, as well as on ABC, CBS, MSNBC, NBC, NPR, PBS and BBC. She has served as an advisor for numerous documentaries, museum exhibits, biographies, scholarly papers and history texts.

A recipient of an Emmy and a du Pont Gold Baton, she has participated in writing residencies at Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. 

She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received a masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

As a successfully recovered addict, Pinchas Kras is the Founder & CEO of a sobriety platform called Soulber, an app that assists in the journey of sobriety and better reintegration into society.

"Over time, throughout every center I went to, I found significant gaps in how they prepared clients for post-treatment. Two of the most important elements of recovery are re-establishing trust between clients and their family members and the maintenance of sobriety as an outpatient. After failing to see the centers integrate these elements into their treatment, I started to consider better ways to prepare people for recovery post-treatment. After months of planning and analyzing the industry as a whole, I am attempting to combine my knowledge and experience to create a platform that can better help recovering addicts rebuild lost and broken relationships while holding themselves accountable on a safe and open platform with others in recovery." —Pinchas Kras.

Scarlett Lewis founded the nonprofit Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement in honor of her son, Jesse, who was murdered during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in December 2012. Shortly after his death, Scarlett decided to be part of the solution to the issues that we're seeing in our society -- that also caused the tragedy -- and turned it into an opportunity to build a culture of love, resilience, forgiveness, and connection in our communities at a time when it is needed the most.

Scarlett became an advocate for social and emotional learning (SEL) and character development to help children manage their emotions, feel connected, and have healthy, meaningful relationships. She created the Choose Love For Schools program, a no cost, comprehensive, lifespan, next generation character and social emotional development (CSED) program that teaches children how to thoughtfully respond with love in any situation by using the Choose Love Formula (Courage + Gratitude + Forgiveness + Compassion-in-Action), and offer ways for children to handle adversity, have courageous conversations, and to respond with love.

Choose Love extends beyond the classroom through additional no-cost programs, including programs for the home, communities, athletics, and the workplace. In addition, the movement offers Choose Love C.A.R.E.S. (Cultivating Authentic Relationships in the Education System), Experiential Educator Wellness Workshops for school leaders and educators, as well as multiple extension programs. The Choose Love programs have been accessed in all 50 states and in more than 120 countries, reaching 3 million children.

Scarlett is the author of Nurturing Healing Love: A Mother’s Journey of Hope & Forgiveness, a memoir of her journey toward choosing love and forgiveness; From Sandy Hook to the World: How the Choose Love Movement Transforms Lives, an in-depth look at how Scarlett founded the Movement and its impact around the world today; and Rose’s Foal, a children’s book, with photographs by Scarlett Lewis, that tells the poignant story of a beloved horse and her newborn foal.

Since the tragedy, Scarlett has spoken across the U.S. and internationally to diverse audiences sharing her empowering story and the organization's far-reaching programs, urging everyone to become part of the solution to the issues the world is facing. Scarlett has spoken at multiple national, statewide, and community-based events including hundreds of talks at schools, addressing educators and administrators. In 2021, Scarlett was named a Forbes 50 over 50 Impact Honoree, one of 50 women leading the way with impact and changing their communities and the world in ways big and small through social entrepreneurship, law, advocacy and education.

Scarlett was the keynote speaker at the 2018 and 2019 National Forum on Character presented by Character.org and in 2020 and the keynote speaker for the New England Head Start Association. In addition, Scarlett has presented at the Music City SEL Conference in Nashville; SXSW EDU Conference; ASCD Empower; the Nebraska Mental Health Conference; and multiple statewide Counselor Association Conferences. She has been interviewed by BBC, Fox News, CBS, the Today Show, The Guardian, and many regional papers and podcasts about the Choose Love Movement and the neuroscience behind the Choose Love Formula and the benefits of SEL, and has been featured in high-profile magazines, including Fortune, Strive, and the Huffington Post. Scarlett also hosts the ChooSELove Podcast, interviewing noted authors and experts on post-traumatic growth, self-empowerment, brain health, resilience, forgiveness, trauma and grief, mental health, and more.

Kathey is a nationally recognized small business strategist and award winning supplier diversity expert. With a career spanning nearly two decades in marketing, small business development, supplier diversity and entrepreneurship. A sought after subject matter expert, Kathey is a frequent keynote speaker, panelist and workshop facilitator at conferences and events focusing on supplier diversity, small business development/entrepreneurship, women's entrepreneurship and empowerment and diversity and inclusion. Kathey is the founder and principal of Porter Brown Associates, a certified veteran-owned, woman-owned, DBE training and professional services consultancy that advises and works with corporations and public entities on how to build inclusive community business ecosystems through supplier diversity programs, inclusive diversity strategies and targeted entrepreneurship training programs. Her company was recognized as a 2020 Small Business Subcontractor of the Year.

She is also founder and lead instructor for the Supplier Diversity Training Institute (SDTI), a national training program for supplier diversity practitioners,  procurement professionals and organizational stakeholders looking to gain proficiency in supplier diversity and equitable inclusion.

Active in supplier development, Kathey is an Executive Coach/Instructor for several national business accelerators including Inc Magazine’s Inc 5000, Small Business Administration’s Emerging Leaders Program, National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) the Black Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (BWEL) Program at Babson College. In 2019, she launched BusinessFAB Academy, an online course that teaches businesses how to win contracts with institutions.

Kathey is the author of 50 Billion Dollar Boss (Palgrave Macmillan), which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and Implementing Supplier Diversity (Palgrave Macmillan). Her new books, Supplier Diversity for Dummies (Wiley) and 50 Billion Dollar Tech Boss (Palgrave MacMillan) will be released in 2022.

Today, as an investor and philanthropist with her 50 Billion Dollar Boss™ Foundation, online store 50bdb.com and through her media company BusinessFAB® Media, Porter is supporting and elevating black women entrepreneurs.

Christine Dimmick is the Founder/CEO of The Good Home Company Inc., author of Detox your Home, and a public advocate for health and wellness. Her work in environmental sustainability is solution based, connecting the inventors in the private sector with governments worldwide – bringing innovation to the public in a broader, more efficient way. She is a notable speaker on regenerative agriculture, ocean pollution and environmental toxins, educating on the effects of both on our land, waters and health. Christine has lectured at the United Nations in both New York and Geneva, the 92Y in NYC, Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass, where she frequently hosts and moderates events connecting NYC politicians with NGOs such as Oceana and Surfrider. Most recently Christine is the host of the podcast #bethchange – a conversation with visionaries making real change in sustainability and social justice. She holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design and is a graduate of MITs Birthing of Giants. She is an honorary member of the UN - NGO Committee on Sustainable Development NY. Christine resides in NYC with her family.

Eddy Moratin is president of Lift Orlando, a nonprofit that works with residents, business leaders, and community partners for neighborhood revitalization in The Communities of West Lakes. The organization, recently given the Floridian of the Year award by Florida Trend, strengthens the historically African American communities near Camping World Stadium by providing mixed-income housing, cradle-to-career education, a health and wellness center, and economic viability opportunities. Orlando Business Journal recognized Eddy as a Power Player in 2021 and CEO of the Year in 2019. He serves as a board member and advisor to various organizations such as the Federal Reserve Jacksonville Branch, Orlando Economic Partnership, Foundation for Orlando’s Future, PathNorth, and 4 Roots Foundation.

Sigal Atzmon left a successful career in the financial sector to pursue her entrepreneurial ambitions and her passion for healthcare. 

Born and raised in Belgium, Sigal climbed the ranks in the finance industry in Geneva, Switzerland, which led to a series of appointments to executive management roles. Sigal’s last role before starting her business was the Head of Private Banking at UMB, where she managed a portfolio of over US$4.5 billion.  In 2006, Sigal founded Medix Global, a leading provider of innovative, high-quality health management solutions. Medix has since expanded to serve millions of insured customers across 90 countries with offices in  London, Tel Aviv, Munich, New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Jakarta, Bangkok.   

She is a married mother of three, and splits her time between the U.S., U.K., Asia and Tel Aviv.

M Abeo (they/them) is a Mental Health Advocate, Speaker, Podcast host, Producer and Photographer + Creator of the Faces of Fortitude movement, which began as a series of portraits documenting the healing for those affected by suicide - providing a safe, stigma-free space both virtually and in person for mental health and suicide to be discussed. After losing their brother over a decade ago to suicide, and surviving their own severe attempt as a teen, M started this movement initially for their own healing. The portraits caught fire online and they quickly saw a need for others to have a safe space to share their stories. They now travel the country to capture portraits of those affected by the epidemic in any way (be it loss, attempt or first responders) as a step towards their healing, and to educate people as both a mental health advocate + suicide loss and attempt survivor.    

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Rob represents a new post-partisan generation of political figures: the “service generation.” At a young age, he realized that bettering his community mattered more than fame on the football field or in Washington, D.C. As a native Coloradan, Rob understands the need for community unity. He is a problem-solver, concerned with identifying the key issues that confront our community and developing long-term, community-based strategies to address them.

Rob has also served on boards and commission such as: Judicial Performance Commission, Colorado Springs Pride Center, Armed Services YMCA, Southern Colorado Black Barber Association, African American Voice Juneteenth Festival and, the El Pomar Black Advisory Council, RTD Affordable Task Force, Denver Workforce Investment Board, Department of Regulatory Agency Collateral Consequences. Rob has started a local non- profit organization to address issues in underserved neighborhoods called the One Voice Coalition. Rob is currently the President/CEO of CommunityWorks a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to empowering individuals through career preparation and career placement. Rob is the co-owner of two social businesses of the Community Barbershop located in Colorado Springs and Aurora and American Sealcoat an asphalt company dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated individuals go back to work in the construction field.