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. 

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.   

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.

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).

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. 

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 communities. In 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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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 Chronicle, O, the Oprah Magazine, Time Out, Town 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.

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.

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.

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.” 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.  

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.

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. 

“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. 

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.

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. 

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] 

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).

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.

José Cisneros is the elected Treasurer for the City and County of San Francisco. As Treasurer, he serves as the City’s banker and Chief Investment Officer, managing all tax and revenue collection for San Francisco. Appointed in 2004, and first elected in 2005, Cisneros has used his experience in the tech and banking industries to enhance and modernize taxpayer systems and successfully manage the City’s portfolio through a major recession.

Treasurer Cisneros believes that his role of safeguarding the City’s money extends to all San Francisco residents, and continues to expand his role as a financial educator and advocate for low-income San Franciscans through award-winning programs like Kindergarten to College, Bank On San Francisco and the Financial Justice Project. Cisneros served as Vice Chair on the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans, and is currently Co-Chair of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Coalition.

Prior to his role as Treasurer, Treasurer Cisneros served as Deputy General Manager for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. In this capacity, he managed MUNI’s $7 billion capital program designed to repair, replace and enhance system assets – including the 3rd Street Rail extension serving Chinatown, Mission Bay and the residents of Bay View and Hunters Point. Before working at MUNI, Treasurer Cisneros served as a member of the MTA Board of Directors and was instrumental in creating Proposition E, the Muni Reform Charter Amendment.

Treasurer Cisneros has a strong business background in the private sector, previously working for IBM Corporation and Lotus Development Corporation as a Senior International Product Manager. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Vice President at Bank of Boston where he managed financial product portfolios valued at over $100 million.

Treasurer Cisneros lives with his husband in San Francisco. He received his Bachelor of Science from Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).