2026 Bridge Builders Summit - Digital Agenda

Alencia Johnson is an award-winning cultural commentator, bestselling author, political advisor, and leader at the intersection of social impact and culture change, uniquely experienced at marrying cultural cornerstones -- advocacy, politics, corporate and entertainment -- together for good. She is the Founder of 1063 West Broad — a social impact consultancy and media company connecting brands, organizations and people to purpose driven solutions. Her national bestselling book, “Flip The Tables: The Everyday Disruptor’s Guide to Finding Courage and Making Change” is available now.

She has worked for the presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and was a senior advisor to President Biden’s 2020 campaign as well as Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign. Alencia also held national roles at Planned Parenthood and GEICO -- leading efforts in each organization to address systemic issues facing marginalized communities through brand, engagement and narrative strategies. During her six years at Planned Parenthood, she was one of the architects behind the “Stand With Black Women” branding and framework as well as led the organization’s election media strategies with Secretary Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Alencia has been recognized by Harvard University with a "Woman of the Year" award, EBONY Magazine’s “Power 100” list of influential African Americans, PRWeek’s “40 Under 40” list and more. Her board service includes the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation’s Social Justice Fund as well as Human Rights First and she was appointed to the Virginia Council on Women by Governor Ralph Northam. She is currently a Georgetown University Institute of Politics Fellow.

Alencia is a sought-after thought leader and cultural critic regularly featured on MSNBC, CNN, ABC, BET, NPR, Washington Post, ESSENCE, Glamour and more. 

Lillian D. Singh serves as Senior Vice President of Family Economic Mobility for Share Our Strength. In this role, Lillian leads the organization’s initiative to address structural inequities that create, sustain, and perpetuate food insecurity and persistent poverty for families.

For nearly two decades, Lillian has advanced racial economic analysis, program design solutions, grassroots capacity-building models, and power-building approaches to bridge the racial wealth divide. Before joining Share Our Strength, Lillian worked at Prosperity Now, serving as Vice President for Programs and Racial Wealth Equity. She provided vision and management accountability to a multidisciplinary staff and workstreams, advancing economic mobility strategies for families and communities.

Her other experience includes spearheading financial inclusion campaigns during her tenure at the NAACP as the National Director of Economic Strategic Partnerships and Development, supporting state and local affiliates across the country.

A Mississippi native but raised in Los Angeles, Lillian earned her undergraduate degree in Urban Planning and Masters of Arts in Sociology, both from Stanford University. She has received numerous fellowships and honors, including the Aspen Institute Civil Society Fellow and the Independent Sector American Express NGen Fellow. Lillian lives in Bowie, Maryland, with her husband.

Marcus Littles is a visionary leader, sought-after thought partner, and organizational strategist. He founded Frontline Solutions in 2005 to help Ford Foundation and other key partners to steward philanthropic investments in an equitable Gulf Coast recovery after Hurricane Katrina. Marcus' leadership has been integral to the growth of Frontline Solutions into one of the country’s most highly regarded Black-owned management consulting firms. Frontline delivers a full range of strategy, research and evaluation, and organizational change services. Marcus has also served as an instrumental leader in directing philanthropic investment at the intersection of race and gender. Littles is regarded by many in the larger fields of racial equity and social justice as one of the most influential relationship nodes for this work. He is purposeful in his relationships, to connect and push the members of his network to leverage their individual and collective assets to help create a more just and equitable world. Littles is an advocate for racial justice, an organizer of people and ideas, and a sought after facilitator, speaker and strategist. He is a native of Mobile, Alabama, a proud graduate of Auburn University and the University of Delaware, and currently resides in Washington DC with his amazing wife and brilliant young son.
 

Dr. Michael McAfee became President and CEO of PolicyLink in 2018, seven years after becoming the inaugural director of the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink. His results-driven leadership, depth of knowledge about building and sustaining an organization, and devotion to serving the nation’s most underserved populations made him the obvious choice to lead the 20-year-old PolicyLink as Angela Glover Blackwell transitioned to founder in residence.

During his time at PolicyLink, Michael has played a leadership role in securing Promise Neighborhoods as a permanent federal program, led efforts to improve outcomes for more than 300,000 children, and facilitated the investment of billions of dollars in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. He is the catalyst for a new and growing body of work — corporate racial equity — which includes the first comprehensive tool to guide private-sector companies in assessing and actively promoting equity in every aspect of their company’s value chain. Michael carries forward the legacy to realize the promise of equity — just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.

Michael also understands the urgency of now. The nation is rapidly becoming a majority people of color. In cities and towns across the country many people are embracing the concept of equity and intent on achieving racial and economic equity for all. At the same time, as the word is used more, the concept of equity is in danger of becoming diluted, just another catchphrase of civil society, leaving the true promise of racial and economic inclusion unrealized. Michael is determined that this will not happen.

Michael is ensuring equity does not become watered down. He is turning movement leaders’ eyes toward redesigning the “rules of the game” so that all people in America — particularly those who face the burdens of structural racism — participate in a just society, live in a healthy community of opportunity, and prosper in an equitable economy. He is achieving this by enacting liberating public policies targeted to the 100 million people living in or near poverty, the majority of whom are people of color.

His legacy will lie in his efforts to stand in transformative solidarity with others, collectively charting a course to Win on Equity. He is building a well-planned, well-coordinated, well-executed, and sustained campaign that frees America’s democracy from the oppressive blend of patriarchy, capitalism, and racism.

Before joining PolicyLink, Michael served as senior community planning and development representative in the Chicago Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While at HUD, he managed a $450 million housing, community, and economic development portfolio where he partnered with local leaders to create more than 3,000 units of affordable housing and 5,000 jobs and to ensure access to social services for more than 200,000 families. Before his public service, Michael served as the director of community leadership for The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and Affiliated Trusts. He was instrumental in positioning the organization to raise $121 million from individual donors, an accomplishment recognized by the Chronicle of Philanthropy for receiving more contributions than any community foundation in America. Michael’s commitment to the needs of people of color and those living in poverty extends to his work on the boards of Independent Sector, North Lawndale Employment Network, REI, Strive Together, and Sweet Beginnings, LLC, each of which is committed to creating opportunity for those among the 100 million economically insecure people in America.

Previously, Michael served in the United States Army and as Dean's Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He earned his Doctor of Education in human and organizational learning from George Washington University and completed Harvard University's Executive Program in Public Management.

He is a sought-after speaker on community and economic development, leadership, organizational development, racial equity, and youth development. His articles have appeared in Academic Pediatrics, Cascade, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; Community Development Innovation Review, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; Harvard Education Press, New York Times, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Voices in Urban Education, published by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.

Michael lives in the Oakland Hills with his wife, Maja, and their two Brussels Griffons (Gigi and Griff). He is an avid off-road hiker and practitioner of yoga.

Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley is the president and chief executive officer for National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and brings 21 years of experience in healthcare, diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEII), government affairs, and executive leadership. She is also the founding principal and CEO of R.E.A.C.H. Beyond Solutions, a public health, advocacy, and executive leadership firm promoting DEI, political and organizational strategy, risk management, government affairs, and technical assistance.

Prior to starting R.E.A.C.H., she served as senior advisor and director of external engagement during the Obama Administration in the Department of Health & Human Services for the 19th U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy. Before her tenure in the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) headquarters, Rev. Arline-Bradley served as the executive vice president of strategic planning & partnerships, as well as former chief of staff.

She is a community advocate serving in leadership capacity in the following organizations: Delta for Women for Action, NAACP Board of Directors Health Committee, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., National Social Action Commission, and Oprah Winfrey Network initiative “OWN Your Health.” In addition, she is an active member of American Public Health Association, Links, Inc., and Jack & Jill of America, Inc., just to name a few. Further in 2024, Rev. Arline-Bradley became the youngest to keynote the Martin Luther King, Jr. Beloved Community Commemorative Service, the world-renown annual celebration of Dr. King’s birthday, organized by the King Center.

A southern New Jersey native, she earned her undergraduate degree in exercise science and master’s in public health from Tulane University in New Orleans, La. She also graduated from the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University with a Master of Divinity, where she too became an ordained minister. Rev. Arline-Bradley completed an Executive Certificate of Business Management from Howard University and an Executive Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University.

Rev. Arline-Bradley is a lover of all-things sports, music, and an avid resort traveler. Most important to her are her faith and family, as she enjoys being a wife to Andrew Bradley and mother of two children.

Alyia Gaskins, a tenacious fighter for families, communities, and health equity, is the first African American woman to serve as the Mayor of Alexandria. She was elected in 2024 and is dedicated to building a healthier, more prosperous Alexandria for all. The same issues that motivate Alyia as an elected official—health, housing, education, public safety, and the economic, social, and physical vitality of cities— have motivated her professional career as a public health strategist and city planner. She has worked on hunger policy at D.C. Hunger Solutions and health issues at the National League of Cities, managed an affordable housing investment program at the Center for Community Investment, and was most recently a Senior Program Officer at the Melville Charitable Trust, a national philanthropic organization devoted to ending homelessness. Currently, Alyia runs her own consulting business, CitiesRX, which focuses on building physical, social, and economic health through community partnerships. 

Alyia graduated from Vanderbilt University, where she majored in medicine, health, and society. She earned a master’s degree in public health at the University of Pittsburgh and further honed her policy chops with a master’s in urban planning at Georgetown and a Professional Certificate in Municipal Finance from the University of Chicago. Mayor Gaskins is extremely honored and humbled to be chosen as the Rising Vice-Chair of the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger.

Chastity has spent two decades dedicated to dismantling systems of inequity for marginalized communities. She deeply believes that generational poverty is a social justice issue and that families are the best owners and narrators of their lives. History has proven time and again that building infrastructure, leadership, and power for marginalized communities creates a contagion of long-term change.

Chastity’s professional North Star and commitment to equity and justice for the past two decades is influenced by her own personal experience as a first-generation college graduate. Prior to JP, Chastity served as Chief Operating Officer at Color of Change (COC), a racial justice organization with 7+ million members.

Prior to joining COC, Chastity was the Chief External Officer of Achievement First, a nonprofit organization that operates 50 public charter schools in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Brooklyn. Chastity also spent eight years at The Posse Foundation, a nationally-recognized and MacArthur Genius-awarded college access program devoted to public high school students who show academic and leadership potential, but may be overlooked by the traditional college admissions process.

She has a BA in organizational communication from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA in strategy and marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She is a 2012 Pahara-Aspen Fellow with the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Chastity serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. In the past year, she was quoted as a thought leader in top-tier outlets including Reuters, Politico, CNN, MSNBC, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, CBS Morning, and NPR.

Laura Zumdahl, Ph.D, LSW, is the President and CEO of New Moms, a social impact organization focused on supporting young moms as they achieve economic mobility and create strong families. She also serves as CEO of New Moms’ social enterprises, Bright Endeavors, a soy candle company that provides paid transitional jobs to young women in New Moms’ job training program, and Bright Path, a company providing consulting to other human service organizations.

Laura’s career has been focused on growing and developing effective nonprofit organizations. She’s served in a variety of leadership roles in the nonprofit sector in capacity building, legal aid, higher education, and child welfare.  She serves as a board member for Forefront, Chicago Alliance for Collaborative Effort (CACE), and Trinity Christian College, and she is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

Laura learned about the importance of motherhood from her own mom, Amy, and from her three amazing young adult stepchildren. Outside of work, Laura is an avid explorer of Chicago’s vibrant neighborhoods and restaurants with her husband and friends.

Matt Williams is the director of research with the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative. He conducts research and policy analysis to support reforms and best practices in Mississippi’s public safety net programs, with a primary focus on CCDF and on Mississippi’s public workforce training and education systems.

Applying a gender and race equity lens, Matt’s policy research focuses on intersectionality and aligning support systems to better serve low-income women and single moms in Mississippi. Matt holds a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Anne Mosle serves as a vice president of the Aspen Institute, executive director of Ascend at the Aspen Institute and as co-chair of the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls. As a leader in building pathways to opportunity for children and families with low incomes, her expertise is in the sweet spot of policy, practice, and philanthropy, and she has been a catalytic force in the two-generation approach and leadership strategies for child and family well-being and prosperity. Prior to Aspen, Mosle was a vice president and officer of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she led Family Economic Security, Civic and Philanthropic Engagement, and Impact Investing teams investing $150M annually and was president of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation. She serves on the board of American Public Human Services Association, Institute for Women’s Policy Research Institute as well as a trusted advisor to numerous community, public, private, and philanthropic efforts focused on creating intergenerational economic mobility. Mosle has been recognized with the national Jerry Friedman Human Services Leadership Award, Washingtonian of the Year, but most importantly by parents and families with low-incomes and of color as an unwavering champion and supporter of both their and their children’s success and potential.

Andrea is the CEO of Capitalize Good, a Social Enterprise Fellow at the Yale School of Management, and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Andrea began her career in development finance at the National Development Council (now Grow America) before joining Prosperity Now, a national intermediary focused on wealth inequality, where she served as President for 14 years. In this role, she led the growth of the asset-building field, focusing on both policy development and financial sustainability while launching national movements for matched savings for adults and children.

She currently serves as the Board chair of two Community Development Financial Institutions – ROC USA and Rochdale Capital – and Vice Chair of Scale Link. She was also a member of the Community Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, for which she served as Vice Chair and Chair during her three-year term. She received her BA at Brown University and MBA at the Yale School of Management.

Darius Graham joined the foundation in October 2023 as the Managing Director of Community Investment. In this role, he oversees the foundation’s grantmaking programs, strategic initiatives, and collaboratives. He leads the Community Investment team and serves on the foundation’s executive leadership team.

Previously as the Program Director for Baltimore at The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Darius guided the distribution of over $30 million in grants annually to nonprofits working across the areas of housing, health, workforce development, and education in Baltimore and beyond. In this role, he also developed and led strategic initiatives such as the Greenmount Life, Opportunity, and Wellness (GLOW) Initiative — an award-winning, multi-year, place-based strategy that unites residents and a network of over 30 nonprofits to ensure all residents of four central Baltimore neighborhoods can access and utilize comprehensive healthcare services, nutritious food, and enriching opportunities for youth. Other initiatives included the $25 million economic mobility initiative (Mobility LABs) in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation and a $3.7 million initiative in Stockton, California to improve academic and civic outcomes.

Prior to that, Darius was the founding executive director of two university-wide innovation and entrepreneurship programs at Johns Hopkins University (Social Innovation Lab and FastForwardU) where he helped students, faculty, and local residents transform novel ideas and new technologies into viable ventures. Darius was the founder and executive director of DC Social Innovation Project, which supported the launch and growth of innovative community-based ventures tackling pressing social issues in Washington, DC. He began his career as an attorney in the Financial Restructuring practice group at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Darius is a Civil Society Fellow with The Aspen Institute and ADL and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. As an adjunct professor at the University of Denver and Goucher College, Darius has taught graduate courses on social entrepreneurship, public sector innovation, and nonprofit leadership. At the Baltimore Museum of Art, he serves as vice-chair of the board of trustees and chair of the governance committee. He previously served as co-chair of the board of directors of Community Law In Action, a mayor-appointed commissioner at Serve DC, and a Social Entrepreneur-In-Residence at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Darius' work and insights are highlighted in two books, Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at AnyLevel and In the Business of Change: How Social Entrepreneurs Are Disrupting Business as Usual. He has been a speaker at SXSW, SOCAP, Mission Investors Exchange, and Startup Champions; published in The Baltimore Sun, Inside Philanthropy, and more; and received honors from Ebony magazine, Baltimore Business Journal, and was recently named a GameChanger by Baltimore magazine. Darius is the author of Being the Difference: True Stories of Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the World. He received a B.A. summa cum laude from Florida A&M University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley – School of Law.

Alvin starks brings decades of expertise in philanthropy, racial equity, and social justice leadership to his role at Borealis. With a career spanning strategic grantmaking, racial justice advocacy, and movement building, Alvin has been a visionary advocate for transformative social change that expands and shapes an inclusive multiracial democracy. His work ensures that philanthropic resources reach the vibrant communities and innovative leaders that are critical towards advancing dignity, belonging, justice and power. His leadership reflects a deep commitment towards advancing equity, movement building, and innovative advocacy that secures freedom and inclusion.

Joelle-Jude Fontaine is a senior program officer with the Human Services Program at the Kresge Foundation. Through her role she is focused on system change grounded in racial equity and justice to ensure accelerated social and economic success and intergenerational wealth creation for individuals and families.

Her commitment is grounded in the belief that children and their families should have every opportunity to achieve their hopes and dreams. She immigrated to the United States with her family from Haiti which informs her perspectives and commitment to racial justice and human rights. 

Before joining Kresge in 2017, Joelle-Jude served as a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she led the development of its early childhood funding strategies focusing on obtaining equitable outcomes for children pre-birth to age eight. She also led the development of the foundation’s infant toddler funding strategy, designed to maximize outcomes for young children and their families.

Joelle-Jude served on Governor Whitmer’s Michigan Commission on Community Action and Economic and Opportunity Board (2019-2021). She also served as a steering committee member of the National Early Childhood Funders Collaborative (2010-2017), which helps leverage private and public funding and other resources to increase equitable early childhood systems building efforts.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and completed coursework for a Master of Public Affairs from Bernard M. Baruch College, City University of New York.

A renowned cultural critic and writer with a focus on issues of race, gender, and motherhood, Jamilah Lemieux is a leading millennial feminist thinker, social influencer, and game-changing media maverick.

Lemieux’s written work has been featured via a host of print and digital platforms, including the LA Times, the Nation, Essence, Playboy, the Cut, the Guardian, Colorlines, the Washington Post, Wired, Self, Inverse, Refinery 29, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Nation and Vanity Fair. She penned the foreword for the 2015 anniversary of Michele Wallace's Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman and the 2017 re-release of Ann Petry’s Miss Muriel and Other Stories. She was also featured in the 2019 anthology How We Fight White Supremacy.

Her first book, Black Single Mother: Real-Life Tales of Longing and Belonging (Roc Lit 101/Penguin Random House) will be released on March 10, 2026. Order your copy here!

Currently, she pens a weekly advice column for Slate's 'Care and Feeding' parenting section. She serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Still Here, a special single-issue magazine about Black women and HIV/AIDS, which will be released in December 2025.

She has appeared as a commentator on various news programs for CNN, ABC, CBS, BET, Buzzfeed, MTV2, and MSNBC, as well as Comedy Central's 'The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore' and 'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,' Vice’s 'Desus and Mero,' TMZ and The Breakfast Club, the popular nationally syndicated morning radio show. After years of calling for accountability for the famed R&B singer known for his mistreatment of underage girls and women, she was prominently featured in Lifetime’s critically acclaimed docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly (2019) and Surviving R. Kelly 2: The Reckoning (2020.) She also appeared in A&E's Secrets of Playboy (2022.) She served as both a producer and commentator for Time of Essence (2023), a 5-part docuseries about the history of Essence magazine.

Lemieux served as the Vice President of News and Men’s Programming for

iOne Digital, where she helped spearhead the creation of CASSIUS, a progressive digital lifestyle platform. Prior to that, she worked as the Senior Editor for EBONY magazine, where she played a key role in launching the publication’s website in 2012 and modernizing the brand voice and identity.

As a public speaker, Lemieux has addressed countless audiences at schools, conferences, and cultural events, including the official commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Malcolm X. Her previous public speaking appearances include panels, keynotes, and hosting duties at Columbia University, Vassar College, Howard University, SXSW, Georgetown, NYU, the Brooklyn Museum, Penn State, Morehouse College, Emory, the Claremont Colleges, the University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard University.

Lemieux has been featured on The Root 100 list of the nation's most influential African Americans, and has been honored by Planned Parenthood, the New York City Council, the New York State Senate, Black Women's Blueprint, Walker’s Legacy, and the Delta Rho Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Her work has included communications, public relations, and crisis management services for organizations and high-profile individuals. In this capacity, she served as the Communications and Engagement Strategist for Cynthia Nixon’s campaign for governor of New York and as a Communications Strategist for Girls for Gender Equity, a leading grassroots organizing, advocacy, policy, and service delivery organization dedicated to centering youth of color within the racial and gender justice movement of the 21st century. She resides in Los Angeles. 

Rio Holaday (she/her) uses visuals to make you feel seen, heard, and grounded in our collective journey towards justice.

She has a public health background and became a visual practitioner in order to make information accessible, gatherings engaging, and the journey more joyful.

Rio is a former Fulbright Scholar and RWJF Culture of Health Leader.

Alencia Johnson is an award-winning cultural commentator, bestselling author, political advisor, and leader at the intersection of social impact and culture change, uniquely experienced at marrying cultural cornerstones -- advocacy, politics, corporate and entertainment -- together for good. She is the Founder of 1063 West Broad — a social impact consultancy and media company connecting brands, organizations and people to purpose driven solutions. Her national bestselling book, “Flip The Tables: The Everyday Disruptor’s Guide to Finding Courage and Making Change” is available now.

She has worked for the presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and was a senior advisor to President Biden’s 2020 campaign as well as Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign. Alencia also held national roles at Planned Parenthood and GEICO -- leading efforts in each organization to address systemic issues facing marginalized communities through brand, engagement and narrative strategies. During her six years at Planned Parenthood, she was one of the architects behind the “Stand With Black Women” branding and framework as well as led the organization’s election media strategies with Secretary Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Alencia has been recognized by Harvard University with a "Woman of the Year" award, EBONY Magazine’s “Power 100” list of influential African Americans, PRWeek’s “40 Under 40” list and more. Her board service includes the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation’s Social Justice Fund as well as Human Rights First and she was appointed to the Virginia Council on Women by Governor Ralph Northam. She is currently a Georgetown University Institute of Politics Fellow.

Alencia is a sought-after thought leader and cultural critic regularly featured on MSNBC, CNN, ABC, BET, NPR, Washington Post, ESSENCE, Glamour and more. 

Kylie Adefehinti is Senior Vice President for 3rd Party Policy Engagement at Citi, where she leads strategy with center-left organizations to advance Citi's public policy goals. Previously, she served as the youngest Deputy Assistant to President Biden on the White House Domestic Policy Council. A Capitol Hill veteran and Presidential appointee, her leadership was instrumental in codifying the Minority Business Development Agency, improving the $798 billion Paycheck Protection Program, and facilitating over $50 billion in investments in the U.S. semiconductor industry. 

Prior to this, she worked to hire over 1,500 Baltimoreans, train over 300 small business owners,  and spend more than $500 million with small and minority businesses as the Director of Economic Inclusion at Johns Hopkins University and Health System. 

Kylie is a frequent speaker on policy, politics, and economics, having addressed audiences at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, SXSW, The Aspen Institute, and Brookings. Her written work has appeared in publications like CNN, The Baltimore Sun, and HuffPost.

Kylie graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Temple University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in African American Studies and Political Science. She is a 2009 Harry S. Truman Scholar. She holds a master's degree in public policy (MPP) from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota -Twin Cities.

Kylie is actively involved in community leadership, serving on the national board of the New Leaders Council and as a member of the National Council of 100 Black Women, Metropolitan DC Chapter.

Are you looking for innovative ways to support economic development in your community? Need a speaker on financial literacy or the racial wealth divide? Want to know more on ways anchors can support economic inclusion? Feel free to email me!

Parker Cohen is Share Our Strength's Managing Director of Family Economic Mobility. He is an accomplished executive with 15+ years of experience in nonprofit organizational leadership, team and financial management, program strategy and implementation, and partnerships and capacity-building. Parker brings a deep commitment to building overall well-being in communities, addressing economic inequality, and tackling the root causes of financial and food insecurity. In his current role, he leads an initiative focused on ending hunger and poverty for single mothers and their children through advocacy, narrative change, and program innovation and scale.

Previously, Parker served as Vice President of Programs for Prosperity Now. He served on the Leadership Team and oversaw two programmatic teams and managed over $7 million in program budgets. He worked collaboratively across teams, including with colleagues on communications, research, policy, network building, human resources, and operations teams. Before his promotion to Vice President, Parker served Prosperity Now as Director, Associate Director, Senior Program Manager, and Program Manager. Early in his career, he served as Community Development Manager for the Mid-Atlantic Association of Community Health Centers and as a consultant with DB Consulting Group. Parker's media experience includes radio, print, and many blogs and articles.

Parker lives in Ohio. He earned his BA degree in Economics from Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) and his Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) degree, concentrating in Economic, Community, and Workforce Development, from Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Parker enjoys going to the movies with his wife, Rachel, and two children, Rovene and Caleb, and attending sporting events (Go Bengals!). Among his favorite things is going to the amusement park with his son Caleb.

Neils joined LIFT-DC as their Executive Director in 2023. Prior to LIFT, Neils worked at Stronger Consulting as an Associate Partner of their strategy consulting division. Prior to Stronger, Neils worked at DC Prep Public Charter School as the Chief of External Affairs supporting fundraising, communication, community engagement efforts, and college access and success during his tenure. Neils also previously worked for College Track as the launch director for the DC region.

Neils worked for City Year, Inc. for nearly a decade, serving as a regional managing director for recruitment and admissions and start-up executive director for City Year Tulsa. Neils also served as an impact director and impact manager for City Year Washington, DC, helping to start five new school partnerships and supporting City Year in the Congress Heights area. Neils is a member of the Fall 2018 Cohort of Pahara NextGen Fellowship, the 2014 LEAD class of City Year, and he served as an AmeriCorps member of the 2009 class of City Year Washington, DC.

The son of Ghanaian immigrants, Neils was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in management and society. He also received a master’s degree in nonprofit management, with a concentration in organizational leadership from Northeastern University. In 2017 Neils founded a nonprofit consulting business called Heroes for Hire which specializes in social entrepreneurship. He currently resides in Capitol Heights, Maryland with his wife, Shamelle, and their two sons.

Kelleen Zubick serves as Managing Director, Health Systems for Share Our Strength, a national organization dedicated to ending hunger and poverty.  In this role, she oversees the strategic partnerships and development of initiatives that strengthen the ability of health systems to connect low-income children and their families with nutrition assistance, especially SNAP and WIC, and she also serves as co- strategy lead on Share Our Strength’s Benefits Integration program priority.  Kelleen expresses values for equity, diversity and inclusion though supporting team members to center equity and ensure the voices and needs of familes and community are an integral part of programmatic design and practices.

During her 10 years with Share Our Strength, Kelleen has also served as the Senior Director, Health Systems and the Colorado Director for Cooking Matters, a nutrition and food skills education program. Additional highlights of her service have included supporting Share Our Strength’s Conversations on Food Justice series and serving on the Program Team’s EDI Committee.

Prior to joining Share Our Strength, Kelleen was co-founder and Principal Consultant for Mission Spark, a social impact consulting group partnering with private foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies on strategy, initiative development and on evaluation approaches. In this capacity, Kelleen developed strategies for summer food access, focusing on removing barriers for low-income families and migrants in rural Colorado.  She also developed a statewide peer mentor program in agritourism for the Colorado Office of Economic Development, and, as Director of Consulting for Community Resource Center, she oversaw Colorado Rural Philanthropy Days, a statewide program focused on increasing philanthropic equity and impact. Under CO Governor Hickenlooper’s administration, Kelleen was a gubernatorial appointee to the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council, and she also served as an inaugural Advisory Council Member for Colorado’s Double UP Food Bucks program.  As part of expression of her personal passion for food, Kelleen has served as Vice President for the Les Dames d’Escoffier, Colorado Chapter.  She has also been the Co-Chair of The Root Cause Coalition’s Food Security working group and Treasurer for Feet Forward, a peer-led nonprofit serving the unhoused in Boulder County, CO.

Kelleen has a BA in Child Development and English from Tufts University and an MFA from Arizona State University. Kelleen lives in Colorado but grew up in Brazil where her family distributed food to under-resourced families every day, and this experience fuels her passion to address hunger and food access in the US.

Raegen A. Selden, ABC Coalition Parents' Advisory Board (PAB) I am married to my middle school sweetheart and together we have six children, two currently serving in the US Armed Forces. I joined the PAB because you “can’t complain about it, if you won’t do anything to make it better.” Parenting is the hardest and most rewarding job you will ever have and I thank all six of my children for keeping me “employed.”

Natalie Foster is a leading architect of the movement to build an inclusive and resilient economy that works for all. She is the Co-Founder and Board Member of the Economic Security Project, a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute Future of Work Initiative, and the author of “The Guarantee: Inside the Fight For America’s Next Economy.” Natalie speaks and writes regularly on economic security, the future of work, and the new political economy. An unstoppable builder, Natalie previously founded the sharing economy community Peers, co-founded Rebuild the Dream with Van Jones, and served as Digital Director for President Obama's Organizing for America - a leading partner in winning transformative healthcare reform. A daughter of a preacher from Kansas, Natalie draws on the values of community, dignity, and optimism to build a better America. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband and two kids.

Michelle’s career has been defined by standing up for equity and access for disenfranchised individuals and communities. Prior to joining LIFT, Michelle spent nearly 20 years leading youth and community development efforts in New York and Los Angeles. Michelle joined LIFT in 2012 as the Founding LIFT-Los Angeles Executive Director where she seeded many of the program innovations that are now core to LIFT’s nationwide program model, including the focus on an intergenerational approach to breaking the cycle of poverty, the integration of financial coaching into traditional supports, and giving cash directly to members. After serving as LIFT’s Chief Cities Officer overseeing all of LIFT’s regional operations, in 2019, Michelle was promoted to and now serves as LIFT’s Chief Executive Officer.

Michelle LIFTs because she believes in the transformative power of “hope, money and love” – her signature take on LIFT’s special sauce. Her own parents loved her fiercely and instilled in her the notion that she could do and be anything she wanted. She fully understands that this firm belief and investment in her possibility provided a buffer against socioeconomic inequity. It is an honor for her to pass on this transformative power of love, backed by rigor and dedication, to populations historically marginalized and unjustly overburdened by stigma, isolation, and disregard.

Michelle is a sought-after public speaker and thought leader whose has been featured in SSIR, Variety magazine, LA Magazine, NPR’s Marketplace, and the 2018 United State of Women Summit, amongst others. She is a Senior Fellow at both the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab at the USC Marshall School of Business, a Promise Venture Fellow, and part of the inaugural class of ProInspire’s Catalyst Collective of BIPOC nonprofit executives across the country,

Michelle resides in Los Angeles and is the proud mother of two beautiful children who are her ultimate source of motivation and inspiration. She loves them fiercely!

LatinoProsperity is a Latino led national non-profit organization focused on advancing equitable national, state and local policies that build wealth in the Latino community. We champion equitable economic policies that create opportunities and resources for wealth-building in the Latino community. We envision a thriving US economy where Latinos build intergenerational wealth. Our strategy to achieve our vision consists of targeted research that informs bold policy recommendations.

Through strategic and relentless advocacy we will ensure that our policy recommendations are adopted and successfully implemented. Our efforts are informed by the voices and experience of Latino community members, academics and leaders from community organizations, government and business sectors.

A renowned cultural critic and writer with a focus on issues of race, gender, and motherhood, Jamilah Lemieux is a leading millennial feminist thinker, social influencer, and game-changing media maverick.

Lemieux’s written work has been featured via a host of print and digital platforms, including the LA Times, the Nation, Essence, Playboy, the Cut, the Guardian, Colorlines, the Washington Post, Wired, Self, Inverse, Refinery 29, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Nation and Vanity Fair. She penned the foreword for the 2015 anniversary of Michele Wallace's Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman and the 2017 re-release of Ann Petry’s Miss Muriel and Other Stories. She was also featured in the 2019 anthology How We Fight White Supremacy.

Her first book, Black Single Mother: Real-Life Tales of Longing and Belonging (Roc Lit 101/Penguin Random House) will be released on March 10, 2026. Order your copy here!

Currently, she pens a weekly advice column for Slate's 'Care and Feeding' parenting section. She serves as the Editor-in-Chief for Still Here, a special single-issue magazine about Black women and HIV/AIDS, which will be released in December 2025.

She has appeared as a commentator on various news programs for CNN, ABC, CBS, BET, Buzzfeed, MTV2, and MSNBC, as well as Comedy Central's 'The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore' and 'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,' Vice’s 'Desus and Mero,' TMZ and The Breakfast Club, the popular nationally syndicated morning radio show. After years of calling for accountability for the famed R&B singer known for his mistreatment of underage girls and women, she was prominently featured in Lifetime’s critically acclaimed docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly (2019) and Surviving R. Kelly 2: The Reckoning (2020.) She also appeared in A&E's Secrets of Playboy (2022.) She served as both a producer and commentator for Time of Essence (2023), a 5-part docuseries about the history of Essence magazine.

Lemieux served as the Vice President of News and Men’s Programming for

iOne Digital, where she helped spearhead the creation of CASSIUS, a progressive digital lifestyle platform. Prior to that, she worked as the Senior Editor for EBONY magazine, where she played a key role in launching the publication’s website in 2012 and modernizing the brand voice and identity.

As a public speaker, Lemieux has addressed countless audiences at schools, conferences, and cultural events, including the official commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Malcolm X. Her previous public speaking appearances include panels, keynotes, and hosting duties at Columbia University, Vassar College, Howard University, SXSW, Georgetown, NYU, the Brooklyn Museum, Penn State, Morehouse College, Emory, the Claremont Colleges, the University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard University.

Lemieux has been featured on The Root 100 list of the nation's most influential African Americans, and has been honored by Planned Parenthood, the New York City Council, the New York State Senate, Black Women's Blueprint, Walker’s Legacy, and the Delta Rho Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Her work has included communications, public relations, and crisis management services for organizations and high-profile individuals. In this capacity, she served as the Communications and Engagement Strategist for Cynthia Nixon’s campaign for governor of New York and as a Communications Strategist for Girls for Gender Equity, a leading grassroots organizing, advocacy, policy, and service delivery organization dedicated to centering youth of color within the racial and gender justice movement of the 21st century. She resides in Los Angeles. 

Steven McCullough is the Chief Operating Officer of Share Our Strength and leads the areas of Strategy, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Legal.

Steven began his career in operations management at The Quaker Oats Company and supply chain consulting at Accenture. He has held leadership roles at the Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development Organizations (CANDO); Bethel New Life, a faith-based community development corporation; Safer Foundation, which is dedicated to helping individuals with criminal records re-enter society across the State of Illinois; and the Greater Chicago Food Depository where he led the building relationships with community partners to achieve a collaborative response to addressing hunger and increasing food access across Cook County and Illinois. Most recently, Steven served as the Chief Operating & Equity Officer of Communities In Schools National Office.

McCullough holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from Loyola University of Chicago and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.

Alencia Johnson is an award-winning cultural commentator, bestselling author, political advisor, and leader at the intersection of social impact and culture change, uniquely experienced at marrying cultural cornerstones -- advocacy, politics, corporate and entertainment -- together for good. She is the Founder of 1063 West Broad — a social impact consultancy and media company connecting brands, organizations and people to purpose driven solutions. Her national bestselling book, “Flip The Tables: The Everyday Disruptor’s Guide to Finding Courage and Making Change” is available now.

She has worked for the presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and was a senior advisor to President Biden’s 2020 campaign as well as Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign. Alencia also held national roles at Planned Parenthood and GEICO -- leading efforts in each organization to address systemic issues facing marginalized communities through brand, engagement and narrative strategies. During her six years at Planned Parenthood, she was one of the architects behind the “Stand With Black Women” branding and framework as well as led the organization’s election media strategies with Secretary Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Alencia has been recognized by Harvard University with a "Woman of the Year" award, EBONY Magazine’s “Power 100” list of influential African Americans, PRWeek’s “40 Under 40” list and more. Her board service includes the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation’s Social Justice Fund as well as Human Rights First and she was appointed to the Virginia Council on Women by Governor Ralph Northam. She is currently a Georgetown University Institute of Politics Fellow.

Alencia is a sought-after thought leader and cultural critic regularly featured on MSNBC, CNN, ABC, BET, NPR, Washington Post, ESSENCE, Glamour and more.