Diversity & Inclusion

<p>The innovative creator of culturally-inclusive AI software ChatBlackGPT, Erin Reddick provides expert insights into the ever-changing landscape of AI and the importance of inclusive technology development.</p><p>Erin Reddick has forged a vital path in the technology industry. With a career encompassing significant roles at major tech companies including Meta, Microsoft, and AWS, her most impactful contribution to the field is the creation of ChatBlackGPT, an AI software providing perspectives from the Black and African American communities.

<p>Sharing his inspiring, against-all-odds journey from foster child to NFL player to successful business owner, Anthony Trucks helps individuals and organizations achieve their full potential by shifting their identity to reach peak performance.</p><p>Anthony Trucks has accomplished what statistics would show is impossible. At the age of three years old he was placed into the foster care system, where he remained until age 14, when he was adopted by a poor white family. In high school he set a challenging and lofty goal for himself … making the varsity football team.

<p>Dr. Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator with one foot in the world of practice—formerly serving as the Head of Strategy at Wieden+Kennedy, New York—and one foot in the world of academia—as a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.</p><p>His deep understanding of brand strategy and consumer behavior has helped him bridge the academic-practitioner gap for blue-chip brands and startups alike.

<p>Sharing anecdotes from her real-life experience as a young woman of color navigating the alien culture at a powerful law firm, Helen Wan provides insights and advice for chasing our ambition while also living authentically at work, and remaining true to ourselves and our values.</p><p>Helen Wan is an author and attorney. She writes, speaks, and consults on diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging, especially relating to women and minorities on the career ladder, and the complicated pursuit of success.

<p>An award-winning Latina entrepreneur who went from living in an orphanage to creating a wildly successful salsa company she sold to Campbell’s Soup for 231M, Magie Cook inspires audiences around the world to face their biggest obstacles and reach their greatest potential.</p><p>Magie Cook grew up in Mexico, living in an orphanage with 68 other children. As a child, she taught herself how to play basketball and ultimately immigrated to the US on a basketball scholarship at the University of Charleston.

<p>Alison Mariella Désir inspires audiences to find meaning and wellbeing through the transformational power of running, movement and the outdoors. </p><p>Research shows a powerful connection between movement and positive health outcomes. For Alison Mariella Desir, the bestselling author of <em>Running While Black</em>, running saved her life, connected her to community, and helped her find her purpose. </p><p>Alison got her start in the running and outdoor industry unintentionally, after seeing a Black friend train and complete a marathon.

<p>Drawing from her incredible life-affirming story of resilience, Maja Kazazic shows organizations and individuals how to harness the power of empathy to turn loss into growth and surpass their greatest expectations. </p><p>When she was 16 years old, Maja Kazazic's life changed forever. In the summer of 1993, two years into the Bosnian War—a genocide that killed 250,000 people and injured millions—a rocket-propelled grenade exploded in her courtyard destroying her home and killing five of her friends. Her legs were shattered in the blast.

<p>A renowned cultural critic who coined the term “Know-Your-Place Aggression,” Koritha Mitchell created the C19 Podcast episode, <em>The N-Word in the Classroom: Just Say No!</em> </p><p>In 2013, Koritha published <em>Love in Action: Noting Similarities Between Lynching Then and Anti-LGBT Violence Now</em>. She found that what lynching and anti-LGBT violence most have in common is the targeted group’s success.

<p>From “ball girl to CMO,” Melissa Proctor shares stories from her trailblazing career journey, providing powerful strategies to help audiences navigate high-stakes decisions and achieve success. </p><p>Though Melissa Proctor never played basketball herself, it was her passion—in fact, her childhood dream was to be the first female coach in the NBA.

<p><em>Fortune</em> magazine named Anna Maria Chávez one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” citing her vision and creativity in revitalizing the Girl Scout brand for a new century and transforming it into one of the top 10 most innovative nonprofits in the world.</p><p>The first woman of color to lead the iconic Girl Scouts of the USA in their 104-year-old history, Anna Maria Chávez is a renowned leadership expert who harnesses the power of technology and her passion for public service to transform organizations, earning her a place in U.S.