Anna is CEO and Founder of Ceresa.  Ceresa’s mission is to build diverse leadership for the future, by democratizing access to truly transformative career and leadership resources. She dedicates her time to shaping the company’s vision and strategy, driving consistent high-quality programming, building a world-class team and culture, and shaping a sustainable social impact business model.

Prior to launching Ceresa, Anna was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, where she served healthcare systems globally, as well as leading leadership development and diversity initiatives. She also served as COO at an early-stage tech company prior to launching Ceresa. She holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, MPhil, and BA from the University of Oxford. Anna lives in the Colorado mountains with her two dogs, three kiddos and one husband (who typically manage to get her attention in that order).

With 25 years of experience in Diversity & Inclusion and Human Resources, Jodi Davidson possesses a vast knowledge and understanding of the critical function inclusion and diversity play in today’s increasingly competitive business environment. Jodi consults with business and human resources leaders and managers to provide insights, resources and actions that foster a more diverse and inclusive culture. She partners with stakeholders to co-create globally relevant talent, pipeline and engagement strategies including work/life flexibility, cultural agility and leadership development frameworks.  Jodi’s personal mission is to help people realize their potential and thrive. She is a known thought leader in mentoring and flexibility practices, holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development and is a certified leadership coach.

As the university’s first chief diversity officer, Henderson helps lead the realization of Emory’s vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion by working with campus leaders and representatives to define community goals, establish guiding principles, and create a strategy for moving forward and communicating progress. Henderson partners with Emory’s leadership, students, faculty, and staff to reimagine and strengthen comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the university and to create mechanisms for communicating the institution’s commitment to these principles and practices. She also serves as the public voice on these issues, helping to shape the discussion in the Atlanta metro area, nationally, and internationally.

Henderson joined the University of Delaware faculty in 1995 and served as the university’s vice provost for diversity beginning in 2014. In that role, she oversaw and promoted diversity efforts across the university and provided strategic leadership in advancing diversity as an institutional value and an academic priority in all facets of the academic community.

A widely recognized scholar and specialist in African American literature, Henderson also was professor of English and Africana studies at the University of Delaware, and served as interim chair and chair of the Department of Black American Studies from 2010 to 2014.

Her authored and edited volumes include Imagining the Black Female Body: Reconciling Image in Print and Visual Culture (2010), America and the Black Body: Identity Politics in Print and Visual Culture (2009), James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain: Historical and Critical Essays (2006), and Scarring the Black Body: Race and Representation in African American Literature (2002).

Henderson holds a BA from the University of California–Los Angeles, an MA from California State University of Dominguez Hills, and she received her PhD from the University of California–Riverside.

Lori George Billingsley is the Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer for The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC).  In this role, she leads the company’s DEI Center of Excellence, all directed to enable a more engaged global workforce, mirror the markets served, and support a more inclusive culture to best position the employees of the company to drive growth.

She has been with the company for 19 years, having spent most of them in a variety of roles with increasing responsibility within Public Affairs and Communications.  Most recently, she was the Vice President of Community and Stakeholder Relations for Coca-Cola North America.  Lori has over 30 years of public affairs, issues communications, community and stakeholder relations, and diversity, equity and inclusion experience in developing and implementing breakthrough strategic initiatives that meet organizational goals, target audience needs and produce results. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, she led her own public relations consultancy, LG Communications; was a vice president at Porter/Novelli, a leading public relations firm where she co-founded their Multicultural Communications and Alliance Building practices; and a senior public affairs specialist for the District of Columbia Government’s Office of Human Rights and Minority Business.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (Chair), NAACP Foundation, ColorComm, The Coca-Cola Foundation and Arete Executive Women of Influence.  She formerly served on the Boards of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, United Way of Greater Atlanta, Atlanta Mission and Leadership Atlanta.  She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Director’s (NACD) Center for Inclusive Governance Advisory Council, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Partnering for Racial Justice in Business Advisory Council, WEF’s Community of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officers, Howard University School of Communications Board of Visitors and the former Co-Chair of American University’s Women’s Network.  She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and Co-Chair of the TCCC’s Political Action Committee.

Lori is a featured speaker globally and has received numerous national awards, including the Alumni Award for Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement from Howard University, PUSH for Excellence, Dr. MLK Jr. Corporate Award, Atlanta Business Chronicle Top Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Atlanta Business League’s Top 100 Black Women of Influence, Academy of Women Achievers’ YWCA of Greater Atlanta, Inaugural Bravo! Award for Diversity and Inclusion from the Hispanic Public Relations Association, Chairman’s Circle Leadership Award from the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Inc., Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Order of the Phoenix Award and is a Georgia PRSA Hall of Fame Inductee.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in public relations at Howard University and her Master of Arts in public communications at American University.  In 2019, she completed a 13-month Executive Leadership Experience Program at Harvard Business School; and in 2021, she completed Stanford University Graduate School of Business Directors’ Consortium.  Lori is an ordained minister.

Chad Nico Hiu [@chadnico] is Senior Vice President for Strategy, Equity and Impact for the YMCA of San Francisco, which operates 14 branches in the Bay Area. He is a Hawaii-born New Yorker and student of the world, having previously served with the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) Diversity, Inclusion & Global (DIG) team since 2011, including as Senior Director of Diversity & Inclusion. In that role, Chad helped to build local, state-wide, national and global capacity to engage diverse, vulnerable, underserved and marginalized communities, co-led Y-USA’s DIG strategy and network, and led integration of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, practices and programs towards community bridge-building and social cohesion for all in the 10,000 communities the Y serves across the U.S.

Previously, Chad served as Director of International Operations & Youth Exchanges for the YMCA of Greater New York, where he was part of an era of dynamic growth in cultural exchanges, collaborations, and global education/inclusion programming. A strategic, effective and passionate NGO professional for more than 20 years, Chad holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services Administration & Youth Development and a Master’s degree in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College in Massachusetts and a Global Studies Certificate from the University of Pittsburgh.

Chad serves on the Board of Directors for Howard Brown, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ health care networks, the Board of Trustees for the Tyler Clementi Foundation, dedicated to ending bullying in all forms, the Chicago Fair Trade Board of Directors supporting workers rights and global social responsibility, has traveled to 40 countries on almost every continent of the world, participated in the globally recognized Semester at Sea study abroad program, volunteered with the CASA YMCA youth shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, represented Y-USA in global settings and the World YMCA at the United Nations, keynoted at numerous national events. He is known as an effective, inclusive and compassionate facilitator of ‘brave space’ conversations on topics of racial equity, LGBTQ+ inclusion, community-police relations and inclusive faith among others, lived in Hong Kong for two years, provided policy and voter engagement support to political campaigns, and served as Youth Director with the YMCA of Honolulu.

Lydia Dishman is Fast Company’s senior editor for growth and engagement. She has also written for CBS Moneywatch, Fortune, The Guardian, Popular Science, and the New York Times, among others.