What happens when you mix a data nerd with someone passionate about social justice and reaching diverse communities? Me. I'm Shaun Glaze and I’m the Chief Consulting Officer for Inclusive Data. With over 10 years of research experience, I have a proven track record of helping people reach their target audience on the government and private sector level. Oh, and I've gotten Black small businesses and Black non-profits get over $6M in grants in the past year. I probably should have led with that!

I love listening to people's stories and finding ways to make the data lift up those who are seldom heard. Agencies and non-profits generally come to me with questions like, "How can I reach people who speak a language other than English?" "What can you tell me about People of Color (POC) who live in this area?" "Is there any data that can help me end disparities for these communities?" "Is this data- and if so, what can I do with it?" Through a conversation about their goals, I guide clients towards how to ask the right questions to get the information they need to make the right next steps. I bring some of this same skillset to my work on the Black Brilliance Research Project - the world's largest Black community-led participatory action research.

One of the things I love about consulting is how it allows for us to try something new- to push ourselves to provide more accessible services and to deepen relationships that improve our quality of life. When I'm working with transportation agencies or health departments on racial equity analyses, we're talking about how to ensure investments are supporting historically marginalized people and communities. We're talking about how to connect people to the places and communities they value.

Dr. Krystal Henderson is the Founder/CEO of Henderson Professional Mentorship Group. Dr. Henderson experienced periodic homelessness, poor schooling, discrimination, sexism, and racism in multiple workplaces, and struggled financially post graduate school.

In fact, only months away from graduating from her Master's Program in Boston, Dr. Henderson applied for over 267 positions, determined to graduate with a position. Her lessons learned inform her mentorship today.

She is now a passionate mentor with 10+ years of experience in educational and social service organizations and she is determined to share her experiences so that others may benefit from her failures and successes.

Dr. Henderson understands the barriers Black professionals face in pursuing and achieving success; she saw, firsthand, how the Black community has been disproportionately impacted financially by the economic downturn so she founded Henderson Professional Mentorship Group to support.

Hello, hello! I’m Ayana Williams. I am the Black Joy Black Health Black Wealth Academy Launch Manager.

I coordinate with presenters, vendors, guests, and the public to ensure this event is on point! All while completing two internships, planning additional events, and getting my associate's degree in Business Administration.

I also manage social media and promotions for Black Joy Black Health Black Wealth Academy and Inclusive Data while doing reconnaissance, content creation, copywriting, analytical analysis, interactions, and creating media kits, and banners.

I am completely dedicated to Black people and the look, feel, and vibe of Black Joy, Black Health, and Black Wealth is my melanin.

After graduating with a Bachelors of Accounting in 2007, Marica hit the ground running with a career in audit, later pursuing a career in financial reporting in the private sector.

In 2018, Marica became one of two minorities serving on the executive team as the VP, Finance at an obstacle course racing company. 

Doing all that she could to follow the instructions from the parentals to get a good job, work hard, and make a lot of money, Marica had a yearning in her soul to give back to her community - Strong, Driven, Women of Color.  

Over the last 2 years, Marica has focused on understanding her purpose as an individual, relationally, and spiritually. In the summer of 2020, Marica officially introduced The Purple Kitty, whose mission is to create a safe gathering space and marketplace for its community of Sister Keepers; helping women of color manifest their purpose and support each other through authentic connections online and in real life.  

The Purple Kitty does this through hosting workshops around business and wellness, providing a coworking and intimate event space in Albany, NY, as well as an online marketplace that sells handcrafted goods from black and brown women entrepreneurs. 

Youmie Jean Francois is a Haitian-born, New York City-raised Entrepreneur tackling the yoga and wellness industry for travelers. She is an avid traveler who speaks 4 languages and has a passion to help people heal from their traumas.

She also is an inclusion and diversity speaker. While waiting for her plane to board in Morocco, Youmie had the idea for  “Flex-N-Fly.” Flex-N-Fly is a wellness company that provides stretching/relaxation classes to travelers before they board their international and domestic flights. Flex-N-Fly also offers inflight wellness programs.

The company’s best-selling products are The Flex|Mats and The Flex|Bags. Flex-N-Fly won the Buy From A Black Woman awards for the health and wellness company of the year for 2020.

Erin Jones was born in the United States but raised in the Netherlands, where her parents worked as teachers at the American School of The Hague.

Erin speaks four languages and returned to the United States in 1989 to attend Bryn Mawr College, where she earned a BA in Comparative Literature with a focus on literatures of the African Diaspora. Erin later earned her teaching certificate at Pacific Lutheran University with endorsements in English, French and ELL. She was named Most Innovative Foreign Language Teacher in 2007 and in 2008 she was selected as the Washington State Milken Educator of the Year.

Erin served three years as Assistant State Superintendent for Student Achievement in Washington State, where she was responsible for working with educators and policy makers to create policies and practices that would better serve students of color and students otherwise disenfranchised. Based on a desire to be closer to students and teachers, Erin recently took a position as the Director of Equity and Achievement for the Federal Way School District, a large, very diverse district south of Seattle.

David Ryan Barcega Castro-Harris (all five names for the ancestors) is the son of Bien & DP, grandson of Ruth & Yolando, and Ruth & Jesse. As the Founder of Amplify RJ and host of "This Restorative Justice Life podcast", he is building a digital platform to share the philosophy, practices, and values of Restorative Justice.

Now living in “Los Angelish” with his wife Wendy, he leans on the training from his elders and his experiences doing Restorative Justice work in Chicago schools, community, and criminal legal settings to share knowledge and create experiences that help folks across the world understand Restorative Justice as a relationship centered-way of being, not merely a program for addressing harm. Outside of RJ, he’s always down to talk NBA basketball, gourmet doughnuts, or explore the fundamental nature of reality.

Rooted between the Bay area and Tacoma, Washington’s Hilltop, Jaminah Shannon is gratefully a community steward and guest resident of the, traditional and current, generous peoples of təqʷuʔməʔ/spwiya'laphabsh Puyallup tribal lands. With degrees in both Sociology, American Cultural Studies and a concentration in Music, she provides care to herself, family and the community at large. She is the multi-faceted Creator of 3 Crowns Salon, a mobile salon catered to textured hair, and the Founder of Plant Deeds Wellness, whose mission is to cultivate sacred space for women empowerment and connection, through holistic lifestyle coaching, parenting/homeschool education and womanhood mentorship, one deed at a time. 

As a Healer, Creative and Educator she utilizes music therapy techniques, racial equity tools and mindfulness practices rooted in Indigenoys Islamic Psychology tradition to ground individuals and communities in healing, purposeful living and meaningful ways to thrive. Jaminah is a community volunteer at Wasat and co facilitates their weekly Heartcentric programming providing hundreds of hours of free mental health resources to King County residents and beyond, as well as, the Co-Creator of Little Seekers Storytime, enrichment programming for youth and families in the Pacific Northwest Duwamish + Coast Salish territories. 

Jaminah, the singer/songwriter and 3x mother, practices self love, connection & holistic care while upholding her regal, courageous and imperfect ability to further lean into unveiling the heart of the matter; what it means to be human. 

Natalie Patterson can best be identified as a Teaching Artist, she uses her dynamic range of expertise to masterfully make tangible abstract concepts. Natalie has the unique ability to bridge one’s personal experiences with the larger cultural occurrences using art, performance, and custom workshops. Over the last 18 years, Natalie has crafted time-tested approaches to fostering cultures of growth, curiosity, compassion, and integrity.

As a poet and educator, she has worked extensively in non-profit, higher education, and with major brands like Sephora, Uproxx, The United Way, Summit, Darling Magazine, Adidas Women, TASTEMADE, and SoulPancake. Natalie speaks her mind, from inspiration to social justice she is equally inspired.

My name is Francina Kahl, and I am the founder and owner of "Be Still Tea". I was originally born in Zimbabwe, and I have lived in the United States for over 23 years. I currently live in Southern California with my husband of nearly 20 years, raising our 5 children.

My passion for tea, our stories, and connection with people led me to make my dream a reality, and I started my business. "Be Still Tea" in March of 2020. Our stories are so important, and I am a firm believer in the power of our stories. My own Stillness journey led me to begin embracing my own story. I am on a mission to help people find Stillness through the beauty and practice of drinking tea. "Be Still Tea" exists to help people develop their own practice of Stillness to help them learn to listen to their lives, embrace their story, and find themselves.

I have so many dreams and aspirations of changing the world by sh aring the message of Stillness. I believe that at our very core we know who we are. We just need to create space to connect with ourselves and remember where we came from. It is from that place of connection that we will b ring the very best of who we are. And that is our gift to the world!

Ashley Paynter is a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington who is interested in the early detection of age-related diseases, environmental and socioeconomic determinants of health and comparative oncology. Ashley is the creator of Decolonizing Science, a podcast and initiative focused on shedding light on medical racism, health disparities, and discrimination in academia. (@decolonizingsci)

Shelagh Brown is a mixed Black, fat, queer, disabled botanical scientist, clinical herbalist and ethnobotanist, educator, medical historian, writer, storyteller and cultural worker who infuses ancestral knowledge and wisdom with modern science to facilitate healing spaces and conversations through a decolonial liberation centered lens, reconnecting our communities with nature, the land and our innate potential to heal as we survive and dismantle white supremacy and heteropatriarchy.