Dr. Claire Brady discovered her passion for higher education as a first-generation college student and has spent the last 25 years turning that passion into transformative change for institutions and students alike. What began as her own college journey evolved into a career dedicated to making higher education more accessible, innovative, and human-centered.

These days, Claire wears a few different hats. She's the President of Glass Half Full Consulting, where she helps colleges and universities figure out this whole AI thing without losing their humanity in the process. She's also co-founder of the Association for Higher Education Consulting and Coaching (AHECC).

When she's not talking about AI or organizational change, you'll find Claire at home in Orlando with her husband Ben and their son. She loves travel, reading, and catching Broadway shows.

George Turner, Jr. was born in Inglewood, California and is a proud graduate of Morningside High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004 and a law degree also from UCLA. His career experience includes working as a public defender.

Jim Lee is Professor and Chair of the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of 2 books: Urban Triage: Race and the Fictions of Multiculturalism (2004) and Pedagogies of Woundedness: Illness, Memoir, and the Ends of the Model Minority (2022), which won Honorable Mention in the Literary Studies category from the Association for Asian American Studies in 2024 and was a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2022. Most recently, Jim has been trying to reimagine the college syllabus and classroom beyond its ableist (and racist and sexist) roots toward learning communities of care. As LT reminds us in her book, Jim is indeed Team Pacey, but he is also, controversially, Team Buffy/Spike.

Alexia Pineda Soto, Ed.D., is a scholar-practitioner committed to advancing educational justice through community-centered strategies. Lexie earned her doctorate at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), and her research interests center on critical career education modalities for first-gen students, the social-emotional experiences of economically marginalized Latinas, and the realities of first-generation professionals. As the Associate Director of First-Gen Initiatives at LMU, she supports first-gen students with individualized, equity-driven approaches. In 2024, Lexie was recognized as an "Ignite Culture: Ignite First-Gen Success" leader and a “Sensational Staff Member” by FGLIstudents.org. Outside of her higher education vocation, Lexie enjoys building Legos, DIY projects, karaoke, and time with her niece, Camila, and nephew, Sebastian.

I completed my undergraduate degree at Rutgers University where I obtained a B.S. in Biology, a B.A. in Health Sciences, and a B.A. in Psychology. As a former NIH MARC U-STAR Fellow and current NIH ACE fellow, I recognize the gap between fields in the professional/academic community and I am here to close it. Now a second-year Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics (PSPG) Ph.D. program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) I am passionate about exploring the intersections of neuroscience and pharmacology. I am deeply committed to
fostering an inclusive environment, drawing on my experiences to help bridge the gap between fields in the professional and academic community. I am the co-founder of Trailblazers in STEM (TISP), which is dedicated to creating a nationwide, collaborative network of professional and graduate students to support undergraduates across the country. 

My name is Maliah Siyoum. I am the oldest of four siblings and an 18-year-old freshman at Santa Monica College, majoring in art. Growing up, I’ve always been surrounded by creativity and kindness, which continues to inspire both my artwork and the way I live. I’m very passionate about helping my community and engaging in activism, and I hope to use my voice and creativity to support and uplift others.

As an aspiring artist, I aim to build a career that allows me to express myself while creating work that resonates with others. Outside of school, I enjoy spending my time on my favorite hobbies, including making art, gaming, meditating, reading, and traveling. During my time in college, I’m excited to continue growing as both an artist and a person.

Melanie Ho, Ph.D. is an award-winning author, speaker, and visual artist who blends over 20 years of leadership experience with a gift for making ideas come alive. A former corporate executive and UCLA literature instructor, she designs keynotes and workshops that use art and narrative to bring today’s most urgent leadership concepts to life. By integrating strategy with creativity, Melanie helps audiences think more expansively, engage more honestly, and lead with clarity and purpose.

Her recent book, Beyond Leaning In: Gender Equity and What Organizations are Up Against, received a silver medal in the 2022 Axiom Awards recognizing the world’s best business books, and has been acclaimed by Kirkus Reviews as “an engaging evolution of Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ mantra.” 

Phuc Tran is a writer, tattooer, and classicist. His memoir SIGH, GONE  (FLATIRON) won the 2020 New England Book Award for Nonfiction and the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Memoir. He has been a high school Latin teacher and a tattooer for over twenty years, for which he has won no awards. His TEDx talk “Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive” was featured on NPR’s TED Radio Hour. He has a children’s book series in collaboration with bestselling illustrator Pete Oswald entitled CRANKY (HARPERCOLLINS). He is currently working on a novel that he is certain no one wants to read.

Dr. Sharon Harley, Professor and (Interim) Chair, at the University of Maryland, College Park, researches and teaches black women's labor history and race and gender politics in the US and the African Diaspora. She and historian Rosalyn Terborg-Penn co-edited and contributed essays in the pioneer anthology, The
Afro-American Woman: Struggles and Images (1978). She edited and contributed to two anthologies, Sister Circle: Black Women and Work (Rutgers, 2002) and Women’s Labor in the Global Economy: Speaking in Multiple Voices (Rutgers, 2008), resulting from two major Ford Foundation grants. 

Currently, she is completing a biography of Black feminist educator and working-class advocate Nannie Helen Burroughs titled Nannie Helen Burroughs: A Courageous Crusader for Black Woman’s Empowerment and Equality (Yale University Press) and a co-edited volume, Conceptualizing Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the African/Black Diaspora: Multidisciplinary Perspectives.

Tracy Lachica Buenavista (she/her) is a professor of Asian American Studies and member of the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at California State University, Northridge. Dr. Buenavista was the co-principal investigator and co-founder of the CSUN DREAM Center, Asian American Studies Pathways Project, Ethnic Studies Education Pathways Project, and the Faculty of Color Wellness Collective; and was a member of the Project Rebound Community Advisory Committee. In her research she utilizes critical race theory to examine how race, (im)migration, and carcerality shape the educational access, retention, and experiences of People of Color. In her real life, she likes to run, (learn to) box, and spend time with her favorite person, Ika.