Prior to creating Hast, Elliot worked as a consultant in marketing and branding for agencies and companies such as FutureBrand, Weber Shandwick & Nivea. Elliot has always had a passion for cooking, industrial design, material science, and engineering. Elliot is also a certified Les Mills instructor, a certified trainer, and a nutrition specialist. 

Charlotte Dales (She/Hers) is the Co-Founder and CEO of Inclusively, the workforce inclusion platform empowering employers with accommodation insights, access, training and the support they need to attract and retain previously hidden talent. Charlotte’s cousin Cameron became the first licensed aesthetician in the state of Florida with Down syndrome and after witnessing Cameron’s career fulfillment, she became passionate about replicating her employment success story for disabled talent and started Inclusively. Before launching Inclusively, Charlotte started her career in finance with Deutsche Bank in London working with trading desks around the world. After five years, she left her bank job and co-founded her first company, CAKE Technologies, a mobile payment and reservation application for restaurants and bars which scaled to over 200 restaurants in London and was acquired by American Express. Charlotte’s experience in technology and startups has allowed Inclusively to provide a new technology solution to drive authentic diversity and inclusion in the workplace–helping employers acquire and retain top talent based on job seekers' needed accommodations to build sustainable livelihoods and careers. Under Charlotte’s leadership, Inclusively is proud to be modernizing recruitment by creating structure and transparency around accommodations, benefitting all job seekers. Charlotte graduated from University of Colorado, Boulder and lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, daughter, and son.

Amy Chou Granger is Co-Founder and President of M2U NYC. Prior to launching M2U NYC in 2020, Amy had held Director roles with increasing responsibilities at both L’Oréal USA and later The Estée Lauder Companies. With 15+ years of extensive experience in Marketing, Operations, and Strategic Planning for several CPG and beauty conglomerates, Amy has influenced the strategic direction for powerhouse brands including Kiehl’s, Giorgio Armani Beauty, and Michael Kors Beauty.Amy was born and raised in Taiwan. She came to the U.S. to pursue her graduate degree (Amy holds a Master of Engineering degree from MIT). Growing up in Asia, she was not exposed to makeup since most people in Taiwan didn’t wear makeup until they started working full-time. Her first makeup experience was in her mid 20’s when her friend took her to Macy’s and got her a beauty makeover. She recalls that she could hardly recognize herself in the mirror because it was not her style and she didn’t feel comfortable looking like someone else. Makeup trends are different in all cultures. With the launch of M2U, she wants to empower everyone to formulate their own beauty standards. She wants to give people tools to experiment, have fun and create new routines without feeling guilty about overspending."I launched M2Ü NYC after spending over a decade working at L’Oreal USA and The Estée Lauder Companies. Growing up in Taiwan and coming to the U.S. in my 20s, I realized the makeup trends are different in all cultures, but one thing remains the same, that is, people want to feel comfortable with whatever they choose to put on their skin. My goal as an Asian American founder is to create a price inclusive, ingredient driven makeup brand. I feel strongly that every person should be able to enjoy the benefits of high-quality makeup without stressing over the prices.”– Amy Chou Granger, Co-Founder of M2Ü NYC.

Fernanda Gomes is CEO & Co-founder of award-winning clean beauty nail and skin wellness brand: TERRA Beauty Bars & VIBES Beauty. She is a certified and licensed product formulator & cosmetic manufacturer with over a decade of strategic sales, marketing, operations, project management and Clean Beauty Manufacturing experience. Gomes is a motivator with a thorough understanding of goals, B2B / B2C channels and customer relationships, strategy and company metrics. A US Army Veteran that demonstrates competence and poise in any environment, Gomes is inspired by great work, positive social impact, moving the needle and forging great relationships.From beauty, hospitality, destination, technology to consumer goods, Gomes has successfully formulated, launched and managed brands and projects with an ultimate focus on innovation, meaningful connections, consumer engagement, digital and analog experiences.

Melanie Masarin founded Ghia, a spirit-free aperitif, to change the way we think about drinking and socializing. She is the recipient of a Forbes 30 under 30 (2018; e-comm & retail) award and since launch, Ghia has been praised by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and many others. To create Ghia, she bottled up her personal passions and work experience in retail and hospitality. Most recently, Melanie was the Head of Retail and Offline Experiences at Glossier where she led the offline and experiential strategy including the creative direction of their showrooms, developing pop-ups, and conceptualizing permanent spaces. Prior to that, she was the Creative Director and Head of Marketing at Dig Inn, where she led the rebrand of the company overseeing everything from messaging, communication, store design, branding, digital presence, paid advertising, and offline marketing.

I had the idea of Tandem while I was 4 months pregnant. I was constantly lugging around my water bottle but not actually drinking it. Acutely aware of the benefits of drinking water and staying hydrated but I had a hard time constantly drinking plain water. As an avid consumer of flavored waters and sparkling seltzers,  I was searching for an eco-friendly, healthier option, essentially a drink mix so I could cut down on my packaging. However most of the existing drink mixes either had electrolytes (essentially added salt) which required added sugar and sweeteners. I couldn't believe there wasn't a drink mix that didn't have either out on the market! Hence the idea for Tandem.While Tandem is a better-for-you product, I believed we can also be a better-for-the earth and better-for- community company.My inspiration for Slow Ride Instant Coffee happened much the same way, where I knew there had to be a faster way to make delicious coffee. Slow Ride is on a mission to transport you to the highlands of Vietnam where our beans are meticulously grown and harvested, roasted by master Vietnamese coffee roasters and ready to drink in an instant. We strive to use the freshest ingredients, pay workers a living wage, and be supply chain plastic free and carbon negative by 2022. 

Meet Zac Stern, a young visionary with a keen mind in business and love.Earning a coveted spot at the NYU Stern School of Business was just the beginning of Zac's early success. While still in school, Zac interned at UBS, AIG, Stifel, and Rosecliff Ventures. After realizing that he enjoyed the world of startups, he worked full-time as a VC his Senior year at Stern and was promoted to associate upon graduation in 2020. At the same time, Zac founded an angel investment group with three other friends called O-Ventures, which raised over $1M and funded various top companies within the consumer space. While working as a venture capitalist, Zac got to see Innovation firsthand and realized after seeing the 50th pitch deck for a dating app that the matchmaking market was oversaturated. Still, no one was looking at what came after the match. With an ear toward opportunity and a desire to fill an unmet need, Zac went right to work building an app so everyone could have better relationships. Official was born, a next-generation social media app built to help couples have healthier and happier relationships. After being honest with his employer about moonlighting with his project, Zac was congratulated by being flat-out fired. This proved to be a gift, as Official became his sole focus as of October 2020. After being interviewed by the Mayor of Miami and going viral on TikTok, Official's beta crashed from too many people mobbing the platform. After taking the feedback and putting out an MVP In July, the app once again was overrun with over 85k people signing up for the platform In a week., putting the app at #5 within the US on Apple's Lifestyle Charts. The team raised from top Investors such as Global Founders Capital, Gaingels, and various notable angels, bringing the funding to 750k. After a much-awaited hiatus, Official Is back and Is here to redefine what It means to date, and really, what It means to be Official.

As a former agency recruiter with a focus on manufacturing and technology, Jenni Morse is inspired by change and by the trailblazing footsteps of her late father. Jenni realized her dream of product-based entrepreneurship with Simpli Press. From there, Made Simpli was born–offering its flagship product Simpli Press for everyday coffee lovers. She now contributes bliss and and ease to the world from her home in Southern California where she resides with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.

Xi Huang, B.S., M.S., Ph.D. is the founder and president of FE:I Beauty Tech, Inc., the parent company of i-On® Age Disrupting Skincare, a groundbreaking new beauty brand featuring proprietary age-disrupting technology stemming from over three decades of research. With work credited in more than 80 publications, Dr. Huang is one of the world’s leading researchers on the correlation between iron levels and health. As part of his extensive research, Dr. Huang found that excess iron is an important risk factor in women’s health. In studying the implications of high iron build up during and after menopause, Dr. Huang discovered that the amount of ferritin (an iron storage protein with a capacity of binding up to 4,500 molecules of iron per molecule of ferritin) accumulated in the skin increased by 40% during the 10-year transition period from pre-menopause to post-menopause. Knowing that skin is the largest organ of the human body and the human body can only excrete iron through menstruation and desquamation (skin peeling), he focused his next phase of research on whether the higher levels of iron were caused by the cessation of menstruation or hormonal changes, ultimately proving that excess iron caused by the cessation of menstruation is a root cause of skin aging. Having established iron in ferritin as a key root cause of skin aging, in 2012, Dr. Huang began the difficult work of developing a topical product that could remove excess iron from skin without affecting the essential iron needed by the body. Building upon some of his earlier discoveries around iron levels and health, Dr. Huang developed De-Ironizing Inducer (DII®) Technology, which does what no free-radical antioxidant can do: reduces the iron to a form capable of exfoliation, releases the iron from ferritin, the iron binding protein in skin, removes the iron naturally before it can cause skin rusting, repairs previous past damage, and rebuilds collagen, clarity, elasticity and tone to restore skin’s healthy appearance.Dr. Huang’s early work—for which he earned master’s and PhD degrees in toxicology and applied pharmacology at the Université Paris VII—focused on environmental and occupational medicine in which he identified bioavailable iron in coals as a major active compound in black lung disease. It is in this work that Dr. Huang made the important discovery that calcite naturally found in certain coals, such as those from Utah and Colorado, inhibits the bioavailability of iron, resulting in lower incidence of black lung disease. This discovery of a compound able to safely inhibit the harmful effects of iron helped lead to the creation of DII® Technology. In addition to leading FE:I Beauty Tech, Dr. Huang is an active participant in the research and innovation communities. He has been a reviewer for more than 30 peer-reviewed journals, including The Lancet, among the most respected and influential medical journals in the world, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and Cancer Research. He also serves as the chief technology officer of Ex Vivo Dynamics, Inc., where he guides the development of a medical device that will improve blood transfusions.# # #

Lola Banjo is a lifelong learner, a dreamer, a doer, passionate about people, the world, giving back and trying to make things better than they once were.She has studied around the world and has earned academic degrees in Engineering, Mathematics, Strategy and Finance, but she will always be most grateful for her "real world" education. As a global citizen, she has traveled to over 100 countries, fully immersing herself in various cultures and ways of life. From the streets of New York, Lagos and Milan, to the shores of Rio de Janeiro, Honolulu and Okinawa and the hills of Auckland, San Francisco and Valparaíso, she diligently studies and soaks up the best of various cultures and street fashion.With Silver & Riley, she is grateful to be able to blend her engineering background with her knowledge of global business and her love for fashion design, inherited from her mother. She sees possibility in everything and deeply believes that business can be a force for good. She cherishes the opportunity to create products that not only make people look good, but also feel good and using her gift as a vehicle for positive change in the world (for example, through the brand's Buy 1, Give 5 program). Outside of Silver & Riley, she is involved in initiatives that support education, economic empowerment, equity/diversity, and women.

Leigh learned early on that sharing a table unites people: it’s a level playing field for everyone. She treats the kitchen as her playground, creating dishes that cultivate togetherness, joy and love. And her queso, more than any recipe, shares that love.Now, Queso Mama is bringing her beloved queso to everyone—so you can share the love with your friends and family.

Tom Kurz is a seed/growth stage company executive operator and investor with 25 years of experience building and advising organizations in technology, entertainment and consumer goods. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree from Tulane University and an MBA from Suffolk University, Kurz began his career at Lehman Brothers before moving into the world of venture capital.As Co-founder and Managing Member of Remedy Products LLC, Kurz has led the company in research, product development and digital initiatives. Today, he drives manufacturing, marketing and sales operations across six states and has established himself as a product and brand innovator within the industry.Previously Kurz organized Basin Sports LLC to advise investors on acquisition and equity growth opportunities in professional soccer within the United States (MLS, NASL, USL) and abroad (Bundesliga, Serie A, EPL). Kurz has also served as the Venture Capital Manager for Eagle Ocean Transport Inc. where he led the financings and helped launch several tech start-ups including Silicon Alley Telecom/Eureka Broadband, one of the original BLECs responsible for bringing broadband to major office buildings in New York and Los Angeles. During this period, Kurz also co-founded Themis Group, where he served as Chairman and CFO, transforming the company into a six-time Webby award-winning publisher of the Escapist and a globally recognized brand in the world of online games.A man of varied talents, Kurz enjoys cooking, mixing music and playing competitive soccer and tennis. He currently resides in New Canaan, CT with his wife and three children where Monday night hotdogs are a recurring ritual during football season.

Co-founder and Managing Partner, Chris Peck is a lifelong entrepreneur bringing decades of knowledge and business expertise to Remedy+. After graduating from Yale University, Peck, along with two other partners, established a successful insurance brokerage company that after 21 years, merged with 23 other firms to launch a large-scale national company.Peck’s world changed after undergoing severe physical and personal stress. Trying alternative, natural forms of pain relief, he was introduced to CBD. Having personally experienced the benefits of natural remedies, Peck made it his mission to not only share the benefits of this holistic approach, but create his own line of products to combat various ailments of everyday life. His path led him to co-found Remedy+ where the mission continues to be helping others on their own journey to optimal wellness.An avid outdoorsman, Peck can be found surfing, golfing, practicing yoga, or any other sport that keeps him active. He lives in Darien, CT with his wife and two teenagers, and lives and breathes his motto: “You Only Live Once.”

John has diverse background holding leadership positions in a series of organizations from larger established Governmental entities to startups. Currently in addition to founding a world class hot sauce firm, John and his partners, spend a fair amount of time creating and preserving affordable housing in the NYC metro area . He is a board member of the NYS Gaming Commission as well as NFP Santa Angel’s. His love of gardening was sparked when his older daughter decided to forgo her chance at becoming the next Jackie Mitchell, gardening become the substitute activity for the weekends. He graduated from both college and grad school in reasonable time frames, an occurrence many of his elementary school friend’s still doubt.

Dan is the chief operating person at Small Axe Peppers. A graduate from The NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Studies with a degree in Social Entrepreneurship. Dan has been leading the expansion into other markets while continuing to fuel operational efficiencies of our expanding range of products.

Nate is currently building Revv - the first marketplace for consumers to auction their cars directly to car dealerships.Prior to Revv, he spent 6 years leading & scaling sales teams at BuildingConnected. He was the first non-engineering hire and helped launch multiple product lines within the company, taking them from pre-revenue to multiple millions. He helped grow the team to over 250 people prior to the acquisition by Autodesk in 2019 for $275M.Prior to BuildingConnected, Nate started a company in social commerce for action sports. He also worked in data center acquisitions and development at Digital Realty.Nate lives in New York with his wife, Ellen, and son, Irving. Outside of work he is an avid tennis player, surfer, foodie, and traveler.

Artist Alexa Meade paints on the human body and three-dimensional spaces, creating the illusion that our reality is a two-dimensional painting. As The New York Times describes Alexa’s artwork, “Think of it as a Van Gogh — that is, if one of his paintings were brought to life as a performative protest." Alexa’s art has been exhibited around the world at the Grand Palais in Paris, the Saatchi Gallery in London, the United Nations in New York, Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Her artwork has also been exhibited in space, orbiting the Earth on the history-making SpaceX Inspiration4 mission. She has created interactive installations at Coachella, Cannes Lions, and Art Basel. Alexa painted on the body of Ariana Grande for her iconic “God is a Woman” music video, which has over 350 million views. Her solo show on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills was attended by forty-thousand people throughout its 5-week run. Alexa’s art has been upvoted to the #1 position on the Front Page of Reddit. She has been commissioned by Apple, BMW, and Sony. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Alexa teamed up with LEGO as a Master Builder for their “Rebuild the World” campaign. Collaborating with spacetime researchers, Alexa was the first ever Artist-in-Residence at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. She has also been Artist-in-Residence at Google, where she worked alongside the engineers advancing Light Field imaging technology. Alexa and her work have been honored with the "Disruptive Innovation Award" from the Tribeca Film Festival. Respected for her thought leadership and non-traditional career path, Alexa has lectured at TED, Stanford, and Princeton. Alexa accepted an invitation to the White House under President Obama. Google Arts & Culture selected Alexa as the face of their “Faces of Frida” campaign, celebrating the legacy of Frida Kahlo and the female artists who are carrying it forward today. InStyle has named Alexa among their "Badass Women." alexameade.com / @alexameadeart

Jeff Call serves as Managing Partner of Bennett Thrasher. He specializes in wealth transfer/estate planning, investment, tax and financial planning for high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs, family business owners and executives. He has significant experience providing financial counsel on income tax, estate and gift tax, investment, insurance, charitable and retirement planning matters. Additionally, Jeff has experience in individual, partnership, S corporation and fiduciary taxation.Prior to joining Bennett Thrasher in 2002, Jeff worked for Arthur Andersen as a Manager in the Private Client Services practice. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and has also earned the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation. Additionally, Jeff has passed the Series 65 Uniform Registered Investment Adviser Examination.Jeff has been named to the prestigious Atlanta Magazine Five Star Wealth Manager list for metro Atlanta for eight years. He is a frequent speaker and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle, BankRate.com and Accounting Today, and he has written articles for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Business to Business Magazine, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Vistage View and Tax Advisor magazine.

Dr. Raja Sivamani is a board-certified dermatologist, bioengineer, and Ayurvedic practitioner. He practices at his medical and surgical dermatology clinic at Pacific Skin Instituteand his integrative research, aesthetics, and wellness clinic at Zen Dermatology. He serves as the Director of Clinical Research at Integrative Skin Science and Research and in the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, Davis as well as the Co-Director of the Microbiome Research Initiative at the California State University, Sacramento. He merges modern research and science with a personalized approach to each patient. His training in Ayurvedic medicine lets him take a more humanistic approach to patient care, science, and research. Dr. Sivamani has over 120 peer-reviewed publications and a textbook on cosmeceuticals. He leads many clinical studies that focus on the impacts of foods, nutrition, botanicals, cosmeceuticals, the microbiome, and the gut-skin axis as well as studies on standard Western medications and devices. He serves as one of the lead editors forLearnSkin.comand a chair for the annual Integrative Dermatology Symposium.

Tasuku Murakami helms the kitchen at Umi, Atlanta’s destination for modern Japanese cuisine. The Michelin-starred chef oversees the menu that unites classic and modern Japanese flavors and has earned Umi accolades from media outlets including The New York Times, Time Out and USA Today. Murakami’s career spans more than 20 years and includes stints in Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe, Japan, as well as Turin, Italy. Murakami came to Umi from New York’s The Lobster Club, a Japanese-style brasserie where he served as executive sushi chef. While in New York, he also was executive sushi chef at the Michelin-starred Tribeca hot spot Sushi Azabu. In Japan, Murakami served as sushi chef at Sushi Kobe in Kobe and Ginza Sushi in Tokyo. In Osaka, he was executive sushi chef and managed nine restaurants for E-ownersfood Inc. and was proprietor for the sushi and Japanese restaurant Dateya, responsible for all areas of the restaurant. Murakami also served as executive chef for Ristorante Tobiko and was sushi chef for Ristorante Arcadia and Tsukiji Sushi Iwa in Turin.

Alexa Meade is a world-renowned artist who invented a style of painting in 3D space that makes the world appear to be a 2D work of art. She is the winner of the “Disruptive Innovation Award” from the Tribeca Film Festival.Alexa has painted immersive art installations in her breakthrough style at Coachella, 29Rooms, Art Basel, and Cannes Lions. She has done collaborations with Ariana Grande, Apple, BMW, and Adidas. A public intellectual, Alexa is a TED speaker, Google Artist-in-Residence, and lectures at Stanford and Princeton.Alexa’s trailblazing NFT art has been auctioned at Sotheby’s, graced billboards from Times Square to Tokyo, and orbited the Earth for three days on a SpaceX rocket. InStyle has named Alexa one of their “Badass Women.”

Bethany Ratliff, Founder and CEO of Croptuck, is no stranger to innovation and creative problem-solving. With a background in personal finance and years of experience working with small startups, she always had a passion for finding ways to make people's lives easier and more efficient.Bethany had always been a fan of hacks and tools that helped her get the most out of life. As a busy professional, she was constantly looking for ways to save time and make everyday tasks more manageable, extending even to styling her clothes. One day, while trying to diy crop a shirt for a night out, she found herself struggling with bulky belts and makeshift solutions that just wouldn't work. There were also the countless times that she would get the perfect french tuck simply to have to redo it every time she went to the bathroom.Frustrated by the lack of options available to her, Bethany knew there had to be a better way. She began tinkering with different designs and prototypes until she finally came up with the perfect solution: Croptuck.Croptuck is a simple yet effective tool that allows anyone to easily and effortlessly tuck and crop their clothes for the perfect fit. Bethany's experience in personal finance helped her keep the price point low and accessible, while her startup background allowed her to successfully launch the product into the market.Through Croptuck, Bethany has been able to combine her passion for innovative solutions with her desire to help people feel confident and comfortable in their own skin. Her journey is a testament to the power of hard work, perseverance, and creative problem-solving. By founding her business, Bethany has created a brand that empowers people to express themselves through fashion in a way that feels authentic and comfortable.

Hannah Stefenoni champions the sustainability efforts for Clover Sonoma’s network of 30 small family-owned dairy partners. As a key liaison with the company’s family of farmers, Stefenoni focuses on minimizing Clover Sonoma's environmental footprint by continuously improving the health of the soil, the quality of the milk, the health and welfare of the animals, and greenhouse gas reduction initiatives while maximizing a positive impact for farmers by cultivating on-farm longevity, resiliency, and profitability enhancements. With over ten years of experience in environmental stewardship and studying the relationship between livestock agriculture and greenhouse gas reduction, Hannah is an expert in methane emissions reduction, on-farm sustainability, and regenerative agriculture practices on a dairy farm. In 2022, under Hannah’s leadership, Clover Sonoma began testing Blue Ocean Barns’ Brominata™, a dehydrated form of a red seaweed that is proven to cut cows' methane emissions from burps without changing the taste of milk. During the trial phase, the Clover Sonoma dairy cows fed Brominata achieved over a fifty percent reduction in methane while still producing delicious dairy. Raised on a dairy farm in Northern California, she pursued her undergraduate studies at Oklahoma State University, where she received her degree in Animal Science and began her research into methane emissions from cows. Hannah earned a Master of Science degree in Animal Sciences from Washington State University, where she was involved in feed additive research with cows and sustainability research around how feeding cows byproducts can improve human-edible protein conversion efficiency. Later, as a Ph.D. candidate at Pennsylvania State University, Hannah was one of the first to feed Asparagopsis taxiformis (aka red seaweed) to cows while assessing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture. Several of the research projects that Hannah co-authored have been published by the American Dairy Science Association and Journal of Dairy Science. Hannah sits on the Marin Carbon Project steering committee, working to enhance carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions reduction in agricultural ecosystems through applied research, demonstration, and implementation. Additionally, Hannah works with the Clover Sonoma community of family of dairies to ensure they are compliant with the Dairy Standards Agency, the USDA's National Organic Program, American Humane Certified welfare standards, and milk quality standards. Hannah is a member of Food Tank's CSO Group, which brings together sustainability leaders from over 80 major businesses to converse, mentor, and present case studies to inspire meaningful change in the private sector.

Kathy Story is on a mission to bring colorful patterns to an array of products for home decor, gifting and beyond. Kathy studied art and communications at Missouri State University. Shortly after graduation, Kathy moved to Sydney, Australia and began freelancing for Longina Phillips Design Studio, the top textile and surface art studio in Australia. Lola (Longina) Phillips encouraged Kathy to learn digital design and the rest is history. After returning to the US, Kathy launched Clairebella in 2005.

When brands and institutions want to connect meaningfully with stakeholders, they consult Cheryl Overton, a transformational integrated marketing communications executive with over 20 years of experience across audience types, verticals and media platforms. She is an insights-inspired content innovator and entrepreneur who counsels brands, C-suite leaders and boards on ownable ways to tell brand stories that strategically align organizational purpose and growth. Cheryl delivers culturally nuanced, data-driven strategies that lead companies toward innovation, inclusivity, effectiveness and profitability. She is an experienced cross-functional orchestrator and collaborator adept at assembling teams that work optimally toward common goals. Cheryl was an integral force behind influential, culture-shaping campaigns such as Procter & Gamble’s “My Black is Beautiful,” American Express’ UNSTAGED, (Unilever) Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” and the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women.” It was her strategic insight that lifted P&G’s award-winning short film, “The Talk” to deeper dialogues about racial bias that resonated around the world. Prior to entrepreneurship, she held leadership roles at notable global agencies providing strategy, creative, business development and relationship management for a spectrum of brands targeting consumer, corporate and professional audiences. Industry recognition of her brand work includes an Emmy, three Cannes Lions (including the Grand Prix), Silver Anvil, Adcolor, Gold Pencil, Gold Sabre, IPRA, Shorty, PR Week and PRSA Big Apple “Best of the Best,” among others. She has lectured for the Association of National Advertisers, PR Council and Public Relations Society of America as well as private corporations on the topics of multicultural marketing, DEI and cultural storytelling. She serves on the Executive Committee for The Advertising Club and chairs its entrepreneurship committee. She was named “New Yorker of the Year” by The Advertising Club and was inducted as a PR Week Woman of Distinction. She was named to the PRovoke Media Innovator 25 and has served on the PR Jury of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In 2023, she holds jury position for both the CLIO and Festival of Media awards. She also serves on the Boards of Directors of viBe Theater Experience and Heroic Gardens, helping to grow their reach and impact in multicultural communities.She holds a Master of Journalism with honors from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College. She is a graduate of the Herndon Director’s Institute, a program to expand minority participation on governing boards.

David Blobaum is the Director of Outreach for the National Test Prep Association. He works to support the appropriate use of testing in admissions and uphold the highest ethical standards in the test preparation industry. He graduated from the University of Chicago with honors both from the college and in his major, and he received his Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology. In college, he took seriously the University of Chicago’s aim of a “Renaissance” or well-rounded education and took courses in 17 different disciplines, ranging from Statistics and Economics to Philosophy and Art History. Since then, he has devoted himself to helping students reach their potential through education and, more broadly, to help empower them to succeed in life. To do so, he co-founded the education company Summit Prep in 2013 with a classmate from college, Eva Addae.

Dr. Aumatma Shah-Simmons is a Naturopathic Doctor and Fertility Expert who specializes in helping couples conceive healthy babies through evidence-based holistic approaches. She is passionate about empowering women to listen to their intuition and use research-driven methods to support their fertility journey holistically.Dr. Aumatma is a double board-certified Naturopathic Doctor & Endocrinologist, in practice for close to 15 years. She is a graduate of University of Bridgeport, College of Naturopathic Medicine (2006) with a dual Master’s degree in Nutrition. Dr. Aumatma specializes in fertility and is the best-selling author of two books: "Fertility Secrets: What Your Doctor Didn't Tell You About Baby-Making” and “(In)Fertility: Struggles, Secrets, & Successes” Dr. Aumatma was awarded the “Best Naturopathic Medicine Doctor″ award locally in 2015 & 2020 and recognized as a top “Women In Medicine” Doctor in 2020 & 2021. Dr. Aumatma is the developer of the Fertility Success Program and works with clients all over the country. Her practice is focused on working with couples who want to start a family, whether they want to use only the natural approach or they want to work in an integrative setting, and she is a sought out speaker and trainer on this topic. She also sees a broad spectrum of women's health conditions in her practice, using an array of holistic tools to empower women to live their best lives.She is also the Host of the Egg Meets Sperm podcast, and has been featured as the holistic fertility expert on ABC, FOX, CBS, KTLA, MindBodyGreen, The Bump, etc., along with being interviewed for countless podcasts on topics of fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum health.