Speaker Bios
8:30 am Welcome
8:45 am - The Daily Conundrum: Navigating Conversations With Polarized Perspectives
LaShante Keys, Moderator, Inclusivity
LaShante Keys' career can be described as the gentleman who has facilitated uncomfortable but necessary discussions around racism, bigotry, bias, and end-of-life care. The hardest topics for individuals are courageous conversations centered around discrimination and death.
He has developed and delivered hundreds of training throughout the United States centered on diversity, team building, organizational development, and cultural competency. Clients have included corporations, non-profits, service organizations, government officials, municipalities, and universities.
In 2021, LaShante became a full-time entrepreneur and co-founder of White Keys Real Estate Development. The primary mission is to create safe, sustainable housing opportunities that are inclusive and affordable for all income levels. In addition, he works as a consultant with organizations to create innovative programs to impact underserved populations.
LaShante is involved with numerous organizations such as Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. University of South Florida (USF) African American Advisory Board, Florida A&M University Alumni Association, The Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) South County Council, and The 2020 Class of Leadership St. Pete. He is a native Floridian, born and raised in St. Petersburg. LaShante holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), a B.A. in Communications from the University of South Florida (USF), and an M.S. in Human Services with a concentration in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College.
Andrew Brower, Panelist, Program Officer, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Andrew Brower is a program officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In this role, he supports foundation efforts to promote thriving children, working families, and equitable communities. Brower is part of the Racial Equity team at the foundation. He is responsible for developing and coordinating strategic investment activities that address systemic barriers that create vulnerable conditions for historically marginalized communities and children. His work includes implementing programmatic and investment activities to increase social change impact; ongoing analysis of solutions and trends; developing relationships within the field; fostering alliances with community, corporate and philanthropic partners; and supporting the overall direction and implementation of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s strategic framework. Before this role, Brower was the program-related investments officer for the foundation’s Mission Investment team, co-led the Grand Rapids place-based team, and served as national program lead for the New Options Project; an effort focused on prototype development toward market-based pathways to employment for disconnected young people ages 16 to 24. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.
Before joining the foundation in 2010, Brower served as the founding executive director of The SOURCE and held previous positions and experiences serving as a consultant and project manager for the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce; director of human resources for Butterball Farms, Inc.; and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. Brower holds a Master's in Business Administration from the Ross School of Business of the University of Michigan, a Master of Science in Forestry from Michigan Technological University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Albion College.
James Peterson, Ph.D., Panelist, Writer, Educator, and Consultant
James Peterson, Ph.D., is a writer, educator, and consultant. He is the author of several books, including The Hip Hop Underground and African American Culture, Prison Industrial Complex for Beginners, and Hip-Hop Headphones: A Scholar’s Critical Playlist. He is a columnist for The Philadelphia Citizen and has written for Fortune.com, Newsweek.com, The Guardian, The LA Times, Reuters, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and The Grio. Dr. Peterson is also a professional wordsmith who has ghostwritten and edited projects for various individuals and corporate entities across various professions.
Dr. Peterson has been consulting in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space since 2004. Over the course of his career, he has worked with clients from a variety of organizations, including consumer product corporations, non-profit entities, educational institutions, and municipal organizations. His work is researched based, and consultations are always curated for the specific needs of individual clients. Peterson has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania.
Lynda Gonzales-Chavez, Panelist, Senior Vice President/Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Global Officer, YMCA of the USA (Y-USA)
Lynda Gonzales-Chavez leads the YMCA Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion portfolio. She is responsible for leading the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) strategic priority to ensure that all segments of society have access to and feel welcome at the Y. A key priority of this work is promoting an inclusive, anti-racist organizational culture that values equity, embraces multiculturalism and fosters community and global bridge-building.
Lynda has more than 30 years of national and international experience with the Y Movement as a staff member and volunteer, and has held positions on the YMCA of the USA National Board and the World Alliance of YMCAs Executive Committee. Lynda joined the Y-USA International Group in 1999 and served as Senior Associate Director specializing in global and local-based strategies to engage immigrant, diverse and marginalized communities at all levels of the YMCA. In this role she provided capacity-building support to YMCAs and communities focusing on cultural competence, inclusion practices, immigration, HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention, outreach to high-risk and incarcerated populations, gang intervention, conflict resolution and life skills. She led cultural immersion trips to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Latin America and has represented Y-USA in more than 30 countries.
Lynda has a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Science in Public Service Management from DePaul University. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and proficient in Portuguese.
9:45 am - How to Educate on Equity With Anti-Woke Legislation Looming?
Dr. Bilan Joseph, Moderator, Inclusivity
Dr. Bilan Joseph is the Executive Director of Thrive By Five Pinellas, a collective impact initiative that helps families become knowledgeable of and connect to resources that help support their child’s holistic on-time development. She has a master’s degree in secondary education and a doctorate of education, specializing in Reading and Literacy. Dr. Joseph also serves as an adjunct professor for Liberty University’s online School of Education, where she teaches graduate-level courses to aspiring teachers and reading specialists. She sits on several committees throughout the city that promotes race equity in government, education, and healthcare. Dr. Joseph also moderates and/or facilitates courageous conversations about race for Inclusivity LLC, Liberty Church, and The Carter G. Woodson Museum. She hopes these conversations will lead to collective healing and ultimate racial reconciliation. She is a native of St. Petersburg, where she resides with her husband and three children.
Brian Auld, Panelist, President, Tampa Bay Rays
Brian Auld begins his 17th season with the Rays and his eighth in his current position as
team president. Together, he and Matt Silverman lead the club’s operations both
internally and externally. In 2018, Auld and Silverman oversaw the Rays purchase of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the USL soccer team based in St. Petersburg. They now also serve as vice chairmen of the Rowdies, overseeing all franchise operations.
Before joining the Rays, Auld attended Harvard Business School, where he earned his
MBA focusing on managing human capital, marketing, and finance. Auld’s previous work
experience includes serving as lead teacher and director of development for the East
Palo Alto Charter School in California. Born in Berkeley, Calif., Auld received a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University, where he also captained the lacrosse team. He currently serves on the Rays Baseball Foundation and several other boards of directors. Auld and his wife, Molly, reside in St. Petersburg and are proud parents of two daughters, Lucy and Mia, and a son, Jack.
Dawn Siler-Nixon, Panelist, DEI Partner, Ford Harrison, LLP
Dawn has spent two decades partnering with her clients to help guide and direct their employment decisions to avoid the time and expense of litigation and creating and executing a strategy to defend them through trial should the need arise. Dawn uses depth of knowledge and expertise to ensure that clients exceed their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion goals while avoiding legal landmines. She has extensive experience handling ADAAA, Family, and Medical Leave Act claims and has successfully litigated multiple plaintiff Age Discrimination claims in state and federal court.
Dawn is an Attorney at Law at FordHarrison LLP - Ius Laboris USA, with responsibility for overseeing and implementing the Firm's Diversity Strategic Plan. As the Firm's Diversity Partner, Dawn is a member of the Management Group and the Firm's seven (7) person Executive Committee, the Firm's highest governing body that sets policy and compensation. Dawn is recognized as a Certified Diversity Executive through the National Institute for Diversity Certification.
Nadine Smith, Panelist, President, Equality Florida
Nadine Smith is the Executive Director of Equality Florida, the state's largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
An award-winning journalist turned organizer, Nadine was one of four national co-chairs of the 1993 March on Washington. She was part of the historic meeting between then-President Clinton - the first Oval Office meeting between a sitting President and gay community leaders. She served on the founding board of the International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organization.
She is s a Florida Chamber Foundation Trustee and served on President Obama's National Finance Committee. Nadine has been named one of the state's "Most Powerful and Influential Women" by the Florida Diversity Council. She has received the League of Women Voter's Woman of Distinction Award and in 2018 was named one of the 100 Most Influential Floridians by Influence Magazine. She currently serves as chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Florida Advisory Committee. She lives in St. Petersburg with her wife Andrea and son Logan.
10:45 am - How do your Dimensions of Diversity Impact Effective Engagement within D&I?
Dr. Linsey Grove, Moderator, Inclusivity
Dr. Linsey Grove is a public health practitioner in St. Petersburg, Florida. She works at the University of South Florida at the St. Petersburg campus as the program coordinator and instructor for Health Sciences. Dr. Grove is the co-owner of Carriage House Consulting, LLC, a nonprofit support consulting firm in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is interested in public health policy and the intersection of community health and civic engagement. Dr. Grove serves as the president of the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area.
Whitney Booze, Panelist, Award Winning Diversity and Inclusion Leader & Practitioner
In 2021, Whitney became an award-winning diversity and inclusion leader from the National Diversity Council after nominating her ERG as the “Top 50 Employee Resource Group”. She has over 3+ years of experience in corporate event planning and execution for audiences virtually and in-person, spanning over 450+ attendees for her previous organization’s national multicultural inclusion network. Recently, Whitney participated as a Pro Bono Attorney in collaboration with ABA Commission of Immigration and HIAS to provide virtual pro bono assistance to clients from Haiti, Ukraine, Cameroon, and Venezuela in the U.S. seeking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Work
Whitney is also a dedicated and accomplished compliance risk professional in the financial services and banking industry with expertise in risk and control program development, project management, risk governance, and regulatory compliance spanning over 8 years. She is a Senior Corporate & Compliance Regulatory Risk Analyst and Lead of the Global Fraud Solutions Review at TransUnion.
Daniel Gibson, Panelist, Regional Vice-President Miami-Dade, Allegany Franciscan Ministries
Daniel Gibson is a passionate community leader and advocate for social justice who has spent the past two decades championing causes to eradicate racism and poverty in the United States. He has created and implemented nationally recognized jail and prison reform programs, affordable housing, access to medical care for the chronically homeless, HIV/AIDS prevention, and LGBT rights.
Today, Daniel works in philanthropy as Regional Vice President for Allegany Franciscan Ministries, a private foundation in Florida, and is a recent Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health Fellow. He is dedicated to addressing the root causes of the economic and health disparities experienced by vulnerable and marginalized communities.
Daniel has two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Yale University and a Master in Social Work. Daniel recently launched his newest venture, cohosting a video podcast, The Up & Down Show, highlighting professional work and personal life passions.
Andres E. Gonzalez, Panelist, VP Community Engagement & Chief Diversity Officer, Froedtert Health
Andrés Gonzalez has successfully created and implemented community engagement, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and supplier diversity programs for several of the country’s most respected healthcare organizations. He joined Froedtert Health in 2015 and currently serves as the Vice President for Community Engagement and Chief Diversity Officer for the health network, which includes 11 hospitals, over 2,000 physicians, and more than 45 health centers and clinics in Wisconsin. He served from 2012 to 2015 as the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Baystate Health in Springfield, Massachusetts. From 2007 to 2012, he was the Director of Diversity & Community Outreach and Interim Supplier Diversity Director at Cleveland Clinic Health System.
Andrés holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in education (M.Ed.) with a concentration on community agency counseling, both from Cleveland State University. He also completed the certification program at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations Department and earned a Cornell Certified Diversity Practitioner/Advanced Practitioner (CCDP/AP) certification. He is a faculty member at Elevate, an education and career-development partnership with the University of California-San Diego Rady School of Management. Andrés also serves on national boards that address community health needs.
12:00 pm Self-Care Sessions / Lunch Hour
Meditation by Clayton Sizemore
After 36 years as a broadcast manager working for ABC, NBC, and the world news leader CNN, Clayton Sizemore has reimagined his career by taking control of his future embarking on the next phase of chasing life and longevity as a certified yoga instructor and certified travel agent. A results-oriented self-starter with a solid background in broadcasting and finance, Sizemore is an organizational master and an effective communicator. His proven record of success in television news management has earned him professional accolades as an excellent problem solver, decision-maker, team player, and motivator.
An active resident of St. Petersburg Florida, Sizemore is the founder and senior instructor at Mindful Movement Florida, an ambassador with the St Pete Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the SpeakEasy M.E.D.I.A. Foundation Scholarship Program, a 501(c) 3 organization created in honor of his dearly departed wife Andria Hall, the award-winning journalist.
Blessed to be the father of three amazing adults, Sizemore believes that with faith and perseverance, all things are possible!
Yin Yoga by LaQuelle Mills
LaQuelle Mills has a love for dance and fitness. She moved to NYC where she lived for 9 years, and worked with a well-established fitness brand, Barry’s, as the Senior Experience Manage before continuing her pursuit in Los Angeles, California.
LaQuelle found a balance for her career through Yoga. While diving deep into the Yoga world, she got certified in Yin-Yoga and Barre. Her pursuit in the industry of fitness, bridging the gaps between communities through her client experience role, led her to learn and see the benefits that yoga was having on her life mentally and physically. She hopes to carry anyone through this journey of dance or yoga, allowing a person to connect mentally and physically in their own practice.
LaQuelle was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has an Associate degree in Performing Arts and a B.F.A. and Master's degree in Internet Marketing from Full Sail University.
Zumba by Sistah Anyangō
Sistah Anyangō is the Founder and CEO of The FLYY Movement, LLC. She is an award-winning Empowerment Freedom Coach, Motivational Speaker, Master Teaching Artist, and Executive Coach. She has over forty years of experience as a dancer and master teaching artist in various dance mediums.
Sistah Anyangō is a trainee of the HFI Body Centered Psychotherapy Training Program; certificated in Family Development and Middle Management; licensed to teach an array of Zumba® courses; lecturer; and creator of workshops and programs. For over fifteen years, Sistah Anyangō has been using her experiences to help individuals, primarily women over forty, to discover themselves, create a road map on how to get there, and coach them along the way to give support and encouragement.
Sistah Anyangō has been recognized and received an award from the following entities: Project Resiliency, Circle of Hands, Campaign for Peace, 100 Women of Color, You are Beautiful, When Destiny Meets Purpose, Phenomenal Women in Business. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Afrikan American studies and a Master of Arts degree in Afrikan American Studies.
1:00 pm - Psychology and Safety: Creating and Maintaining Safe Workplaces & Communities
Sarah Lindemuth, Moderator, Incluisvity
For over a decade, Sarah Lindemuth was a research lead at a Tampa Bay consulting firm. There, she worked directly with clients to design, manage, implement and report quantitative and qualitative studies on various subjects. Her primary research experience spans a variety of methodologies, including focus groups, research panels, surveys (via telephone, direct mail, and online), and secret shopper programs. Studies included employee culture, consumer satisfaction, citizen sentiment, A/B testing, retention, brand awareness tracking, and employee satisfaction.
As a consultant today, Lindemuth uses all mentioned methodologies to facilitate data-driven decision-making in companies and organizations, large and small. She translates data from interviews, focus groups, surveys, and existing collections into point-in-time stories, then works beside leadership to translate findings into next steps, meaningful recommendations, and longer-term plans for sustainable and equitable workplaces.
Sarah Lindemuth graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising (a Zimmerman Advertising Graduate) and Psychology. She has worked for the University of South Florida’s Department of Testing & Evaluation and the Psychology Department. Upon graduation, she continued to work with Media General, CENTRO, and The Tampa Tribune’s Research Department, studying content and media reach across various audience segments. She is a proud graduate of Leadership Tampa Bay, Leadership St. Pete and the FBI Citizens’ Academy, and is a Leadership Tampa Bay ex officio.
Marcia Alvarado, Panelist, PE, Structural Market Leader & JEDI Council Leader, WGI
As the Tampa Structural Market Leader, Marcia is responsible for all aspects of WGI’s Structural Engineering practice in the Tampa Bay region, including client interaction, recruiting and developing team members, and overseeing her Department’s the production and business operations. She has 17 years of structural engineering experience and project management of new construction and renovation in healthcare, commercial, higher education, multi-story residential, federal, aviation, and parking garages.
Marcia is also the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) Council Lead at WGI. She has been a speaker, panelist, and educator for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion since 2018 and has a Diversity and Inclusion certification from Cornell University.
Marcia also ventured into the fashion world by modeling and now provides custom suiting for Sharpe Suiting, an LGBTQ+ owned and operated luxury custom suiting brand by expanding the brand from Los Angeles to Florida, Chicago, Charlotte, Texas, and Denver Markets. She also created a consultancy geared toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consulting in 2020, The Alvarado Experience LLC, which serves as her own platform to impact and advocate.
Marcia is a graduate of Leadership Tampa Bay, Class of 2017, and serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Chair for the Board of Directors. She served on the Board of Directors as President/Vice Chair for the ACE Mentor Program of Greater Tampa Bay and has been a part of the program since its inception in 2011. She received the USF College of Engineering Young Alumnus Award in 2018. Marcia was also named Top 40 Under 40 by the Building Design + Construction, a national architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry publication in September 2015 as an emerging design professional.
Clarence Eng, Panelist, Owner, Kimley-Horn
Clarence is a Mobility and Transit Oriented Development Practice Leader at Kimley-Horn, based in Tampa, who is focused on providing integrated multi-transportation and land use solutions to create better communities. His career was empowered by the childhood memory of his inner-city neighborhood park being replaced with federal buildings. Clarence has brought transformative planning to life through award-winning placemaking, city-center revitalization, regenerative housing, transit villages and corridors, waterfront transformations, and innovation districts in the US and abroad.
Clarence is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP). He served on the Mayor of Tampa’s Transportation Advisory Team and as the Chairman of the Tampa Innovation Partnership (!p) Advisory Board, championing the reinvestment and transformation of the Uptown area, once known pejoratively as “suitcase city”. He a served on numerous Urban Land Institute's national Technical Advisory Panels and holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the Universite de Montreal and both a Master of Urban Design and Master of Planning from the University of Southern California.
Phillip Laws, Panelist, CEO, Laws Consulting Group
Mr. Laws is an accomplished corporate leader with extensive experience working within the top Fortune 10 Companies. Before joining Nemours Children’s Health, Mr. Laws held several global leadership roles, including Global DEI Senior Manager for Amazon, Starbucks Coffee Company, Two Japanese Pharmaceutical Sales/Marketing firms, and MOBIL Oil Corporation.
Mr. Laws serves in several board capacities with Big Brothers Big Sisters as Advisory Board Director for the Chamber of Commerce and the DEI Chairman for the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Black Speakers Network, and Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc.
Mr. Laws holds a Master’s Degree in Business Management, Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing, and Executive Leadership credentials from Harvard University.
2:00 pm - The Misplaced Hero: When “Woke” Goes Wrong
Sam Obeid, Moderator, Inclusivity
Sam(ira) Obeid is the Founder/CEO of Samira Obeid LLC, a performance and education endeavor that uses poetry, theory, and experience to engage people in conversations about humanity and resistance. Formerly, Sam served as Program Director of Community Tampa Bay, an anti-discrimination organization whose vision is a community free from discrimination. While at Community Tampa Bay, Sam found her calling in life - working to remove barriers so young humans can lead through truth and power, not tomorrow but today. Her skillset lies in creating a curriculum that challenges every binary, structure, system, and power, managing a team through a culture of circular leadership, and using her lived experience to explore conversations around collective accountability that centers action over empathy.
In her personal life, Sam loves to hike with her canine offspring, Sherlock. She takes every opportunity to travel, cook and train in hand-to-hand combat.
Matt Armstrong, Panelist, Director of Planning & Development, St. Pete Distillery
Matt is a Colorado native who married into Florida, his phenomenal wife from right here in the Tampa Bay area. Having lived from the west coast to the east coast, mountains to the shore, big cities to small towns, we’ve found a home in Tampa Bay and the warmth of St. Petersburg.
That same warmth and strong community brought us the opportunity to be involved in building something with St Petersburg Distillery from the ground up – doing it right, believing in the difference it will make – and of course, having a crazy fun time along the way!
Trained as an architect and urban planner, Matt worked for the past 20 years on projects for NASA at Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. Air Force in Japan, Korea, and Colorado, large-scale community master planning, hospitals, schools, commercial projects, land use policy and regulation both for the private and public sectors. He cares about the community and believes that our greatest strength and cause must be how we treat others – respecting individuals, listening, and learning. We are building something here in St. Petersburg based on these foundations.
Mo Cowan, Panelist, Chief Legal & External Affairs Officer, Devoted Health, Inc.
U.S. Senator William “Mo" Cowan (retired) serves as Chief Legal and External Affairs Officer for
Devoted Health, Inc. A member of Devoted Health’s executive leadership team, Mo is
responsible for all legal, corporate governance, regulatory, and public affairs functions for this
next generation, tech-enabled, vertically integrated payor and provider of healthcare services.
Before joining the Devoted team, Mo led global government affairs and policy; and, previously
global litigation for General Electric Co. Earlier in his career, Mo was a partner at a national law
firm and served as chief executive officer of a government relations consulting firm.
In 2013, Mo served as the interim U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts. From 2009-2013, Mo held senior leadership roles – Chief Legal Counsel, Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor – in the
administration of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
Mo serves on governance and advisory boards for several nationally recognized institutions
including the Massachusetts General Hospital, Duke University, Goldfinch Bio, Edward M.
Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, Eastern Bank Corporation, MassChallenge,
Stackwell Capital, and Mass General Brigham.
Mo is a graduate of Duke University and Northeastern University School of Law. He holds
honorary degrees from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business,
Bridgewater State College and Newbury College.
Jennifer Yeagley, Panelist, CEO, St. Pete Free Clinic
Jennifer (Jenn) Yeagley, M.A., is the CEO of the St. Petersburg Free Clinic, having joined the organization in March 2020. Before stepping into this role, she was Vice President for Administrative & Strategic Operations for Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services.
Jenn currently serves as a founding Board member for the Plus Projec+, a foundation focused on funding organizations serving individuals who are LGBTQ+, and on the Stewardship Committee for Bon Secours Mercy Health Foundation.
She was recognized with a 2016 Florida Diversity Council LGBT Ally Award, was a recipient of Community Tampa Bay’s 2020 Silver Medallion Award for her work in promoting inclusion and equity, and was profiled by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as one of "52 Tampa Bay executives who should be on your virtual meeting calendar."
Jenn has a Master’s degree in Literature from Texas State University and is a graduate of the Leadership Tampa class of 2018. A transplant from California, Jenn lives in St. Petersburg with her husband and young son.
3:00 pm - Lateral Aggression: Changing the Paradigm of Divide and Conquer
Nic James, Moderator, Inclusivity
Nicholas (Nic) James is a diversity practitioner and consultant with extensive experience as a writer, educator, and organizational leader. Nic brings expertise in helping individuals and organizations comprehend and promote the significance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Nic specializes in training and professional development, diversity coaching, project management and strategic planning support, data collection and analysis, research, and curriculum development.
Nic has led workshops and overseen organizational cultural development strategies for topics such as DEI Foundations, DEI Terminology, Cultural Competency and Proficiency, Skill Building for Difficult Conversations, Implicit/Unconscious bias, Intersectionality, Microaggressions, Racial Literacy, and Allyship for Antiracism.
Cal Jackson, Panelist, EDI Practitioner
Cal Jackson is the founder and CEO of Diversity Inclusion Ventures and is known in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) community for his design, development and delivery of engaging and thought-provoking cultural competence workshops. Topics include bias, generations, gender, lookism, self-awareness, classism and enhancing the cultural competence of leaders. Cal has experience building safe containers for courageous conversations in Fortune 500 companies, academia, and civic forums.
He has received various accolades for his work from Black Enterprise Magazine, Florida Bar, Tampa Bay Diversity Chamber, Clearwater Bar, Florida Blue, National Diversity Council, Jacksonville Business Journal and Leadership Jacksonville. Cal presently serves on the board of directors for Connecting Communities for Peace and is the former President of the Florida Diversity Council Tampa Bay Chapter.
Dra. Luz Randolph, Panelist, Sr. VP and Executive Director, City Year Baton Rouge
Dra. Luz D. Randolph is the Sr. Vice President and Executive Director of City Year Baton Rouge. In this role she leads 11 staff members and approximately 40 AmeriCorps members serving in four partner schools for the 2022-2023 school year. Serve as liaison to the Board and external stakeholders to continue growing the CYBR brand in the community. Before this, she served as Associate Vice President for Diversity at Louisiana State University and as the Executive Director of Development at St. Petersburg College Foundation.
Dra. Randolph is a double alumna from the University of South Florida with a B.A in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, College Student Affairs. She completed her Doctor of Education in Higher Education and Leadership Administration degree from Nova Southeastern University.
Dr. Nadia Sasso, Panelist, Adjunct Professor Africana Studies/ Philosophy, Moravian College
Nadia Sasso is a high-powered, creative cultural producer and unconventional scholar based in Los Angeles. Her expertise is in developing engaging content and driving strategy across various platforms and media. Sasso has 10 years of relevant experience, with documented success in the areas of social innovation, strategic partnerships, and new media. Having a Ph.D. from Cornell University, she provides expert insight and advice on content and cultural messaging for major media companies and teaches in the Africana Studies / Philosophy department at Moravian University.
Melody Yoo, Panelist, Educator
Melody Yoo is an educator by trade who prioritizes the importance of building relationships, celebrating differences, challenging structural inequalities, and encouraging people to think critically about the world in which they live. She believes in the importance of being a lifelong learner and having the posture that learning can come from anywhere.
Melody is a founding member of Asian American Voices for Education, a grassroots organization based in Atlanta. She is also a practitioner of restorative justice and a DEI facilitator for Inclusivity, LLC.
