Spark

Aliza Freud is the Founder and CEO of SheSpeaks, which was launched in 2008 as a platform to amplify women’s voices. It is now the largest community of female influencers, reaching 300 million consumers per month, through brand programs designed and executed to drive real impact. The platform has become the voice of female consumers and influencers. It has created an award-winning Influencer Platform, with over 250 thousand members. Aliza Freud's expertise has been featured on ABC News, MSNBC, Good Morning America and in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and The Economist.

Jill Salzman is currently growing her third entrepreneurial venture, The Founding Moms, where she helps female entrepreneurs build better businesses. Previously, she started a music management firm and then launched and sold a baby jewelry company before creating her current venture. Jill is the author of The Best Business Book In The World* (according to my mom) and the Amazon best-seller, Found It: A Field Guide for Mom Entrepreneurs.

She has shared the speaker stage with Richard Branson, Sheryl Sandberg, and Desmond Tutu, among others. Jill hosts the podcast, Why Are We Shouting? She is also a co-host of Inc. Magazine's business podcast, Breaking Down Your Business. Dubbed a “mommy mogul” by CNN Money, a “Cool Mom Entrepreneur We Love” by MSN Live, Jill was recently named one of the Top 50 Women to Watch In Tech as well as a Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencer after Forbes’ named The Founding Moms one of the Top 10 Websites For Entrepreneurs.

Astronaut Clayton –“Astro Clay” spent 167 days in space and 38 hours and 28 minutes in executing 6 spacewalks. He applied 15 times before NASA selected him as an Astronaut in 1998, and he spent 30 years working for NASA; 15 as an engineer and then 15 as an Astronaut.

Succeeding in one of the most difficult and coveted jobs in the world through perseverance and a never-give-up mantra, Anderson employs NASA’s “Plan, Train and Fly (Execute)” philosophy to his goals. He is the author of The Ordinary SpacemanTM: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut, A is for Astronaut: Blasting Through the Alphabet, Letters From Space and It’s a Question of Space: An Ordinary Astronaut’s Answers to Sometimes Extraordinary Questions. His story has been featured in leading media outlets including ABC News, Fox News, Business Insider, Space and TEDx. 

Dilip Jeste, M.D. is a geriatric neuropsychiatrist, who specializes in successful aging, neurobiology of wisdom and psychotic disorders in older adults. He is the Senior Associate Dean for Healthy Aging and Senior Care, Estelle and Edgar Levi Memorial Chair in Aging, Director of Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, Founding Director of UC San Diego Center for Healthy Aging, Co-Director, IBM-UCSD Artificial Intelligence Center for Healthy Living, at the University of California San Diego. 

He has published over 600 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 14 books. In his most recent book titled Wiser: The Scientific Roots of Wisdom, Compassion, and What Makes Us Good (2020), he describes evidence-based findings on the definition, measurement, and neurobiology of wisdom as well as its relationship with aging, and interventions to promote wisdom. 

His work has been featured in leading media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time, National Public Radio, PBS, Public Radio International, London Times, and The Colbert Report, among others.

Darcy Gaechter is an extreme athlete, entrepreneur, environmental activist and author. She is the first woman to kayak across the widest part of South America, stretching 4,000 miles, from source to sea. Ms Gaechter has won whitewater kayaking races throughout the world and led kayaking expeditions in eighteen different countries. 

When she is not on a whitewater expedition, Ms Gaechter runs her kayaking business, Small World Adventures. She is also the author of The Kayaker’s Guide to Ecuador and Amazon Woman, an adventure memoir detailing her Amazon River expedition (its rights purchased to turn her story into a movie). In addition, Ms Gaechter donates her time to the Ecuadorian Rivers Institute and other non profit organizations. She is currently spearheading a fundraiser for ERI to help protect Ecuador's rivers and the ERI's volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms Gaechter was featured in the award-winning film, Wild Water, by Anson Fogel. 

Dr. Jen Gunter is known by her thousands of fans as "Dr. Jen."  She is also regularly referred to as "Twitter's resident OB/GYN." As an internationally, successful author and physician, her New York Times and USA Today bestselling book, The Vagina Bible, has been translated into nineteen languages and she recently released The Menopause Manifesto. The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom has called her “the world’s most famous—and outspoken—gynecologist.” 

Dr Frank Lipman’s health expertise is endorsed by celebrities including Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick and Michelle Williams. He has authored a number of wellness books, with the latest: The New Rules of Aging Well. His advice has been featured in leading publications including Vogue, Bazaar, Allure, NY Times and Wall Street Journal. 

As the cofounder of Nutrafol, Dr Sophia Kogan focuses on developing supplements to deter hair loss and support its regrowth. Its supplements have been recognized by publications including Allure and Esquire as well as highlighted in NY Times, Bazaar and Huffington Post. 

Dr. Swann is an expert in the fields of prebiotics, probiotics and the microbiome. He is a Board Certified Family Physician with a focus on patient health, wellness and prevention. Dr. Swann is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He received his Clinical Research Training through the National Institute of Health. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees at the University of California, Merced. Dr Swann is the co-founder of ISOThrive, a clinical stage biotech company focused on treating chronic disease caused by microbiome dysbiosis.

Gary Shinner shares their journey from starting Mighty Leaf Tea to their new entrepreneurial vision and mission with Good Pharma. They have interwoven ancient medicine and science into their Good Pharma beverages. Their entrepreneurial success with multi-dimensional infusions has been featured in leading media outlets including CNN Money, NY Times, Inc., and SF Chronicle.