GatherVerse
Women’s AI Summit 2026
September 15-17, 22-24 & 29-30, 2026 (8:00 AM PST each day)
Meet the speakers
Aiswarya Venkitesh: Bio
Aiswarya Venkitesh is a Principal Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft Canada, where she leads AI and cloud transformation across an 81-account enterprise territory. Ranked #4 globally in IT & Tech by Favikon with 55,000+ LinkedIn followers, she is a Forbes Technology Council contributor, author of The AI Revenue Playbook newsletter, and the forthcoming book The Agentic AI Playbook (Packt Publishing). Her work focuses on making agentic AI systems responsible, accessible, and production-ready for enterprises of all sizes — championing ethical AI deployment, practical education for technical communities, and inclusive access to the tools shaping the future of work.
Christopher Lafayette: Bio
Christopher Lafayette, an influential emergent technologist, speaker, and humanitarian is making remarkable strides in the metaverse, AI, medtech and applied sciences. Through eco-convergence, He’s currently studying 270+ emerging technologies.
His contributions and influence extend from Silicon Valley to the international stage, as he passionately advocates for a more equitable culture in technology.
He strongly adheres to the principle that everyone, irrespective of color or gender, should have the opportunity to build the fabric of technology.
GatherVerse, a brainchild of Christopher Lafayette, is an inspired response to an age of unprecedented technological growth.
He established Gatherverse to merge technology and human experience, ensuring every digital innovation reflects and caters to the aspirations of its users. He also founded HoloPractice, merging healthcare and technology. Along with Co-Founding Aug Lab, intersecting life sciences with AI and immersive technologies.
Christopher is a highly sought-after brand developer renowned for his exceptional ability to elevate brands to new heights placing specific emphasis on design principles, emerging technologies and humane intersections.
His advisory and keynote speaking roles span prestigious organizations, including Microsoft, Google, Meta, NFL, Mayo Clinic, Merlin Entertainments, CES, Cornell Tech, Juniper Networks, The Linux Foundation, European Commission, Nikko Hotels, Linux Foundation, Cisco, Microsoft, Salesforce, The WICT Network, NCFL, ATD, Summerfest, COABE, IME West, Verizon, Stanford University, Berkeley Haas, Tübingen University, Cal Poly, Lethbridge College, Duke University, San Jose College of Engineering, and UCLA, among others.
Additionally, his influence has reached renowned chefs, musicians, and hundreds of startups.
Lafayette consistently advocates for the integration of humanity in technological progress.
Dr Robin Rise: Bio
🌿 Dr Robin Rise — Psychologist | Executive Coach | Futurist | Author | Founder of Woman Optimized
Dr Robin Rise is a clinical psychologist, executive coach, and visionary entrepreneur devoted to advancing human consciousness, performance, and wellbeing in an age of accelerating technology. With a PhD in Clinical Psychology and deep expertise in neuroscience, organizational behavior, and performance psychology, Dr Robin bridges the worlds of science and spirituality to help leaders, organizations, and women evolve consciously and thrive sustainably.
As founder of Woman Optimized, a humane-tech platform designed by women for women, she champions data sovereignty, feminine intelligence, and the decentralization of power through human-centric innovation. Her work integrates evidence-based neuroscience with divine feminine wisdom to unlock human potential and reimagine success for the next evolution of humanity.
Dr Robin’s upcoming book, Wire Monkey, explores the paradox of modern connection — how technology shapes attachment, empathy, and love in the digital age. Blending neuroscience, psychology, and soulful storytelling, it examines our collective longing for authentic human warmth in a wired world. Through vivid insights and lived experience, Wire Monkey invites readers to reclaim their humanity while embracing the future.
Her coaching and advisory practice supports CEOs, visionaries, and changemakers in navigating complexity, burnout, and transformation with clarity and compassion. Inspired by thought leaders such as Andrew Huberman, Brené Brown, Joe Dispenza, and Peter Diamandis, she remains devoted to integrity, healthspan, and collective flourishing.
Her mission: to empower the evolution of humanity — through love, consciousness, and technology aligned with human values.
Mae Woods: Bio
I am a Principal Software Developer at OXB (Oxford Biomedica) in the UK and a computational biologist with over a decade of experience bridging mathematical theory, software engineering, and translational healthcare. Throughout my career spanning institutions across the UK and the US—including Baylor College of Medicine, University College London and Public Health England—I have pioneered data-driven tools, single-cell pipelines, and predictive algorithms to advance cell and gene therapies.
I hold a Ph.D. in Biomechanics and an MRes from University College London, as well as a BSc in Mathematics from King’s College London. Beyond my technical achievements—which have led to being featured in NVIDIA’s Women Who CUDA showcase—I am a passionate advocate for educational outreach and diversity in STEM. I regularly dedicate time to inspiring the next generation of scientists through initiatives like I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here!, The Access Project, and local science fairs, while actively mentoring early-career researchers and driving change for women in science.
Programming languages shouldn’t stand in the way of scientific breakthroughs. In this talk, I will demonstrate how modern AI tools can seamlessly bridge the divide between software ecosystems by porting clinical data tools across languages. Drawing from real-world experience, I will walk through the process of translating an R package—originally developed to analyze single-cell data from a clinical trial—into an accessible Python package. By automating and refining code translation, AI empowers scientists and students with diverse technical backgrounds to collaborate effortlessly, breaking down language barriers and accelerating democratic, cross-disciplinary research.
Afia Frempong: Bio
Afia Frempong is a global organizational leader, strategist, and faith-driven communicator whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, transformation, and human-centered change.
She currently serves as the Chief of Staff in Government Affairs at Siemens Healthineers, where she helps drive strategic alignment, executive engagement, and cross-functional transformation across global teams. In this role, Afia is contributing to the development of an AI-enabled initiative designed to help teams detect, prioritize, and interpret complex geopolitical signals with greater speed, trust, and business relevance.
Her perspective on artificial intelligence is rooted in a core leadership conviction: technology should not replace human judgment, empathy, context, or accountability. Instead, AI should strengthen the way people lead, collaborate, and make decisions in moments of complexity.
Afia brings a unique voice to the conversation as both a corporate leader and a storyteller. Her work spans global health technology, organizational effectiveness, leadership communications, and community transformation. She is passionate about building systems that are not only efficient, but trusted; not only intelligent, but humane.
As a Ghanaian-born leader, minister, mentor, and founder of AFYA LLC, Afia is deeply committed to helping people and organizations lead with clarity, resilience, purpose, and compassion. She believes the future of AI will not be shaped by technology alone, but by the leaders courageous enough to keep humanity at the center.
Erica Rooney: Bio
A room full of accomplished women once asked AI to picture them. Founders. Executives. Women at the top of their fields. It returned the same image, over and over: a middle-aged white man in glasses. Not one of their faces.
That was not a glitch. It was a mirror.
That moment is exactly why Erica Anderson Rooney does what she does. Because the gaps women have always faced, in pay, in confidence, in leadership, in who gets a seat at the table, are not going away in the age of AI. They are getting faster. AI does not create inequality. It scales whatever the system was already built to produce. And right now, women are not in enough of the rooms where the future is being decided.
Erica knows these gaps intimately. She spent over 15 years in human resources, rising all the way to Chief People Officer, while raising two kids and confronting every one of these obstacles head on. She has lived the glass ceilings and the sticky floors. She wrote the book on them, literally, and then she wrote the next one about what comes after.
She is not here to tell you to have it all, do it all, and be it all. She is here to show you how to break through the barriers, rise above the limiting beliefs and self-imposed ceilings, and dismantle the systemic biases that hold women back. And she is here to make sure you do not get left behind by the biggest shift of our working lives.
That is why she founded HER Collective: a community for ambitious women who are done waiting for permission. A place to rise into the rooms where decisions get made, and to stay there.
When she is not building HER Collective, Erica is the author of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors and The AI Gap: Women, AI, and the Next Great Leap Forward. She hosts the Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors podcast, co-hosts AI Voice or Victim, and serves as the North Carolina Regional State Lead for Women Applying AI. She has been recognized as CHRO of the Year, an ICON Top Chief People Officer, and a 2024 Inclusive Leader Award winner. Her work has taken her to stages like SXSW and CHIEF, and has been featured in Forbes, SUCCESS Magazine, and CBS.
But the titles are not the point. The mission is. Erica is on a fierce, unapologetic mission to empower, uplift, and amplify women everywhere, and to answer the question driving everything she builds: how do we unleash the full potential of women, get them into positions of power and influence, and keep them there?
Fawn Damitio: Bio
Fawn Damitio has spent over 25 years untangling messy change at major technology companies — Meta, Juniper, Cisco — and startups. Her throughline is a conviction the industry keeps relearning: technology transformation is a people problem, and the key to navigating it is connecting people to the problems and strategies that actually matter. Most recently, she led AI Enablement for Meta’s Developer Success team, building the programs, processes, and human connection that moved a large organization to embrace AI with genuine enthusiasm rather than fear. A committed advocate for women in tech, she founded Meta’s Women@AI Infra group and coached director-and-above leaders through Juniper’s Women’s Sponsorship program. She believes the future of AI will be built — or broken — on how well we bring people along.
Nivetha Sridhar: Bio
Nivetha is a Senior Manager at Accenture Strategy & Consulting, where she advises Systemically Important Financial Institutions and EU Majors on AI strategy, governance, and risk management. With over a decade of experience guiding CXOs through board-level business case development and the delivery of large-scale Responsible AI transformation programs, she sits at the intersection of regulatory rigor and enterprise-scale AI enablement.
Nivetha’s expertise spans AI governance, AI model risk management, operational resilience, third-party risk, and regulatory audit, built through direct engagement with global regulators including the PRA, EBA, US Fed, APRA, MAS, and CBUAE. She helps banks interpret and operationalize emerging standards such as SR 26-2, the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001 AIMS, and MAS Veritas — translating complex regulatory text into actionable governance frameworks for Retail, Commercial, Corporate, Wholesale, SME, and Investment Banking businesses.
A strong advocate of what she terms “human-championed governance,” Nivetha focuses on how organizations can responsibly scale agentic AI — systems capable of autonomous decision-making and action — without compromising accountability, explainability, or regulatory compliance. Her work addresses the next frontier of AI risk: extending traditional model risk and Three Lines of Defence frameworks to govern multi-agent systems, dynamic third-party AI supply chains, and the unique oversight challenges agentic architectures pose to existing control inventories.
She holds the CFA and FRM charters, is GARP RAI (Risk and AI) certified, is pursuing CRAGE (Responsible AI Governance & Ethics by EC Council) certification, and earned her MBA from IIM Indore as a Gold Medalist. Beyond client delivery, she has played a key role in scaling Accenture’s India-based Strategy & Consulting Risk function and upskilling its consulting workforce in AI governance capabilities.
Charis Loveland: Bio
Charis Loveland is the founder and CEO of Charisma Intelligence, a consulting firm helping organizations apply AI with sound judgment, ethics, and emotional intelligence. She previously led AI/ML strategy and the EQ program at Amazon, founded Rue La La’s data science team, and launched a global crowdsourcing platform for Azure Machine Learning at Microsoft. Charis teaches AI and product leadership through General Assembly and has contributed to data science programs with MIT, Columbia, and Dartmouth. She serves on Harvard’s Committee on AI and Human Flourishing and is known for translating complex technology into practical guidance that helps leaders use AI responsibly without outsourcing human judgment.
Sobhitha Neelanath: Bio
Sobhitha is an accomplished industry leader with diverse technology and domain experience of more than two decades across companies like Wipro, McAfee, EMC and Dell.In her current role at Salesforce, she heads the quality engineering team for Agentforce Service India.She is an IEEE WIE Industry Expert and serves on the Advisory Board for GHCI. She contributes actively to multiple technical and women specific communities and mentoring initiatives to enable and uplift women professionals plus students. As a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, she has delivered multiple sessions for global audiences.A recipient of the Salesforce Women Of Impact Award 2026 , Quality Leadership Award 2026 and Top 50 Asia Women Tech Leader 2025, her contributions have been recognised by platforms like SWE, WIC & Herkey. Her Mantra for life is “Explore, Believe, Achieve”.
Thalia Diedrick: Bio
Thalía Diedrick is the Vice President of Marketing at GoTu, the largest dental workforce platform in the U.S. She leads brand, growth, and go-to-market strategy for a company redefining flexibility, career longevity, and access within dentistry. Passionate about the intersection of wellbeing, AI, and meaningful work, Thalía focuses on building systems that empower professionals to thrive while driving sustainable business growth.
Gayatri Tavva: Bio
Gayatri Tavva is a Senior Data Engineer at Amazon and an international speaker with over 16 years of experience in data engineering and AI-driven systems. Her work focuses on building trustworthy, scalable AI through strong data foundations, governance, and responsible system design. She is passionate about advancing responsible AI and empowering more women to lead and shape the future of technology.
Bei Wang: Bio
Bei Wang 王蓓 is a Chinese-born educator, researcher, and digital media expert based in the Netherlands. After studying at Fudan University (Shanghai) and the University of Amsterdam, she held leadership positions at Greenpeace International and RNW Media, where she established its digital China department. While currently pursuing PhD research on digital transformation in China and the Global South, she is a lecturer in Creative Business at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, where she developed the Digital China minor. She serves on the Board of the Pan Asian Collective and has been a jury member of the Mobius Advertising Awards, keynote speaker at Advertising Week Europe and the European Women in Tech Conference, and was named to the 2023 Strong Women in IT Global Edition.
Varsha Agarwal: Bio
Varsha Agarwal is a technology and AI transformation leader with over 20 years of experience building enterprise product, platform, and data systems, and translating emerging technology into real business outcomes.
Her corporate career spans 13+ in VMware (now Broadcom) and 7+ years at Publicis Sapient, where she rose from consultant to director, leading end-to-end digital transformations across SaaS platforms, customer engagement, and data systems for global clients — and driving the adoption of AI across the systems.
Today she is Co-Founder and CEO of BodhIQ, an AI transformation practice, and serves as Karnataka State Vice President of WICCI’s AI/ML Council, where she champions AI adoption and capability building. She mentors early-stage ventures through the Attvaran accelerator (Collaboration initiative of IIT-Delhi, IIT-Madras, University College London) and the Kerala Startup Mission.
Varsha is a frequent speaker across technology, leadership, and innovation forums, including IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, Adobe Symposium, NASSCOM, Rakuten Technology Conference, Red Hat, Women Who Code, and the Women in Tech Global Conference. She holds executive certifications from ISB, Kellogg, IIM Bangalore, and Stanford.
Leigh Felton: Bio
Leigh Felton is the former Head of Responsible AI Enablement at Microsoft, where she helped build and scale the operational governance infrastructure that enabled Responsible AI adoption across engineering, legal, policy, compliance, communications, and executive leadership functions. She co-developed the global Responsible AI Champs program, a distributed governance enablement model that embedded accountability and adoption practices across enterprise operations.
She is the creator of the Co-Adaptive Anthropotechnical Environments (CAAE) framework, which examines governance requirements for AI systems operating at organizational and environmental scale, and the author of the I Could’ve Been CEO Yesterday trilogy.
Leigh currently serves as President and Board Chair of the AI for Job Security Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) focused on workforce readiness, organizational adaptation, and human-centered AI governance. Her work spans enterprise transformation, executive alignment, governance maturity, and the operational structures that determine whether organizations successfully translate AI strategy into sustainable practice.
Malvika Jethmalani: Bio
Malvika Jethmalani is a 3x CHRO, Certified Executive Coach, and the Founder of Atvis Group – a human capital advisory firm driven by the core belief that to win in the marketplace, businesses must first win in the workplace. Learn more at www.atvisgroup.com.
Malvika’s career has spanned over 15 years, and she possesses experience in the consulting, manufacturing, CPG, healthcare technology, and mobile gaming industries. She has led global, distributed People teams across multiple geographies and supported up to 5,000 employees in 50 countries. Her expertise includes HR strategy, talent management, talent acquisition, performance management, and organizational effectiveness.
Malvika adopts a data-oriented approach to solving people challenges such as improving employee engagement, reducing turnover, developing leaders, transforming cultures, and developing talent strategies that power sustainable and profitable growth. Having served as Interim CFO and Interim COO, and given her extensive M&A (buy and sell side) and turnaround experience, she brings exceptional business acumen to her HR work. Today, she serves as a fractional CHRO, executive coach, and advisor to CEOs and Boards by translating AI through the human, governance, and leadership lens.
Malvika earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Andrea Marshall Webb: Bio
Andrea Marshall Webb is a Managing Director at Credera, where she leads AI Strategy & Value Realisation for public sector organisations, helping governments and public institutions harness artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to create lasting public value. Her work sits at the intersection of AI, leadership, governance, organisational transformation and inclusion, exploring how technology can strengthen communities, expand opportunity and improve people’s lives.
Andrea is the UK Governor for the Global Council for Responsible AI, has participated in the United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance, and serves on UK advisory boards focused on AI, national strategy, education, digital inclusion and responsible innovation. She also leads initiatives to advance disability inclusion and women in technology, championing more inclusive approaches to AI leadership, innovation and the future of work.
As an American, British and Hungarian national, Andrea brings a genuinely international perspective to conversations about AI, leadership and the future of society. Drawing on experience working across governments, industry, academia and civil society, she explores one central question: how can we ensure emerging technologies are shaped by human values and serve humanity? Her work focuses on turning ambitious ideas into practical action, helping leaders build the trust, capability and conditions needed for AI to create meaningful value for the people and communities it serves
Joi Schweitzer: Bio
Joi Schweitzer is a Boeing 787 airline pilot, keynote speaker, leadership consultant, and founder of Ride High™. She began her aviation career as a flight attendant before becoming a professional pilot, building a career in one of the world’s most technologically advanced and high-pressure industries. Today, Joi translates lessons from the flight deck into practical tools for leadership, communication, self-mastery, and decision-making.
Her work explores what becomes even more important as technology advances: human judgment, clarity, adaptability, ethics, and the courage to use your voice. She is passionate about helping women and emerging leaders remain distinctly human while confidently navigating an AI-driven future.
Beth Miller: Bio
Beth Miller is the founding director of Herr Venture for Change at the University of Dayton and founder/CEO of Wagtown. Her work explores what happens when AI is used not just to make people faster, but to expand human capability. She develops frameworks such as Before the Prompt and Signal Spotting to strengthen curiosity, pattern recognition, judgment and cognitive ambition—helping people notice more, connect more, and turn possibility into action.
Arjita Sethi: Bio
Arjita Sethi is a non-technical, self-taught, seasoned entrepreneur, Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at San Francisco State University, and co-Founder and Educator in Residence at Build with AI Club, an AI-native learning system for people whose economic ground is being rewritten by AI, which she leads alongside co-Founder Anshul Dhawan. She has been building education systems for twenty years, from a vocational school in India that served nearly a hundred thousand students to New Founder School, a seven-figure accelerator for non-technical founders. Her 2017 AI startup was an XPRIZE semi-finalist. She serves on the advisory boards of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Harvard Business Review, is an early investor in SpaceX and Stripe, and is a Claude Community Ambassador for Anthropic in San Francisco. A mother, immigrant founder, and certified Ayurvedic health teacher, she believes discernment, not tool knowledge, is the defining literacy of the AI age.
Dominique Aubry: Bio
Dominique Aubry is an innovation strategist, ecosystem builder, and CEO of Beacon Insights Group, where she helps universities, cities, corporations, and developers turn ambitious innovation visions into sustainable strategies, programs, partnerships, and infrastructure.
With more than 20 years of experience spanning government, higher education, corporate innovation, entrepreneurship, and social enterprise, Dominique specializes in bringing structure to complex initiatives. She works with leaders and diverse stakeholder groups to clarify priorities,
build alignment, design actionable strategies, and create the organizational and partnership infrastructure needed to move from vision to execution.
Her leadership experience includes serving as Managing Director of Impact Hub Philadelphia, where she led a $1 million operation supporting more than 125 social-impact founders; Managing Director of Teach For America Miami-Dade; and AI Hub Manager for the Ethical & Applied AI Hub at
Fordham University. She has also worked within the City of Philadelphia and has trained more than 1,000 entrepreneurs globally.
Her work spans innovation hub and ecosystem strategy, program design, community and partnership development, venture and capital strategy,
customer discovery, business modeling, technology commercialization, and early-stage venture development. She has helped raise more than $2 million
for early-stage ventures.
Across her work, Dominique is known for connecting strategy with execution, helping stakeholders make informed decisions, establish shared
priorities, and build practical paths forward.
Beth Zukowsky: Bio
Beth Zukowsky is a former enterprise CTO and AI transformation leader, now co-founder of AI Between Worlds. After leading large scale global technology and AI adoption efforts inside complex organizations, she focuses on the work most AI initiatives skip. Alignment. Her work helps leaders align how people use AI before scaling systems, so automation reduces operational load instead of creating risk, confusion, or AI debt. Through AI Between Worlds, Beth works with founders and leadership teams to design calm, ethical, and durable AI practices that hold up under real business pressure. Her perspective bridges executive decision making, hands on systems design, and the human realities that ultimately determine whether AI succeeds or quietly fails.
Aleya Harris: Bio
Aleya Harris is the spark for your spark™. A trailblazer in purpose-driven story crafting, she is a marketing executive and ex-Google Vendor Partner who brings her dynamic experience to her role as the CEO of The Evolution Collective Inc. Aleya is a TEDx speaker, the founder and lead trainer of Spark the Stage ™, and the host of the award-winning Flourishing Entrepreneur Podcast. She is also the bestselling author of Spark the Stage: Master the Art of Professional Speaking and Authentic Storytelling to Captivate, Inspire, and Transform Your Audience. Her unique approach as a Strategic Storytelling Consultant has revolutionized the way businesses communicate, transforming workplace cultures and market positioning. With her dynamic energy and proven methodologies, Aleya guides clients to unlock their potential, articulate their radically authentic stories, and achieve unparalleled success.
Jofia Jose Prakash: Bio
Jofia Jose Prakash is an enterprise AI architect, technology leader, Director at Humanity + AI, and an Advisory Board Member of the American Council of Ethical AI. She has more than 15 years of experience in technology, including over seven years leading the design and delivery of enterprise AI systems from concept to production. Her work spans responsible AI, AI governance, agentic systems, retrieval-augmented generation, machine learning platforms, and enterprise AI adoption.
Beyond her professional work, Jofia is committed to mentoring women and emerging technologists, advancing AI literacy, and helping communities participate more meaningfully in the future of artificial intelligence. Through her nonprofit and advisory work, she supports ethical, inclusive, and human-centered AI adoption.
Dr. Sally Good: Bio
Dr. Sally Good is a Founder, business owner, psychologist, coach for AI beginners and author of four books on Amazon: Preventing Dementia using Gentle Lifestyle Changes, Gratitude Journal with Prompts, The Prayer Journal with Prompts, and the Community Daily Gratitude Journey contributor. Her soon to be published book is “Stop Dating Losers. How to Reset Your Relational Radar.” Her speaking topics include God, You, and AI, Somatic Solutions for Stress, The Neuroscience of Gratitude, & CALM is the New Superpower. Twenty years of being a scientist/practitioner have led her to numerous conclusions, the most important of which is that dementia is, in many cases, a PREVENTABLE illness. And lifelong learning is a big part of aging well.
Paula Reina: Bio
Paula Reina has been in the AI and Distributed Ledger Technology, photonics, BCI, Quantum Computing and Holographic industries for over a 15 years. She is the founder of Audiochain, a music blockchain platform for music rights, AI music anti-spoofing/cloning and AI training music licensing, and BCI music governance. She is also the founder of Proliphiq, a 360 service company for areas such as tokenization, AI fraud detection and deep-fake tools, Distributed Ledger tech, NFTs, Telemetry, Complience and Regulations for BCI, AI ethical practices, Biometrics and more.
Paula grew up in San San Francisco, CA and has participated is over 40+ speaking engagements including NFT.NYC, Breath AI Conference Las Vegas, MIAMI NFT, Expoverse LA, The North American Bitcoin Conference, Quantum Miami, AI Breathe Conference, and was one of the first females in the industry to start Blockchain for Business workshops in San Francisco, CA and Miami from 2015-2019. She has been named one of the TOP 100 Women of The Future (Blockchain Sector) by Global Village Publishing, Inc on there new global book to recognize women innovators in web3 and the Metaverse.
Paula is also the former Director of Blockchain Business Development & Token Listings for The United States and Latin America for TRON DAO and BitTorrent and is a Board Member for BITS NFT. She has collaborated with crypto exchanges and participated in crypto listings with Binance.US, Kraken, EToro, and many more.
Paula has 20+ years in the music industry and has had the opportunity to work at Def Jam Records, Interscope Records, Universal Music Group Velvet Rhythm Ent., and The Musicland Group.
Lenara Aliyeva: Bio
Lenara Aliyeva is an international AI Strategy and Enterprise Transformation Leader with over 18 years of experience driving tech innovation and AI value realization across global sectors. Currently serving as the Executive Advisor and Head of AI & Data Strategy and Operating Model (EMEA) at Thoughtworks, she acts as a strategic bridge between deep technical engineering and C-suite leadership. Lenara specializes in scaling generative AI, MLOps, and cloud data platforms safely and effectively. An alumna of The Wharton School (MBA) and the University of Oxford (Postgraduate Diploma in AI for Business), she is a dedicated advocate for human-centric tech operating models and responsible AI adoption.
Rosario B Casas: Bio
Award-winning Latinapreneur | TEDx Speaker | OBO100 innovator 2020 | Mujer Legendaria Ford 2019 | Founder Institute Highest Ranked Mentor Latam 2022 | Cofounder BCPartners Tech, XR Americas & Brooklyn2Bogota Digital Transformation Community
- Rosario is an award-winning Latinapreneur with more than 9 years of practical experience in data and technology platforms and over 25 years in executive roles. Co-founder at XR Americas, BCPartners Tech, Brooklyn2Bogota Digital Transformation Community, and Co-founding Member at Dreamers & Doers. Former CEO of the Senseta Group.Has been a member of the Advisory Board of SXSW Pitch, Rally Prize Indiana, XR In Learning, The World Innovation Network – TWIN Tech, Rutgers University – Big Data, and a member of the Board of Directors of Artizen Premium VR Grant – now a DAO.
- Business Mentor at Founder Institute, Women.NYC, WE NYC, Harvard Ventures, Mujeres Tech at the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota, Colombia, Tandon School of Engineering at NYU, and Mentor Makers of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. Evaluator at Rally Innovation Prize and pitch coach at FATE – Financial and Accounting Technology Expo.
- TEDx speaker, NAB show speaker, Singularity University Speaker, MenteX Faculty, “Legendary Women 2019” by Ford Motor Company, and 100 Innovators 2020 by OBO Movement. Founder Institute Highest Ranked Mentor Latam 2022. Included in the books “Hispanic Stars Rising: The New Face of Power” by Claudia Romo Edelman, “The Future Built by Women – Creating a Brighter Future Through Tech and Innovation” by Brooke Markevicius, and “Behind Her Vision: Women of New York City” by Ashika Kalra and Jade Chen.
Dr Eloho Ifinedo: Bio
Eloho Ifinedo, Ph.D. recently transitioned from teaching into Product Development at the New Brunswick Community College, Canada. She is deeply committed to research across the fields of education, educational technology, instructional design, human–computer interaction, and social innovation.
Dr. Ifinedo has led several educational technology research initiatives focused on learner experience, digital learning platforms, STEAM mentorship, and technology engagement among seniors. In addition to her academic work, she has managed impactful social innovation projects addressing systemic anti-Black racism and supporting immigrant entrepreneurs within the province of New Brunswick.
She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Technology and a master’s degree in Mobile Technology and Business from University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Beyond her academic and professional pursuits, Dr. Ifinedo values family, community engagement, and continuous personal development.
Lynn Gitau: Bio
Lynn Gitau is the Communications Director at GatherVerse. Based in Silicon Savannah, she leads communications and supports programming across GatherVerse’s global conversations on emerging technology and humanity. As an event organizer and content developer, through speaker outreach, messaging, and live moderation, Lynn helps bring thousands together, from enthusiasts to experts, creating clear through-lines between innovation and real-world impact. She has a growing history of interviewing executives, government officials, entrepreneurs, technologists, and educators.
A technologist, national speaker, and moderator, Lynn is often invited to speak on AI, immersive technology, digital culture, and how fast-moving tools are changing work, learning, health, and public trust across Africa. She brings an academic foundation with a Bachelor’s in Mass Communications, paired with hands-on experience across new media, content marketing, and growth marketing.
Her work centers on humanity-centered innovation and sustainability, with a focus on making complex topics accessible and useful to the communities and partners GatherVerse serves.
Salvation Chigereoka: Bio
I believe that technology is most powerful when it serves humanity.
With a foundation in Chemistry Education and a career built at the intersection of Product Operations and Community Growth, I have dedicated my work to building systems that empower others. Whether I am streamlining startup operations, planning sprints or advocating for digital inclusion, my goal is always to create a meaningful, human-centric, and lasting impact.
Community Leadership: As a Chapter Lead for She Code Africa Lagos, volunteering since 2022 and a contributor to Web3 communities (SheFi, Web3Ladies, Bankless Africa, ETHAccra), I am committed to digital inclusion, onboarding, and actively creating programs to support women and girls (STEM) in tech.
Global Speaker: I am a frequent voice at events across the Web2 and Web3 ecosystems, leading dialogues on the intersection of Community Impact, Education, STEM, Product Operations, Startup, Leadership, AI, Mental Health, and Tech for Good.
Beyond White Screens:
I am a firm believer in kindness, empathy, good attitude, character, hard work, faith, and optimism. When I’m not holding standups or community townhall, you’ll find me writing poetry, short stories, getting lost in a book, exploring nature, and learning a new language.
Dr. Muhsinah Morris: Bio
Short Bio:
Metaversity Director. XR/AI Expert. Innovator. Chemist. Educator. Speaker. Autism Advocate. Author. Wife. Mom.
Full Bio:
Meet the first ever Metaversity Director, Dr. Muhsinah Lateefah Morris. She is Director of Metaverse Programs and Professor of the Practice at Morehouse College. Dr. Morris is a proud member of the inaugural HBCU IP Futures Collaborative: Powered by Michelson IP and inaugural HBCU Faculty Fellow for the Propel Center funded by Southern Company and Apple.
A B.S. chemistry graduate of the HBCU Clark Atlanta University, Dr. Morris earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomolecular Chemistry from Emory University—known as the Harvard of the South. Since Spring 2021, she has been leading Morehouse’s pioneering Metaversity project.
She’s a multi-award-winning educator and technologist recognized for her innovative leadership, including:
Teaching Excellence Award (Morehouse College)
Emerging Technology & Innovation (CBRE)
First Place – T-Mobile Unconventional Innovation
Educator of the Year 2022 (STEM Women Atlanta)
2023 Top 100 Women of the Future
2023 Atlanta Technology Professional Innovator of the Year
2024 XR Women Global Trailblazer of the Year
2024 Woman in Tech-Woman of the Year
2025 Leading Woman in AI by ASU-GSV
Residing in McDonough, GA with her husband and five sons—including one with autism—Dr. Morris advocates deeply for the autism community as part of the Community Advisory Council and Advocacy Ambassadors for Autism Speaks.
Affectionately known as Dr. M.O.M. (Molder of Minds), she is a VR pioneer transforming learning on a global scale. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and serves on the XR Advisory Council for the XR Association and the Futurist Council for Jobs for the Future (JFF).
Dr. Morris currently trains pre-service and in-service educators to create and optimize their own institutional Metaverse Cultures. Through her company, Metaverse United, LLC,
she empowers people to find where they belong in the embodiment of the internet—the Metaverse.
🔗 Learn more at UniteTheMetaverse.com.
Marcia Drake: Bio
Marcia Drake is a leader in data innovation and a visionary powerhouse who harnesses the power of data to uplift humanity, heal systems, and create a sustainable future. With a remarkable career spanning roles from data scientist to CEO of Ecoheart, Marcia’s expertise in healthcare, sustainability, and public safety is unparalleled.
Her influence extends globally, from solving crimes at Microsoft using AI to launching one of the first data quality programs for statewide courts in the U.S. Marcia’s commitment to empowering women in tech and data fields has also earned her a spot on CDO Magazine’s “Global Data Power Women List 2023” and the title of “Women in Data, Data Leader of the Year 2022.”
Marcia’s impact on public safety, healthcare, and sustainability is profound. She has pioneered data quality programs, assisted in the development of an early notification system, risk models, and outcome assessments for traffic collisions, and implemented innovative data-driven approaches that have earned her numerous awards from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Center for Statistical Analysis. Her work has led to a significant reduction in fatal and injury collisions and improved national security, showcasing her ability to use data to save lives and enhance systems.
Sadio Jonas: Bio
Sadio Jonas is a 20-year technology veteran, Fractional AI Executive, AI innovator, and the Founder and Director of AI Strategy at AI Vantage Consulting—the first consulting firm built natively for the Generative AI era. She is also the Founder of The Academy for AI Strategy, focused on AI skills for visionary leadership in the “AI Augmented Era.”
She partners with organizations and their leadership teams to navigate enterprise-wide AI transformation with clarity, confidence, and a distinctly human-centered approach.
Jeanette Okwu: Bio
Jeanette is the Founder and CEO of BEYONDinfluence, an innovative influence marketing agency dedicated to advancing clients’ marketing strategies in the digital era.
A journalist by training with ears on the ground and a sharp eye, she has a deep understanding and a passion for all things social. She has tapped emerging social technologies for small and Fortune 500 companies globally in the automotive, luxury, and consumer product industries. She spent 20 years in the US and extensive time in China, gaining knowledge and expertise of emerging trends in the social media and AI space.
Recognized for her contributions, she has been named one of the TOP 50 Global Influencer Marketing Professionals and Global Top 30 Female Leaders in the Creator Economy by Hello Partner. Currently serving as Chairwoman of the German Influencer Marketing Council (BVIM e.V.) and Co-Founder of the European Influencer Marketing Association (EIMA), she initiated the AI Ethics Action Hub in Berlin. She also hosts the popular German podcast “Influence By Design”.
Shweta Bajaj: Bio
Shweta Bajaj is the Founder & CEO of TheProImpact and NeeSh AI, an AI Co-founder platform helping businesses automate operations, build stronger brands, and accelerate growth. She is a TEDx Speaker, Author, Podcaster, and Corporate AI & Leadership Trainer with over 10 years of experience, having conducted 800+ workshops and trained 5,000+ professionals. Shweta specializes in Agentic AI, workplace productivity, executive presence, leadership development, personal branding, and business transformation. She works with organizations, educational institutions, and entrepreneurs to leverage AI responsibly while keeping human potential at the center of innovation.
Dr. Cecilia Dones: Bio
Dr. Cecilia Dones is a scholar-practitioner, educator, and founder of 3 Standard Deviations, an advisory firm focused on artificial intelligence, data, and organizational decision-making. Her work explores how emerging technologies reshape trust, human agency, communication, and the signals organizations use to determine what matters. She teaches graduate courses at Columbia University and NYU and holds a doctorate focused on interpersonal trust in digital environments. Drawing on research and leadership experience at L’Oréal and LVMH, Cecilia helps leaders build human-centered approaches to AI adoption that strengthen judgment, accountability, and meaningful participation. Her work asks how people can actively shape the technologies that increasingly shape them.
Niharika Pramod Pujari: Bio
I am a Lead Software Engineer with more than nine years of experience building scalable, accessible, and human-centered digital products. My work focuses on frontend architecture, AI-assisted software development, cloud systems, and integrating accessibility into everyday engineering practices. I have published research through ACM and IEEE and have spoken at technology, AI, and accessibility events worldwide. I am passionate about helping teams use emerging technologies responsibly and ensuring that innovation is inclusive, trustworthy, and usable by everyone.
Elhannah Adekeye: Bio
Elhannah Adekeye is a technology, cybersecurity, and AI ethics and governance expert, doctoral academic researcher, global speaker, and multi-award-winning author focused on advancing ethical and responsible innovation.
With global experience across leading organisations, she specialises in AI governance, cybersecurity risk, and responsible technology adoption. She also serves on industry advisory boards, providing strategic guidance on AI governance, digital transformation, and responsible innovation.
She is the Founder of Young Tech Geniuses, a global initiative that has equipped and inspired young people, particularly girls with coding, AI, and digital ethics skills. She is also the Founder of Shift+, a technology platform and publication focused on supporting individuals entering and progressing in tech.
Elhannah is a multi-award-winning leader whose work has been featured in international publications. She is the author of six books, including The Silent Networker, The Adventures of Obia series, introducing children to technology, and the AI Decoded series, exploring the intersection of AI, ethics, and human potential.
She is part of a United Nations NGO with consultative status, through which she engages in global policy and multi-stakeholder discourse with governments, institutions, and international organisations, contributing to conversations on technology accessibility, responsible innovation, and AI governance.
Lynn Dowdell: Bio
Lynn Dowdell is a Leadership & Experience Strategist, Speaker, and Founder of The Dowdell Experience and Vin Collective. She designs high-touch, human-centered experiences that transform how people connect, lead, and engage across business, community, and culture.
With over two decades of experience spanning leadership development, client engagement, and global service environments, Lynn brings a distinct and necessary lens to conversations at the intersection of human behavior and emerging technologies. Her work challenges conventional thinking by positioning empathy, trust, and emotional intelligence not as soft skills; but as critical infrastructure that shapes outcomes, systems, and influence.
As artificial intelligence increasingly defines how people are evaluated, served, and understood, Lynn’s voice centers what is often missing: the human experience. She advocates for a more intentional, human-centered approach to innovation; one that embeds lived perspective, trust, and accountability into the systems shaping modern life.
An award-winning leader and international speaker, Lynn is known for creating environments and conversations that do more than inform; they shift perspectives, challenge assumptions, and drive meaningful transformation.
Ramona Fellmy: Bio
Ramona Fellmy a global thought leader, a technology founder, SaaS strategist, and enterprise solutions leader at Dapp Detroit. Her work focuses on building low-code, AI-driven systems for complex, compliance-heavy industries, including insurance, financial services, and public sector organizations.
She operates at the intersection of InsurTech, FinTech, and ethical AI, helping organizations modernize legacy processes through scalable system design, intelligent automation, and responsible data practices. Her approach emphasizes practical implementation—ensuring that emerging technologies are not only effective, but also transparent, accessible, and aligned with real-world needs.
In parallel to her enterprise work, Ramona is actively exploring how AI and low-code tools can reshape education, particularly for neurodiverse and twice-exceptional (2e) learners. She is focused on how platforms within the Google ecosystem can be used to create more adaptive, personalized learning environments that better reflect how different minds process information.
Corinne Schillizzi: Bio
Corinne Schillizzi is a Product expert with 9 years of experience and 8 specifically matured on AI products. She co-founded Agendo, the AI care companion for women with endometriosis in 2026. In 2025 she contributed to HCAI by publishing a paper examining the critical importance of HCML approaches in system design on Springer Nature. In 2023 she published the book Human-Machine Learning: using feedback to design systems that serve humanity. Her experiences include working at Amazon AWS, DataRobot and NTTData.
Yunique Demann: Bio
Yunique Demann is the Founder of Yunique AI and one of the most distinctive voices in responsible AI governance today — working at the intersection of AI, privacy, security, and the law, with one consistent focus: the human consequences of AI decisions.
Named to the Empressa AI25 — a global initiative recognizing 25 women shaping the future of artificial intelligence — Yunique brings more than 20 years of experience in security, privacy, and governance, including 15 years leading large-scale transformation programs across complex, greenfield environments in the United States. She recently relocated to the United Kingdom, giving her rare fluency across both the US and UK regulatory landscapes at a time when AI legislation is moving fast on both sides of the Atlantic.
A former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Data Protection Officer (DPO), Yunique has sat in the rooms where AI decisions are made — and seen firsthand what happens when those decisions lack accountability. That experience is what drove her to build something practical, not theoretical.
She is the creator of the CLEAR™ Framework — a five-pillar governance methodology helping organizations move from reactive AI experimentation to defensible, accountable AI operations. CLEAR™ addresses the full lifecycle: creating visibility into shadow AI, aligning with privacy and legal obligations, equipping teams with approved tools and guidance, defining ownership and governance structures, and embedding the controls needed to operate AI responsibly. It is the methodology that powers everything Yunique does with clients, from AI risk assessments and defensibility reviews to full governance implementations.
She is also the creator of the VOICE™ Framework, a structured approach to AI literacy built around Visibility, Ownership, Impact, Critical Thinking, and Empowerment. VOICE™ is the foundation for her AI literacy workshops and is designed to help people at every level — from frontline employees to executive teams — understand not just how to use AI, but how to use it with intention, awareness, and accountability.
Yunique’s work spans industries and sectors, including healthcare, finance, legal, and technology — anywhere that AI is being adopted faster than the governance can keep up. She advises senior leaders including CISOs, Chief Privacy Officers, Data Protection Officers, General Counsel, and Chief Risk Officers, and is regularly brought in when an organization knows AI is already in use but has little visibility or control over it.
Beyond governance, Yunique is a certified coach with a background in NLP and Gallup StrengthsFinder, and she has long directed her coaching work toward women and female professionals navigating career transitions, leadership roles, and moments of professional reinvention. She volunteers as a coach and mentor with ISACA, She Runs It, and Minorities in Cybersecurity (MiC), and writes a weekly Substack column — Tuesday L.I.F.T. (Live Intentionally, Find Your Truth) — dedicated to coaching, empowerment, and intentional leadership for women.
She is also the author of The App Is Not Your Friend, a children’s book on AI awareness and digital safety, and the creator of an accompanying AI animation training curriculum grounded in the VOICE™ framework — bringing responsible AI education to the next generation.
A sought-after speaker, Yunique was recently invited to deliver a keynote at a major law conference on the topic: “AI Did Not Take the Responsibility. We Gave It Away.”
Her credentials include: CISSP, CISM, CISA, CIPP/E, CIPP/IT, CDPSE, C|CISO, FIP, ISO 42001 Lead Auditor, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor and Implementer, AIGA, IAAIS, PG Cert in Data Protection Law & Information Governance, Executive MBA, and MSc in Information Security.
Sneha Paul: Bio
I currently serve as project manager at konceptslab but i’m also a graduate in ai and data science graduate. I faced many struggles during my b.tech journey but i was the only one graduated with 8.5 cgpa and handled multiple roles in college and national level. I would defenitely inspire women to break out their limits and show their actual strengths.
Venetia LaSha’ Herring: Bio
LaSha’ Herring is a founder, strategist, storyteller, and creative technologist building at the intersection of AI, immersive media, accessibility, and community impact. She is COO of FlareNova Studios, where she leads Phenix Passport, a geo-anchored AR storytelling platform that brings erased and underrepresented histories back into the places where they happened. She is also co-founder of DocuHero, an AI-powered documentation and compliance platform designed to reduce administrative burden for direct care providers and help agencies stay audit-ready. Across her work, LaSha’ focuses on human-centered technology, cultural preservation, ethical AI, and tools that help communities, caregivers, and creators be seen, supported, and empowered.
Alison Morano: Bio
Alison Morano is an AI governance strategist, spatial computing leader, and founder of the Metaverse Chamber of Commerce. With more than two decades of experience spanning technology, public policy, communications, and organizational leadership, she helps bridge emerging technologies with practical governance and business strategy. Alison is pursuing doctoral studies in AI Leadership and Machine Learning at Walsh College, where her research focuses on responsible AI, machine learning, and the future of intelligent systems. She is passionate about building collaborative virtual communities, advancing ethical innovation, and exploring how AI and immersive technologies are transforming the way people work, learn, and connect.
Tracey Hawkins: Bio
“Tracey, the Safety Lady” Hawkins is an international keynote speaker, Generative AI Cybersecurity Expert for End Users, Safe Work Practices Expert, author, award-winning podcast host and AI safety educator, and founder of Safety and Security Source, established in 1995.
For more than three decades, Tracey has helped organizations protect people, profits, and reputations by translating complex safety, security, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence risks into practical, actionable solutions. Her work focuses on the human side of technology, helping individuals and organizations safely navigate AI, cybercrime, fraud, deepfakes, social engineering, digital trust, and emerging threats.
She serves as AI Safety and Ethics Lead Instructor for WeCodeKC, a STEM initiative that expands technology opportunities for underserved youth, and as Board Member and Cybersecurity Chair of the Kansas City AI Club, one of the nation’s largest AI communities.
Tracey is the founder of Real Estate Safety University™ and Business and Nonprofit Safety and Generative AI Cybersecurity University™, educational membership programs that help organizations build safer workplaces, stronger cybersecurity cultures, and more resilient communities.
She is also the host and writer of the Ripped From the Headlines Safety Edition newsletter and podcast, where she analyzes real-world safety, cybersecurity, fraud, and AI-related incidents to help audiences stay informed and protected.
A sought-after speaker throughout the United States and Canada, she has educated thousands of professionals across industries on the safe and responsible use of emerging technologies. Her expertise has been featured by The Today Show, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, AAA, REALTOR® Magazine, RISMedia, House Beautiful, Essence, CNN.com, ABCNews.com, and numerous national and industry media outlets.
Known for her practical, engaging, and human-centered approach, Tracey’s mission is to help people safely embrace innovation without becoming victims of it.
Maja Zavrsnik: Bio
Maja Zavrsnik is the CMO and Co-founder of SheAI, an educational company and community focused on closing the gender gap in AI. She is also an AI-empowered digital marketer with over 10 years of experience, working in a SaaS startup environment. For the last 3 years, she’s been working in Artificial Intelligence, having established two AI companies. Today, she helps both individuals and companies to implement AI to optimise their workflows and ensure their brand visibility in 2026.
Joelle Brock: Bio
Joelle Brock is the Founder and CEO of Leading EDJE, a technology solutions firm established in 2007 in Dublin, Ohio. What began as a vision to build a workplace where brilliant people could thrive — caring deeply for one another and for the clients they serve — has grown into a premier IT solutions provider. From custom software development to digital transformation and AI-driven innovation, Leading EDJE takes a holistic approach to helping organizations solve complex business problems through innovative technology, while maintaining a culture that is values-driven, supportive, and genuinely fun.
Joelle’s path into technology was anything but conventional.
A student-athlete at Kent State University, she earned her degree in Communications/Journalism before stepping into the IT world in the early 1990s with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, where she helped social workers navigate the agency’s first automated computer system. She went on to build her expertise through roles at Accenture and Software Architects, experiences that shaped both her technical foundation and her belief that the right culture is as important as the right solution.
Under her leadership, Leading EDJE has received consistent recognition for excellence, including Columbus CEO’s Top Places to Work, Columbus Business First’s Best Places to Work, inclusion in the Inc. 5000, and a spot among Columbus Business First’s Fast 50 Fastest Growing Companies. The firm is also recognized as one of the top certified women-owned businesses in Central Ohio — a distinction Joelle holds with particular pride.
Joelle is a sought-after voice on leadership and corporate culture. She has served as both keynote speaker and panelist, where she brings her signature blend of candor, warmth, and hard-won insight. Her perspective is grounded in nearly three decades of building and leading a people-first organization in a technical industry.
Her commitment to leadership extends well beyond her own company. Since 2015, Joelle has been an active board member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) multiple chapter leadership roles including Board President. She has also been a member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) and has served in board and committee roles with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, First Merchants Bank, New Directions Career Center, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, and Greenleaf Professional Services.
Joelle has been recognized with awards including Most Admired CEO, Enterprising Woman of the Year from Enterprising Women Magazine, and Outstanding Board Member from the New Directions Career Center. She has contributed her time, talent, and resources to more than 50 non-profit organizations throughout Central Ohio.
Outside the office, Joelle is an avid golfer, a triathlete, wine enthusiast, and a passionate traveler.
Stephanie Sylvestre: Bio
Stephanie Sylvestre is a transformational leader and technologist who uses artificial intelligence to amplify human potential. She is the co‑founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Avatar Buddy, a human‑centric AI company that builds “AI Buddies” and digital twins so people and organizations can preserve knowledge, mentor teams in real time, and make complex tools feel intuitive instead of intimidating.
Before launching Avatar Buddy, Stephanie spent nearly 30 years in corporate IT and operations at companies including Burger King, Subway, Wachovia, HP, and The Children’s Trust. As Chief Programs Officer and Chief Information Officer at The Children’s Trust, she managed a $184 million portfolio, led a major digital transformation, and earned the South Florida Business Journal’s CIO of the Year award for modernizing systems that supported hundreds of community organizations.
In 2022, Stephanie served as a fellow at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, where she designed an asset‑based framework for Black wealth creation in Miami‑Dade County. She now serves as an expert resource with Harvard Innovation Labs, advising founders on ethical, inclusive uses of AI.
Across her work, Stephanie focuses on a few core ideas: technology should create more dignity at work, not less; AI should expand access to knowledge and opportunity, especially for underrepresented communities; and real change happens when people have the tools, confidence, and support to show up as their full selves. At GatherVerse, she speaks about human‑first AI, digital mentorship, and how we can design AI systems that protect people, preserve culture, and unlock new paths to learning and wealth‑building for communities too often left out of tech’s promise.
Yara Banks: Bio
Yara Banks, MBA, CHRMAP, is the Founder and CEO of BNX Business Advisors, a woman-owned management consulting firm specializing in leadership development, organizational effectiveness, workforce strategy, and change management. With more than 20 years of combined experience advising public and private sector organizations, Yara helps leaders successfully navigate transformation by strengthening trust, communication, and organizational resilience.
She is the creator of Lead Like a Black Belt™ and author of The Executive Blindspot, leadership frameworks that explore the human behaviors and leadership decisions that quietly influence engagement, adaptability, and performance. Her recent work has expanded into the human implications of artificial intelligence, helping leaders understand that successful AI adoption is less about technology alone and more about preparing people to embrace change with confidence, purpose, and trust.
Yara believes the future of AI will not be defined solely by what technology can do, but by how leaders choose to preserve humanity while accelerating innovation.
Danielle Franklin: Bio
Danielle A. Franklin is a defense technology executive and AI innovator with 20+ years of experience at the intersection of federal policy, advanced systems architecture, and emerging technology. She is the Founder & Executive Director of Humanity + AI, Inc. (HAVI), a 501(c)(3) AI research organization, and President of N Systems LLC, a WOSB/SBA-certified defense contractor. Danielle served 18 years as a federal civilian across OSD, SDA, the U.S. Navy, Missile Defense Agency, and U.S. Space Force, where she architected a $1.8B+ proliferated LEO constellation and authored the DoD Digital Engineering Body of Knowledge. She is a published author, inventor of multiple AI patents including ROSIE and TalkingDOG™, and a Marquis Who’s Who in America honoree for 2025 and 2026.
Shiran Mlamdovsky Somech: Bio
I am an AI Impact leader, the founder of Generative AI for Good, channeling the power of generative AI to catalyze global positive change. Driven by a fervent passion for humanity, creativity, and innovation, I spearhead projects that have not only reached millions but also saved lives and clinched international awards. These initiatives have been honored at prestigious platforms such as the UN and NATO.
Silper Pesa: Bio
Silper Pesa (FCCA), is a Certified AI Consultant, AI Strategist, John Maxwell-certified leadership coach, and global operations leader with 18+ years of experience leading transformation across humanitarian, development, and peace building environments across 14 countries. I speaks on human-centered AI, agentic AI, career reinvention, and workforce development, helping professionals and organizations turn disruption or job loss into opportunity. Inspired by the M-PESA lesson that powerful innovation solves real human problems, I use my T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.E. framework to help people build AI readiness, translate skills and past experience into future-ready value, and move from uncertainty to legacy.
Kim Kelly: Bio
Kimberly Kelly is a keynote speaker and executive leader who helps organizations strengthen resilience, self-awareness, and leadership under pressure. Drawing on more than 20 years of executive experience, she equips leaders to navigate uncertainty, embrace change, and unlock stronger performance in an AI-driven workplace.
Coylette James: Bio
Dr. Coylette James is a leadership strategist, author, speaker, and founder working at the intersection of human-centered leadership, ethical innovation, and emerging technology. Through Kingdom AI Convergence, Dominion 7 AI, and Vant Strategic, she helps leaders understand how to engage artificial intelligence without compromising human dignity, sound judgment, trust, or purpose.
With more than four decades of executive, entrepreneurial, and ministry leadership experience, including 28 years with Don King Productions, Dr. James brings a practical perspective on leading through change, developing people, and building systems that serve both organizational goals and human wellbeing. Her work centers on identity-led leadership, AI literacy, ethical responsibility, and preparing women and nontechnical professionals to participate confidently in the future of work.
She is also the founder of The Lioness Effect, a leadership and personal development ecosystem that equips women to lead with clarity, authority, and strategic purpose. Her central message is that technology should expand human potential, not diminish human value.
Dorota Mleczko: Bio
Dorota Mleczko is the founder of Paloma’s AI Academy, where she helps teachers, non-technical professionals, and teams across Europe and globally actually use the AI their companies already pay for. Her approach is hands-on workshops, not demos: people build with the tools in the room, not watch someone else click.
Her bigger vision is AI-native. She helps solopreneurs and small business owners build AI-native businesses around their own internal knowledge, the way she runs her own. Working solo from Genoa, Italy, she now handles in-house, with an AI team she builds and documents in public, the work she once outsourced to developers, designers, and agencies. She works in English, German, and Polish.
Tomar Beh: Bio
She is the founder of AI CoLab Studio and M-prez Enterprise, an award-winning organisation creating programmes that support women, young people, and underrepresented communities.
With more than 15 years of experience across nonprofits, arts and culture, education, and community development, Tomar brings a practical and human-centred perspective to emerging technology. She is the creator of the SAFE AI Framework and author of Start AI Right for Nonprofits, a practical guide helping organisations move from AI chaos to clarity through responsible governance, literacy, and implementation.
Her work focuses on making AI accessible, accountable, and useful for organisations that often lack large budgets, technical teams, or dedicated digital resources. Through training, speaking, and consulting, she helps leaders build confidence in AI while keeping human judgement, inclusion, and community impact at the centre of decision-making.
Tomar’s mission is simple: to help make AI work for communities it was never built for.
Chinwendu Iwuorie: Bio
Chinwendu “Chichi” Iwuorie is the Founder and CEO of Corro AI and an AI Technical Program Manager focused on helping organizations navigate AI adoption and transformation. Her work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, operations, and human-centered innovation. Drawing from experience across technology, entrepreneurship, and creative industries, she is passionate about ensuring AI enhances human potential while building trust, collaboration, and responsible adoption. Chichi is committed to empowering individuals and organizations to lead confidently in the AI era.
Carla Borini Etichetti: Bio
I am a biotechnologist, scientist, and entrepreneur, and the Co-founder and CEO of Kresko RNAtech. After more than a decade in academic research, I transitioned into entrepreneurship to build a new generation of science-driven wellness ingredients based on bioactive RNAs. At Kresko, I lead a multidisciplinary team combining biotechnology and AI to discover and develop ingredients for applications across nutrition, health, and personal care.
Originally founded in Argentina and now expanding in the United States, Kresko reflects my experience building a deep-tech company across different markets and entrepreneurial ecosystems. My journey has involved moving from scientist to founder and CEO, translating complex science into commercial products, raising capital, building international partnerships, and navigating the challenges of scaling an emerging technology from Latin America into the global market.
Ronnette Turner-Corley: Bio
Ronnette Turner-Corley is the founder of Essenarcy AI Solutions, an AI governance architecture firm serving regulated industries. As a CPD-Accredited Certified AI Consultant, she builds accountability infrastructure for California’s Title 17 ILS/SLS sector, where new state regulatory requirements are reshaping what Regional Centers and the Department of Developmental Services expect from operators.
Her flagship product, Ava, is an AI governance agent built to prepare ILS/SLS operators for Regional Center review with structure instead of guesswork. Ronnette extended that same framework through Elara, a governance platform built for regulated industries beyond ILS/SLS.
Before founding Essenarcy, Ronnette spent 20+ years in financial services, where she built a track record grounded in performance and regulatory discipline. A psychology degree from University of the Pacific shapes her systems-first approach: she thinks in structure, builds for authority, and designs for longevity over short-term output.
Ronnette speaks on AI governance, regulatory readiness, and what governed AI infrastructure actually requires in regulated environments.
Melanie Curtis: Bio
Melanie Curtis is a world record pro skydiver, keynote speaker, and peak performance coach with more than 12,000 skydives and 30 years of experience leading and coaching worldwide. Featured in Forbes, CBS Evening News, and Good Morning America, Melanie combines adventure, leadership, and personal growth into transformative experiences for audiences. She has worked with leaders, entrepreneurs, and high performers around the world, helping them move through fear, build resilience, and access their untapped potential. Through powerful storytelling, practical tools, and humor, Melanie inspires people to take bold action, elevate performance, and create meaningful impact in their personal and professional lives.
Jennifer Gavin: Bio
Jennifer Gavin is the Founder and CEO of Aidgency, the operating system for corporate purpose, and a builder of AI for HumanKind.
She founded Aidgency to help organizations turn purpose into measurable action by combining AI-powered infrastructure with human expertise.
Jennifer is also the creator of The Other 80., a live intelligence platform tracking female-founded startups actively raising capital. The platform provides a real-time visibility layer for founders, investors and allocators seeking a more complete view of the innovation economy.
An award-winning entrepreneur and strategist, Jennifer holds a degree from Boston University, a DeepLearning.AI certification, and is a graduate of the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center program. She volunteers with Taproot Foundation and God’s Love We Deliver and previously served on the 25th Anniversary Planning Committee for At The Crossroads.
Aparna Dubey: Bio
Aparna Dubey is a finance leader with a passion for exploring the intersection of business strategy, organizational effectiveness, and human behavior. Throughout her career, she has focused on helping organizations navigate change, drive growth, and build cultures that enable people and businesses to thrive. Aparna serves on the Global Board of Trustees of the Organization Development Network (ODN), where she contributes to advancing the practice of organization development worldwide. Her interest in emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, centers on understanding how humans respond to AI and what it takes to cultivate a new generation of AI-era leaders who can balance innovation, adaptability, and human connection.
Cecilia Lascialfari: Bio
Cecilia Lascialfari is a hybrid artist and AI Data Analyst. Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, she combines painting, generative AI and immersive technologies in her practice, exhibiting internationally across Europe and the United States. In parallel she brings AI into the processes of a major publishing group, designing data analysis systems and creative automation tools. She is co-author of a Springer volume on AI ethics written with 31 international professionals, Lead Art & Creativity for Women in AI Italy, founder of the publication ARea6DoF on digital art, XR and AI, and Italy representative for Artivive and organiser of AWE Nite Florence event. She has spoken at over 30 international conferences.
Dr. Lola Longe: Bio
Dr. Lola Longe is an AI professor, researcher, and founder of SAFER AI Protocol, where she advances responsible AI literacy, governance, and human-centered innovation. Her work focuses on helping educators, organizations, and communities adopt AI ethically, transparently, and confidently. She teaches AI, data analytics, and emerging technologies while developing practical frameworks that make responsible AI accessible across industries and learning environments.
Roberta Scrofani: Bio
She is a practitioner, researcher, and policy expert working at the intersection of AI transformation, human-centred leadership, and equitable governance — bringing over fifteen years of senior, cross-functional leadership inside global technology and advertising corporations.
Having built technology transformations from the inside — across product development, talent and leadership, and employee inclusion — she understands where governance gaps emerge not in theory, but in practice. This experience led her to pursue rigorous academic inquiry at Tomorrow University of Applied Sciences, where she completed an Impact MBA in Sustainability, Innovation, and Leadership and developed an original research framework on conscious leadership approaches to AI transformation, drawing on interviews with technology leaders across the globe.
She is currently an expert member of TWG6 (AI Economy) within the EU-funded WIDCON project, coordinated through the Women in Digital Forum, where she leads research on structural barriers to women’s participation in the AI economy — spanning skills policy, lifelong learning, and organisational accountability — with outputs feeding directly into European Commission policy recommendations.
An Ambassador of the Tomorrow Academy Fellowship Programme, she is a regular keynote speaker and workshop facilitator on the human dimensions of AI transformation and governance, including at flagship gatherings in Amsterdam and Vienna. She also mentors emerging practitioners through Tomorrow University’s Challenge mentorship programme.
Her voice in this conversation brings what the field too rarely has: an integrated perspective across the boardroom, the research lab, and the policy table — consistently oriented toward responsible, human-centred, and equitable AI.
Folashade Oroge: Bio
Folashade is a Cloud/DevOps Engineer with over five years of experience designing, deploying, and managing scalable cloud infrastructure. Her journey in tech began at the helpdesk engineer, progressed through cloud support engineering and systems administration with roles at Flour Mills of Nigeria and Teknowledge giving her a deep, practical understanding of how infrastructure works at every layer of the stack.
Beyond her technical work, Folashade is a recognised leader in Nigeria’s tech community. She served as Chapter Lead for She Code Africa (SCA) Lagos for three years, earning an Excellence Award for her outstanding contributions to the chapter. She has volunteered extensively across SCA Lagos, Women Techmakers Lagos, GDG Lagos, and several other tech communities. She currently serves as a mentor at Tech4Dev and a DevOps Trainer at Spicetech, where she is actively shaping the next generation of African tech talent.
Folashade is also the recipient of a Leadership Award from Daystar Academy, a testament to her commitment to people development and community building. As a seasoned event organiser and host, she has brought together developers, engineers, and tech enthusiasts across multiple platforms and stages.
She is currently building a startup called EventHub a digital vendor marketplace management platform designed to streamline the discovery, verification, booking, and management of event service providers across Nigeria.
Dr. Ebha Patel: Bio
Dr. Ebha Patel is an inspiring grassroots leader, rural development advocate, and women empowerment champion whose life journey reflects resilience, innovation, and a deep commitment to social transformation. Born in a village where opportunities for girls were often limited, she rose above societal barriers to become the first female engineer from her village—an achievement that not only transformed her own life but also inspired countless rural girls to dream beyond traditional boundaries.
Her story is not merely one of personal success; it is a story of purpose-driven leadership rooted in compassion and service. While many chose urban careers and comfortable professional paths, Dr. Ebha Patel chose to dedicate herself to the villages of India, where real change was needed the most. She understood that transformation at the grassroots level requires more than awareness—it requires implementation, accountability, and consistent action.
Driven by this belief, she emerged as a powerful voice for Panchayati Raj leadership and women Sarpanches, helping them embrace digital governance, AI awareness, technology-driven solutions, health initiatives, and effective implementation of government welfare schemes. Her unique ability to bridge innovation with grassroots realities has earned her immense respect across administrative and rural development circles.
Her impactful work in technology, digital governance, and rural transformation has been recognized by the NITI Aayog Frontier Tech Hub in collaboration with The Better India. She has also been recognized among the Top 10 Inspiring Leaders of India by ABP News for her extraordinary contribution to society and women-led transformation.
At the heart of her mission lies her flagship initiative, Ghar Ayye Nanhi Pari, a movement that celebrates the birth of the girl child with dignity, joy, and pride. What began as a heartfelt initiative gradually evolved into a powerful social movement across rural India. Through this initiative, more than 9,000 newborn baby girls and their mothers have been honored across over 700 Panchayats in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
The initiative has received heartfelt appreciation from the Honorable Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel, who acknowledged its role in strengthening women’s empowerment and changing societal attitudes toward the girl child. By working closely with Sarpanches and local governance systems, Dr. Ebha Patel ensured that the initiative moved beyond celebration and translated into awareness, dignity, and access to welfare support for mothers and children.
Her contribution to grassroots governance is deeply rooted in execution and last-mile delivery. She believes that policies create impact only when they reach the people they are designed for. Because of her exceptional focus on implementation and practical transformation, she is often recognized as the “Government Schemes Implementation Girl.” Her work has strengthened trust between communities and governance systems, ensuring that welfare initiatives are not confined to documents but become realities in people’s lives.
Dr. Ebha Patel’s leadership philosophy is beautifully captured in her belief: “Awareness informs, but implementation transforms.”
This philosophy became visible in projects like the transformation of Anganwadi centers and women-led governance models, where she demonstrated how dedicated implementation can bring measurable and meaningful change within a short period. Her efforts empowered women representatives not only to hold positions of authority but also to become confident decision-makers and development leaders within their communities.
Her journey has also been marked by immense personal courage. As a survivor of a major Whipple surgery, she faced one of life’s toughest battles with extraordinary strength and determination.
Instead of allowing adversity to stop her, she transformed her pain into purpose, emerging even stronger in her mission to serve society. Her resilience became a source of inspiration for many women who saw in her a reflection of courage, grace, and perseverance.
Today, Dr. Ebha Patel continues to inspire rural India through her unwavering commitment to women empowerment, grassroots governance, and social transformation. Whether working alongside government institutions, collaborating with Panchayat leaders, or mentoring women at the grassroots, she carries forward a vision of inclusive and sustainable development.
Her story is a reminder that true leadership is not measured by titles or recognition but by the number of lives touched with compassion and courage. Through every initiative, every village visit, and every girl child celebrated, Dr. Ebha Patel continues to prove that when determination meets service, extraordinary transformation becomes possible.
Her journey is not only a story of leadership—it is truly a journey of love, courage, and hope for a stronger and more empowered rural India.
Jacquelyn Thomas: Bio
Jacquelyn Thomas is the Founder and CEO of AInspire Solutions and Executive Director of Kids In Technology, Inc., a nationally recognized STEM and AI education organization founded in 2002. An award-winning curriculum developer and workforce innovation leader, she has spent more than 20 years helping underserved communities gain access to STEM, artificial intelligence, and emerging technology education.
Jacquelyn is known for translating complex AI concepts into practical, human-centered learning experiences for students, educators, workforce organizations, and community leaders. Her work focuses on AI literacy, responsible AI adoption, workforce readiness, and closing the growing digital divide in underserved communities.
She is the recipient of the PBS American Graduate Award and an AARP Purpose Prize winner and has trained thousands of learners through school partnerships, workforce initiatives, and community-based programs. Through AInspire Solutions, she helps organizations move from AI curiosity to practical implementation with clarity, ethics, and purpose.
Anne Cantera: Bio
Anne Cantera is the founder of Elementyl Intelligence, an ethical AI consultancy, and VoiceofAI.io, a free resource helping designers upskill into AI. She specializes in responsible AI strategy, agent orchestration, conversation design, and voice systems, with deep experience across telecom, legal tech, and healthcare. Anne is also a speaker, mentor to women in AI, and host of the DESIGNathon podcast.
Anu Sharma: Bio
Anu Sharma is a strategic communications and reputation advisor with more than 15 years of experience helping organizations navigate complex issues, build trust and communicate with impact. She currently serves as a Senior Consultant at Crestview Strategy, where she advises clients on strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, issues management, public affairs and reputation risk.
Prior to moving to Canada, Anu built her career in India across agency and corporate communications roles, working with global brands and organizations on public relations, executive communications, digital strategy and crisis communications. She was recognized as one of PRmoment India’s “30 Under 30” communications professionals.
Anu’s current areas of interest include AI adoption communications, stakeholder engagement, trust-building and reputation management in an increasingly AI-enabled world. She is particularly passionate about helping organizations bridge the gap between deploying emerging technologies and building understanding, confidence and trust among the people they serve.
Beyond her professional work, Anu is deeply involved in advancing the communications profession. She serves as President of the Ottawa chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and is passionate about leadership development, ethical AI, public speaking and helping communications professionals evolve from tactical executors to strategic advisors.
Anu is currently pursuing advanced studies in Strategic Communications through the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and is working toward her Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP) certification.
Frances Chinaza Agba: Bio
Frances Chinaza Agba is a Co-Founder of LumenAfri, Computer Science Educator, and AI Governance Programme Lead working at the intersection of responsible AI, education equity, digital inclusion, and gender equality. She leads LumenAfri’s strategy for expanding AI literacy and safe technology education to underserved African learners, with a focus on rural communities, girls, low-resource schools, and young people often excluded from mainstream AI opportunities.
Her work combines digital education, programme design, AI governance, public-interest technology, and community-centred implementation. Through LumenAfri, Frances is building practical pathways that help young people not only use AI, but question it, verify it, govern it, and shape it responsibly. She speaks on responsible AI, inclusive AI education, gender-responsive technology, and why the future of AI must be designed with the communities it has historically left behind.
Wambui Kungu: Bio
Wambui K. is the Founder of Neural Den LLC, a Texas-based AI workforce readiness and adoption consultancy helping organizations move beyond AI awareness into measurable workforce capability.
She is a Certified AI Consultant, Instructional Designer, and U.S. Navy veteran with a background spanning technical systems, business process improvement, quality assurance, and adult learning. Her work focuses on the human and operational side of AI adoption, helping leaders design role-based capability, workflow integration, manager reinforcement, governance, and trust-centered implementation.
Wambui is also a Texas DIR-certified AI awareness training provider aligned with HB 3512, supporting public sector and organizational leaders in responsible AI education. Her perspective is shaped by experience building training for technical and non-technical audiences, including work with AWS and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Through Neural Den, she helps organizations ask a deeper question: not just whether people have access to AI tools, but whether they have the confidence, context, support, and systems needed to use AI responsibly and meaningfully in the flow of work.
Suzanne Schneider: Bio
Suzanne Schneider (b. 1997) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer based in Bloomington, Indiana. Holding a BFA in Digital Art with a minor in Psychology from the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design at Indiana University, Schneider occupies the intersection of human behavior and emerging technology.
Under the artist name Swedes Experience, her practice spans video art, 3D environments, photography and printmaking. Schneider’s work is deeply informed by her psychological studies, allowing her to move beyond aesthetics to prioritize how audiences sit with, observe, and interpret visual environments. This unique background provides a framework for her commercial work, where she utilizes psychological principles to create more intentional, informed, and impactful designs for her clients.
Her thesis project, Smell the Roses (2023), serves as a hallmark of this approach. The immersive video environment explores the trauma surrounding her brother’s Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), utilizing 3D fractals and AI-driven transformations. Developed over two years, the piece evolved from early Google Deep Dream experiments to high-fidelity 4K projections, reflecting both a personal journey and the rapid advancement of the tools she employs.
Schneider continues to push the boundaries of AI-based video by including neural style transfer and Stable Diffusion, using these tools as systems of visual transformation that bridge the gap between technical structure and emotional experience. Most recently, her innovative approach to intuitive, tech-forward design was recognized on a global scale when she was personally invited to apply for the the inaugural DATALAND x Google Arts & Culture artist residency program.
Katie Naughton: Bio
Katie Naughton is the Founder of Drive Her Forward, a leadership platform helping ambitious women build careers and lives by design, not by default.
An entrepreneur, investor, and one of the rare one percent of women automotive dealership owners, Katie built her career leading inside one of the world’s most male-dominated industries. Purchasing her first dealership at just 32, she developed a leadership philosophy grounded not in titles or authority, but in accountability, trust, resilience, and the courage to create better cultures.
Through keynote presentations, executive conversations, and leadership education, Katie challenges professionals to stop waiting for better leadership and become the leaders they wish they had. Her signature message, If You Never Had the Leader You Needed, Become Her, inspires audiences to replace outdated leadership models with human-centered leadership built on integrity, clarity, and intentional influence.
Katie speaks to organizations navigating change, developing future leaders, and creating workplaces where people perform because they feel empowered, not because they feel pressured. Her perspective resonates across industries including technology, finance, automotive, law, construction, and entrepreneurship, where leadership is increasingly measured by the ability to build trust, adapt, and lead with purpose in a rapidly changing world.
Janice Fortman: Bio
Dr. Janice Fortman is an internationally recognized relationship coach, communication expert, author, speaker, and host of the popular television show Relationship Matters TV. With more than 20 years of experience helping individuals and organizations improve communication, strengthen relationships, and build healthier workplace cultures, Dr. Jan has become a trusted voice in leadership and personal development.
Her engaging presentations combine practical communication strategies with emotional intelligence principles, empowering audiences to foster stronger connections, improve team dynamics, and lead with greater empathy and authenticity. Dr. Jan is known for delivering interactive, insightful sessions that inspire lasting personal and professional transformation.
Akanksha: Bio
Akanksha is a public policy and AI governance researcher dedicated to understanding how historical hierarchies are embedded in modern AI systems. Her research examines the structural barriers women face in AI development, deployment, and governance – exploring how ancient patterns of exclusion persist in today’s algorithms. Through her work on AI policy, she advocates for women’s meaningful participation in the rooms where AI decisions are made, ensuring that governance frameworks prioritize equity and accountability across the AI economy.
Felistah Yogo: Bio
Healthcare AI /ML and Interoperability Engineer/Analyst with 2 years’ experience applying Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, and data-driven solutions and 9 years as an Interoperability Professional, Systems Engineer/Analyst leading and executing complex system integration projects within the healthcare sector. My skills allow me to develop and deploy AI/ML models in compliance with healthcare data standards (HIPAA, HITRUST HL7, FHIR, pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trials (pRCTs).
In addition, I am Skilled in building coalitions and team of health providers, data scientists, IT, government and state officials, public and private sector members to design interpretable, equitable, and regulatory-compliant AI tools and Health information systems.
Alina Tudorache: Bio
Alina Tudorache
DAO Architect of Reality
Blockchain Strategist | Agentic AI Leader | NLP Architect | Gamification Designer
Visionary builder of sovereign, intelligent ecosystems. I architect multi-layered DAOs that fuse decentralized governance, agentic AI, tokenized economies, behavioral design, and gamification into living systems of data ownership, human empowerment, and digital fairness.
I design the Alignment Stack: from identity and purpose through governance, tokenomics, and community impact. Across FinTech, DeFi, SocialFi, Metaverse, EdTech, HealthTech, and GovTech, I create ecosystems where technology serves human potential.
Top 10 Quantum AI Leader 2026
Top 25 Global Blockchain Leader 2026
Top 50 Global Agentic AI Leader 2025
Guided by the fusion of NLP, Gamification, Human-Centered Design, and Blockchain, I empower individuals and collectives to own their data, shape their governance, and co-create regenerative futures.
Gulnur Bekmukhanbetova: Bio
Gulnur Bekmukhanbetova is the founder of Qanat Law PLLC, a New York law firm serving companies and investors working between the United States and Central Asia. Originally from Almaty, she spent thirteen years at global law firms and served as Chief Legal Officer of a venture-backed company before founding her own practice in 2026.
She is building Qanat Law around a thesis that AI can be a social elevator: that a founder in Almaty should reach the same quality of legal reasoning once reserved for institutions paying New York or London rates. For her, AI is not about doing legal work faster or cheaper — it is about widening access to expertise that has been expensive, scarce and geographically concentrated.
She is admitted in New York and Kazakhstan, and holds degrees from Berkeley Law and the University of Warwick, where she was a Chevening Scholar.
Arfa Syed: Bio
Arfa Syed is a behavioral scientist, insights executive, AI practitioner, researcher and speaker working across human cognition, human flourishing, consumer behavior, responsible AI and women’s leadership. She is President and Head of Qualitative Research at OULA, formerly Kantar Pakistan, and co-founder of mark.ai. With more than 15 years of experience, she has worked with over 100 organizations, including Unilever, Meta, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and BAT, and delivered more than 100 speaking, learning and facilitation sessions. Her published ESOMAR work and current research examine cognition, qualitative insight, responsible AI and how technology shapes human agency, trust and decision-making in complex societal contexts.
Jeanne McClure, PhD: Bio
Dr. Jeanne McClure is the Founder and CEO of Ars Innovate Technologies & Consulting, where she builds AI products, evaluation pipelines, and adoption programs — not slide decks. She holds a PhD in Teacher Education & Learning Sciences, plus master’s degrees in Data Science and Learning Analytics, and is a former Postdoctoral Fellow at NC State’s Data Science & AI Academy. She built her first prompt engineering framework in 2023 and went on to create the Orchestration Maturity Framework, which reframes AI readiness as an organizational learning problem, not a technology purchase. Today she helps individuals and companies build AI that’s rigorous, accountable, and aimed at social good.
Ebone Bell: Bio
Eboné F. Bell is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, facilitator, voiceover artist, and leadership expert who helps organizations build cultures where people thrive through courageous communication, belonging, and authentic leadership.
She is the founder and former editor of Tagg Magazine, the award-winning media company serving LGBTQ women nationwide, and was recognized by Forbes as an “Inspiring Black Entrepreneur Changing Our World.” Her work has empowered leaders across Fortune 500 companies, universities, nonprofits, and national conferences to create more connected, inclusive, and high-performing communities.
Eboné has partnered with organizations including Microsoft, Accenture, Deloitte, Edward Jones, VistaPrint, Charlotte Tilbury, Vanderbilt University, Penn State, Purdue Global, and Rochester Institute of Technology. Known for her warmth, vulnerability, and practical insights, she challenges audiences to lead with empathy while creating environments where every person feels they belong.
Her work extends beyond the stage through youth leadership initiatives, anti-bullying education, voiceover artistry, and community advocacy, making her a trusted voice for humanity-centered leadership and meaningful social impact.
Martika Jones: Bio
Martika Brianne Jones is a TEDx speaker, published author, and the Founder & CEO of BŪP Technologies — an AI relationship intelligence company building the infrastructure that turns relationships into revenue. BŪP serves enterprises and government organizations with teams of 100+, and is backed by NVIDIA Inception and Google for Startups.
A classically trained trombonist turned tech entrepreneur, Martika holds an M.S. in Entrepreneurship from the University of Tampa. She is the co-founder of Loom Design Co, a branding and automation studio, and the Executive Director of BŪP INNO, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting first-time and under-resourced founders. Through BŪP Innovation Weekend — a 54-hour AI-powered hackathon — she’s helped non-technical founders build real, bankable companies, several of which already have paying customers.
Her debut book, Give Yourself Permission, expands on her TEDx talk “The Permission to Pivot,” exploring identity, reinvention, and the courage to become someone you didn’t plan to be. She also leads the Clearwater chapter of the Women Impact Network.
Jessica Lowry: Bio
Jess Lowry is the Founder & Executive Director of ENID Studio, a human systems design consultancy helping organizations redesign work, services, and governance for an AI-enabled future. A service designer and transformation strategist with more than 15 years of experience, she has led organizational change initiatives across healthcare, government, financial services, retail, and technology. Jess developed the Human Systems Design Assessment, a socio-technical framework that helps organizations evaluate readiness across human, business, and technology dimensions. Through executive workshops, research, and multidisciplinary collaboration, she helps leaders adopt AI in ways that strengthen organizations while keeping people at the center.
Lori Wheeler: Bio
Lori “LMarie” Wheeler is the Founder and CEO of The Biz Oasis™, an AI-powered operations agency helping service-based business owners trade chaos for clarity and automated systems. With 25+ years of global corporate leadership—managing enterprise technology programs for Fortune 100 companies, federal agencies, and international organizations across the globe—LMarie brings a rare blend of executive-level strategy, emotional intelligence, and hands-on systems architecture to every stage she takes.
As a Certified Strategic AI Consultant & Prompt Engineer, Neuro-Stress Management Practitioner, and Certified Life Coach, she created the B.O.S.S. Framework™ (Build, Optimize, Sustain, Serve)—a proven methodology helping entrepreneurs scale without burning out. She is the author of From Chaos to Calm and creator of the Oasis Pro-Suite™.
LMarie’s signature message: sustainable growth isn’t about doing more—it’s about building smarter systems powered by AI, that give leaders their time (and sanity) back.
Vikki Lange: Bio
Vikki Lange is a keynote speaker, leadership consultant, and founder of Lange Advisory Group. She is the creator of the Awaken, Define, Strengthen™ Framework, which helps individuals and organisations build confidence, resilience, and lasting behavioural change. Drawing on her own transformational journey of achieving and maintaining a triple-digit weight loss, Vikki demonstrates that sustainable success begins by strengthening the person behind the goal. Her work empowers leaders, professionals, educators, and communities to embrace change with purpose, unlock their potential, and create meaningful impact from the inside out.
Halima Muhammad: Bio
Halima Muhammad is the Post 2 City Councilmember for Porterdale, Georgia, and an AI governance and strategy executive who advises organizations on responsible AI adoption, NIST AI RMF and ISO 42001 frameworks, and human-in-the-loop systems. She is the founder of the Human × AI Lab, an independent training organization, and a registered Georgia lobbyist advocating for her model legislation, the Responsible AI Adoption and Worker Protection Act. Halima is also a writer, actress, and AI artist based in the Atlanta area, with work exhibited internationally and a permanent public mural in Stonecrest, Georgia. She brings together civic leadership, emerging technology, and storytelling to help small communities imagine futures as ambitious as those of major cities.
Jeni Yelton: Bio
Jeni Yelton is a speaker, executive coach, leadership strategist, and founder of Purpose Driven Solution. With more than 25 years of experience in leadership development, training, organizational change, and coaching, Jeni helps individuals and organizations build confidence, clarity, and purpose-driven impact. She holds a master’s degree in Adult Learning and Leadership, is an ICF ACC coach, a Prosci® certified change practitioner, and a Maxwell Leadership Certified Executive Trainer. Jeni is also the author of Confidently Flawed: The Fatal Flaw Theory to Stop Fixing and Start Thriving, where she challenges people to stop exhausting themselves in pursuit of perfection and start leading from their gifts, values, and purpose. Her speaking style blends story, humor, reflection, and practical application so audiences leave encouraged, challenged, and ready to take meaningful action.
Ebony Vaz: Bio
Ebony Vaz has helped brands including AT&T, AAA, AOL, Cold Stone Creamery, Verizon Wireless, and public institutions like the University of South Florida turn complex offerings into revenue. An engineer turned marketing strategist, she built her approach on a simple belief: revenue grows when storytelling, science, and technology work together, not in isolation. Storytelling earns attention. Science proves what works. Technology scales it. Take any one leg away, and growth stalls.
In cyber incidents, natural disasters, environmental events, and employee facing crises, Ebony has led communications strategy where the story has to be true and fast, the science has to hold up under scrutiny, and the technology has to get the right message to the right audience before the wrong one does.
Ebony is now applying that same framework to the defining business risk of this decade: AI adoption without governance. As creator of the Certified AI Workforce Resiliency Professional (CAIWRP™) certification and author of The AI Resiliency Playbook: The Skills to Work, The Governance to Lead, she helps governments, enterprises, and economic development organizations turn AI anxiety into measurable resilience, before litigation, layoffs, or lost public trust force the conversation.
Ebony has trained companies and communities across multiple countries, including leading training across Europe, Central America and Israel, along with educating rural communities in Zimbabwe under a USAID funded project. She is also a selected Fulbright Specialist. It’s a track record she draws on when advising economic development organizations on what actually builds a resilient regional economy versus what only looks like one. Every framework in her curriculum is built on research, labor data, and case evidence pulled from her clients and ecosystems around the world.
Ebony is also the author of Because You’re Small: Effective Marketing Strategies for Immediate Implementation, a graduate of Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women Black in Business Cohort One, Kauffman Fellows’ Venture Deals Academy, and a former Techstars Startup Week Organizer and startup pitch judge. She’s been featured on various media outlets, including MSNBC.com, AdWeek, and PR Daily, and was named one of AAMA’s Top 50 Black Marketers on the Rise and received the MEDWEEK Legacy Award for Excellence in Marketing.
She serves her community as Founder of A Few Creatives; Co-founder and Board Member of the Black Innovation Leaders of Florida; a member of the Pasco EDC Global Coalition Committee and Workforce Development Committee, TiE Tampa Bay, and the Tampa Bay Regional Consortium; former Director of Sector Chiefs for InfraGard Tampa Bay; a Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council Project Phoenix participant; and a member of the Hillsborough County SBE Program Advisory Committee.
Ebony sums up her approach simply: strategy only has value when it becomes implementation, and revenue is the proof.
Carmen Milagro: Bio
Carmen Milagro is the Founder and Chair of DIVINA WORLD Foundation, a California 501(c)(3) dedicated to Indigenous cultural preservation, ethical AI and multi-generational human flourishing. She is a Master Certified Professional Behavioral, Youth, Life and Career Coach with over 25 years of experience working across wellness, education, nonprofit leadership and community development and independent researcher – ORCID Researcher ID: 0009-0009-9292-772X
Carmen is the creator and visionary architect of the world’s first Indigenous and World Music Hall of Fame, Museum and Library, built on the virtual reality Conectado-verse immersive technology platform. She is a member of the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Culture Diplomacy Study Group and a three time consecutive presenter at the GatherVerse Global Summit.
Under her leadership DWF holds a Platinum Candid Transparency Seal and is actively pursuing major philanthropic partnerships to bring the Hall of Fame pilot to life. Carmen is also a Founding Member and featured writer for LeverageUp Media’s In Mint Health publication and host of the long running global wellness platform Wellness 360 with Carmen Milagro on expandiTV, now in Season 5.
Ms. Milagro is a proud first generation San Franciscan born of Salvadoran parents with European and Mayan ancestry whose life work is rooted in one unshakeable belief: that no culture should ever be left behind.
Ashwini Purushothaman: Bio
An AI expert, technical innovator, and the Founder and CEO of Gradient Nova AI, a premier training and consulting firm dedicated to bridging the gap between academia and industry. Driven by a passion to democratize future tech, my company delivers hands-on, project-based learning experiences that empower professionals and students to transition confidently into high-impact, AI-first careers.
My expertise spans Big Data, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Generative AI, and Cloud Technologies. I don’t just teach innovation—I build it. I hold a proprietary patent in Artificial Intelligence and recognized my engineering capabilities on a global stage by placing in the Top 7 out of 2,500 entries in a prestigious global AI hackathon. Leveraging my extensive background as an elite corporate trainer and a Josh Talks speaker, I combine deep technical acumen with high-impact communication to help organizations and individuals architect the future workforce.
Shae Pratcher: Bio
Shae Pratcher is a Mindset Strategist, multi-award-winning author, keynote speaker, and creator of The C.L.A.R.I.F.Y. System™, a leadership framework that helps individuals and organizations recognize pressure, regulate internally, and respond with intention. Drawing from both executive leadership experience and her personal journey through trauma and healing, Shae equips leaders with practical strategies to improve emotional regulation, communication, resilience, and performance. Her work bridges neuroscience, mindset, and leadership to help people build the internal operating system that drives sustainable results.
Kat Nick: Bio
Kat Nick is a licensed marriage and family therapist turned speaker, bringing over a decade of clinical experience to conversations about burnout, workplace wellbeing, and the invisible weight carried by high-achieving women. As the founder of KN Wellness Partnership, Kat speaks to organizations and conference audiences on The Working Woman — how workplace culture manufactures burnout, and what leadership can actually do about it.
But Kat’s insight isn’t only professional. As the oldest daughter of an oldest daughter, she’s spent a lifetime in the role of caretaker, fixer, and the one everyone leans on — until she learned to become her own older sister. Through The Eldest Daughter, she speaks directly to the women trying to do it all: naming the pattern, and showing what it actually looks like to set it down.
Kat blends clinical insight with a spiritual, no-nonsense honesty that makes even hard truths land like something a big sister would tell you.
Mufaro Nyachoto: Bio
Mufaro Nyachoto is the founder of Nyac Consulting, a Strategic Advisor & Coach, and a business transformation leader with 15+ years of experience spanning healthcare IT, higher education, and organizational change. She has a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Information Technology, and is the author of Mastering Health Information Technology: A Business Analyst’s Blueprint for Success. Mufaro previously spoke on “Collaboration: Human in the Loop” at AI Business Catalyst 2025. Her work sits at the intersection of enterprise transformation and individual reinvention — helping organizations and professionals alike navigate change with clarity instead of fear.
Lynn Gravatt: Bio
Lynn Gravatt (Shamama Lynn) is an embodiment practitioner, former aerospace engineer (Boeing, NASA, Honeywell), and creator of the Purpose Embodiment Method — a six-lineage framework for identity restoration at the root level.
After a decade studying matter at the material level in aerospace, Lynn shifted her focus from outer space to inner space. Over the following fifteen years she trained across six lineages — engineering and quantum physics, mind-science, Kundalini Reiki mastery, embodied movement, contemplative depth, and shamanic practice — synthesizing them into the Purpose Embodiment Method.
She works with high-performing, purpose-driven leaders and professionals who have done the inner work and still feel the edge of what their current operating mode can reach. She helps them safely disentangle authentic identity from survival-based identity — so they can lead from the truth of who they already are.
Also known as Shamama Lynn — the bridge between the engineer and the spiritual guide.
Mani Grewal: Bio
Mani Grewal is a Product Leader, AI Educator, Founder, and host of the Women Shaping the Future of Product & AI vodcast. With more than 20 years of experience across technology, product strategy, and digital transformation, she helps professionals and organizations move beyond AI hype and focus on practical adoption.
As an immigrant woman in technology, Mani is passionate about making AI accessible to non-technical professionals, aspiring leaders, and underrepresented communities. Her work focuses on AI literacy, human-centered product development, and helping people build confidence in an AI-powered world.
Through workshops, speaking engagements, live educational content, and community initiatives, she empowers individuals to become builders, problem-solvers, and responsible contributors to the future of technology.
Princess Millens: Bio
Dr. Princess Millens is a Leadership Grief Strategist and the creator of the Whole-Soul EQ™ Framework, a transformational leadership model designed to help women and leaders confront the hidden cost of carrying everything. Her work focuses on addressing the emotional weight of grief, burnout, and life’s unexpected losses—burdens that often go unspoken yet deeply impact leadership, personal well-being, and the ability to thrive.
As the founder of Blessed and Beautiful International, she equips individuals and organizations with practical tools to rebuild emotional resilience, restore inner strength, and lead from a place of wholeness. Her work centers on addressing what she calls the Leadership Grief Gap™—the unseen emotional burden carried by high-performing women and leaders who are expected to remain strong while silently carrying overwhelming personal and professional pressures.
Godhuli Vyas: Bio
Godhuli Vyas is the Founder of Saarthi and a product manager passionate about building AI that solves practical, human problems. Her work focuses on designing technology that is accessible, inclusive, and meaningful, particularly for agriculture and underserved communities.
She has worked across AI, product management, operations, and developer ecosystems, helping early-stage startups improve user experiences, streamline workflows, and build data-informed products. As the Chapter Lead of Google Developer Groups (GDG) at SAGE University Indore, she has led technical communities, organized AI workshops, and helped students explore emerging technologies through hands-on learning.
Through Saarthi, she is building an AI-powered logistics platform that helps farmers access better transportation, market intelligence, and digital services. She believes the best AI products begin with understanding people first and automating only after deeply understanding their needs.
Her work is driven by one principle: technology should amplify human potential, not replace it.
Dr. Karen Coombs: Bio
Dr. Karen Coombs is the founder of Coombs Consulting LLC, where she helps organizations implement responsible AI, strengthen AI governance, and modernize quality engineering practices. She is a technology leader with Fortune 500 experience, an adjunct professor, and author of Systems Analysis and Design: Building Intelligent and Ethical Systems. Her work bridges industry and academia by helping leaders responsibly adopt emerging technologies while preparing the next generation of technology professionals. Her research examined cybersecurity risks in DNA-based data storage environments. Her professional work focuses on responsible AI, AI governance, software quality engineering, and helping organizations adopt emerging technologies.
Ayushi Pandey: Bio
Ayushi is a biotechnology major working at the intersection of machine learning, healthcare, and femtech. Her work focuses on leveraging AI to bridge critical gaps in healthcare research, particularly the underrepresentation of women in biomedical datasets and models.
As an ML intern at IIT Bombay’s Visual Computing & ML Lab, she has been working on improving the reliability of biomedical Vision-Language Models (VLMs) like BioMedCLIP through orthogonality-based calibration. She has also co-authored a review paper on machine learning for female-predominant autoimmune diseases, exploring how sex-agnostic datasets and models often overlook neuroimmune mechanisms specific to the female body.
Beyond research, Ayushi runs Female Athlete Performance, a LinkedIn-based research platform exploring the physiology, training science, and health data gaps unique to female athletes. Through her work, she is passionate about building AI systems that account for the diversity of women’s bodies and help close the gender gap in healthcare research – moving toward a future where women are not treated as an edge case in medicine.
Dana Zellers: Bio
Dana Zellers transforms how leaders and organizations work when hard work isn’t translating into meaningful progress, because more hours is the enemy of more impact.
With 25+ years inside companies like Uber, Twitter, Publicis, and GS&P, she understands the pressure to deliver in fast-moving environments. Through her Career Control Framework (Steadier Foundations, Smarter Systems, and Stronger Relationships) Dana helps leaders and teams move from constant reaction to sustainable progress.
She is an award-winning Executive & Leadership Coach certified through iPEC and the ICF, and she facilitates workshops and speaks for organizations on how work actually gets done.
Abisola Areola: Bio
Abisola Areola is a transformation specialist and founder working on AI transformation delivery: the human layer that determines whether the technology actually changes anything. She spent seven years leading enterprise transformation programmes in the UK, and earlier led the rollout of a national telemedicine platform serving 3.2 million users across Nigeria’s major telecom networks. That career taught her the pattern her work now centres on: organisations reliably deliver the software and far less reliably deliver the change.
She is the Founder and Executive Director of Aethryna Digital Skills Co-Op CIC, the community interest company behind Skills Co-op, a cooperative digital skills programme designed for the people AI will affect first and consult last: young people out of education and work, justice-involved adults, migrants in credential transition, and women returning to paid work. Its first cohort begins in October 2026. She also builds AmbleLoop, a walking app she is shipping to beta as a non-technical founder with AI as the execution layer, and hosts The Skills Co-op Sessions, a monthly panel series on skills, work, and opportunity.
She holds an MSc in Business Data Analytics from Bangor University and an MSc in Industrial Sociology from the University of Ibadan. Her published research examines sentiment analytics as a decision-shaping system, and her commentary on AI, workforce intelligence, and the human layer has appeared in Leadership, ThisDay, and Punch Newspapers.
Russell Bundy: Bio
Russell is a dynamic multidisciplinary entrepreneur with a proven track record of success across diverse industries, including radio, music, e-commerce, and blockchain. Throughout his career and entrepreneurial ventures, Russell has consistently demonstrated a commitment to positive social impact. This dedication is evident in his radio business, where he strived to entertain listeners and foster a strong community, evidenced by the growth of his station to over 50,000 monthly unique listeners and a thriving 22,000-member Discord community in 2016.
Russell’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to launch a successful e-commerce business. This venture honed his strategic thinking and business management expertise, encompassing all aspects from operations to finance. Notably, he achieved this success through bootstrapping, demonstrating his resourcefulness and financial acumen.
The e-commerce world opened the door to the burgeoning landscape of Web3 technologies. Recognizing the potential of NFTs, Metaverse, Crypto, DAO, AI and other emerging trends, Russell became an early adopter in 2020. He has since developed a deep understanding of these technologies and their strategic applications. Witnessing both the opportunities and challenges within this new space, Russell is passionate about leveraging Web3 for positive global change.
Driven by the belief that financial success can coexist with social impact, Russell is dedicated to advocating for humanity before technology and creating a better world. His experiences across various industries have reinforced his commitment to using innovative technologies for the greater good. He aims to contribute to a future where technology serves to enhance human well-being and foster a more equitable and sustainable society.
Grant McGaugh: Bio
Grant McGaugh is a visionary leader, storyteller, and the driving force behind 5 STAR BDM, a trailblazing brand development and business growth consultancy empowering executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations to unlock their fullest potential. With more than two decades of executive leadership and strategic transformation experience—spanning Fortune 500 companies, healthcare, technology, and digital innovation—Grant is known for illuminating the path through complexity and guiding clients to enduring success.
As the architect of the proprietary BRAVE Framework (Boldness, Resilience, Authenticity, Vision, Execution), Grant has helped countless professionals elevate their brands, amplify their influence, and lead with purpose and clarity. His signature approach cultivates courageous leadership, deepens self-awareness, and transforms ambiguity into actionable impact, helping clients not just build brands, but craft legacies.
Grant’s journey is rooted in his own story of resilience, purpose, and transformation—a journey that began with personal tragedy and evolved into a calling to empower others to embrace their true identity, disrupt the status quo, and become catalysts for change. As the host of the acclaimed “Follow the Brand” podcast, Grant shares powerful insights and success stories that inspire leaders worldwide.
Widely recognized as a Brand Development Master (BDM), Grant is a sought-after speaker, mentor, and strategic advisor. He champions authenticity, diversity, and human-centered leadership in every engagement, making “Integrity doesn’t have a price tag” his personal and professional mantra.
Connect with Grant to discover your thunder, define your brand’s authentic voice, and lead your field with bold, measurable transformation.
Lejla Tetrick: Bio
Lejla Tetrick is the founder of BG4K LLC and inventor of CSSR/DAS (Cross-System Signal Recognition / Dynamic Adaptive Staging), a patent-filed architecture built on a single realization: the world isn’t actually fragmented – our systems are.
For decades, we’ve trained machines to operate inside tidy, pre-labeled categories while ignoring the far richer territory between them. CSSR/DAS lives in that neglected space, detecting causal convergence across biological, environmental, oceanic, and clinical data streams that were never designed to communicate – surfacing shared root causes before anyone has labeled the domain.
Lejla designed CSSR/DAS to address one of modern discovery’s greatest inefficiencies: parallel research, redundant frameworks, and years of duplicated work as separate disciplines independently uncover the same truths. By treating systems as inherently connected rather than isolated, the architecture reveals emerging risks earlier, supports more informed decisions, and uncovers entirely new categories of solutions that only become visible at the intersections.
Kelly Allard: Bio
Kelly Allard is a data and AI leader with over 25 years of experience spanning insurance, actuarial science, and public sector analytics. She has worked extensively in Master Data Management (MDM), predictive analytics, cloud-based data platforms, and healthcare data, with a focus on translating complex data systems into practical, real-world impact. Kelly specializes in AI adoption, governance, and data and AI literacy, helping organizations move from experimentation to responsible, effective use of AI. She holds a BA in Mathematics, an MBA in Quantitative Analytics and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence, with a focus on making machine learning models more efficient and scalable through compute optimization.
Vernetta Kinchen: Bio
Kinchen’s career arc spans three decades across hospitality, senior advisory, and higher-education leadership. She came up through hotel operations from the ground floor — opening at the front desk of a JW Marriott before college, then moving through hotel supervisor roles across housekeeping, banquets, and night audit at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill — before earning her Bachelor of Science at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration. From there she built owner-side operational experience at Thayer Lodging Group, moving through several roles including Special Project Director, Assistant General Manager, and Director of Operations.
She joined Wyndham International as Hotel Manager and was promoted through several roles including General Manager and Operations Analyst in the Office of the COO — a role created specifically for her — then rose to two consecutive Vice President roles (Brand & Rooms; Staffing), earning the REVPAR Award.
She then spent more than a decade in higher-education administration: a series of roles at Cornell University — including serving as Interim Director of the university’s COVID-era testing operation across eleven sites and as Talent Consultant in the Office of Alumni Affairs & Development — before serving as Executive Director of Housing & Lodging at Syracuse University (an $80M portfolio across 21 residential halls and university hotels), and then returning to Cornell as Director of Administration for its Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering Management programs (May 2023 — January 2026) before founding Cross Suite Advisory.
Her degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Administration from Cornell University’s Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration — consistently ranked the world’s #1 hospitality school; an Executive Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs — consistently ranked the nation’s #1 school of public affairs; and a Master of Arts in Organizational Management from American Public University. Service runs through her path: both Syracuse and American Public University carry strong traditions of educating those in military and public service.
She also holds three Cornell University AI certificates (AI Strategy, Generative and Agentic AI, and AI for Digital Transformation, all earned in 2025), plus Cornell certificates in Human Resource Leadership and Servant Leadership and a Maxwell School certificate in Advanced Conflict Studies.
Faith Katua: Bio
Faith is an IT professional with over 14 + years of experience and adept leadership in ICT, Cybersecurity, Risk, Governance, Audit and Emerging Technologies. Currently, she’s working with Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC(KenGen) as an Assistant Manager-ICT tasked Data Management and emerging technologies implementations and operations, focusing on AI governance and data analytics in OT and IT environments. Faith is the current ISACA Kenya Vice President. Faith has participated in speaking engagements including global forums such as Africa Fraud and Compliance Summit, International Leadership University where she was invited as the guest speaker during the launch of the ICT Curriculum and ISACA Central North America Chapters SheLeads Tech event in March 2026, where she contributed on discussions relating to empowering Women in Technology thought leadership, GITEX 2026 Conference where she led a session on AI and Cybersecurity, 2026 GatherVerse Global Conference as a speaker on AI Governance from a regulators perspective.
She has been involved in advocacy and legislation matters such as review of the critical ICT standards and regulations. She has also spearheaded collaborations between ISACA Kenya and private & public organizations. Faith serves as an advisor in Advanced in AI Audit and CISA Certifications for ISACA Global. She has been involved in mentoring young women in Technology and cybersecurity careers. She holds a degree in BSC. Computer Science and MBA in Strategic Management. She is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) and a Certification in Advanced Artificial Intelligence Auditing (AAIA).
Alissa Jacques Saint-Pierre: Bio
Over the past decade, she has worked as a classroom teacher, policy researcher, and strategic communicator, bringing a unique perspective on how families experience school choice. She is committed to creating student-centered systems that ensure young people are placed in schools where they feel safe, supported, and set-up for success.
In addition to her role at NSCAF, Alissa serves as the Board Chair of the National Association of Black Microschool Leaders (NABML) and on the Junior Board of Advocates for Children of New York.
Jesper Vork: Bio
Jesper is a seasoned software architect and strategic operations leader with a passion for system design that centers people, particularly in the context of AI. He brings a global perspective shaped by engineering rigor, creative thinking, and practical implementation. At the Foundation, Jesper strengthens our architecture for scale — translating technical complexity into human outcomes that enhance the future workforce.
Kaustubha V: Bio
Kaustubha V is a Solution Architect at Microsoft with 14+ years of experience building large-scale cloud, automation, and AI-driven systems across enterprise environments. She specializes in production AI systems, Azure ML, cloud infrastructure, MLOps, and intelligent automation, with a strong focus on translating experimental machine learning workflows into scalable industry solutions. She has earned 50+ industry certifications across Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, and AI technologies, and is also recognized as a Kubestronaut for her expertise in the cloud-native ecosystem.
She is a Women Techmakers Ambassador, Azure Developer Community speaker, and an active contributor to initiatives focused on increasing accessibility and representation in technology. Kaustubha has authored and presented research at leading international workshops and conferences, including ICLR, NeurIPS, ICCV, GHCI, and CODS-COMAD, ICML with work spanning AI systems, responsible AI, generative AI, and scalable ML infrastructure.
Viki Esther CHANG: Bio
Viki Esther CHANG
*Executive Editor, Director, Writer & Creative Production Team Leader*
Viki Esther Chang is an internationally published author, digital media producer, formal education lecturer, and environmental advocate. Anchored by over two decades of international experience living and teaching across Singapore, China, and Europe, her cross-disciplinary body of work spans higher education pedagogy, emerging technology ethics, classical humanities frameworks, and global environmental communication platforms.
As the Executive Editor of GDM Metropolis Publications, her business management literature and academic research modules—including the *Gold Nuggets* educational book series and *AI & Humanity: Alpha or Omega*—are preserved within institutional library repositories such as the National Library Board (NLB) Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and the ESSEC Business School K-Lab network.
In digital media, Chang serves as Creative Director, Host, and Filmmaker across podcasts and documentaries, including *Talk About Life* and *Who is Viki Esther CHANG*. Her recent strategic work includes pitching and conceptualizing and leading original creative IP for national broadcast formats.
Dr. Quiana Bradshaw: Bio
Dr. Quiana Bradshaw is from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and married with 3 beautiful children. I received my Doctor of Computer Science with a concentration in emerging media in September 2013 and was noted for making a significant contribution to the field. I have obtained my Bachelor of Science in IT, 2 MBA’s, Master of IT, Master of Higher Education College Administration Leadership, and Doctor of Computer Science and a Google Data Analytics Certification, Google Cybersecurity Certification, Google UX Design Certification, Google Professional AI Certification. I also have an AI of Strategy & Governance from the University of Pennsylvania-Wharton. I’m an Academic Program Director, Emerging Technology (@ Columbia Southern University) and Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Judson University.
My current research focuses on how applicable games are to education and how they can help curriculum designers create engaging curricula for instructional technology. My goal is to create new emerging technologies and expand the STEM learning/distance education environment. I have various research interests in data science, artificial intelligence, health sciences, virtual world environments, video game development, games-based learning, game-based learning, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, human-computer interaction, information security, educational technologies, and immersive learning environments.
DaVonna May: Bio
DaVonna May, J.D. is an entrepreneur, global brand strategist, creative director and founder of ItGirlGPT, a creative innovation studio helping entrepreneurs and organizations use branding, content, emerging technology and AI to turn creativity into opportunity.
With more than 15 years of experience spanning marketing, business development, law, fashion, media and entrepreneurship, DaVonna brings a multidisciplinary perspective to the future of technology and work. Rather than treating AI as the destination, her work explores how emerging tools can expand what people are able to create, build, communicate and own.
Her experience extends beyond consulting into building and developing brands across wellness, media, music, education and consumer products—giving her a practical perspective on what innovation looks like outside of traditional technology spaces.
A previous GatherVerse speaker, DaVonna has spoken internationally about AI, entrepreneurship, branding and the opportunities emerging technology can create for everyday people. Her work is centered on making innovation accessible, culturally relevant and useful—particularly for entrepreneurs, creatives and communities who may not see themselves represented in traditional technology conversations.
Her philosophy is simple: technology should expand human possibility, not replace human creativity.
Aquarius Maximus: Bio
Aquarius Maximus is a visionary tech founder, blockchain pioneer, and AI innovator building at the intersection of culture, consciousness, and technology. She is the creator of Guapcoin, a digital currency designed to empower communities through economic sovereignty, and the founder of Syrn Music, an AI-powered platform pioneering neural music, voice models, and creative ownership. Expanding into immersive digital worlds, she is also developing GatherXR, a next-generation metaverse platform for connection, creation, and virtual experiences. Through her work, Aquarius Maximus is shaping the future of decentralized systems, creative economies, and human-centered technology.
Linda Porter: Bio
Linda “Lynne” Porter is a speaker, author, and human-centered AI consultant dedicated to bridging the gap between technology and real life. With over four decades of experience in education, leadership, counseling, and organizational strategy, she brings a powerful people-first perspective to conversations around AI, trust, and emerging systems. Now retired from her role at a Nashville HBCU, Linda continues to empower women and non-technical professionals to confidently engage with technology without losing their voice.
A certified AI Consultant, AI Fellow, and AI Super User, Linda is passionate about making AI accessible, ethical, and practical. She has spoken at GatherVerse, AI-Driven Summit, and alongside leaders such as Alicia Lyttle and Katherine Morrison Ministries, inspiring audiences to lead with clarity, dignity, and purpose.
Known for her warmth, insight, and ability to translate complex ideas into meaningful human understanding, Linda’s message is simple yet powerful: trust must come before tools.
Donna Davis: Bio
Stephanie Cummings Carr: Bio
Stephanie Cummings Carr is the President & CEO of Stephanie Marthine Consulting Services, LLC, an AI boutique firm focused on Cloud/AI strategy and business trans‐formation. She operates as an AI Certified Consultant, leveraging deep industry experience to help organizations harness artificial intelligence.
Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Stephanie played a pivotal role at Google developing and managing cloud partnerships within the Government Public Sector, driving collaboration, cloud adoption, and revenue growth through AI/ML services.
As a Strategic Partner Executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS), she serviced FSIs and ISVs. With 20+ years in IT and software sales, Stephanie has built a proven track record at Amazon Web Services, Oracle, and IBM.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Stephanie is actively involved in public service organizations including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., The Links, Inc., The Society, Inc., and The GirlFriends, Inc. She serves on the Advisory Council for the University of Maryland Smith School of Business and is a board member of ScholarCHIPS, Inc., a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit providing college scholar‐ships and mentorship for children of incarcerated parents.
Happily married to Jefery Carr, a civil rights attorney, Stephanie enjoys traveling and relaxing at spas. For organizations exploring their AI journey, Stephanie is ready to help.
Connect at stephaniemarthine.com or [email protected]
Lara Akinola: Bio
An Executive Leadership Strategist, Strategic HR Consultant, Speaker, and Mentor, I help entrepreneurial and executive women stop living reactively and start leading intentionally through my signature Personal Strategic Planning Method™.
My methodology equips women to think and lead strategically, creating lasting transformation from the inside out. My mission is simple – To help ambitious women become the architects of their own future by equipping them with the clarity, confidence, and strategic framework to lead every area of their lives with intention.
Kela Smith: Bio
Dr. Kela Smith, PhD, is a women’s health expert, author, speaker, and Health & Fertility Business Strategist specializing in fertility, hormone health, perimenopause, and root-cause wellness. As founder of The Hormone Puzzle Society®, she has helped thousands of women better understand their bodies and take a more informed, proactive approach to their health.
She is also passionate about empowering the next generation of women’s health professionals, helping fertility coaches and practitioners turn their expertise into impactful, purpose-driven businesses. Dr. Kela is the host of The Hormone Puzzle Podcast and Fertility Coaching Mastery Podcast and is known for making complex health and business topics clear, practical, and actionable.
Ashima Sharma: Bio
Ashima Sharma is the Founder & CEO of Ayuka AI & Data. She is an engaging thought leader, an innovative technologist, keynote and workshop speaker, with a proven track record in driving AI adoption. Under Ashima’s leadership Ayuka works on helping businesses automate their workflows with AI solutions ensuring data readiness, and process optimization. Ayuka helps B2C clients with upskilling workshops in AI building awareness and AI literacy. In addition, Ayuka is developing an innovative AI product with a SBIR award from US Air Force.
With over 22 years of experience in IT Senior Leadership at Fortune 500 organizations, Ashima has developed practical expertise in Tech Strategy, Application Development, Digital Transformation, Agile Development, Organizational Change Management (OCM), and Data Modernization. Ashima holds certifications in AI from Cornell University, multiple Project Management Institute and Microsoft Certified Professional certifications and Change Management Certification from Prosci.
Some of Ashima’s recent speaking engagements include: Miami Valley Women’s Leadership Conference, SOCHE Technology Alliance Meeting, Dayton Chamber of Commerce Empower Cohort, Dayton AI Day, PMI Global Summit in Phoenix AZ, Cincy Deliver Annual Agile Conference and WiBN /BBB conference.
Ashima was awarded The Circuit’s Successful Woman in Tech honor, Dayton Business Journal’s 40 under 40 and WiBN’s Women to Watch. She serves in volunteer board roles for non-profit organizations including serving in President role for the Dayton Chapter of PMI. She founded Women In Artificial Intelligence-FORWARD as a non profit to further learning and interest of women in AI, Tech and Innovation.
Terrence M. Higgs: Bio
Terence M. Higgs, M.Div. is a visionary founder, architect of intelligent systems, and transformational voice at the intersection of faith, technology, and influence. He is widely recognized for pioneering a new category of leadership infrastructure—AI-powered operating systems designed not just to scale businesses, but to amplify purpose, activate voices, and create measurable impact in the real world. As the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of SpeakerRealm, Terence created the world’s first Speaker Operating System. He is also the founder of MasterCallers, a next-generation AI communications company. His work is forged in calling, serving as Pastor of The Iconic Church, where his voice has become a catalyst for transformation, equipping individuals to align identity with purpose. His leadership is distinct, built from both revelation and reality, shaped by significant personal adversity that solidified his conviction and clarity.
Teecee Okore: Bio
Teecee Okore is a Strategy and Operations Consultant, founder of Teecee Business Solutions Ltd, and a business systems expert focused on helping organizations improve operational execution through systems design, AI adoption, workflow optimization, and scalable infrastructure.
Over the years, she has worked with growing businesses, nonprofits, and operational teams to improve internal systems, eliminate workflow bottlenecks, implement automation, and build the infrastructure necessary for sustainable growth.
Her work sits at the intersection of operations, organizational transformation, and practical AI implementation, helping organizations move beyond the excitement around AI to focus on what actually determines successful adoption: operational clarity.
She is deeply passionate about ensuring more organizations, especially women-led organizations and impact-driven teams, understand how to leverage AI strategically rather than simply adopting new tools without the systems required to support them.
Linda Albright: Bio
Linda Albright | Certified AI Consultant & Educator
A Certified AI Consultant, Linda Albright is the founder of the Albright AI Agency as well as Women Run AI, a community helping women lead in the age of AI. After 25 years scaling tech companies across Web 1, , Web 2, Web 3, and now AI, she’s committed to ensuring that wisdom, leadership, and intuition shape what comes next.
Linda leads free virtual trainings, a flagship 7-week training program (The AI Lab for Women), and co-leads the AI Collective – Hartford Chapter, a global nonprofit advancing AI education. She also collaborates with the University of Connecticut School of Business on AI Day Hartford, works with Southern CT State University’s School of Business, serves on the Governor’s Council on Women and Girls, and advises the Senior Executive Women’s Network.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindaalbright/
Core Highlights:
• Certified AI Strategist, Albright AI Agency, advisory and training services for businesses to help them integrate and adapt to AI.
• Founder, the Women Run AI movement and the flagship program AI Lab for Women to ensure women’s voices, values and vision are embedded into AI. Women earn AI Leadership Certificate, Level 1.
• Serial Entrepreneur: With over 25 years of experience scaling technology companies across Web 1, Web 2, Web 3, and now AI, Linda helps business leaders and entrepreneurs leverage AI as a true competitive advantage
• Expertise: AI in business, revenue acceleration, sales & marketing AI, Web3, AI for Good.
• Industries: Entrepreneurs, business leaders, coaching, consulting, AI education & training professional services
Advisory Roles:
• AI Collective – Founder, Hartford CT Chapter – Global nonprofit advancing AI education, monthly events
• AI Day Hartford – Spearhead training and initiatives in collaboration with University of CT’s Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Governor’s Council on Women and Girls – Promote STEM education throughout the state of CT
• Senior Executive Women’s Network – Nonprofit dedicated to women’s advancement in the workplace
• Million Women Mentors – Nonprofit dedicated to promoting girls/women in STEM industries
Ellie Colyer: Bio
Ellie Colyer (Fox) is a Digital Consultant, AI strategist, founder and multidisciplinary innovator working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, healthcare transformation, immersive technology and human-centred design.
With a career spanning consulting, education, languages, performance and technology, Ellie specialises in helping organisations navigate complex digital transformation programmes while ensuring technology remains grounded in human needs and outcomes. She currently leads large-scale digital transformation programmes and is the Founder and CEO of TogetherGen, a venture developing AI-powered immersive environments for rehabilitation, wellbeing and recovery.
Ellie holds an MBA with Distinction from Warwick Business School, where her dissertation focused on immersive technologies and the future of human experience. She is commencing an MSc in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and is a member of the British Computer Society (BCS) and the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL).
A passionate advocate for responsible innovation, Ellie speaks on AI, human potential, digital health, immersive technologies and the power of interdisciplinary thinking. Her work explores how emerging technologies can augment human capability, creativity and wellbeing in an increasingly hybrid world.
Edward Prentice III: Bio
Edward Prentice III is the Founder and CEO of Y Creative Digital Agency, where he leads the development of AI-powered, immersive, and workforce-focused digital platforms. His work is centered on creating real opportunities for women to gain future-ready skills, build income pathways, and participate in the growing fields of AI, media, technology, and immersive experiences. Through initiatives such as the Phoenix Workforce Initiative, YCA Next Wave, and YCA Capital City, Edward is committed to helping women access training, hands-on project experience, and career opportunities that can lead to long-term economic empowerment.
Abigail Merrill: Bio
Abigail Merrill is a Founder, CEO, and leading operator voice for women in AI. Since 2019 she has owned and operated GrowthUP Partners, an AI consultancy firm that has delivered 120+ projects helping small to mid-sized businesses move from scattered AI experimentation to measurable business results. She is a Certified AI Practitioner with credentials from CertNexus, Google, and Microsoft, and brings 15+ years at the intersection of AI, operations, and business growth.
Abigail has built her thought leadership at the intersection of human-centered AI and women’s leadership. Team finalist for a WIN AI Challenge grant by the Melinda Gates French Gates Foundation focused on AI literacy for k-12 teachers in rural NC, co-creator for the first AI for Women Conference in the RTP region, a recurring speaker on practical and responsible AI at SheEvolved, the Center for Practical AI, and AI Ignite. Her flagship AI for ROI Framework and Circle of Human methodology operationalize a single thesis: AI accelerates only when humans set the direction and own the outcome. Based in Durham, NC, Abigail is committed to making AI approachable and accessible to the women, operators, and leaders who will shape what humanity-centered AI actually looks like.
Vasumitha Kadiyam: Bio
VENKATA SAI VASUMITHA KADIYAM is a finance professional currently pursuing the final levels of both Chartered Accountancy (CA) and Cost & Management Accountancy (CMA), with a growing interest in Artificial Intelligence and its potential to transform business, finance, and decision-making.
A graduate of Andhra University, she has built her journey through discipline, consistency, and a commitment to continuous learning. She was recognized among India’s Top 15 speakers in the NTS 24 Elocution Competition, reflecting her communication skills and confidence in sharing ideas on impactful platforms.
Having previously participated in the Gatherverse AI Roundtable Summit, Vasumitha gained valuable exposure to discussions on innovation, leadership, and the future of AI. She considers every opportunity a platform to learn, improve, and contribute more meaningfully.
At the Gatherverse Women’s AI Summit 2026, she looks forward to learning from inspiring leaders, connecting with ambitious women professionals, and deepening her understanding of how AI can create meaningful change across industries.
Bernice Loman: Bio
Bernice Loman, MBA is an international speaker, and founder of Loman Creative Services. She equips businesses, nonprofits, churches, and entrepreneurs to leverage artificial intelligence and emerging technologies with confidence and purpose. With expertise spanning AI, virtual reality, spatial computing, digital marketing, and business strategy, Bernice is passionate about helping organizations embrace innovation while keeping people at the center of technology.
A recognized community leader and technology trainer, Bernice speaks nationally and internationally on the practical, ethical, and transformative use of AI across industries. Her mission is to bridge the gap between faith and innovation, empowering leaders to navigate the future with wisdom, integrity, and impact.
Joya Scarlata: Bio
Joya Scarlata is an AI strategist, international speaker, and marketing executive whose work sits at the intersection of AI literacy, human judgment, and organizational readiness. As Director of Digital Marketing at InterraIT, she helps leaders move beyond isolated AI experimentation by establishing the workflows, decision rights, governance structures, and accountability needed to turn AI into durable business capability.
A TEDx speaker and international university educator, Joya has presented at Advertising Week Europe in London, Digital Marketing Europe in Lisbon, WMF—We Make Future in Bologna, and conferences and classrooms worldwide. She is the co-host of The Marketer’s Guide to the AI Galaxy podcast and the creator of Signals & Strategy, a Substack publication examining how emerging AI developments are reshaping leadership, marketing, and organizational decision-making.
Joya was also named an inaugural Empressa AI25 honoree in the Cultural Translators category.
Tatevik Hovakimyan: Bio
Product leader with 9+ years of experience spanning customer support, product management, and product leadership, now leading AI Strategy at Civitta. Track record of building AI-native products from 0 to 1 and driving measurable outcomes: a Claude-powered design-to-Jira automation that cut spec-writing time by 95%, a 30-40% workflow efficiency gain and 15-20% cost reduction for a marketing-agency client, and up to 17% churn reduction through targeted CRM integrations. Combines a background across product, UX, and customer discovery to translate ambiguous problems into shipped, measurable solutions.
Mariam Chtchyan: Bio
My work sits at a tension most consultants don’t talk about: chasing the right work, then delivering it without breaking the teams behind it. After 11+ years in program and delivery management, that crossroads is where I do my best work. I’m currently Associate Partner at Civitta, leading delivery operations and client engagements across a global partner network. Before that, I spent nine years at HackTech LLC, growing from Project Manager to Chief Operations Officer — building the program management function from scratch and leading delivery governance across 10+ concurrent international engagements in the US, UK, and EU. I work with technology, advisory, and innovation-driven organizations, coaching teams in Agile practices and stakeholder management, and hosting conversations (Digital Shifts, Corporate Evolution Tales) on what transformation really looks like behind the slides. PMP® and PMI-ACP® certified, and currently exploring how AI is reshaping project delivery.
Pratibha Das Hatibaruah: Bio
Pratibha Das Hatibaruah is a seasoned technology entrepreneur and the Founder–Director of Flugelsoft, a pioneering Web3 company working in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Quantum Computing, the Metaverse, FinTech, and E-learning. After a rewarding tenure with Infosys, Bengaluru, she later transitioned into entrepreneurship.
With over 24 years of experience in the technology industry, she has contributed to innovative product development, advised start-ups, and actively shaped conversations around emerging technologies. She is also a prolific tech blogger, speaker, and mentor, contributing to global platforms as well as leading national publications, and has authored books on Artificial Intelligence, the Metaverse, and Blockchain.
KatMoon Landes: Bio
KatMoon Landes is an interdisciplinary artist, immersive storyteller, educator, and former public television producer whose work explores the intersection of art, technology, and human experience. Working across digital media, projection, video, and emerging technologies, she creates dreamlike environments rooted in personal and cultural stories. Her background spans television production, higher education, and digital media education, including teaching internationally. Her current work explores how immersive technology and AI-assisted creative tools can expand storytelling beyond the screen and create experiences that audiences can enter, feel, and remember.
Precious Ozemoya: Bio
Through her practice, Precious is interested in how AI can democratize filmmaking, enabling unconventional creative voices, and reshape traditional notions of visual storytelling. She is also an advocate for greater representation and participation in emerging creative technologies.
Precious is a member of the Alan Turing AI & Arts Interest Group, where she engages with conversations around the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and the arts. She has also spoken on global platforms such as the Women Economic Forum.
As a generative filmmaker, Precious is committed to exploring what the future of cinema might look like when technology becomes an active participant in the creative process. Her work reflects a belief that the most exciting possibilities lie not in replacing human creativity with AI, but in discovering new forms of storytelling through AI.
Vernell Rixner: Bio
Vernell Rixner is an AI operations consultant, founder of Lucid Consulting Operations, and author of the Amazon #1 New Release Scale Without the Bottleneck. A retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 31 years of leadership experience across logistics, contracting, acquisition, and operations, she brings a disciplined, systems-oriented perspective to AI adoption.
An IAAIC Certified AI Consultant, Vernell helps service-based businesses build clearer, AI-supported systems that reduce manual work and owner dependency. Her approach is grounded in a simple principle: people first, automation second. She helps leaders identify where work is breaking down, preserve human judgment where it matters, and use AI intentionally to improve execution without adding unnecessary complexity. Vernell speaks on human-centered AI adoption, operational clarity, responsible automation, and the future of work.
Rebecca Miller: Bio
Rebecca J. Miller | The Art of Disruptions
Rebecca J. Miller is an AI Enablement and Innovation Strategist, author, speaker, and founder of The Art of Disruptions: Co-Creating with the Creator Through AI Innovation. She equips entrepreneurs and leaders to think disruptively, build intentionally, and co-create boldly in the AI era.
As creator of Disruption Builder IQ (DBIQ), Rebecca helps leaders identify the right AI tools, prompts, workflows, and automation strategies to build an intentional AI ecosystem aligned with their purpose.
Anchored in Genesis 1:28, Rebecca challenges believers not to fear AI disruption, but to engage it with wisdom, stewardship, and dominion. Her message is clear: AI should not replace the purpose God placed inside of us. It should expand our capacity to fulfill it.
Carolina Nami: Bio
I’m a Brazilian-born AI consultant and systems builder based between Berlin, Germany and Porto, Portugal, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, ethical technology, and real-world business impact. As founder of nami-AI studio, I design and deploy end-to-end AI solutions – from RAG pipelines and agentic workflows to intelligent automation and production-ready applications – for startups, SMEs, and independent operators across Europe and Latin America.
With over seven years of performance marketing experience leading enterprise accounts for brands including BMW, REWE, and Zalando, I bring a rare dual perspective: the strategic instinct of someone who has managed millions in advertising spend for global brands, combined with the technical depth of a builder who actually ships the systems. I sit at an intersection that didn’t really exist five years ago – someone who understands both the business reality of performance marketing and paid media, and how AI can fundamentally change the way teams operate and make decisions. Today, I apply that combination to create AI tools that are not just functional, but equitable – designed to serve communities that have historically been underserved by tech.
Some examples of my work include developing a spiritual consultation platform powered by LangGraph, RAG and Claude AI, supervised by actual spiritual practitioners; a WhatsApp automation system for an Afro-Brazilian religious and cultural temple; a GDPR-compliant newsletter intelligence studio, shop assistant, and SEO optimizer for a pre-loved luxury cosmetics marketplace in Germany; and AI governance frameworks for EU AI Act compliance. Each project is grounded in the belief that AI should amplify human dignity – not extract from it.
I am completing an MBA in AI, Data Science and Big Data at PUCRS, and hold a certification in AI Consulting and Integration from Ironhack Europe. I am fluent in Portuguese, English, German, and Spanish – and I build AI systems across all four languages, for both professional and personal-purpose clients. My work is guided by the standards I live by: community empowerment, innovation, accessibility, and education.
“Making AI accessible, ethical, and powerful – for everyone.”
Golden Johnson: Bio
Golden J. Johnson is a Jamaican Canadian strategist, entrepreneur, creative professional and founder of House of Golde. Her work brings together identity development, entrepreneurship, organizational change, artificial intelligence and community building.
Born in Canada to two Jamaican parents, Golden lives in Portmore, St. Catherine, when she is in Jamaica. She is building her business across Canada and Jamaica while contributing to strategic and community development through her work with the Rotary Club of Portmore.
Golden is also pursuing her journey toward Miss Universe Jamaica, with the goal of representing St. Catherine. She views pageantry as more than appearance. For her, it is a platform for developing confidence, communication, discipline, emotional regulation, leadership and public service.
Her community work includes philanthropy, youth empowerment, charitable initiatives and programs intended to help people strengthen the human skills, identity and mindset required to move beyond cycles of poverty.
Through House of Golde and her Human Identity Architecture research, Golden helps entrepreneurs and leaders adapt to the age of AI without losing their humanity, creativity or judgment. She is an organizational change management practitioner, IBM certified prompt engineering practitioner, Enterprise Design Thinking practitioner, trained mindset coach and award recognized entrepreneur.
Natalie Rivans: Bio
Natalie Rivans is Co-CEO of re-origin and a Certified Applied Neuroscience Practitioner, Certified Integrative Somatic Practitioner, Certified Menopause Coach, trauma-informed practitioner, and mindfulness and meditation teacher.
Her work focuses on translating neuroscience into practical, accessible approaches that help people better understand the brain, nervous system, persistent symptoms, and the complex physical and emotional changes that can accompany menopause and chronic illness.
Drawing on both professional expertise and lived experience of chronic illness and neurodivergence, Natalie is particularly interested in how women’s health can be better understood, communicated, and supported without reducing complex symptoms to simplistic explanations.
She is a regular podcast guest and summit speaker and is passionate about ensuring that innovation in women’s health remains grounded in lived experience, accessibility, compassion, and the real complexity of women’s bodies and brains.
Arthur Zards: Bio
Arthur Zards argues that AI isn’t a technology shift. It’s a shift in meaning, and the fear leaders feel isn’t about the technology. It’s that meaning is moving faster than anyone can adapt.
He speaks from experience most AI voices don’t have. Three decades ago, Arthur co-founded an internet service provider before the web browser existed. He and his partners grew it, sold it to a publicly traded company in 1999, then bought it back out of bankruptcy two years later. It still runs today. He didn’t just watch the last technology disruption. He lived its whole arc, and sees the same pattern forming now, only faster.
His central idea is the Meaning Gap: as AI makes execution cheap, the advantage moves to what it can’t copy. Judgment. Taste. Originality. The ability to think clearly when the answer arrives before you’re ready for it.
Arthur is the founder of TEDxNaperville, the Midwest’s longest-running TEDx event, a TED and TEDx speaker, and a keynote speaker for Gartner’s Evanta Summit series across 25+ cities. He has delivered an early version of the Meaning Gap to a virtual audience of more than 100,000, and has lectured at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Sathya Kannan: Bio
Her pioneering research spans AI-driven precision farming, predictive analytics for financial services, and intelligent models for optimizing equipment performance. A passionate advocate for sustainability, Sathya has advanced machine learning applications that promote resource efficiency and reduce environmental impact, paving the way for a more sustainable future.
An accomplished author and researcher, Sathya’s influential works explore the transformative role of AI in addressing issues such as hunger alleviation, global food security, and enhanced problem resolution in technical systems. Her studies demonstrate the convergence of technology and human ingenuity to create meaningful, real-world solutions.
As an inspiring keynote speaker, Sathya shares her vision for harnessing AI to empower communities, drive innovation, and achieve sustainability goals. Her dedication to using technology for the greater good continues to shape the future of AI and its potential to improve lives globally.
Doorva Bahuguna: Bio
Doorva Bahuguna, based in India is the founder of Chemylion and Sentinos, AI-native infrastructure to help organizations and individuals systemize marketing and brand-building. Her perspective brings together business leadership, systems thinking, and real-world execution making her particularly relevant for practitioners looking to build sustainable, differentiated practices in an increasingly crowded market.
She is a business leader and operator with over two decades of experience building and scaling brands, businesses, and operating systems across Asia and the Middle East. She has held executive roles spanning Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Business Officer, and Chief Operating Officer, and has worked with global organizations across retail, media, consumer goods, financial services, and sports.
Pranitha Potturi: Bio
Nagawa Lule: Bio
Nagawa Lule is an AI strategist, trainer, strategic marketing consultant, artist and filmmaker working at the intersection of ethical AI, cultural intelligence, creativity and positive impact. A Third Culture Kid with experience spanning Africa and Europe, she brings a distinctly global and cross-cultural perspective to how emerging technologies are designed, communicated and adopted.
Her work focuses on helping entrepreneurs, organisations and communities move beyond simply using AI towards applying it intentionally, responsibly and in ways that strengthen human capability. Drawing on systems thinking, cultural intelligence and more than 15 years of marketing and strategy experience, Nagawa explores the opportunities and tensions emerging as AI reshapes work, entrepreneurship, creativity and society.
As an artist, she uses synthography and emerging media among her creative mediums to explore identity, culture and the spaces between worlds. Her artistic practice examines hybridity, belonging and the ways technology can create new forms of cultural expression and connection.
As a speaker and facilitator, Nagawa brings together perspectives that are too often discussed separately: technology and humanity, innovation and responsibility, global systems and local realities.
Maria Camila Garcia: Bio
Builder and Product Designer with five years of experience in high-growth startups, FinTech and multicultural teams across America and Asia. Proven track record of designing complex B2B SaaS workflows and AI-powered products. Skilled in simplifying data-dense environments, tokenising design systems, and collaborating directly with engineering. Combines strong user discovery methods with business impact, contributing directly to enterprise revenue growth. Holds Australian Permanent Residency (PR) with full working rights.
Logan Jones: Bio
Logan Jones is the Founder and CEO of ticker, a social investing platform that uses AI to help the next generation of investors learn how the stock market works by watching, following, and engaging with real verified investing activity. A barred attorney and first-generation investor, Logan built ticker as a non-technical founder who learned to think with AI before she ever managed a technical team. She uses AI daily across product strategy, PRD development, and company operations, and has built an AI-assisted product development workflow that pushes specs directly to engineering without writing a single line of code. Her experience sits at the intersection of human learning, behavioral change, and AI-powered tools, and she is passionate about how AI can democratize access to knowledge for communities that have historically been left out of expert-driven spaces.
Nelson Pizarro: Bio
Entrepreneur, educator, and innovation scholar with more than 30 years of experience building companies, academic programs, and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Currently Professor of Entrepreneurship at Boise State University and creator of the Opportunity Leverage Framework (OLF), a systems-based approach for recognizing and acting on opportunities across different levels of complexity. His work explores how human judgment, systems thinking, and AI can support learning and responsible innovation. Previously served as the Kiril Sokoloff Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Assistant Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at the University of the Virgin Islands.
Monica Leyva: Bio
Mónica Leyva es fundadora y CEO de Experiencia.co, una organización enfocada en ampliar el acceso a la educación virtual y conectar a estudiantes con oportunidades de educación superior. Desde Experiencia.co, ha liderado iniciativas que acompañan a los estudiantes durante todo su proceso educativo, desde la elección del programa y el proceso de admisión hasta el acompañamiento durante sus estudios. La organización tiene presencia en Colombia, Estados Unidos y México, con un fuerte compromiso por hacer que la educación de calidad sea más accesible y flexible.
Kim Nelson-Wright: Bio
Kim Nelson-Wright is the Founder of K.N.W. Business Advisors and Co-Founder & CEO of PreFlight AI™, where she is building the practice of AI Operational Governance, turning AI policy into daily operating decisions, named owners, and response protocols that move at the pace of the technology they govern. She currently serves as Senior Strategic Advisor, Clinical and Business Operations, for a major US transportation organization, and brings 20+ years of operations leadership across nonprofit, healthcare, government, and corporate sectors, including as VP of Clinical Operations for Planned Parenthood of Maryland. She holds AI governance credentials from Oxford Saïd Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and the University of Michigan, and is the author of AI Operational Governance: The Field Guide for Turning AI Policy Into Practice. Her latest work includes launching PreFlight AI™’s first Action Kit — a practical tool helping organizations without a dedicated governance function close AI oversight gaps directly, and building relationships within Southeast Asian and African AI governance ecosystems.
Bindu Madhavi Mangalampalli: Bio
Bindu Madhavi Mangalampalli is a Data Engineering Architect and Team Lead based in the United States, with a professional career centered on healthcare data infrastructure. Her expertise spans data engineering, healthcare data systems, and the operational realities of building reliable, compliant data pipelines for regulated industries.
Her thought leadership on data-driven initiatives has been featured on the Forbes Technology Council, where she wrote about the warning signs that a DevOps initiative is losing its way, emphasizing that leaders must move beyond adding tools and instead focus on rebuilding team confidence, a factor she notes isn’t captured by any dashboard.
On the research front, she has authored multiple technical papers, including “Scalable Digital Infrastructure for Connected Care Networks,” published in February 2026, and “Cognitive Automation in Clinical Documentation and Revenue Optimization,” also from February 2026 — both reflecting her focus on applying automation and scalable systems design to healthcare operations. Her academic profile lists ten research papers in total.
In May 2026, Mangalampalli participated as a speaker at the GatherVerse AI Evolve Summit, a three-day online event that brought together over 50 international speakers from more than 25 countries to discuss responsible AI adoption across the technology, data, and AI sectors. Discussions centered on how data engineering teams navigate the integration of AI into existing systems, particularly in regulated industries where data quality, governance, and interoperability are essential rather than optional.
Kimberly Anderson: Bio
Kimberly Anderson builds and scales AI driven businesses. She spent her media career at The New York Times International and the Financial Times, where she led growth and innovation for the B2B sales team and launched new products across global markets. She proposed company wide AI automation at the FT in 2018, started building with generative AI in 2022, then left corporate life to become an AI first founder. She now runs a digital start-up, Love Alchemist, that runs on custom AI agents: 800+ videos, 3M+ views, courses and end to end marketing funnels. Featured in The New York Times and The Independent. Global Women Top 100. Masters of Science in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, HEC Paris.
Julia Kolodkina: Bio
Julia Kolodkina is a creative entrepreneur, brand strategist, and creator of Tasteology — an original methodology exploring how human experience, emotional intelligence, judgment, and AI shape better marketing decisions.
With 10+ years across global brands, agencies, startups, and enterprise, she has built brands, led marketing strategy, created communities, and developed ideas at the intersection of business, culture, creativity, and human behavior.
Julia is the Founder & CEO of ALIIIENS, a Brand Venture for business transformation, growth, and innovation, and
ALL EYES ON US, a curated NYC community of 3,000+ women entrepreneurs.
Leslie Barreto Tate: Bio
Leslie Barreto Tate is the Founder of Everyday Digital AI and the #1 Amazon bestselling author of Power in the Pivot. After 15+ years in Fortune 500 leadership and two corporate layoffs, she built the PIVOT Framework, a five-part method for reinvention rooted in purpose before any tool or tactic. She has trained 20,000+ professionals with a 96% implementation rate, delivering bilingual keynotes and workshops across the US, Colombia, and Mexico. Leslie helps leaders use AI as a multiplier, not a replacement, for the clarity, identity, and voice they already have.
Laura Mc Gillicuddy: Bio
With a background spanning artificial intelligence, automation, psychology and technology leadership, Laura is particularly interested in trust, bias, responsible AI adoption and the ways AI can shape how people are perceived, evaluated and supported. Her recent work has explored gendered perceptions of AI use and the hidden social costs that can emerge even when technology itself is intended to empower.
Laura holds an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from Queen’s University Belfast and is a NeurIPS 2026 Ethics Reviewer and Erpenbach Institute Fellow. Through Tech With Heart, her writing and speaking focus on making conversations about AI more human, accessible and grounded in the people these systems ultimately affect.
At the heart of her work is a simple principle: technological progress matters, but so do the people experiencing it.
Patricia Orji: Bio
Patricia Orji is an AI and Data Science practitioner focused on practical, responsible applications of AI and data to real world problems. Her work spans applied AI, data analysis, Retrieval Augmented Generation and information access systems. She is particularly interested in how AI and data can help address information gaps in women’s health, including areas such as fibroids where awareness, representation and access to clear, culturally relevant information remain persistent challenges.
Mariam Abdeen: Bio
Mariam Abdeen is an AI Web Developer and Founder & Lead Developer of CodeK, an Arabic-language platform that teaches programming from the ground up through 60 structured lessons, hands-on projects, a built-in live coding terminal, and an AI-powered assistant. Designed with accessibility at its core, the platform features text-to-speech, adjustable font sizing, high-contrast mode, and multilingual support, making tech education genuinely reachable for Arabic-speaking learners. Her work earned the Impact Award at the Break the Pattern: International Women’s Day Virtual Summit (2026) for driving social impact and expanding tech education. Beyond CodeK, Mariam has led development on AI-powered analytics dashboards, worked as a bilingual Arabic-English language model reviewer, and holds certifications in deep learning and AI fundamentals from DeepLearning.AI and DECI AI. She is passionate about using technology and AI to close educational gaps and open new opportunities for the next generation of Arabic-speaking builders.
Faith Olatunde: Bio
Faith Olatunde is an author, designer, and marketing sales expert whose journey spans some of the nation’s most dynamic creative hubs including New York, Chicago and Atlanta. With roots in luxury fashion, B2B marketing, and high end interior design, she has mastered the art of white glove service and strategic storytelling.
Today, as Marketing Director for The Cxmmunity Foundation (a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing youth technical skills through education, infrastructure, and providing access to the gaming, esports, and digital entertainment industries) she drives growth, increases revenue, and strengthens donor engagement. She is also launching her newest venture, focused on connecting the diaspora to build wealth across continents while helping the next generation remain grounded in a world where AI and technology are evolving faster than ever.
Audrey Muliva: Bio
Audrey Muliva is founder of NetHealthing and a digital wellbeing speaker exploring human-AI co-evolution. A former Manufacturing Director turned certified Digital Wellness Educator, she has researched online connection since 1998. Audrey helps people and leaders integrate technology consciously, protecting human agency, judgement and connection as AI reshapes daily work.
Shara Resch: Bio
Shara Resch is a Certified AI Consultant and Operations Strategist and founder of SDR Creative Solutions. She helps service-based businesses identify where missed opportunities, manual processes, and disconnected systems are costing them time and money, then applies practical AI and automation to improve how the business operates.
Drawing on more than 17 years of operations and program management experience, Shara focuses on making AI practical and accessible for nontechnical business owners and teams. She is the creator of the RESCH Method™, a framework for identifying operational gaps and determining where AI, automation, and better systems can create meaningful business improvements.
Her work spans AI strategy, business process automation, and practical AI education.
L.Finesse Humxn: Bio
L.Finesse Humxn is an AI engineer and suicide prevention speaker who works in both rooms that most people only comment on.
She builds production AI systems, LangGraph agents, RAG pipelines and multi-provider LLM infrastructure, and has shipped four apps to the App Store and Google Play. She is also a suicide attempt survivor who has spent 7 years training people to listen, in schools, conferences and community rooms across the US and Asia.
She is Executive Director of Finesse Our Minds, a survivor-led nonprofit providing free peer support and a crisis resource directory covering 55+ countries.
Her argument is unpopular in both rooms. AI can save a life at 3am when nobody else is awake. It can never be the whole room, because a person needs another person to be changed by them.
Rania Esmael: Bio
Rania Esmael is a tech woman entrepreneur, founder, and operator building AI-enabled companies across business growth, creative intelligence, and learning operations. She is the founder of GrowthX, an AI-enabled business accelerator focused on practical execution and accountable growth; Kreator, a creative-intelligence platform; and Axl, a learning-operations platform. Her first venture, CareerK, reached thousands of students across Egypt, worked with public-sector partners, and led to African Changemaker recognition. With a scientific background, more than 13 years in business and entrepreneurship, and experience training more than 3,000 students across 15+ academic institutions, Rania works at the intersection of technology, education, workforce execution, and startup scaling. From Bali, she helps founders and cross-functional teams operationalize AI, build lean systems, and create measurable next steps.
Denise Sifuentes: Bio
I am an experienced educator, military veteran, and emerging leader in AI-driven education with a passion for developing innovative learning environments that prepare students for the future. With over 15 years in education and service, I bring a unique combination of discipline, leadership, and instructional expertise to every role I take on.
After serving as a Sergeant in the United States Army specializing in network engineering, I returned to the classroom with renewed purpose and perspective. I currently teach robotics, where I integrate problem-based learning, technology, and real-world application to help students develop critical thinking and technical skills. My background in physical education and coaching has strengthened my ability to motivate diverse learners, build team culture, and foster student confidence.
I am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Generative AI in Education, as I work to bridge the gap between emerging technologies and instructional practice. My goal is to lead initiatives that support ethical, effective, and innovative use of AI in schools while empowering both students and educators.
My professional mission is to create learning experiences that are rigorous, inclusive, and future-focused — preparing learners not just for academic success, but for meaningful impact in a rapidly evolving world.
Jana Stewart: Bio
Jana Stewart is the founder and CEO of VelaHR, an AI-enabled workplace platform helping employers address menopause through manager education, practical accommodations, policy guidance and responsible implementation systems. A former professional athlete, corporate finance professional and longtime women’s-health advocate, Jana brings lived experience and business discipline to the intersection of AI, women’s health and the future of work. She is collaborating with the Michigan Women’s Commission on the Michigan Menopause-Friendly Workplace Challenge and speaks about responsible AI, midlife reinvention and retaining experienced women in the workforce.
Bridgette Bello: Bio
Bridgette Bello is a business leader, founder, executive strategist, and sought-after speaker with more than 35 years of experience building influential organizations and advising CEOs, founders, and growth-stage companies.
She is the Founder & CEO of The Executive Collective, an ecosystem of curated peer communities designed to support leaders through growth, transition, and succession. She also serves as a Senior Advisor at Windsor Capital, where she advises founder-led and middle-market companies on succession planning, liquidity events, and strategic transitions.
Previously, Bridgette served as President & Publisher of the Tampa Bay Business Journal—the first woman in the publication’s history to hold the role—and later founded Tampa Bay Business & Wealth, which earned statewide and national recognition under her leadership. Today, Bridgette is recognized as a leading voice on executive leadership, strategic access, succession, reinvention, and high-stakes decision-making. Her insights have been featured in Authority Magazine, Global Woman Magazine, Florida Inno, News Bosses, Radio St. Pete, and other leadership-focused media platforms.
Known for her operator authority and ability to create high-trust executive environments, Bridgette helps leaders gain clarity, strengthen relationships, and accelerate long-term enterprise value.
Learn more at: https://bridgettebello.com
Ramani Eedara: Bio
Ramani Eedara is a Senior Software Engineer and healthcare interoperability specialist with more than 11 years of experience building technology that connects healthcare systems, clinical data, and complex workflows.
Her expertise spans HL7 v2, FHIR, healthcare APIs, cloud-native integration architecture, and interoperability across major electronic health record platforms including Epic, Cerner, Athenahealth, Allscripts, and Meditech. Her work focuses on solving complex healthcare data exchange challenges and building scalable systems that enable clinical and administrative information to move reliably across healthcare organizations.
Ramani is HL7 FHIR certified and AWS certified and holds a Master’s degree in Computer and Information Systems from Kent State University.
Her professional and research interests center on intelligent healthcare interoperability and the data infrastructure required for responsible AI in healthcare, including data quality, standardization, privacy, provenance, system integration, and human oversight.
Beyond her engineering work, Ramani contributes to the healthcare technology community through scholarly research, peer review, conference speaking, and professional knowledge sharing. She is particularly interested in advancing healthcare technology that is interoperable, trustworthy, responsible, and centered on meaningful human outcomes.
Geetika Agrawal: Bio
Geetika Agrawal is the founder and CEO of VAWAA (Vacation With An Artist), a way to book one-on-one creative apprenticeships with master artists around the world. A designer and entrepreneur, she founded VAWAA around a belief that some of the most meaningful knowledge is passed from person to person — through making, observation, conversation, and time spent together.
As AI reshapes how we work and create, Geetika is interested in what becomes more valuable about being human. Through VAWAA, she is building infrastructure for human creativity: helping preserve artistic knowledge, creating economic opportunities for artists, and giving people ways to develop curiosity, creative confidence, and deeper human connection.
Haylee Anderson: Bio
Haylee Anderson is a former mechanical engineer turned organizational behavior researcher and founder of How 2 Human. After realizing the world had no manual for being human, she built one — helping high performers understand their wiring and design lives around connection instead of burnout based on research-backed and experiment-proven practices. At How 2 Human, humanity is the feature, not a bug.
Sherrii Webb: Bio
Sherrii Webb is a Leadership & Communication Strategist with more than 25 years of experience partnering with senior leaders to successfully lead enterprise communications, crisis response, and change management inside mission‑driven and Fortune 100 organizations including TIAA, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial, Bank of America and Ahold Delhaize.
She helps leaders communicate with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact – especially during pivotal moments of change and high‑stakes decision‑making. Her work spans executive communication strategy, strategic partnerships, community engagement, and leadership development.
Today, as founder of Odessa Strategic Advisors, she helps organizations navigate change and transformational moments – M&A integrations, AI adoptions, leadership changes, etc. – to minimize risk and maximize employee engagement. She is also an advocate and educator of AI with fellow women entrepreneurs.
Sherrii holds a Master of Science in Leadership and Organizational Change and a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications.
Simona Schuster: Bio
Simona Domazetoska Schuster is a product marketing leader, technology strategist, and founder of Mindful AI, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, business, and society. As Lead Product Marketing Manager at Tricentis, she leads go-to-market strategy for AI-driven and enterprise automation technologies, translating complex innovation into tangible business value. Her career spans technology, education, and diplomacy, while her work with Mindful AI explores the ethical, human, and societal implications of AI, including its impact on the future of work and developing economies. She has contributed to the AI for Developing Countries Forum and speaks and writes on responsible innovation, AI adoption, and how emerging technologies can create more equitable and human-centred futures.
Rosa Combs: Bio
Rosa J. Combs, J.D., is the Founder and Managing Director of The Great Friction, an AI literacy and advisory company helping individuals, communities, and organizations use AI while maintaining privacy, control, and their human voice. Her work sits at the intersection of responsible AI adoption, governance, workforce readiness, and human-centered technology. Drawing on experience leading complex technology initiatives across commercial and federal environments, Rosa translates emerging AI risks and capabilities into guidance people can understand and act on.
Hajar Zerouani: Bio
a Moroccan computer engineer, AI researcher, entrepreneur, and tech community leader. She is an AI doctoral researcher at ENSIAS (Mohammed V University in Rabat), where her work specializes in developing generative AI and conversational agents tailored for healthcare.In addition to her research, she is a multi-sector entrepreneur and an official Google Women Techmakers (WTM) Ambassador, dedicated to mentoring women in STEM and building community across the North African tech ecosystem.
Amanda Obidike: Bio
Dr. Amanda Obidike is an accomplished data scientist, non-profit leader and senior policy advisor where she serves as the Technical Advisor for Continental Education Strategy for Africa at the African Union (AU) and the UNESCO inclusive policy lab. In this role, she successfully designed an aligned framework for science educators’, establishing learner standards in STEM across Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Liberia to deepen students’ understanding of key science concepts, skills and fully engage students in their learning while teachers can easily move toward outcomes-based education.
Recently, she was named in the Heroes Executives Role Model List supported by YouTube. In 2025, she was named 50 Most Influential Persons of African Descent (MIPAD) in the Philanthropic and Social Impact category; the 2024 “Women Who change the World” list, 2024 Top 100 Women of the Future in Emerging Tech.
She has also been celebrated by Forbes Science as an African changing the culture fabric for young talents to embrace opportunities in Science and Technology.
As the Executive Director of STEMi Makers Africa, she has led, provided leadership and prepares the next generation of Africans to be self-reliant and problem-solvers for Africa’s economy. She serves as a Mentor in the New York Academy of Science and Cherie Blair Foundation, Global thinkers for Women where she lends her voice and knowledge to serve as a role model to girls in Africa.
Lanika Johnson: Bio
Lanika Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Body & Crown™, a culturally intelligent AI-powered wellness platform designed to help people feel supported, understood, and connected before stress escalates into crisis. She brings 21 years of experience across behavioral health, public health, care coordination, crisis intervention, and community-based systems, supporting thousands of individuals navigating complex life circumstances.
Drawing from her professional expertise and lived experience, Lanika built Body & Crown around a humanity-first belief: technology should recognize culture, protect dignity, and support emotional well-being without attempting to replace human care. Her work explores how founders can build responsible, non-clinical AI experiences rooted in cultural presence, safety, consent, and real community connection.
Diksha Sharma: Bio
Diksha Sharma is an AI entrepreneur and founder of a stealth mode AI startup, focused on turning artificial intelligence into practical solutions for businesses. She works at the intersection of AI, product innovation, and business transformation, exploring AI agents, intelligent automations, and AI-powered systems that solve real-world problems.
With hands-on experience building AI solutions and working with early-stage teams, Diksha is passionate about making emerging technologies more accessible, useful, and human-centered. She is also pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Data Analytics at IIT Patna.
Her work is driven by a simple belief: AI should not just be powerful, it should create meaningful impact for people, businesses, and communities.
Jaseetha Satkurunathan: Bio
I’m an AI Engineer and Lead DevOps Engineer at Enadoc, where I build and run the cloud infrastructure and AI systems behind the company’s document management platform. I spent nearly six years in DevOps and cloud engineering before moving into applied AI, so I tend to think about AI systems the way I think about infrastructure: does it hold up under real conditions, and can you trust it when something breaks.
I hold an MSc in Artificial Intelligence with Distinction from the University of Wolverhampton, where my dissertation built a multi-agent AI platform for UK public services where one agent for government queries, one for NHS demand forecasting, one for emergency signposting. The focus throughout was making the system safe enough to actually put in front of citizens.
Scarlett Hara: Bio
Her work brings ancient knowledge into dialogue with the challenges of modern life. She teaches about human consciousness and inner states, feminine power, leadership, ancestral wisdom, our relationship with nature, personal transformation, and traditional approaches to healing and spiritual development.
A central part of Scarlett’s tradition is working with rhythm, trance, focused attention, movement, and the shamanic drum. She is particularly interested in how ancient knowledge about the human being can offer a valuable perspective in a rapidly changing technological world.
Scarlett leads seminars, experiential practices, and online programs and has created recorded educational courses for both spiritual practitioners and broader audiences. Her mission is to make ancient knowledge accessible and meaningful to women and communities across cultures and generations.
Jackie Cook: Bio
Jackie Cook is the Founder and CEO of Momentum Group, where she helps leaders, founders, and organizations navigate what’s next across four core areas: AI, career, change, and leadership.
An executive turned entrepreneur, Jackie brings more than two decades of experience leading teams, building products, navigating transformation, and helping people move through periods of significant change. Today, her work focuses on making leadership development more practical, career navigation more intentional, and AI more accessible to the people expected to actually use it.
Jackie is a speaker, writer, advisor, and builder whose insights have been featured in publications including Yahoo Finance and Moneywise. Through Momentum Group, she develops leadership experiences, advises executives and founders, and helps organizations move from AI experimentation to meaningful adoption.
Her philosophy is simple: you don’t need to have everything figured out to move forward. You just need enough clarity to take the next meaningful step.
NiKole Maxwell: Bio
NiKole “Technikole” Maxwell is a Google Cloud Certified Generative AI Leader, Digital Due Diligence Strategist, and the Founder & CEO of Technikole Consulting. Guided by her core mantra “Ideation. Implementation. Automation.” – she leverages over two decades of enterprise digital transformation expertise to optimize organizational systems, protect asset valuation, and establish technical autonomy without ever touching a client’s codebase.
A technical pioneer who built her first computer at age ten, NiKole has led over 500 successful integration projects including consolidations, data migrations, system-to-system mergers. When enterprise mobility was in its infancy, she worked from the ground up to establish end-to-end operational workflows for Verizon’s 7-pillar, “Managed Mobility” startup, focusing on implementation, logistics, mobile security and application development. Today, her enterprise strategies seamlessly balance the Google ecosystem with local-first, zero-trust AI infrastructure to eliminate capital leakage and protect technical independence. She is also the creator of proprietary assets like TechNavigatorGPT™, Technikole PDF Standard™ – a “Pre-mint Authority” record infusing intelligence and intent, TechniTEM™, a forensic M&A pre-acquisition technical expense audit platform.
Driven by unyielding technical integrity and a passion for advocacy, NiKole serves as Chief Innovation Officer for Black Women in Technology, where she has driven a 94% YoY organizational growth rate with programs like the LearnAIThon which saw 125 women receive double Google credentials in AI Skill Advancement. She has gone from the boardroom to the Metaverse and back again and is continuing to lead with deep technical rigor, embodying the words of Dr. Mae Jemison: “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.”
Dr. Tavis Taylor: Bio
Dr. Tavis Taylor is an AI strategist, educator, pastor, and entrepreneur with a PhD in Positive Neuropsychology. She is the founder and CEO of Tailored Connection Staffing and Training and the founder of FAITHai, its faith-centered AI education and consulting brand.
Her work connects human behavior, faith, and practical technology education, helping entrepreneurs, ministry leaders, and communities use AI with confidence and discernment. She has created more than 135 custom GPTs and 100 applications, translating complex tools into approachable, real-world uses.
Dr. Taylor advocates for technology that strengthens human capability while preserving critical thinking, integrity, and meaningful connection. Her guiding principle is simple: never outsource discernment.
Azia Churchwell: Bio
Nada Hashmi: Bio
Nada Hashmi, PhD, is an AI transformation leader and researcher who helps nonprofits and mid-tier organizations adopt AI without enterprise budgets, dedicated IT staff, or vendor leverage. As Fractional Chief AI & Innovation Officer at the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), a national nonprofit CDFI, she built the organization’s AI transformation program from the ground up: a tiered governance policy, a vendor due-diligence and security-review process, a staff AI-literacy curriculum, and a phased, staff-driven pilot for choosing between AI platforms on a limited budget. Her work translates practices built for well-resourced enterprises into steps a lean team can actually run.
She is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at Babson College (on leave) and a research affiliate at MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence, where she earned her PhD. Her published research on AI ethics, algorithmic bias, and the social impact of AI appears in ACM EAAMO Proceedings and Business Horizons, among others. She has also taught practical AI skills directly to community members through a multi-session public workshop series, and was recognized with Babson’s 2026 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Leadership Award.
Renee Williams: Bio
L. Renee Williams, M.A., B.S., CCRA, CAIC™, is the founder and CEO of CycleLife, a privacy-first women’s wellness platform created to put women—not data collection—at the center.
With more than a decade of progressive experience in regulated clinical research and a career grounded in patient safety, data integrity, informed consent, and quality oversight, Renee understands that health information is deeply personal. Her work has included Phase I–III clinical research across oncology, immunology, rare disease, endocrinology, allergy, and mental health, where she helped support protocol compliance, risk-based monitoring, inspection-ready documentation, and the responsible handling of sensitive participant information.
Renee is an ACRP-Certified Clinical Research Associate and a Certified Artificial Intelligence Consultant. She brings her clinical-research discipline into responsible AI and privacy-conscious wellness design, developing human-centered workflows that emphasize clear boundaries, data minimization, safety review, fairness, transparency, and appropriate escalation to qualified professionals. Her approach does not replace clinical care; it helps women better understand their wellness experiences, prepare for care conversations, and control what they choose to share.
As a founder, Renee is building CycleLife to support women through every stage of womanhood—from menstrual wellness and fertility to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, emotional wellbeing, and self-advocacy. She believes every woman deserves a private space to reflect, learn, ask questions, and enter healthcare conversations feeling more prepared, informed, and respected.
Renee holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science in Biological Science from California State University, Hayward. Her work sits at the intersection of women’s wellness, clinical research, privacy, responsible AI, and health equity.
