Community & Guest List
Gwendolyn is a recognized authority in her industry and a champion who lifts others as she climbs."
Bonnie Ortiz formed O2 Consulting Group, a premier professional services firm, in 2017 after spending almost a decade as the Chief Operating Officer for The Partnership Federal Credit Union. A recognized expert in strategy formation, process improvement, and project management, Bonnie now provides her clients with a comprehensive operational toolkit, aligning people, processes, and systems to corporate goals. She has worked with commercial for-profit and non-profit entities across numerous industries and has managed substantial budgets and staff as a leader within organizations of various sizes, from start-ups to multi-billion-dollar firms. Bonnie’s expertise is rooted in the achievement of operational excellence, focusing the organization’s executive team on advancing their priorities and achieving their desired results. Bonnie currently serves as the Commodore of the Herring Bay Yacht Club and as the Voce Chair of the Dream Queen Association Board of Directors, giving her time and expertise to cultivating the next generation of leaders.
Tom Madden is the quintessential “PR man.” Telling him to stop publicizing, inventing products like his Knife and Forklift™ that helps you to exercise while eating, and writing articles, blogs and books is like telling the government to stop spending money—pointless. His popular blog is called MaddenMischief. Madden’s rise in the world of media started at The Philadelphia Inquirer before he served as Vice President of NBC under then-CEO Fred Silverman. After departing NBC, Madden launched his own award-winning public relations firm, TransMedia Group, in 1981 that is now celebrating it's 40th year in business in 2021. The firm is now based in Boca Raton, Florida, and has offices worldwide.
Amelia Roberts is a digital native who officially became a practitioner of online marketing twelve years ago with a role as a virtual assistant. Student loans from nursing school inspired her to put her love of observing human nature, showing empathy and previous marketing experience to work in new ways and as a result, she was able to pay off her student loans in under 2 years.
Now alongside other roles, you can find Amelia helping under-recognized professionals stand out and more “get first dates” in business so that they can become thought leaders in the healthcare industry and beyond. When she is not optimizing human potential Amelia enjoys planning real and imagined food tours.
Now alongside other roles, you can find Amelia helping under-recognized professionals stand out and more “get first dates” in business so that they can become thought leaders in the healthcare industry and beyond. When she is not optimizing human potential Amelia enjoys planning real and imagined food tours.
Judy Weintraub is an accomplished entrepreneur, business executive and attorney and is a bestselling author of The Essentials of Negotiating Effectively and the author of How to Build Successful Business Partnerships. She is the founder of SkillBites, providing book writing and publishing services to help authors get their books done quickly and conveniently. In addition to SkillBites, Judy runs Weintraub Legal Services, providing corporate law services and dispute resolution services.
Brandon is the CEO and Founder of Parkes Philanthropy, a social impact consulting firm, managing over 90+ years of collective experience. Parkes Philanthropy is dedicated to equip the non-profits, corporations and individuals with the ideas and resources and support they need to positively impact the world.
He previously served as a Senior Consultant for Bridge Philanthropic Consulting LLC, nations largest African-American fundraising firm. Prior, he was the Nonprofit Engagement Manager at CariClub, an AI tech company that connects young professionals to leadership roles on nonprofit boards.
He has formerly worked in a corporate philanthropic capacity for companies such as Morgan Stanley and Toyota.
Through these professional titles, he gained experience supporting effective philanthropic strategy that increases social impact, external/internal engagement and nonprofit capacity building. He was humbled to be named one of CauseArtists’s “20 Inspiring African Americans Impacting the World Through Social Impact & Social Innovation,” named one of Startup Boost’s NYC 33 under 33, and has been featured in several publications such as Black Enterprise, Blavity, Nonprofit Technology News, and Blacks in Technology. It’s Brandon’s passion to empower any constituent looking to make a positive social impact on the world.
He previously served as a Senior Consultant for Bridge Philanthropic Consulting LLC, nations largest African-American fundraising firm. Prior, he was the Nonprofit Engagement Manager at CariClub, an AI tech company that connects young professionals to leadership roles on nonprofit boards.
He has formerly worked in a corporate philanthropic capacity for companies such as Morgan Stanley and Toyota.
Through these professional titles, he gained experience supporting effective philanthropic strategy that increases social impact, external/internal engagement and nonprofit capacity building. He was humbled to be named one of CauseArtists’s “20 Inspiring African Americans Impacting the World Through Social Impact & Social Innovation,” named one of Startup Boost’s NYC 33 under 33, and has been featured in several publications such as Black Enterprise, Blavity, Nonprofit Technology News, and Blacks in Technology. It’s Brandon’s passion to empower any constituent looking to make a positive social impact on the world.
I am a straight forward woman who gets stuff done and who is tired of the woo woo diet culture. I decided in order to change my life and understand what food works for my body I had to study it myself. With Sage Root Nutrition I hope to be the voice for those in the middle, not your body builder die hard and not your couch potato, but the woman that just wants to understand what food works for her and enjoy indulgences here and there. We all have an end point so it's time to sit up and live your life not based on anyone else but what works for the soul in your body. Sage Root Nutrition gives you the concrete steps to bring out the true woman you want to be.
Dr. Veronica Joseph is a #1 International Best Selling Author of Unlocking Your Super Life. She is the founder of Awesome Healing Acupuncture. She is also a licensed Doctor of Oriental Medicine in New Mexico and a licensed Acupuncturist in California. Her specialties include allergies, digestive issues, immune system dysfunction, and pain management. It is her goal to educate and empower her patients to achieve optimum health and live their best life.
Ho Yin is a serial entrepreneur with a 8-figure Amazon business, a mobile agency, and also a $1M ARR B2B SaaS company. Ho Yin has 7+ years of experience building remote teams, and has worked with Fortune 100 companies like Best Buy, TJ Maxx, SunGard, Cardinal Health, and Kaiser Permanente. His new venture is Remo, the next-gen video workspace for distributed teams.
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.
