Dr. Walter G. Bumphus is President and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges. From 2007 to January 1, 2011, Dr. Bumphus served as a professor in the Community College Leadership Program and as chair of the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin. He also held the A. M. Aikin Regents Endowed Chair in Junior and Community College Education Leadership. He previously served as president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) from 2001 to 2007. LCTCS later conferred upon him the title of President Emeritus of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. From November 2000 to September 2001 he was chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC). Prior to joining BRCC, Dr. Bumphus worked in the corporate world serving as President of the Higher Education Division of Voyager Expanded Learning. Six years prior, he served as president of Brookhaven College in Dallas County Community College District.

Dr. Bumphus holds a bachelor’s degree in speech communications and a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Murray State University, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the Community College Leadership Program at The University of Texas at Austin. In 1992, Dr. Bumphus was recognized as a distinguished graduate from both Murray State University and The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Bumphus holds the distinction of being one of the few leaders in the field of education to receive the ACCT Marie Y. Martin CEO of the Year Award, to chair the AACC Board of Directors, and to receive the AACC Leadership Award.

As Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, Chelsea Clinton works alongside the Foundation’s leadership and partners to help create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service across the United States and around the world. In particular, Chelsea focuses on promoting early brain and language development through the Too Small to Fail initiative and uplifting and empowering female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses around the world through initiatives like the Caribbean-focused Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) Network. She also serves on the boards of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In addition to her Foundation work, Chelsea teaches at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and has written several books for young readers, including the #1 New York Times bestselling “She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World”.

As First Lady, Dr. Biden has focused on reaching out to all Americans, helping to bring our country together. During her first year as First Lady, Dr. Biden traveled to 35 states, over 60 cities, and three other countries. She has continued championing the causes that have defined her public life: supporting military families, advocating for increased educational opportunities, and working to end cancer as we know it. She has also served as a leading messenger for the White House’s most urgent priorities, including safely reopening schools, supporting the President’s economic agenda, and urging adults and children to protect themselves and their communities by getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

In the spring of 2021, Dr. Biden announced the next phase and priorities of Joining Forces, her White House initiative to support military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. In her first year, she visited 16 military installations; worked with Joining Forces partners to hold over 20 events with military families; and launched an interagency working group with the National Security Council, which secured over 80 commitments and proposals across the federal government to support military families. Through her Joining Forces work, she has advocated for: increased economic opportunities for military spouses; additional educational programming and support for military children; more focus on health and wellness in the military community; and improved resources for caregivers and survivors.

As a classroom teacher for over 30 years, advocating for increased educational opportunities for all students, of all ages, is close to her heart. From championing universal pre-school, free community college, increased access for students to broadband, and more affordable options for higher education, Dr. Biden continues her work promoting accessible, quality education for everyone. Cancer affects every community and it’s a common dark thread for so many, including the Biden family. As First Lady, Dr. Biden has continued to work on behalf of American families confronting cancer, focusing on supporting cancer patients and their loved-ones; urging Americans to prioritize their cancer screenings; and reducing health inequities. While serving as First Lady, Dr. Biden continued teaching English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has been a professor since 2009. She is the first presidential spouse to maintain an independent career outside of the White House.

Ragina Arrington returned to the Clinton Foundation as the CEO, CGI University. She came back to CGI U from Leadership for Educational Equity where she served as the Senior Director, Regional Impact over the New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and National Capital Regions where she was responsible for managing and supporting Directors in setting vision, identifying goals, work scopes, and strategy in addition to coaching and supporting their professional development. Prior to that, she worked with Teach For America, New York where she was the Director of Community Partnerships. With Teach For America, Ragina worked to cultivate and maintain relationships with a variety of community, city, and state stakeholders, all with the goal of elevating the teaching profession and creating access points for native New Yorkers, first-generation, Black, AAPI, and Latinx students. She also curated and executed engagement strategies to increase the number of highly diverse, talented, and committed applicants to Teach For America, New York. When not supporting her region, she lent DEI expertise to the national organization as a DEI Facilitator for incoming first-year educators, building a scaffolded learning opportunity where teachers centered their personal identity development as the vehicle for understanding racism as a function of systemic oppression.In her passion work, she served as the Director of Partnerships and Co+Investment Strategies with Unboxed Philanthropy Advisors, where she supported individuals, foundations, and nonprofits in realizing their personal philanthropic dreams with a strong focus on social justice. This included building out and reinforcing strategic growth plans, conducting market and landscape analysis, and curating critical relationships. In her previous tenure with the Foundation, Ragina operated as the Senior Outreach Manager, CGI U and was heavily focused on improving and sustaining its diversity outreach and student selection. She also created and grew the Clinton Global Initiative’s University Network which provided skilled mentorship and fiscal support of over 3 million dollars to student projects from around the globe. 

As Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, Chelsea Clinton works alongside the Foundation’s leadership and partners to help create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service across the United States and around the world. In particular, Chelsea focuses on promoting early brain and language development through the Too Small to Fail initiative and uplifting and empowering female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses around the world through initiatives like the Caribbean-focused Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) Network. She also serves on the boards of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In addition to her Foundation work, Chelsea teaches at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and has written several books for young readers, including the #1 New York Times bestselling “She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World”.

Clover Hogan is a climate activist, researcher on eco-anxiety, and the founding Executive Director of Force of Nature, a youth non-profit mobilizing mindsets for climate action. She has worked alongside the world’s leading authorities on sustainability, consulted within the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, and supported students in 50+ countries to shift from climate anxiety to agency.

Elizabeth Wathuti is a passionate environmentalist and climate activist from Kenya. She is the founder of Green Generation Initiative (GGI) and the Head of Campaigns and Coordinator of Daima Coalition for the Protection of Urban Green Spaces at the Wangari Maathai Foundation. She served as Global South Youth Co-chair for the COP26 Civil Society and Youth Advisory Council and addressed world leaders at the World Leaders’ Summit opening ceremony at COP26 in Glasgow. Elizabeth is also a youth council member of the International Reserva: The Youth Land Trust. Her leadership and personal commitment to environmental conservation and societal issues have been recognized by a number of award programs, including the Wangari Maathai Scholarship Award, the Diana International Award, Africa Green Person of the Year Award, Young Climate Champion Award by the Global Climate Fund, The Commonwealth Youth Awards and others. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Community Development from Kenyatta University and has been named as one of the most influential young Africans.

Brittany King is on a mission to inspire people to believe that obstacles are meant to be overcome. Known as the “Neighborhood Hope Dealer” who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is with humor and grace, she is adept at identifying ways to turn challenges into opportunity. Whether she’s dropping gems from the stage or providing her talent acquisition expertise to startups and enterprise organizations, Brittany seeks to help people go from inspiration to action. Currently, Brittany leads a diversity-focused team of recruiting professionals at Meta. Brittany has made a name for herself through her triumphant lift journey and her commitment to helping others find hope. Brittany has shared her business expertise with publications, including Forbes, Glamour, Monster.com, and Recruiter.com.

Many leading organizations and conferences have sought Brittany to serve as a keynote speaker, due to her reputation as an empathetic and authentic leader. She has shared the stage with Miss Universe, Miss USA, Harvard and Yale lecturers, Star Jones, and Destiny’s Childs’ LaTavia Roberson. Audience members often speak of her compelling, transparent, and engaging approach to navigating business and life. When she’s not serving as a partner in purpose to aspiring entrepreneurs and partnering with organization to help them attract, hire, and retain top talent, Brittany enjoys spending time with her children…and she never seems to meet a stranger.

As Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, Chelsea Clinton works alongside the Foundation’s leadership and partners to help create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service across the United States and around the world. In particular, Chelsea focuses on promoting early brain and language development through the Too Small to Fail initiative and uplifting and empowering female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses around the world through initiatives like the Caribbean-focused Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) Network. She also serves on the boards of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In addition to her Foundation work, Chelsea teaches at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and has written several books for young readers, including the #1 New York Times bestselling “She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World”.

Alexander J. Diaz leads AI for Social Good and Crisis Response & Humanitarian Aid at Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm. Through this role, Alex manages Google’s philanthropic efforts to empower nonprofits to develop and deploy high-impact AI applications that address critical global challenges and ensure the benefits of AI reach marginalized populations. He also manages Google’s efforts in response to global crises, such as natural disasters and public health emergencies, providing innovative nonprofits on the frontlines with funding and volunteers to help communities better prepare, respond, and recover from crises. As part of his role, Alex helped lead Google.org’s $100 million and 50K+ pro bono hours commitment to COVID-19, their effort to advance COVID-19 vaccine equity and more recent efforts to promote the uptake of anticipatory action. Alex is the winner of both the Marshall and the Rhodes Scholarship awards. As a Rhodes Scholar, Alex received a Master’s of Public Policy and a Master’s of Financial Economics at the University of Oxford. Alex graduated from Harvard College Phi Beta Kappa and with highest honors in psychology. Alex has been named to Forbes’ List of 30 Under 30 for Law & Policy. The son of Dominican and Cuban immigrants, Alex was raised in Union City, NJ.

Ms. Chido Cleo Mpemba is the Special Envoy on Youth appointed in the Office of the Chairperson on the 1st of November 2021, as the youngest diplomat and senior official in the Chairperson’s cabinet. She is a Pan-African youth advocate on a mission to use her strengths, influence and voice to lead work that changes the lives of young people in communities. She has worked with various institutions to coordinate activities focused on social equity, policy advocacy and climate change. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow who was selected under President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. She is part of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum and has held leadership roles including being selected as part of the Global Taskforce, representing the Africa region, former Hub Curator and Climate Reality Leader trained by former US Vice President Al Gore. Ms. Mpemba has strong private sector experience, having started her career as a banker at Standard Chartered Bank for seven years. She has also worked with the Zimbabwe Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts & Culture, and World Olympian Kirsty Coventry. Ms. Mpemba is featured in the book of Top 100 Go Getter Millennials and The Women Excel book of successful Zimbabwean Women. She took part in a high-level leadership training as a visiting fellow at Dartmouth College, Rockefellar Center for Public Policy and Social Sciences. She holds an MBA Degree from Midlands State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Cape Town.

Jessica Malaty Rivera is an infectious disease epidemiologist and science communicator. She earned her MS in Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Georgetown School of Medicine and has dedicated the last 15 years of her career to disease surveillance research, public health policy, and vaccine advocacy. Her specialty is in translating complex scientific concepts into impactful, judgement-free, and accessible information for a diverse audience. Throughout the pandemic, she served as the Science Communication Lead for The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. Currently, she is a Research Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator, an Infection Preventionist at Netflix, a Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Prevention Institute at the Rockefeller Foundation, and an expert contributor to news outlets around the world. Jessica was recently named one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine for her work on COVID-19 research and data communication. Between her day jobs and being a full-time mother to two little kids, she also dedicates several hours a week to promoting science literacy and debunking misinformation on social media.

Joel Bervell is a third year Ghanaian-American medical student at Washington State University, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. In 2017, Joel graduated from Yale University, where he earned a BA in Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology and subsequently received his master’s degree in medical science from Boston University. He is the co-founder of Hugs for, a non-profit that is dedicated to empowering the next generation of high school global leaders. A decade later, Hugs has mobilized hundreds of youth volunteers and successfully planned trips to Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

Joel is committed to fighting health disparities in medicine through education and regularly shares topics about racial disparities/biases in healthcare and other industries on his TikTok and Instagram (@joelbervell) where his platforms have over 400,000+ combined followers and 45,000,000+ impressions. Joel has been named by TikTok as the top 2021 “Voice for Change,” was featured by TikTok as one of 10 “Changemakers” on their inaugural Discover List, named as one of ten recipients of the 50K MACRO x TikTok Black Creatives Grant, and was a nominee for the AdColor Awards. He was recently selected by Meta for the 2022 We The Culture creator program and Mashable called him “your next must-follow creator.” He is the recipient of the National Medical Association’s Emerging Scholar Award, the highest academic honor presented to a student by the National Medical Association.

Mahmoud Khedr is an Egyptian-American Muslim immigrant, social entrepreneur, and mental health advocate. For the last 8 years, he’s been working at the intersection of technology, government, health, and social impact. Mahmoud the Co-Founder and CEO of FloraMind, an organization with the vision of empowering young people to flourish through their social, emotional, and mental health.

Dr. Chad Womack serves as the Senior Director of National STEM Programs and Initiatives at the UNCF. Through his leadership, UNCF has raised over $100M to support a portfolio of STEM programs that include the Annual HBCU Tech Innovation Summit, UNCF STEM Scholars Program, HBCU CS Academy, HBCU CS/Tech Pathways Initiative, TechVentures and the Ernest E. Just Life Science Institute and Fellowship Program. The Ernest E. Just Life Science Institute manages fellowship programs that support the career development of African Americans in the life sciences and is dedicated to building research capacity at HBCUs. Dr. Womack is also the Founding Director of the UNCF STEM Scholars Program, which is a $50M and 10-year commitment from the Fund II Foundation to support academically talented African American high school students pursuing STEM as majors in college and careers in the tech-industry. In addition, Dr. Womack manages several partnerships with several industry intermediary organizations including PhRMA, BIO and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Prior to joining the UNCF, Dr. Womack led the White House-supported HBCU Startup and Innovation Initiative, which resulted in the launch of the HBCU Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship initiative at the UNCF. Dr. Womack has previously served as a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Agency (EDA) National Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) and was a founding member of the DC Mayor’s Innovation and Technology Inclusion Council (ITIC). More recently, Dr. Womack co-founded CS4Philly – a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization dedicated to equity and access to high quality computer science education for K12 youth in the City of Philadelphia; and Black Tech Ventures (BTV) as a nonprofit initiative committed to supporting entrepreneurial leadership among African American student and faculty innovators at HBCU alumni in the tech-industry.

Joshua Ness is an ecosystem orchestrator for 5G and emerging technology enablement, connecting physical and digital environments. He helps leadership teams across industries implement the “art of the possible” to meet new expectations through next-gen digital transformation.

Suzannah Whitlatch currently works as a Program Manager for Net Impact, an organization that works to inspire and equip emerging leaders to create a more just and sustainable world. She specifically leads the initiatives related to the Up to Us competition. Up to Us empowers young adults to think critically about our country’s fiscal policy and work with their community to create a sustainable economic future for all. Suzannah is passionate about working with emerging student leaders on civic engagement and empowering them to make an impact.

Tara Shannon is the Senior Manager of Programs for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation where she leads the organization’s efforts to engage Next Gen stakeholders on the importance of addressing U.S. fiscal challenges. Prior to joining the Peterson Foundation, Shannon served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Head of Corporate Responsibility and Operating Committee member of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and previously held roles on the firm’s Public Affairs team. Shannon has nearly a decade of experience working across sectors in Washington, D.C. to execute strategic initiatives and communications campaigns related to priority economic and public policy issues. Shannon holds a B.A. from George Washington University and is a resident of New York City.

Cara leads VentureWell’s early stage innovator programs both domestically and globally and has deep experience in medtech venture development. With a background in technology development and public health, she helps innovators address the challenges of developing and implementing innovative solutions in complex global health systems. Prior to joining VentureWell, Cara was a scientist at Diagnostics For All, where she developed point-of-care diagnostics for low-resources settings and led field trials in Zambia. Cara has an MS in chemistry from the University of Utah and an MPH from Johns Hopkins University.

Dennis Bly is committed to driving a new era of tech-for-good skills and social entrepreneurship by working with leading academics, students, developers, entrepreneurs and similarly-minded non-profit organizations across the globe. In his current role as IBM Principal for Call for Code, his goals are to integrate the latest tech skills and experiential learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom to inspire students to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges like disaster response/resiliency, sustainability, social and environmental justice, and COVID-19.

Bly joined IBM in 1996 and has held various leadership positions focused primarily on people and program management as well as business development. Prior roles include Global Watson Academic Engagement Leader, North America Academic Initiative Leader as well as managing the Austin IBM Innovation Center and Worldwide Virtual Innovation Center, driving ecosystem development by working with IBM Business Partners, tech startups, venture capitalists, academia, and community organizations/influencers. Bly now resides in Atlanta, GA and is a graduate of Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with a BA in Business and Government. He serves on several university academic advisory boards and has also served as the President of the Augustana University Alumni Association. In 2019, Bly was elected to serve as a member of the Augustana University Board of Trustees.

Kevin Thurm is the chief executive officer of the Clinton Foundation. He previously served as a senior counselor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he worked with Secretary Sylvia Burwell and HHS senior leadership on a number of cross-cutting strategic initiatives, including continuing implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Prior to that role, Kevin held various leadership positions at Citigroup, including chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel. Before joining Citigroup, Thurm served as the deputy secretary and chief of staff for the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Donna E. Shalala. He received a bachelor’s from Tufts University in 1983; a bachelor’s/master’s from Oxford University in 1986, where he was a Rhodes Scholar; and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1989.

Lauren has spent over a decade in the nonprofit sector developing and managing programs, producing community journalism and multimedia, and advocating for policy change. She is also an online education entrepreneur. She co-founded Forte Labs, where she developed professional development trainings, scaled an online course to cohorts of 1,000 students, and consulted on online course creation. Lauren also founded WinAFulbright.com to increase access to the Fulbright scholarship. She currently runs a YouTube channel (youtube.com/laurenvaldez) with a mission of helping first generation college students and students of color apply to grad school and win competitive scholarships. Lauren has a dual masters in city planning and public health from UC Berkeley and was a Fulbright Fellow to Brazil.

Tala immigrated from Syria in July of 2018. She graduated in the spring of 2021 with an associate degree from Oakland Community College. She’s currently attending the University of Michigan, studying International Studies, and working toward her goal of becoming an ambassador for the United Nations to advocate for childhood education in countries experiencing war. Tala was elected in April 2021 to serve as Phi Theta Kappa’s 2021-22 International President. At OCC, Tala served in numerous leadership roles. She was president of both her PTK chapter and the PTK Michigan Region, served as an OCC student recruiter, and was involved with Up to Us. She received OCC’s 2019-2020 Outstanding Student Award, and she was recently awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, worth up to $40,000 a year as she completes her bachelor’s degree. Currently, she’s involved with a research project on campus and serves as a Transfer Student Ambassador.

Vinny Johl holds undergraduate degrees in Marketing/Management and a master’s in business administration from the University of the Pacific. Vinny is a Health Care leader who oversees Care Experience, Physician Health & Wellness and Equity Inclusion and Diversity for Kaiser Permanente’s Central Valley Service Area. She is an award-winning dynamic, data-driven, goal-oriented, healthcare leader with a passion for building relationships, patient experience and process improvement. Vinny is also a proud alumni of the CGI U classes of 2010 and 2011 and says her most rewarding opportunity of her career has been severing as a CGI U mentor since 2013.

As Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, Chelsea Clinton works alongside the Foundation’s leadership and partners to help create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service across the United States and around the world. In particular, Chelsea focuses on promoting early brain and language development through the Too Small to Fail initiative and uplifting and empowering female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses around the world through initiatives like the Caribbean-focused Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) Network. She also serves on the boards of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In addition to her Foundation work, Chelsea teaches at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and has written several books for young readers, including the #1 New York Times bestselling “She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World”.

Tiki Inacay is a motivational speaker and storyteller. They are the owner of Inacay Communications, InaCom for short, and serve as a mentor and coach for leaders from all around the world. They identify as a nonbinary person of color; their pronouns are “they/them.” As a powerful motivation technician, they forward social justice movements and strive to make the world a better place through innovative workshop tools like “grace and ease.” Currently, they are seeking a doctoral degree at Alliant International University in clinical psychology. Tiki’s work inspires transformation in people and organizations in need of positive change.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Enugu, Nigeria in 1977. She graduated summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State University with a degree in Communication and Political Science. She has a Master’s degree in African Studies from Yale University, and a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University. She was awarded a Hodder fellowship at Princeton University for the 2005-2006 academic year, and a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University for the 2011-2012 academic year. In 2008, she received a MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the “genius grant.” She has received honorary doctorate degrees from Eastern Connecticut State University, Johns Hopkins University, Haverford College, Williams College, the University of Edinburgh, Duke University, Amherst College, Bowdoin College, SOAS University of London, American University, Georgetown University, Yale University, Rhode Island School of Design, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Adichie’s work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), won the Orange Prize. Her 2013 novel Americanah won the US National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of The New York Times Top Ten Best Books of 2013. A story from her collection, The Thing Around Your Neck, was awarded the O Henry Prize. She has delivered two landmark TED talks: her 2009 TED Talk The Danger of A Single Story and her 2012 TEDx Euston talk We Should All Be Feminists, which started a worldwide conversation about feminism, and was published as a book in 2014. Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, was published in March 2017. Her most recent work, Notes On Grief, an essay about losing her father, was published in 2021. She was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015. In 2017, Fortune Magazine named her one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2021 to serve as the 21st Surgeon General of the United States as a returning role. As the Nation’s Doctor, the Surgeon General’s mission is to restore trust by relying on the best scientific information available, providing clear, consistent guidance and resources for the public, and ensuring that we reach our most vulnerable communities. As the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Murthy commands a uniformed service of 6,000 dedicated public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations domestically and abroad.