Shelly has served churches and denominations, worked in church planting and consulted with businesses to grow people and teams for the past twenty years. She holds a Masters degree in Theology and Christian Leadership from Fuller Seminary. She served students with disabilities and began her career as a Speech Pathologist. Shelly developed and launched a Training and Development arm for best-selling author Laurie Beth Jones. Shelly has authored, created and developed brand programs for Training, Coaching and Building Teams. She consults with coaches, trainers and organizations throughout the US and International. Her mission is to teach, promote and release the feminine voice of God in herself and others.

Mateo Magdaleno is an internationally known, community servant leader and professional empowerment speaker with an inspiring story that stresses the importance of never giving up on the pursuit of an education despite the challenges involved.

Mateo is giving back to the community by dedicating his life to evangelizing the pursuit of a higher education. His message challenges students and encourages them to be resilient in their journey to and through higher education. Through the use of powerful real-life narratives, Mateo’s message inspires and motivates his audience to action. Mateo also speaks to organizations about the importance of diversity and community engagement. To date, Mateo has reached millions of people across the country as a champion for higher education and has been featured as a special guest on CNN, Univision’s Don Francisco Presenta Show and NBC, among many other broadcasts and print publications, such as, NSHMBA and Latino Leaders Magazine. He currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer for CityScape Schools in Dallas, Texas.

As Executive Director of Faith in Texas, Akilah brings to Faith in Texas more than 17 years of experience as a relationship manager, with expertise in fund development, event planning & promotions, marketing, multicultural media sales and project management. Her love for connecting community organizations with financial and in-kind resources has resulted in over $5 million in revenue support to date.

Akilah is a Dallas Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and a 2018 Dallas Public Voices Greenhouse, Op Ed fellow. Her philanthropic leadership includes the founding of Texas’ first African-American giving circle HERitage Giving Fund at Texas Women’s Foundation, awarding nearly $30,000 in grants to Black women-led organizations, in addition to providing consulting services for small- to-medium-sized community organizations.

Yolandé “Falami” Devoe is a womanist scholar, arts- based educator with interdisciplinary interests at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnography, and pedagogy. She is passionate about the voices of Black women and how critical these voices are in creating new narratives and sustainable practices of healing, liberation and well-being. As an activist, scholar, practitioner, Dr. Falami integrates mindfulness, art, poetry, storytelling and photography in her courses and presentations. A certified Holistic Wellness coach, Dr. Falami considers herself a Body Liberation Coach. She creates and curates’ spaces for Black women to express themselves authentically and to help make meaning of their lived experiences of their bodies. Dr. Falami has presented at the National Women Studies Conference, National Council of Black Studies bringing attention to the Photovoice methodology as an affirming and culturally relevant methodological approach that fosters a legacy of stories and experiences via pictures and words for marginalized communities. She received her PhD from the Graduate School of Leadership and Change from Antioch University and her M.A. in Leadership and Change and M.A. in Educational Leadership from Antioch University and a B.A. from Hampton University. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Among my passions and priorities are family, spirituality, literacy, music, teaching young children and connecting with people.

I was born in Texas and my family was part of the Great Migration, moving to the Northwest in the 1960's. I'm the eldest of four children and the only daughter.

I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in French from Whitman College in 1983 becoming the second generation of college graduates in my family. My first career was in retail and customer service. Shortly after getting married, I made a conscious decision to concentrate on raising my children, Tyler and Rachel.

My career in early childhood education started in 1988 when my children were in cooperative preschools. This unique model had at its core developmentally appropriate emergent curriculum for children that centered on anti-bias principles. At the same time, our group of diverse families participated in a monthly parent education component supplied by Seattle Central Community College. I served as co -chairperson and weekly volunteer for Madrona Co-op preschool for 5 years.

I held a variety of positions in Seattle Public Schools where my children attended, such as tutoring program coordinator, parent advisory committee member and volunteer. These experiences working closely with students, teachers and parents fueled my decision to build on my B. A. and go to graduate school. I earned my teaching credentials in elementary education with an emphasis in early childhood from Pacific Oaks College in 2000. Next I became a kindergarten teacher in Seattle Public Schools for 7 years.

The learning environments in my kindergarten and preschool classrooms were intentionally optimistic spaces where culturally responsive pedagogy was the norm. We embraced and celebrated the range of differences we represented amongst ourselves and beyond. Including (but not limited to) race, family structures, language and religion. I fostered communities in which teaching and learning flowed between children and adults. In addition, I’ve served as a preschool literacy coach and trainer for the federally funded, Seattle Early Reading First (SERF) program and have worked as a full-time preschool teacher.

On a more personal note, even before I became part of an interracial family that includes a disability, I believed strongly in social justice and actively resisting bias and unfairness.

An employment opportunity in a leadership role motivated my husband, Kirk and I to move to New York City in 2016. After a strategic planning process, his organization moved its headquarters to the DC metro area in 2017. An employment opportunity in a leadership role motivated my husband, Kirk and I to move to New York City in 2016. After a strategic planning process, his organization moved its headquarters to the DC metro area in 2017.

I’m highly invested in The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and volunteer regularly. It’s a national nonprofit working to confront and eliminate barriers resulting from prejudice, misinformation and bias concerning people who are visually impaired or blind with an emphasis on dignity and respect. In full disclosure, my husband is the president and CEO.

Listening and learning are really important to me and I seek to combine them to spread joy.

Teresa Coleman Wash is a producer, playwright, and founding artistic director for the Bishop Arts Theatre Center whose mission is to cultivate a diverse and vibrant arts community while creating opportunities for local and emerging artists through performance and education. Wash is a National Arts Strategies fellow having studied at Harvard Business School and she holds an MA in Arts Management from Goucher College. She is the 2019 recipient of the Theater Communications Group’s prestigious Peter Zeisler Memorial Award for artistic integrity and ingenuity and in 2018, she received the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Milestone Award and the Dallas Business Council for the Arts’ Obelisk Award in the category of Visionary Nonprofit Arts Leader. Mrs. Wash also earned several Irma P. Hall Awards including the 2020 Irma P. Hall Theatrical Excellence Medal. In 2017, Teresa was elected to the Dramatists Guild of America Council representing the Southern region where she also served on the steering committee.

Harriet L. Schwartz, PhD, is professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling at Carlow University in Pittsburgh. Dr. Schwartz’s scholarly interests include teaching as relational practice and teaching and emotion. She is the author of Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education (Stylus, 2019). She also addresses issues such as racism, sexism, and homophobia through non-academic venues such as Public Source and Medium. Dr. Schwartz serves as Lead Scholar for Education as Relational Practice and on the interim leadership team for the International Center for Growth in Connection, a group focused on promoting Relational Cultural Theory and related research and practice. In addition, Dr. Schwartz mentors doctoral students at Antioch University where she earned her PhD in Leadership and Change. She will join the Antioch faculty full-time in summer 2021. For more information about Harriet’s work, please visit: www.harrietschwartz.com

Points of interest: Elizabeth A. Henneke hails from a family of law enforcement officers. Even as a child, Elizabeth recognized the tension between her family’s commitment to fairness and justice and a system plagued by racial inequality, incompetent lawyers, and arbitrary sentences. By high school, Elizabeth was committed to seeking out fair and just outcomes in the criminal justice system. Elizabeth is now Executive Director of the Lone Star Justice Alliance (LSJA), a nonprofit legal organization that improves the lives of youth and emerging adults in the justice system. LSJA brings systemic solutions, strategic partnerships, and collaborative advocacy to address the injustices and inequities prevalent in the criminal legal system.

Joni fell in love with social impact work in 1995 at

her first job, where she worked almost 4 years at a camp deep in the Piney Woods of East

Texas. She has worked in the social impact world for nearly 25 years, focusing on social and

environmental justice causes. She is the co-founder of Amplify, a non-profit organization

that exists to amplify underrepresented voices in technology, and the founder of 9Forty

Coaching, where she works with social impact organizations to design processes and build

technology systems that help them achieve their mission. At 9Forty, Joni also works with

organizations to design more LGBTQIA-inclusive processes, programs, outreaches, and

workspaces.

As a white-passing person with Cherokee ancestry, Joni recognizes her inherent privilege

and contribution to a society that promotes racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and white

supremacy. She actively works to recognize and dismantle these institutions through her

work with organizations who are pursuing the same end, as well as through amplifying

marginalized voices around her.

As a queer person and LGBTQIA activist in America, Joni is well-acquainted with the

challenges experienced by our LGBQ and Trans communities, particularly in the southern

United States, and actively works to dismantle homophobia and transphobia through

storytelling and education. She believes that connection happens in sharing our stories,

and sees her own story as a love story in progress. She is presently working on a new project

called "Wild Lore", which aims to help individuals who have experienced societally inflicted

trauma to reframe and reclaim their narrative and rewrite their future. She is also a masters

student at Saybrook University, where she is studying mind-body medicine and integrated

health and wellness.

She lives in Denton Texas with her rainbow family consisting of a husband, 3 teenagers,

two dogs, and a cat. She is passionate about writing and telling stories, and riding her

motorcycle and making new stories to tell.

Valerie Hope is a CEO/Leadership Coach/Professional Speaker. Being a curious and creative learner has set Valerie apart in becoming an accomplished leadership coach and professional speaker. Her winning combination features engaging with individuals and groups to empower them to discover, develop and contribute their talents to the planet. For more than 20 years, Valerie has worked for the international leadership program, Up With People, the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce and Hyatt Corporation in roles focused on public relations, training, recruitment, and leadership development. In 2018, she cartwheeled into the world of entrepreneurship as the CEO of her company, Connect to Joy, LLC. Her clients comprise organizations such as: Headington Companies, Mujeres de HACE (Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement,) Enaxis Digital Consulting, Women's Hospitality Network, The Bank & Trust, Bed Bath and Beyond and Southwest Airlines. Valerie received her executive coaching certification from University of California - Berkeley, where she serves as an assistant professor. She holds a B.A. in Public Relations and Spanish from the University of Alabama. She is a native Spanish-speaker from the Republic of Panama. She loves Latin dancing, playing tennis, and she claims Dallas as her home. She has the cowboy boots to prove it.