Community & Guest List
Michelle Mekky has more than 20 years of experience as a broadcast journalist and public relations executive, leading award-winning marketing and PR campaigns for some of the nation’s biggest and most diverse brands and businesses. After her years as a veteran journalist, Michelle launched her own company, Mekky Media Relations Inc., in 2016, to bring her brand of PR to the market and deliver powerful publicity. Michelle has led her company through a fast-paced launch and high-profile successes, including winning a prestigious 2018 Stevie Award for Women in Business, receiving a bronze medal in the Entrepreneur of the Year category. In 2020 Mekky Media won a Stevie Award for Public Relations Agency of the Year receiving a bronze medal and Bulldog Award for Best Not-for-Profit/ Association Campaign for Komen Chicago's Race for the Cure. Also in 2018, Michelle and Mekky Media were selected to be part of the Forbes Agency Council, a prestigious organization for owners and executives of PR, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. In 2019, Michelle was named a Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Entrepreneur, and Mekky Media was honored with two Publicity Club of Chicago Golden Trumpet Awards, in the categories of Advocacy (for its work with Komen Chicago) and Media Relations (for its work with Abt Electronics). The agency also was named a PR News Agency Elite Award Finalist for Media Relations in 2019.
Sara is founder and owner of Virtual Biz Partner, a close team that provides business management for online business owners worldwide. She has a proven track record of managing and growing businesses while simplifying strategies, systems, and technology. Sara is also dedicated to providing work-from-home opportunities to women through an accessible online educational course that teaches them how to get started as a Virtual Assistant. When she’s not supporting online entrepreneurs you can find her spending time with her young son, watching movies, enjoying the outdoors and probably eating some chocolate or other tasty food!
Michelle L. Perry established herself as a subject matter expert over the course of her career as a clinical social worker in the field of child welfare that spanned over 20 years. She then transitioned into the corporate world where her leadership and coaching skills were refined, producing results in all that she works with. As an Empowerment Coach, Podcast Host, Speaker, #1 international best-selling Author, and Online Course Creator, Michelle contributes to the journey of others by supporting them to see results, and experience an increase in confidence and momentum in their lives.
Neha Gupta is the founder of College Shortcuts. She is a TEDx speaker, 3 time best selling author, and has helped thousands of students get into the college of their dreams while finding their passion and unique angle. She has built a school in Africa and plans on helping 1 million students over the next ten years while building 100 schools worldwide to push education forward.
Shane Foss is the Founder and CEO of Hooray Health. Shane is also an expert in Business Development and Strategy, Sales Strategy, and Team Development. After over 20 years in the healthcare industry, Shane decided to use his passion for technology to improve healthcare operations and products. In 2018, he launched Hooray Health, an unconventional health insurance company that works hard to make healthcare coverage simple, accessible, and affordable.
Riley Adams is a licensed CPA working as a senior financial analyst at Google in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally from New Orleans, Riley focuses on strategies for reaching financial independence and often writes about useful advice regarding tax strategies, investing, and financial decision-making on his website, Young and the Invested. His site targets like-minded young professionals who have an interest in financial independence and also a desire to learn more about entrepreneurship as a career ambition.
Megan Loda is the founder of the Positively Fit Community LLC. She is a fairly new entrepreneur who has turned her passion into a business. Her personal training company is based on helping people become their best selves. Unlike most personal trainers, Megan focus a lot on positivity, self-love and happiness. She believes that a positively fit lifestyle is the best way to live.
Gwendolyn is a recognized authority in her industry and a champion who lifts others as she climbs."
Stephanie Davis has been on the front-lines addressing issues of harassment and discrimination within organizations of all sizes for more than 20 years - both as an employment attorney in New York and since joining Employment Practices Solutions (EPS) in 2000. EPS collaborates with organizations nationwide to build respect through high-quality training, objective and unbiased complaint investigations, human resources and employment law expert testimony, and a wide range of human resources consulting services. In her role as a consultant, Stephanie delivered thousands of training sessions and investigated hundreds of workplace complaints of all kinds from sexual harassment to retaliation to bullying. Currently, Stephanie leads EPS as its President. She received her B.S. in Political Science from Barnard College and her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law.
Peter Voss, a Pioneer in AI who coined the term ‘Artificial General Intelligence’ and the CEO and Chief Scientist at Aigo.ai. For the past 15 years, Voss and his team at Aigo have been perfecting an industry disruptive, highly intelligent and hyper-personalized Chatbot, with a brain, for large enterprise customers.
