The creator and mastermind behind Mielle, the fastest-growing Black-founded, female-led beauty firm that provides high-quality, natural solutions for customers with textured hair, is Monique Rodriguez. Monique started Mielle with just one product—Mint Almond Oil—after her own healthy hair care journey became popular on social media. With orders in almost 90 countries worldwide, Mielle is a worldwide sensation today. More than... read full bio
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement is a non-governmental, nonprofit organization that negotiates the release of political prisoners and hostages worldwide. Mickey Bergman serves as its vice president and executive director. Over the last ten years, he has been releasing Americans from some of the world's most isolated and complicated nations, such as Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria, the Gambia,... read full bio
Originally from Sandwich, Massachusetts, pop-country musician Morgan Johnston has quickly assimilated into Nashville's thriving songwriting scene. working along with renowned Music Row writers Lindsay Ell, Cassadee Pope, Kylie Morgan, Jessie Murph, and others. Across all media, Johnston's unique songwriting has received over 4 million plays worldwide. She has secured coveted opening gigs for major label singers like Lainey Wilson, Dustin... read full bio
Michael Spence, a professor and Nobel Laureate, co-wrote Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World and wrote The Next Convergence. Spence is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Philip H. Knight Professor Emeritus of Management in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.... read full bio
Makari is a five-piece ambient-rock band with its headquarters in Orlando. The band continues to hone their style with their next album "Wave Machine," which is produced by Andrew Wade and provides an insight into their work since their first LP "Hyperreal." Makari lets you float in a sound sea of delay and reverb for just long enough before plunging... read full bio
Over the past few months, a trio of Geneva, Switzerland-based DJs and producers known as Mont Rouge have been making waves in the Afro House music industry. They have millions of streams across all platforms and all of their songs are charted on Beatport. Mont Rouge is prepared to enter the major leagues with over 70 completed performances, over ten festivals... read full bio
Twentysomethings are the focus of developmental clinical psychologist Meg Jay, PhD. She is the author of the cult book The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now, Supernormal: The Secret World of the Family Hero, and The Twentysomething Treatment: A Revolutionary Remedy for an Uncertain Age. Her work has been featured in the... read full bio
Morgan Seatree, a Manchester-born musician, is a welcome addition to the house music scene. Inspired by the genre's pioneers, Morgan's love of the vintage Chicago sound pushes his artistic boundaries while preserving a sense of familiarity. Morgan's innovative take on house continues to attract the interest of certain influential figures in the industry, who cite Kerri Chandler, Larry Heard, Paul Woolford,... read full bio
MISOGI is a London-based music producer who was born in Dubai. He began producing EDM before moving on to his side project, Drxp, which eventually evolved into MISOGI, his main project. He essentially works in segments and switched up his genre from project to project. While his next EP, Death Metal, is all about the alternative rock, post-punk, new wave,... read full bio
Protopia Futures was founded by futurist and speculative designer Monika Bielskyte, who is also a partner of Africa Life Centric Design. Her work is not based on one-size-fits-all techno-solutionism, which is prone to short-term hype cycles and rapid obsolescence, but rather on contextual, complicated realities on the ground. With a background in immersive media and information technologies (generative AI, spatial... read full bio
Martina Edwards was renowned as Merrill Lynch's first African-American female trading broker on the New York Stock Exchange floor, frequently completing volatile stock orders for more than $50 million in daily trading value. She was also recognized at the time as the only actively trading African-American woman seat holder among the company's 1,366 members. Edwards is presently the Chief... read full bio
Melissa Gonzalez, an award-winning retail strategist, founded MG2 Advisory and is a principal of the international design and architecture business MG2. She advises brands and retailers on how to use innovative strategy and forward-thinking consumer insights from concept to implementation, drawing on her experience as a Wall Street executive and seasoned entrepreneur who has collaborated with some of the fastest-growing... read full bio
Max Allais, a French New Zealand singer-songwriter, has posted a soothing video of himself singing and playing an acoustic guitar online on most days for the past three years. He has an audience of 3.3 million on TikTok and 860K on Instagram thanks to his consistency, diligence, and honest communication. Everyone should have the opportunity to pursue their goals, but it's... read full bio
Marla Blow is the president and chief operating officer of the Skoll Foundation, a group that invests in, connects, and supports social entrepreneurs and other social innovators who work together to develop audacious and just solutions to the most important issues facing the world. The Skoll Foundation aims to spark revolutionary social change. She was previously the founder and CEO... read full bio
As the first Black female member of the National Football League's on-field officiating staff, Maia created history. When the NFL asked her to join its Officiating Development Program, she was officiating college football games for the Pac-12 and Conference USA. At Renaissance Academy in Virginia, Maia is an award-winning health and physical education teacher who offers individualized support to at-risk... read full bio
Born in communist Poland, electronic music artist Michal Menert and his family fled to the United States as political refugees. Michals father shared with him a variety of different types and styles of music growing up, and this birthed in him a love and appreciation for music. Menert also played an assortment of instruments as a child, such as... read full bio
Montell Jordan is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and pastor who is best known for his hit 90’s single “This Is How We Do It”, which peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts as well as on the US R&B charts. The single also reached US certified Platinum. Over the course of his career, Jordan released... read full bio
Mariana Atencio is a Venezuelan correspondent, speaker, author, and Peabody award-winning bilingual journalist who works for NBC News and MSNBC. Atencio is the only Latina that is a correspondent on NBC News. Atencio grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and earned her undergraduate degree from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello. She later earned her master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School... read full bio
Mark Grace is a former American MLB baseball player who played as first baseman. Grace was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and he began his career playing baseball as well as basketball in high school before going on to play college baseball at San Diego State University. From there, Grace was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and he spent almost... read full bio
Marcia Clark is a successful prosecutor, author and television correspondent who is most well known as the head prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Marcia tried a number of high profile cases previous to the O.J. Simpson case, including the Robert John Bardo trial for the murder of television star Rebecca Schaeffer. Since the conclusion of the Simpson trial,... read full bio
