Aida Rodriguez is an Afro-Latina, taking the world of entertainment by storm with her wit, strong performances and charismatic personality. Making history as the first Latina to appear in two comedy specials airing in one month on both HBO and Showtime, Rodriguez was handpicked by director Taylor Hackford for his film The Comedian starring Robert De Niro. In 2017, Coca Cola Global Women’s LINC Conference sponsored Rodriguez’s speech that modeled a TED Talk. Rodriguez has also appeared on Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show, five-time host of the PBS Imagen Awards, NBC Last Comic Standing’s finals, TRUtv’s Laff Tracks, Nickelodeon Mom’s Night Out and Parental Discretion.

Aida’s half-hour special was feature as part of Tiffany Haddish's breakout series They Ready which was executive produced by Haddish, Wanda Sykes and Paige Hurwitz for Netflix. She is currently in development on her half-hour scripted series with Warner Media, for which she will write, executive produce and star in. Haddish, Chris Case and Nastaran Dibai are also on board to executive produce. Rodriguez is also developing an animated series with ITV Studios and Nick Weidenfeld. She will produce her first one-hour special (also with Warner Media) for HBO Max.

Aida Rodriguez wears many hats as comedian, actress, writer and mother. Sharing her point of view of the world, she writes comedy that is poignant and incisive. Her audiences often laugh hard, think hard and feel hard as her comedy is cathartic and confrontational. Known as Funny Aida, Rodriguez aims to challenge the norms of today and the discomfort or taboo-quality around controversial topics like race, gender, sexuality and family dynamics through her comedy. From the moment she takes the stage, the audience is engaged whether in laughter or in thought. Rodriguez’s comedy is not only medicine for the soul but it may one day just change the world.

New York Times ​journalism has the power to transform the way we see the world around us. The 1619 Project, published to honor the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery, examines its legacy on our country and how it shaped nearly everything from music to traffic to capitalism—even our democracy itself. To underscore this, our film features actress Janelle Monáe reciting words from the 1619 Project in the exact location where the first enslaved Africans came to this nation—before we were yet a nation—confronting our assumptions about slavery's legacy in America.

Abu Ngauja is a talent experience strategist, representation + belonging advisor, and sometimes, when-inspired, a poet currently based in Richmond, Virginia. His genesis didn’t start there—he began in integrated marketing, leading creative teams and partnering with clients to make work for global brands like McDonald’s, Audi of America, 23andMe, Playstation, and Reebok. A driving belief that everyone in the world “deserves to be seen as they want to be seen” led him to stops in nearly every US time zone and then on a quick soul trek through Mexico and Sierra Leone, before a push into becoming the first ever manager of talent engagement and inclusion at The Martin Agency, a creative collective. Here he speaks power into the purpose of Martin’s talent through his philosophy of visibility, centering the experiences (primarily of those historically misrepresented) by way of language, community programming, wellbeing initiatives, and contribution-centered tools.

Abu recognizes he is still nowhere near where the universe wants him, and welcomes the journey.

Over the last two decades, she’s launched some of the most disruptive lifestyle tech brands on the market, from Speck Products, SOL REPUBLIC, Pebble Smartwatch, Doppler Labs, and Google. She now focuses on her board positions and is currently leading inclusive marketing and accessibility brand as the Head of BRand Accessibility at Google. KR is a nationally awarded advocate, with a rising reputation in accessibility technology marketing, regulatory and inclusive design. KR has advised several companies on inclusive design, culture, and brand at several large companies in the technology and finance sector such as Salesforce, Uber, Capital One, Cisco, Pinterest, Google, and X, the moonshot factory. In 2019, her project Live Caption with Google was announced by the CEO of Google at Google I/O to rave reviews.

Diagnosed with severe hearing loss at the age of three, KR has spent over two decades being a strong advocate and voice championing the voices of the disability and LGBTQ community in the technology industry. She has been awarded a U.S. Congressional award; Silicon Valley's Top 40 Under 40 and 2017 Women of Influence; and 2015 Women on the Move by Women's Business Journal for her advocacy work in hearing health and technology. KR is also actively involved with industry organizations that are working toward innovation in inclusive design and brand strategy in disability inclusion.

She is on the board of directors for the Consumer Technology Association Foundation, Deaf Kids Code, and World Wide Hearing Foundation International (arm of the WHO). She collaborated with Senator Warren’s team on new legislation called the Over The Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 which the President signed into law on Aug, 8th 2017.

Supriya is passionate about working at the convergence of culture and tech to bring meaningful content to consumers at the right time and on the right platform to connect business imperatives to the end-user. While at Critical Mass, she has helped clients such as the US Army, Dropbox, Apple, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Blue Cross Blue Shield develop and scale enterprise-level content strategies and sustainable content governance. In past lives, Supriya worked as a journalist whose stories appeared in the New York Times, Forbes, the Washington Post, CNN, Teen Vogue, Redbook, VICE, TIME, Playboy, and Lenny Letter. Supriya developed her logophilic tendencies while serving 6 years in the US Army building IT infrastructures across South Korea, Iraq and the United States. When not busy analyzing and writing content, you can find Supriya zoned out in a multi-hour meditation session or planning her next global adventure (30 countries and counting!)

Chantel George is an experienced Enterprise Account Executive in AdTech, MarTech & SaaS. With her attention to detail, thoroughness and client-first mentality, she has exceeded quotas, trained and managed Account Executives, as well as on-boarded larger scale clients for her previous companies.

With an education in Film and Television combined with Communication and Legal studies, she uses all her skills to ignite her entrepreneurial spirit and salesmanship. Chantel has also founded Sistas In Sales, the first community for women of color in sales across the United States and beyond.

Her work experience spans from Public Relations for BonFun, an international cognac company to a 4-year tenure at Yelp as a Senior Account Executive for their National Business, Dataminr enabling Public Relations, Corporate Communications professionals with the same technology that over 400 newsrooms use to extract impactful events from social media. Currently at LinkedIn bringing all her past experiences to a specialized team that works with technology marketers to help them use LinkedIn's data to create business impact.

With almost two decades of experience in the advertising field, Darla is known to inspire her teams to deliver excellent work and is always the first one to fight for brand building ideas, particularly those that represent diverse audiences in a positive light through advertising. She’s spent the last seven years at McCann running several businesses, including the award-winning Microsoft global account, where the brand won Clio Advertiser of the Year; she launched the HomeGoods brand campaign Go Finding; and most recently has seen the Lockheed Martin business through multiple creative wins in 2020 for the Clios, One Club and Effie’s. Darla is also one of the top black female executives within the IPG network.

Before joining McCann, she spent nine years at Saatchi&Saatchi, both in NY and abroad. As the first African American to work in their APAC offices of Singapore and Mumbai, she spent two years leading the P&G head&shoulders brand, where she saw the business off to reach its' $1billion mark for Asia-Pacific, and later ran Pampers and Ariel. She later also ran P&G’s global Olay skincare business in New York, where she helped reinvigorate and modernize the brand’s image among women with the “Your Best Beautiful” campaign.

In addition to her role as a Business Leader at McCann, Darla is an Executive Coach and provides coaching to individuals both inside and outside of the agency, to help them develop in their careers, with a passion around young people of color who want to be successful in the advertising business. Additionally, Darla serves as Executive Sponsor to the McCann Connect group, focused on diversity and inclusion efforts, and is also currently leading an agency initiative supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Darla is also an proud alum of both Temple University and the AAAA’s MAIP program, and speaks for both Organization’s periodically to inspire young talent of color around advertising and communications.

Andrea has dedicated over 10 years to the development and advancement of diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. As a Diversity Program Manager within the Infrastructure Organization at Facebook, she designs scalable strategies, standardizes global operations, and sets the long-term vision for programs that serve the Black, Women, and Latino in tech communities. Her initiatives have impacted 13 countries, 42 cities, and connected thousands of people.

Outside of her role, Andrea has partnered with tech leaders to develop sustainable opportunities for underrepresented and vulnerable communities. One example being her work with Reinserta, a Mexican nonprofit that protects and rehabilitates children and young adults associated with prison systems. Her efforts united over 70 volunteers at Facebook and raised $500,000 to build technical and marketing solutions to help Reinserta expand their reach and impact to a global scale. In her free time away from work, she mentors young Latino adults and children.

Prior to her current role, Andrea worked as a Systems Program Manager at Facebook, where she led multidisciplinary teams to develop and scale internal tools and infrastructure within the Community Operations Organization. Her team processed millions of weekly decisions made around global reported content. She also served as the Vice President of External Partnerships for Latin@, an internal employee resource group. There, she worked with industry leadership to develop awareness strategies and enable opportunities for Latinos within Facebook and local communities.

Before Facebook, Andrea worked as a Technical Program Manager at Goldman Sachs. Over the course of 6 years, she pioneered multiple global initiatives, including the testing and release management of the firm’s first cloud computing platform. She co-founded the first Technology Hispanic and Latino Network at the company, as well as volunteered with multiple nonprofits focused on mentoring and exposing young, underrepresented professionals to career opportunities in the technical field. Andrea graduated Cum Laude from the University of Florida with a degree in Computer Engineering and dual minors in Business Administration and Sales Engineering. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Born in Palmira, Colombia, Andrea left for the United States at the age of 16 due to violence within the country. Before that, she discovered a passion for technology in 1999 during a tech expo hosted at her high school. She led a student project called “The Future of the Internet.” Once she arrived in the United States, she juggled multiple jobs and classes while learning to speak English. She found joy in studying multiple programming languages.

Fun Facts: Andrea has traveled to over 30 countries, and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.

Mackenzie drives product and marketing inclusion for Google’s consumer apps marketing team, including some of Google’s most strategic and loved products like Search, Maps, Photos, & News. She’s a relentless advocate of the user, ensuring that Google’s products work for underserved communities and that people see positive portrayals of themselves in the stories Google tells.

Ty is Global Lead, The B2B Institute @LinkedIn, the former President of LinkedIn's Black Inclusion Group (BIG) and Co-Founder of TransformHER. Ty is passionate about connecting people with information needed to make intelligent decisions, delivering educational content to help marketers stay on top of the latest in digital marketing strategy with a bit of humor. Ty teaches B2B marketing as well as leadership and diversity and inclusion.

With an MBA in Marketing and Operations Management from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and an International Economics degree from Georgetown University, Ty is author of “Marketers of Tomorrow: A Step by Step Toolkit for Inbound Marketing”. Ty is also a two-time Olympic Trials qualifier in track and field for the 800 meters in 2004 and 2008 and loves reading science fiction.

Marketers benefit from Ty’s digital marketing experience at Google Inc, consulting within IBM as a social business manager and leading her own B2B agency consulting practice. Ty serves on the Digital Marketing Institute's Global Advisory Council and the Diversity and Inclusion Council for Adweek. In her career, she has delivered digital marketing education to thousands.

Since 2017 Creative Theory Agency (CTA) has worked to produce quality content that is representative of the diverse audience that Google serves. CTA has worked with teams in a number of verticals, and has continuously found creative ways to accelerate Google’s DEI efforts.

From creating Google’s Inclusive Imagery Database to improving lighting features on Cloud products for darker skin tones; CTA’s has the ability to produce, capture, and share diverse stories that stop viewers in their scroll. Our journey as a Google partner began with photography and design, and has grown into an ever expanding role of consulting and storytelling.

Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i was named Executive Vice President, Entertainment Diversity & Inclusion, West Coast, ViacomCBS in July 2020.

In this role, Tiffany leads entertainment-focused diversity and inclusion initiatives across CBS Entertainment, Showtime, Media Networks and Paramount Pictures. She will also overseethe company’s creative development programs, talent initiatives and outreach to agencies, multicultural coalitions, guilds and other key inclusion stakeholders, which was part of her most recent role at CBS. ViacomCBS was formed in Dec. 2019 after the merger of CBS Corp. and Viacom.

Prior to her current ViacomCBS position, Smith-Anoa’i was Executive Vice President, Entertainment Diversity, Inclusion & Communications for CBS Entertainment. An innovator in both entertainment publicity and diversity, Tiffany was promoted to that position in 2016 and charged with shepherding the entertainment division’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and supporting communication efforts. She developed new programs to recruit, nurture and hire inclusive talent to work in front of and behind the camera and helped launch several notable careers.

In 2015, Tiffany was appointed Senior Vice President of Entertainment Diversity & Communications after serving, since 2009, as Vice President, Entertainment Diversity & Communications, CBS Entertainment. In these roles, Smith-Anoa’i created and launched “CBS On Tour,” a community outreach program in which executives visit schools to educate and encourage students interested in entertainment careers; expanded the writer selection process for “The CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase”; implemented an annual symposium with casting directors to strategize on best practices to diversify the casting process; partnered with GLAAD to host learning workshops; and joined forces with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to encourage a variety of acting and industry roles for women.

In February 2018, Smith-Anoa’i co-founded CBS EYE Speak, a program designed to promote female empowerment and help forge a path of growth and opportunity for women, both inside and outside of the company. Since its inception, the group has held several events, including screenings, panels and fireside chats featuring some of the strongest female voices inthe industry.

In addition to her executive duties, Smith-Anoa’i, who first joined CBS Entertainment in 2000 as a Senior Publicist for primetime series, continues to draw upon her background and talents as a network publicist, leading west coast efforts on various projects and Network specials, including the annual Grammy Awards®.

Prior to CBS, Smith-Anoa’i was responsible for all aspects of publicity and promotions for Image Public Relations. Among her many projects, she organized the global press outreach for “Sinbad’s Soul Music Festival.” Preceding her role at Image, Smith-Anoa’i worked for NIKE, Inc. where she launched their NIKETOWN stores in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

Smith-Anoa’i’s community service and charity work includes the Human Rights Campaign, #SeeHer, ADCOLOR, Easterseals Disability Challenge, Young Storytellers, The Unusual Suspects and Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated. She serves as a board member for ColorComm, Big Sunday, The Muslim Public Affairs Council and on the business advisory board for the National Hispanic Media Coalition. She is also a Board of Trustee member for The Archer School for Girls. In 2019 Smith-Anoa’i received the Adweek + ADCOLOR Champions Award for her commitment to growing and promoting diversity and inclusion within and outside the walls of CBS Entertainment.

Smith-Anoa’i maintains a close relationship with her alma mater, Howard University, where she graduated with honors from the School of Communications. In 2013, Howard University presented her with the “Global Visionary Award” for Outstanding Leadership in Diversity and Communications.

Alvin Bowles, Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions & Partnerships manages Facebook’s strategic business partners that leverage our technology platform and tools to maximize success metrics across Facebook’s family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Messenger). As a part of the Facebook Global Leadership team, he is responsible for the worldwide network of global partners and developers leveraging scalable solutions for advertisers. Prior to this role he ran Facebook’s Advertising Technology team where he was responsible for the worldwide network of quality inventory from global publishers and developers. Based in New York, he reports to the Chief Revenue Officer and manages half of the revenue generated for Facebook Inc annually while delivering strategic value for Facebook’s core consumer products.

Prior to Facebook, Bowles was Global GM for Video at Grab Media/Rhythm One, and was accountable for all aspects of the divisions operations as well as spearheading strategic development and managing the firm’s growth. In August 2013, as CEO, Bowles led Grab Media through an acquisition to Rhythm One, a publicly traded leading technology firm, headquartered in London.

Bowles joined Grab from Viacom, where as senior vice president – brand solutions BET Networks, he led integrated sales and strategy efforts, including product integration, branded entertainment, original digital content, event execution and experiential marketing. He created a number of television and online properties on behalf of advertisers, which received a number of industry awards.

Before joining Viacom, Bowles worked at AOL as vice president and publisher of AOL Black Voices as a key member of the strategy sales team 2006-2007. In this role he oversaw sales and sales development for AOL multicultural division as the brand experienced tremendous growth during this period. From 2004-2006, Bowles worked at Time Warner as the vice president of the global asset media group developing cross-functional sales and marketing platforms for various divisions across Time Warner's portfolio. Prior to Time Warner, he served as Sony Music's director of business development and created strategic traditional and digital partnerships with brands on behalf of the label group. He began his career at JP Morgan where he spent three years as a corporate financial analyst, eventually transitioning into media.

Bowles earned his MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business and he received his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Ryman Hospitality Properties, a publically traded REIT, headquartered in Nashville, TN. He also serves as an advisory council member for a number of civic-minded ventures and is an active alumnus for both Michigan and Harvard.

Alvin Bowles resides in New Rochelle, NY with his wife, and two daughters.

Valeisha Butterfield Jones is an award-winning and globally recognized business leader with proven impact at the intersections of technology, politics and entertainment. She currently serves as the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Recording Academy.

Prior to this role, Valeisha served as the Global Head of Inclusion for Google, Inc. responsible for accelerating diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes for underrepresented communities internally and externally across the global brand. Valeisha also served as the National Youth Vote Director for the Obama for America campaign, delivering one of the highest youth voter turnouts in American history and in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Director of Public Affairs for International Trade.

She also served as the Executive Director / Senior Vice President of Rush Communications (Hip-Hop Summit Action Network) and as the National Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the Alzheimer's Association. Her career began at Home Box Office (HBO Sports) and has spanned for two decades.

Valeisha also co-founded the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) in 2007, a non-profit, global coalition of women and men committed to the balanced, positive portrayal of women in the entertainment industry.

Her leadership has been recognized by Forbes Magazine, Glamour Magazine, Ebony Magazine's Power 100, The Root 100, Essence Magazine's Top 40 Under 40, Elle Magazine's Top 25 Most Inspiring Women, Fortune, and others. Valeisha also serves on the National Board of Directors of ColorComm, MC Lyte’s Hip Hop Sisters Network and iVote for America.

Valeisha is a wife, mom, proud graduate of Clark Atlanta University, advocate and author. Follow her on IG/Twitter @valeisha and stay connected at www.valeisha.org.

ColorComm, Inc., the nation’s leading women’s platform addressing diversity and inclusion across the communications, marketing, media, advertising, and digital arena. ColorComm, Inc. houses ColorComm Media Group, ColorComm Network, ColorComm Executive Conference (C2), ColorComm Next Generation Summit (C2 NEXTGEN), ColorCommCON, and Men of Color in Communications (MCC). ColorComm Network produces over 100 local programs a year, has over 2,000 members and community access to more than 40,000 professionals.

Damon Jones leads efforts to help ensure P&G is and is recognized as a force for good and a force for growth. He leads an equality-focused citizenship agenda and consumer-centric communications ecosystem that span more than 180 countries.

P&G and Jones have been well recognized within the CPG industry and beyond for their leadership in creative, advocacy-based campaigns that inspire dialogue and enable collective action in advancing equality for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community and other under-represented groups.

Further, the 500-person strong global communication discipline led by Jones advances P&G’s growth strategy while building and protecting the image and reputation of the world’s largest consumer goods company and its portfolio of nearly 100 industry-leading brands. The discipline includes influencer marketing, brand and corporate communications, digital and social media, stakeholder engagement, issues advocacy and crisis management.

A trusted advisor to the C-suite, Jones has a proven track record of leveraging reputation and relationships to drive brand and business success. During his 20+ year career with P&G, Jones has had responsibility for a diverse set of geographic, organizational and product portfolios – with assignments in Boston, Geneva, London and Singapore – leading local, regional and global businesses.

Following his passion for community engagement, Jones took a leave of absence to serve as the Communications Director for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He remains active as a Board member and strategic advisor to numerous educational, cultural and advocacy organizations.

Don Lemon anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon airing weeknights at 10pm. He also serves as a correspondent across CNN/U.S. programming. Based out of the network's New York bureau, Lemon joined CNN in September 2006.
br> A news veteran of Chicago, Lemon reported from Chicago in the days leading up to the 2008 presidential election, including an interview with then-Rep. Rahm Emanuel on the day he accepted the position of Chief of Staff for President-elect Barack Obama. He also interviewed Anne Cooper, the 106-year old voter President-elect Obama highlighted in his election night acceptance speech after he had seen Lemon's interview with Cooper on CNN.
br> Lemon has reported and anchored on-the-scene for CNN from many breaking news stories, including Hurricane Florence (2018), Las Vegas shooting (2017), the Orlando shooting at Pulse Nightclub (2016), Charleston church shooting (2015), death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO (2014), the George Zimmerman trial (2013), the Boston marathon bombing (2013), the Philadelphia building collapse (2013),the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (2012), the Colorado Theater Shooting (2012), the death of Whitney Houston, the Inaugural of the 44th President in Washington, D.C., the death of Michael Jackson (2009), Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana (2008) and the Minneapolis bridge collapse (2007).
br> Lemon has also anchored the network's breaking news coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Arab Spring, the death of Osama Bin Laden and Joplin tornado. Lemon reported for CNN's documentary Race and Rage: The Beating of Rodney King, which aired 20 years to the day of the beating. He is also known for holding politicians and public officials accountable in his "No Talking Points" segment.
br> Lemon joined CNN after serving as a co-anchor for the 5 p.m. newscast for NBC5 News in Chicago. He joined the station in August 2003 as an anchor and reporter after working in New York as a correspondent for NBC News, The Today Show and NBC Nightly News. In addition to his reporting in New York, Lemon worked as an anchor on Weekend Today and on MSNBC. While at NBC, Lemon covered the explosion of Space Shuttle Columbia, SARS in Canada and numerous other stories of national and global importance.
br> In addition to NBC5 and NBC News, Lemon has served as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter for WCAU-TV, an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, an anchor and investigative reporter for KTVI-TV in St. Louis and an anchor for WBRC-TV in Birmingham. He began his career at WNYW in New York City as a news assistant while still in college.
br> In 2009, Ebony named him as one of the Ebony Power 150: the most influential Blacks in America. He has won an Edward R. Murrow award for his coverage of the capture of the Washington, D.C. snipers. He won an Emmy for a special report on real estate in Chicagoland and various other awards for his reporting on the AIDS epidemic in Africa and Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, he won three more local Emmys for his reporting in Africa and a business feature about Craigslist, an online community.
br> Lemon serves on the Board of Trustees at Brooklyn College. He earned a degree in broadcast journalism from Brooklyn College and also attended Louisiana State University.

Renetta McCann has been recognized as one of the leading innovators and most influential executives in the advertising, marketing and media industries, with a global reputation for not only building brands, but also the organizations and leadership to sustain them.

Renetta is a veteran of the advertising industry. She began her career in 1978 at Leo Burnett, and, after a long tenure, she became the CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide. Under her leadership, client billings exceeded $26 billion and the global workforce rose to over 6,000 people. Most recently, she served as the Chief Talent Officer for Leo Burnett USA as well as Publicis Communications North America.

Currently, she serves as Chief Inclusion Experience Officer for Publicis Groupe, she works to drive inclusion at all levels of the organization, with an emphasis on ensuring that the company’s clients are benefiting from the many strategic advantages that diverse teams deliver.

She is a frequent name in the press, appearing on the pages of Advertising Age, Business Week and Chicago Magazine. In 2002, she was named "Corporate Executive of the Year" by Black Enterprise magazine and was selected Ad Woman of the Year by the Chicago Advertising Federation. Essence named her one of "50 Women Who are Changing the World”. In 2006, she received a Matrix Award in 2006 from New York Women in Communications and was Forbes ranked number 27 on Forbes “100 Most Powerful Women” list. In 2008, Renetta was named an ADCOLOR Legend. In 2014, the American Advertising Federation honored her with a Diversity Achievement Award for her contributions as an Industry Influential and she received The Pantheon Award from the 4A’s MAIP program. In April 2018, she was featured on Adweek’s list of “11 Inspiring Women Who Have Broken Down Advertising’s Most Persistent Barriers.” In 2019, she received The Gladiator Award from the 4A’s MAIP program. In Spring 2020, Renetta will receive the Chicago Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award.

After nearly 30 years of communications management and leadership, she went back to the books, earning an M.S. in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University.

Along the way, Renetta has been an active volunteer and contributor to various industry and civic organizations. Currently she serves on the Executive Committee of the Chicago Community Trust, the Marketing Committee of the Robert and Ann Lurie Children’s Hospital and the Legacy Giving Committee of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

She worked as an executive coach and organizational change consultant before rejoining Burnett in the fall of 2012. Currently, she is an adjunct lecturer in the MSLOC program, teaching courses on organizational design as well as diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. Renetta has also served as a Corporate Director of Tribune Publishing.

She lives in Chicago with her husband Kevin and is the proud mother of Ella and Alexander.

Warrington Hudlin is a veteran producer of motion pictures, television, and online media. He is best known as the producer of the landmark African American films, HOUSE PARTY, BOOMERANG, and BEBE KIDS, as well as the television specials, COSMIC SLOP and UNSTOPPABLE. His early films, BLACK AT YALE and STREET CORNER STORIES, have been restored and archived by Yale University. Hudlin's two most recent productions in are produced in VR: KUNG FU #ME TOO and CINEFEMME CYPHER. He currently building a block chain platform to produce, market, and distribute the genre busting episodic drama he is developing.

As the founding president of BFF (aka the Black Filmmaker Foundation), Hudlin has been a pioneering organizer of the black film movement for four decades. Hudlin organized NYC's first ever annual black film festival (1979) and the first ever National Conference of Black Filmmakers (1980). Hudlin was the co-founder and curator of the Acapulco Film Festival (1997 to 2001).

Hudlin is the Vice Chairman of the board of trustees of the Museum of the Moving Image and curator of two monthly film series. He is Disruptor Foundation Fellow and recipient of the Inaugural Diversity Award from the NYC Mayor's office. He is a founding board member of the Independent Feature Project (IFP) and a founding the advisory board member of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) and the Tribeca All Access (TAA) of the Tribeca Film Festival (where he was honored to serve on its inaugural jury and multiple times since then).

Warrington Hudlin grew up in the notorious city of East St. Louis and attended an experimental high school affiliated with the legendary artist/scholar, Katherine Dunham (who nominated him for a scholarship that paid his tuition to Yale). Hudlin graduated from Yale with honors and was later mentored by two more legends, Melvin Van Peebles and Harry Belafonte.

Warrington Hudlin's accomplishments are built on the foundation laid by his ancestors, beginning with his great-great-grandfather, Peter Hudlin, who escaped from a slave plantation in Virginia, married an indigenous woman from the Cherokee Nation, and became an agent in the US anti-slavery movement known as the Underground Rail Road. Their son and his great grandfather, Richard Hudlin, became a writer, newspaper publisher, and shortly before his death in 1918, started a motion picture production company.

Soham was born in Calcutta, raised in Bombay and learnt how to cook a mean Butter Chicken in Miami. Growing up, he was a professional Voice Over artist, lending his voice for Indian versions of series and films such as Harry Potter, Stuart Little, Sixth Sense, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Boy Meets World, Night Rider, Star Wars, Pokemon, Xena and some questionable Japanese Anime.

He is an alumnus of Miami Ad School, where he was declared as the most awarded advertising student in the world and global Top Dog with over 120 national and international student awards to his name.

Soham has worked in India, Miami, NYC and currently is a Senior Creative at Leo Burnett, Chicago. He also worked with Human Rights Foundation as a Creative Director for the project Flash Drives for Freedom, which aims to end Kim Jong Un's regime by smuggling flash-drives inside North Korea, filled with relevant content.

Soham has won plenty of awards at The One Show, Art Director’s Club, The Clios, including a Grand Clio, Cannes Lions, Cannes Lions Health, D&AD, D&AD Impact, ADC Young Guns, The Andys, LIA, Facebook Global Awards, Epica, Communication Arts etc. for Leo Burnett. His work has been featured in top publications across the world and was even a part of Tate Curated Exhibition at London Design Museum.

He has served as a jury at The One Show, ADC, The Clio Awards, One Club Young Ones, 3% Next Creative Leaders, Cannes Young Lions, AdStars (South Korea), Webby, Creativity and New York Festivals. He is also a faculty and speaker at Miami Ad School, Portfolio Center, Chicago Portfolio School and a resident DJ at Virgin Hotels Chicago.

Soham has been named as one of the 30 under 30 most creative people in advertising by Business Insider. Twice!

Bryan Stromer is passionate about telling the stories of brands that make our world a better place. He found his way into marketing after studying Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, he realized the vital role that advertising and marketing play in shaping culture and society. He is currently a Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft, where he focuses on re-imagining the value proposition for Microsoft’s global e-commerce business. In this role, he works to elevate Microsoft’s customer experience and drive initiatives that ensure our virtual store is the best place to experience Microsoft.

Born with Cerebral Palsy, Bryan is a passionate advocate for the disability community and is the founder and co-lead of Microsoft’s Disability in Marketing group. Our group works to ensure and drive authentic representation of individuals with disabilities in Microsoft’s advertising and marketing. Bryan’s writing and thought leadership has been published by the Washington Post, NY Times, and NPR. He has been featured on the Today Show, Forbes, NY1 and the NY Daily News.

He currently serves on ADCOLOR’s advisory board, The Seattle Transit Advisory Board, and currently helps community organizations with design challenges as a participant in AIGA Seattle's Changemaker Series.

Bryan has been recognized as a 2019 ADCOLOR FUTURE, a 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 List-maker for his work in advertising and marketing, and the Disability:IN 2019 NextGen Alum of the Year.

Deborah Renteria is a marketing professional and culture enthusiast on the Multicultural Marketing team at HBO. She makes her way from LA after spending some time as a Creative Strategist at Facebook, where she worked with entertainment giants to innovate solutions to better connect with audiences on the platforms. In her time at HBO she's focused on creating experiences to organically engage diverse audiences and elevate top priority programming. Deborah has cultivated a strong passion for diverse stories and empowering storytellers of color. She hopes to help open doors for more representation through her work. Believing in the power of visibility, she has co-created a platform for Latinx creatives to connect via La Nueva Link. A proud alumna of the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned her degree in Consumer Culture and Media as the first in her family to attend college, she’s here to break down barriers and move la cultura forward.