Community & Guest List
Beth McRae is president of The McRae Agency, celebrating 25 years in 2020. She has represented clients for PR work in numerous industries and has notable clients such as Google, Sprint, CBRE, KB Home, Sunny Delight and Solatube International, to name a few. She has received over 45 awards for her work, including the Bank of America Enterprise award. She has a journalism degree, a marketing degree and an MBA, unusual for her field.
Brian Rollo is the leading expert on using the habits of influential leadership to build high performing organizational cultures, unleash the potential of employees, and reduce executive stress. Brian has used his powerful frameworks and processes to help hundreds of managers become influential leaders. He is also the acclaimed author of The 10 Habits of Influential Leadership
Bofta Yimam is an Emmy® & Murrow Award-Winning Journalist, DC-based News Correspondent, International Speaker and Executive Coach. She was recently honored with the Asian-African Chamber of Commerce & Industry International Leadership Award and the Black Business Review’s Top 40 Under 40 Professionals Award. From London to Africa, Bofta has also captured global crowds with her dynamic style and presence.
From teenage depression to an award-winning broadcasting career — including reporting from the White House and Capitol Hill — to building a successful business from scratch, Bofta works to inspire others that anything is possible. She firmly believes that adversity has its advantages and there’s incredible power in owning your story — that’s what her clients learn to embrace, too. Bofta helps change agents and industry transformers increase their confidence, develop their compelling story, deeply connect with audiences and speak their mission!
From teenage depression to an award-winning broadcasting career — including reporting from the White House and Capitol Hill — to building a successful business from scratch, Bofta works to inspire others that anything is possible. She firmly believes that adversity has its advantages and there’s incredible power in owning your story — that’s what her clients learn to embrace, too. Bofta helps change agents and industry transformers increase their confidence, develop their compelling story, deeply connect with audiences and speak their mission!
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.
Beth established SmartMouth in Salt Lake City in 2005 to offer Speaker Coaching, Presentation Skills Training, Media Readiness™ Training, and related services. Beth is the author of the award-winning book "Jock Talk: 5 Communication Principles for Leaders as Exemplified by Legends of the Sports World." She is also the creator of the iOS app, SmartMouth Public Speaking Toolkit, and a suite of Communication and Presentation Skills courses offered online through OpenSesame.com and GO1.com. Beth has lectured and taught at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, the University of Utah, and New York University. In 2015, Beth was one of Utah Business Magazine’s "30 Women to Watch.” She has been featured in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, the BBC, The Wall Street Journal and is a regular contributor to Forbes.com.
In 2014, Bailey Richert left her corporate career to study entrepreneurship at MIT and launch her own online, location independent business with the goal of earning her own income from anywhere in the world. Today, she helps others realize that it is possible to achieve the life you truly desire if you put in the effort to create the financial means to support that life. Through her books, blog, courses, coaching programs and events, Bailey helps individuals launch and grow profitable online enterprises as “infopreneurs”: respected experts in their fields creating value and generating income by sharing their life experience, knowledge and passions with others in a manner that supports their ideal lifestyles.
