Payton Head is an activist and community leader who was the former President of the Missouri Students Association. Head focuses on fighting hate with love, and helps develop cultures that are grounded in equity. Head began his work in activism after the events that happened in Ferguson and he started working on improving race relations in Missouri. While working as... read full bio
Rachel Cargle is a writer, speaker, lecturer, and activist whose work circles around the intersection of race and womanhood. Cargle uses her social media to create meaningful conversations, to encourage critical thinking, and have meaningful engagement with people from all over the world that she wouldn’t normally have the chance to talk to. As a speaker, Cargle has talked on... read full bio
Richie Reseda is an activist, feminist, hip-hop artist, and co-founder of the non-profit, Initiate Justice. Reseda began Initiate Justice while he was incarcerated, and it is a non-profit that help people affected by mass incarceration to change laws to end punitive justice systems and to invest in the people and communities to help reduce harm. Reseda also works with organizations... read full bio
April Reign is the creator of the hashtag that went viral, ‘#OscarsSoWhite,’ a thought leader and influencer, a former lawyer, an activist, a diversity and inclusion consultant, and writer. Reign gained attention after tweeting out the hashtag ‘OscarsSoWhite,’ during the Oscars nominations announcement. She started the hashtag as she felt that the nominations had a lack of nominees of color.... read full bio
Helen Zia is a Chinese-American journalist and activist who is known for her activism for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. Zia was born in Newark, New Jersey, and she later studied at Princeton Unviersity where she was a student at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. While studying there, she became founder of the Asian American Students... read full bio
Dr. Frank Leon Roberts is an American professor, writer, political commentator and activist who is best known for his part in the Black Lives Matter movement. As a professor, Roberts has taught the course “Black Lives Matter: Race, Resistance, and Populist Protest,” at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individual Study. His course gained attention after being one of the... read full bio
Jim Obergefell is an American civil rights activist who is best known for being the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which was the case that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States. Obergefell began the Obergefell v. Hodges case after finding out that he could not be listed as his late husband’s surviving spouse on his... read full bio
Eric Alva is an author, LGBTQ rights activist, and veteran who was the first Marine that was severely injured in the Iraq War. Alva was born in San Antonio, Texas, and after graduating high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a gay man knowing that the military excluded all gays and lesbians from service. Throughout most of his... read full bio
Will Strickland is a hip-hop industry veteran who has served as co-principal of Keikwalk Consulting, which is an entertainment marketing, promotions, and consulting firm in Toronto. Strickland is also known for being a educator that educates client on hip-hop culture. He has been the producer of the first ever online concert in black music history which he produced while working... read full bio
When Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her room in 2002, Ed Smart did what any dad would do: drop everything and look for her. Now, two decades later, Ed is a nationally famous and highly respected spokesperson for child protection and safety. He advocates for new legislation to be done to aid in these efforts. He is on the board... read full bio
Called one of the most engaging young figures in New York's creative worlds, iO Tillett Wright is known for her simplicity and approachability when speaking. iO Tillett Wright is an artist whose work focuses on the leading margins of contemporary life and culture. Her photography is regularly featured on two blogs at the New York Times: Notes from the Underground... read full bio
John is the younger of Thurgood Marshall's two sons, who served as the principal counsel in the case Brown v. Board of Education and was the first African-American Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court. John specializes in motivational speeches about his father's place in American history and his contribution to the nation's civil rights movement. Additionally, he has spoken... read full bio
Kevin D. Richardson is one of the Central Park Five, a group of young black and Latino men who were wrongfully convicted of a heinous crime in 1989. Richardson was just 14 years old when he was arrested and charged with the crime. Born on October 6, 1974 in Harlem, New York, Richardson grew up in a rough neighborhood and had... read full bio
American criminal justice reformer and former federal prisoner Alice Marie Johnson was given a life sentence after being found guilty in 1996 of being a part of a Memphis cocaine trafficking conspiracy. She was released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville, in June 2018 after serving 21 years in jail after the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump,... read full bio
American actress Kate Moennig's outstanding performances have had a huge impact on the entertainment business. Moennig is most known for playing Shane McCutcheon in the revolutionary television series The L Word from 2004 to 2009. Her brilliance and adaptability have won many viewers. In the television series Young Americans in 2000, she made her acting debut as Jake Pratt, demonstrating her early... read full bio
Jia Jiang identifies as an entrepreneur and author. He is best known for his involvement in Rejection Therapy, a company he acquired from Canadian innovator, Jason Comely. Jiang drew inspiration from Rejection Therapy to create his own products and services to inspire fearlessness on a daily basis. He explores ways to turn rejection into enterprise, ambition, and courage. Jiang wrote... read full bio
Mark W. Schaefer is a globally-recognized blogger, speaker, educator, business consultant, and author who blogs at one of the top marketing blogs of the world. Mark has worked in global sales, PR, and marketing positions for nearly 30 years and now provides consulting services as Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. He specializes in social media training and clients include... read full bio
Dr. Ludy Green is one of the worlds leading experts on domestic violence and how this abuse manifests and effects woman and children. She puts a high priority on financial independence as a way to combat domestic violence and human trafficking. Grren philosophy has been implemented to great success by third party organizations to help victims of abuse. Green... read full bio
Dennis Avery is a voice in the environmental issue sector. Currently a senior fellow with The Heartland Institute, the director of the Center for Global Food Issues, and a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, Avery aids in monitoring developments in world food production, farm product demand, food supply safety and security, and sustainable agriculture. Avery has authored books including... read full bio
Born to a single, teenage mother, placed in Florida's foster care system by the age of three and ultimately being adopted from a Children's Home at the age of twelve, Ashley Rhodes-Courter is the quintessential American success story. She later chronicled her harrowing life story in the New York Times Bestseller Three Little Words, which is currently being adapted into... read full bio
