Ascent: Inclusion & Diversity
Abby Wambach
Wambach began playing soccer at the age of five and went on to become one of the greatest soccer players of all time. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and a FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, Wambach has scored more goals in international competition than any other player in the history of the sport, male or female.
Molly Breazeale
AlignED teaches business leaders how to create safe environments for conversation and decision making to occur. Breazeale’s also a facilitator for the development and leadership company founded by Susan Scott, author of Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time.
Joshna Maharaj
Maharaj works with communities, organizations, and institutions to build value-based food services that prioritize good food, hospitality, and sustainability.
Von Diaz
Diaz is a self-taught cook who explores Puerto Rican food, culture, and identity through memoir and multimedia. She spoke at TedxPiscataquaRiver in 2015 and is currently a story consultant for Google.
Angelica Ross
TransTech Social Enterprises is an incubator for LGBTQ talent with a focus on economically empowering transgender people.
Gabby Rivera
Best known for her young adult novel Juliet Takes a Breath and writing Marvel’s new comic “America,” Rivera — who describes herself as a “Bronx-born, queer Latinx writer” — is also an activist and youth mentor. America Chavez is Marvel’s first Latina lesbian character.
Jia Jiang
Jiang said he decided to face his lifelong fear of rejection when he realized that fear was holding him back from living a fuller life. Rejection Therapy started as a card game designed by a Canadian entrepreneur and was later acquired by Jiang and is home to his blog and products and services aimed at helping people become fearless.
Paulette Brown
During her time as ABA president, Brown was responsible for several diversity initiatives. She has been commended for her efforts to increase diversity and inclusion and is an acclaimed speaker and educator on the subject. Brown has been honored by U.S. News as one of the Best Lawyers in America.
Zontee Hou
A communications and marketing expert, Hou is the winner of multiple awards, including the PR News Platinum Awards and a Forrester Groundswell Award. Hou advises major organizations including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and Oracle Marketing Cloud on how to build a unique marketing strategy. She also teaches graduate students at Columbia University and the City College of New York.
Laurel Bellows
Managing principal of the Bellows Law Group, Bellows has spoken and written extensively about the pervasiveness of human trafficking in the United States and abroad. As an advocate for the professional advancement of women in the workplace, she also speaks about the ways in which personal power can help people succeed.
Dorri McWhorter
McWhorter heads YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, an organization dedicated to empowering marginalized communities. She’s a former partner at Crowe Horwath, one of the largest public accounting consulting and technology firms in the U.S. McWhorter’s passion for civic duty and her business background have made her an ideal leader of a 140-year-old institution as it transitions to a market-driven, sustainable business model for the 21st century.
Bridget Brennan
Brennan heads Female Factor, a consulting firm that helps companies market and sell to women. She’s also the author of the best-selling book Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World’s Most Powerful Consumers. As one of the world’s foremost experts on female consumers, Brennan is a frequent guest lecturer at business schools and major companies around the world.