DEI Speakers

Minda Harts is a TEDx speaker and a bestselling author. She delivers dynamic keynotes on topics that range from leadership development to managing diverse talent to to improving racial equity in the workplace.

As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III serves as an ambassador of his parent’s legacy of nonviolent social change.

Bakari Sellers is a two-time NY Times best-selling Author, Civil Rights Activist, Attorney, Entrepreneur, Legislator, and overall Prolific voice of the Culture.

Lori is a speaker, researcher and change agent in creating inclusive organizations and curating effective teams. She is cofounder of the new Stanford VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab.

Janice Bryant Howroyd, the first African American woman to found a multi-billion dollar company, launched the ActOne Group in Los Angeles, California in 1978. She is currently #39 on Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women.

Chad E. Foster is a motivational keynote speaker, sales/finance leader, and inspirational change agent who works at Red Hat/IBM. He was the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development.

Wema Hoover is a global diversity, equity and inclusion leader, executive coach, and culture curator. Previously, she led global DEI efforts for Google, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Bristol-Myers Squibb to help inform and guide corporate leadership.

Omar Johnson is a marketing innovator in the art of building world-class brands. As former CMO of Beats by Dre and VP of Marketing at Apple, Johnson has led all facets of marketing, ranging from brand development to global digital marketing.

Guard, Minnesota Lynx, LGBTQ+

NASA engineer Jose Hernandez wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. He was selected to begin training as a mission specialist as part of the 2004 astronaut candidate class.

Lenora Billings-Harris, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) is a CPAE (Council of Peers Award of Excellence) Hall of Fame speaker and an internationally recognized authority in the areas of inclusion, diversity, and bias.

Liz Kleinrock (she/her) is a Korean-American, queer, Jewish, antibias and antiracist educator, speaker, facilitator, and author for both children and adults.

Dethra Giles has been striving to make DEI part of the workforce DNA for over two decades. She believes every organization has what it needs for optimum performance; her job is to make what is already present work in a way it had not worked before.

Blake Leeper is an eight-time Paralympic Track and Field international medalist, world record holder, and three-time American record holder. Over 400 meters, he’s the fastest adaptive runner in Team USA History and the only one to ever do it in under 45 seconds. From Kingsport, Tennessee, Blake was born without legs from a congenital birth defect and did not start racing until he was twenty years old. It was at the first-ever race that he caught the attention of the Director of High Performance for U.S. Paralympics Track and Field, who convinced his parents to let their son move into the Olympic Training Center and go all-in on running. He put aside pursuits of a medical career and left the University of Tennessee to embark on a journey that no one could have ever envisioned for a young man born without legs. He began to run and run fast, all over the world. Leeper’s medal collection now includes one gold, six silver, and one bronze. Over his career, he hopes to win more medals than any Paralympic athlete in track and field history and, perhaps more importantly, to become the first adaptive American track and field athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games. A dynamic, fire and brimstone-like TEDx talk in The Netherlands put Leeper on the inspirational speaker map, where his signature big energy and effusive passion were on full display. Now a seasoned veteran of the speaking stage, Leeper regularly shares his inspiring story with audiences across the country and around the world. Often, when faced with adversity, we ask, “Why? Blake flips the script and challenges his audiences to disempower adversity and overcome it by asking, “Why not me?” An aspiring actor who is based in LA, Blake regularly participates in commercial and small TV/movie roles. Blake is an active supporter of the Wiggle Your Toes Foundation and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Elizabeth is speaker, author, and entrepreneur. Her TED Talk recounts her story of finding opportunity and stability in the U.S., while examining flaws in narratives that simplify and idealize the immigrant experience.

Gregory Robinson is the former director of the 10 billion dollar James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). With 100 times more power than its predecessor, the Hubble Telescope, Webb is considered one of NASA’s greatest achievements of the 21st century.

Kim Blue has earned a reputation as a trusted adviser who is able to motivate leaders to embrace growth, change, diversity, and inclusion to improve themselves and their organizations. Currently, she is the Chief People Officer at OpenExchange, Inc.

Dr. McElhaney is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership (EGAL) and is on the faculty at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.