Community & Guest List

T.W. Shannon is an accomplished leader with diverse experience in business, public service and community engagement. Today he leads one of the most unique banks in the country. As the CEO of Chickasaw Community Bank based in Oklahoma City, he leads a remarkably successful enterprise that is wholly owned by the Chickasaw Nation. Under his leadership, Chickasaw Community Bank completed the year 2020 at a record sixfold projections. Prior to his tenure at the bank, T.W. made history by becoming the youngest Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, as well as being the first Chickasaw and first African American to hold the post.

Paul Towers is a 4x Entrepreneur and Startup Founder. He started his entrepreneurial career as a 16 year old high school student when he purchased a retail surf shop in his hometown of Sydney Australia. Since then he has gone on to create a number of other startups and is currently working on Task Pigeon, a straight-forward, yet powerful task management application for individuals and teams.

Growing up in The Bronx, NYC, the middle of three first-generation kids, Brittany Pogue-Mohammed Acosta's mother (of Irish and Scandinavian descent) and her father (who immigrated from Trinidad), both extremely proud people, ensured they knew what their kids were mixed with and that they took equal pride in both sides. Now that her and her husband Daniel (Puerto Rican and Black) have a daughter of their own, Brittany found herself constantly searching for products for her--books, toys and apparel that depicted a variety of skin tones, that spoke to a child who is racially diverse--but all that she found were hair care products. So, she decided to create what she was looking for herself: a site that caters to biracial and multiracial individuals; a community where all mixed race people can share experiences, ask questions and just talk about the unique issues they face as racially diverse individuals. The goal at Mosaic the Label is to enable mixed race individuals to show pride in their mix, to feel seen, to be heard and understood. At Mosaic, they want you to know that it’s good to live in the in-between--you do not have to choose a side. Afterall, it’s the parts that make the whole.

Garrett Ball is the owner of Secure Medicare Solutions, a national, independent Medicare insurance agency. His company also manages 65Medicare.org, an online information-based resource for people turning 65 or just starting out on Medicare.

Rick Elmore is an entrepreneur, sales and marketing expert, and former college and professional football player. As Founder and CEO of Simply Noted, Rick developed a proprietary technology that puts real pen and ink to paper to scale handwritten communication, helping businesses of all industries stand out from their competition and build meaningful relationships with clients, customers, and employees. Founded in 2018, Simply Noted has grown into a thriving company with clients of various sizes across the country including in hospitality, real estate, insurance, nonprofit, franchise, B2B, and others.