Women In Progress

Dr. Linda Karges-Bone is a nationally recognized speaker, author, and consultant on the topics of creativity, differentiated instruction, and brain-body connections. She is a tenured professor of education at Charleston Southern University and earned her Ed.D. at the University of South Carolina in Curriculum and Instruction. Dr. Bone is the author of over 30 books in the fields of curriculum and assessment, including her most recent: “Brain Tips” and “Rich Brain, Poor Brain”. She has delivered keynotes and workshops in 38 states through her consulting firm, Education InSite, and is the creator of the radio program “Prayerful Parenting,” one minute messages of inspiration and research for over 25 years.

Andrew and Clelia are a couple who fell in love with tantra. With the knowledge, with the experience, and ultimately with each other. They come from different backgrounds, different cultures and different teachings.  Together they have a great collection of tools and experiences to make your journey fascinating, fun and fruitful. Meet Clelia: her favourite style to practice and teach is Vinyasa Flow. She also loves to practice Kundalini, Tantra and Pranayama to go deep with the energy. She works with Yoga Nidra, Astral Projection and Lucid Dreaming for deep relaxation and tapping into the subconscious mind. Clelia is always experimenting with a new system and advanced techniques. Meet Andrew: Andrew is fun, loving, charismatic & motivational. He loves to teach and has the energy and enthusiasm to make any topic an exciting adventure.  Andrew’s main focus is in Kundalini, Tantra, Pranayama, Meditation and Surrender. Ready, Breathe, Smile.

Dr. Anne Arvizu is a business advisor, entrepreneur, author, media commentator leadership expert, keynote speaker and former fortune 500 global executive. She is the founder and CEO of two thriving companies, RxER Communications Corp and Corecentryx, Inc. As a pharmacist with over 22 years of executive experience in the BioPharma industry, Dr. Arvizu has served in key roles, such as Global Head of Medical Affairs Functions at Baxter and Baxalta Pharmaceuticals, and Regional Head, Latin America, for Medical Communications and Medical Information at GlaxoSmithKline and as C-Suite advisor to many of the top pharma and biotech clients in the world, such as Pfizer, Shire, Merck, Teva, Alnylam, Ipsen, Servier, and others

Maame Afon is an internationally recognized thought leader, passionate advocate for women and girls and a leadership enthusiast. She is also a recording artist who uses music to promote social change and philanthropy.   Maame Currently serves as the board chair of African Women’s Development Fund, USA and We Care Solar, and sits on the boards of other international organizations including Cocoa360, Ghana Bamboo Bikes, Days for Girls-Ghana, Moremi Initiative, Street Business School, Women Leaders for the World, and Nurturing Minds/SEGA among others. She holds a B.A. in French and Spanish and an M.A. in human rights, gender, and international development. Maame is a connector and a consummate networker, and enjoys her work as an activist, facilitator, executive and life coach, and mentor, supporting leaders internationally. She was recently named among 100 African Women in Development by Donors for Africa and has been recognized as one of the 18 African Feminists to know by For Harriet.  She is a 2019 Rise Up Leader, 2016 Cordes Fellow, 2017 Hive Global Leader, 2009 Woman Leader for the World Fellow, and a 2020 Perennial Fellow.   As a Whole Woman, she brings all of who she is to her work as Chief Steward of MILT (Management for Impact Leadership and Transformation), the organization she founded in 2017. She also enjoys her calling as mother and wife, raising her three children with her husband. Social Media Handles Website: www.themiltedge.com  www.maameafon.com Maame's music is available on several online outlets - iTunes, cdbaby.com, Google, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, last.fm and Simfy. RISE is also available at Challenge Bookstores and the Vision Bookshop(Qodesh) in Ghana. You can learn more about RISE and follow this journey on Facebook Artist Page (Maame Afon).

Tiffany Kent is the Founder and CEO of Wealth Engagement LLC, a registered investment advisory firm and the author of Investing for the Smarter Sex. With a blend of inspiration, investment education, and financial modeling means Tiffany is looking to help women decision-makers who seek education or are overwhelmed by the complexity of financial planning and investing! 

Everyone has a story, and in The Extraordinary UnOrdinary You, Simone Knego takes you inside her unique journey and the extraordinary moments which have shaped her life and defined her mission. Sharing the lessons she’s learned from life’s ups, downs, and laugh-out-loud moments, you’ll be inspired to discover your own journey, and to go out into the world and be the good. The world is waiting for the Extraordinary UnOrdinary You, and you already have everything you need to get started, simply by being you.

Sarah Connolly is a lawyer based in Tampa Bay who specializes in working in the healthcare and tech industries nationally. She has experience as an outside general counsel to PE-backed companies with lucrative exits, and to founder-owned businesses looking for long-term success. She also prides herself on being an engaging speaker and presenter on the important trending legal topics that impact your business. Sarah is always looking to form lasting relationships with clients and colleagues that share similar values.

Saskia is Co-founder and CEO of Yunus Social Business (YSB), which is co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Yunus. YSB aims to create and empower Social Businesses to sustainably solve social problems. YSB sets up and manages incubator funds that provide training, advisory and support services, as well as debt and equity financing to social business entrepreneurs in developing countries. YSB aims to build up entrepreneurial ability and business infrastructure in parts of the world that originally rely on development aid and philanthropic donations, thus bridging the gap between impact investment capital and high-potential businesses that are designed to solve social and environmental problems. Social Business is a concept defined by Prof. Yunus as a business which is financially self-sustainable, but recycles all profit into addressing developmental needs. YSB is based in Germany with subsidiaries in Haiti, Albania, Tunisia, Uganda, Colombia, Brazil and India. Saskia and her team have helped to set up social businesses with major corporations including BASF, Brasil Foods, McCain, SAP, Florida Ice and Farm, Crédit Agricole, etc. She was appointed to the EU Commission’s expert group on Social Business and has assisted Prof. Yunus on Ban Ki-Moon’s MDG Advocacy Group as well as Richard Branson's B-Team. Saskia was named Generation CEO 2010 member, a prestigious network of woman in top management in Germany and has also been named a Young Leader of the Atlantik Brücke, a network promoting transatlantic cooperation. She is on the Board of L‘Action Tank – a Social Initiative founded by ten French corporates. Saskia was a speaker at events in over 15 countries and co-authored a report with the Boston Consulting Group on 'Success Factors for Social Businesses' that has been published in 2013. Saskia was one of the founding members of the Global Social Business Summit, which has developed into a global platform for Social Business with over 500 participants from over 50 countries. Prior to that Saskia was the Co-CEO of Grameen Creative Lab and started her career at the Boston Consulting Group in Munich and New York. She holds an MBA from EBS Germany and an MSc in International Relations from LSE and has dual German and Canadian citizenship.

Before joining Omni Public as the Director of Operations, Nissa Weisser’s past career experiences range from working as an Advertising and Marketing Executive as well as writing and business development professionals within the DoD and Intellectual Property consulting spaces. She has owned and operated WriteHandGal since 2009 where she has specialized in copywriting, marketing consultation, and business development for start-ups and small businesses. Her specialties include business operations, customer development and retention, professional writing, and project management. Nissa received her Bachelor of Arts from The University of Vermont. She is also the recipient of the Marion Berry Allbee Award for Creative Non-fiction. While her husband was in the army, this Colorado native has lived all over the United States and has finally settled in Tampa, Florida. When not working on all things Omni Public, you can find her hanging out with her two amazing children and training for triathlons. Omni Public is a public relations firm founded by a Latin entrepreneur Cesar Hernandez that will see your value and help you get recognized. They have worked with companies like Tesla, Ford, HyperloopTT and Bird Rides  and yes with them your forbes feature can become a reality. Visit their website omnipublic.global or email ch@omnipublic.global   

Katelin Holloway is a senior people and culture executive and leader who brings a career-long passion for building scalable, inclusive institutional cultures to early stage and VC-backed companies, including Klout, Reddit and Initialized Partners. By using both quantitative and qualitative measurements to better understand how talent and culture can drive business results, she has helped push “HR” out of the back-office and into the boardroom. She is currently a partner at Initialized Capital where she gives guidance to over 300 portfolio’s companies. During her early profession life Katelin worked at Pixar Animation Studios in in Postproduction, Production, and Story on 17 different feature length and short films, including Ratatouille, Cars, Wall-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, and Ponyo. She is also an Advisor on people and culture for multiple nonprofit organizations including Lattice, Mother Honestly, PeopleTech Partners, and Refresh Body. Lastly, she is well known for leading a comprehensive cultural turnaround at social news aggregator Reddit during a massive PR, recruiting, and retention crisis.

Dr Joannie Marlene BEWA, MD, MPH is a physician, researcher, global advocate for girls, women and reproductive health. She has ten years of combined experience in global health, policy, clinical care, research, international development and non-profits management. She has been appointed in 2018 by the United Nations Secretary-General Special Envoy on Youth as a United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to support the UN system, governments and CSO efforts in implementing the SDGs. In 2016, she was featured on Melinda Gates’ list of six influential women on the topic of global access to contraception and was invited in 2017 by Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a panel during which, he announced a 650 million dollars for women’s health globally. She is a member of the Global Advisory Board for Merck for Mothers, Merck's 10-year, $500 million initiative focused on improving the health and well-being of mothers before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth. She co-led the creation of the UNFPA Youth Panel in Benin in 2014 and joined in 2015 the advocacy for the creation of the Adolescent and Youth Constituency in the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, Children’s Health (PMNCH). She is the current observer, representing the Adolescent and Youth Constituency in the PMNCH Academic and Research Institutions Constituency. ​ She founded the Young Beninese Leaders Association (YBLA) in order to help solve some of the issues she was witnessing in Benin. Since 2010, YBLA is actively working in 3 focus areas: Health, Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship and Gender Equality. In 2011, YBLA collected over 2000 signatures which led to the adoption of the anti-gender-based violence law in Benin. YBLA reached more than 10 000 youth on reproductive health and HIV, and 3000 girls on leadership with the support of the First Lady Michelle Obama Young African Women Leaders Grant Program.    As part of Benin Government official delegation, Joannie attended to various negotiations at the United Nations Headquarters on Population, International Development and Health. Joannie is a Women Deliver Young Leader Alumni, a state department IVLP / YAL alumna and Secretary Clinton Women in Public Service Project Fellow. She collaborated with governments such as Benin, Canada, US, served as a technical consultant for the United Nations Fund for Population UNFPA Benin, One World UK, OXFAM, HIV Young Leaders Fund, and as an expert with the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN NGLS), Merck for Mothers, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the "Safe Mothers and Newborns Leadership Workshop" led by the Harvard School of Public Health Maternal Health Task Force and the Barcelona ISG School of Global Health. ​ Joannie is a U.S Senator William J. Fulbright Scholar, who holds a doctorate degree in Medicine from Faculte des Sciences de la Sante, Universite d'Abomey Calavi (Benin Republic), a master degree in public health, specialized in Maternal and Child Health at the University of South Florida (U.S), where she is currently pursuing a PhD in public health, in order to solve health issues through an activist and scholar lens. She is a research assistant at the Florida Prevention Research Center (FPRC), a CDC supported research center and at the Lawton Rhea Chiles Center for Mothers and Babies (LRC), at the College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa.

Meet Margaux Pages and Gaia Amatteis who are former Tech Stars personnel in Italy who have joined the Nickelytics Team.  Nickelytics’ process is simple, they put ads on vehicles that drive through busy city streets. Additionally, they screen these drivers and ensure they hit at least 30 miles a day so your brand is broadcasted everywhere. Once seen, their tracking technology logs each impression. They then use the data gathered to digitally retarget consumers. Creating familiarity, trust, and bringing the best of two advertisement worlds into one. Both Margaux Pages and Gaia Amatteis share their journey from working in corporations to now leading a startup. 

Wadi Ben-Hirki is an education advocate from Nigeria, founder of the Wadi Ben-Hirki Foundation which she created to impact the lives of the less privileged, marginalized and disadvantaged through humanitarianism and activism. She is a ONE Campaign Champion, focusing on the #GirlsCount campaign, which advocates for the education of the 130 million out-of-school girls around the world. She was the selected Nigerian leader who led the Canadian High Commissioner in Nigeria, H.E. Christopher Thornley, in the #SheCANLead campaign to show the abilities of an educated and empowered young girl and the need for every girl to have access to quality education. As a result of her advocacy, she was selected to serve on the African Leadership Institute Youth Advisory Board and several other conferences and programs.

By day Sandra is the Chief Content Director of SAP Next-Gen - A Purpose Driven Innovation Community based on the UN Global Goals, as well as heading up SAP Next-Gen's Global Gender Agenda. Sandra has always been a feminist at heart, advocating for women's rights in many places, from being a member of the Stanford WiDS (Women in Data Science) Committee, to sitting on the UN Women Silicon Valley Board, and driving programs to bring balance to the force of gender equality. The Feminist Portfolio brings together Sandra's passion for art and feminist documentation into a beautiful and meaningful collection of feminist thought leadership.

Patricia Lawman, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Morphogenesis, Inc. since 2003, received her graduate education in molecular biology and immunology from the College of Medicine at the University of Florida where she also served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. Prior to founding Morphogenesis, Dr. Lawman was Division Director of Cancer Molecular Biology at the Walt Disney Memorial Cancer Institute. She has held adjunct faculty positions at the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida and has served on numerous committees at local/state/federal levels. Dr. Lawman holds over 30 patents and as many publications and has received multiple business and scientific honors. Morphogenesis is an emerging clinical stage cell and gene therapy company. The company is testing its off-the-shelf, personalized cancer immunotherapy in two ongoing human clinical trials with a Phase II skin cancer basket trial planned for 2020.

Mary Helda Akongo is the fundi Girls lead at Fundi Bots an organization that is accelerating science learning in Africa. She is also the former operations and programs manager at Zimba Women: a Ugandan Organization that finds technological solutions to create sustainable future for African Women. Being a survivor of gender-based violence, she hopes to inspire other young women (and men) to speak out and break the silence against GBV. Mary Helda has been awarded the Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award and the 25 under 25 award by the Internet Society for her exceptional work with Zimba Women. She recently won the World Bank #Blog4Dev writing competition for penning a brilliant story on her experience as a victim of gender-based violence and her work with Roaring Doves.

Qualified lawyer at The Brazilian Bar Association. Paula holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and a Diploma on Internet Governance. Passionate about technology with global experience in Internet-related issues and Public Policy, is currently working on defending Digital Rights. Researcher at IP.rec - Law and Technology Research Institute of Recife. Former Vice President of the Commission on Information and Technology Law of the Brazilian Bar Association in Pernambuco. Former Policy Fellow at the Internet Society (ISOC). Recognized by ISOC as a 25 under 25 awardee, one of the 25 people under the age of 25 who are making positive changes using the Internet as a tool for good. Alumna of the Brazilian School on Internet Governance of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee and Youth Fellow at the UN Internet Governance Forum. Paula is native in Portuguese and speaks English, Spanish and French.

Kieran is the Director of Strategic Growth at BeniComp Health Solutions. She leverages 12+ years in professional selling, communications, and operations with her expertise in health insurance to deliver strategic solutions to self-funded employers. Kieran is leading the movement toward the future of health insurance with an unprecedented approach that brings prevention, health data, transparency, and innovative technology to the industry. Her approach empowers entire populations to improve their health while lowering the cost of group healthcare, freeing up cash flow and reducing profit leak for companies. She has collaborated with over 1,000 advisers and 3,000 employer groups in addition to vetting over 250 of the nation's top cost-containment vendors to build BeniComp's self-funded health insurance model, IncentiCare. Her mission is to offer a best-in-class health insurance solution that exposes hidden fees and aligns population health with organizational goals. Many say that Kieran holds the best-kept secret in health insurance.

Dr. Carey Latimore is an associate professor of history at Trinity University who has a passion and love for God’s word. An ordained minister, Carey is excited about connecting his faith to his scholarly interests and community concerns. Among his many projects, he has worked with Urban Ministries (UMI) on their Vacation Bible School curriculum and wrote their Building a City on a Hill adult student book. His current project, “Stories of Faith and Inspiration: African Americans’ Journey to Canaan” will be published by Discovery House. Carey and his wife Almie reside in San Antonio, Texas and enjoy traveling and visiting his family in Virginia and her family in Samar, Philippines.

Lauren Wright is the CEO and founder of the Biotech breastfeeding startup. Lauren Wright integrates her immunology researcher & Nurse Practitioner experience to design breakthrough Biome & Breastfeeding innovations. She is the founder of a biotech company and Patented infant feeding system called The Natural Nipple. Her passion is providing families with bio-feedback solutions to confidently build immunity and lifelong development. Lauren and her team are working on a new initiative during the pandemic by providing PPE to NYC hospitals. 

Gwen Jimmere is a gifted visionary on an unrelenting mission to challenge the narrative that “the struggle is real” when it comes to natural hair. As CEO of Naturalicious, she leads a 7-figure empire that creates high-performing, time-saving haircare products that have collectively saved over 70,000 women more than 1.2 million minutes on washday. She’s cemented her place in history as the first African-American woman to hold a patent for natural haircare products, which can be found around the world in over 1200 retail stores, including ULTA, Whole Foods, and Sally Beauty. Named, “the world’s leading authority on textured hair care”, she was named one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in the U.S. along with the likes of Beyonce, Serena Williams, and LeBron James; as well as a Top 10 Business Woman in the U.S., a Crain’s 40 Under 40.

Hiba Shabroqu is the only Jordanian woman named in the telecommunications field who won a Stevie Award for Women in Business. Hiba was recognized for her work as a product marketing expert at Orange, one of the largest operators of mobile and internet services in Europe and Africa and a global leader in corporate telecommunication services.Hiba was one of four fellows who participated in The Global Summit in Jordan and the first Jordanian to attend the Women Ambassadors Forum. 

Kate Ekanem is an Entrepreneur, a Writer and a Girl’s Right Activist. She started writing at the age of five. Her works have been published on Tru Applause Magazine, Pulse magazine, Huffing post, to mention but a few. She is a Delegate for Development Dialogue Nigeria, a US Carrington Youth Fellow, and a Queen Young Leaders awardee by her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England.Kate is a Champion for Change at the Empower Women in alliance with the United Nations, a Ship the start-up Ambassador; Finland, Grubstreet Muse Literary Citizen Writer award winner, Boston, and a Deutsche Welle Global Media forum scholar, Germany.

Diipa Büller-Khosla is a Delhi-born who was studying to become a lawyer when blogging came along. While prepping for BPP Law School in London, Khosla decided to work at IM Agency, one of Europe’s first influencer agencies, in Amsterdam. Here, she ended up liaising for international bloggers like Chiara Ferragni and Aimee Song. It woke Khosla up to the power of social media, and the lack of Indian representation in the space. The decision to dive in (while simultaneously pursuing a degree) was promptly made. Since then, she has made headlines, magazine covers, red carpets and even won Influencer of the year. Diipa knows the importance of using social media as a transformative engine for change, thus founded her non-profit post for change. Her non-profit has partnered with UNICEF and within a few months reached over 100 million people!

Meet the new Miss America Camille Schrier crowned on December 19, 2019.  Camille is a student at Virginia Commonwealth who advocates for drug safety, and her love for science has driven her impact initiative about drug safety and abuse prevention emphasizing bringing the opioid crisis in the U.S. to an end.

Uzma Gul is from Pakistan with expertise in Legislation's and Policy Making. A Young Master Trainer trained by prestigious institutions nationally and internationally for Democratic Strengthening, Good Governance and Policy Making, working as Political Party Development Practitioner and Trainer especially focused on youth and women inclusive approaches. Ms. Uzma is Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator for Training, Innovation and Development at Commonwealth’s Youth Peace Network, Global Citizen’s Youth Advocate for SDGs across the world, Global Shaper at World Economic Forum, a strong supporter of UNCSR Resolution 2250 also named in “50 Influential young females of Pakistan” in 2016, receiver of “Young Women Ambassador of Pakistan” from USA in 2016. Nominee of "UN International Peace Prize 2017", honored to represent at "First ever Asia Pacific Regional Youth Policy Making" and "First Ever Asia Regions Evidence based Peace Policy" organized by UN and the Commonwealth. Ms. Uzma was also awarded a shield of Appreciation by Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of Sindh, Pakistan on 8th March 2017 recognizing her marvelous efforts and struggles in field of social and political activism.

Melene Rossouw is the Founder of Women Lead Movement, an organization whose aim is to educate, empower and inspire women to lead social change in their communities through Human Rights and Leadership training curricula. Melene is an admitted Attorney by the High Court in South Africa; a 2018 Obama Foundation Leader: Africa; 2019 Mandela Washington Fellow and an internationally recognised Gender Rights activists by ONE Global Campaign.  Melene also holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from the University of the Western Cape, with a specialization in Public and Constitutional Law.

Ashley Smith is the founder of Into the heart. Ashley's truest desire is to connect with others in ways that are deep, meaningful and authentic as well as in ways that honor and serve all Life. 

Meet Coral Movasseli, tech entrepreneur, leader and public speaker. Co-founded & successfully launched a digital mobile app using Agile Product Development & Design Thinking, to solve a problem for Toronto’s transit users. Coral now leades and grows a global non profit in Dublin, Girls in Tech. Coral lead the very first hackathon in Ireland. 

Muzna is originally from Syria and currently lives in Canada. She studied Language and Conflict Resolution. As a Coordinator of Health Programs for Syrian refugees with Centre Social D’aide Aux Immigrants, she is responsible for working on advocacy, planning, and project management. As an advocate, she is proud to have participated in the first new feminist political movement in her country; be nominated as a member of the Groupe de Trente Leaders of Montreal by the Ministry of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion; and be invited to participate in the consultations of Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security from 2017-2022. Additionally, she also is the Founder and Coordinator of Women Refugees not Captives, a campaign that aims to end the practice of forced child marriage of Syrian women and girls in refugee camps, and a Liaison Officer with The White Helmets.

Femicides in Mexico increased 10% between 2018 and 2019, and from seven a day in 2017 to ten per day in 2019—a total of 1,006 cases officially reported. In 2020, more than 500 women have been reported, every day an average of 10 women die.We interview two women in Mexico that work directly with victims and have been a part of the global movement #undiasinnosotras. This episode will help you understand the REAL problem women and victims are facing. 

Hartas del aumento de los feminicidios y ataques a mujeres, conoce a una de las organizadoras que ayudo a crecer el movimiento a darse a conocer en toda la República Mexicana. Un grupo de mujeres activista cuentan su historia en el llamado conocido como Un día sin mujeres. 

Selva is Leading the drive for gender equality and female empowerment in AB InBev in more than 10 countries across Latin America. Selva is working on implementic a strategy for female representation in the logistic area of the company. Selva besides working internally with her company she has been striving for gender equity through her involvement with the state of Mexico. 

Meet Kim Linton, Dare to Lead Certified Facilitator and Founder of One Light. Kim's mission is simple: to make work modern, courageous, and intentional. Kim works on blending leadership skill-building with modern teaming techniques to help you move work to done. 

Valeria has a Master of International Affairs with a concentration in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and two Bachelor degrees in Diplomacy and International Relations and Modern Languages from Seton Hall University. She also holds certificates in Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster from Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Human Rights and the Rights of Refugees from Amnesty International.  Valeria is co-founder of Global Emergency Response and Assistance - GERA., an NGO established in 2015 that provides humanitarian assistance and community development to refugees. Valeria has worked for the Organization of American States in her home country of Nicaragua. She had previously interned with the European Union, also in Nicaragua. These positions gave Valeria the opportunity to promote humanitarian goals and access to justice among different groups, including indigenous people, disabled people who have experienced discrimination, and victims of domestic violence.

Angela O'Riley is an Emmy nominated Stylist, Curvy Fit Model, and Entrepreneur living in New York City. Angela spends her days working with major 7th avenue designers to establish great fit and aesthetic for their brands. When she is not working on 7th avenue, Angela is bringing all of her Curvy knowledge to education to build capable Curvy Designers for the future. 

Two Italian Women Working for the European Parliament, with outsanding backgrounds and an even bigger mission. Founders and leaders of the European Women Alliance.  ALESSIA CENTIONI is an Italian, mom, co-founder and president of European Women Alliance, she has ten years of experience in European affairs in the field of internal market, trade and foreign policy. She is graduated in Political Sciences at university of Rome La Sapienza and holds a M.A in European studies at the ULB of Brussels. Alessia is a pro-European and feminist activist trusting in EU’s integration and women empowerment. She regularly contributes on Huffington Post blog with comments on Italian and European politics. LAURA CAROLI is a Senior Policy Advisor at the European Parliament, she has a PhD in Geopolitics and previously worked at the Italian Parliament and the Italian think tank “Italianieuropei”.

Ifreet is currently attending North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh pursuing a degree in International Business and Marketing. She started volunteering at the age of 13 and has been involved in many national and international organizations ever since focusing mainly around education of children and empowerment of women. She considers herself to be a global citizen and promotes active volunteerism in every platform possible. Upon her return from the Kennedy Lugar YES Program, for her active participation in social service, Ifreet was awarded Zonta Young Women in Public Affairs award. She further had the privilege to work for New Hampshire House of Representatives for Shawn Jasper during her exchange year in the States. Among her achievements, she holds pride in being the first Bangladeshi to be selected for Miracle Corners of the World’s Young Leaders Program 16' and went back as a mentor in 18' and 19'. In 2017, she was offered Oracle’s Women in Leadership Scholarship to attend the Women Ambassadors Forum in Texas, US.  Ifreet professes her love for food on Instagram and has recently been tagged as one of the "8 Foodbloggers You Simply Must Know" in Bangladesh by Prestige Magazine. Follow her: https://www.instagram.com/iffybiffys/ You can also reach out to her at ifreettaheea@yahoo.com

Martina Fuchs is a former CNNMoney Switzerland TV Anchor based in Zurich and worked as Senior Business Reporter for the Chinese state broadcaster CGTN (China Global Television Network, formerly CCTV NEWS) in Beijing. Before that, she was Reuters Economy Correspondent for the Gulf Arab region in Dubai and Reuters Financial TV Producer in London. Martina Fuchs holds a Master in International Economic History from the University in Geneva, Switzerland, a Postgraduate Diploma in TV Journalism from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and a Master of Science in Global Finance (MSGF) from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the New York University (NYU) Stern Business School. Martina Fuchs speaks 9 languages, including: German, French, English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Swahili.

Sociologist by the University of Suffolk. She has always been involved in issues related to human rights and social impact, so her interests have focused on the education, health and empowerment of women with a focus on social transformation. Her international experience has led her to study in four countries. She worked in the National Human Rights Commission, in the Representation of Mexico before the UN as an advisor to her country on global development issues and in the Ministry of the Interior as Director of Linkage with the Private and Academic Sector.

The truth is having an accent is a good thing most of the time, but it can also make you self-conscious. Rocio Guenther a Mexican-American friend and I talk about how there should be no shame in speaking with an accent. 

Rocío Guenther is a bilingual, bicultural journalist whose reporting work on immigration and U.S.-Mexico relations has appeared on DemocracyNOW!, PRI’s the World, Fusion, Buzzfeed, The Rivard Report, Latino Rebels, and Harvard Law School‘s Fair Punishment Project. Rocio is now a Director of Constituent Services in The Office of Mayor Ron Nirenberg. 

Elvana Shala is the Ambassador of Goodwill for Kosovo and a successful representation of Kosovo in various conferences, summits and various public diplomacy events in countries such as New York, London, Dubai, Geneva, Turkey, Morocco, Prague etc. from 2014 to 2019 and has been awarded with the “Laureates in Social Welfare” in 2015 and "Best Poet of the City of Peja" in 2006. Elvana was selected to attend The Women Ambassadors Forum in 2018.

Feleshia Thornton shares her story from growing up in the Projects to now a manager, songwriter, mother and singer. Feleshia Thornton during the day and Fee Blue at night. Felishia is a true example of how you can change the course of your life despite where and to whom you where born to.