Dr. Joy Harden Bradford
Dr. Joy
Harden Bradford
Harden Bradford
Speaker 2025
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford is a Licensed Psychologist, Speaker, Media Personality, host of the wildly popular mental health podcast, Therapy for Black Girl, and the author of Sisterhood Heals: The Transformative Power of Healing In Community. Her work focuses on making mental health topics more relevant and accessible for Black women and she delights in using pop culture to illustrate psychological concepts. Named by Glamour Magazine as a Game Changer for her work in the mental health field, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana, her Master’s degree in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling from Arkansas State, and her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from The University of Georgia. Her work has been featured in Essence, Forbes, MTV, Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, Refinery29, Teen Vogue, and Women’s Health. Dr. Joy lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband and two sons.
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Latham Thomas
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Shyra Smart
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Kheri Holland Tillman
Kheri
Holland Tillman
Holland Tillman
Speaker 2025
As Chief Marketing Officer, Kheri Tillman is charged with ensuring Primo Brands’ growth and success through the creation of innovative, customer-centric marketing programs that aim to enhance brand visibility and drive sustainable growth. In her role, Ms. Tillman is focused on building brands and fostering deep connections with consumers in order to secure industry-leading growth for the organization.
Ms. Tillman became Chief Marketing Officer of Primo Brands following the close of Primo Water Corporation’s merger with BlueTriton Brands, Inc. in November 2024. Previously, Ms. Tillman had served as Chief Marketing Officer at BlueTriton Brands, Inc. since November 2022, where she was charged with leading the organization’s marketing strategy at a critical moment of increased brand-building investments and organic expansion.
With more than 20 years in marketing and sales, Ms. Tillman has a proven track record of pairing brand strategies and activation ideas to reach audiences, increase sales and influence the adoption of brands. Before joining BlueTriton Brands, Inc., Ms. Tillman was Vice President of Global Development and Marketing Services at Harman International, where she led a global team of marketers responsible for the creation of all global consumer communications through advertising, creative and marketing assets. Prior to joining Harman International, Ms. Tillman held the position of Vice President of Trade Marketing and Sales Strategy at Heineken USA, a subsidiary of Heineken N.V., from 2010 to 2013, and Vice President of Marketing for Dos Equis, Amstel Light and Newcastle Brown Ale from 2007 to 2012. She also held several roles in brand management for over seven years at Kraft Foods Group, Inc., which later merged with H.J. Heinz Company.
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Shannon Womack
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Kenan Thompson
Kenan
Thompson
Speaker 2025
Kenan Thompson is an American actor and comedian.
He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2003, and is the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s history (as of 2018).
In his teenage years, he was an original cast member of Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy series All That.
Thompson has also played Kenan Rockmore in the sitcom Kenan & Kel, Russ Tyler in The Mighty Ducks franchise, Dexter Reed in the 1997 film Good Burger, and the title character in the 2004 film Fat Albert.
Thompson has been nominated for five Emmy Awards: four for his work on Saturday Night Live — including two for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and two for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series — and one in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the NBC series Kenan.
He has won once, in 2018, in the category of Outstanding Original Music & Lyrics, for the SNL song “Come Back, Barack.”
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Joy-Ann Reid
Joy-Ann
Reid
Speaker 2025
Joy-Ann Reid is a journalist, author, documentary film producer and social and political commentator with a 30-plus year history in the media business.
For five years, from July 2020 until February 2025 she hosted the two-time NAACP Award-winning and Emmy nominated nightly news analysis program, “The ReidOut” on MSNBC. Prior to that she hosted the weekend program: “A.M. Joy” (2016-2020) which became MSNBC’s highest ever rated weekend program, and a daily news show: “The Reid Report” from 2014-2015. As a national correspondent for MSNBC, Reid covered Black Lives Matter cases from Trayvon Martin to Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor and Tyre Nichols, to the removal of the confederate flag from the South Carolina capitol, an alleged lynching in Mississippi and the burning of Southern Black churches.
Reid has written four books including two New York Times best sellers: Medgar and Myrlie; a New York Times number one bestseller and The Man Who Sold America, which spent four weeks on the list; as well as Fracture: Barack Obama, The Clintons and the Racial Divide and We are the Change We Seek: the speeches of Barack Obama (with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne) as well as the foreword to Kamala Harris: The Official White House Photos.
Reid graduated from Harvard University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual and Environmental Studies with a concentration in documentary film. She is a 2003 Knight Center for Advanced Journalism fellow and served as a press secretary for the national voter registration and mobilization entity, America Coming Together in 2004 and for the Florida branch of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.
She has received six NAACP Image Award nominations and “The ReidOut” received the award for best talk program in 2020. Reid received the NAACP Image Award for Best News and Information Host in 2025 and for best Biography for Medgar and Myrlie. The documentary she co-Executive Produced: The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (directed by Yoruba Richen) was nominated for an Emmy, and she has received awards from the Women’s Media Center, the National Action Network, and GLAAD. Reid, who hosts a podcast with legendary broadcaster Jacque Reid called “Reid This, Reid That,” became an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated in November 2021.
She and her husband Jason run a documentary film production company, Image Lab Media Goup.
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Jodie Patterson
Jodie
Patterson
Speaker 2025
Jodie Patterson is an award winning and globally recognized author, activist, beauty explorer and mother of 5. She was the first Black person to hold the position of Chair of the Human Rights Campaign Board, our nation’s largest LGBT organization. As a leading activist, she speaks on topics of identity, gender, race and radical parenting.
Patterson’s memoir, The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation was hailed by Alice Walker as “Marvelous”. Her second book, Born Ready, is one of several children’s books being reviewed in the pivotal Supreme Court Case Mahmoud v. Taylor.
Her story has been featured in a short documentary produced by Cosmopolitan magazine that reached more than 11 million views and is currently used by the State of New York for diversity training of its employees. In 2015, Family Circle Magazine named her the #1 Most Influential Mom.
Patterson is also a long-standing entrepreneur. She co-owns the renowned live performance venue Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater and co-founded two beauty companies focusing on women of color. Jodie received Beauty Skin Expert of the Year award by Cosmopolitan Magazine.
Previously, Jodie served as Director of PR for fashion designer Zac Posen and was the Fashion Director of Sales for the groundbreaking, urban publication, Vibe magazine.
She works closely with Mount Sinai Hospital on their Transgender Medicine and Health Disparities initiatives. The United Nations recognized Patterson as a Champion of Change.
Jodie Patterson lives in Brooklyn where she co-raises her five children with love, education and family solidarity.
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Tamika D. Mallory
Tamika
D. Mallory
Speaker 2025
Tamika D. Mallory is a bestselling author, award-winning social justice leader, and movement strategist. A powerful and influential organizer, she has been at the forefront of major justice movements, from fighting voter suppression to advocating for Breonna Taylor.
As the youngest-ever Executive Director of the civil rights organization, National Action Network, Tamika helped create New York City’s $100 million Crisis Management System for gun violence intervention and prevention. She made history as a national co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March, the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history.
In 2020, Tamika’s impassioned speech during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis went viral, resonating with millions around the world and becoming the foundation for her bestselling book, STATE OF EMERGENCY: How We Win in the Country We Built, a powerful call to action for systemic change. In early 2025, she released I LIVED TO TELL THE STORY, a coming-of-age memoir that offers a deeply personal reflection on her journey as a curious young girl growing up in Harlem, NY to an internationally known activist.
Now, as co-founder of Until Freedom, she continues her work organizing and advocating for marginalized communities. She also serves as co-host and executive producer of the TMI Podcast (Tamika & Mysonne’s Information) on iHeart Radio’s Black Effect Network.
Named one of Time 100’s Most Influential People and featured on Fortune’s list of the World’s Greatest Leaders, Tamika has received numerous honors, including the Phoenix Award from the Congressional Black Caucus.
Tamika remains relentless in her mission to empower and uplift disenfranchised communities, standing firm on the frontlines for freedom and equality—all while embracing her most cherished roles as a mother and grandmother.
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Don Lemon
Don
Lemon
Speaker 2025
Don Lemon is an award-winning journalist and former anchor of the long-running CNN primetime program, Don Lemon Tonight as well as CNN This Morning. He has won a variety of distinguished awards for his work which has spanned nearly three decades, including an Edward R. Murrow award, multiple Emmys and a Peabody award, among others. In addition to CNN, Lemon has served as an anchor and correspondent at the NBC and MSNBC television networks, as well as at local stations in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis.
Lemon has covered countless global breaking news stories from the anchor desk, as well as on location, including the war in Ukraine (for which he received a Peabody award in 2022), the death of Osama Bin Laden, the inaugurations of the 44th and 45th Presidents of the United States, the school shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Newtown, Connecticut, and the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, George Floyd and Tyre Nichols. He joined CNN as a correspondent in 2006.
Lemon has been honored with countless awards not only for his journalism, but also for the impact his work and influence have made on society. He was voted one of the 150 most influential African Americans by Ebony magazine in 2009. In 2014, The Advocate included him as one of the publication’s 50 Most Influential LGBTQ People in Media. In December 2016, Lemon was honored with a Native Son Award, named after James Baldwin, recognizing and to “encourage the increased visibility and impact of black gay men in society.” In 2017, Out named him to its Power 50 list of the Most Influential LGBTQ People in the USA. And in June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, New York, Queerty named him one of the Pride 50 “trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people.”
Lemon is also a best-selling author. In 2011, he broke barriers by revealing that he was gay in his auto-biographical book Transparent. A decade later, in 2021, his book This is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism, debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. It was inspired by what he saw, learned and felt about the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Lemon graduated from Brooklyn College with a BA in broadcast journalism. He lives in New York City with his partner and their three dogs.
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