Jolynn is Kapor Capital’s Chief of Staff. She is passionate about creating generational wealth for underserved communities and fostering an ecosystem of diverse investors, emerging fund managers and startup founders. An entrepreneur herself, Jolynn started her own record label at age 20 and built a career in music business, recruitment and public relations. She holds a BA in Development Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, with a minor in Education.

Previous to Kapor Capital, Jolynn was the Director of LatinSF- the economic development arm of the city of San Francisco focused on investment between the Latin American region and the city. Under her tenure, Jolynn secured $25.5 Million in investment, generated 350+ jobs and advised over 100 Latino/Latin American startup founders in venture fundraising, go-to-market strategy and US market intelligence. In 2019 she was featured as Telemundo’s Hispanic Heritage Community Business leader.

Jolynn is a proud San Francisco native of Ecuadorian descent. In her free time, she’s enjoying live music, eating Bolon, or taking off with her daughter to a nature getaway

Jonathan Jayes-Green, Vice President of Programs at Marguerite Casey Foundation. (They/Them) is an organizer, orator, strategist and believer. They are the former National Latinx Outreach Director for the Elizabeth Warren for President Campaign, where they focused on connecting the movement and the campaign in service of building big, structural change for Latinx and immigrant communities.

Jonathan is also the Co-Founder and former Founding Director of the UndocuBlack Network (UBN), a multigenerational network of Black undocumented immigrants organizing their own communities and building power. UBN was built at the critical intersection of immigration and racial justice focusing on organizing, deportation defense, advocacy, wellness, and storytelling. Jonathan has also served in the Office of the Governor of Maryland as the liaison to the Caribbean and Latinx communities and worked on statewide campaigns and ballot measures like the Dream Act and marriage equality.

Jonathan received an Associate’s from Montgomery College (MD) and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Goucher College. They have been the recipient of the Haas Jr. Outstanding LGBT Leadership on Immigration Award, American Immigration Council’s Immigrant Youth Achievement Award, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Inspira Award and the Frederick Douglass 200 List by the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center.

Arianna Davis is the Senior Director of Editorial & Strategy at Oprah Daily, where she oversees the digital editorial direction across the brand. She is also the author of What Would Frida Do? A Guide to Living Boldly, a self-help book inspired by the life of icon Frida Kahlo. Additionally, Arianna is an adjunct professor at New York University’s Digital & Print Media Master’s program. Throughout her career, on-camera she has interviewed everyone from Hillary Clinton to Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, and the cast of Bridgerton, and she has served as an entertainment expert for outlets like Access Hollywood, Tamron Hall, VH1, TLC, and more. She lives in New York City with her puppy, Leo, and is currently working on a novel.

Jasmine Fuego is a southern raised,Oakland based coach, event producer, and musical artist. Jasmine is the Founder of the Healin’ Myself online intensive which supports women in crushing their impostor syndrome, finding their inner confidence, and creating a plan to live their #bestlives now.

You can find Jasmine performing or speaking at festivals and conferences across the country, producing unique events, or blowing up your Instagram feed with her iconic #MorningMeditations. She created her LLC in 2014 which has worked with brands such as AFROPUNK, She the People, and the Black Joy Parade. In addition to her online work, Jasmine is currently producing a pilot for a children’s television show about mindfulness & confidence.

Mario X. Carrasco is Co-Founder and Principal of ThinkNow, an award-winning, technology-driven cultural insights agency based in Burbank, CA. The agency enables companies and government agencies to discover the cultural drivers that influence consumer decisions.

Under his co-leadership, ThinkNow has successfully launched several innovative initiatives, including ThinkNow ConneKt™, a MarTech segmentation solution focused on the multicultural market and DigaYGane.com, one of the largest and most representative Hispanic online panels in the industry.

During his nine-year tenure at ThinkNow, Carrasco’s expert knowledge of multicultural consumers and his passion for unveiling the story behind the numbers is evident in his editorial contributions to Forbes, eMarketer, Quirk’s Magazine, Online MR Magazine, and MediaPost.

Carrasco has been recognized for his accomplishments. Under his co-leadership, ThinkNow was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in 2018 and 2019. Carrasco was named the Next Gen Market Research (NGMR) 2018 Industry Change Agent of the Year and, in 2017, received the SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He is also an SBA Emerging Leader Recipient. Carrasco is a Stanford Latino Entrepreneur Institute Graduate and USC Marshall School of Business alum.

Sergio A. Gonzalez is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Education Studies Program at Claremont Graduate University. He just received his M.A. in Applied Gender Studies on the way to the Ph.D. He earned his M.Ed. in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from the University of Southern California (USC) and his B.A. in Communication Studies from Manhattanville College. Sergio writes from the core of who he is: joto, Latinx, feminist, hijo de a first-generation Madre and Mexican Immigrant Padre, jotería scholar, activist. As Lorde (2007) states, “I HAVE COME to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood” (p. 40). For this reason, his connection to Jotería (queerness) derives from his experiences navigating the Ivory Tower and trying to understand where he can exist within that space. As a scholar/activist, he focuses on co-creating counternarratives of queer Latinx/a/o individuals within higher education. Currently, he is a Research Associate at the Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) and the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice (SDPI) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His research interests focus on Jotería pedagogy, social justice, undocumented/Dacamented students, and Queer Latinx students in higher education.

I am a higher education promoter to first generation students empowering them through culturally relevant student service practices. Queer Chicano scholar, first generation college bound student. Chicana/o Studies prof. When I am not working with students, I enjoy dancing Banda and learning about financial literacy.

Dr. Carmen Rojas (she/her) is the president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation. Prior to joining Marguerite Casey Foundation, Dr. Carmen Rojas was the co-founder and former CEO of The Workers Lab, an innovation lab that invests in entrepreneurs, community organizers, and government leaders to create replicable and revenue-generating solutions that improve conditions for low-wage workers. For more than 20 years, Carmen has worked with foundations, financial institutions, and nonprofits to improve the lives of working people across the United States.

Prior to building The Workers Lab, Carmen was the Acting Director of Collective Impact at Living Cities. She supported 22 of the largest foundations and financial institutions in the world in order to improve economic opportunities for low-income people–supporting projects in the fields of economic and workforce development, energy efficiency, and asset building. From 2008 to 2011, Carmen was the Director of Strategic Programs at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, where she oversaw the foundation’s Green Access and Civic Engagement programs. Alongside her work at the foundation, Carmen also taught in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to this, Carmen was the Coordinator of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s Task Force on African American Out-Migration to address African American displacement from the city.

Carmen currently sits on the boards of the General Service Foundation, Certification Associates, Blue Ridge Labs, Beyond12, Children’s Defense Fund, San Francisco Federal Reserve’s Community Advisory Counciland the AstraZeneca US Health Equity Advisory Council.

Carmen holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Fulbright Scholar in 2007.

Lori Castillo Martinez is the Senior Vice President of Global Equality and Employee Relations at Salesforce — currently serving as the interim Chief Equality Officer. In her role she focuses on building a culture of belonging while driving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across the entire employee lifecycle. As the leader of Global Employee Relations she addresses experience, retention, and accountability through fair, trusted, and inclusive practices. In her position she works to accelerate workplace equality by integrating talent and DEI processes, guided by the voices of employees. She is also the co-chair of the Salesforce’s Racial Equality and Justice Task Force, committed to driving racial equity in the company and the world.

Previously, Lori spent nearly a decade at a Fortune 5 healthcare company where she created the first enterprise-wide strategy, processes and systems for key legal, ethics, and regulatory risk areas. She also led the company’s Latinx Employee Resource group — helping to advocate and create community for women and people of color. Before that, she spent 11 years at an industry leading semiconductor company working in HR and compliance. Throughout her career, she has made a tangible difference in practice and culture in both the life sciences and tech sectors.

Luis Martinez, MSOL is an Afro-Latino from Honduras and raised in Brooklyn, New York with an M.B.A. in Organizational Leadership, Luis is an advocate, networker and ecosystem builder for Blacks, Latinos in tech & innovation throughout the United States and abroad.

A Former Pro Basketball Player and U.S. Navy Veteran, currently he is the Director for Startup Grind San Diego. Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting 3,500,000 entrepreneurs in over 400 cities.

Luis felt the need to create a movement aimed at creating the super ecosystem for Black & Latino Founders, Venture Capitalist & Angel Investors. The lack of access and information about tech and innovation that flows to these underrepresented communities is causing these communities to be behind in Math, Science & current Technology.

Also, there is a disconnect between minorities that have been successful in tech & innovation and those back in communities in which they came from. By creating “We Tha Plug”, Luis is connecting businesses, organizations, and individuals, leveraging their resources and talents to build a stronger Black & Latino tech and innovation community through collective efforts.

An attorney and racial-justice advocate, Jessica advances Free Press’ mission of building media and technology that serve truth and justice. A former Lifeline recipient, Jessica has helped fend off grave Trump-administration cuts to the program, which subsidizes phone-and-internet access for low-income people. She was part of the legal team that overturned a Trump-FCC decision blessing runaway media consolidation. Jessica is a leader in the fight to push tech companies to crack down on hate and disinformation. She co-founded Change the Terms, a coalition of more than 60 civil- and digital-rights groups that works to disrupt online hate, helped lead the Stop Hate for Profit campaign’s Facebook advertising boycott and sits on the Real Facebook Oversight Board. Previously, Jessica was the executive vice president and general counsel at the National Hispanic Media Coalition, where she led the policy shop and coordinated campaigns against racist and xenophobic media programming. Prior to that she was a staff attorney and teaching fellow at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Public Representation. Jessica has testified before Congress on multiple occasions on issues including Net Neutrality, media-ownership diversity and affordable internet access.

Lucy Flores is a former Nevada State Assemblywoman, former candidate for Congress, lawyer, and media entrepreneur.

The daughter of immigrants, Lucy was raised in a low-income community by a single father. In 2010 Lucy, along with three Latina colleagues, became the first Latinas elected to the Nevada legislature in the history of the state.

After leaving elected office, Lucy served as Vice President of Public Affairs at mitú where she successfully developed and executed social impact and political content strategies. After mitú, Lucy went on to launch her own digital media brand, Luz Collective, producing digital content and events with a focus on the enormously expanding and influential Latina community.

Lucy continues to be a political leader having served on the DNC Unity Commission, the board of Our Revolution, and currently serves on the board of the national Women’s March. She also provides political commentary on national media outlets and speaks frequently throughout the country on both political matters and digital media strategies. Lucy continues to advocate heavily for women’s rights, immigration reform, and criminal justice reform.

Betty Francisco is an entrepreneur, business executive, attorney and community leader. She is known as a powerful convener and changemaker, unapologetic about creating visibility for Latinx and POC leaders. The Boston Business Journal named Betty as one of the 2020 Power 50 – Extraordinary Year Extraordinary People, and in 2018, Boston Magazine named her as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston. Betty is currently the CEO of Boston Impact Initiative, a social impact investment fund that invests to close the racial wealth divide in Eastern Massachusetts. She is the co-founder of Amplify Latinx, a social venture that is building Latinx economic and political power by significantly increasing Latino civic engagement, economic opportunity and leadership representation in Massachusetts. Betty is also co-founder of the Investors of Color Network, a consortium of Black and Latinx accredited investors working to close the racial funding gap in startup capital.

She was the General Counsel at Compass Working Capital where she oversaw the organization’s legal affairs, compliance, and risk management. Before that, she served as EVP, General Counsel for Sports Club/LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY, a fitness brand acquired by Equinox Fitness. Betty began her legal career as a Senior Business Law Associate at Edwards Wildman (now Locke Lord) representing start-ups, corporations and investors. She serves on the Boards of Directors of The Boston Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Beth Israel Lahey Health, and Roxbury Community College. Betty obtained her J.D. and M.B.A. from Northeastern University, and her B.A. in History from Bard College. You can learn more about Betty at http://bettyfrancisco.com.

A community builder and connector at heart, Ana Flores is the founder and CEO of #WeAllGrow Latina, the first network of Latina influencers founded in 2010 with a mission to elevate the voices and stories of Latinas through the power of community. #WeAllGrow has evolved into the go-to community for Latinas driving social and economic impact. The company’s annual #WeAllGrow Summit was named by Forbes.com as one of “19 Conferences Every Creative Should Attend.”

A sought-out speaker and thought leader in the areas of representation, Latinx identity, building community and gender equality, Ana has been recognized by the United Nations Women’s L.A. chapter as a Champion of Change and by People en Español as one of “Las 25 Mujeres Más Poderosas.” In 2016 she was invited to speak on two occasions at the White House, including the United States of Women Summit on gender diversity and women empowerment issues. Ana also sits on NALIP’s Diverse Women in Media Initiative Advisory Committee.

Born in Houston, Texas, raised in El Salvador and a graduate of the University of Florida, Ana is now settled in Los Angeles, where she lives with her daughter.

Christian strongly believes in the promise of America, and that begins first with California’s estimated 15 million Latinos. As the Vice President of Policy at LCF, Christian leads the foundation’s efforts to advance policy solutions that will improve the lives and political power of California’s Latinos.

Christian served as the Senior Governance Specialist at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) in Washington, D.C. During his tenure, he worked with the nation’s top political, corporate, and nonprofit leaders to develop the next generation of Latino leaders in policy. He also managed CHCI’s transition towards the use of impact metrics and led two successful strategic planning sessions with CHCI’s leadership. Prior to CHCI, Christian worked at the Aspen Institute for the College Excellence Program. He helped administer the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Competition honoring the top performing community colleges in the nation. Dedicated to the advancement of Latino communities, Christian began his career as an AmeriCorps member where he served as a college counselor at Cristo Rey New York High School in East Harlem, New York.

Christian received a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from UC Berkeley and holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown University in International Politics. In his free time, Christian enjoys cooking, watching Dodgers baseball, and traveling.

Yadira is an advocate for Latinx civic empowerment and has worked tirelessly throughout her career to advance the rights and collective power of the Latinx community, as a proud daughter of immigrants. She co-founded and is currently serving as Co-Executive Director of Poder Latinx, a civic and social justice organization dedicated to building Latinx political power.

Previously, Yadira served as the Development Director for Mi Familia Vota, where she helped raise over $20 million and expanded the number of strategic partnerships with major organizations and allies to increase year-round civic participation within the Latinx community. She was also proud to support the Fast for Families Campaign for immigration reform during her time in the Immigration Department at the SEIU. Yadira is proud to serve on the boards of three nonprofits, Dialogue on Diversity and Family Values @ Work Action, and Western Resource Advisors as well as sitting on the managing committee for Democracy Partners, a firm committed to fighting for progressive values and a truly democracy society for all human beings.

Yadira has been selected as a 40 under 40 honoree by the Leadership Center for Excellence and an Up and Coming Practitioner Finalist by the Professional Women in Advocacy Conference. Most recently, she was selected as an American Express Ngen Fellow and a 40 under 40 honoree by the American Association of Political Consultants. Yadira earned a bachelor’s degree from UC, Santa Barbara, and a master’s degree from the George Washington University. You can follow her work at @YadiraSanchezPL and @PoderLatinx.

Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón is the Director of Research and Civic Engagement for the Division of Social Sciences at UCLA. Dr. Ramón is a social psychologist who has worked on social justice issues related to equity and access in higher education and the entertainment industry for over fifteen years. She is the co-principal investigator of the Hollywood Advancement Project and manages its graduate research team. She is the co-author (with Dr. Darnell Hunt) of the annual UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report series that the project produces. She is also the managing editor of LA Social Science, an e-forum that showcases the vibrant and cutting-edge knowledge generated within the Division of Social Sciences at UCLA. She co-edited a book (with Dr. Hunt) titled Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities (New York University Press, 2010). She is the inaugural Latino Film Institute Scholar. Dr. Ramón has a B.A. in psychology from Stanford, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

As Executive Director, Ben is responsible for the overall design, strategic vision, and execution of all domestic and global endeavors for the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, NALIP. Ben serves as the year-round industry liaison for executives and content creators in the Latino Lens Incubator programs, working with the top agencies in the world to curate and match these creators with key industry professionals who can accelerate their careers forward. Ben oversees the NALIP Media Summit, Diverse Women in Media Initiative, the Latino Media Fest and Latino Lens programs. He strives towards uniting his passion for inclusive storytelling and his roots in film production in his role as Executive Producer of the Latino Lens Incubator Series. Recently, Ben’s role as an Executive Producer has led to him consulting for the major Hollywood studios and networks as well as the partnership of NALIP with Goldhouse for the #Latinxgoldopen, to amplify Latino-centric projects for financial success on opening weekend. An advocate and champion of #Diversity, #Inclusion, and #Belonging, Ben has been quoted on domestic and global publications and outlets, such as Variety and Slate France. In addition, Ben has delivered keynotes and participated in speaking engagements in the world’s leading festivals and markets including Telluride, Outfest, LA Brazilian Film Fest, New Filmmakers from Spain, DocsDF, DGCine in the Dominican Republic, SANFIC Co-Prod Market in Chile, MIP Cancún, Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Tribeca, FICG & Morelia, and European Film Market in Berlin.

Alicia Menendez anchors MSNBC’s “American Voices with Alicia Menendez” Saturday and Sunday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. ET. She is also the author of “The Likeability Trap” and host of the “Latina to Latina” podcast.

Menendez joined MSNBC in October 2019. Prior to joining the network, Menendez served as a correspondent on “Amanpour & Company” on PBS and formerly hosted a nightly news and pop culture show on Fusion called “Alicia Menendez Tonight.” Her reporting and interviews have appeared on ABC News, Bustle, FusionTV, PBS and Vice News.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Menendez has been called “Ms. Millennial” by The Washington Post, “journalism’s new gladiator” by Elle, and a “content queen” by Marie Claire.

From marching 76-straight miles, to hunger striking for 26 days, Dr. César A. Cruz has dedicated his life to justice. Born in México, he migrated to the U.S. with a single mother. Dr. Cruz is from Jalisco, México of Huichol/Mexica roots. César grew up in South Central L.A. and moved to study at UC Berkeley earning a B.A.-History. A 27-year vet in education, he most recently served as the Dean at Arise High in Oakland.

César is the co-founder the Homies Empowerment Program now in its 12th year. The grassroots organization is evolving to become a community-based school for youth who have been given up on. Their mission is to help youth channel the healer, warrior, scholar and hustler within on their journey towards individual and community emancipation.

Dr. Cruz is also the author of “Revenge of The Illegal Alien,” and “Bang for Freedom.” He was the first Mexican immigrant male to receive his Doctorate in Ed. Leadership (Ed.L.D.) at Harvard University. Dr. Cruz is considered one of America’s 30 education thought leaders by the Christian Science Monitor. However, he is proudest to be a husband, and father of three children: Olin, Amaru and Quetzali.

Clayton Davis is Variety’s Film Awards Editor. When not just predicting the upcoming Oscars or Emmys, he is one of the hosts of the “Variety Awards Circuit Podcast” and the video web series, “The Take.” He’s been an awards, film and television analyst and critic for more than 15 years, appearing on various publications and multimedia platforms including co-hosting the Oscars Pre-Show on ABC. Davis also founded and is president of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association, and is a board and active member of the Critics Choice Association. In addition, he’s also a member of BAFTA, AAFCA, HCA and NYFCO.

Gabriel Ramirez is a Queer Afro-Latinx poet, activist, and teaching artist. Gabriel has received fellowships from The Conversation Literary Arts Festival, Palm Beach Poetry Festival, The Watering Hole, CantoMundo, Miami Book Fair, and a participant of the Callaloo Writers Workshop. Gabriel has performed on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre, United Nations, Lincoln Center, Apollo Theatre, and other venues & universities around the nation. Gabriel was featured in Huffington Post, VIBE Magazine, Blavity, Upworthy, The Flama, and Remezcla. You can find his work in various spaces, including Youtube, and in publications like The Volta, Split This Rock, Winter Tangerine, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, VINYL, and in Bettering American Poetry Anthology (Bettering Books 2017), What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump (Northwestern University Press 2019) and The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT (Haymarket Press 2020). Follow Gabriel @RamirezPoet and RamirezPoet.com.

Ivette Rodriguez is the founder and president of AEM, a 24 year old Marketing and Public Relations agency specializing in campaigns for a diverse slate of film, television and documentaries from major studio films to independent and award winning titles in both English and Spanish.

Prior to starting her own firm, Ivette held positions at Arista Records, Columbia TriStar and Live Entertainment.

Ivette has dedicated much of her career fighting for fair and just representation, equity, gender parity for the Latino/a community and has lent her expertise and advisory to many National Latino organizations and initiatives including NHMC, CHCI, NCAA, Voto Latino, and The National American Latino museum.

In early 2020 as a result of report after report of what appeared to be an active erasure of Latinos in Hollywood, Ivette co-founded LA Collab with Mitu co-founder Beatriz Acevedo with the support of the City of Los Angeles to accelerate access for Latinos in entertainment and double representation in front and behind the camera.

Ivette is an executive member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts & Sciences’ Marketing & PR branch and co-chair of the Aperture 2025 diversity and inclusion committee.

Dr. Michael McAfee became President and CEO of PolicyLink in 2018, seven years after becoming the inaugural director of the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink. His results-driven leadership, depth of knowledge about building and sustaining an organization, and devotion to serving the nation’s most underserved populations made him the obvious choice to lead the 20-year-old PolicyLink as Angela Glover Blackwelltransitioned to founder in residence.

During his time at PolicyLink, Michael has played a leadership role in securing Promise Neighborhoods as a permanent federal program, led efforts to improve outcomes for more than 300,000 children, and facilitated the investment of billions of dollars in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. He is the catalyst for a new and growing body of work — corporate racial equity — which includes the first comprehensive tool to guide private-sector companies in assessing and actively promoting equity in every aspect of their company’s value chain. Michael carries forward the legacy to realize the promise of equity — just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

Michael also understands the urgency of now. The nation is rapidly becoming a majority people of color. In cities and towns across the country many people are embracing the concept of equity and intent on achieving racial and economic equity for all. At the same time, as the word is used more, the concept of equity is in danger of becoming diluted, just another catchphrase of civil society, leaving the true promise of racial and economic inclusion unrealized.  Michael is determined that this will not happen.

Michael is ensuring equity does not become watered down. He is turning movement leaders’ eyes toward redesigning the “rules of the game” so that all people in America — particularly those who face the burdens of structural racism — participate in a just society, live in a healthy community of opportunity, and prosper in an equitable economy. He is achieving this by enacting liberating public policies targeted to the 100 millionpeople living in or near poverty, the majority of whom are people of color.

His legacy will lie in his efforts to stand in transformative solidarity with others, collectively charting a course to Win on Equity. He is building a well-planned, well-coordinated, well-executed, and sustained campaign that frees America’s democracy from the oppressive blend of patriarchy, capitalism, and racism.

Before joining PolicyLink, Michael served as senior community planning and development representative in the Chicago Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While at HUD, he managed a $450 million housing, community, and economic development portfolio where he partnered with local leaders to create more than 3,000 units of affordable housing and 5,000 jobs and to ensure access to social services for more than 200,000 families. Before his public service, Michael served as the director of community leadership for The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and Affiliated Trusts. He was instrumental in positioning the organization to raise $121 million from individual donors, an accomplishment recognized by the Chronicle of Philanthropy for receiving more contributions than any community foundation in America. Michael’s commitment to the needs of people of color and those living in poverty extends to his work on the boards of Bridge Housing, Independent Sector, North Lawndale Employment Network, One Degree, and Sweet Beginnings, LLC, each of which is committed to creating opportunity for those among the 100 million economically insecure people in America.

Previously, Michael served in the United States Army and as Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He earned his Doctor of Education in human and organizational learning from George Washington University and completed Harvard University’s Executive Program in Public Management.

He is a sought-after speaker on community and economic development, leadership, organizational development, racial equity, and youth development. His articles have appeared in Academic Pediatrics, Cascade, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; Community Development Innovation Review, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; Harvard Education Press, New York Times, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Voices in Urban Education, published by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.

Michael lives in the Oakland Hills with his wife, Maja, and their two Brussels Griffons (Gigi and Griff). He is an avid off-road hiker and practitioner of yoga.

Julissa Arce is a writer, social justice activist, and nationally best-selling author of My (Underground) American Dream and Someone Like Me. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, CNN, CNBC, Vogue and other outlets. Her forthcoming book You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation is powerful dual polemic and manifesto against the myth that assimilation leads to happiness and belonging for immigrants in America. Instead, she calls for a celebration of our uniqueness, our origins, our heritage, and the beauty of the differences that actually make us Americans.

Prior to becoming an author and immigrant rights activist, she built a successful career on Wall Street working for Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, and had seemingly achieved the American Dream—yet she was not part of what legally defined American.

Julissa immigrated to America from Mexico at the age of 11 and was undocumented for almost 15 years, some of them spent rising to prominence on Wall Street. In order to help other young people in similar circumstances, Julissa co-founded the Ascend Educational Fund (AEF). AEF is a college scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students in New York City, regardless of their ethnicity, national original or immigration status.

Julissa was named one of People en Español’s 25 Most Powerful Women of 2017 and 2018’s Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles. She is a leading voice in the fight for social justice, immigrant rights and education equality. She is a contributor to Crooked Media, CNBC, TIME, and other outlets. Her first book is currently being developed as a television series with producer and actor America Ferrera.

She serves on the board of directors of the National Immigration Law Center. She was officially sworn in as an American citizen in August of 2014. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two cats, Nikko and Pancho.

Liz Rebecca Alarcón is a social entrepreneur and Latinamericanist. She’s the Founder & Executive Director of Pulso, a non-profit media startup building trusted relationships with more than 1 million Latinos across the United States through culturally relevant news, history and culture content to then leverage those relationships for civic participation. Liz’s writing and commentary on Latin America and Latinos in the US has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Miami Herald & El Nuevo Herald, among others. She is a former Fulbright Scholar to Costa Rica and an alum of the University of Miami and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Maria Aceves (she/her/they/them) is an Investment Operations Analyst with Capital Group, one of the world’s largest investment Management organization.  As a non-binary latinx they have been an advocate within the company to bring awareness to the unique challenges that the Latinx LGBTQIA+  community faces.  Actively involved in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion communities within Capital Group’s corporate structure.

Maria Salamanca is a Partner at Unshackled Ventures, a fund that fills a unique space in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, funding teams with immigrant founders at the earliest stage of pre-seed and seed. Maria joined the fund in 2015, during her time she has been involved in 50+ investments and has evaluated more than 6,000 deals. In 2018, she was first Latina named Forbes 30 Under 30 for Venture Capital and Business Insider’s Under 30 Rising Stars. Her support for the Latinx community also won her the the 2017 California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Shark of Year.

Previous to joining Unshackled, Maria worked at FWD.us an immigration lobbying group founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Ron Conway, Reid Hoffman and other tech leaders. She attended UC Berkeley where she studied Government and Legal Studies

Adeyemi (“Ade”) is co-founder & Managing Partner at Base10 Partners. Before Base10, Ade had a successful career as an entrepreneur and investor.

Ade was the co-founder and CEO of Tuenti (The “Spanish Facebook” which was acquired by Telefonica in 2010 for $100M), co-founder and CEO of Identified (“AI for HR” acquired by Workday in 2014) and a founding investor of Cabify (the largest ridesharing company in Latin America currently valued at over $1B). While at Workday, Ade led launch to Workday Ventures, the first fund focused on Applied AI for Enterprise Software and was VP of Technology Strategy.

Ade is originally from Spain and half Nigerian. He holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He also holds a J.D. in Law and a M.S in Economics from Icade University in Spain and studied a certificate on Machine Learning at Stanford.

Ade volunteers with CODE2040 who tries to create access, awareness and opportunities for gifted Black and Latin engineering talent.