Raised between the US, Latin America and Africa, Alicia has secured over $120 million for social enterprises globally -- the majority of which are enterprises created and managed by underrepresented founders. In 2022 she relaunched her consulting practice, DeLia Impact Advisors, to leverage her expertise and networks to advance social entrepreneurship and impact investing worldwide.

As an advocate, speaker and thought leader, Alicia frequently hosts global convenings around themes of trust based philanthropy, restorative investing, racial equity investing, international economic development and gender lens investing. Alicia resides between tropical San Salvador, El Salvadar and rural NJ. She lives with her husband, two children and rescue dog, Nelly.

Anna Malaika Tubbs is a two-time New York Times bestselling author who grew up across continents. This global upbringing shaped her mission: bringing people together through celebrating difference and centering erased voices.

Anna uses an intersectional lens to amplify women of color. She holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge and a Bachelor's from Stanford. Her superpower? Translating complex academic research into compelling narratives anyone can understand.

Her debut, The Three Mothers, spotlighted the overlooked mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. Featured in Oprah Daily, TIME, and NPR, it achieved critical acclaim worldwide. Her TED Talk "How Moms Shape the World" has 2 million views.

Anna's a sought-after global speaker addressing race and gender. She's signed a two-book deal, developing a novel, children's book series, and screen projects—ensuring erased stories reach every platform.

Anu Gupta is an award-winning author, educator, lawyer, scientist, and mindfulness teacher. His bestselling book, Breaking Bias(2024), features a foreword from the Dalai Lama and offers mindfulness-based tools to heal from bias, trauma, and disconnection. 

As a queer immigrant of color, he came to the work of Breaking Bias® after almost ending his life due to lifelong experiences with racism, homophobia, and Islamophobia. The realization that bias is learned and can be unlearned helped lead him out of that dark point. 

Anu has lived, studied, and worked globally, which informs his unique perspective on how different forms of biases use the same neural mechanism to create inequities and inefficiencies in different organizational and cultural contexts. Anu founded BE MORE in 2014.

Art Chang is an award-winning creative problem solver with 40 years of experience applying insights to advancing equity in underserved communities.

Art is lecturer, M.S. Technology Management at Columbia University and Board Chair at CACF, the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. He's building his 13th startup, Allie, a platform for micro organizations and businesses. Before that, he ran for Mayor of New York City in the 2021 Democratic primary.

Art's experience spans 20+ industries and government agencies, including JPMorgan Chase, Pivotal Software, and NYC and NYS governments. He's been a technology innovator in enterprise software, media, e-commerce, fashion, finance, mobile  and healthcare.

Art received his MBA in Finance from NYU and BA in Women's Studies from Yale while working full-time. He's lived in Brooklyn since 1985 where he cooks, plays tennis, takes photos and designs.

Arundhati Roy is the author of The God of Small Things, which won the Booker Prize in 1997, and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, which has been translated into more than forty languages and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2017. Roy has also published several works of nonfiction including The End of Imagination, The Doctor and the Saint, My Seditious Heart, and Azadi. In 2023, she was awarded the prestigious European Essay Prize for lifetime achievement, and in 2024 the PEN Pinter Prize for telling “urgent stories of injustice with wit and beauty.” She lives in Delhi.

Courtney Montague is the face behind the Kelsey Montague Art Brand. As the Operations Director, Courtney is responsible for managing all of the company’s clients, PR, launching new initiatives and managing on-site logistics.

After studying literature in Paris, Courtney spent 6 years in International Development based in New Zealand and traveling worldwide. She then moved to NYC to attend NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship.

After her time at NYU Courtney worked for boutique digital agency HD Made in NYC where she managed digital projects for clients such as Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), VH1 Save the Music Foundation, Coalition for the Homeless and Women for Women.

When Courtney is not being mom and running operations for the business, she’s hanging out with the best doodle in town – Boomer.

Kate Otto Chebly is an American internal medicine physician working in Caracas, Venezuela and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She is the author of the book Everyday Ambassador: Make a Difference by Connecting in a Disconnected World.

Felicia Walker

Skincare Educator, Beauty Journalist, Author

Felicia Walker redefines what it means to be a skincare and beauty expert. A celebrated skincare educator, beauty journalist and content creator, she's spent her career elevating the beauty industry with her innovative approaches to skincare. 

With nearly two decades of experience reshaping how consumers approach their skincare routines, Felicia is a pioneer in merging science with skincare and has revolutionized how people achieve radiant, glowing skin through simple, effective solutions. 

Felicia is the creator of the newly launched YOUR GLOW GUIDE: a personalized skincare companion to help you stay organized, log skincare products, monitor results, and achieve the skin of your dreams with ease. With space for journaling, product tracking, reminders, and staying organized, YOUR GLOW GUIDE is the blueprint your skincare routine has been missing. 

Jodi-Ann Burey (she/her) is a writer and critic who works at the intersections of race, culture and health equity. She is the author of Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work. Jodi-Ann was born in Jamaica, lives in Seattle, and will always call New York City home.

Muscogee Nation artist, Joy Harjo, served three terms as the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate from 2019-2022—the first Native American to hold the position. Author of eleven books of poetry, including Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light, two memoirs (Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior), and editor of three anthologies of Native literature including When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through. Harjo also performs. As a musician, she's produced seven award-winning albums including I Pray for My Enemies, blending poetry with jazz and Indigenous sounds. Her twelfth poetry collection Cloud Runner drops Fall 2026, alongside Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age and a new album co-produced with esperanza spalding. She lives on the Muscogee Nation Reservation in Oklahoma—writing, playing, and singing the survival of her people into the future.

Kleaver Cruz is a lover of words and their meanings across languages. They were born and raised between The Bronx and Washington Heights in New York City with their twin brother and close knit Dominican family. Kleaver is a Black queer creative, writer and educator who has presented and conducted work across the African Diaspora in places like Brazil, South Africa and The Netherlands, among other countries.

Kleaver is the creator of The Black Joy Project, a digital and real-world affirmation that Black joy is resistance. Kleaver is also a member of We Are All Dominican–A U.S.-based grassroots collective that works in solidarity with movements led by Dominicans of Haitian descent fighting for inclusion and citizenship rights in the Dominican Republic. Kleaver believes in the power of words as the means to write the stories that did not exist when they needed them the most.

Kutloano Skosana is a South African creative entrepreneur and the Founder & Host of Shades and Layers podcast—a global storytelling platform amplifying Black women entrepreneurs' voices. From co-founding Black Rage Productions to creating a podcast that began as a love letter to invisible Black women in Copenhagen, Kutloano champions diverse definitions of entrepreneurial success beyond Silicon Valley.

From Mastercard and Unilever to the University of Hong Kong and Georgetown, Magogodi (👉🏾Ma-ho-do-di) helps folks Lead with Love through transformational training on Belonging, Burnout & Storytelling.

She’s spoken worldwide, sharing the stage with Nobel Peace Prize laureates like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel and fellow writers like Arundhati Roy, Nikki Giovanni and Joy Harjo.

An NYU and Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum, she’s the host of podcast, Madame Speaker Says and author of Innards; The New York Times: “a gut punch of a collection...that astonishes.” A Guardian 2023 Best Book of The Year. 

Meet Maki Makhene, MSW

Maki is a clinically trained social worker who earned her MSW from Rutgers University in her 60s — fulfilling a lifelong dream that was illegal when she was a girl in apartheid South Africa. After putting three daughters through college as a single mom, Maki finally pursued the education she'd always dreamed of for herself.

Her career spans leadership roles in sport, insurance and newspaper publishing in South Africa. At Sowetan, Black South Africa's leading daily paper, Maki broke ground in an industry that rarely welcomed women like her. Today, when she's not changing lives through her social work practice, you'll find Maki perfecting her legendary cooking or carefully arranging fresh flowers — both acts of love that nourish everyone around her.

Poet Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 7, 1943. Although she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, she and her sister returned to Knoxville each summer to visit their grandparents. Nikki graduated with honors in history from her grandfather's alma mater, Fisk University. Since 1987, she has been on the faculty at Virginia Tech, where she is a University Distinguished Professor. 

Author, owner of Book Circle Capital, reviewer, and promoter of South African literature. 

Sisonke Msimang is the author of two transformative books and the columnist behind Ms Understanding, a bi-weekly Guardian column that interrogates race and racism with sharp clarity and unflinching honesty. As a long-term collaborator with the Centre for Stories, she heads up their storytelling practice and offers bespoke training and coaching for leaders committed to mastering the craft of storytelling as a tool for power and influence.

Vanessa Priya Daniel is an author, organizer, and award-winning leader for racial and gender justice. A queer, biracial (Sri Lankan and white) feminist and mother of two, she supports social justice leaders and philanthropy to build grassroots power for a multiracial, feminist democracy. Known for inspiring audiences through fire and humor, her book is Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning.

Featured as one of the "Top 100 Most Powerful Players in Philanthropy" & The Chronicle of Philanthropy as an "Influencer" changing the nonprofit world, Vanessa has written for The New York Times and other publications.

She led Groundswell Fund for 17 years, moving over $100M to women of color-led grassroots organizing through decision-making structures featuring supermajorities of women of color leaders. She offers keynotes, workshops, and strategic advising and serves on several boards..

Yvonne Biggins is a serial entrepreneur who's founded three successful start-ups, one of which raised over £1 million. Her 20-year career spans senior roles at multinational companies, including Apple. The first decade of Yvonne's journey focused on marketing for technology companies following a brief teaching career, while the last decade has been dedicated to wellbeing, where she co-founded two wellbeing-focused ventures. She developed an innovative wellbeing product that was later acquired by Babylon Health and has published several research papers in the field.

Yvonne holds a Master's in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management. An ICF-certified coach and MBSR Mindfulness teacher, she mentors entrepreneurs through the GoLondon Young Entrepreneurs Start Up Programme.