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Coqual Summit

Our biggest event of the year brings together the greatest thinkers, innovators, leaders and practitioners in the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement today.

50+
Reports Published
5,000,000
Employees Reached Globally
300
Advisory & Research Clients
100+
Global Partners
100,000+
Employees Surveyed
195
Countries Reached
50+
Reports Published
5,000,000
Employees Reached Globally
300
Advisory & Research Clients
100+
Global Partners
100,000+
Employees Surveyed
195
Countries Reached

Past Speakers Include

Photo of Melonie Parker
Melonie Parker
Vice President & Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer of Google

Melonie Parker is an HR executive committed to innovative, relevant, and contemporary HR leadership. She is an advocate for change and a passionate thought leader. Parker is responsible for advancing Google’s employee engagement strategy across Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Additionally, Parker serves as a Minority in Energy Initiative Champion for the Department of Energy. Prior to this role she served as the Vice President of Human Resources & Communications at Sandia National Laboratories. Parker was responsible for the leadership and Labs-wide management of human resources, health, benefits and employee services. She was also responsible for Sandia’s communication efforts, which include planning, strategy, executive communications, media relations, external branding, community affairs and internal communications. Prior to joining Sandia as the VP of HR and Communications, Parker extends expertise from a career spanning over 17 years in a variety of Lockheed Martin business areas, locations, and progressive leadership roles. During her time at Lockheed Martin, she has held responsibility for employee relations, staffing, EEO/Affirmative Action, diversity programs, compensation, benefits, and K-12 outreach initiatives. Parker received a B.A. in Mass Communications from Hampton University and an M.A. in Human Resources from Villanova University. She was named the 2016 HR Professional of the Year by the New Mexico Society of Human Resource Management. She was recognized with a Special Recognition Award at the 2014 Women of Color STEM Awards, and in 2012 graduated from Lockheed Martin’s Executive Assessment & Development Program. 

Photo of Asif Sadiq
Asif Sadiq
Chief Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery

Asif is the Chief Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Warner Bros. Discovery. He was previously the Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact at adidas and has a long and rich career in the diversity and inclusion space with senior executive roles at The Telegraph Media Group, EY Financial Services and the City of London Police. He is a board member for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a member of the board of advisors for Hedley May. Over his 20-year career he has worked in Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Asif has been credited with impactful global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities and programs across organizations, that have created a strong sense of belonging for all and resulted in truly diverse workplaces. He has been key in building synergies between internal and external D&I efforts within organizations, ensuring diversity and inclusion is embedded in all elements of a business, resulting in innovative, creative and inclusive products and services.

He is a Multi-Award-Winning Diversity and Inclusion expert with a proven track record in D&I, Sustainability and Social Impact, being listed as one of the most influential Global D&I Leaders by Hive Learning, the CIPD’s Top 20 Power list and a LinkedIn Influencer. He is winner of numerous awards including the highly commended Head of Diversity Award at the European Diversity Awards and was honoured with an MBE in 2017 by the Queen and granted the freedom of the City of London in 2016.

In 2023 Asif was granted an honorary doctorate by The Open University in recognition of his innovative and socially responsible business developments and exceptional contributions in the field of diversity, inclusion and belonging globally.

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Billy Porter
Emmy, Tony & Grammy award-winning actor, singer, director, producer, composer & playwright

Billy Porter is an Emmy, Tony and Grammy award-winning actor, singer, director, producer, composer, and playwright. Porter has numerous theater credits, including the role of “Lola” in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, for which he won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards, as well as the Grammy for best musical theater album. He won his second Tony Award in 2022 for “Best Musical” as a producer on A Strange Loop. Porter released his first literary project, “Unprotected,” in October 2021, which was published by Abrams Press. As a recording artist, Porter recently released his singles “Fashion,” “Baby Was A Dancer” and “Children,” under his record deal with Island Records (UK) and Republic Records (US). His forthcoming album, The Black Mona Lisa, is due out this Fall.

Photo of Isabel Wilkerson
Isabel Wilkerson
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, is the author of The New York Times bestsellers The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. She has become an impassioned voice for demonstrating how history can help us understand ourselves, our country and our current era of upheaval. In her writing, Wilkerson brings the invisible and the marginalized into the light and into our hearts. In her lectures, she explores with authority the need to reconcile America’s karmic racial inheritance — a notion she has expressed in her widely-shared op-Ed essays in The New York Times. Her new book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, published in August 2020 to critical acclaim, with Dwight Garner of The New York Times calling it, “An instant American classic” and Oprah choosing it for her monthly book club pick. The book examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how a hierarchy of social divisions still defines our lives today. Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize for her work as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times in 1994, making her the first Black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer Prize and the first African-American to win for individual reporting in the history of American journalism. 

Photo of Rosanna Durruthy
Rosanna Durruthy
Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging of LinkedIn

Rosanna Durruthy is a change maker, thought leader, and currently serves as LinkedIn’s global head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIBs). Rosanna has led teams worldwide, implementing innovative talent practices and DIBs strategies that have transformed organizations and influenced how companies prepare for the future of work.

An Afro-Latina born and raised in New York City at 16, Rosanna was admitted as an undergraduate student to Harvard University and later attended Stanford Business School as part of an executive education program for LGBTQ+ leaders. As the workforce becomes increasingly diverse, Rosanna puts an emphasis on creating diverse, inclusive and equitable opportunities for professionals to succeed in the workplace and beyond.

In 2017, Rosanna took on the role of the Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at LinkedIn, and currently leads the company’s integration of diversity, inclusion, and equity into all aspects of the organization’s global operations.

In 2021, Rosanna was named a DEI trailblazer by Business Insider, and in 2022 ALPFA named her one of the most powerful and influential Latinas. She’s been recognized by multiple organizations, including the Anti-Violence Project, LEDA, Prospanica, and the Alumni Society. She was also named among ten leaders transforming the workplace in post-George Floyd corporate America. Rosanna’s thought leadership and highly sought-after insights have been featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, Telemundo, Fast Company, Business Insider, Harvard Business Review, Univision, and other top-tier media outlets. She’s also been a subject-matter expert, speaking to the latest trends in DEI on Cheddar News, ABC News, and Bloomberg Quicktake.

As the former diversity leader at companies like Cigna, Vivendi Universal (Seagram), and Merrill Lynch, Rosanna brings broad, cross-functional, human resources leadership experience in attracting and developing high-performing talent. In addition to her role at LinkedIn, Rosanna is an angel investor and advisor to startups in the Edtech and grocery tech space. She is a former board member of the Drum Major Institute and Lambda Legal and serves on the 2020 Mom Project board. She has been recognized as one of the country’s leading professional Hispanic women and an influential mind in the diversity and inclusion space.

Photo of Jill Houghton
Jill Houghton
President & Chief Executive Officer of Disability:IN

Jill Houghton is President & Chief Executive Officer of Disability:IN, the leading global nonprofit organization for advancing business disability inclusion and equality. Her more than 25 years of diverse leadership experience driving disability inclusion was ignited by challenges she experienced having a learning disability.

 

Ms. Houghton leads a team of talented and diverse individuals, including people with disabilities, who are working to build an inclusive global economy that enables people with disabilities to participate fully and meaningfully. Their work has empowered nearly 500 leading brands to advance disability inclusion and equality through groundbreaking programs.

 

A well-known speaker and expert on corporate disability inclusion, Ms. Houghton has testified before the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives on issues related to businesses’ commitment to recruit, hire and retain employees with disabilities. Ms. Houghton has been featured in Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNBC TV, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, MSN, Protocol and other notable outlets. She is a member of the Communications Equity & Diversity Council of the Federal Communications Commission. Additionally, she serves on the Fifth Third Bank National Community Advisory Forum, M&M’S FUNd Advisory Council, and the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Patient and Family Advisory Council.

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Megan Hogan
Global Head of Talent, Chief Diversity Officer of Goldman Sachs

Megan is global head of Talent, chief diversity officer and head of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team. In this role, she is responsible for driving the firm’s development, retention and growth strategies, strengthening the leadership pipeline and ensuring the firm’s workforce reflects the diversity of its clients and communities. Megan serves as a member of the Human Capital Management Global Leadership Group, the Vendor Diversity Steering Group and One Million Black Women Steering Committee. Previously, she was head of diversity recruiting. Megan joined Goldman Sachs in 2014 as a vice president on the Diversity and Inclusion team and was named managing director in 2019.

Prior to joining the firm, Megan worked as a litigation associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP covering white collar, insurance, and complex commercial cases and trials. During that period, she dedicated significant time to pro bono cases, primarily representing immigrants seeking asylum. During an externship, Megan spent six months working for MFY Legal Services, where she provided legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers to resolve issues in the areas of housing and foreclosure.

Megan serves as the chair of the Stephen Gaynor School’s Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Center on Race, Law & Justice at Fordham University School of Law.

Megan earned a BA in African-American Studies and Psychology from Yale University in 2003 and a JD from Fordham University School of Law in 2006

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Joy Buolamwini
MIT Researcher, Rhodes Scholar & Founder of the Algorithmic Justice League 

Joy Buolamwini is a poet of code who uses art and research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. She founded the Algorithmic Justice League to create a world with more equitable and accountable technology. Her TED Featured Talk on algorithmic bias has over 1 million views. Her MIT thesis methodology uncovered large racial and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. Her research has been covered in over 40 countries, and, as a renowned international speaker, she has championed the need for algorithmic justice at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. She serves on the Global Tech Panel convened by the vice president of European Commission to advise world leaders and technology executives on ways to reduce the harms of A.I. A Rhodes Scholar and Fulbright Fellow, Joy has been named to notable lists including Bloomberg 50, Tech Review 35 under 35 BBC 100 Women, Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech (youngest), and Forbes 30 under 30. She holds two masters degrees from Oxford University and MIT; and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Fortune Magazine named her to their 2019 list of world’s greatest leaders describing her as “the conscience of the A.I. Revolution.” 

Photo of Jim Heighington
Jim Heighington
Chief of Staff at Google advising on diversity, equity, and inclusion

James Heighington is a Chief of Staff at
Google advising on diversity, equity, and
inclusion.

Mr. Heighington was selected to serve on
President Barack Obama’s White House
LGBTQ Tech & Innovation Briefing to
conduct the first federal needs assessment
of transgender Americans, he is also a
member of the World Economic Forum’s
initiative on Racial Justice in Business and
the United Nations Free & Equal global
business standards. Previously, he served as
the Chief Digital Officer for the nonprofit
GLAAD helping to reduce bias in artificial intelligence, founded Twitter’s employee
resource group that successfully petitioned the FDA to revise discriminatory blood
donation policies, and volunteered on the Trevor Project’s suicide hotline.

Mr. Heighington has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University as well as a contributor
to CNN, The Economist, BBC, and the Webby Awards. He is an executive member of
the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and has been named one of the
Top 50 Most Influential Diversity Stars. He is an alumnus of Burnsville High School,
where he was inducted into their Hall of Fame, graduated from the University of
Minnesota, and received a public leadership credential from Harvard University.

Outside the office, Mr. Heighington is an on-call firefighter in Golden Valley, Minnesota
where he lives with his husband.

Photo of Rev. Mark Fowler
Rev. Mark Fowler
Chief Executive Officer of Tanenbaum

Rev. Mark Fowler oversees all of Tanenbaum’s program areas and works with operations, fund development and communications. As CEO, Mark is responsible for program development, project management, design and implementation of all Tanenbaum trainings, and the expansion of Tanenbaum programs nationally and internationally.  

He is a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator in all of Tanenbaum’s core areas, and has addressed organizations globally on issues of equality in race, gender, sexual orientation and religion. Mark has presented at the National Council on the Social Studies, National Association of Multicultural Education, Teaching Tolerance, the YMCA of Greater New York, Partnership for Afterschool Education, Asia Society, National School Board Association, the United Nations, the Newseum, the Power of Women Institute, the Return on Inclusion Summit, the OutNEXT Summit, and the Forum on Workplace Inclusion regarding prejudice reduction, conflict resolution, bias and bullying.  

 

As architect of Tanenbaum’s Corporate Membership Program, Mark has conducted trainings at GSK, Merck, Turner Broadcasting, PwC, The Walt Disney Company, CVS Health, Aetna, Bloomberg, Sodexo, Google, Moody’s, Bank of America, Walmart, and Target, among others.  

Mark earned a B.A. in English and Education at Duke University and was trained as a Mediation and  

Conflict Resolution Specialist with the NYC Department of Education. Mark also is a graduate of the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary and is an ordained Interfaith/Interspiritual minister. 

Photo of Jin Hee Lee
Jin Hee Lee
Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Legal Defense Fund (LDF)

As Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Jin Hee Lee leads the Strategic Initiatives Department, which houses specific projects and campaigns integrating LDF’s multi-faceted advocacy tools—including litigation, policy, organizing, communications, research, and public education—to maximize the impact of affirmative, strategic, and community-centered advocacy that secures the full citizenship and equality of Black Americans. Jin Hee became the inaugural director of the Strategic Initiatives Department after serving 14 years as Assistant Counsel, Senior Counsel, Deputy Director of Litigation, and Senior Deputy Director of Litigation at LDF.

Jin Hee oversees LDF’s Pro Truth Initiative, which builds upon LDF’s legacy in Brown v. Board of Education to protect the truth of the United States’ history of racial subjugation and its ongoing impact on present-day, systemic inequalities, especially as taught in K-12 and post-secondary public education. The Pro Truth Initiative also includes efforts to preserve efforts to promote racial diversity in K-12 and higher education. Relatedly, Jin Hee leads LDF’s representation of a multi-racial coalition of 25 Harvard student and alumni organizations, which serves as amici curiae in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard, a case challenging Harvard’s affirmative action policy. As counsel for the amici curia Harvard student and alumni organizations, Jin Hee presented argument to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in the Harvard case. 980 F.3d 157 (1st. Cir. 2020).

Jin Hee also supervises the Justice in Public Safety Project, which aims to address entrenched racial biases within law enforcement and to reimagine public safety that protects and invests in Black communities and breaks the pernicious and false stereotypes associating Blackness with violence and criminality.  For over a decade, Jin Hee was the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in Davis, et al. v. City of New York and New York City Housing Authority, a federal class action lawsuit that is part of the court-ordered monitoring of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and seeks systemic changes to the NYPD’s discriminatory trespass enforcement practices against Black and Latinx public housing residents and guests. See Davis v. City of New York, 296 F.R.D. 158 (S.D.N.Y. 2013); Davis v. City of New York, 959 F. Supp. 2d 324 (S.D.N.Y. 2013); Davis v. City of New York, 902 F. Supp. 2d 405 (S.D.N.Y. 2012); Davis v. City of New York, 898 F. Supp. 2d 600 (S.D.N.Y. 2012); Davis v. City of New York, 812 F. Supp. 2d 333 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).

As head of the Strategic Initiatives Department, Jin Hee is also responsible for LDF’s Black Voters Rising Project, which engages in election protection efforts, provides election information to the voting public, and proactively combats voter suppression in partnership with community stakeholders.

Jin Hee’s other litigation achievements include Reams v. Arkansas, in which the death sentence of a Black man, who was put on death row as a teenager, was successfully vacated after she argued before the Arkansas Supreme Court, raising issues of ineffective assistance of counsel, jury underrepresentation, and jury discrimination. 2018 Ark. 324. As lead counsel in Brister v. Mississippi, Jin Hee investigated, conceptualized, and litigated the first case in Mississippi—and one of the first cases in the United States—in which a mandatory juvenile life without parole sentence was declared unconstitutional pursuant to the landmark United States Supreme Court decision, Miller/Jackson v. Alabama. This case led to the release of the first person in Mississippi who had been previously sentenced to juvenile life without parole. Jin Hee also successfully argued before the North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Burke that the retroactive repeal of the North Carlina Racial Justice Act, which allowed statutory claims of racial discrimination in charging, sentencing, and jury selection in capital cases, was unconstitutional. 374 N.C. 617 (2020).

Jin Hee has submitted numerous amicus briefs in federal and state appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court and the highest court in multiple state jurisdictions. She has spoken frequently on issues concerning race, civil rights, criminal justice, and educational equity in law schools, legal conferences, governmental hearings, media engagements, and community meetings throughout the country. Her articles have been published in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and the Fordham Urban Law Journal. Along with Sherrilyn Ifill, Jin Hee co-authored the chapter “Do Black Lives Matter to the Courts?” in the anthology Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment, edited by Professor Angela J. Davis.

Jin Hee graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1995 with a concentration in African Studies and received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in South Korea. She is a 2000 graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Executive Editor of A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual, published by the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and Submissions Editor of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law. She also received the Emil Schlesinger Labor Prize from Columbia Law School. She served as law clerk to Judge Martha Vázquez in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.

Prior to joining LDF in 2008, Jin Hee was a staff attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and a litigation associate in the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP.

In 2016, Jin Hee was recognized by Columbia Law School as the Distinguished Public Interest Graduate of the Year.

Photo of Faith Abubey
Faith Abubey
Journalist at ABC News

Faith Abubey is an ABC News journalist based in Washington, D.C. Since joining ABC News in August 2020, her work has appeared on various programs and platforms, such as “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Good Morning America,” “GMA3: What You Need to Know,” “Nightline,” ABC News LIVE and ABC News Audio.

Abubey has covered a wide range of stories for ABC News, including Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London and national politics from Capitol Hill to the White House during both former President Trump’s and President Biden’s administrations. Throughout her career, Abubey has covered some of the decade’s biggest news stories, including the Surfside condo collapse, the impeachment trials of former President Trump, the Senate confirmation hearing for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris, and the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington. Abubey has repeatedly pressed President Biden and his administration for answers from the White House and in the press briefing room. She has traveled nationwide for the network on multiple breaking news stories for “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America.”

Before joining ABC News, Abubey worked at WXIA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta. She was an investigative reporter and co-host of the station’s multiple Emmy® and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning newsmagazine show “The Reveal.” Before that, she was a lead general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for the station.

Abubey has received many awards and Emmy nominations, including the Knight TV Data Fellowship Award from the Investigative Reporter and Editors, Inc. In 2018, the Georgia Associated Press Media Editors recognized her as the first-place winner for the state’s Best General Reporting. In 2020, she took home the Outstanding Investigative Report – Single Report Emmy for her exclusive in-depth report which led to the indictment of one of the most influential state lawmakers in the Georgia State House of Representatives.

Abubey received her Bachelor of Arts in international relations with a minor in family studies from Syracuse University. She received a Master of Science in journalism from Columbia University in New York City and speaks multiple languages.

Photo of MaryMartha Ford
MaryMartha Ford
Advocate for Diversity & Mental Health Awareness

Losing her father at an early age and shouldered with the responsibility of caring for a disabled
parent, MaryMartha is no stranger to difficult times. She grew up in the ghettos of Pittsburgh
surrounded by drugs, crime and gang violence. Though the odds were stacked against her, she
aspired for something more than her circumstances dictated.

MaryMartha earned a B.A. in Theatre from Temple University and worked professionally in
The Arts as a Stage Manager and Company Manager for over a decade. She has worked with
companies such as New Freedom Theatre, Crossroads Theatre Company, and the Alabama
Shakespeare Festival. She has worked alongside artists such as Clarice Taylor, Chaka Khan,
Peabo Bryson, The Funk Brothers, and with Michael McElroy and the Broadway Inspirational
Voices. One of her most memorable moments is the dedication of the African Burial Ground
Monument in New York City in 2003 with Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Cicely Tyson and Dr. Maya
Angelou (because of them, she can).

In 2010 MaryMartha had the bright idea to leave The Arts and work in Higher Education. She
served as a Resident Coordinator for Student Life with Pittsburgh Technical Institute (now
called Pittsburgh Technical College). Her love for working with college students propelled her
to further her education. MaryMartha earned a M.Ed in Higher Education from Northeastern
University. She served as an Academic Advisor for several years at both New York University
and Columbia University.

She is a supporter of mental health awareness and speaks candidly about her diagnosis of
depression and anxiety, and the steps she has taken to ensure that she continues to thrive.
MaryMartha has survived brain surgery and riding NYC subways (it’s not as easy as you
think). MaryMartha believes everyone’s humanity should be respected and is not afraid to
resist status quo to affect change for the betterment of mankind.

Her motto, upgrade your algorithm, is a call to action for individuals to implement change and
improve their current situation. She encourages others to be brave, fearless, and active
participants in their quest for greatness!

MaryMartha is a two-time award-winning developer for her game, The Ultimate Clap Back.
She has been seen in The Root, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mic.com, Geek.com, Rolling Stone
Magazine, and Venture Beat. She was featured in a commercial for the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center, and in CNN!s The First Time I Realized I Was Black.

She is currently working on her memoir, Sickadis and will debut her podcast later this year.
MaryMartha loves cheese puffs, ginger ale and ice cream. She currently resides in New York
City with her miniature poodle, Benny. IG: mmpeanut1922

Photo of Tony Tenicela
Tony Tenicela
Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Officer in North America of Sodexo

Tony Tenicela is the Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Officer in North America for Sodexo. He is responsible for leading DE&I initiatives to help foster an inclusive workplace culture and ensure that Sodexo attracts, develops, engages, advances and retains a high-performing workforce that reflects the communities we serve. This includes shepherding the development of strategies, action plans, partnerships and thought leadership to drive accountability and outcomes through data and metrics. Mr. Tenicela also leverages Sodexo’s DE&I expertise as a competitive advantage in the marketplace by bringing added value to our clients and consumers, enhancing the brand, and growing and retaining our business. Mr. Tenicela is a member of the Sodexo Global DE&I Senior Leadership Team and the North America DE&I Leadership Council.

Operating in 54 countries, Sodexo’s 420,000 employees serve 100 million consumers each day through On-site Services, Benefits and Rewards Services, and Personal and Home Services. Sodexo is committed to supporting DE&I and safety, while upholding the highest standards of corporate responsibility and ethical business conduct.

Prior to joining Sodexo, Mr. Tenicela served as the Global Leader for Marketplace Diversity and Workforce Engagement Services at IBM. In this role, he led the development of IBM’s global customer-facing organization to leverage IBM’s experience in DE&I and talent management to strengthen customer relationships and identify new business opportunities in forty-five markets. This ground-breaking work included serving as a trusted advisor to numerous C-Suite executives on a wide range of HR topics and selling IBM’s consulting portfolio of offerings to multinationals and local enterprises in all geographies. Prior to joining IBM, Mr. Tenicela was a founding employee of Worldview Systems, where he contributed to the development of the Travelocity™ travel service.

In honor of his accomplishments, Mr. Tenicela was awarded the Diversity Leadership Award by India’s World HRD Congress, named one of the world’s Top 50 LGBT Executives by the Telegraph in the United Kingdom, and listed as one of the Top 50 LGBTQ Legacy Leaders by Business Equality Magazine. Mr. Tenicela has been a keynote speaker at notable venues, such as the White House and the United Nations. Mr. Tenicela currently serves on the boards of Catalyst, Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE), and the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance (MFHA).

Mr. Tenicela holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, a MA equivalent from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Tenicela is fluent in English and Spanish and conversant in French and German.

Photo of Jamell Mitchell
Jamell Mitchell
Neuro-Diverse Centers of Excellence Global Ecosystem Leader of EY
  • Jamell is responsible for establishing and leveraging relationship that unlock the value that exists within talent in organizations. He oversees the strategic orchestration of driving awareness, activation securing talent and identifying inclusive learning opportunities.  He manages teams across the Americas and has worked to drive global adoption of inclusive sourcing, scaling, and sustaining efforts.  He has developed training procedures, analyzed budget reports and implemented best practices within and outside of the space of Neurodiversity that impact the eSg agenda.
  • Jamell’s experience relative to market trend analysis and business strategies spans over two decades.  He is often called upon to share EY’s journey at conferences which often challenges organizations to consider cognitive diversity as a competitive advantage to further drive business solutions. He is a leader who adapts to various cultural, linguistic, and personal styles.  Jamell believes that these styles are drivers that promote inclusive teaming.  His leadership creates a culture in which timely consistent coaching is provided while demonstrating a passion in promoting strategy, service delivery, belonging and core values.
  • Jamell sits on the Board of Trustees for Hill-Top Preparatory School in Rosemont PA and Landmark College in Putney VT. He has an MBA with specific focus on Leadership and Finance from Walden University, Minneapolis and holds a BS in Criminal Justice Administration and Planning from John Jay College in New York. He is also a CNP (Certified Neurodiversity Professional) via IBCCESS University. He has an MBA with specific focus on Leadership and Finance from Walden University, Minneapolis and holds a BS in Criminal Justice Administration and Planning from John Jay College in New York.
  • Samples of media coverage of Jamell are as follows (additional comments are available on request):
  • com: Expands-Boundaries-of-Inclusion-To-Be-Honored-During-CES/ (11/16/17)
  • ServiceNow: employee-engagement/autism-in-the-workplace/ 6/24/19
  • Work Opportunities: success-story-jordan-b/ (3/11/20
  • Leaders Edge: Beautiful-minds (3/20/21)
Photo of Ibram X. Kendi
Ibram X. Kendi
Bestselling Author, How to Be an Antiracist & TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020

Ibram X. Kendi is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. Kendi is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News correspondent. He is also the 2020-2021 Frances B. Cashin Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for the Advanced Study at Harvard University. Kendi is the author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and The Black Campus Movement, which won the W.E.B. Du Bois Book Prize. He is also the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers, How to Be an Antiracist, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, a young adult remix of Stamped from the Beginning, co-authored with Jason Reynolds. He most recently authored the #1 Indie bestseller, Antiracist Baby, available as a board book and picture book for caretakers and little ones.   

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Reshma Saujani
Founder/CEO of Moms First, Founder of Girls Who Code

Reshma Saujani is a leading activist and the founder of Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms. She has spent more than a decade building movements to fight for women and girls’ economic empowerment, working to close the gender gap in the tech sector, and most recently advocating for policies to support moms impacted by the pandemic. Her new book Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think) presents a bold plan to address the burnout and inequity harming America’s working women today.  Reshma is also the author of the international bestseller Brave, Not Perfect, and her influential TED talk, “Teach girls, bravery not perfection,” has more than five million views globally. Reshma began her career as an attorney and Democratic organizer. In 2010, she surged onto the political scene as the first Indian American woman to run for U.S. Congress. Reshma lives in New York City with her husband, Nihal, their sons, Shaan and Sai, and their bulldog, Stanley.

Photo of Ali Velshi
Ali Velshi
Host of “Velshi” and MSNBC Chief Correspondent

Ali Velshi is the host of “Velshi” on MSNBC, airing Saturday and Sunday mornings 8:00-10:00 a.m. ET. He is also a Business Correspondent for NBC News, a columnist for MSNBC, and a weekly economics contributor to NPR’s “Here And Now.”

Velshi has reported extensively from Ukraine and across Central and Eastern Europe during the Russian invasion, and from across America during the Covid-19 pandemic. Velshi was on the ground in Minneapolis during the days-long protests against the killing of George Floyd, during which he was shot on live TV with a rubber bullet fired by authorities. He has covered multiple U.S. Presidential elections and major news stories around the globe, including the Syrian refugee crisis from Turkey and Jordan, the Iran Nuclear Deal in Tehran, the Greek debt crisis in Athens, and the funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Velshi is recognized for his immersive on-the-ground reporting and his interactive discussions with small groups, which form part of his ongoing series, “Velshi Across America.”

Prior to joining MSNBC/NBC News in 2016, he hosted “Ali Velshi On Target,” a nightly prime time show on Al Jazeera America. Previously, Velshi was CNN’s Chief Business Correspondent, anchor of CNN International’s “World Business Today” and the host of CNN’s weekly business show “Your Money.” Velshi also co-hosted CNN’s morning show, “American Morning.”

Nominated for two 2016 Emmy Awards for his reporting on disabled workers and Chicago’s red-light camera scandal, in 2010 Velshi was honored with a National Headliner Award for Business & Consumer Reporting for his special with Christine Romans, “How the Wheels Came Off,” about the near collapse of the American auto industry. Additionally, Velshi and CNN were nominated for a 2010 Emmy for Velshi’s breaking news coverage of the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253.Velshi reported broadly on the global financial crisis of 2008.

Known for his trademark exposition and explanation, Velshi appeared as a guest economics analyst on shows like “Oprah,” “The View,” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” at the height of the crisis, explaining the causes of and solutions to the crisis in plain terms.

Born in Nairobi and raised in Toronto, Velshi graduated from Canada’s Queen’s University with a degree in Religion, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from his Alma Mater in 2016. Velshi splits his time between New York City and Philadelphia.

Active in the community, Velshi serves on the boards of the National Constitution Center, the Chicago History Museum, the X-Prize Foundation, the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, the Philadelphia Citizen, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He volunteered with New York’s Center for Urban Community Services homeless outreach program one morning per week.

Velshi is the author of Gimme My Money Back (Sterling and Ross, 2008) and co-author (with CNN’s Christine Romans) of How to Speak Money (Wiley, 2010), and the upcoming A Field Guide To Democracy (2023), and Open Space, with David Ariosto (Knopf 2024).

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Mellody Hobson
Co-CEO of Ariel Investments & Vice Chair of Starbucks

Mellody Hobson has been the co-CEO of Ariel Investments, LLC, an investment management firm, since 2019 and President and Director since 2000.  She has also served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ariel Investment Trust, a registered investment company advised by Ariel Investments, since 2006. Ms. Hobson has been a director of Starbucks Corporation since 2005 and has served as its Vice Chair since 2018. She served as a director of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. from 2005 to 2018 and as a director of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. from 2004 to 2016. Hobson works with a number of civic, non-profit and professional organizations, acting as a Director of the Chicago Public Education Fund; Chair of After School Matters, which provides Chicago teens with high quality out-of-school time programs; a member of the Executive Committee of the Investment Company Institute’s Board of Governors; Board member of the George Lucas Education Foundation; Vice Chair of World Business Chicago, and many other organizations. She is also a former Chair of the Economic Club of Chicago. Ms. Hobson graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy at Princeton University. 

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Angelica Ross
Actress, Producer, Human Rights Advocate & Founder of Trans Tech

Angelica Ross, actress, producer, and human rights advocate, is a leading figure in the movement for transgender and racial equality. She made history as the first trans actor to be a series regular on two shows when, in addition to her role as Candy on the Emmy-nominated hit FX show “Pose,” she joined the cast of “American Horror Story: 1984,” the ninth season of the popular series. She is also confirmed to return for the 10th season of the series. Off screen, Ross is an advocate for transgender rights and is the CEO of TransTech Social Enterprises, a company she founded in 2014 that helps lift people out of poverty through technical training, digital work creating a social impact, and brings economic empowerment to marginalized communitiesIn 2017, GLAAD awarded Ross and Trevor Noah a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding talk show episode for a segment of “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” on which the two discussed the discrimination and barriers transgender people face. 

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Julie Sweet
CEO of Accenture, FORTUNE's "Most Powerful Women in Business"

Julie Sweet is chief executive officer of Accenture and serves on the company’s board of directors and will take on the additional role of chair of the board starting September 1, 2021. Prior to becoming CEO in September 2019, Julie served as chief executive officer of Accenture’s business in North America, the company’s largest geographic market. Previously, she was Accenture’s general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer for five years. Before joining Accenture in 2010, Sweet was a partner for ten years in the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. She serves on the World Economic Forum Board of Trustees and on the board of directors for the Business Roundtable, for which she chairs its Technology Committee. Additionally, Julie is board chair of Catalyst and serves on the board of trustees for the Center for Strategic & International Studies and for the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities – Bridges from School to Work. In 2020, she was named No. 1 on FORTUNE’s “Most Powerful Women in Business.” Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. 

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Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Professor, Princeton University, Bestselling Author & MSNBC Contributor

Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of African American Studies at Princeton University. He is the former president of the American Academy of Religion, the largest professional organization of scholars of religion in the world. He speaks to the complex dynamics of the American experience. His most well-known books, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, and In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, take a wide look at black communities, the difficulties of race in the United States, and the challenges our democracy face. His most recent book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, became an instant New York Times best seller. Imani Perry describes the book as “precisely the witness we need for our treacherous times.” He is a columnist for Time Magazine and a MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe, and Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace. He also regularly appears on Meet the Press on Sundays. Glaude hosts the podcast AAS 21, recorded at Princeton University. He hails from Moss Point, Mississippi, a small town on the Gulf Coast, and is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He holds a master’s degree in African American Studies from Temple University, and a PhD in religion from Princeton University. 

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Lisa Ling
Journalist

Award-winning journalist Lisa Ling is the host and executive producer of the CNN Original Series, This is Life with Lisa Ling. In each episode, Ling immerses herself in communities across America giving viewers an inside look at some of the most unconventional segments of society. In 2017, the series won a Gracie Award. Ling is also host of the CNN Digital series This is Sex with Lisa Ling and This is Birth with Lisa Ling.

Ling recently signed an overall deal with WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service, HBO Max. The first project greenlit is a travel docuseries, Birth, Wedding, Funeral, which she will executive produce with Dan Rather.

Before coming to CNN, Ling was a field correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show and contributor to Nightline and National Geographic’s Explorer. She has reported from dozens of countries, covering stories about gang rape in the Congo, bride burning in India and the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, among other issues that are too often ignored. In 2011, her acclaimed documentary series, Our America with Lisa Ling, began airing on OWN.

Ling got her start in journalism as a correspondent for Channel One News where she covered the civil war in Afghanistan at 21 years of age. She later went on to become a co-host of ABC Daytime’s hit show The View, which won its first daytime Emmy during her time at the show. Ling has also served as a special correspondent for CNN’s Planet in Peril.

Ling is the co-author of Mother, Daughter, Sister, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood and Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home, which she penned with her sister, Laura.

In 2014, President Obama named Ling to the Commission on White House Fellows.

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Anne Chow
Former CEO, AT&T Business

Anne Chow is a transformative business leader whose trailblazing corporate career spans over three decades in the technology and business sectors. As the first woman of color CEO in AT&T’s 140+ year history, she led AT&T Business, a $35B global operating unit comprised of more than 30,000 people. Appointed to this role in 2019, Anne guided this team, through the pandemic in the midst of unprecedented market upheaval around the world, serving customers with communications solutions across all sectors including small and medium sized businesses, global multinational enterprises, the public sector as well as nearly all of the Fortune 1000. Her leadership experiences span product management, marketing, sales, strategy, customer service, operations, network engineering and more. Currently Anne is Lead Director on the Board of Directors of FranklinCovey, a company dedicated to organizational transformation through leadership, individual effectiveness, execution, and culture.

Widely recognized for her role model inclusive leadership, driving success at the intersection of people, culture, and technology, she was named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business twice, Forbes inaugural CEO Next List of Leaders set to revolutionize American business, Most Inspiring Woman in Communications by Light Reading, and received a Gold Stevie Award as Female Executive of the Year – Business Services. Anne has also been chosen as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Gender Equity.

As a lifelong learner committed to inspiration and impact, Anne engages with audiences through keynotes, panel discussions, and as a best-selling co-author of The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias: How to Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-Performing Teams. She also shares thoughts through her publications and social posts which have been featured in Fortune, Chief Executive Magazine, The Huffington Post, MarketWatch, and USA Today. She holds B.S. and M.Eng. degrees in Electrical Engineering as well as an MBA with Distinction from Cornell University and is a graduate of the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School of Music.

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Charles Blow
Op-ed Columnist at The New York Times & Author

Charles M. Blow is an Op-Ed columnist at The New York Times, where his column appears on Mondays and Thursdays. Mr. Blow’s columns tackle hot-button issues such as social justice, racial equality, presidential politics, police violence, gun control, and the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Mr. Blow is also a CNN commentator and was a Presidential Visiting Professor at Yale, where he taught a seminar on media and politics.

Mr. Blow is the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times best-selling memoir, Fire Shut Up in My Bones. The book won a Lambda Literary Award and the Sperber Prize and made multiple prominent lists of best books published in 2014. People Magazine called it “searing and unforgettable.” His second book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, was named a “most anticipated book” by the San Francisco ChronicleO, the Oprah MagazineTime OutTown and Country, and Lithub.

Mr. Blow joined The New York Times in 1994 as a graphics editor and quickly became the paper’s graphics director, a position he held for nine years. In that role, he led The Times to a best of show award from the Society for News Design for The Times’  information graphics coverage of 9/11, the first time the award had been given for graphics coverage.  He also led the paper to its first two best of show awards from the Malofiej Infographics World Summit for work that included coverage of the Iraq war.  He then went on to become the paper’s design director for news before leaving in 2006 to become the art director of National Geographic Magazine. Before coming to The Times, Mr. Blow had worked at The Detroit News.

As a speaker, Blow fearlessly tackles contentious issues, such as income inequality, xenophobia, education, and the relationship between journalism and justice.

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Janet Mock
Bestselling Author, Director, Executive Producer & Transgender Rights Activist

Janet Mock is a writer, director, and executive producer of the FX drama series POSE and the Netflix limited series HOLLYWOOD and MONSTER. She’s also the New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs, Redefining Realness (2014) and Surpassing Certainty (2017) about her journey as a trans woman.

In 2019, Mock signed a historic deal with Netflix, making her the first trans person to sign a production pact with a major studio. With her partnership with the streamer, Janet will create and produce her own television projects. That same year, she received Harvard University’s Artist of the Year Award and was names one of The Hollywood Reporter’s “Women in Entertainment Power 100” and included on Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment” list. She has also been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Marie Claire, and has appeared on the covers of Entertainment Weekly, British VOGUE, Marie Claire, and the Hollywood Reporter.

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Ally Love
CEO/Founder of Love Squad, Peloton Instructor

Ally Love is the CEO of Love Squad, Peloton instructor, host, inspiring speaker, and adidas global ambassador who can be seen wearing a multitude of hats, from the bike to the floor of the Brooklyn Nets arena, where she serves as host.

Ally who was born and raised in Miami, Florida, headed to New York City to pursue and eventually receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Fordham University, and minor in Theology. As a dancer for the New York Knicks and participant in contemporary ballet companies throughout North America, Ally began exploring her career in performance.

In 2015, Ally founded and created the Love Squad community to empower women through the facilitation of motivational and educational conversations. Inclusivity, boldness, respect, and authenticity are the values that Love Squad strives to instill in women everywhere, both personally and professionally. Love Squad gets real about topics from negotiating salaries to fertility, tackles the realities of running a business while raising a family, and encourages women to boss up and take control of their lives.

As an empowering speaker and writer, Ally created her video series, The Basics of Bossing Up, where she discusses key virtues and presents tangible takeaways for her viewers to implement in their own lives. Instead of getting caught up in the buzzword of the moment, Ally takes it back to the basics of how to execute success, and ultimately create the life you want to live.

Signed to top agency CAA, Ally has been the co-host for the ESPYS, the US Open morning show “The Warm Up”, host for the inaugural Jopwell Talks Featuring Gayle King, WE Day Official for the United Nations, as well as moderator of Chicago Ideas Week. She has inspired audiences from major global corporations including Google, JP Morgan, Amazon, Salesforce, and many more. Ally has been featured in Vogue and the New York Times as well as appearing on various shows including Good Morning America.

Ally embodies the concept of the slash -generation, with a well-rounded knowledge and experience in sports, fashion, faith, fitness, public speaking, wellness, and activism. Dedicated to empowering people in their pursuit of natural wellness, Ally is a Certified Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Medicine. As a Peloton instructor, Ally’s mission is to empower, encourage and uplift. Ally motivated Peloton members, Nets fans, and avid followers of her social media to seek collaboration over competition and show up to tackle the goal of progress, not perfection.

Business owner, host, motivational speaker, ambassador, fitness instructor, and boss, Ally Love is an inspirational powerhouse, using her authentic passions to create avenues for those who engage with her to succeed and prosper.

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Kenji Yoshino
Constitutional Law Expert, Rhodes Scholar, NYU Professor & Bestselling Author

Kenji Yoshino is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law and the Director of the Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. A graduate of Harvard (AB summa cum laude), Oxford (MSc as a Rhodes Scholar) and Yale (JD), he specializes in constitutional law, antidiscrimination law, and law and literature. He is the author of three books: Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights; A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice; and Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial. Yoshino has published in major academic journals, including the Harvard Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. He has also written for more popular forums, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He makes regular appearances on radio and television programs, such as NPR, CNN, PBS and MSNBC. He serves on the Board of the Brennan Center for Justice and on the External Advisory Panel for Diversity and Inclusion for the World Bank Group. 

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Iris Bohnet
Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government and the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School

Iris Bohnet is the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government and the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. She is a behavioral economist, combining insights from economics and psychology to improve decision-making in organizations and society, often with a gender or cross-cultural perspective. Her most recent research examines behavioral design to de-bias how we live, learn and work. She is the author of the award-winning book What Works: Gender Equality by Design and advises governments and companies on the topic around the world. Professor Bohnet served as academic dean of Harvard Kennedy School from 2011-2014 and 2018-2021. She is also the faculty co-chair of the executive program “Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century” for the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. She serves on the boards, advisory boards or as a patron of Credit Suisse Group, Applied, Edge, We Shape Tech, Women in Banking and Finance, and the UK Government’s Equalities Office. She was appointed to the Gender Equality Advisory Council of the G7 in 2021. She was named one of the Most Influential People in Gender Policy by apolitical in 2018 and 2019, a Leading Thinker of Victoria, Australia, 2016-2019, and has received an honorary degree from the University of Lucerne, Switzerland, in 2016. She is married and the mother of two children.

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Brian Niccol
CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill

Brian Niccol is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has over 2,600 company-owned restaurants and employs more than 85,000 people. Under his leadership as CEO, a role he’s held since March 2018, Chipotle has seen accelerated comparable sales growth. Driving the brand’s purpose to Cultivate a Better World, Niccol has focused Chipotle’s growth strategy on increasing visibility, expanding access, fostering innovation and encouraging engagement with employees and consumers. A leader and innovator in the food industry, Chipotle has received global recognition and honors during his tenure including Newsweek magazine’s America’s Most Responsible Companies (2020), Fortune magazine World’s Most Admired Companies (2020), Forbes magazine Best Employers for Diversity (2019-2020), one of Comparably’s Best Companies for Culture, Diversity and for Women (2019). Prior to his current role, Niccol served as CEO of Taco Bell, a division of Yum! Brands, and during his tenure was Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer and President. He also held executive positions at Pizza Hut. Before Yum! Brands, he spent 10 years at Procter & Gamble in various brand management positions. Niccol currently serves on the board of Harley-Davidson and on the board of directors of The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, Chipotle’s nonprofit organization. He holds an undergraduate degree from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

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Imani Perry
Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University

Imani Perry is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and a faculty associate with the Programs in Law and Public Affairs, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Jazz Studies. She is the author of 6 books, including Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry, which received the Pen Bograd-Weld Award for Biography, The Phi Beta Kappa Christian Gauss Award for outstanding work in literary scholarship, the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction and the Shilts-Grahn Award for nonfiction from the Publishing Triangle. Looking for Lorraine was also named a 2018 notable book by the New York Times, and a honor book by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. It was a finalist  for the African American Intellectual History Society Paul Murray Book Prize. Her book May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem, winner of the 2019 American Studies Association John Hope Franklin Book Award for the best book in American Studies, the Hurston Wright Award for Nonfiction, and finalist for an NAACP Image Award in Nonfiction. Her most recent book is: Breathe: A Letter to My Sons (Beacon Press, 2019) which was a finalist for the 2020 Chautauqua Prize and a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Perry is a scholar of law, literary and cultural studies, and an author of creative nonfiction. She earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from Harvard University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an LLM from Georgetown University Law Center and a BA from Yale College in Literature and American Studies. Her writing and scholarship primarily focuses on the history of Black thought, art, and imagination crafted in response to, and resistance against, the social, political and legal realities of domination in the West. She seeks to understand the processes of retrenchment after moments of social progress, and how freedom dreams are nevertheless sustained. Her book: Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation (Duke University Press 2018) is a work of critical theory that contends with the formation of modern patriarchy at the dawn of capitalism, the transatlantic slave trade, and the age of conquest, and traces it through to the contemporary hypermedia neoliberal age. Her book More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States (NYU Press, 2011) is an examination of contemporary practices of racial inequality that are sustained and extended through a broad matrix of cultural habits despite formal declarations of racial equality.

Perry’s forthcoming book under contract with ECCO Press is a narrative journey through the South, arguing that it is the nation’s heartland for better and worse. Future planned projects include an examination of African American theories of law and justice, and a meditation on the color blue in Black life.

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François Locoh-Donou
President & Chief Executive Officer at F5

François Locoh-Donou is F5’s President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors. He joined F5 in April 2017, bringing to the office nearly two decades of enterprise technology experience building a wide range of products, teams, and operations around the world. Locoh-Donou previously held successive leadership positions at Ciena, including Chief Operating Officer; Senior Vice President, Global Products Group; Vice President and General Manager, EMEA; Vice President, International Sales; and Vice President, Marketing. Prior to joining Ciena, he held research-and-development roles at Photonetics, a French opto-electronics company. Locoh-Donou serves on the board of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF). He is also the co-founder and Chairman of Cajou Espoir, a social enterprise focused on cashew processing that employs several hundred people in rural Togo, 80 percent of whom are women. He holds engineering degrees from École Centrale de Marseille and Télécom ParisTech in France and a M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Kimberlé Crenshaw
Civil Rights Scholar/Advocate, Professor, UCLA and Columbia Law Schools

Kimberlé Crenshaw, professor at UCLA and Columbia Law Schools, is the progenitor of intersectional theory and a leading authority on Civil Rights, Black feminist legal theory, and Critical Race Theory.  She co-founded and directs the African American Policy Forum and Columbia Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies.  Dr. Crenshaw hosts the podcast Intersectionality Matters, and her book, On Intersectionality, hit shelves in 2019. 

 

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Ronan Farrow
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Investigative Reporter

Ronan Farrow is an investigative reporter and a contributing writer to The New Yorker. His stories for The New Yorker exposed the first sexual-assault allegations against the movie producer Harvey Weinstein. Farrow has won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, the National Magazine Award, and the George Polk Award, among other honors. He has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. He previously worked as an anchor and investigative reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, with his print commentary and reporting appearing in publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. Farrow is the author of the New York Times bestseller War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence, and the critically acclaimed Catch and Kill. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and a member of the New York Bar. He recently completed a PhD in political science at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Prior to his career in journalism, he served as a State Department official, working in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Middle East.  

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Horacio Rozanski
President & CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton

Horacio Rozanski is president and chief executive officer of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a global technology and consulting company that serves government clients and Fortune 500 corporations. Booz Allen partners with clients to drive transformation and advance critical missions through a unique combination of technology, innovation, and consulting expertise.

Since 2012, Horacio has led a strategic transformation of the firm, investing in innovation, advanced technology, and highly skilled talent, and reshaping its portfolio toward mission-critical, high-margin solutions. The company is now positioned in the defense, intelligence, civil, and global commercial markets as a leader in technology integration and adoption, a differentiation that has driven significant revenue and earnings growth in recent years.

For more than a decade, Horacio has played a central role in major strategic initiatives, including the 2008 separation of the firm’s core government and commercial businesses into two distinct companies, Booz Allen Hamilton’s 2010 initial public offering, and its 2011 expansion into international and commercial markets. In 2016, he led an initiative that refreshed the firm’s values and defined its purpose statement—empower people to change the world.

A respected authority and leader in the consulting industry, Horacio has expertise in business strategy, technology and operations, talent and diversity, and the future of consulting. He joined Booz Allen in 1992 as a consultant to commercial clients, was elected vice president in 1999, and served as chief personnel officer, chief strategy and talent officer, and president and chief operating officer before becoming CEO. He also is a member of the firm’s Board of Directors.

Born and raised in Argentina, Horacio originally came to the United States to attend college. He holds a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago. Today, he is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Children’s National Medical Center and a member of the Board of Directors at Marriott International and CARE. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience, the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board, and the Aerospace Industries Association Finance Committee. He received the Horatio Alger Award in 2020.

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Tarana Burke
Activist & Founder of "Me Too" Movement

Tarana Burke founded the “me too” movement in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence find pathways to healing. Burke’s vision was to address both the dearth of resources for survivors of sexual violence and to build a community of advocates, driven by survivors. Over the past several years, the #metoo hashtag campaign has emerged as a rallying cry for people everywhere who have survived sexual assault and sexual harassment — and a vital conversation about sexual violence has been thrust into the national dialogue. Burke has dedicated more than 25 years of her life to social justice and to laying the groundwork for a movement that was initially created to help young women of color who survived sexual abuse and assault. The movement now inspires solidarity, amplifies the voices of thousands of victims of sexual abuse, and puts the focus back on survivors. A sexual assault survivor herself, Burke is now working under the banner of the “me too” movement to assist other survivors and those who work to end sexual violence. She is also senior director of programs at Brooklyn-based Girls for Gender Equity. 

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Tiger Tyagarajan
CEO of Genpact

“Tiger” Tyagarajan is chief executive officer of Genpact. He is one of the industry leaders who pioneered a new global business model and transformed a division of General Electric (GE Capital International Services) into Genpact, a global professional services firm delivering digital transformation solutions for clients. Genpact has more than 90,000 employees and annual revenues of $3.7 billion USD as of December 31, 2020. Tyagarajan was appointed as Genpact’s CEO in 2011 after serving as Chief Operating Officer. In his current role, he counsels and collaborates with C-suite executives of large global corporations, helping them drive change in their companies to improve their competitiveness. He frequently writes and speaks on such topics as digital disruption, global talent issues, continuous skill development, and the importance of building a strong corporate culture.  Tyagarajan serves on the Board of Catalyst, a global non-profit organization working with some of the world’s most powerful CEOs to help build workplaces that work for women. He also was one of the founding supporters of the U.S. chapter of the 30% Club, which is committed to gender balance on boards of directors and in senior management. He began his career with the Unilever Group in India before moving to Citibank’s Consumer Financial Services businesses in sales, operations, and credit. He then joined GE Capital as head of Risk in India and went on to become CEO for GE Capital’s Global Consumer Finance and Auto Financial Services business in India.  Tiger has a degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and a master’s degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, where he majored in finance and marketing. 

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Arianna Huffington
Founder and CEO of Thrive Global

Arianna Huffington is the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, the founder of The Huffington Post, and the author of 15 books, including, most recently, Thrive and The Sleep Revolution. In 2016, she launched Thrive Global, a leading behavior change tech company with the mission of changing the way we work and live by ending the collective delusion that burnout is the price we must pay for success. She has been named to Time Magazine’s list of the World’s 100 Most Influential People and the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union. She serves on numerous boards, including Onex and The B Team. Her last two books, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder and The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time, both became instant international bestsellers.

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David Kenny
CEO of Nielsen

David Kenny was appointed chief executive officer at Nielsen in November 2018 and in February 2019 also assumed the role of chief diversity officer which he held until March 2021. Kenny has spent his career in data science and artificial intelligence, especially focused on retail, marketing, and media industries. Kenny has a proven track record of implementing growth strategies, overseeing strategic transactions and creating value for stakeholders. Most recently, Kenny served as senior vice president of Cognitive Solutions at IBM where he oversaw IBM’s artificial intelligence initiatives, using machine learning to support enterprise customers in healthcare, financial services, retail, and media. Prior to that, Kenny was chairman and chief executive of The Weather Company, which was subsequently acquired by IBM. He previously served as president of Akamai, a cloud platform technology company and managing partner of VivaKi, a media company. Earlier, he was co-founder and CEO of Digitas, Inc. Throughout his career, Kenny has been an advocate of diversity as a fundamental component of an organization’s culture. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors for Best Buy and Teach for America. He earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial administration from the GM Institute (now Kettering University) and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

 

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Ellen McGirt
Award-winning Journalist & Senior Editor at FORTUNE

Ellen McGirt is a senior editor at FORTUNE, where she established the race and culture beat in 2016. In addition to long-form magazine features, she writes RaceAhead, a daily column on race and inclusion in corporate life and beyond. The column has received a New York Press Club Award for commentary, a National Headliner Award, and the Steven Heller Prize for Commentary from the AIGA. She is also the co-chair of FORTUNE’s CEO Initiative and FORTUNE’S Most Powerful Women Summit. She is also the co-host of Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast. In her past lives, she’s written for Money, Time, and Fast Company, where she wrote or contributed to more than twenty cover stories and created the digital series The 30 Second MBA. Her reporting has taken her inside the C-Suites of Facebook, Nike, Twitter, Intel, Xerox and Cisco; on the campaign trail with Barack Obama and across Africa with Bono to study breakthrough philanthropy. McGirt was the editor for Your First Leadership Job, a book published by Wiley in 2016. She attended Brown University. The New York City native now mostly lives in the Midwest with her family. Ask her about fly-fishing if you get a chance. [She/her/hers] 

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Eric Toda
Head of Meta Prosper & Global Head of Social Marketing at Meta

Eric is a marketing executive, angel investor, and active advocate for the Asian American community. Eric is currently the Head of Meta Prosper, a new community support program for the API community from Meta and Global Head of Social Marketing at Meta. He’s held previous brand and digital marketing leadership roles at Stitch Fix, Gap Inc, Airbnb, Snapchat, and Nike. As an investor at Hyphen Capital and currently serves on the board of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), and Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH).

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Dara Treseder
Former SVP, Head of Global Marketing & Communications at Peloton

Dara Treseder is a business leader with expertise in building and leading high-performing global marketing, communications and commercial organizations. Dara is currently SVP, Head of Global Marketing & Communications at Peloton—the world’s largest interactive fitness platform. At Peloton, Dara sets the strategy and goals for Peloton’s marketing efforts to build the Peloton brand and drive the company’s growth and international expansion. She also oversees brand & strategic marketing, consumer insights & strategy, communications and creative. 

 

A veteran chief marketing & communications officer (CMO), Dara was previously the CMO of Carbon and the CMO of GE Business Innovations & GE Ventures. Earlier in her career, she led marketing and growth efforts at Apple and Goldman Sachs.

 

Dara has received several awards and industry recognition for her work. She was recognized by Forbes as one of the “World’s 50 Most Influential CMOs,” by Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of Silicon Valley’s top 40 leaders under 40, by Adweek as one of the “Women Trailblazers,” by Business Insider as one of the top 25 most innovative CMOs in the world, by AdAge as one of the “Women to Watch,” and by Inc. Magazine as one of the “30 Inspirational Women to Watch in Tech.”

 

A champion of public health, women’s issues and diversity initiatives, Dara is the vice chair of the board of the Public Health Institute (PHI). Dara also serves on the board of PG&E. Dara graduated cum laude from Harvard University with highest honors in the field and holds an MBA from Stanford University.

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