Marcus Sams, founder of Moment Improv Theatre as well as the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Improv Festival.

Marcus has performed improv since 2001 and has been in 70+ national improv festival shows, including the “Secret Show” at the Chicago Improv Festival, where he opened for BassProv with his duo Liss n’ Sams, featuring Joe Liss of Second City. He was the “Master Teacher” at the Alaska State Improv Festival in 2017 and has been a headlining act and teacher at the KC Improv Festival, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, and Seattle Festival of Improv, to name a few.

Marcus has also taught improv to large companies such as Google, Microsoft, Airbnb, eBay, and Electronic Arts, to name a few on a long list. Marcus believes that improv skills are life skills and that anyone can participate in this magical and transformative art form. He has a systematic and heart-centric approach to improv that breaks down improv concepts to their core units and delivers usable tools to the working player. Marcus was initially trained as a stage actor and brought this respect for stagecraft and training to the improv world. He believes that improv is not a crap-shoot and that once one learns the craft of improv, it frees them up to experience a deeper level of play.

Marcus has written over 240 hrs of curriculum for Moment Improv Theatre and currently teaches 3-5 classes per week. An interesting thing to note, Marcus is also the only African American improv theatre and training center owner on the West Coast, Yes&, he hopes to influence and help change that within his lifetime.

Kinyarda Wright, an entrepreneur providing catering and crafts services for film and television productions and corporate events.

Kinyarda began her career in 2001 as a production assistant at CBS in Los Angeles, California. She gained experience working on shows such as The Price is Right (Bob Barker edition), The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Bill Maher Show, The Wayne Brady Show, and Hollywood Squares. After moving back to New York, she used her connections and her knowledge in the industry to pursue a career in marketing and public relations, in which she freelanced for fashion designers and musicians.

In 2008, while freelancing on various projects, Kiny Her hard work, professionalism, and customer service create an atmosphere of comfort that production companies rely on time and time again. Around The Clock Catering and Craft Services serves and delivers throughout New York City including Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Long Island City, and Queens. Business Website: http://www.atccraftservices.com/

Shalini Kantayya, a filmmaker whose feature documentary, Coded Bias, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Kantayya directed the season finale episode for the National Geographic television series Breakthrough, a series profiling trailblazing scientists transforming the future, Executive Produced by Ron Howard, broadcast globally in June 2017. Her debut feature film Catching the Sun, about the race for a clean energy future, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was named a New York Times Critics’ Pick.

Catching the Sun released globally on Netflix on Earth Day 2016 with Executive Producer Leonardo DiCaprio, and was nominated for the Environmental Media Association Award for Best Documentary. Kantayya is a TED Fellow, a William J. Fulbright Scholar, and a finalist for the ABC Disney DGA Directing Program. She is an Associate of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Kantayya finished in the top 10 out of 12,000 filmmakers on Fox’s On the Lot, a show by Steven Spielberg in search of Hollywood’s next great director.

Aura Escobar, a multi-talented product designer with a heart of gold. Aura immigrated to the United States from Venezuela. Her experience is in product design, soft goods design, UX, VUI, design research, and strategy.

Currently, she is a lead designer and researcher for the Stratos Innovation Group. She is interested in the application of service design in the public sector, government, and social impact. With a background in industrial design, she continues to look for ways to be a more holistic designer. In her job at Stratos Innovation Group, she also practices service design. They work in the healthcare, insurance, education, and senior living industries, and are now starting to work closely with local organizations to use service design to improve our community.

Aura’s senior thesis focused on understanding how people who are deaf experience music today, and what their ideal experience will be. She kicked off a project with First Build after doing a hackathon around the future of cooking, where my team focused on designing a more accessible cooktop for people who have visual impairment. Venezuela is going through a lot right now, and the cost of healthcare is too much for what people and their income can afford. A couple of years ago, she created a campaign for her neighbor back home who suffered and died from Cancer. Today, she is doing this fundraiser to help a friend who lives with Lupus, and she hopes in the future to help more people like them.

Dr. Micah McCrary-Dennis, CEO of MentorS¢hip, and Michelle Delaney, owner of 111 Minna Gallery. Dr. Micah McCrary-Dennis is a skilled Industrial Engineer with a diverse background in process improvement, problem-solving and critical thinking. Proven track record in the development of methods with leadership experience and academic training including the French language. Having a personable and professional character, pursuing intentional goals, and a transformative attitude for Equity and Justice; he is passionate about crafting a sustainable future.

Currently, Micah serves as CEO of MentorS¢hip - "Fund My College App". The 501(c)(3) non-profit company has a goal to develop resources that aid students in their scholarship attainment and educational career alignment, through mentorship. The mobile app presents in the form of a scholarship scavenger hunt that connects mentors with students, helping to fund their continued education, promoting financial literacy, and encouraging debt-free graduation.

Michelle Delaney is the boss lady who loves art and creating truly memorable experiences. She’s the president and owner of 111 Minna Gallery, a beautiful art gallery, bar, and event space in San Francisco. She is an active supporter of local artists in the Bay. She received her degree from the Academy of Art University in Motion Picture/Television. She’s also a rockstar.