Community & Guest List
Stephen Deason is Founder and CEO of The OPARasa Group, a Social Enterprise building worth in Recovery. Mr. Deason was previously CEO of GRYYT, a Socially Conscious MarTech firm, and has held C-level positions in three other technology companies. Stephen is an active volunteer who serves as a director on three nonprofit boards and on the advisory boards of two startup technology firms. Mr. Deason holds both an MBA and an MSc. in Accounting from Emory University, a BSc. in Mathematics from UAB, and is ABD-PhD in Business, also from Emory University’s Laney Graduate School.
An engineer by training and entrepreneur by accident, Safwan is the Founder and CEO of PayActiv. After selling a previous company and committing to his golf game, Safwan pulled himself out of retirement to launch PayActiv and level the playing field for the financially vulnerable. Safwan’s work connects the dots between math, economics, history and music. His first book, It’s About TIME: How businesses can save the world (one worker at a time), turns conventional wisdom on its head and calls for businesses to embrace the mantle of saving the world.
Summer Shine found her calling when she had just six months sober from a life long addiction to drugs and alcohol; a juice bar. Luna Juice Bar in Waco, TX had humble beginnings with low start up capitol and one employee. Shine worked hard to turn her small business into a thriving food truck located at Magnolia Silo's, a hip store front on Austin Ave and over half a million dollars in sale last year. She now employees women in the early stages of recovery. In 2015, she and her husband, Ronnie started a recovery house for women in Waco and now serve between 25-30 women annually. Shine is the mother to her best friend and road dog, 21 year-old, Haigon.
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.
After college Sarah discovered yoga as a way to bring healing to herself and others. She explored different yoga specialties and trainings across the U.S. before settling on yoga and aerial yoga as part of her true calling. With over 8 years of traditional yoga, aerial yoga, and Thai massage experience under her belt in 2017 she opened Flying Buddha, a small aerial yoga home studio in Potomac, Maryland and grew her following through word of mouth. Sarah and this life changing practice quickly grew a community of passionate followers. Bolstered by this supportive community and her family, Sarah opened a full-blown commercial space in 2019. Today Flying Buddha Studio is a growing movement and wellness studio located in Gaithersburg, Maryland that includes the only aerial yoga, aerial arts, yoga rope wall, barre and soon to be bungee fitness programs in the area. In addition to being a small business owner, Sarah has been married for 4 years and has three daughters: Bella, Maddy, and Eliza
Originally a qualified accountant, Sonu co-founded Shopper.com – a global community of shopping influencers from over 40 countries. Sonu started her career with Citi Bank and later moved to Financial Advisory at KPMG before gaining 10+ years of experience in retail marketing platforms. Sonu is passionate about women entrepreneurship and innovation, particularly in tech.
Nectar Co-Founder, Sean Holmes attended VCU in Richmond, VA on a baseball scholarship in 2006 and left a semester early to pursue entrepreneurship. Nectar was founded in his apartment in Atlanta, GA, and launched in February of 2012 and he has been running the business ever since. The idea was simple, to create products fit for life’s greatest adventures without breaking the bank.
Sid Bharath is an entrepreneur and SAAS marketing consultant. He works with software startups to help them identify their best growth channels and scale up in a data-driven and systematic manner. Previously, he was the VP of Growth at Thinkific, an online course platform. He's also the CEO & Co-Founder of Broca, which is all about content marketing through the power of AI.
Sarah Evans is the founder and CEO of Sevans Strategy and Sevans Digital PR. Sarah serves as a digital correspondent and consultant to global brands is a digital strategist and global brand correspondent, who works with companies worldwide to create and improve their social and digital strategies, advising on branding, marketing, advertising, and public relations. Additionally, Sarah is a digital correspondent for several companies including Paypal, Cox Communications, MGM International, Wal Mart, Shorty Awards and more...
Suman is a Professional Development Consultant, dedicated to supporting individuals and organizations through conflict management and culture change initiatives with a distinct focus on the values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). She approaches her work with attention toward self-care, compassion, empathy, collaboration, and awareness, all of which she recognizes as essential for transformation to a more just and inclusive society.
