ALBERTO GARCIA-JURADO
CEO – InZynch.com
Speaker | Coach | Innovator

ALBERTO GARCIA-JURADO
SESSION: COLLABORATION 5.0: THE NEXT REVOLUTION IN HUMAN SYSTEMS

Alberto is a coach, TEDx speaker, and pioneer on Intercultural and Collaborative Intelligence. He has developed breakthrough methodologies such as Collaboration 5.0. The cultural-Dimension “Daisy” for accelerated intercultural understanding and the first human-IT platform for enterprise collaboration system integration. He is also the author of the “Culture and Globalization” and “Cultural Intelligence for the 21st Century”.
He is President and CEO of InZynch and was co-founder and served for six years as President of the Gulf Chapter of the United States – Mexico Chamber of Commerce. He has also served as advisor for multiple non-profit organizations and chambers.
Alberto has collaborated for over two decades as an advisor, consultant and coach on aspects of cultural and collaborative intelligence with dozens of companies of all sizes and industries.
He is a sought-after speaker that brings disruptive thought and insights to the field of human systems.
Alberto is also a certified coach in Karate-Do, Shito-Ryu style and is currently working on becoming a competent “mature” snowboarder.
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ALEX CALICCHIA
President & CEO – Hive Partners
Board Member – Girls, Inc.

ALEX CALICCHIA
SESSION: DIVERSITY+EQUALITY=INNOVATION

Ensuring Leaders Achieve Their Vision for Growth, Profitability & Sustainability.
Alex brings 30 years of executive experience in the financial services sector and a strong strategic planning and program management discipline to his work at HIVE. In his executive roles, he directed enterprise-wide strategy formation and execution efforts that led to the implementation of innovative strategies across multiple product categories and channels, resulting in positive ROI for these organizations. Alex’s natural ability to define and communicate high-level strategic priorities, coupled with his on-the-ground understanding of what is required to translate those priorities into action, makes him a valuable partner to clients seeking to undertake results-oriented strategic and transformational planning efforts. Alex has worked with a variety of clients across multiple sectors including oil & gas, healthcare, financial services and various nonprofits.   Alex is certified in the Interaction Associates method of facilitation; A Birkman Signature Certification Consultant and a professionally trained and ICF GLOBALLY ACCREDITED certified coach through the Life Coach Institute. Alex currently serves on the Board of Girls Inc. of Greater Houston.
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ARIANA SMETANA
Design Principal – Art Via

ARIANA SMETANA
SESSION: TOOLS FOR THE NEW ECONOMY

Ariana Smetana, brings over 15yrs of international corporate experience, with PwC, Continental Airline, and Shell Oil, plus a decade of experience in running her interior design firm.  In the development of commercial spaces, her firm’s approach is rooted in delivering holistic branded commercial design strategy that follows the client’s business objectives, culture, and values into spaces.  Her firm’s ability to tailor innovative solutions through the lens of design not only enables them to create impactful space transformations but also it enables companies to achieve their business goals. Through the workspace strategy, the firm’s solutions meet stakeholders’ expectations related to workplace productivity, space design is driven by work activities and balanced to employee’s collaborative needs and customer engagements in the space.
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AUDREY SCOTT
Academic. Actress. Volunteer. Teenager.

AUDREY SCOTT
SESSION: THE FUTURE OF WORK

Audrey Scott is a 16-year-old aspiring polymath – blending humanities, artistic pursuits, and the sciences – as she prepares to navigate into adulthood.
– Professional actress and member of SAG/AFTRA; IMDB – Audrey Scott
– Professional Accolades in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Forbes, RogerEbert.com and Variety
– NASA High School Aerospace Scholar
-Top 1% of her class at TCAH Tulane Science Scholar 2018, US Naval Academy Summer Seminar 2019
– Volunteer with Magpies & Peacocks and Houston Museum of Natural Science
LinkedIn, IMDb

BRETT TRUSKO
President & CEO – International Association of Innovation Professionals

BRETT E. TRUSKO, PhD, MBA
SESSION: INNOVATION, INDUSTRIAL SIZED

Brett Trusko is a recovering CPA, an MBA, and a PhD plus has over 30 years of experience consulting in finance, innovation, quality, strategy, informatics, operations, and administration. He has an exciting background including consulting, accounting, writing, and speaking internationally. He is the CEO of the International Association of Innovation Professionals, a global association of over 3000 members in 100 countries, and is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Innovation Science. He is also the Secretariat to ISO 279 (Innovation Management), for the US delegation – driving the global standards of Innovation. He regularly facilitates innovation efforts and strategic planning with clients across the globe.

He began his career with a Big 8 CPA firm. Served as the CFO of a major Seattle hospital, then joined KPMG as Managing Director of the “Quality/6 Sigma Practice”. After 25 years he left consulting for academia in Big Data, Biomedical engineering, technology management and innovation. He continues to consult globally, and is currently at Texas A&M University. He’s authored 8 books, including the award-winning “Global Innovation Science Handbook”. He’s working on his 9th book “Sex Wasn’t Invented in Silicon Valley”.
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CRISTEN CARSON REAT
Co-Founder – BridgingApps.org

CRISTEN CARSON REAT
SESSION: CONSCIOUS INCLUSION

Cristen Reat is the Co-Founder of BridgingApps.org, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston that provides resources, education, and information on apps and mobile devices to help people with disabilities target and improve skills and reach their highest levels of physical, social, and cognitive development. Cristen’s passion for leveraging the power of mobile device technology to enhance the lives of those with disabilities comes from personal experience in trying to assist her son with special needs.  BridgingApps is the result of that passion and desire to share information and create a platform for people with disabilities, caregivers and professionals to learn best practices from each other. BridgingApps was recognized as a Verizon Powerful Answers award winner for Education in 2014. Cristen is a US Army veteran, who holds an M.A. degree from UT Austin, graduated from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and is certified through the AT Applications Program at California State University.  She has written articles on apps for special needs populations in TechEdge Magazine and Parenting Special Needs Magazine and is the mother of two sons, one of whom has Down syndrome.  She serves on the Diversity Advisory Board of Toca Boca Game Development Company.
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DEBORAH ROTH GRABEIN
Chief Practice Group Integration Officer – Hunton Andrews Kurth

DEBORAH ROTH GRABEIN
SESSION: THE FUTURE OF WORK

Deborah Roth Grabein is a seasoned strategic marketing, communications and business development executive. Throughout her 30-year career, she has earned a reputation as a go-to leader in the legal field for her industry knowledge, aptitude for strategic thinking, and successful employee development.

She currently serves as the Chief Practice Group Integration Officer at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP where she works with the attorneys in all practices and offices.

From 2005 – 2018, Deborah worked at Andrews Kurth Kenyon and served as the Director of Business Development. She worked with firm management and lawyers at every level to steer, implement and promote the strategic goals of the firm, its offices, practices and attorneys. She specialized in applying critical oversight to the collection and analysis of competitive intelligence and market research, and translating that data into practical, applicable and unique firm initiatives. Deborah served on the Marketing Steering Committee, the Women’s Initiative Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee and the Diversity Committee.

An advocate for all in her community, Deborah currently serves on the Advisory Council for Girls Empowerment Network and the Board of Family Houston.
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DIANNE ELDRIDGE
Sr. Director, Global Product Management & Marketing – Emerson Automation Solutions
Executive Member – Women Energy Network(WEN)

DIANNE ELDRIDGE, MBA, B. Eng, B. Comm. A Chinese-Canadian-American hockey mom working in Texas
SESSION:  LEADERSHIP 2.0

Dianne Eldridge spent her 20-year-career in Actuation Technologies with Emerson Automation Solutions, a global engineering and manufacturing Fortune 100 company. Currently working as Senior Director of Global Product Management and Marketing out of Houston Headquarters, Dianne has the global responsibilities for pneumatic actuation and automation portfolio. She is also part of the executive leadership team of the complete Actuation business. Before this post, Dianne also worked as managers of various functions in different world areas including Application Engineering in Canada, Asia Pacific Sales Support in Singapore, and Project Management in US.
Dianne Eldridge is a 2011 graduate of University of Texas at Austin MBA program. She also holds two bachelor degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Commerce from China and Canada.
Dianne’s parents are Indonesian Chinese. She grew up riding bicycles in Beijing China; lived and worked in Canada, China, Singapore, and US; married to a Canadian/IT Executive/Navy officer/MBA husband. She is a full time working hockey mom of a boy and a girl.
Dianne previously served as member of UT McCombs MBA Admission Committee and has been a regular panelist at McCombs’ student advisory, career fair, and women MBA leadership forum events. She is active member of National Association Women MBAs, Society of Women Engineers, and 2018 executive member of Women Energy Network(WEN)
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ERICA HENNING
Executive Member – Urban Land Institute
Board Member – Girls, Inc.

ERICA HENNING
SESSION: 12 TRILLION REASONS

Leading teams and driving value in commercial real estate investment. Champion of women in real estate.
Erica has been a leader in the real estate and finance industries since 1997. Her real estate career spans all major product types throughout the United States. Most recently, Erica was a Partner and Managing Director of Portfolio Management with ApexOne Investment Partners, a privately held real estate investment firm headquartered in Houston, TX. She directed the performance of the firm’s investments and led the Asset Management team. Erica also served as a member of the Investment Committee. Previously, Erica served as a Portfolio Manager at Lionstone Investments for the firm’s $200 million opportunistic land and development funds. She led all aspects of fund management including portfolio acquisitions and dispositions, asset management and investor communications. Erica also facilitated and led the execution of real estate acquisitions and dispositions for financial institutions, developers and homebuilders. Most notably, she managed and sold a $180 million portfolio of bank-owned assets in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Erica plays an active leadership role in a variety of industry associations. She sits on the Executive Committee of the Women’s Leadership Initiative of the Urban Land Institute; and is a member of the Urban Development and Mixed-Use Council. In addition, she serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Kayo Women’s Real Estate Investment Summit. In her local community, Erica serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Girls Inc. of Houston, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of girls and delivers life-changing programs and experiences. Erica is a sought after speaker on commercial real estate trends and has written extensively on women leadership roles in commercial real estate. She sits on the Board of Directors of Petriage, a cloud-based B2B telemedicine service for veterinarians.
Erica earned an MBA degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cornell University.

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HEATHER CYKOSKI
Group VP – ABB

HEATHER CYKOSKI
SESSION: 12 TRILLION REASONS

Heather leads ABB’s efforts to accelerate new growth. Responsible for developing, implementing and managing the relationship and total business acquisition of ABB with global customers worldwide. In addition to her current role, she leads the global Engineering, Procurement, Construction Industry Network. A passionate global business leader with 20+ years of international experience leading multi-divisional, multi-cultural teams in the energy value chain.

Joining in 2005, Heather has served as North American Manager for British Petroleum and Shell. In 2007 she was named Vice President, Group Accounts working with The Dow Chemical Company, successfully executing chemical plants and new investments in Asia, Middle East, Europe and North America. In 2010, she led ABB’s partnership with Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco’s joint venture, in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. A partner from concept through lifecycle. Later in 2012, she managed Group Strategic Project investments including East Africa’s liquid natural gas and North America’s gulf coast chemical and liquid natural gas investments.

Heather is a leading member of the National Association of Professional Woman, served as a delegate of the Global Women’s Forum for Economy & Society, Member of Texas A&M Alumni and Society of Petroleum Engineers. She leads the Encompass Diversity & Inclusion Houston Chapter and serves on the board of the Pinehurst community. She resides in Houston, Texas with her husband and two daughters.
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JAMES BROWN
Founder & Chief Encouragement Officer
EncourageX.com

JAMES BROWN
SESSION:  LEADERSHIP 2.0

James E. Brown Jr. is a native of Chicago, IL. He attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, where he received an undergraduate degree in business administration. He later attended Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business in Evanston, IL, where he earned three masters degrees in Marketing, Strategy and Organizational Behavior.
James has worked for some of the world’s largest and most innovative companies, including: Dow Chemical, Kraft Foods, General Electric, Compaq, Hewlett Packard and Royal Dutch Shell.
James’ professional career has taken many unexpected turns along the way. He began his career in Human Resources, followed by roles in Finance, Accounting and Sales. After his MBA at Kellogg, James focused on brand strategy execution and helping companies to find their true north.
In June of 2016, James decided to leave his role as Chief Marketing Officer at Superior Energy. His life as a corporate executive had provided a level of financial independence for his family, but he dreamed of something bigger. His life long question has been…

“What if ordinary people could become extraordinary
…at encouraging the people they care about the most?”

Within a few weeks of his departure, James began building the blueprint for a new online platform designed to create an integrated delivery system for encouragement.
In July of 2018, James and his team at EncourageX.com introduced the new platform that helps individuals encourage the people they care about in a PERSONAL, AUTHENTIC AND CONSISTENT way.
James is married to Michelle Riley-Brown. They have an 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Elizabeth.

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JENNIFER LAYNE WELCH
Founder – Jennifer Layne Brands

JENNIFER LAYNE WELCH, Your CMO
SESSION:  CULTURE AND MISSION ALIGNMENT: THAT GRASS SURE LOOKS GREENER…

Vectoring a career from saleswoman to trainer, marketer to brand ambassador, speaker to guest lecturer, to strategist. I’ve marketed financial services, technical products, lubricants, chemicals, race fuel and IP in segments from entertainment to insurance to oil and gas, pulp and paper. I was fortunate enough to cut my teeth in scenario planning on the world’s biggest scale – world energy supply and consumption. In every line of business that international energy giant Shell created over the last twenty years, I’ve attained knowledge of the products and recrafted them, defined channels and most importantly acknowledged, embedded and leveraged the customer decision-making process. I am the customer champion, taking insights from big data and small to get inside their heads and their hearts. I’ve never cured my insatiable appetite for knowledge and it was my study of shared value that led me to create the first Purpose for why Shell existed. I’ve demonstrated to CEOs, Boards and Leadership teams, that humans are seeking to buy into over and above what they buy.
Fractional Chief Marketing Officer for regional and multi-national growth-oriented companies with revenues of $1,000m and founder of Jennifer Layne Brands, a consultancy dedicated to demonstrating #BrandsMeanBusiness. I am a part-time executive addition to the C-suite for companies who may have gaps in truly objective counsel to the CEO and Board or are in transition in their marketing and customer team leadership. My firm specializes in solving your business growth challenges via brand and marketing strategy.
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JAMILLE BIGIO
Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy – Council on Foreign Relations

JAMILLE BIGIO
SESSION: 12 TRILLION REASONS

Jamille Bigio is a senior fellow in the Women and Foreign Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. In the Obama administration, Bigio served as director for human rights and gender on the White House National Security Council staff. She also advised the White House Council on Women and Girls on its international priorities and first lady Michelle Obama on adolescent girls’ education and the Let Girls Learn initiative. From 2009 to 2013, Bigio served as senior advisor to U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, Melanne Verveer, within the office of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. In addition, she was detailed to the office of the undersecretary of defense for policy and to the U.S. Mission to the African Union.
Jamille Bigio at CFR.org

KATIE HOUSE
WOMEN IN ENERGY NETWORK

KATIE HOUSE
SESSION: THE FUTURE OF WORK

Katie House is a female empowerment and success coach, connector, motivational speaker, and huge advocate for women in STEM. Although she comes with an Engineering background, having worked in a multitude of industries including Healthcare, Power, O&G, and Food, Katie discovered her true passion lies in working directly with people. She stepped into coaching and consulting to bridge the gap that exists in the workplace today, not just across genders but across cultures and backgrounds. Katie works with clients all over the world, helping them to lead authentically and speak with impact!
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KIRSTEN TRUSKO
CEO – IRC Advisory

KIRSTEN TRUSKO
SESSION: THRIVING IN DISRUPTOIN

Kirsten Trusko is the founder and CEO of IRC Advisory, (www.ircadvisory.com) a strategy and management consultancy in FinTech, banking, cyber security and anti-money laundering. IRC carries a split mission – between for-profit firms and in supporting several key “greater good” areas – including anti human trafficking, and financial inclusion.

Kirsten’s career has focused on founding, building and growing businesses – spanning anywhere from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. She has spent a great deal of time on Capitol Hill on both financial services and social issues. She has delivered over 200 speeches in the US and abroad, using these platforms both for business, and to build awareness on social issues.

Kirsten is honored to serve on several Boards including the
1. International Association of Innovation Professionals
2. RiseUp (empowering women in FinTech)
3. Several task forces in Anti Human Trafficking
4. Public Private Partnerships’ in Disaster Preparation and Response
5. Plus several for-profit organizations
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MELISSA DOBBINS
CEO – carreer.place

MELISSA DOBBINS
SESSION: BIAS – COMPUTING OR HUMAN

In 2016, Melissa Dobbins formed an HR technology company to remove bias from the hiring process by shifting the focus from resumes to qualifications.

Removing bias from talent evaluation is more than just opening the door to a wider candidate pool in today’s fierce competition for talent; it drives diversity, efficiency, and compliance as a natural bi-product. Too many companies are attempting to tackle these issues separately, but as long as there is bias in the selection process, these diversity and compliance challenges will persist. Even worse, many companies are turning to technology as the ‘easy way out’ but just end up automating existing biases.

Ms. Dobbins’ company, career.place, tackles bias and the resulting diversity, compliance, and efficiency challenges by removing the bias-laden resumes from talent evaluation and replacing them with a systematic solution that combines the best parts of technology and the human touch to objectively measure a candidate’s qualification to identify those best qualified for the job. Candidates remain anonymous, enabling fair evaluation and comparison of qualifications before names, gender, ethnicity, age, or any other bias-triggering information is shared.

Career.Place, removing bias one hire at a time.
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MELISSA PORTERFIELD
CEO – Silk Mountain

MELISSA PORTERFIELD, MEd, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
SESSION:  CULTURE AND MISSION ALIGNMENT: THAT GRASS SURE LOOKS GREENER…

With 20 years’ experience in HR leadership roles, Melissa Porterfield knows a thing or two about culture. Through her experience with various organizations, she has had a unique vantage point to see how culture develops, gets implemented (or not), and what happens when leaders are not either living the company values, or keeping culture top of mind. Inevitably, the company suffers, and the repercussions are felt at all levels of the organization.
Conversely, Melissa has worked in several companies that had great cultures and has seen firsthand, how differently the leaders operate, the attention paid to keep the culture alive and positive, and the results on the organization.
When Melissa decided to form her own consulting firm, the decision was easy. Her firm would focus on working with leaders from start-ups through mid-size companies to either design or recalibrate their cultures. This work has a direct impact on reducing turnover and increasing employee engagement, which ultimately hits the bottom line.
Melissa lives in Houston with her husband and two dogs.
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MICHELE PILIBOSIAN
General Counsel – Entrust Energy
Chair of the Board of Directors – Girls Inc.

MICHELE PILIBOSIAN, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
SESSION: LEADERSHIP 2.0

Experienced general counsel and pragmatic legal, regulatory and compliance advisor to business leaders. Demonstrated history of leading highly engaged teams. High EQ, unique ability to form critical relationships with stakeholders to best support business operations, and bring strategic value beyond legal advice.
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MOHAMED BIALY
Founder – ThoughtSpace

MOHAMED BIALY
SESSION: THE FUTURE OF WORK

Mohamed Bialy was born in Alexandria, Egypt and grew up in the middle east in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Bialy is currently the CEO of ThoughtSpace, a talent development and management startup focused on reinventing the way we recruit and engage with talent. Bialy hopes to create a world of equal opportunities where talent gets a chance to prove themself!
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SARA SPEER SELBER
Principal -The Project Management Team

SARA SPEER SELBER, Legend
SESSION: CONSCIOUS INCLUSION

Sara Speer Selber, Founder of The Project Management Team, has more than 35 years of experience managing people and organizations for excellence and success. Her career with for-profit and non-profit entities has been characterized by entrepreneurial innovation, and has been recognized repeatedly by professional and community groups for her business achievements and many contributions to the welfare of others.

An accomplished networker, Sara combines her considerable communication skills with an extensive resource of business and community leaders to bring people together to address mutual needs and shared opportunity. She has also been described as a “Visionary who is always on the go and never stops learning so as to share her world with those who wish to think or act differently”.

Sara and or The Project Management Team quietly and from behind the scenes, facilitates and helps groups conceptualize and implement new business models, collaborations and communication strategies, which yield a high impact result for those wanting to experience change

Sara is well known for her public speaking where she has been called one of the most inspirational, humorous and thought-provoking speakers one can engage.
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SERGIO KAPUSTA
Executive Director – Rice Energy and Environment Initiative at Rice University

SERGIO KAPUSTA, PhD, MBA, PE
SESSION: EQUAL RIGHTS FOR MEN

Professor Kapusta is an internationally recognized materials expert, a reference in the engineering world.
RICE – Professor in the Practice, Complimentary Industrial Liaison Manager, Adjunct Professor, MSNE,
RICE – School of Engineering
Shell – Manager Physics & Materials
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SHAFIQUE PAPPA
Founder. Mentor. – Lean Mastery

SHAFIQUE PAPPA
SESSION: EQUAL RIGHTS FOR MEN

Shafique Pappa is a founding team member of seven companies in the technology, medical and food industries. He has over 25 years of experience in new business development and product management for early stage, growing companies.
Shafique’s Accomplishments:
• Grew product lines to $30 Million in sales and raised outside funding for his new ventures
• Advisor to award-winning startups developing new products related to 3D printing, Internet of Things “IoT” devices, and healthy foods
• Developed several 3 person teams into 200+ employee organizations, while scaling growth across multiple key activities
Shafique is a sought after mentor due to his patience, encouragement and actionable feedback.
Shafique holds a masters degree in Computer Science from University of Houston, and a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics from Purdue University.

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SHANTERA CHATMAN
Founder – The Chatman Women’s Foundation & Author

SHANTERA CHATMAN, Managing Partner. Culture Curator. Speaker. Author.
SESSION: TOOLS FOR THE NEW ECONOMY

Shantera Chatman is an organizational engagement and adoption consultant with 20 years of experience spanning the Aerospace and Oil & Gas Industries, she has a reputation for building strong relationships with her clients and delivering quality results.

While working as a consultant for the Johnson Space Center, Shantera founded the Annual Women’s Empowerment Conference (AWEC) in 2008. She later founded The Chatman Women’s Foundation to provide scholarships and grants to women building businesses, going back to school or even getting out of shelters.

Shantera is a sought-after speaker and life coach that focuses on leadership, women’s empowerment and people engagement. She currently serves as a member of the Houston Women and Minority Business Task Force.

She is the author of PowHer Play: A Women’s Empowerment Guide, Embrace Resistance: How to Conquer Your Critics and emPowHering YOU: 12 Tips to Finding Your Voice.
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THOMAS LUBY
Director – TMCx Innovation

THOMAS LUBY
SESSION: THRIVING IN DISRUPTION

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TRINH ABRELL
Co-President – ELLEVATE

TRINH ABRELL
SESSION: THRIVING IN DISRUPTION

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