Community & Guest List
Paul Lachelier is a sociologist, and founder and director of Learning Life, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit lab innovating education and citizen engagement. Learning Life’s flagship program, the Family Diplomacy Initiative, is developing a family form of citizen diplomacy to help democratize diplomacy. Paul holds a B.A. in sociology from Georgetown University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before founding Learning Life in 2012, he taught at Stetson, Harvard, Tufts and the University of Wisconsin. Paul’s writing, research and programmatic work focus on the intersection of democracy, culture and education. His writings have appeared in academic journals as well as popular media including the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Albuquerque Journal, and truthout.org. More at Paul’s Linkedin page and his website.
Pam Hill, founder and CEO of My Smart Cousin, is a real estate investor who owns 25 properties and 31 units, all purchased for the price of a car, and in some cases, a bicycle, at $2,500 to $35,000. Pam began her real estate investment career ten years ago during the Great Recession, as a side hustle while working as an executive at an electric utility company. Since then Pam has become the ‘Smart Cousin’ to everyone in her family with personal finance and real estate advice, as well as a real estate investment coach, teaching others how to buy their first or 101st property for the price of a car. Pam received her Bachelors degree from Dartmouth College and her Masters degree from Harvard University. Pam coaches her clients in English, Spanish, and Mandarin, Chinese when required, as a graduate of Johns Hopkins’ Chinese studies program in Nanjing, China.
Patrick Harrison is a Kinesiologist and designer of the CoreChair. His first successful business focused on the design of specialized seating solutions for individuals who were dependent on wheelchairs for mobility. In 2008, Patrick leveraged this experienced-based knowledge to create the CoreChair, an active sitting solution for deskbound employees. He has become a source of knowledge for individuals and corporations to identify health risks manifesting as back pain and metabolic disorders and to implement solutions in the workplace
NoMan Hat Co. was founded by Raymond Metzger and Philip McNair after the two had a vision of expressing their creativity and love of art in the form of hat making. The two trained under a highly-skilled milliner in New York City before launching the company in October 2019. By trade, Ray is a Physical Therapist and Phil is an Engineer. The two are both close friends and brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Pedro Night is the Chief of Operations and Music Director of ADOBO. A Nicaraguan DMV native, he is already a veteran in the DC music + nightlife industry, having served the area in several different capacities. Apart from assuming the day-to-day tasks of ADOBO, he is an open-format DJ, often seen performing at some of the area’s best parties. Pedro’s main goal is to put Latin culture on a pedestal in the United States, and looks poised to accomplish this through ADOBO.
Philipp is the founder and CEO of cherrydeck.com, a marketplace for brands that need to find experienced photographers and videographers. Clients include companies like Google, Adobe and Four Seasons Hotels but also small brands around the world. His team is based in Hamburg, Berlin (Germany) and Ljubljana (Slovenia). Philipp has over 10 years of experience in investor backed startups and as a founder.
Paula Orezi is the Author of a motivational poetry book titled: From Me to You and Co-Author of the #1 International Best Selling book: Experts & Influencers: Women's Empowerment Edition. She earned a Master’s in Business Leadership from Huizenga School of Business at Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor's degree in Organizational Management from Palm Beach Atlantic University. She has a passion to speak and help people get inspired to make a change that will create a positive and win-win outcome. Her experience includes mentoring others and leadership development. Her messages are for business-minded professionals or anyone wishing to start their own business and need help to overcome mindset beliefs, being organized, and conducting sales through relationship-building.
Phil Strazzulla is the founder of SelectSoftware Reviews, a website dedicated to helping HR professionals find and buy the right software for their business. Phil started his career working in venture capital at Bessemer Venture Partners before getting his MBA at Harvard Business School.
