Michelle Ebanks is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Apollo, the largest African American performing arts center in the nation. She joined The Apollo in 2023 at a pivotal time, as the organization expanded by opening The Apollo Stages at The Victoria, bringing two new flexible performance spaces to Harlem. Previously, as CEO of Essence Communications, Michelle oversaw the nation’s leading media and communications company dedicated to African American women. In that role, she led Essence magazine, Essence.com, and the internationally renowned Essence Festival of Culture, one of the largest annual live music events in the world.

Brandan "bmike" Odums is an artist and muralist based in New Orleans, celebrated for his vibrant street art that addresses themes of identity, culture, and social justice. In addition to his artistic endeavors, bmike founded Eternal Seeds, a nonprofit organization that provides resources, mentorship, and opportunities for young artists, cultivating a new generation of creative voices. He also founded Studio Be, a large-scale art space that serves as a gallery and community hub for the local arts scene in New Orleans. bmike’s art and community initiatives use creativity as a tool for dialogue and transformation.

Brandan "bmike" Odums is an artist and muralist based in New Orleans, celebrated for his vibrant street art that addresses themes of identity, culture, and social justice. 

Reimagining opportunities for the next generation of artists | Brandan “bmike” Odums

Joanna Strober is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women in perimenopause and menopause. The company brings expert care, covered by insurance, to women nationwide. Prior to Midi, Joanna founded Kurbo, the first digital therapeutics program for childhood obesity, which scaled to help tens of thousands of children worldwide. Joanna spent more than 20 years in direct private equity and venture capital investing in health and consumer companies. She is the author of Getting to 50/50, a primer on how women can succeed and thrive at work and at home. In 2023, she was selected for the Forbes “50 Over 50” list of top innovators.

Joanna Strober is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women in perimenopause and menopause. 

Insurance-covered care for women experiencing menopause | Joanna Strober

Nicholas Flanders is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Twelve. He has dedicated his career to uncovering and developing energy innovations to address the climate crisis. Before launching Twelve, Nicholas was the Chief Operating Officer of Levo, a venture-backed technology startup, and a business analyst at McKinsey, where he co-authored groundbreaking studies of the global energy system. In 2016, Nicholas was named an Echoing Green climate fellow and selected for the Forbes “30 Under 30” list for the energy sector. He graduated from Cornell with a BA in mathematics and he holds an MS in engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.

Nicholas Flanders is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Twelve. 

The benefits of fossil fuels without the environmental costs | Nicholas Flanders

Patrick G. Awuah Jr. is the Founder and President of Ashesi University, a nonprofit institution in Ghana created to educate a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa. Patrick founded Ashesi in 2002 with a belief that Africa’s future will be shaped by its universities. As President, he is responsible for sustaining the University’s academic excellence and commitment to ethical conduct, innovation, and civic engagement. He has won international awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship, the McNulty Prize, and Membership of the Order of the Volta—one of Ghana’s highest awards, given to individuals who exemplify the ideal of service to the country. Patrick holds BAs in engineering and economics from Swarthmore College and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Patrick G. Awuah Jr. is the Founder and President of Ashesi University, a nonprofit institution in Ghana created to educate a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa. 

Teaching leadership, entrepreneurship, and problem solving across Africa | Patrick Awuah

Carrie Joy “CJ” Grimes is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WorkMoney, a national organization dedicated to improving people’s financial lives across America. Growing up in a working- and middle-class family from the Midwest and Appalachia, CJ was steeped in the notion that hard work creates opportunity, but found herself deeply concerned that many people were increasingly unable to afford to live good lives. As the National Organizing Director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), she helped launch the Fight for $15 to increase the minimum wage. At WorkMoney, she helps people raise their incomes and lower their costs.


Carrie Joy “CJ” Grimes is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WorkMoney, a national organization dedicated to improving people’s financial lives across America.

Americans find help, tools, and resources for their money | Carrie Joy Grimes

Haile Johnston is the Co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of The Common Market, which builds local food distribution networks that bridge the gap between rural food producers and urban consumers. Haile’s work encompasses community empowerment, economic resilience, and environmental stewardship, focusing on food systems and social justice. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where he focused on entrepreneurial management. He has been a Kellogg Food and Community Fellow and a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur, and has served on the boards of the National Farm to School Network, the Castanea Fellowship, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, and the Growing Justice Fund.

Haile Johnston is the Co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of The Common Market, which builds local food distribution networks that bridge the gap between rural food producers and urban consumers. 

Bridging the gap between rural food producers and urban consumers | Haile Johnston 

Professor Hugh Herr creates bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. A double amputee, he is responsible for breakthrough advances that provide greater mobility and new hope to people with physical disabilities. In 2011, Time named him the “Leader of the Bionic Age” for his revolutionary work in the emerging field of biomechatronics, which marries human physiology with electromechanics. Hugh’s innovations include an ankle-foot prosthesis called EmPower, which, for the first time, offers amputees a natural gait. In 2015, his MIT research group invented a surgical procedure that allows people to control their synthetic limbs through thought and experience natural sensations from synthetic limbs.

Professor Hugh Herr creates bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. 

Developing bionic limbs controlled through thought | Hugh Herr

Rebecca Shi is the founding Executive Director of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), a bipartisan coalition of 1,400 CEOs, retired CEOs, employers, and business associations across the country. ABIC pursues common-sense immigration reform to grow the economy, create jobs, and keep families together. Rebecca immigrated from China with her parents when she was 10 years old. Bad legal advice resulted in her mother losing legal status and becoming, for 19 years, an undocumented worker with a deportation order. Rebecca’s family’s story drove her to become an organizer and leader in the immigrant rights movement. She is an Asian American Community Leadership Honoree and a University of Illinois Edgar Fellow.

Rebecca Shi is the founding Executive Director of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), a bipartisan coalition of 1,400 CEOs, retired CEOs, employers, and business associations across the country. 

Bringing together bipartisan support for sensible immigration solutions | Rebecca Shi

Bob Mumgaard is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the world's largest fusion energy company. Bob’s PhD work at MIT contributed to the design of several small superconducting tokamaks, devices used to produce controlled nuclear fusion. As a fellow at MIT, Bob focused on how entrepreneurship, partnerships, and risk-retirement strategies could speed up fusion’s journey from laboratory to market. He holds a PhD in applied plasma physics and an MS in nuclear engineering from MIT, and a BS in mechanical engineering and engineering physics from the University of Nebraska.

Bob Mumgaard is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the world's largest fusion energy company. 

A star here on earth: the future of fusion will power the world | Bob Mumgaard

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Michelle Ebanks is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Apollo, the largest African American performing arts center in the nation.

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