Pass the Mic

Looking to make your next business event more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming? There’s no better place to start than with your speakers. We’ve hand-picked a few who may fly under the radar in the speaker circuit but raise the bar in making events more diverse — and way more interesting.

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.

January 3, 2019

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.

January 2, 2019

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.”

January 2, 2019

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.

January 2, 2019

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.

January 2, 2019

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.

January 2, 2019

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.

January 2, 2019

Pragya Agarwal

Agarwal, a Forbes magazine contributor, works with organizations and individuals to help them think outside the box and make mental health and equality a priority.

January 2, 2019

Amy Blankson

TechWell collaborates with innovators, thought leaders, coaches, and educators to balance well-being and productivity in the technological age. Blankson is also the bestselling author of The Future of Happiness: 5 Modern Strategies for Balancing Productivity and Well-Being in the Digital Era.

January 2, 2019

Lisa Wang

SheWorx is a global collective of female entrepreneurs who are redefining leadership. A U.S. champion gymnast turned “serial entrepreneur,” Wang hosts the podcast “Enoughness.”

January 2, 2019

Vernā Myers

A Harvard-trained lawyer and veteran culture expert, Myers is the author of “Moving Diversity Forward: How to Go From Well-Meaning to Well-Doing.”

January 2, 2019

Whitney Johnson

Johnson is an expert on disruptive innovation and personal disruption, a framework she codifies in her books “Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work” and “Build an A-Team: Play to Their Strengths and Lead them Up the Learning Curve.” She’s a frequent contributor to the “Harvard Business Review.”

January 1, 2019

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