Ascent: Inclusion & Diversity
Lee Papa
Papa is a mindfulness and meditation speaker and trainer, specializing in the meetings and events industry. Papa, who says she is on a mission to support mindful meetings and provide wellness globally, delivers a keynote titled “How to Live & Lead Mindfully” and she created the MINDFULNESS LOUNGE™.
Patti Temple Rocks
Temple Rocks is a communications professional with decades of experience in senior leadership roles. Her book, I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace, was published last year. She battles age discrimination and seeks to help people understand how it harms individuals, businesses, and society.
Michael Tubbs
Tubbs in 2019 won the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award and in 2017 was on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list. The Stanford graduate was elected mayor of Stockton in 2016 at age 26, becoming the youngest mayor in U.S. history of a city with a population of at least 100,000.
Tinna C. Nielsen
Nielsen is the founder of the nonprofit Move the Elephant for Inclusiveness, which the organization’s website says, “moves people to redesign decision-making, organizations, and societies.” She is the former global head of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration at Arla Foods, an international cooperative based in Denmark.
Tahira Endean
Endean is head of events at SITE (Society for Incentive Travel Excellence) and author of Intentional Event Design: Our Professional Opportunity. She creates — and educates others about — human-centered events that draw on her fascination with neuroscience and the power of the senses to enhance memory.
Ritu Bhasin
Leaving behind the corporate world, Bhasin in 2010 launched bhasin consulting inc., a diversity- and inclusion-focused firm. Her first book, The Authenticity Principle: Resist Conformity, Embrace Differences, and Transform How You Live, Work, and Lead, was released in 2017.
Carla Harris
Her 30-year career has provided Harris experiences in the technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial, and health-care sectors. In 2013, President Barack Obama appointed Harris to chair the National Women’s Business Council.
Karamo Brown
Brown can be seen on the Emmy-nominated Netflix reboot of “Queer Eye,” where he serves as culture expert and “makes over” the hearts and minds of the “culturally challenged.” He has worked as an on-air host and producer for Oprah Winfrey Network and as a contributor on NBC’s “Access Hollywood Live.”
Elise Roy
An inclusive design strategist, lawyer, activist, and human-rights advocate, Roy helps organizations analyze problems from the vantage point of people with disabilities. Deaf since the age of 10, Roy believes that when businesses design for extremes they come up with better solutions than when they design for the norm.
Cam Kashani
Considered the “godmother” of Los Angeles’ Silicon Beach startup community, Kashani co-founded COACCEL, a three-month innovative coaching program that humanizes business by incorporating mindfulness.
Jodi Bondi Norgaard
Norgaard previously founded a company that broke gender stereotypes in the toy industry. (Her Go! Go! Sports Girls brand was acquired by Jazwares toy company in 2016.) She now specializes in marketing and launching new products.
Linal Harris
A former Fortune 500 executive, Harris hosts the “Inspirational Perspective” radio show. He challenges his audiences and coaching clients to “murder mediocrity” and live their best lives possible.